diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-22 11:24:23 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-22 11:24:23 -0800 |
| commit | 678cc153a63698327c8a331dc12f955bb709397a (patch) | |
| tree | 3968061bfcd578ba6ed0192aa04e1d70f3134755 | |
| parent | a99ccf3bcd21bb12bf2bf48dac230d6a71db38db (diff) | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/66764-0.txt | 5260 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/66764-0.zip | bin | 85545 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/66764-h.zip | bin | 392020 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/66764-h/66764-h.htm | 5369 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/66764-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 252396 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/66764-h/images/nickcarter.png | bin | 49109 -> 0 bytes |
9 files changed, 17 insertions, 10629 deletions
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..6d33115 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66764 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66764) diff --git a/old/66764-0.txt b/old/66764-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 35aae4d..0000000 --- a/old/66764-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5260 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Nick Carter Stories No 120 - 160 / Dec 26, -1914 - Oct 2, 1915, by Nick Carter - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Nick Carter Stories No 120 - 160 / Dec 26, 1914 - Oct 2, 1915 - The Melting-Pot; Where's the Commandant? - -Author: Nick Carter - C.C. Waddell - -Editor: Chickering Carter - -Release Date: November 18, 2021 [eBook #66764] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: David Edwards, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Northern Illinois - University Digital Library) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NICK CARTER STORIES NO 120 - 160 / -DEC 26, 1914 - OCT 2, 1915 *** - - - - - NICK CARTER STORIES - - _Issued Weekly. Entered as Second-class Matter at the New York Post - Office, by_ STREET & SMITH, _79-89 Seventh Ave., New York. Copyright, - 1915, by_ STREET & SMITH. _O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith, Proprietors._ - - Terms to NICK CARTER STORIES Mail Subscribers. - - (_Postage Free._) - - Single Copies or Back Numbers, 5c. Each. - - 3 months 65c. - 4 months 85c. - 6 months $1.25 - One year $2.50 - 2 copies one year 4.00 - 1 copy two years 4.00 - -=How to Send Money=--By post-office or express money order, registered -letter, bank check or draft, at our risk. At your own risk if sent by -currency, coin, or postage stamps in ordinary letter. - -=Receipts=--Receipt of your remittance is acknowledged by proper change of -number on your label. If not correct you have not been properly -credited, and should let us know at once. - -=No. 140.= NEW YORK, May 15, 1915. =Price Five Cents.= - - - - - THE MELTING POT; - - Or, NICK CARTER AND THE WALDMERE PLATE. - - Edited by CHICKERING CARTER. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -AN OLD OFFENDER. - - -“Oh, no, I have not forgotten you. I never forget the face of a crook.” - -The speaker was Nick Carter. His voice, though somewhat under ordinary -pitch, had a subtle and ominous ring. There was a threatening glint in -the eyes he had fixed upon the face of the man he addressed. - -It was a striking and impressive face, nearly as strong and impressive -as that of the famous detective--but for directly opposite reasons. - -Nick Carter’s face was frank, manly, and wholesome. - -That at which he was gazing was pallid, sinister, and severe. Its -clean-cut features were as hard as flint. The thin-lipped mouth denoted -cruelty and vicious determination. The square jaw and aggressive chin -evinced firmness and bulldog tenacity. The cold gray eyes had a shifty -gleam and glitter seen only in the eyes of what the detective had called -this man--a crook. - -He took up the epithet bitterly, saying, with a sneer: - -“Crook, eh! You cannot prove it.” - -“I may sooner or later.” - -“You have tried--and failed.” - -“Failure never deters me from trying again. You know the old adage.” - -“You succeeded only in smirching my name, in giving me a bad reputation. -It caused my friends to desert and avoid me. It excluded me from the -clubs, the reputable hotels, from every desirable place that I had been -accustomed to frequent. It has changed my life and turned it as arid as -the heart of a desert. I have you to thank for all this--you, Carter!” - -“You are mistaken,” Nick replied. “You have only yourself to thank for -it.” - -“We view it differently.” - -“Where have you been for the past two years?” - -“Not where you tried to put me.” - -“In Sing Sing.” - -“Yes.” - -“Nor have you been in New York, or I should have known it.” - -“You would have known it, too, if I had been arrested.” - -“Most likely--if arrested under your own name.” - -“You remember that, then, also.” - -“Both the face and name of a crook, Stuart Floyd, I always remember,” -said Nick. “I make it a point never to forget them.” - -Floyd’s thin lips curled again with intense scorn and bitterness. - -“That epithet again,” said he between his teeth. “I have you to thank -for it--and repay.” - -“Ah! I see now why you stopped me,” said Nick. “You wanted to threaten -me.” - -They had met in Madison Avenue; in fact, the detective having left his -residence only a few moments before. It was about ten o’clock in the -morning. - -“Threaten you!” exclaimed Floyd, with ominous quietude. “There has been -no day or night for two years that I have not threatened you.” - -“Indeed!” - -“Have you supposed that I forgot, that my memory is less retentive than -yours, that I have less cause than you to remember? Have you thought for -a moment that I forget and forgive?” - -“It matters very little to me, Floyd, whether you do or not,” Nick -calmly informed him, entirely unaffected by the subdued yet vicious -intensity with which the other was speaking. - -“Later, Carter, you will pipe a different tune,” Floyd went on, with -eyes vengefully gleaming. “I will not sleep until the debt is paid. I am -going to put something over on you, Carter, that will more than balance -our account. Smile scornfully, if you will, but wait until I plunge you -into the melting pot. It will come--take my word for that. It’s you for -the melting pot. You for the melting pot!” - -Nick Carter did not ask him what he meant--did not seriously care. Nor -did he attempt to detain him, though he glanced after him a bit sharply. - -Stuart Floyd had stepped to one side, then walked briskly away without a -backward glance, and he was quickly lost to view in the throng of -pedestrians then in the avenue. - -Nick Carter walked on as if nothing had occurred. The threat did not -alarm him. He gave it hardly a second thought. - -It was two years since he had seen Stuart Floyd, since he arrested him -for complicity in the looting of the Imperial Loan Company by Morris -Garland and Moses Hart, its two treacherous managers, the case involving -the felonious pawning of Lady Waldmere’s valuable jewels, held by them -for collateral. - -The prosecution, however, had not ended quite as Nick had expected. Both -Garland and Hart were convicted and sent to the State’s prison, where -they still were confined. - -The two women involved in the abduction of Lady Waldmere, Vera Vantoon -and her sister, Leah, were given a year for that part of the crime. It -could not be proved, however, that either was involved in the looting of -the loan company. They since had served their time and been liberated. - -Though Nick Carter was convinced of his guilt, moreover, Stuart Floyd -had, with the help of an able criminal lawyer, contrived to slip through -the fingers of justice. Both Garland and Hart had sworn that Floyd knew -nothing about the looting, that he had acted only as their agent in the -handling of the jewels, and that he was entirely ignorant of the -abduction of Lady Waldmere. - -Nick felt morally sure, however, that Stuart Floyd was back of the whole -business, despite the fact that it could not be proved to the -satisfaction of the jury that had acquitted him. - -Nick was not surprised at Floyd’s subsequent disappearance, for he had -posed as a person of character and a popular man about town. The -suspicion was one that would not down, however, and the stigma -apparently had resulted in his disappearance, though none could say -where he had gone. It was with some surprise, therefore, that the -detective encountered him that morning. - -Nick had not lost sight of Lord Waldmere and his wife in the meantime, -and he was an occasional caller at the handsome residence bought in -Riverside Drive by the Englishman, who had been cast out and -disinherited because of his marriage with Mary Royal, at that time a -beautiful American chorus girl. - -Lord Waldmere’s investments in Colorado mines had proved very -profitable, however, and he fast was becoming further estranged from his -native land and more and more infatuated with American life and customs, -in part due to the wishes of his charming wife. He had dropped his -English title, becoming simply Mr. Archie Waldmere, though his prestige -had won him a legion of friends and admission into the first circles of -society. - -Nick Carter was informed on all of these points, and of all of the -friends of the Waldmeres, none was more friendly and gratefully regarded -than the famous detective. - -It was with some little surprise, nevertheless, three days following his -meeting with Stuart Floyd, that Nick received an urgent telephone -summons to the Waldmere residence with his chief assistants, Chick -Carter and Patsy Garvan. - -The communication came from Mr. Waldmere himself, convincing Nick that -something very serious had occurred. Without waiting to inquire into the -details, however, he at once complied, in company with Chick and Patsy. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE STOLEN PLATE. - - -It was eleven o’clock when Nick Carter arrived with Chick and Patsy at -the Waldmere residence that morning. The butler admitted them, while -Lord Waldmere and his wife came hurrying through the broad, handsomely -furnished hall to meet them. - -“Come into the library,” said Lord Waldmere, after their greeting. “By -Jove, I’m deucedly glad you could come so quickly. I’m in a terrible -state. I’m the victim of a beastly job, as you American detectives call -them. ’Pon my word, Carter, I don’t know whether I’m afoot or horseback. -I’m infernally upset, don’t you know----” - -“Won’t it be well, then, Waldmere, to let your wife tell me what has -occurred?” Nick suggested, interrupting. “I infer that it is something -of a criminal nature, or you would not require my services.” - -“That hits the bally nail on the nob,” groaned the Englishman. “I have -been jolly well robbed, Mr. Carter, jolly well robbed and----” - -“Sit down, Archie, dear, and let me state the case,” Mrs. Waldmere -interrupted, after all had entered the finely furnished library. “I can -inform Mr. Carter much more briefly than you, and he evidently feels -that time may be valuable.” - -Lord Waldmere always yielded to his wife, at which none wondered, for -her beauty and charm were quite irresistible. - -“Archie has, as you already know, decided to remain permanently in -America, or at least until a reconciliation has been effected with his -family, of which there appears to be no prospect as long as his father, -the Earl of Eggleston, lives.” - -“Yes, I know about that,” Nick bowed. - -“Archie not only has been successful in his mining ventures,” Mrs. -Waldmere continued, “but he also inherited from his mother, who was the -earl’s second wife, nearly all of her extensive estate. - -“It comprised the London residence of her father, also the old manor -house and estate in Dorsetshire, with all that they contained. This -included a fine library, numerous costly paintings, portraits, and other -furnishings, and also a large quantity of valuable silver and gold -plate, which has been a heritage of the Waldmeres for two centuries. It -is of the massive and beautifully engraved kind that we do not see in -these days, and it is valued at something like a hundred thousand -dollars.” - -“That’s the blooming truth, Mr. Carter,” nodded Waldmere. “I would jolly -well rather have given a leg, old top, than have lost it.” - -“Lost it!” echoed Nick. “Do you mean that you have been robbed of the -plate?” - -“Yes, bah Jove, that’s just what I mean. The bally stuff, you see, -was----” - -“One moment, Archie,” Mrs. Waldmere interposed. “Let’s state the facts -briefly.” - -“Yes, do so,” put in Nick attentively. - -“After having bought this beautiful residence, which still is only -partly furnished,” she continued; “Archie decided to ship over here most -of his English furnishings, including the library, the paintings and -portraits, a quantity of costly rugs, tapestries, and draperies, and -also all of the gold and silver plate.” - -“Ah, I see!” Nick nodded. “The plate has been stolen during -transportation.” - -“Exactly.” - -“Tell me what you know about it.” - -“That can be briefly told. Archie wrote to his London agent, Mr. Cherry, -a thoroughly reliable man, giving him all of the necessary directions. -Mr. Cherry had the goods packed for shipment. They filled twenty large -cases. These were marked and numbered to correspond with an inventory -mailed to Archie, stating what each case contained.” - -“The inventory was duly received?” Nick questioned. - -“Yes, it came nearly two weeks ago.” - -“Continue.” - -“The goods were shipped on the liner _Flodora_, which should have -arrived in New York five days ago. As you may have read in the -newspapers, however, she had a break in some part of her engine and was -compelled to put into Boston, where her cargo was discharged and shipped -to New York by rail. We were notified by New York agents on the day of -her arrival, informing us how our shipment would be forwarded.” - -“I follow you,” said Nick. - -“To guard against any mishap, Mr. Carter, we then sent our chauffeur to -Boston to engage a special car for our goods and to see that all of the -twenty cases were put into it.” - -“What is his name?” - -“Frank Gilbert. I have known him for years. He is strictly honest and -capable. He remained in Boston and saw the twenty cases put into the -freight car. He also saw that it was properly closed and sealed. The car -was sent on an hour later, for the train was being made up at the time, -and it arrived here and was sidetracked in the railway yard early this -morning. We were notified by telephone and told that we could take away -the goods.” - -“What more, Mrs. Waldmere?” Nick inquired. - -“Following our instructions, Gilbert already had made arrangements with -Macklin & Dale, the express company, to bring the cases to this house,” -she continued. “We telephoned to them at once, and were told that they -would have a van at the car at ten o’clock. We sent Gilbert there at -half past nine with the bill of lading, which the freight agent requires -from strangers before he will deliver the goods. Gilbert arrived at the -car at precisely ten o’clock. No dray was there.” - -“The truckman was late?” - -“Something more than that. He was sent, as agreed, but was stopped on -his way by a policeman, who claimed to identify him as a crook wanted by -the authorities, and who detained him half an hour to question him.” - -“H’m, I see,” Nick nodded. “Something more, indeed, Mrs. Waldmere.” - -“In the meantime, Mr. Carter, another wagon, bearing the firm name of -the express company, went to the railway yard. Two men were in charge of -it. They presented a forged bill of lading, stating that they had been -sent to take away three of the cases, the numbers of which were -specified, as soon as possible. One of the yard hands was sent to the -car with them, and the cases were delivered to them about twenty minutes -before Gilbert arrived. They were the three cases, Mr. Carter, that -contained the valuable Waldmere plate.” - -“Yes, by Jove, and the bally rascals got away with them,” cried -Waldmere, in tones of bitter dismay. “I’ve been jolly well robbed, Mr. -Carter, jolly well robbed of----” - -“One moment, Waldmere,” said Nick, checking him with a gesture. “Your -wife has made this crime perfectly clear to me. Just how it was -accomplished is not quite as plain. We must look into it. I infer, Mrs. -Waldmere, there is nothing more of importance that you can add.” - -“No, nothing, Mr. Carter,” she replied. “That’s the whole story.” - -“That, on the contrary, is only the beginning of the story,” corrected -Nick. “Much must be done and with some risk, I anticipate, before the -whole story is told. What, besides sending for me, have you done about -the robbery?” - -“Nothing,” said Mrs. Waldmere. “Gilbert informed us of it by telephone. -We directed him to have the car reclosed and locked pending an -investigation, and I then advised Archie to telephone to you and place -the case in your hands. He did so immediately.” - -Nick looked at his watch. It was nearly twelve o’clock. Two hours had -passed since the crime was committed. It was obvious to him, of course, -that the crooks had made a big haul and got safely away with their -plunder. - -Nick glanced expressively at Patsy Garvan after a moment, and the latter -rightly read the look in his chief’s eyes. He arose almost immediately -and sauntered into the adjoining hall, closing the library door when he -passed out of the room. He knew that Nick wanted to be sure that the -following conversation was not heard by any of the servants. - -“Before beginning an investigation, Mr. Waldmere, I wish to caution you -and your wife to say nothing about any views I may express, neither to -your friends nor in the hearing of your servants,” said Nick, addressing -both quite impressively. “Though you did not observe, I directed one of -my assistants to close the door and wait for me in the hall. That will -insure us against an eavesdropper.” - -“But, hang it, my dear Carter, I’m deucedly well sure that all of my -servants are trustworthy,” Waldmere quickly asserted. “’Pon my word, -sir----” - -“The word of one of them, or possibly more, may not be near as good as -you think,” Nick interrupted. “Permit me to be the judge, please, and do -what I have directed.” - -“Certainly, Mr. Carter,” put in Mrs. Waldmere. “You may depend upon it.” - -“It must be obvious to you, of course, that this theft was very -carefully planned and quickly committed, with definite information of -your designs and what was to be stolen. Otherwise, it could not possibly -have been accomplished in the way it was done.” - -“Surely not, Nick,” Chick nodded. “That’s dead open and shut.” - -“To whom have you confided your intentions, Waldmere, outside of this -house?” Nick inquired. - -“Only to my London agent and the expressman I employed. But the latter -cannot have known what the three cases contained.” - -“You have confided in none of your friends, or acquaintances?” - -“No, not one.” - -“But you have discussed the matter here at times with your wife?” - -“Yes, certainly.” - -“Your London agent is reliable, you say?” - -“Absolutely,” Waldmere declared. “There is no question about it.” - -“Obviously, then, the information obtained by the crooks must have been -imparted by some one who overheard you discussing your designs, and who -has been constantly informed of your intentions and what was being done. -Naturally, of course, suspicion points to one of your servants.” - -“But----” - -“Don’t let’s argue the point,” Nick again interrupted. “Let me have my -way, Waldmere, that we may get after the crooks as quickly as possible.” - -“Very well. It’s up to you.” - -“Now, to proceed, how many servants do you employ?” - -“Six,” said Mrs. Waldmere. “Picard, our French chef. A woman in the -kitchen, named Maggie Coyle.” - -“Young, or well along in years?” - -“About fifty.” - -“Not likely, then, to be in such a job,” said Nick. “Besides, her -position in the house, as well as that of the chef, would have made it -difficult for them to have learned all of the necessary details. They -are out of it.” - -“We employ a butler, John Patterson,” continued Mrs. Waldmere. “Also my -maid, Della Martin, and a maid for general work, named Minerva Grand. -All came well recommended. I have known our chauffeur, Frank Gilbert, -for years, as I have said.” - -“They comprise your list of servants?” - -“Yes.” - -“Has Gilbert returned from the railway yard?” - -“He has and is waiting in the basement. He met the truckman sent by -Macklin & Dale, and we directed him to bring him here, also, thinking -you might wish to question both.” - -“I will do so,” said Nick. “Have the truckman sent up here. I want both -of you to wait in another room while I am talking with him, also with -Gilbert, whom I will send for a little later. Do not ask my reasons, but -kindly comply.” - -Waldmere looked a bit surprised, but he made no objection. He arose at -once and left the room with his wife. - -“Well, what do you make of it?” Chick inquired, while they waited for -the truckman. “It looks to me like a bit of remarkably clever work.” - -Nick nodded and added: - -“With inside help.” - -“You feel sure of that?” - -“Reasonably sure,” said Nick. “The circumstances point to absolutely -definite information on the part of the crooks, much more so than if -there had been only three cases shipped and all three stolen.” - -“That’s true,” Chick allowed. - -“They must have known the numbers of the three cases containing the gold -plate. They must have known that the location of those three particular -cases in the freight car was such that they could quickly remove them, -or they could not have figured so fine as to time. They got away with -them, mind you, only twenty minutes before Gilbert arrived in the yard.” - -“That’s right, too, by Jove.” - -“Furthermore--but here comes our man,” Nick broke off abruptly. “We will -size it up later.” - -The truckman had entered while the detective was speaking. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -NICK CARTER’S CRAFT. - - -Nick Carter needed only to glance at the face of the man who had entered -to feel assured of his honesty. He was a rugged, red-cheeked Scotchman -of nearly fifty years, clad in a checked blouse and overalls and -carrying in one of his begrimed and calloused hands a faded woolen cap. - -“Come nearer, my man,” said Nick pleasantly. “What is your name?” - -“Tom McLauren, sir,” he replied, complying. - -“How long have you been in the employ of Macklin & Dale?” - -“Ten years, sir.” - -“I have been told on what job you were sent out this morning, also that -you were detained by a policeman who----” - -“That’s wrong, sir,” McLauren said quickly. “I may have said a -policeman, sir, not thinking, but he was a plain-clothes man who stopped -me.” - -“One you knew by sight?” - -“No, sir. But he showed me his detective badge and----” - -“I understand,” Nick interrupted. “Where did he stop you?” - -“In Forty-eighth Street, sir, when I was driving through from Second -Avenue. He held me up and made me pull off to one side of the street, -and then he began to question me, as much as saying that I was a crook -he was looking for. I tried to convince him he was wrong, but the -infernal bonehead wouldn’t have it, and he threatened to take me down to -headquarters, team and all, unless I answered his questions. He hung me -up there for near half an hour, sir, until I got hot around my collar -and told him he’d better pull a gink who went by just then, instead of -me.” - -“Some one you knew?” questioned Nick. - -“I know him by sight, sir, that’s all.” - -“Why didn’t you appeal to him, then, and have him vouch for you?” - -“I’d have got fat, sir, doing that,” said McLauren, with an expressive -grin. “Surest thing you know, in that case, the dick would have collared -me.” - -“You mean that the man who went by is a crook?” - -“I reckon so, though I couldn’t swear to it,” said McLauren. “But he’s a -gangman, all right, and I’ve heard he’s a gunman, as well. I only know -him by sight, sir.” - -“Do you know his name?” - -“I do.” - -“What is it?” - -“Tim Bannon, sir, though he’s better known as Bug Bannon, being a small, -bow-legged chap with a head like a bullet.” - -“Humph!” grunted Nick, who knew all about the young gangster. “Did he -say anything, or look at the man who had stopped you?” - -“He did not. He was whistling and on the other side of the street.” - -“How much longer were you detained, McLauren?” - -“Only a couple of minutes, sir. The dick seemed to see he was in wrong -and he let me go.” - -“Describe him,” said Nick. - -“He looked all right, sir, as far as that goes,” said the truckman. -“He’s a medium-built man, kind of pale, but with dark hair and a beard. -He----” - -“That’s all, McLauren,” Nick interrupted. “Send in Frank Gilbert when -you go out. Wait until I have finished with him and I will give you -further instructions.” - -“I hope you don’t think, sir, that I----” - -“I know that you had no hand in the robbery,” Nick again cut in, -anticipating what the other was about to say. “Do what I have directed -and say nothing about my inquiries.” - -“I will not, sir,” McLauren assured him, with a look of relief as he -turned and left the room. - -“By Jove, this looks as if----” Chick began. - -He quickly checked himself, however, when the chauffeur, who had been -waiting in the hall, entered and closed the door. - -He was a tall, clean-cut man in the twenties, with a frank face and -clear blue eyes, that met with convincing gaze the somewhat searching -scrutiny of the detective. - -“I wish to ask you only a few questions, Gilbert,” said Nick. “Much may -depend upon the information I obtain from you, however, so be very -careful when replying. Don’t overlook any little incident that may have -occurred, however trivial it may seem to you.” - -“I understand you, Mr. Carter,” bowed the chauffeur, taking the chair to -which the detective waved him. “I will overlook nothing, sir.” - -“To begin with, then, have you told any person about the intentions of -your employer, or why you were going to Boston?” - -“Not one word, sir,” said Gilbert. “I was for two years in the chorus -with Miss Royal, now Lady Waldmere, and I have always felt a very -sincere regard for her. I would cut out my tongue, or lose a hand, -rather than harm her in any way.” - -“I believe you,” said Nick. “Tell me, now, just what you did after -arriving in Boston. Omit nothing of importance.” - -“I was there only one day,” Gilbert replied. “I first went to the -customhouse, where I saw the collector and gave a voucher for what the -imported cases contain, and I got permission to have them sent to New -York without delay.” - -“And then?” - -“I then went to the pier where the _Flodora_ was docked. I was fortunate -in finding that all of the cases had been discharged from the liner, and -I at once had them taken to the railway, to be put into a special -freight car. A train was being made up when I arrived there, and I -arranged for the car with the yardmaster, whom I found in his office in -the freight house.” - -“Did you see the twenty cases put into the car?” - -“I did, sir. I also saw the car closed and locked.” - -“Who handled the cases when transferred from the dray to the car?” - -“The truckman, assisted by a train hand in the car.” - -“Who else was present?” - -“Only one other man, sir, who directed the loading of the car. I -supposed he was one of the yard hands employed for that kind of work. He -appeared to have some authority.” - -“He appeared so to you?” - -“Yes, certainly.” - -“And to the train hand, no doubt?” - -“So far as I noticed. The train hand did what he was told.” - -“When and where did you first see this man?” - -“He came along just as we were beginning to load the car. He at once -began to tell the train hand where to put the cases. I supposed he -wanted the car loaded in a certain way.” - -“That was a natural supposition,” Nick allowed, smiling a bit oddly. -“The train hand had much the same impression, no doubt.” - -“He appeared to, Mr. Carter.” - -“He probably inferred that this officious individual had an interest in -the cases, and a right to say where they should be put,” said Nick. -“Never mind about that, however. Did you see the man after the car was -closed and locked?” - -“Only when we were leaving the yard.” - -“Did he leave with you?” - -“He went as far as the freight house with me. Then he took the bill of -lading given me by the freight agent, and told me to wait while he got a -duplicate of it for the way-bill clerk. I did so, Mr. Carter, and he -returned in about five minutes and gave me the bill of lading. I -supposed he was one of the yard officials, and that was the last I saw -of him.” - -“You returned to New York that night?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Describe the man, Mr. Gilbert,” said Nick. - -“Why, sir, he was a man of medium build and about forty years old. He -was quite dark, but with a rather pallid skin and----” - -“That is sufficient,” Nick interrupted. “Tell Mr. Waldmere that he may -send you and McLauren after the seventeen cases remaining in the car. I -will look after getting--the other three.” - -“Do you mean, Mr. Carter, that----” - -“Never mind what I mean,” Nick again cut in. “Say nothing about the -questions I have asked. Do only what I have directed.” - -“I will, sir.” - -Gilbert bowed and withdrew. He looked as if something unthought of -before had suddenly dawned upon him. - -“By Jove, we seem to be getting down to cases,” Chick remarked, when the -chauffeur had closed the door. - -“We are,” Nick tersely agreed. - -“You think the man who showed up just in time to direct loading the -freight car----” - -“Is the man we want, or one of them,” put in Nick. “There is no doubt of -that. He got by both Gilbert and the train hand by assuming an air of -authority that completely deceived both. One supposed him a road -employee; the other the owner, perhaps, of the twenty cases.” - -“Most likely.” - -“Be that as it may, he got the three cases containing the gold plate -placed so near the car door that they could be quickly removed after -arriving in New York. He further fooled Gilbert, moreover, into letting -him forge a copy of the bill of lading, probably on a blank already -obtained.” - -“Sure thing,” Chick nodded. “That’s as plain as twice two.” - -“He was on Gilbert’s trail from the time he left New York.” - -“If we could discover his identity----” - -“Leave that to me,” Nick interrupted. “Call in Patsy, also Waldmere, and -his wife. Stay--wait one moment!” - -Nick arose abruptly and approached a large roll-top desk near one of the -walls. The cover of it was raised. Taking a lens from his pocket, Nick -examined the polished woodwork on all sides, including the faces of -several small interior drawers, surveying all of them at an angle that -caught the light in a way that served his purpose. - -“Now, Chick, I’m ready,” he remarked, resuming his seat. - -Patsy Garvan entered a few moments later, followed immediately by -Waldmere and his wife. Both gazed inquiringly at the detective, anxious -to know what he had learned, but Nick did not inform them. Instead, -addressing Waldmere, he said, with seeming indifference: - -“I will have finished in a short time. I think you said, Waldmere, that -the inventory of the twenty cases, which was mailed to you from London, -was received about two weeks ago.” - -“Yes. Just about that,” Waldmere nodded. - -“Where is it?” - -“In my desk.” - -“Has it been there most of the time?” - -“Yes. It is in one of the small drawers.” - -“I inferred so,” Nick said, a bit dryly. “May I see it?” - -“Certainly.” - -Before the Englishman could open the small interior drawer toward which -he reached, however, Nick checked him by saying abruptly, as if suddenly -hit with another idea: - -“Stay! I don’t think I really care to see it. Instead, Waldmere, I would -like to question your butler and the two maids.” - -“Very well.” - -“Which of them, Mrs. Waldmere, has charge of this room?” Nick added, -turning to her. “I refer to the sweeping and dusting.” - -“Minerva Grand,” she replied. - -“The general housemaid?” - -“Yes. She is a very sweet and dainty girl.” - -“Call in both maids and the butler,” said Nick, turning to Waldmere -again. “I will question each of them. Do not interfere with me, nor -volunteer any suggestion if I give either of them an order.” - -Waldmere looked very much puzzled, but he bowed without replying, and -rang for the butler. - -Patterson came in with the two maids a little later. He was stiff and -sedate, the type of man who could not commit a crime if he tried. He -presented a marked contrast to the two girls, both of whom were pretty -and only just turned twenty. - -Della Martin, the elder, was a dark, capable-looking girl, who responded -with manifest confidence to the detective’s questions, evincing no sign -of fear. - -The other, Minerva Grand, was the more attractive. She was slender and -dainty, with a face like that of a doll. Her complexion was a clear pink -and white, her eyes wonderfully blue, her mouth well formed and -sensitive. An abundance of wavy yellow hair appeared like a halo over -her winsome countenance. A more artless and innocent-looking girl could -not be imagined, and her deportment was in keeping with her looks. - -Nick Carter questioned all three, but his inquiries were really only a -blind, to dispel misgivings on the part of either of them, and neither -Chick nor Patsy could fathom at what he was driving. - -After several minutes, however, Nick turned to Minerva Grand and said -pleasantly: - -“I wish you would bring me a cup of hot water with a spoon in it. Have -it quite hot.” - -“Yes, sir, I will,” she replied, bowing demurely. - -“I want to dissolve an alkali to make a chemical test.” - -“Yes, sir, please you,” said Minerva, hastening to obey. - -“You may go, Patterson, and you,” Nick added, addressing the others. “If -you are wanted again, I will ring.” - -Both withdrew, and Waldmere was about to ask a question. He caught a -forbidding gleam in the detective’s eyes, however, and he said nothing. - -Nick fished out part of a lozenge from his pocket, a bit of -confectionery that he happened to have. He held it in the palm of his -hand when Minerva returned with a cup of steaming water, containing a -silver spoon. - -“Hold the spoon a moment, my girl,” said Nick, taking the cup from her. - -Minerva removed it without speaking. - -Nick dropped the piece of lozenge into the water, then glanced up at her -pretty face. - -“Now the spoon, if you please,” said he, taking it from her. “That is -all, thank you. You may go.” - -Minerva bowed, blushing, and left the room. - -Chick, Patsy, and the Waldmeres were still more puzzled. - -Nick arose and walked to the window. Unobserved by the others, he took -his lens from his pocket and briefly studied--the finger print left by -the girl on the steam-dampened handle of the silver spoon. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -WHAT NICK HAD LEARNED. - - -It was after one o’clock when Nick Carter left the Waldmere residence, -after having given such further instructions as the circumstances seemed -to require. - -Twenty minutes later found him seated in his business office with Chick -and Patsy, when he at once began to tell them what he thought of the -case. - -“There is little to it, and also much to it,” said he enigmatically. “We -must do some quick work, mighty quick work, or farewell to the Waldmere -plate.” - -“How do you size it up, chief?” questioned Patsy, who saw that Nick was -somewhat anxious over the outcome of the case. - -“That may be told in a nutshell,” Nick replied. “Waldmere’s designs were -known by his servants. One of them put a gang of crooks wise to the -possibility of this robbery and what could be derived from it.” - -“Surely,” put in Chick. “That’s as plain as twice two, though Waldmere -does not think so.” - -“The information was stealthily learned from the inventory received two -weeks ago,” Nick continued. “A copy of it was secretly made, no doubt, -and given to one of the crooks.” - -“Ten to one,” Chick nodded. - -“That gave them the numbers of the three cases containing the gold -plate, and they afterward were kept constantly informed as to the time -of their arrival and of what Waldmere’s intentions consisted.” - -“That’s obvious, also.” - -“Just how she was led into this crime, however, and with whom she has -been communicating and handing out this information, remain to be -discovered. It must be discovered, too, without delay.” - -“She!” exclaimed Patsy, gazing. “Do you suspect one of the maids, -chief?” - -“More than suspect, Patsy,” Nick replied. “I am sure of her.” - -“Which one, chief?” - -“Minerva Grand.” - -“Gee whiz! That doll-faced girl! She don’t look capable of stealing a -feather from a peacock’s tail.” - -“That’s too true for a joke, Patsy,” said Chick, a bit dryly. “Are you -really sure of it, Nick?” - -“Dead sure, Chick, and then some.” - -“By Jove, it seems almost incredible.” - -“Let me explain,” said Nick. “I found on the highly polished face of one -of the small interior drawers in Waldmere’s desk numerous dainty finger -prints.” - -“H’m, is that so?” - -“I might not have been so quick to suspect, however, if I had found the -same on the adjoining small drawers, also. But they were only on one. It -was the one to which Waldmere reached when I asked him to let me see the -inventory. I already felt sure it was in that drawer.” - -“Ah, that explains it,” said Chick, smiling. “I wondered at what you -were driving.” - -“Gee! I was in on that, all right,” put in Patsy. “I couldn’t fathom -it.” - -“I suspected that they were the finger prints of the girl who sweeps and -dusts the room,” Nick continued. “That would have given her an -opportunity, or many of them, in fact, to stealthily examine the -inventory, and even make a copy of it.” - -“Surely,” Chick nodded. - -“I decided, however, that I had better clinch my suspicion. I found the -same dainty finger print on the damp silver spoon which I had her bring -and hold for a moment.” - -“Gosh, that did settle it!” said Patsy. “Clever work, chief, all right.” - -“I am convinced of the guilt of this girl and the part she has played in -the robbery.” - -“Why didn’t you arrest her, then, and force a confession from her?” -Chick inquired. - -“That last might not be easily done,” Nick replied. “Furthermore, the -girl may not know the crooks.” - -“Not know them? How can that be, providing your suspicions are correct?” - -“She may have been lured into this by a supposed friend, one who is in -league with the crooks and who is acting as a sort of go-between.” - -“I see the point,” bowed Chick. “Minerva Grand might not be able to put -us on the track of the gang itself.” - -“That’s the point precisely,” said Nick. “I would not take the chance of -arresting her, therefore, or even of letting her know that I suspect -her. That is why I did not make a special mark of her in my inquiries, -also why I have kept all this from the Waldmeres and left them entirely -in the dark. I feared they might betray me to the girl by some word, or -look.” - -“I see.” - -“Now, to go a step further, the man who held up McLauren was one of the -gang,” Nick continued. “He was, in reality, the chief of the gang. He is -the same man who followed Frank Gilbert to Boston, and who so artfully -had the three cases put near the door of the freight car, and afterward -succeeded in getting a forged copy of the bill of lading. He is a keen -and clever rascal. He is all the mustard in the pot, that fellow.” - -“You speak as if you already know him,” said Chick, gazing. - -“I do know him, Chick.” - -“The dickens! Whom do you suspect?” - -“A man who stopped me in Madison Avenue a few days ago,” Nick declared, -with more feeling. “It was the first time I have seen him for a couple -of years. He cursed me for having put him to the bad, and he threatened -me with something no less strange than--the melting pot.” - -“The melting pot?” Chick echoed perplexedly. “What did he mean?” - -“That’s right, too. What?” questioned Patsy. - -Nick Carter laughed a bit grimly. - -“I did not know what he meant at the time, nor seriously care,” he -replied, after a moment. “I now know, however, what he meant by the -melting pot. He threatened to put something over on me and send me all -to the bad. It now is plain enough to me that he had this robbery in -mind, and the job well in hand.” - -“You mean?” - -“It’s the melting pot, not for me, Chick, in reality, but for this -priceless Waldmere plate--unless we can move quickly enough to prevent -it.” - -“By gracious, chief, that must be what he meant!” cried Patsy, with -countenance lighting. - -“But who is the man, Nick?” Chick demanded. “You have said nothing to me -about meeting him.” - -“I thought it hardly worth while,” Nick replied. “The threats of such -rascals have no weight with me. The man was Stuart Floyd.” - -“Great guns!” said Chick. “Is he in New York again?” - -“Very much here.” - -“Were you aware of it before?” - -“No.” - -“He must have been lying mighty low. I have not heard so much as a hint -at it.” - -“All the same, Chick, he is the man behind the gun in this job,” Nick -said confidently. “He has got back at Waldmere for that other affair in -which he was put on the rocks?” - -“By Jove, the case seems to be shaping up.” - -“It is shaping up to that extent,” Nick went on. “But Floyd is much too -keen and cautious to have figured openly in this robbery with such a -girl as Minerva Grand. There is a go-between, either a girl friend, or a -lover. That’s who we must find and get after.” - -“By Jove, I guess you are right,” Chick said, more gravely. - -“Sure thing!” put in Patsy. - -“We will take that chance,” Nick replied. “It is nearly a safe gamble, -too, that Floyd, after holding up McLauren as a pretended detective, -waited only for Bug Bannon to show up before he would release the -truckman.” - -“That’s how I sized it up,” Chick agreed. - -“You think Bannon is in the job, chief?” questioned Patsy, who had lost -part of what had been said in Waldmere’s library. - -“I do, Patsy.” - -“In what way?” - -“He probably was watching in the railway yard when the three cases were -taken away by others of the gang,” Nick explained. “Bannon then flew up -to Forty-eighth Street to covertly notify Floyd that the two men had got -safely away with their plunder.” - -“Gee! that seems reasonable.” - -“Floyd then released McLauren,” added the detective. “I suspected all -this when McLauren was telling his story.” - -“We’d better get after Bannon, then,” Chick suggested. - -“Both Bannon and Minerva Grand,” said Nick. “Both must be shadowed.” - -“That’s the stuff, chief.” - -“This is the girl’s afternoon and evening out, and she may have an -appointment with the suspected go-between. The gang will have learned -that we are on the case, of course, and may look to Minerva Grand to -find out what we make of it.” - -“They’ll get fat, chief, on what she can tell them,” laughed Patsy. - -“You had better follow up the girl, Chick, and be governed by -circumstances.” - -“That will suit me, Nick, all right,” Chick said agreeably. - -“Not having communicated openly with Floyd, and I having said nothing -about this at the Waldmere residence, Bannon naturally will not fear -that he is suspected,” Nick added. “Do you know him by sight, Patsy?” - -“Well, rather!” Patsy exclaimed expressively. “I know the face of every -rat of his kind from Harlem to the Battery.” - -“Get out in disguise, then, and see what you can accomplish,” Nick -abruptly directed. “I will begin a still-hunt for Floyd himself, in the -meantime, also for the two men who got away with the cases. This work -must be done in record time, mind you, or it will be all off with the -Waldmere plate.” - -“Record time goes!” cried Patsy, hastening to make ready. - -“By this time to-morrow, perhaps, unless we can prevent it, the melting -pot will have turned the priceless plate into ingots, precluding -identification, and which could be sold for good, hard cash,” Nick -declared, rising. “It’s up to us to head off that deviltry and round up -these crooks.” - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -ANGEL FACE. - - -Chick Carter was the first of the three detectives to leave home on the -work assigned him. Carefully disguised, Chick boarded a subway train and -arrived shortly before three o’clock in the neighborhood of the Waldmere -residence. - -Nick had made it a point to learn before leaving that morning that none -of the servants were in the habit of going out before three on the -afternoon and evening allowed them. - -Chick easily found a concealment from which he could watch both the side -and rear door of the house, from one of which he knew that Minerva Grand -would depart, if she availed herself of the privilege afforded. Though -inclined to agree with Nick, in that the latter’s suspicions were -correct, it seemed almost incredible to Chick that a girl of Minerva’s -appearance and bearing could willingly have a hand in any kind of crime. - -“She’s the most innocent-looking wisp of a girl I ever did see,” he said -to himself while surveying the doors and windows of the stately -residence. “She may have been lured into the job, or forced into it by -some means. It would be very like Stuart Floyd to take advantage of her -artlessness, knowing that she would be about the last to invite -suspicion. This afternoon and evening ought to settle it, at all -events.” - -There was no sign of Minerva Grand, however, at any of the windows. The -house appeared to have relapsed into its customary state of dignity and -repose. Nor in any direction, moreover, could Chick discover any other -person watching it, and he rightly inferred that the crooks felt -tolerably sure that the truth was not even suspected. - -His vigil proved to be longer than he anticipated. The minutes -lengthened into hours. Six o’clock came, but no sign of the suspected -girl, though Mrs. Waldmere’s maid had left the house soon after four. - -“It may be, by Jove, that she left before I arrived here,” thought -Chick, a bit impatient. “I’d better find out positively. I might -telephone to Mrs. Waldmere from the next house, or--ah, there comes a -light on the top floor. It may be in the girl’s room.” - -The sun had set and dusk was deepening to darkness. The light that had -caught Chick’s eye caused him to linger and watch. A moment later he saw -Minerva draw down the curtain, and he knew he had not waited vainly. - -“She may have been waiting for evening,” he said to himself. “She would -know, at least, that there is less risk than in daylight. Or she may -have an appointment for the evening, as Nick suspects.” - -Chick then had not long to wait. - -The light in the upper room suddenly vanished. Presently the side door -of the house was opened, and in the stream of light from the hall the -dainty figure of the girl appeared for a moment, only to be lost briefly -in the gloom of the vestibule after she closed the door. - -Chick then saw her trip lightly down the steps and out to the street, -clad in a trim jacket and a hat that only partly hid her abundance of -yellow hair. - -After turning the first corner, however, stealthily followed by the -detective, Minerva stopped short and took a voluminous veil from her -pocket, which she carefully tied over her hat and hair, then drew it -down until it completely hid her girlish face. - -“That does settle it,” thought Chick, constantly watching her. “She’s -off on some evil mission. Nick sized her up correctly, all right. She -evidently has no fear of being followed, which will make it all the -easier for me. By Jove, this seems like chasing a fairy. She can’t weigh -more than ninety pounds.” - -Minerva had started off again, with the detective after her. - -Ten minutes brought her to a subway station, where she took a downtown -train. - -Alighting at Forty-second Street, she walked briskly away and soon -brought up opposite a restaurant and concert hall having a somewhat -unenviable reputation. There she paused in a doorway to gaze over at the -lighted windows. - -“She’s looking for some one, or waiting for some one to show up,” -thought Chick, after briefly watching her. “I may get a line on the -party before her, by Jove, in case he already has arrived. She cannot -see from over there.” - -Minerva still was lingering in the doorway. - -Leaving the corner on which he had paused to watch her, Chick sauntered -into the place and bought a drink at the bar. - -Beyond the barroom, through a broad entrance adorned with potted palms, -was a large concert hall filled with numerous tables and with curtained -booths flanking the side walls. - -Patrons of the place were seated at many of the tables, eating, -drinking, and smoking. A score of waiters were hurrying to and fro. In -the rear of the hall an orchestra was playing popular airs. The noise -and stir were incessant. - -Gazing into the broad mirror back of the bar, Chick suddenly made a -discovery--a woman seated alone in one of the nearest booths. - -The curtains were partly drawn, and Chick would not have discovered her -save for the angle afforded by the mirror. - -“By gracious! there’s the connecting link,” he said to himself. “This -does settle it. Vera Vantoon, eh? That jade who figured with Stuart -Floyd in the looting of the loan company. She was hand and glove with -Floyd at that time, and it’s long odds that their intimacy has not -ended. This is the person for whom Minerva Grand is looking. She’s the -connecting link, all right. By Jove, I must contrive to overhear what -passes between them.” - -Chick was quick to take advantage of the girl’s delay in entering the -place, which he rightly inferred was due to diffidence and inexperience. - -Stepping back of the palms near the entrance to the concert hall, Chick -beckoned to one of the waiters then at the bar. He was a slender chap in -a starched cap and a long white apron, who appeared bright enough to -grasp a situation without having it hammered into him. - -“I am a detective, one of Nick Carter’s staff,” Chick quietly informed -him. “There is a woman in the third booth on this side of the hall. Have -you noticed her?” - -“Yes, sir,” nodded the waiter. “I serve at the tables nearest that -booth.” - -“Do you know her?” - -“Only by sight. She comes in here quite often.” - -“Can you get me a cap and apron like yours?” - -“Yes, by asking the manager.” - -“Where is he?” - -“The tall man near the end of the bar.” - -“What is his name?” - -“Scoville.” - -“Call him over here.” - -The waiter obeyed, returning with the manager, to whom Chick quickly -explained the situation and stated what he wanted. The mere mention of -Nick Carter’s name was sufficient to insure Scoville’s coöperation. - -“Why, sure thing,” he said, after listening. “I would only bite off my -own nose by refusing. Slip around the end of the bar, Mr. Carter, and -into my private room. I’ll fit you out in half a minute and be glad to -accommodate you in this matter.” - -Chick did as directed, gliding around into the manager’s office, unseen -by any in the concert hall. - -Half a minute later, wearing a cap and apron, he emerged and mingled -with the waiters, selecting that side of the room on which was the booth -in which Vera Vantoon was seated. - -The entire episode had transpired in less than five minutes, yet Chick -had hardly arrived near the booth mentioned, when he saw Minerva Grand -entering the concert hall with her veil partly raised. - -At he same moment, too, he saw Vera Vantoon thrust her hand between the -curtains of the booth and beckon to the approaching girl. - -Minerva passed him without so much as a glance and hurriedly entered the -booth. - -Chick edged nearer to it, remaining as stiff and staid as a wooden -Indian within three feet of the drawn curtains, there then being no -persons at the near tables for him to serve. - -Chick was near enough to hear the first words that came through the -curtains of the booth, and most of what followed when the voices of the -two women were lowered. - -“Hello, Angel Face!” Vera Vantoon exclaimed, clasping both hands of the -girl. “Heavens, but you were a long time getting here.” - -“Getting here!” echoed Minerva, evidently in nervous excitement. “The -getting here cuts no ice. I could have got here long ago. It’s where I’m -likely to get after leaving here. That’s what troubles me. I didn’t -think you would serve me such a trick, Vera. On my word, I didn’t.” - -Vera Vantoon laughed a bit coarsely in cold and mirthless fashion. - -“So you are wise to it, now, are you?” she replied. - -“How can I help being wise to it? I’ll never forgive you, Vera, never!” - -“Don’t be foolish, Angel Face,” returned the woman, still clasping the -girl’s hands. “I’ve done you the favor of your life. Think what you’re -to gain.” - -“A prison cell, mebbe.” - -“Rats! Nothing of that kind, Angel Face, take my word for it.” - -“Your word ain’t much good. You didn’t tell me the truth.” - -“About what?” - -“Why you wanted that list of boxes, and why I was to keep you posted as -to what the master and mistress were doing. I know all about it now. You -were planning to rob them.” - -“H’m, just so,” thought Chick, listening intently. “It’s as Nick -suspected. This simpleton has been lured blindly into the crime by a -designing woman. It was child’s play for Vera Vantoon.” - -The woman laughed again and slipped her arm around the girl’s waist. - -“What of it?” she replied, with voice lowered. “Don’t be frightened at -that. Think what you’re to gain by it. Do you want to be a servant and -slave the whole of your life? This little job will put you in right as -long as you live.” - -“But I’m scared out of my wits, Vera.” - -“Nonsense!” - -“I’m afraid we’ll be caught.” - -“Rats! How are you to be caught? Who would suspect you, Angel Face? Only -a clairvoyant would ever guess that you had a hand in it.” - -“I’m not so sure.” - -“Tell me all about it,” said Vera, who evidently had a powerful -influence over the girl. “That’s why I wanted you to meet me here -to-night. Tell me the whole business, all that took place to-day in the -house. I’ll see that nothing happens to you, Angel Face.” - -“You’ll have all you can do, you jade, to look out for yourself,” -thought Chick, a bit grimly. - -Yielding to the woman’s persuasive tongue, Minerva then proceeded to -state all that had transpired that morning in the Waldmere residence, in -so far as she knew and had been able to determine what it signified. - -Vera Vantoon listened with knit brows and drawn lips, slipping in a -question now and then, but for most part quietly absorbing all that the -misguided girl imparted. - -“Humph!” she grunted contemptuously, after the girl had finished. “So -Nick Carter is on the case, is he?” - -“That is the name of the man who questioned me,” nodded Minerva. - -“Well, we expected it,” sneered Vera. “He’ll get fat on this case.” - -“I’m afraid of him, Vera.” - -“You needn’t be,” said the woman. “He’ll never question you again. We’ll -look out for that. You’ll never see him again, Angel Face, take my word -for it.” - -“That sounds as if a job had been put up on Nick,” Chick said to -himself. “If they get by with it, now that I’ve got this she-devil under -my eyes, they will go some, all right.” - -It had become obvious to Chick that the girl had been a tool in the -hands of this woman, and that he would learn nothing more by playing the -eavesdropper then and there, Vera Vantoon confiding nothing to her -companion, who evidently was entirely ignorant of the identity of the -latter’s confederates. - -“They will separate after leaving here,” he said to himself. “The girl -will probably go straight home. There would be nothing for me in -remaining on her track. I’ll drop her and get after the woman.” - -Gliding noiselessly away from the position he had occupied. Chick -returned to the manager’s office and resumed his discarded garments. - -He then sauntered out to the bar again, from which he continued to watch -the booth, lest his own doings might have been observed by some spy in -league with the woman, who then would be warned of her danger. - -A furtive scrutiny for a few minutes convinced Chick, however, that Vera -Vantoon had come alone to keep the appointment, and he then returned to -the street to await her departure. - -Five minutes later both women came out and proceeded together as far as -the nearest corner, where they conversed briefly before separating. - -Minerva Grand drew down her veil and hurried away in the direction of a -subway station. - -“Bound home,” thought Chick. “Now for the woman.” - -Vera Vantoon did not take a conveyance. - -Glancing sharply around, she drew her cloak about her and walked rapidly -away, heading for Second Avenue and then toward one of the lowest -sections of the East Side. - -Ten minutes brought her into a narrow street, in one of the worst and -most congested precincts of the city, in so far as the buildings were -concerned. - -They were old and of the lowest type, crowded in nondescript fashion -into the foul territory they occupied, with a labyrinth of black alleys -running hither and thither among them, and forming a maze through which -crooks familiar with the surroundings could easily elude a pursuer, even -though nearly as well acquainted with the miserable quarters. - -“By Jove, she’s heading for the lair of her confederates,” thought -Chick, after stealthily following her into the narrow street. “It may -not be dead easy to trail her.” - -This became doubly apparent in a very few moments. There were but few -persons in the dismal street, which made it more difficult for Chick to -closely follow her. - -Her dark figure, too, could be seen only at intervals, when she passed -one of the blurs of light that relieved only feebly the prevailing -gloom. - -Suddenly, nevertheless, Chick saw her turn aside--and then he lost sight -of her. - -He waited with strained eyes for half a minute, but could not discover -her. - -“By Jove, I mustn’t let her give me the slip,” he muttered. “Better -arrest her than stand for that.” - -He darted on with the last, quickly reaching the spot where he last had -seen her. - -The woman had vanished as if the earth had swallowed her. - -Chick gazed sharply around and discovered the black entrance of an alley -between two gloomy buildings. - -“Hang it, she could not have gone in there,” he said to himself, -irritated by the threatening mishap. “She did not go as far as that, as -well as I could tell. It may be all off, by thunder, unless I can trace -her. I wish, now, that I had arrested both her and that yellow-haired -girl. It now looks bad, for fair.” - -Chick was looking in vain all the while for the vanished woman. - -It did not appear that she could have entered either of the buildings -near which he last had seen her. Both were shrouded in darkness. - -The only refuge to which she could have resorted appeared to be the -alley mentioned, and Chick felt reasonably sure that she had not gone as -far as that. - -He now turned in that direction, nevertheless, and crept into the gloomy -hole. It was so dark he scarce could see his hand before his face. He -reached into his pocket to get his searchlight. - -As he did so, he stumbled against something lying on the ground. - -He stooped and felt of it with his hand, suppressing a cry of surprise. - -He had stumbled against--the body of a man! - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -DOWN AND OUT. - - -Patsy Garvan, while Chick was engaged as described, was working out -another string of the bow by which Nick Carter was hoping not only to -save the Waldmere plate from the melting pot, but also to round up the -crooks who had stolen it. - -Patsy’s first move was to perfect a disguise that would have caused his -own wife not only to turn him down, but even to have fired him out of -the house, if he had dared venture into it. - -No more tough and sinister-looking a chap ever stood in leather, than -was Patsy Garvan when he appeared in a lower section of the Bowery about -four o’clock that afternoon. - -Patsy was not looking for Bug Bannon at that time. Though he knew the -notorious young gangster by sight, and many of the haunts in which he -might possibly be found, Patsy was bent upon working out a scheme of his -own by which to accomplish his chief’s object. - -The nature of it appeared soon after he entered an inferior saloon in -one of the side streets, a haunt of the disreputable, and where he -finally found the person he had been seeking. - -This was an infamous character by the name of John Flynn, though he was -much better known to his select circle of friends, and to the police, as -Pilot Flynn. He had obtained this sobriquet from the fact that his chief -vocation, if not his only one, was that of a steerer for stuss games and -other gambling joints, or, in other words, a pilot for such strangers as -could be artfully lured to their own undoing. - -Patsy had had a case against this fellow a month before, one that would -have sent him to Sing Sing. He had not pressed it, nor even arrested -him, however, because of the fact that Flynn associated at times with -two other crooks much wanted by Patsy and the police, and through whom -he hoped to discover them. - -It was about half past four when Patsy entered the saloon mentioned, and -he discovered Flynn eating free lunch from a table in the rear of the -long room. There were many others in the dive, and the entrance of Patsy -was hardly noticed. He threaded his way through the smoke-filled place -and brought up at Flynn’s elbow. - -“How are you, Pilot?” he said quietly. - -Flynn swung round and viewed him sharply through a pair of sinister, -beady black eyes. - -“What’s eating you?” he snarled under his breath, suspiciously. - -“Don’t know me, eh?” queried Patsy. - -“Not so you’d notice it.” - -“Well, don’t show any surprise when I tell you,” cautioned Patsy. “I’ve -been looking for you. I’m--whisper! Patsy Garvan.” - -Flynn’s hangdog face lost some of its color. He drew back, muttering an -oath, then quickly added: - -“Looking for me? You’re not----” - -“No, I’m not going to take you in,” put in Patsy. “Nothing of that -kind.” - -“What d’ye want, then?” Flynn asked, with a look of relief. - -“I want you to do something for me.” - -“What’s that?” - -“Come into the back room and I’ll order some booze,” said Patsy. -“There’s no one in there. I’ll tell you while we fire a ball or two.” - -This proposition suited Flynn to the letter, particularly since learning -that he was not to be arrested, but rather was in a fair way to acquire -further consideration on the part of the detective. - -“I’m with you,” he nodded. “That’s good enough for me.” - -Patsy led the way into a dingy rear room and rang for one of the -bartenders. He appeared in a moment and took the order, presently -returning with the drinks. Patsy paid him, and then closed the door, -drawing a chair to the bare table, at which Flynn had seated himself. - -“Now, Pilot, we’ll get down to business,” he said quietly, with an -assurance the other did not quite fancy. “When did you last see Bug -Bannon?” - -“I dunno,” said Flynn, crafty-eyed. “It must be a week, sure, since I -had me lamps on him.” - -“You’re pretty good friends, aren’t you?” - -“For all I know.” - -“You know you are,” said Patsy, a bit sharply. “Come across with -straight goods, now, or you’ll get all that’s coming to you. Are you -on?” - -“Sure.” - -“One word from me will send you up the river.” - -“I know that, Garvan,” Flynn grimly admitted. “What is it you want?” - -“I want to find Bug Bannon between now and dark. Do you know where to -look for him?” - -“I might find him for you. What’s up?” - -“I’m after a bunch that pulled off a robbery this morning.” - -“How does Bannon fit in?” - -“He’s in touch with them, and I want to nail them through him.” - -“Rats! He wouldn’t tell you,” said Flynn. “He’s no snitch. He wouldn’t -squeal if he was in the chair.” - -“That may be true, perhaps, but with your help I can get the information -I want, and very probably the crooks I am after,” said Patsy. “In other -words, Pilot, I want you to put me in right with Bannon.” - -“What’s that ‘in-right’ gag?” questioned Flynn distrustfully. “What d’ye -mean by that?” - -Patsy made no bones over explaining. - -“I want you to go with me and find Bannon,” he said curtly. “When we -have found him, you must introduce me to him as a particular pal of -yours, Sandy Glynn by name, and tell him that you knew me in Chicago. -Tell him that you owe me a special service, in return for something done -for you, and----” - -“Say! D’ye think I----” - -“Never mind what I think, Pilot,” Patsy interrupted. “You’re going to -do what I direct, and do it right up to snuff, or it’s you for the stone -house with the barred windows. Do you get me?” - -“Sure I get you,” growled Flynn, scowling darkly. “What more d’ye want?” - -“You must tell Bannon that I am wanted by the Chicago police, that -detectives are here after me for a burglary, and that you want him to -find a safe concealment for me, where I can lie low till the dicks have -gone. You must ask it as a special favor, making it plain that he is the -only one to whom you can turn to help you out. Hand it to him good and -strong, Pilot, for your liberty depends upon your making good. That’s -what I want of you--and all I want. I’ll do the rest.” - -Flynn’s face wore a look as black as midnight. He sat silent for a -moment, scowling daggers at the detective, and then he snarled bitterly -between his teeth: - -“Say! I’ll not do this.” - -“Oh, yes, you will,” Patsy quietly insisted. - -“You’re making a snitch of me, a dirty cur, a traitor to----” - -“Enough of that, Pilot,” Patsy interrupted. “You’re going to do it, and -do it up right--or you’re going with me! You know what that means.” - -“But Bug Bannon will knife me for it.” - -“No, he won’t. When I get through with him, he’ll be where he cannot do -any knifing.” - -“But----” - -“Besides,” Patsy again cut in, “he need never know but what you thought -you were acting on the level.” - -“How can that be?” - -“You can claim that you did know a crook named Sandy Glynn, and with -whom you were friendly in Chicago. You can insist that I was made up as -a marker for him, and that you did not dream that I was a detective. You -can get by all right with that story, even if you and Bannon do come -together again. He would swallow it, hands down, coming from you.” - -“That’s the worst of it, blast you!” Flynn snarled fiercely. “That’s why -I can’t do it.” - -“You’ve got to do it, Pilot. You’ll do it, or do time.” - -“That goes, does it?” questioned Flynn, hesitating. - -“You bet it goes!” - -“Suppose I make good, all right. Will you promise never to give me -away?” - -“Certainly.” - -“On the dead?” - -“You know me,” said Patsy. “My word is as good as a government bond.” - -“Mebbe ’tis, but I wish you were at the bottom of the East River,” Flynn -growled harshly. “But I’ll do it, hang you! I’ll do it to save my own -skin.” - -“With no monkey business, mind you,” cautioned Patsy. “That will be all -your life is worth.” - -“I’ll hand it to him right.” - -“Do you know where to find him?” - -“I can round him up between now and dark. That’s what you said.” - -“Come on, then,” said Patsy, rising. “Let’s lose no time about it.” - -Despite Flynn’s assurance, however, nearly three hours were spent in a -vain search before he finally found the gangster. - -Eight o’clock that evening saw all three seated around a small table in -a saloon in Second Avenue, on which several rounds of drinks already had -been served. - -Flynn had told his story and had put it fully as strong as Patsy Garvan -had directed. - -It appeared to have made a favorable impression upon Bannon, as also had -the disguised detective, who had played his part to the letter. - -“I know a place, all right, and a gang you’d fit in well with,” Bannon -finally said, in response to a suggestion from Patsy that he ought to -get under cover without delay. “There’s a guy among ’em you’d like to -meet. He’s the big finger of the bunch.” - -Patsy felt sure that he referred to Stuart Floyd. - -“That will suit me, Bug, and then some,” he assured the grinning rascal. -“You will always find me ready to hold my end up.” - -“That sounds good to me, Glynn, and the Pilot’s not likely to put me in -wrong in any way.” - -“I’ll be off, then, if you two ginks are going,” said Flynn, when Bannon -appeared willing to depart and take Patsy along with him. “I’ll see you -again to-morrow.” - -“Out the front way, Pilot,” Bannon replied, glancing toward the swinging -doors. “It’s the back way and the alley for us.” - -“So long, then!” - -Flynn arose with the last and hurried out of the place. He was glad to -get away. Though himself a crook and a steerer, the despicable part that -he had played was far from his liking. - -“We’ll be off, too, Sandy, if you’re ready,” Bannon then said quietly. - -“The sooner the better,” Patsy nodded. - -“Half a minute while I make sure the coast is clear.” - -Patsy waited, well pleased with the result of his subterfuge, and the -outlook that now appeared to insure his complete success. He was not -deterred for a moment by the thought that he was carrying his life in -his hand. - -Bannon sauntered into a back room, evidently being perfectly familiar -with the place and its surroundings. He returned to the door a moment -later and beckoned Patsy to follow him. - -“I’ve got him down pat, all right,” flashed through Patsy’s mind while -he complied. “He don’t so much as even scent a rat in the meal. If I can -only get next to Floyd and the rest of the gang--well, I can see their -finish.” - -Bannon conducted him out of a back door and around two old buildings in -the rear, which brought them into one of the crosstown streets. He then -headed for another section of the East Side--that to which Chick Carter -shadowed Vera Vantoon only a short time later. - -All the while Patsy kept up a quiet stream of talk, describing the -supposed burglary for which he was wanted, and in a way to further -impress Bannon, but never an inquisitive word to awaken a feeling of -distrust. - -Nevertheless, the unexpected happened, in so far as Patsy was concerned. - -Ten minutes brought them to the street in which Chick lost sight of his -quarry. - -“Keep your trap closed, now,” cautioned Bannon, as they were nearing the -alley previously mentioned. “I’ve got to give a signal in half a -minute.” - -“I’m dumb,” nodded Patsy, detecting no sign of treachery in the other’s -eyes. - -Bannon halted upon arriving at the entrance to the alley. He glanced up -and down the street, noting that it was deserted, and then he said -softly: - -“Wait here and watch out in that direction. We’ll sneak through the -alley in half a minute and----” - -Patsy heard no more. - -Involuntarily, as it were, he had turned his head to look in the -direction indicated by his companion. - -Bannon’s hand then leaped from his side pocket. It was gripping the -barrel of a revolver. It rose and fell like a flash, the butt of the -weapon landing with a sickening thud squarely on Patsy’s head. - -He went down and out and into dreamland as quickly and completely as if -felled with an ax. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -INTO A TRAP. - - -To one not versed in the detective’s art, the announcement of Nick -Carter that he was going on a still-hunt after Stuart Floyd would have -sounded like a vain and vaunting assertion. - -To hunt up one man among the million in New York, a man presumably aware -of the fact that he was wanted by the police, and therefore having a -potent incentive to keeping out of sight--to attempt to hunt up such a -man would seem to a novice a vain and hopeless undertaking. - -None knew better than Nick Carter, however, the underworld and the ways -of its crooks. - -Nick did not seek Floyd in any of the haunts to which such criminals -sometimes resort. He knew there would be nothing in that. - -He reasoned, however, that Floyd would leave no stone unturned to find -out what investigations were being made and what was known and suspected -about the robbery, and Nick was much too keen to overlook the -probability that the desired information might be covertly sought in the -railway yard, when Frank Gilbert and McLauren returned to the freight -car to remove the remaining cases. - -This required two trips by the couple, it being impossible to take them -away in a single load, and it was during their second visit to the car -that Nick put in an appearance--or, rather, did not put in an -appearance. - -For, without displaying any interest in the labors of the two men, or in -the contents of the car, Nick picked his way between several trains that -were sidetracked in that part of the yard, apparently seeking some other -car in which he had an interest. He was carefully disguised and felt -sure that he was safe from ordinary recognition. - -Nick had not long been thus engaged before he made a convincing -discovery. Peering under the long rows of freight cars, he saw beyond -that in which Gilbert and McLauren were working--the legs of a man. - -One fact alone convinced Nick that his immediate suspicions were -correct. The legs were motionless. The man was stationary. - -“The rascal is listening on the other side of the car from which the two -men are taking out the cases,” Nick said to himself, after briefly -watching what little he could see of the motionless figure. “The -opposite door must be closed and his presence is not suspected. He hopes -to hear Gilbert and the truckman discussing what occurred in the -Waldmere residence this morning, and what I said about the robbery. -Otherwise, he would not be standing there like a lay figure in a shop -window. I’ll have a closer look at him for a starter.” - -Passing around the trains under which he had been gazing, Nick speedily -reached a position from which he could view the suspect. - -He was not the type of man the detective had expected to see. He was -roughly clad and looked like a ragpicker. He had a short iron hook in -one hand and carried a partly filled burlap bag under his arm. - -His hair and beard were gray and long, his figure bowed, and he appeared -to be fully seventy years old. - -This questionable character, who had been standing just where the -detective had thought, looked up and saw Nick just as he appeared beyond -the end of the sidetracked train. - -He betrayed no fear, however, no inclination to run away. Instead, he -walked straight toward the detective, glancing under the cars and over -the ground, as if in search of bits of iron and junk, or anything else -with which he could turn a penny. - -He passed directly by Nick, with merely an indifferent glance at him, as -he might have bestowed upon any of the yard hands, and then he ambled on -with unsteady gait and sought the near street. - -Nick passed quickly around a string of cars and followed him. - -“Floyd himself, by Jove, or I am much mistaken,” he said to himself. -“The make-up is a good one, but I don’t think I can be mistaken in those -shifty gray eyes. Now to prevent his eluding me, if he even suspects my -identity.” - -There seemed to be no probability of the last. Without looking back, -walking as slowly and feebly as if really bowed with years, pausing at -intervals to peer into a rubbish barrel he was passing, or to prod into -it with his iron hook--thus the man proceeded toward the East Side, with -the detective cautiously following. - -Nick knew the district tolerably well at which his quarry finally -brought up, knew it to be one of the worst in the city. He was somewhat -surprised that Floyd, if he had not mistaken his identity, was seeking -such a locality, for he had been in the past a man of good taste and -fastidious habits. - -Nevertheless, constantly watching him, Nick saw the man turn suddenly -from the street and disappear between two old storage buildings. - -Nick was not in a mood to be given the slip, nor to stand upon ceremony -if threatened with anything of that kind. - -He had deferred arresting the man only with a view to trailing him until -he could discover his confederates, as well as the hiding place of the -stolen plate. - -Walking more rapidly, therefore, Nick quickly arrived at the alley into -which his quarry had disappeared. - -Still, he could not discover him. The alley ran through to a more open -area, in which there were several old sheds and hovels. Beyond them was -a small, square stone building of only two low stories and having a flat -roof. Its few narrow windows were protected with iron shutters, all of -which were closed and secured. The general appearance of the building -denoted that it once had been used for storing explosives of some kind -before municipal regulations prohibited it. - -It then appeared to be unoccupied and out of use, however, and directly -beyond it loomed the blank, windowless brick wall of a brewery fronting -on the next street. - -Nick lost no time in picking his way through the narrow alley. Even -then, he could not at first discover his man. Passing quickly around two -of the sheds mentioned, however, he then saw him in a small wooden -building near the stone structure described. - -The door of it was wide open, and the man was seated on a low stool -within, engaged in pulling a quantity of rags from his burlap bag and -tossing them upon a rag heap in one corner. - -For the first time, in view of all this, Nick began to fear that he had -mistaken the man’s identity. This seemed even more probable in that he -did not appear disturbed by the approach of the detective, merely -looking up with a questioning stare when he paused at the open door. - -“How’s the rag business, old man?” Nick inquired, a bit bluntly. - -“Bad--vair bad!” was the reply, with a cracked and cackling voice. - -“Little doing, eh?” - -“Vair liddle. Nodding at all.” - -“Is this where you store your stuff?” questioned Nick, stepping inside -the low building. - -“Ven I have anyding to store.” - -“How long have you been here?” - -“Vell, not long. I just game in.” - -“How long, I mean, have you had this place for your business?” - -“Vat is it to you?” came the question, with a sharper scrutiny. “Vat for -you vish to know?” - -“Merely from curiosity,” said Nick, drawing nearer to him. “I saw you in -the railway yard a short time ago, didn’t I?” - -“I vas dere,” nodded the man. “You have eyes. Mebbe you might have saw -me.” - -Nick laughed a bit grimly. - -“I saw you, all right,” he replied, with rather ominous intonation. “Do -you go there after rags?” - -“Junk,” was the terse rejoinder. - -“That all?” - -“Vat all?” questioned the man, looking up sharply. “Vat for do you care -vy I go dere?” - -“Merely from curiosity,” Nick repeated. - -“Vell, you vas better pocket your curiosity,” snapped the other. -“Junk--that’s vat I said.” - -“I heard you.” - -“For vat else would I go dere?” - -“That’s what I want to know,” Nick said more sternly. - -“Vell, you dake it out in vanting.” - -“See here, old man, this hair of yours don’t appear quite----” - -Nick broke off abruptly. - -He had reached down while speaking and seized the man’s soiled woolen -cap and mop of gray hair, giving them a violent jerk. - -They came away in his hand, while the gray beard of the bowed rascal was -torn out of place. - -The result was precisely what the detective had expected. - -The removal of the disguise revealed the pallid face and distorted -features of the knave who had threatened him in Madison Avenue only a -few days before, those of Stuart Floyd. - -Floyd evidently was expecting no less. - -In reality, he appeared to have planned for it. Like a flash, lurching -forward from his stool while Nick was speaking, he suddenly threw both -arms with viselike clutch around the detective’s legs, at the same time -shouting, with frantic ferocity: - -“Now, boys, quick! Get him! Get him! Get him!” - -Nick Carter hardly knew where they came from, they came so quickly--the -three ruffians who rushed into the place. - -Two were powerful fellows in the neighborhood of forty, both armed with -heavy bludgeons. That they meant business, moreover, and were out for -bloodshed or murder, even, if it became necessary, was speedily -apparent. - -Nick realized on the instant that he had walked into a trap, an ambush -from which escape would not be easy. - -He reached for his revolver, bent upon putting up the fight of his life, -but he could not draw the weapon. - -For the frantic rascal on the floor, fiercely clutching Nick’s legs, was -wriggling to and fro so furiously that the detective was nearly thrown -from his feet. - -All the while, though the entire episode transpired in less than a -quarter minute, Floyd was fiercely repeating: - -“Get him, boys, get him! Get him! Get him!” - -There was absolutely no occasion for these sanguinary commands. - -For the ruffians who had entered instantly attacked the swaying -detective from behind. They fell upon him like wolves upon a wounded -stag. - -Blow followed blow in quick succession, with merciless force, until Nick -sank, dazed and bleeding, upon the floor, scarce conscious of what -afterward transpired. - -In a vague way, however, as one senses such things in a dream, or a -hideous nightmare, Nick knew that he was being hurriedly bound and -robbed of his revolvers. He heard the brutal voices of his assailants, -but they sounded faint to him and far away. - -He knew, in a dazed way, that the great heap of rags was hurriedly -pushed aside, that a trapdoor which they had concealed was quickly -opened, and that he then was hurriedly carried down several low steps -and through a dark, earthy-smelling passage, then up other steps, and -into a stone-walled room lighted only by the feeble rays of an oil lamp. - -Then the cobwebs began to clear from his battered head. - -He heard Floyd’s hard voice more distinctly, as harsh and hard as nails. -He could see the faces of his assailants more plainly, the two brutal -ruffians, and the third none other than Bug Bannon. - -“Get out, Bagley, and close the shed door,” Floyd then was commanding. -“You slip out, Bannon, and make sure no other dicks are around, and that -none else is wise to this. Rope him to that ring in the wall, Gorman, -hands behind him, and be sure that he’s tied fast.” - -“Leave that to me,” growled the ruffian. - -“I told him I’d get him,” Floyd added, in fierce exultation. “I warned -him, damn him, to beware of the melting pot! I warned him! I told him -I’d get him--and, curse him, now I’ve got him!” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE MELTING POT. - - -Nick Carter never forgot the scene at which he helplessly gazed later -that evening. - -He was seated on a bare earth floor, within four grim stone walls, to an -iron ring in one of which he was securely bound. - -Two narrow windows in the side walls were closed with tight-fitting iron -shutters, precluding the escape of a ray of light from within. - -The ceiling was crossed with great faded beams, between which could be -seen the chinks of a square trapdoor, showing that there was a room -above. A narrow wooden stairway in one corner led up to it. - -In one of the end walls was a door covered with sheet iron, closed and -securely locked. Near by was an excavation leading into the narrow -underground passage, through which Nick had been carried by his -assailants, and which evidently had been quite recently made from the -rag shed to this secret refuge of the outlaws into whose hands the -detective had fallen. - -In a pile at one side of the room were numerous articles in cloth -wrappings, some of which were partly displaced. Through these could be -seen the glitter of yellow metal, and the dull luster of tarnished -silver. - -Obviously, these parcels had been brought there secretly and separately, -or a few at a time, by the thieves then in possession of them. - -There could be no mistaking what all this was--the contents of the three -stolen cases--the valuable Waldmere plate. - -In a temporary brick structure in the middle of the earth floor a coal -fire was fiercely burning, forced by a bellows thrust through the low -brickwork. - -Above it, suspended from an iron frame, hung a heavy caldron, with a -long ladle in it--and a quantity of silverware that was being rapidly -melted. - -In the earth floor near one of the walls were numerous rectangular -holes, molds for receiving the melted metal, and from some of which the -silver ingots already had been pulled with an iron hook, to make room -for more of the costly fluid. - -The room was almost as hot as an oven, and perspiration stood in great -drops on the faces of the three men then at work there--Floyd, Bagley, -and Gorman. - -Nick Carter had been sternly watching them for some time. He had found -that he had solved more than the mystery of the stolen Waldmere plate. - -He had known for weeks of numerous plate robberies from the dwellings of -wealthy suburban residents, till it had become a question in the minds -of the police as to who were committing the crimes and how so much plate -was disposed of successfully. - -It no longer was a question in Nick Carter’s mind. He knew, now, that he -was in the secret quarters of the gang, and where Floyd had been and how -employed since the looting of the Imperial Loan Company. - -“Go up, Gorman, and open that trapdoor,” Floyd suddenly commanded, -wiping his dripping face and glancing up at the ceiling. “Then some of -this infernal heat will go into the loft.” - -“So ’twill,” nodded Gorman, red and glowing. “We’ve forgotten that.” - -He hastened up the stairway to obey, and Nick presently saw the square -trapdoor raised and laid over on the upper floor. - -Gorman leered down at him for a moment before returning. - -Nick ignored him, however, but then said to Floyd, resuming a -conversation that had ended when the miscreants began the work now -engaging them: - -“You’ll suffer more heat than this, Floyd, for this night’s work. Take -my word for that.” - -“Not in this world,” Floyd replied, with a sneer. - -“No, in the next.” - -“I’m not going that way just now.” - -“You’ll go sooner or later.” - -“I’ll take chances on the heating system, Carter, all the same,” Floyd -said scornfully. “I’ll get none the worst of it because of anything you -have accomplished.” - -“Don’t be so sure of that.” - -“Rats! We’ve got safely away with stuff, as I gave you a hint when I -last saw you. We’ve got you, too, as I warned you. All this ought to -convince you, Carter, that I’m not to be easily cornered.” - -“Nor am I easily convinced on so doubtful a point. You’ll get yours in -time,” Nick sternly predicted. - -“You already are getting yours,” Floyd retorted, laughing derisively. - -“Perhaps.” - -“I warned you that I’d get you for having put me to the bad. You thought -you were keen and clever when you picked me up in the railway yard. You -picked up a live wire.” - -“Very well.” - -“Why, you bonehead, did you think I would not anticipate your seeking me -there? I knew you would get after me in that way. I went there only to -trap you.” - -“That now appears quite obvious,” Nick said dryly. - -“I knew that you would recognize me and follow me,” Floyd went on, with -malicious satisfaction. “I had the trap all laid. You are a fall guy, -Carter, all right. I knew you’d walk into it.” - -“It has not occurred to you, perhaps, that I did so with open eyes,” -Nick said pointedly. - -“Bunk!” sneered Floyd. “Tell that to the marines. Why would you have -done that?” - -“Merely to get a line on you rascals.” - -“At the risk of your life, eh?” - -“Certainly. That’s not uncommon,” said Nick. - -“Rot!” Floyd glared at him doubtfully. “If you walked into it with your -eyes open, Carter, we’ll make mighty sure to close them for you. You’ll -keep them closed, too. Take my word for that.” - -“Let it go at that, then,” Nick said indifferently. - -All the while, in grim amusement over this colloquy, Gorman and Bagley -continued their work of melting the silver plate and pouring it into the -earth molds. - -The seething caldron glowed with the heat. - -The fire burned intensely under it, forced by the wheezy bellows. - -It was like a scene in the infernal regions. - -The melting pot was getting in its work. - -Floyd appeared to be making good. - -Seeing him tear the cloth wrapping from a magnificent piece of gold -plate, superbly embossed and engraved, Nick frowned more darkly and -asked: - -“Are you going to melt all of that gold plate, Floyd?” - -“You can bet I’m going to melt it.” - -“That’s a sacrilege.” - -“Call it what you like.” - -“Such plate could not be replaced in these days. That was the work of -some of the finest goldsmiths in Europe. You can do better than melt it, -Floyd,” Nick earnestly protested, anxious to save the fine old plate -from destruction, if possible. - -“How better?” questioned Floyd curiously. - -“By selling it back to Waldmere,” said Nick. “He would pay thrice the -intrinsic value of the metal.” - -“Think he would, eh?” - -“I am sure of it.” - -“That’s a good scheme, then, no doubt.” - -“You had better adopt it and save the plate.” - -“Mebbe I had, Carter, but I’ll do nothing of the kind. The risk is too -great.” - -“Don’t let that deter you,” Nick insisted. “A man as clever as you could -safely make the deal and realize what the stuff is worth. You’d get by, -all right.” - -“I’ll get by, Carter, and you can bank on it,” Floyd asserted -confidently. “But I shall stick to the safe road. I’ll put this stuff -into shape that can be easily turned into cash. It will pay us -handsomely enough, all right,” he added, with an exultant leer. - -“That’s no pipe dream,” growled Bagley, with eyes glowing. “It beats any -stuff of the kind that I ever lamped. It ought to bring----” - -He broke off abruptly when a low, peculiar whistle fell upon his ears. -Though instantly recognized, he instinctively reached for his revolver. - -“It’s Bannon,” snapped Floyd quickly. “Bannon or Vera.” - -“Sure!” put in Gorman, gazing. - -This was verified in a moment by the appearance of Bannon from the -tunnel leading from the rag shed. - -He came out of the ground like an imp out of Hades, with an evil gleam -in his narrow eyes, and obviously in some excitement. - -“Say, Floyd, I’ve been up against it,” he cried at once. “I’ve been -double-crossed by a scurvy whelp, who would have thrown us all down and -into the hands of the dicks.” - -“Whom do you mean?” Floyd demanded, staring at him. - -“Pilot Flynn.” - -“That cur!” - -“Gee! Wait till I get back at him,” Bannon fiercely threatened. “I’ll -pepper him as full of holes as a sieve.” - -“What do you mean?” snapped Floyd. “Tell me.” - -Bannon hastened to do so, describing the subterfuge of Patsy Garvan and -stating what had followed. - -It brought a murderous light into Floyd’s eyes, while uglier scowls -settled on the sweaty faces of Gorman and Bagley. - -Nick Carter, listened with some misgivings, also, though he still felt -quite that Patsy would yet contrive to accomplish what he had -undertaken. - -“But what led you to suspect?” Floyd questioned. “What put you wise to -the game?” - -“I wasn’t wise, only suspicious, and I knocked him out to make sure,” -Bannon quickly explained. “I made sure, too, all right.” - -“How so?” - -“Here’s his barker and a pair of bracelets,” said Bannon, producing -them. “I knew his mug, all right, after I had downed him. He’s one of -this dick’s push. His name is Patsy Garvan.” - -Floyd swung around and glared at the detective. - -“What do you know about this, Carter?” he demanded. - -“I’m not telling all I know,” Nick bluntly answered. - -“You’re not, eh?” - -“Not is right.” - -“By Heaven, I’ll find a way to make you,” Floyd harshly threatened. “I’m -going to find out just where we stand, or----” - -“Easy!” Bannon turned like a flash, then added quickly: “Oh, it’s only -the skirt. It’s Vera.” - -She came by the same way as Bannon, with her skirts drawn around her to -avoid the earthy walls, and with a look of alarm in her evil black eyes. - -“Who’s the stiff in the alley?” she asked abruptly, with a startled -glance at the detective. - -“Still there, is he?” Floyd quickly questioned, instead of explaining. - -“Yes.” - -“He’ll lie still for some time to come,” Bannon viciously predicted. “I -gave it to him good and strong.” - -“And I’ll see that you get yours, in return,” thought Nick, far from -daunted by his own threatening situation. - -“You ought to have downed him earlier, farther from here,” said Floyd, -doubtfully shaking his head. - -“Why so?” - -“He may get wise.” - -“Rats!” sneered Bannon curtly. “What can he make of it? He don’t know -why I came this way, nor which way I went after dropping him. He’ll get -fat trying to trail me from where I left him.” - -“Well, what’s on your mind?” asked Floyd, turning to the woman again, to -whom Bagley had hurriedly explained the situation. “Have you seen the -girl, as you planned?” - -“Want it in his hearing?” questioned Vera, with another glance at Nick. - -“Why not?” snapped Floyd. “He cuts no ice, now that we have him where we -want him. We’ll finish him, along with this other good work, before -morning.” - -“That will be the safest way,” Nick coolly advised. - -“Leave that to us.” - -“That’s what I am doing--under protest.” - -“Have you seen the girl?” Floyd repeated, again turning to Vera Vantoon. - -“Sure, I’ve seen her,” Vera nodded. - -“Were you expected?” - -“That’s what. I can always bank on Angel Face.” - -“Angel Face!” thought Nick, with a quick thrill of satisfaction. “She -refers to Minerva Grand, as sure as I’m a foot high. Things are looking -up. It’s money to marbles that Chick shadowed the girl, then dropped her -to follow this woman. He would not have forgotten her and her past -relations with Stuart Floyd. He cannot be far from here. There’ll be -something doing presently that will give these rascals the surprise of -their lives.” - -Nick did not for a moment think that Chick would have lost sight of this -woman. - -Now replying to Floyd’s inquiry, Vera Vantoon told him of her meeting -with Minerva, and reported in detail the information the girl had -imparted. - -Some of the color faded from Floyd’s face while he listened. - -Those of Bug Bannon, Bagley, and Gorman took on more serious -expressions. - -“What the devil did he want of hot water and a spoon?” Bannon -suspiciously demanded, addressing Floyd. “What kind of a test could he -have wanted to make?” - -“I’ll be hanged if I know.” - -“It don’t go down, not down my throat,” Bannon growled. “He had some -other object. He may be putting something over that we don’t know -about.” - -“I’ll darned soon find out!” cried Floyd, with eyes blazing. “What was -it, Carter? What was your game?” - -“You’ll not find out from me,” Nick curtly answered. - -“Won’t I?” - -“Not by a long chalk.” - -“We’ll see!” thundered Floyd, lifting from the melting pot the ladle -half filled with liquid silver. “You answer! You tell me! Out with -it--or I’ll pour this down your infernal neck!” - -He meant what he said--and he looked it. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -DEAD ASHES. - - -Chick Carter whipped out his searchlight, crouching above the prostrate -man he had found in the alley. - -At the same moment a low moan broke from the victim of Bug Bannon’s -treacherous assault. Patsy’s head was harder than the cowardly young -ruffian had thought. Patsy was fast on his way to reviving. - -The glare from the searchlight fell on his upturned face, and a low cry -of dismay came from Chick. - -“Great guns!” he muttered. “It’s Patsy.” - -Patsy heard him, and the sound of the familiar voice was like a -stimulant. It brought him completely out of dreamland. - -“Oh, it’s you, Chick,” he said faintly. “Gee! that was a hard crack on -the bean--but I’m still in the ring.” - -Chick heard him with a thrill of relief. - -“By Jove, I thought you were done up, Patsy,” he replied, raising him to -a sitting position. “How are you feeling?” - -“Better every second. I’ll be on my pins in a minute.” - -“What happened? How did it occur?” Chick inquired. - -It took Patsy only a few moments to inform him, and for Chick to state -how he had discovered Vera Vantoon and afterward lost sight of her. -Before they had finished, Patsy was on his feet, but with a look of -disgust on his rather pale face. - -“Hang it, then, we’ve lost both of them,” he said dubiously. “What’s to -be done? The chief may be in dead wrong by this time.” - -“The fact that both of them vanished in this locality is significant,” -Chick replied. “If only one had come here, I might think nothing of it. -Under the circumstances, however, it’s ten to one that the gang has -quarters in this section.” - -“Gee! there’s something in that,” said Patsy, quick to see the point. -“In one of these old buildings, perhaps.” - -“Are you fit for a search?” asked Chick, still a bit anxious. - -“As fit as a fiddle,” Patsy assured him. - -“Take one of my revolvers, then,” said Chick, giving it to him. “We may -run foul of some one.” - -“I’ll be ready for him. I hope it may be that whelp that downed me. I -can see where he’d get his.” - -Chick laughed softly. - -“Come on,” he muttered, leading the way. “We’ll steal through the alley -and have a look at the back of these buildings.” - -Patsy followed him. - -For something like five minutes they searched cautiously and noiselessly -back of the gloomy buildings and between the sheds and hovels, but could -find in the darkness no trace of the vanished rascals, no clew to their -whereabouts. - -They then had brought up near the rag shed in which Nick had found the -disguised crook, and some twenty yards from the grim and gloom-shrouded -stone building. - -“Gee! this don’t look good to me!” Patsy whispered, at Chick’s elbow. -“They sure have given us the slip.” - -“It does look so,” Chick quietly admitted. - -“There isn’t a sign of light from any of these miserable cribs. It ought -to find its way out through some chink or nail hole, if they are under -cover in any of them.” - -“True.” - -“We had better----” - -“Hush! Stop a bit.” - -“What now?” Patsy whispered, noting the changed expression on Chick’s -face. - -“There’s something doing.” - -“What do you mean?” - -“Look there.” - -Chick pointed to the stone building, not to its grim walls and black -windows, from which not a twinkle of light could be seen--but higher, to -a point above its low, flat roof. - -In the middle of it was a scuttle and glass skylight--and Stuart Floyd -had made one mistake that was to bring disaster. - -In opening the trapdoor in the ceiling, which was nearly directly above -the melting pot, he had forgotten the skylight in a line with the -trapdoor. - -Chick and Patsy had not, till then, looked up in that direction for a -clew. - -Now, however, both could see the faint glow that came up from below and -stood out in relief, as it were, against the surrounding night gloom. - -It was like the glow shed out from the open door of a brightly lighted -hall. - -“Holy smoke!” Patsy muttered, with a quick thrill. “There’s some one in -the old stone crib.” - -“More than one, Patsy, I suspect,” Chick whispered. - -“Can we get in?” - -“Wait here while I have a look.” - -“Go ahead.” - -Chick glided away in the darkness, presently returning. - -“I don’t think we can get in on the ground floor,” he said quietly. “The -door and window shutters are of sheet iron, and all are securely -closed.” - -“Gee! that sure smacks of something doing.” - -“I’m convinced of it, now.” - -“Could you hear anything from inside?” - -“Not a sound,” said Chick. “There is a way, however, by which we can -look in.” - -“You mean?” - -Chick pointed toward the roof. - -“There’s a skylight,” he said quietly. - -“Must be,” Patsy tersely agreed. “But how can we get up there?” - -“It’s not more than eighteen feet to the edge of the roof. I climbed -over several planks back here that are that long.” - -“Gee whiz!” exclaimed Patsy, elated. “I’ve got you. We can lean one of -the planks against the rear wall and get up there by means of it.” - -“Easily.” - -“We’ll not be heard, either, through that stone wall.” - -“Not if we are careful.” - -“Come on,” whispered Patsy impatiently. “Let’s get the plank.” - -It did not take them long to find one that would serve their purpose, -nor to lug it to the rear of the low building and place at an angle -against the stone wall. It reached within a foot of the edge of the -roof, and that was more than ample. - -“Shoes off, Patsy,” whispered Chick. - -Both were ready within half a minute. - -In another minute both were crouching on the roof. - -Noiselessly they crept to the skylight and gazed down through the -trapdoor on the red-glowing scene below. - -“Thundering guns!” whispered Patsy, staring. “The rats are there, all -right. They are melting a lot of silver plate.” - -“Part of the Waldmere plate.” - -“Surest thing you know.” - -They could not see Nick, owing to the location of the trap in the upper -floor, but while listening intently--they heard him addressed by Floyd -and his name mentioned. - -“Holy smoke!” Patsy then whispered. “They’ve got the chief.” - -“I heard,” Chick nodded, feeling over the skylight. - -“Hadn’t we better get help and force an entrance?” - -“Floyd might send a bullet into Nick, in that case, before he could be -prevented. There’s a better way.” - -“What way?” - -Chick held up one of the small panes of the skylight. He had found the -putty dry and crumbling, and, after a moment, he had quietly removed the -pane. Feeling through the opening, he then found that he could release -the hook that secured the scuttle. - -“That upper floor is less than seven feet below the skylight,” he -whispered. “We can let ourselves down to it without a drop. The noise -down there will prevent our being heard, providing we are careful. There -must be a stairway to the lower floor. We can steal down and hold up the -whole gang.” - -Patsy nodded his approval. - -“Better way is right,” he murmured. “It looks like soft walking.” - -“It will enable us to protect Nick, also.” - -“That’s the stuff. Safety first.” - -“Are you ready?” - -“Ready as a trivet.” - -Working cautiously and deliberately, Chick succeeded in lifting the -skylight without making a sound, and he laid it over on the roof. - -“I’ll go first, Patsy,” he murmured. - -Patsy merely nodded. - -Chick let himself over the sill, then grasped the frame of the scuttle -and lowered himself till his feet touched the floor some eighteen inches -from the trapdoor. - -Patsy followed him. - -The scene below was, indeed, one that diverted the attention of the -crooks from anything overhead. - -It was at that very moment that Stuart Floyd, fiercely threatening the -detective, had seized the ladle of liquid silver from the melting pot -and was approaching with the evident intention of making good his -infamous threat. - -Chick Carter did not give him time to do so. - -His revolver was out on the instant and its report rang like thunder -above all other sounds. - -Floyd went to the floor with a bullet in his shoulder, and the ladle -fell from his lax hand. - -Chick dropped to the edge of the trapdoor and thrust the smoking weapon -through it. - -“Hands up!” he yelled fiercely. “Up with them! He’ll be a dead man who -stirs!” - -Patsy had darted toward the dimly lighted stairway and already was -nearly down. - -“Dead man is right!” he shouted, weapon leveled. “Move foot or finger, -man or woman, and I’ll shoot to kill!” - -Without exception, the several crooks had knuckled to the sudden -startling situation. As a matter of fact, they supposed the building was -surrounded and that a posse of police were breaking in on them. Once -their hands were up, however, it was all over but the shouting, as Patsy -afterward said. - -Within five minutes the crooks were secured, Floyd among them, he having -suffered only a flesh wound. - -Half an hour later all were in the Tombs, including Minerva Grand, the -first step toward the punishment they deserved. - -Midnight saw the priceless plate, or that most cherished by Waldmere, -taken safely into his residence--and thus, crowning with complete -success the splendid work of Nick Carter and his assistants, the -sensational case ended. - -The fire under the melting pot had become dead ashes. - - -THE END. - -Notwithstanding the fact that Floyd and his gang had apparently been -rounded up, Nick Carter and his associates were to have yet more trouble -with this gang of blackmailers, crooks, and thieves. You will learn -about these later developments in “The Duplicate Night; or, Nick -Carter’s Double Reflection,” which you will find in the next issue, No. -141, of the NICK CARTER STORIES, out May 22d. Then, too, there will be -the usual installment of the serial, together with other special -articles which you will enjoy. - - -“TURN TO THE JURY, SIR!” - - -Some years ago a witness was being examined in a case of slander, when -the judge required him to repeat the precise words spoken. - -The witness hesitated until he riveted the attention of the whole court -upon him; then fixing his eyes earnestly on the judge, began: - -“May it please your honor, ‘you lie and steal and get your living by -stealing!’” - -The face of the judge reddened, and he immediately exclaimed: - -“Turn to the jury, sir!” - - - - -Where’s the Commandant? - -By C. C. WADDELL. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE GLINT IN THE DARKNESS. - - -Colonel Vedant and his adjutant, Captain Ormsby Grail, hurried down to -the Dolliver Foundry, one of the large industrial plants along -Brantford’s bustling seven miles of water front, in response to an -urgent message from Otto Schilder, manager of the plant. It was ten -o’clock at night, but as the Dolliver people were turning out some -castings for a wireless telegraph mast of new design, to be erected at -Fort Denton, and required frequent consultations with the commandant, -there seemed nothing especially strange in the request. - -On the arrival of the officers, however, they learned, to their -surprise, that there was no desire for the colonel’s presence, and the -manager flatly disclaimed having sent for him. The old soldier stared -incredulously, his somewhat florid face taking on a deeper flush behind -his gray military mustache. - -“Pardon me, Mr. Schilder”--he made little effort to conceal his -irritation--“but do I understand you to say that it would have been -impossible for any such message to be sent me from the foundry this -evening?” - -The manager removed his cigar, and rose from his desk to face the other. - -“Positively so, colonel.” He spoke emphatically, and with a slight -German accent. “There has been nobody in the office since six o’clock -except myself and Miss Griffin”--with a wave of the hand toward his -stenographer--“and we have been wholly engrossed in making up some -arrears in correspondence.” - -“You hear, Grail?” The colonel turned toward his adjutant. “Are you -responsible for this blunder? Got the name twisted, or something of that -sort, eh?” - -“Hardly, sir.” The younger officer appeared no less perplexed than his -superior, but his tone was one of firm conviction. “The note was written -on a letterhead of the Dolliver Foundry, and was ostensibly from Mr. -Schilder; I am familiar with his signature. As to the contents, I could -not well have been mistaken. You remember, I read the message over to -you twice. The contents make small difference, anyhow, since Mr. -Schilder denies having sent us a communication of any sort.” - -“Small difference,” admitted the colonel, “except as offering a possible -clew to the perpetrator of this hoax, for it cannot well be anything -else, unless, indeed----” He paused abruptly, the umbrage he had shown -giving way to something like concern. “Come, captain!” He addressed his -companion a trifle peremptorily, at the same time backing toward the -door. “We are detaining Mr. Schilder. Permit us to apologize for the -interruption, sir, and let us----” - -At this point, a remarkable thing happened. The electric lights went -out, cutting short the colonel’s apology, and shrouding not only the -office, but the foundry yard outside in darkness. - -For a moment Grail was absolutely blinded; then, as his vision cleared -and the square of the open doorway became faintly visible, he saw cut -across it a tiny flash of fire like the glow of a lightning bug in -flight. No other sight or sound punctuated the interval, and almost -immediately the lights came on again. - -“Ah!” Schilder blinked before the sudden radiance. “The dynamo must have -slipped a belt, or----” He halted, with a little gasp. “Why,” he -exclaimed, “what has become of the colonel?” - -It was certainly astonishing. Not one of the three other occupants of -the room had stirred. Grail and the manager stood in exactly the same -position as before, and the stenographer still sat at her table with her -fingers resting on the keys of her typewriter, but the colonel was gone. - -With a common impulse, the two men stepped swiftly to the door, and -glanced out across the yard. There had not been sufficient time for any -one to cross it and reach the gate, yet the colonel was nowhere to be -seen, and his erect, soldierly figure could not possibly have gone -unrecognized in that wide-open space, and under the glare of the half -dozen or more arc lamps now brightly burning. Nor could there be any -question of his having strayed from the direct path in the darkness and -being now hidden from their view by a pile of rubbish or material, for -the inclosure was remarkably free from obstruction. Indeed, the last of -what had been a towering scrap heap was being cleaned up, and, with the -aid of an electric crane, loaded on cars by the force of men then at -work. - -“Well, what do you know about that!” Schilder muttered. Then, closely -followed by Grail, he hurried across the yard to interrogate the old -watchman at the gate. But the latter was firm in his protestation that -no one had passed him. Even with the yard lights all out, he could -still, he declared, have seen anybody leaving the place by the -illumination from the street lamp on the corner. - -“Then,” said Grail, “he must have gone out some other way.” - -The manager waved his hand significantly toward the high board fence -which completely surrounded the yard, and which was topped with sharp -spikes to keep out pilferers. There was but one exit--the gate at which -they had already made inquiry; the big doors leading into the foundry -building were barred and padlocked. - -“Perhaps he is still in the office,” ventured Grail. “He might have had -a seizure of some kind in the darkness, you know, and fallen behind a -piece of furniture.” - -But even as he voiced the suggestion he realized its utter absurdity. -Schilder’s office contained nothing except the desk which could have -concealed the body of a man, and the desk was pushed back close against -the wall. Nevertheless, they made an inspection of the place, but -entirely without result. Then, when the manager called in every man -working in the yard, and questioned him, to no purpose, the searchers -seemed to have come to the end of their tether. - -“But it is preposterous, you know!” exclaimed Grail, attempting to throw -off his misgivings. “There is, of course, some absolutely simple -explanation, and the colonel is, no doubt, out at the post by this time, -swearing about me for not putting in an appearance. May I use your -telephone, Mr. Schilder?” - -Inquiry at the fort elicited that Colonel Vedant had not returned, and -no information regarding him could be gained from his quarters, the -club, or any of his customary haunts. When Grail had gone through the -entire list, and called up the post again, only to receive the same -negative answer, he made no effort to conceal his growing anxiety. A -suspicion of foul play strengthened in his mind. “If not that,” he -asked, “why should the colonel, of his own accord, disappear in this -absurdly mysterious manner? Colonel Vedant is not the sort of man to be -waylaid or carried off without making at least a show of resistance, and -I certainly heard no outcry or sound of a struggle. Did you?” - -Schilder shook his head. “No, no; there’s nothing in that,” he said -impatiently. “How, please tell me, could such a scheme have been planned -in advance, and put into effect, when we allow no strangers hanging -around here under any pretext? But, overlooking all that,” he argued, -“and even granting that the old gentleman might have been knocked out by -the sudden, silent blow of a blackjack or sandbag, how was he so quickly -spirited away? The lights were out hardly more than long enough for one -to draw a deep breath--surely not a sufficient time to get farther than -ten or twelve steps from the door. Is it possible that with all those -yard lights going again, the colonel could have been dragged or carried -the length of the inclosure, and none of the men at work out there have -noticed it?” - -Grail made no immediate answer. He stepped to the door, and, leaning -over, narrowly inspected the cinder-covered ground about the threshold. -But no marks or footprints indicating a struggle rewarded his searching -gaze; the surface was absolutely undisturbed. Then, all at once, he -espied, a foot or two away, a small object. He glanced back over his -shoulder, and, seeing that Schilder had turned to address a word of -direction to the stenographer, reached out and quickly transferred it to -his pocket. - -It was a half-smoked cigarette--a cigarette of dull-gray paper, with a -peculiar long pasteboard mouthpiece. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE CLEW THAT FAILED. - - -“There’s no need to keep you any longer, Miss Griffin,” Schilder said to -the stenographer, as Grail came back toward him. “And--er--Miss Griffin, -I guess it would be just as well if you didn’t mention this occurrence -to any one on the outside. We want no unnecessary notoriety, eh, -captain?” - -The adjutant agreed with him. “If you don’t mind, though, Mr. Schilder,” -he said, “and if Miss Griffin will oblige me, I’d like to have her take -down a note for me to Major Appleby. This matter ought to be reported to -him at once, and I don’t like to use the telephone. It will be very -brief, Miss Griffin,” he continued, turning to the girl. “You can take -it direct on the machine. Only I will ask you to give me a carbon copy; -we have to be very particular in the army in regard to all -communications, you know.” - -Then, when she had slipped in her sheets of paper, and sat ready at her -typewriter, he swung around so as to face Schilder, and crisply -dictated: - -“Please come at once, on receipt of this, to the office of the Dolliver -Foundry, as I desire to confer with you on a matter of the greatest -importance.” - -His eyes never for a moment left Schilder’s face while the message was -being transcribed, but if he had expected to see anything there, he was -doomed to disappointment. The countenance of the manager remained as -expressionless as a mask. - -“What do you think of that?” Grail finally asked him. - -“Well”--the other man was lighting a cigar--“it certainly seems urgent -enough.” - -“Yes,” said Grail dryly; “except for the address and signature, it is, -word for word, the same as the note received by Colonel Vedant. - -“Ah, thank you, Miss Griffin,” he added, as he took the two sheets of -paper which she handed him, and, signing the original, slipped it into -an envelope. “I’m going to ask you, too, if you don’t mind, to stop at -the A. D. T. office on your way to the car, and have them rush this -right out to the fort.” - -After this, nothing more was said until the girl had donned her hat and -jacket and taken her departure. Grail thoughtfully folded up and put -into his pocket the carbon copy, which he had been studying meanwhile -under the light at the desk. - -“I observe, Mr. Schilder,” he said, “that the capital D on your -typewriter blurs badly, and that the m is slightly chipped on one side. -It will be interesting to compare this copy with the note received by -the colonel, to see if both show the same defects.” - -The manager, however, merely shrugged his shoulders. “You still cling to -the idea that the note must have come from here, eh? Well, you’re on the -wrong scent, captain--entirely on the wrong scent. A sheet of our letter -paper would be no very difficult thing to get hold of, and when you come -to look into the matter I think you’ll find that the original note was -written at post headquarters.” - -“At post headquarters! What do you mean by that?” demanded Grail. - -“My dear captain,” Schilder answered, “hasn’t it struck you yet that the -most likely person in the world to write that note to Colonel Vedant -was--Colonel Vedant himself? Between ourselves, now--you are better -acquainted with conditions than I--isn’t there something which might -have induced the old fellow to drop quietly out of sight?” - -“Ah!” Grail spoke slowly. “So that is your solution, is it?” - -“A more plausible one, at any rate, than to imagine he was kidnaped, or -something of that sort,” Schilder contended. “It wouldn’t have been much -of a trick for him to have slipped off his coat so as to look like one -of the workmen, and then to have dodged through the gate when old Dennis -wasn’t looking. Men have done such things before, captain.” - -“Not men like Colonel Vedant,” Grail insisted warmly. “He is the type -that fights rather than runs away. Besides, in this case there is -absolutely no ground for such a suspicion. His record is unassailable, -and he is due for honorable retirement in a few months. He has no -financial troubles. His health, for all his fifty odd years, is perfect, -and no one who knows him could doubt his sanity for a moment. What -possible reason could there be for such a man to chuck the game?” - -“Perhaps a woman?” suggested Schilder. - -“Rot! The only woman the colonel is interested in is his daughter, and -he would never do anything to cause her the slightest distress or -uneasiness. Why, man, on her account alone, if for no other reason, the -theory you offer is simply ridiculous.” - -There was some further discussion along the same line, but of little -consequence. Shortly after, Major Appleby, with a couple of officers -from the fort, arrived in a motor car. - -“Bless my soul!” exclaimed the major, a short and rather -apoplectic-looking warrior, when the situation had duly been made clear -to him. “We must lose no time in getting to the bottom of this.” - -“Mr. Schilder,” remarked Grail quietly, “is firmly convinced that the -colonel took himself off voluntarily.” - -“Nonsense!” protested Major Appleby, and his companions promptly echoed -the opinion. “Vedant is the last man in the world to have done a thing -of that sort.” - -“All right,” conceded the manager; “you gentlemen are probably more -competent to judge on that point than I. Just the same, I surely am -curious to see what other explanation you can get to fit the facts.” - -“Ah!” The major cocked his head importantly on one side. “That will no -doubt come out in the investigation. The chief thing now is to learn -just what the exact facts are.” - -The inquiry he set on foot, however, elicited nothing new, and in the -end the newcomers had to confess themselves as completely baffled as -Grail and Schilder. Still, it did not escape the shrewd eyes of the -foundry manager, as the fruitless investigation proceeded, that certain -more or less vague suspicions were forming in the minds of Appleby and -his associates; and he gathered, too, not so much from anything that was -said or done as by a sort of coolness in the atmosphere, that these were -in some way hostile to the adjutant. - -A sly smile flickered across his lips under the cover of his beard, and, -with an air of impatience, he broke in on the aimless conjectures of the -three officers. - -“Come, come, gentlemen,” he said; “all this amounts to nothing. And, -since you seem determined to make it a case of foul play, I guess I had -better start to do something on my own hook.” - -“You!” The major glared at him haughtily. “What have you got to do with -it?” - -Schilder laughed. “The Dolliver Foundry can hardly afford, my dear sir, -to have a mystery of this sort taking place on its premises without at -least a show of effort on my part to clear it up. Delay, moreover, -merely makes the matter look worse for us; so, although I dislike -needless notoriety as much as any of the rest of you, I----” Instead of -completing the sentence, he reached out for the telephone on his desk. - -“What are you going to do?” demanded Appleby sharply. - -“Call up the chief of police, and place the matter in his hands.” - -“The chief of police!” The major gave a violent start, and glanced -uneasily at his companions. Only Grail seemed unperturbed, and the side -glance he cast at Schilder was distinctly skeptical. It was almost as -though he said: “I dare you to make good your bluff.” - -The major lost no time, however, in entering a remonstrance. - -“Oh, I beg of you, Mr. Schilder,” he urged, “let us not do anything -rash! There are--er--certain matters which I am loath to mention here, -but which, provided the officers at the fort have sufficient time to -sift them out, will, I am sure, bring a speedy solution. You bear me out -in this, do you not, gentlemen?” he appealed to his two companions. - -They assented, and it was noticeable that in doing so both carefully -avoided looking in the direction of the adjutant. - -Schilder, a mocking twinkle in his eye, turned toward Grail. - -“And you, captain?” he asked. “Can you give me the same assurance?” - -The young officer met his gaze steadily. “Why not?” he said. “To my -mind, the investigation simply resolves itself into a matter of -determining the authorship of the note received by the colonel, and -surely we at the fort are as competent to handle that as some blundering -policeman.” - -Major Appleby gave a grunt of recollection, and his manner toward Grail -relaxed. - -“Ah, yes,” he said, with evident relief. “I had forgotten for the moment -the existence of that clew. The note is at headquarters, I presume, -captain?” - -Grail nodded. “I left it on my desk, when the colonel and I came away.” - -“Then, come,” urged the major, moving toward the door; “let us lose no -time in taking a look at it. We can trust you, I suppose, Mr. Schilder, -to take no action until you hear from us?” - -“Anything in reason, major,” the manager agreed. “And I certainly hope -for all our sakes that you meet with quick success.” - -After he had returned from seeing the party off in their automobile, -however, and had closed his desk for the night, he lingered a moment in -the office before taking his departure. - -“I wonder,” he muttered thoughtfully, “if that man Grail is stringing -me, or am I stringing him?” - -Meanwhile, as the motor car swiftly left the factory chimneys and -slumlike streets of the river front behind, and climbed the hilly -streets back toward the fort, Major Appleby turned toward the adjutant, -who sat beside him in the tonneau. - -“What do you make of it all, captain?” he asked, in a conciliatory tone. -“You were on the ground, and ought to be able to form a better judgment -than any of the rest of us.” - -“It’s gumshoe work,” Grail answered; “a trick of some of those foreign -spies who have been hanging around ever since Colonel Vedant started on -his present series of experiments. They thought, no doubt, that, with a -hurry call of this sort, they might catch him with some of the papers on -his person.” - -“Then, you believe that Schilder is----” - -Grail shook his head. “Too obvious,” he objected. “Whatever else -Schilder may be, he is not a fool.” - -“But whom else can we suspect, under the circumstances?” queried -Appleby. “Have you any theory at all, captain, that will account for the -mystery?” - -The adjutant hesitated a moment. “I think I will wait to answer those -questions, major, until after we have examined the colonel’s note.” - -“Ah, true!” assented the other. “That must naturally be our starting -point. And here we are!” - -The automobile turned in from the tree-shaded street, and sped down the -roadway past officers’ row. It halted in front of headquarters, and the -four passengers piled hurriedly out. Grail, abstractedly acknowledging -the salute of the soldier on guard, pressed forward in the lead, and, -unlocking the door, swung it open. There was no need to switch on the -lights, as the room was already sufficiently illuminated by a night bulb -which hung in front of the safe. - -The adjutant, closely followed by the others, advanced to the desk, then -paused, with a little gasp of bewilderment. - -“Why,” he exclaimed, “the note is gone! I am positive I left it here.” - -He turned to the colonel’s “striker,” who lounged sleepily in the -adjoining room, to inquire if any one had been there in his absence. - -“Not a soul, sir,” was the answer. - -“Then, have you yourself been in here, or touched any of the papers on -the desk?” - -“Haven’t stirred from my seat, sir, since you and the colonel went.” - -That seemed to settle pretty well the question of outside interference, -for, with the guard outside and this man seated where he could command -the whole interior of the place, no person could have entered -undetected. Yet the note was indubitably gone. The drawers of the desk -were ransacked, the files gone over, even the floor thoroughly searched, -without revealing the slightest trace of it. With all the doors and -windows closed, there was no chance of it having been carried away by -some frolicsome breeze. - -Major Appleby regarded Grail with a portentous frown. “Captain,” he said -stiffly, “this is very, very strange.” - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -UNDER SUSPICION. - - -There was little sleep at Fort Denton that night. Two o’clock found the -lights still burning brightly in Major Appleby’s quarters, where most of -the officers of the post were assembled. Conspicuous by his absence from -this gathering, however, was the adjutant, Captain Grail. He had been -there at an earlier hour to join in the deliberations, but after once -more making a report of the circumstances connected with Colonel -Vedant’s disappearance, he somewhat stiffly withdrew. He sensed in the -conference that same feeling of doubt and hostility toward him which had -manifested itself in Appleby and his companions on first hearing the -story, and his self-respect would not permit him to remain. - -After his departure, a rather uneasy silence settled down on the -council. A few pointless remarks were made, but for the most part the -group devoted themselves to their cigars, and studied the pattern of the -carpet. - -Finally, however, Captain Dobbs, the surgeon--a bald, blunt-spoken old -fellow--brought things to an issue. - -“What’s the use of mincing matters?” he boomed, glancing defiantly -around the circle. “Every man here believes that Grail’s at the bottom -of this thing. Then why not get down to cases, instead of sitting around -here like a pack of dummies?” - -A little gasp, partly of relief, partly of surprise at such plain -speaking, ran around the room, and everybody glanced involuntarily -toward Major Appleby where he sat at the head of the table. - -“H’m!” The major cleared his throat, and moved a bit uncomfortably under -the scrutiny. “Without--er--going quite so far as our friend Dobbs,” he -finally ventured cautiously, “I take it that no one here will deny there -is some reason in what he says. We must be prudent, though, gentlemen. -Remember, the honor of the army is involved.” - -“Prudent! Ha!” The doctor gave a scornful cackle. “Why, the whole post -has been like a whispering gallery all afternoon. I doubt if there’s a -man on the reservation, from cook boy to colonel, who hasn’t been -cocking his head to one side, and asking, under his breath, what there -was in this business about Grail. The only person who didn’t seem to be -wise to it was Grail himself. Now, let’s cut out all this innuendo and -gossip, and look the facts squarely in the face. If the report that’s -been going around is true, it’s unquestionably got a bearing on the -affair we’re investigating; if not, the sooner we put a stopper on it -and turn our searchlights in another direction, the better for all -concerned. In either event, I guess the honor of the army will take care -of itself.” - -There was a murmur of approval as the surgeon finished speaking, -followed by calls from various parts of the room for Hemingway; and -eventually, in response to these demands, a flushed young lieutenant -rose rather reluctantly to his feet. - -“Mr. Hemingway,” the major said, “you seem to be the person best -qualified to make a statement in this matter. Will you, therefore, -repeat for the benefit of us all, the communication which you made in -confidence to Mrs. Appleby and myself this afternoon?” - -“In confidence--to Mrs. Appleby!” the doctor snorted, scarcely taking -the trouble to lower his voice. “No wonder it was all over the post in -less than half an hour.” - -In the general eagerness to hear Hemingway, however, his growling passed -unnoticed, and the young lieutenant, shifting unhappily from one foot to -the other, commenced his story. - -“In the first place,” he said, glancing appealingly around the circle of -officers, “and as I told Major Appleby, I don’t want any one to think -that I’ve been up to any sneaking or underhand business. But when a -thing came right up and slapped me in the face I couldn’t help taking -notice of it, especially after the colonel told all of us that he wanted -us to be on our guard during the course of these experiments.” - -“Cut out the excuses,” protested one of his auditors. “It’s the facts we -want to get at.” - -“Well, then,” cried Hemingway defiantly, “I say that Captain Grail has -been having dealings with Sasaku, the Jap waiter at the mess, which are -open to very grave suspicion. I am in charge of the mess this month, as -you all know, and I had noticed that Grail seemed to have considerable -to say to the Jap when he dropped in for his meals; but I never attached -any importance to the matter until to-day at noon, when I saw him hand -Sasaku a long envelope, which the latter immediately slipped under his -jacket. Then, I will admit, I began to get a little worked up, for there -was a certain furtiveness about the transaction which I didn’t -altogether like; so, as soon as Grail left, I promptly nailed Sasaku, -and demanded to know what it was the captain had given him.” - -“And he lied, of course!” commented a former mess manager, out of the -depths of his experience. “Probably told you that you must have been -mistaken.” - -“No,” returned Hemingway; “he simply informed me coolly that it was none -of my business, and gave me notice that he was quitting his job.” - -“Why didn’t you grab the impudent beggar, and search him?” another -officer broke in. - -“Well”--the lieutenant flushed again--“I didn’t want to make any -blunder, don’t you know, so I decided to report the matter first to -Major Appleby before taking any definite action; and by the time I got -back to the mess again the Jap had cleared out, bag and baggage.” - -“Cleared out! Where?” - -“That’s the question.” Hemingway shook his head. “I’ve had Corporal -Stone and half a dozen men out ransacking the town for him since four -o’clock, and not a trace can be found. We think he must have sneaked -aboard a train somehow, and got away, unless----” He paused. - -“Unless,” Major Appleby pointedly finished, “his departure may have some -connection with the far more serious matter of the colonel’s -disappearance.” - -“Has any one put this business about the Jap up to Grail?” the surgeon -inquired, with a frown. - -“Not directly,” Appleby admitted; “that is, unless the colonel may have -mentioned it to him. He was really the only one who had an opportunity, -for Grail left the post shortly after the occurrence, and did not return -until nine o’clock, and from that time until they set out for the -foundry the two were closeted together in the office. Vedant, however, -was rather inclined to pooh-pooh the whole matter, and he may very -easily have failed to speak.” - -“Can any one doubt, though, that Grail knew what was in the wind?” -demanded young Hemingway hotly. “Why, the very way he left us here -to-night showed it. I say, too,” he insisted, “that a man who’d been -caught selling secrets to a Japanese spy, and saw court-martial looming -up ahead of him, couldn’t well think of a smoother plan to sidetrack -inquiry and shift attention from himself than to have the colonel -abducted.” - -“But that would indicate that this fellow Schilder was in on the deal, -too,” objected one of the officers who had not yet spoken. “And what -interest could he----” - -“Schilder? Pshaw! He was only a convenient tool,” interrupted Hemingway. -“Believe me, he’s as much in the dark as anybody else.” - -“How could the game have been worked without his connivance, though?” -inquired the other. - -“Humph! Trust a pack of slick Japanese to handle that all right.” -Hemingway gave a toss of the head. “Knowing the colonel’s movements in -advance, what would have been easier than for them to secret themselves -about the foundry yard; then, at the psychological moment, cut off the -lights and rush the colonel out and away. With their agility and -cunning, a trick like that would be simply pie to them.” - -“How do you explain this business about the note from Schilder, though?” -broke in another questioner. “You think, of course, that Grail or the -Jap forged the note that was received; but, if so, why doesn’t Grail -show it up now, instead of making things look worse for himself with the -assertion that it has disappeared?” - -“Ah, that was the smoothest part of the whole deal,” declared the -youthful investigator. “He knew that he was bound to be suspected, -didn’t he? And he knew, too, that documentary evidence of that sort, -subjected to such close examination as would naturally be given it, -might lead to his detection. So what does he do but get it out of the -way, and at the same time fog the issue with another touch of apparent -mystery.” - -His emphatic arguments began to carry weight with the rest. It was at -least a solution that he offered, and, groping about in the dark as they -were, they were ready to accept almost any theory that bore the color of -plausibility. - -“I think,” said Dobbs, the surgeon, voicing a general sentiment, “it’s -about time for us to put this matter up to Grail straight, and see what -he has to say for himself.” - -The major summoned his striker. “My compliments to Adjutant Grail, and -ask him if he can make it convenient to come here at once to answer a -few questions.” - -In less than five minutes the messenger was back with the astonishing -reply: - -“The adjutant’s compliments, sir, and he wishes to know if you care to -put your request in the form of an order. If not, sir, he does not care -to discuss anything with the officers to-night.” - -The major grew red with indignation at the injury to his dignity, and -the surgeon growled darkly that the answer bore out his suspicions. But -Appleby was not a man of snapshot action, and he said, with an -assumption of chilly dignity: - -“Very well; say to the adjutant, with my compliments, that I shall issue -no orders to-night.” Then, turning to the officers, with a portentous -shrug, he added: “We will await the developments of to-morrow.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -MYSTERIOUS ASHES. - - -After sending his curt message to Major Appleby, Grail sat in the office -at headquarters, whither he had betaken himself from the meeting, -smoking fiercely, and glowering at a spot on the wall. He had set -himself in defiance of the whole post, and he could not but feel that he -was in the right. At any rate, he scorned to defend himself against the -aspersions of a blunderer like Appleby, or an officious young ass like -Hemingway; for, as it happened, he knew of the story set afloat by the -mess manager, Colonel Vedant having detailed it to him jestingly during -their hurried trip to the foundry. Grail had been prevented then from -offering any explanation, owing to their arrival at Schilder’s office. - -Rather than make such an explanation now, he vowed he would be drawn and -quartered, for he bitterly resented the attitude taken by his brother -officers, their readiness--nay, almost eagerness--to believe the very -worst of him. - -Grail loved his profession. More than once he had refused flattering -offers to leave it for a career in civil life. But now, in his hot -indignation, he declared that not another week should find him wearing -the uniform and associating with such double-faced, intriguing cads. - -On the impulse of the moment, he stepped over to his desk, and, -snatching up a pen, started to write out his resignation. But as he -blotted the sheet before affixing his signature he paused, with an -exclamation of annoyance, to find that the lines he had written were -streaked with fine gray dust, which had fallen on the paper. A sort of -gritty powder, it seemed to be, like the dust which rises from the -handling of filed papers or documents. Without giving the matter second -thought, Grail was about to tear up the blurred resignation and start to -draft another one, when his attention was suddenly caught by a flake of -the powder slightly larger than the others. - -It was a tiny shred of paper, but what especially aroused his interest -was that it showed the trace of a lithographed letter “V” of the -peculiar style and shading used as a heading by the Dolliver Foundry. - -Quickly he caught up the blotter he had been using, and shook it over a -sheet of carbon paper, for there had flashed into his mind a prompt -suspicion as to the nature of that dust. That it had fallen from the -blotter there could be no question, and he recalled distinctly that he -had left the mysteriously missing note lying on that blotter when he and -the colonel took their hasty departure. - -A moment or two gave him all the confirmation of his suspicion that he -required, for under his vigorous shaking there sifted down on the dark -surface several fragments, from a sixteenth to a thirty-second of an -inch in diameter, on which he could plainly decipher indications of -typewriting. - -Snatching up a reading glass belonging to the colonel, he bent over -these to satisfy himself he had made no mistake; then straightened up, -with a muttered expletive and a little, puzzled frown between the eyes. - -The glass brought out on one of the specks what appeared unquestionably -the upper half of an “m”--and, what was more, the letter was slightly -chipped on one side. - -Grail leaned over to subject the fragment to a second examination, and -make sure that he had not been misled; then drew from his pocket the -carbon copy of the note he had dictated to Schilder’s stenographer, and -compared the two impressions. They were alike, defect and all, as two -pennies struck from the same die. One was forced to the conclusion that -they had been made by the same machine. - -Dropping his chin into his hand, the adjutant sat staring almost -incredulously at the telltale speck in front of him. This knocked into -smithereens the entire theory he had evolved as to the disappearance of -Colonel Vedant, for, despite the pains he had taken to secure a copy of -the note from Schilder’s typewriter, he had never really believed that -the original summons had come from there. - -Now, however, he was driven to a fresh line of speculation. Recalling -the foundry manager’s freely expressed insinuations, he arose half -impatiently, and tested the two typewriting machines used at -headquarters. There were, as he expected, no point of similarity shown -with the copy of the note he had caused to be transcribed by Miss -Griffin. The “m” on both machines was clear-cut and flawless; there was -no indication of blurring on the “D.” - -Returning to the desk, he resumed his perplexed contemplation of the -fragments on the sheet of carbon paper. It seemed certain that Schilder -must have sent the decoy message, relying on its speedy disintegration -to cover up his tracks. And right there another consideration arose to -muddle him: How had this disintegration been accomplished? Hitherto he -had been so intent on establishing the identity of these specks of -typewriting with the missing message that he had not stopped to question -the agency which could so quickly and thoroughly destroy a stout sheet -of linen paper. - -“Some powerful chemical, doubtless,” he reflected, recollecting that the -note had been a trifle damp when he drew it from the envelope; and with -this suggestion, he scraped together a little pinch of the dust to taste -and smell of it. The tests confirmed his opinion. There was a faint, -pungent odor to the particles, which, although familiar, he could not -exactly place; and one of them, applied to his tongue, produced a slight -burning sensation. The paper undoubtedly had been treated with some -solution, which, in drying, reduced it to shreds. - -He carefully transferred what remained of it to an envelope, in order to -have his conclusions verified and the exact nature of the solvent -determined by expert analysis; but he really needed no such -corroboration. He was fully satisfied that the demolition of the message -must have been effected in the way he assumed. - -With so much settled, though, he seemed in no way relieved. Indeed, the -frown of perplexity on his forehead grew deeper, and, seated there -before his desk, he fell into a brown study. - -Why, he thought, should Schilder have gone to so much trouble to get rid -of this note, when he could so easily have supported his denial of -writing it by the simple expedient of using another machine? As he -himself had said to Grail, it would be quite a job, without other clews, -to trace, among all the hundreds of machines in a city like Brantford, -the particular one on which a specific communication was written. - -“No,” the adjutant said aloud, fishing from his pocket the half-smoked -cigarette he had found at the threshold of the foundry office, and, -surveying it with a decisive nod, “I can’t be so far off the track. This -new complication simply means that the trail is a bit more involved than -I thought. However”--he shrugged his shoulders with returning -resentment--“that is something for the bunch of wiseacres down the row -to work out. I’m done with the whole business.” And once more he drew a -sheet of paper toward him to indite his resignation. - -With his pen dipped in the ink, he hesitated. There came a natural -reluctance to quit in this way under fire. The fresh developments he had -unearthed, too, served as a challenge to his ingenuity. He had a -well-defined theory to account for the disappearance of the colonel, -and, after his first anxiety at Schilder’s office, had not entertained -any serious alarm as to the outcome. It was, he believed, merely a bold -attempt on the part of some of the foreign spies who had been hanging -around the post of late to obtain information in regard to the -experiments in progress there. They must have become aware of the -colonel’s habit of carrying home with him at night the reports made to -him, in order that he might digest them at his leisure. Since the coup -had failed, however, Colonel Vedant having no papers with him that -evening, and being the last person in the world to divulge under duress -or otherwise any official secrets, Grail felt satisfied that the captive -would be released just as soon as those responsible for the outrage were -safe beyond the reach of retribution. - -He had not really credited Schilder with any hand in the affair. On that -one point, at least, he was agreed with Lieutenant Hemingway, regarding -the German merely as a rather thick-headed dupe who had unwittingly -allowed his establishment to be used as a theater for the enterprise. - -Now, however, with the seeming assurance that this decoy message must -have come from the typewriter at the foundry, he began to wonder if he -had not been taking too much for granted. One was certainly justified in -believing that either the manager or his stenographer must have had -knowledge of the writing of the note. - -“Suppose,” Grail speculated, “the assumption I’ve been going on is a -mistake? By Jove, I’m not infallible, and I’ve got no proof to support -me--that is, nothing you could call real proof. Suppose, then, that -there’s more to this job than I’ve been willing to concede, and that the -old colonel is actually in danger? Have I got the right, merely from -personal pique, to stand from under and leave the old boy to the mercy -of a set of bunglers like Appleby and his crew?” - -While he hesitated, his glance happened to fall on the pen he still held -between his fingers, which he had picked up from the desk at random. It -was a gold one, belonging to the colonel--a gift from his daughter, -Meredith, as was shown by the tiny plate affixed to the handle, with the -inscription: “Merry Christmas. M. L. V.” - -Before the adjutant’s mind rose suddenly the vision of the fair-haired, -lovely girl, so devotedly attached to her father. He knew what this -affair would mean to her, how deeply she would be affected, whether -there were any actual menace in the situation or not. He laid down his -pen, and, picking up the form of resignation he had drafted, tore it -across, and dropped it into the wastebasket. - -“I’ve got to stick it out,” he muttered. “I’ve got to stick it out and -clear this thing up--for her sake!” - -His mind made up, he threw himself whole-heartedly into his task. A -glance at his watch showed him it was after three o’clock, but no -thought of sleep suggested itself to him. Instead, he caught up his hat -and coat, and started out to take another look over the scene of the -disappearance. - -But there was nothing new to be gained, he found. The foundry yard, -silent and deserted now, the last vestige of the scrap heaps cleared -away, and only the idle crane, with its long, sweeping arm at rest, to -serve as a reminder of the evening’s earlier activity, offered nothing -more in the way of a clew; nor could old Dennis, at the gate, although -garrulous enough, add any fresh information to what he had already told. - -Leaving him after a brief colloquy, Grail thoughtfully strolled down to -the railroad tracks skirting the banks of the river, and patrolled them -slowly the length of the foundry inclosure and back, climbing up on each -of the scrap-loaded freight cars standing on the siding to investigate, -but only to drop down again every time, with a shake of the head. The -night was beginning to give way now to the first faint gray of the -summer dawn. More and more distinctly the different features of the -water front revealed themselves--the chimneys of the big smelter, -Brantford’s largest industry; the railroad machine shops beyond; and, -overhead, dark and shadowy against the sky, the dim perspective of the -great bridge stretching across the stream. - -The horizon flushed into pink and crimson; the gilded cross of a steeple -off in the distance flashed with the first beams of the rising sun; -somewhere up the river a factory whistle blew. Morning had come. - -Only the wide river was invisible now, blanketed in the thick mist which -still hung over its swift, muddy current. Grail stood a moment staring -out at the impenetrable veil; then, obliged to step nimbly from the -tracks for the passage of an express train, turned, and made his way -back past the gate of the foundry. - -As he reached old Dennis, he halted suddenly, and wheeled to glance -sharply once more out over the mist-enveloped stream. - -“What is that noise?” he inquired. - -The old gateman cupped his wrinkled fingers behind his ear, and bent his -head to listen. - -“Is it th’ choog, choog, choog ye mane?” he returned. “Sure, that must -be a autymobile over in th’ bottoms.” - -“No.” Grail shook his head. “That’s the exhaust of a motor boat, if I -ever heard one.” - -“A motor boat!” scoffed Dennis. “Wid all thim sand bars out there? Sure, -there’s a loonytick runnin’ it, thin. W’y, sorr, nobody don’t niver -sail motor boats on this river. Th’ boss just had wan iv th’ things -shipped in yistedah, he was tellin’ me, but ’tis not on no river he’ll -be thryin’ it. He’s goin’ to have it tuk out to Lake Manawa.” - -A quick flash shot into the adjutant’s eye at this information, but his -tone betrayed only a polite interest. - -“So Mr. Schilders is going to have a boat out at the lake this summer, -eh?” - -“As I tell ye, sorr. An’ sure it may be out there already f’r all that I -know. He was dickerin’ wid a felly yisteday afthernoon to haul it out -f’r him.” - -Grail merely nodded, and turned the conversation to another channel. The -chug-chug which had caught his attention had faded away by this time, -and there seemed nothing to keep him there, but still he lingered on, -chatting with the old watchman. - -It might have been observed, though, that he directed an occasional keen -glance toward the mists, thinning fast now in the rays of the rising -sun, and that when at last the vapors were entirely dissipated, and the -river visible from shore to shore, a little frown of disappointment -gathered between his eyes. On all the broad expanse of the tawny stream -there was no craft of any kind to be discerned. He bade old Dennis good -morning, and betook himself back to the post. - - -TO BE CONTINUED. - - - - -TIPS TO YOUNG PITCHERS. - -HOW TO CURVE A BALL. - - -To be able to curve a ball is the ambition of every young player. If he -happens to be the pitcher of his team, his desire is all the stronger. -He wants to fool the other fellows when they come to the bat. He cannot -be blamed for that. But while curve pitching is undoubtedly a great -accomplishment, it must be remembered that in the old days of baseball -many brilliant battles were won with the straight-arm delivery. It is -not absolutely necessary, therefore, to curve a ball in order to win -success. The writer vividly recalls the famous games in the early -seventies in the neighborhood of New York. He was a boy then, and walked -miles to see the contests. A curved ball was unknown then, so far as the -pitching was concerned. And the pitchers were very effective, too. They -studied the weakness of the batsmen, just as the pitchers do now. And -that is the study all young pitchers must pursue. Begin your work by -pitching a straight ball. You cannot gain control in a better way. As -you are young in pitching experience, so also are your opponents young -in their knowledge of batting. If you watch them closely you will -perceive very quickly that nearly every one of them swings his bat at -about the same height every time. For instance, you will notice that the -first batter will swing his bat just in front of his waistband. In order -to fool him, pitch the ball a little higher or a little lower than that -point. The next batter may snap his bat high. Give him a high ball, but -a few inches lower than he is likely to strike. The rule is by no means -infallible, but it is a good one. It takes a boy a long time to overcome -the inclination to swing in the same way every time he strikes. There is -another important point to remember: Do not give the batsmen a chance to -hit the ball with the end of their bats, if you can avoid it. This is -simple enough if the batter stands close to the plate. You can keep the -ball well in on him without much trouble. But when he stands back in the -box, you must use discretion. Try to coax him with a ball or two just -inside the plate. If he refuses to “bite,” then, of course, you’ll have -to put it over. As you improve in your work, you can begin to practice -curves. - -Curve pitching cannot be taught by book or other directions. It must be -learned by actual practice and experience. The principles of making a -ball curve, however, may be explained. Let the young aspirant grasp the -ball firmly in his hand, giving the pressure with his forefinger and -middle finger. The other two fingers should be drawn in toward the palm. -Next let him snap the ball first out of one side of the hand and next -out of the other side. He will soon learn the effect these movements -have on the ball. Then he must practice faithfully to so control it as -to make the curves useful. Strange as it may seem, it is much more -difficult for the beginner to throw or pitch a straight ball than one -that describes an arc in its course. This is so because of the natural -tendency of the player to throw the ball out of the side of his hand. To -pitch a straight ball, it is necessary that the two fingers which grasp -the ball should be straight up and down, with their backs in front of -the player as he throws. Beyond these few hints it is almost impossible -to give any intelligible instructions. It will depend almost entirely on -the young player’s ability, inclination, and perseverance, how much of a -success he will make at curve pitching. He cannot have too much -practice, but he should take care not to overexert himself. It is not -necessary to exert all his force. He can practice curves without putting -his greatest speed into the ball. - - - - -DRUNKEN MONKEYS. - - -Did you ever hear that monkeys were an intemperate race of creatures? It -is true. They actually get tipsy when they get the chance; but the -punishment of their crime is something terrible even for a tipsy monkey. -They are not merely taken to prison for safety and locked up for a few -hours. There are no monkey policemen to do them that service, and we -have not heard that there are any monkey magistrates to give them a -severe lecture in the morning, fine them a few dollars, and tell them -not to do it any more. No, it seems there are none of these beautiful -provisions for Jacko’s safety and comfort provided in his native land, -and so he falls into the hands of his enemies, and lifelong -imprisonment, or even banishment to colder climates, is the punishment. - -Like men, monkeys are easily outwitted when under the influence of -liquor. They have human vices, and love stimulants. In Darfour and Sena, -Africa, the natives make a fermented beer, of which the monkeys are -passionately fond. Aware of this, the natives go to the parts of the -forest frequented by the monkeys, and set on the ground calabashes full -of the enticing liquor. As soon as the monkey sees and tastes it, he -utters loud cries of joy that soon attract his comrades. Then an orgy -begins, and in a short time they all show degrees of intoxication. Then -the negroes appear. Some of the drinkers are too far gone to distrust -them, but apparently take them for larger species of their own genus. -The negroes take some up, and these begin to weep and cover them with -maudlin kisses. When the negro takes one by the hand to lead him off, -the nearest monkey will cling to the one who thus finds a support, and -endeavor to go on also. - -Another will clutch at him, and so on, until the negro leads a -staggering line of ten or a dozen tipsy monkeys. When finally brought to -the village, they are securely caged and gradually sobered down; but for -two or three days a gradually diminishing supply of liquor is given -them, so as to reconcile them by degrees to their state of captivity. - - - - -AN ANTIQUE MEAL. - - -“I have eaten apples that ripened more than eighteen hundred years ago; -bread made from wheat grown before the children of Israel passed through -the Red Sea; spread it with butter that was made when Elizabeth was -Queen of England, and washed down the repast with wine that was old when -Columbus was playing barefoot with the boys of Genoa,” said a gentleman -at the club the other day. - -The remarkable “spread” was given by an antiquary named Gorbel, in the -city of Brussels. The apples were from a jar taken from the ruins of -Pompeii, that buried city to whose people we owe our knowledge of -canning fruit. - -The wheat was taken from a chamber in one of the smaller pyramids, the -butter from a stone shelf in an old well in Scotland, where it had lain -in an earthenware crock in icy water, and the wine came from an old -vault in the city of Corinth. - -There were six guests at the table, and each had a mouthful of bread and -a teaspoonful of the wine, but was permitted to help himself liberally -to the butter, there being several pounds of it. The apple jar held -about two-thirds of a gallon, and the fruit was as sweet, and the flavor -as fine, as though it had been packed yesterday. - - - - -THE KEENEST EYESIGHT. - - -Like every other sense, that of sight improves by use under healthy -conditions, and therefore the people who have the greatest exercise of -their vision in the open air, under light of the sun, have the best -eyesight. Generally speaking, savage tribes possess the keenest -eyesight, acquired through hunting. - -Natives of the Solomon Islands are very quick at perceiving distant -objects, such as ships at sea, and will pick out birds concealed in -dense foliage some sixty or seventy feet high. Shepherds and sailors are -blessed with good sight; the Eskimo will detect a white fox in the snow -a great distance away, while the Arabs of the deserts of Arabia have -such extreme powers of vision that on the vast plains of the desert they -will pick out objects invisible to the ordinary eye at ranges from one -to ten miles distant. - -Among civilized peoples, the Norwegians have better eyesight than most, -if not all, others, as they more generally fulfill the necessary -conditions. The reason why defective eyes are so much on the increase in -this and many European countries lies in too much study of books in -early life, and in badly lighted rooms. - - - - -THE NEWS OF ALL NATIONS. - - -Big Indiana Gas Well. - -A gas well which gives more than 12,000,000 feet volume has been drilled -in half a mile from Linton, Ind., on the Gillett farm. It is the largest -gusher in the central States. - - -Missouri River’s Jokes with Farmers. - -Suppose that, years ago when you were a young man, you came to Missouri -and bought a farm on the banks of the Missouri River, and spent the next -fifteen or twenty years in clearing the land and bringing it into a high -state of cultivation. And then suppose that, just when you had begun to -derive some benefit from your years of toil, the river should suddenly -reach out and swallow up about half your farm. - -Then suppose that the river, after keeping your farm for several years, -should grow seemingly repentant and replace your farm, you would no -doubt feel that all the land within the bounds mentioned in your deeds -was your own as much as it ever was. - -But that would all depend on the precise manner in which the river -replaced your land. That is where the accretion law of Missouri comes -in, and it is a fearful and mysterious thing. If the river, in putting -your land back, began piling it up against your bank and continued doing -so, the land to the water’s edge would be yours, even if it went beyond -your original boundaries. But if the river, as it often does, should -first throw up a bar out in the channel and then gradually fill up the -space between that and your land until finally the current changed and -left the island thus formed joined to your land, you would have no claim -to any land thus formed. It would belong to the county, and could be -surveyed and sold to the highest bidder, and the money it brought would -go to the school fund. - -The Missouri River is a malicious stream, and if it ever comes to -judgment, will have a lot to answer for. Instead of pursuing its course -in an orderly manner and sticking to one established course, it is -forever changing, eating away the bank on one side and throwing up new -banks on the other side, cutting out old sand bars here and building new -ones there, so that the main channel is never the same for very long at -a time. - -In Holt County, near Fortescue, there has been a great deal of -excitement lately, caused by the disputes over the possession of some of -the land thus formed, commonly known as “bar land.” Several men had -fenced land which was claimed under deed by John C. Hinkle, a Civil War -veteran, who has lived on this land for the last fifty years. About -fifteen years ago the river took five hundred acres of Mr. Hinkle’s land -and afterward put it back as a bar. Mr. Hinkle claimed the land on the -ground that the bar had made to his land, and the other men claimed it -on the ground that it had been put back as an island, which finally -joined Mr. Hinkle’s land, and was therefore as much theirs as any one’s. -The court upheld the squatters’ claim that the land did not belong to -Hinkle, and this decision was the signal for squatters to rush in and -seize bar land all along the river front. In the last thirty days -perhaps a dozen men have settled on these bars. - -The fact of possession seems to be given considerable weight in this -matter, and the land has generally been seized in the night. A squatter -will pick out a piece of land that most suits his fancy, get some help, -slip in at night, put a fence around it, and build a shack on it. Of -course, it is not much of a house or much of a fence, but it is enough -to establish proof of possession. - -Sometimes two different men will have designs on the same piece of land, -or perhaps the man whose deed calls for this land will offer objections -to its being seized, and these conditions have given rise to several -exciting encounters. Several houses have been torn down, many fences cut -to pieces and in at least one instance men have been escorted from the -land of their choice at the point of a Winchester, with instruction to -“beat it” and not to come back. While no blood has been shed so far, it -is freely predicted that it is only a matter of time until somebody is -carried out “feet first.” - -The county has ordered the land surveyed, with the intention of selling -it to the highest bidder, but the law says that the ones in possession -have a right to buy it at the highest bid, so that even if the county -sells the land, the ones actually on the ground have a big advantage. -This fact will probably cause others to try to seize land before the -survey is made. - -The land is not so very valuable except in a dry year, as it is liable -to overflow any time the river rises a few feet. - - -Cowboy Sheriff. - -Many who have visited the Pawnee Bill and Buffalo Bill Wild-West Shows -wonder what has become of all the likely looking cowboys whose daring -feats ahorse and with the lasso excited wonder and admiration. - -Some are with other shows, some perform for moving pictures, but most of -them have quit the business and settled down. Among those who quit when -Pawnee Bill and Buffalo Bill closed is Tom Tait, who has located in -Gillette, Wyo., county seat of Campbell County, where he has been -elected sheriff. All his life has been spent on the cattle ranges of -Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas, with the exception of the time he was -on the road with the show. As a tamer of wild horses he has few equals, -and as a “cow hand” none at all. - - -All Six Died with Boots On. - -The Grim Reaper has surely played relentless and strange havoc with the -Law family, of Muscatine, Iowa. Brad E. Law, a popular grocer, died -recently while sitting in a chair at his home. He died “with his boots -on,” so to speak, and so did his two brothers, his father, and his -father’s two brothers. One of the grocer’s brothers, an engineer, was -struck by a piece of a flying wheel, which broke and severed his head, -and the other brother died while at the dinner table. His father died -while plowing in the field, and one of his father’s brothers died in the -pulpit, while preaching a sermon. His father’s other brother died while -driving to town on his farm wagon. - -They all met death while they were not expecting it. Neither of them was -sick before his death, and sickness was not the cause of any of the -deaths. - - -Tourists Welcome in Canada. - -Numerous items have appeared lately in the press, advising residents of -the United States to obtain passports when visiting or passing through -Canada. Officials of the Canadian Pacific Railway made inquiries of the -government at Ottawa whether passports are now required. The government -announces that its officials are in no way interfering with bona-fide -tourist traffic, and that persons desirous of visiting points of -interest in Canada or of passing through Canada en route to other places -will be accorded the same courteous treatment as was customary before -the outbreak of war, and that passports are not required. - - -Why Belgium Thanks United States. - -More than $21,500,000 has been received and the greater part of it spent -for Belgian relief, according to a statement issued in New York by the -commission for relief in Belgium. - -One hundred and ten thousand tons of foodstuffs, cargo for twenty ships, -are now on the way to American seaports from interior points, the -statement adds. - -Nearly sixty cargoes of foodstuffs, valued at more than $20,000,000, had -been sent to Rotterdam up to the middle of March by the commission. - - -New Way to Hunt the Coyote. - -Hunting coyotes on motor cycles is a popular sport in Sherman County, -Kan. A party of ten young men went coyote hunting in this manner from -there, and in one day succeeded in capturing three of the prairie pests. - - -New Attachment for Razor. - -A Canadian inventor had secured a patent on which appears to be a simple -attachment for converting an ordinary razor into one of the safety type. - -The device consists simply of a piece of springy sheet metal folded so -that it may be slipped over the razor blade. By holding the razor so -that the side of the attachment comes in contact with the face, the -right angle for the blade is attained. - - -Girl’s Foot Worth $14,000. - -Fourteen thousand dollars was the price set on the right foot of a -seven-year-old girl of Kenosha, Wis. A jury in the circuit court awarded -that sum to Minnie Extra, daughter of a Kenosha laborer. A car on the -Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railway had mangled her foot so that -amputation at the ankle was necessary. - - -Dog Politician Aids Master. - -Joseph B. Steele, Independent candidate for the mayoralty nomination at -the primaries in Granite City, Mo., has no “houn’ dawg” to aid him, but -a devoted political worker in “Queen,” a bright little terrier. He -picked up the dog on the streets recently and give it a home. - -In way of repayment, the dog trotted about the town carrying in its -mouth a card bearing Steele’s picture and an announcement of his -candidacy. According to Steele, the dog is so intelligent that on -meeting a doubtful voter it rises on its hind legs to call the sign -more emphatically to his attention. The dog campaigner attracted much -interest in Granite City. - -Steele obtained the idea of enlisting Queen from the dog’s fondness for -retrieving sticks and carrying objects about in its mouth. After a short -training in carrying the card, the animal showed a remarkable enthusiasm -for politics. - - -This Boat Travels on Land. - -The visitor to the lumber districts of Canada may occasionally see what -is to him a very remarkable sight--a primitive-looking steamboat high -and dry on a road, crawling along quite comfortably, apparently just as -much at home as in its natural element. - -These boats are known as “alligators,” and are used for towing the rafts -of logs down the rivers and lakes to the mills. Sometimes it is desired -to transfer one of these craft to a new sphere of operations, which can -only be reached overland, and the boat is then hauled out of the water, -placed upon rollers, and travels to its destination by means of its own -power. - - -“Dead” Fifty-two Years. Still Alive. - -After being mourned as dead for fifty-two years, John Wesley Franse, a -Civil War veteran, has been found living in a small town near San -Francisco, according to a letter received by relatives in St. Louis, Mo. -Franse was found by his sister, Mrs. William H. Marvin, of Kirkwood, a -St. Louis suburb. - -Franse served in the Confederate army under General Sterling Price. The -entire regiment to which he belonged was captured and placed in the -Union prison at Alton, Ill. Believing that he had died there, members of -the Franse family for more than fifty years visited the Alton cemetery -each Decoration Day and placed flowers on one of the unmarked -Confederate graves. - -At a social in Los Angeles recently Mrs. Marvin mentioned that her -maiden name was Franse. Another guest said he knew an old man near by -that name, and the search followed which resulted in the finding of the -long-lost veteran. - - -Found in a Pound of Raisins. - -One pound of raisins purchased from a store in Derry Church, Pa., by a -special agent of the dairy and food commission was analyzed by State -Chemist Charles la Wall. He found: Prunes, rice, beans, and fuzzy dirt; -human and animal hairs, straight and curly; fibers of cotton and wool -dyed green, yellow, brown, pink, and gray; straw and a little bit of -bran, sand, cornstarch, broken wheat, and yeast spores; pine wood and -fragments of unidentified other timber; tobacco leaf, cigarette paper, -and cigarette tobacco. Also, the wings and legs of a few unfortunate -insects. Otherwise the raisins were all right. The groceryman was -arrested. - - -McManus Sisters in Doubt. - -That adequate reparation for the murder of John B. McManus, the former -Chicagoan, killed on his ranch outside of Mexico City, would not be -exacted by the United States government is the belief expressed by his -two sisters living in Chicago. They have taken the matter up with a -number of Chicago Congressmen. - -“I doubt if a proper indemnity will ever be paid Mrs. McManus,” said -Miss Elizabeth McManus, when seen with her sister, Mrs. Mary Dorgan. -“And it seems as if the matter of bringing the murderers to justice -would also be allowed to lapse, as in other cases. Outrages were -committed against the sisters of the Sacred Heart in Mexico City, and I -find the state department did nothing further than to complain to the -Mexican government.” - -A letter from Counselor Lansing informed Miss McManus the Brazilian -minister had placed the “full facts” before the new minister of Mexican -foreign affairs. - - -This Potato King is a “Jap.” - -Reading a story of the visit of George Shima, the potato king of Lodi, -Cal., to Los Angeles, in a paper of that city, merchants of Lodi recall -that not many years ago the Japanese capitalist could not obtain credit -in the stores of this city, not because he was not honest, but as a -newcomer he had not established credit. - -Those business men who refused to trust him did not anticipate that in a -few years Shima would control 37,000 acres in California and have 6,000 -acres in his own holdings, and have established a large credit in -California banks. - -Last July Shima owned about a quarter of the 4,000,000 sacks of potatoes -in California, and to-day he owns half of the 500,000 sacks unsold in -the State. - - -Ready for the Golden Shore. - -William Reid, a negro, who has lived in Red Bank, N. J., since he was -mustered out of the Union army in 1865, celebrated his seventy-fifth -birthday and vouchsafed the information that he had made preparations -for a pleasant funeral. - -He told his friends he dug his own grave in Whiteridge Cemetery, South -Eatontown, four years ago, and that a slab now covers the space which he -some day expects to fill. - -During his spare moments he has constructed his own coffin, and this is -stored with Reid’s favorite undertaker. Reid told his friends that while -he was ready for the golden shore, he didn’t care how long the storage -charges continued. - - -Unique Fire Tower in Forest. - -Harry Childers, of La Pine, Ore., has been appointed fire guard by the -forest service for the Rosland ranger station. The lookout at this -station is one of the most unique in the State, being a 250-foot tower -built on a big yellow pine. The trunk of the tree is divided about -twenty feet from the ground and forms two parallel supports for the -tower up to a height of nearly 200 feet. The lookout’s station in the -top of the tower sways from two to ten feet in the wind. - - -Forty-one Years Postmaster. - -John K. Gaither, for forty-one years postmaster at La Center, Wash., a -few miles northeast of Ridgefield, will retire from the service as soon -as Patrick M. Kane, recently appointed, can file his bond and get his -commission. - -Mr. Gaither, who is seventy-six years old, came west from Indiana in the -year of 1873, and the following year was appointed postmaster. When he -took over the La Center post office, there were only four patrons who -subscribed for newspapers. Mr. Gaither is hale and hearty and active in -several societies. - - -Jailer’s Order Kicked Back. - -For permitting a prisoner to leave the jail before completing the -reading of three chapters in the Bible, Jack Sheehan, warden of the city -prison, in Johnston, Pa., was sentenced by Mayor Joseph Cauffel to read -the same three chapters of the book of Corinthians. Sheehan did it. - -J. R. Edwards had appeared before the mayor on a charge of having -imbibed too freely. He was sentenced to read the three chapters aloud, -and Warden Sheehan was delegated to listen to see that the sentence was -fully complied with. Sheehan could not stand the prisoner’s reading and -told him to go, it is alleged. Sheehan was then sentenced to do the -reading. - - -Kentucky Woman, 112. - -“Aunt Crissie” Stallard, who is probably the most noted woman in -Kentucky, has just celebrated her one-hundred-and-twelfth birthday, and -is still hale and hearty. “Aunt Crissie” was born in West Virginia and -came to Kentucky at the age of twenty, and married James Stallard that -same year. Her husband died twenty years later. - -This aged woman has outlived all of her children except one who has been -helpless for years. She is still living on her farm, near Hilliard, -where she lived in 1823. She does all her own work--milking, gardening, -getting her own firewood, just as she did back in the old days. - -Her neighboring friends have offered to supply her with plenty of coal, -but thus far she has repeatedly refused their offers. Aunt Crissie has a -farm of 240 acres of land, with mineral and timber on it. Companies have -offered large sums of money for the farm, but her reply is always the -same: “I will never sell so long as I can provide for myself.” - - -Through High School at Ten. - -Whitesburg, Ky., can perhaps boast of the youngest high-school graduate -in the State. Miss Grace Newman, ten years old, daughter of Attorney J. -H. Newman, of that place, is the heroine. Having entered the high-school -examination at Whitesburg, and averaging among the best, she received -her diploma and a good compliment. She is exceedingly small for one of -her age. - - -Traded a Colt for 160 Acres. - -Charles Watson, of Fort Scott, Kan., swapped a two-year-old colt for 160 -acres of land in 1856, and the man rode the colt away because he feared -Watson would go back on the deal. To-day the land is worth at least -$16,000, and “Uncle Charlie,” as Watson is familiarly called, is rich. -He is a veteran of the Civil War. - - -Thousand Killed in Mines. - -More than 1,000 lives were lost in and about the mines of Pennsylvania -in 1914, according to statistics made public by the state department of -mines. Six hundred men and boys were killed in the anthracite mines--a -reduction of twenty-four, compared with 1913--and 413 lost their lives -in the bituminous regions--a decrease of 198, compared with the previous -year. - -The total production of coal in the State was 237,251,835 tons. The -anthracite output amounted to 91,367,305 tons, a decrease of 259,659 -compared with 1913, and the bituminous production was 145,884,530 tons, -a decrease of 27,081,129 tons compared with the previous year. The -number of persons employed in and about the mines last year was 376,831. - - -Some Quaint Tricks of the Numeral Nine. - -There are some curious facts and fancies connected with numbers. The -number nine is, perhaps, the first as regards such experiments, although -number seven is more prominent in literature and history. When you once -use it you can’t get rid of it. It will turn up again, no matter what -you do to put it “down and out.” - -All through the multiplication table the product of nine comes to nine. -No matter what you multiply with or how many times you repeat or change -the figures, the result is always the same. - -For instance, twice nine equals eighteen; add eight and one, and you -have nine. Three times nine equals twenty-seven; two and seven make nine -again. Go on until you try eleven times nine equals ninety-nine. This -seems to bring an exception. But add the digits--nine and nine make -eighteen; and again, one and eight make nine. Go on to an indeterminable -extent and the thing continues. Take any number at random. For example, -450 times nine equals 4,050, and the digits, added, make nine once more. -Take 6,000 times 9, equals, 54,000, and again you have five and four. - -Take any rows of figures, reverse the order, and subtract the lesser -from the greater--the difference will certainly be always nine or a -multiple of nine. For example, 5,071 minus 1,705 equals 3,366. Add these -digits and you have eighteen, and one and eight make the familiar nine. - -You have the same result no matter how you raise the numbers by squares -and cubes. - -One more way is given by which number nine shows its strange powers. -Write down any number you please, add its digits, and then subtract the -sum of said digits from the original number. No matter what numbers you -start with, the sum of the digits in the answer will be nine. - -Try these experiments, and you will be delighted with the exact manner -in which they prove the statement. Some quaint puzzles have been made -based on these fixed principles. - - -Launch New United States Ship in June. - -The new superdreadnaught _Arizona_ will be launched early in June. As -soon as it takes the water, preparations will begin for the laying of -the keel of the still greater superdreadnaught _California_. The -launching of the _Arizona_ is expected to prove one of the greatest -naval celebrations in the history of New York. - - -Ninety-pound Voter, Still in Knee Pants. - -John Smith, of Recluse, Miss., still in knee pants and weighing a little -less than ninety pounds, is the smallest voter in the South. John -attained his majority a few days ago and hastened to the depot for a -ticket to Gulfport, the county seat, to get out his registration papers -and be qualified as a full-sized man voter. - -When he asked for the ticket, the agent handed him a child’s half-fare -one. John was set back at this, but remarked that the agent didn’t know -anything anyway. He would show them something when he came back from -Gulfport. - -When the conductor passed him in the train and shouted “Ticket, sonny!” -John wanted to fight, but again he managed to control himself. - -When he entered the court clerk’s office in Gulfport, he was asked: - -“Want an errand boy’s job, kiddo?” - -“No, dog-gone it,” yelled John, “I want to register.” - -“The deuce you do,” shouted the clerk. But John submitted -birth-registration papers and took oath as to his age. He was registered -and now had the right to vote. His chest swelled. - -Just at that time the candidate for next term of court clerk entered and -said, “Hello, kid.” “Now, that’s where you lost a vote,” answered John -indignantly. The candidate apologized when he learned the facts. - -John, with his ninety pounds, knee pants, and registration papers, went -back to Recluse. He now struts about the town discussing the tariff, the -effect of the Mexican situation on the chances of the Democratic party, -and everything his father talks about. And he doesn’t stand for any -“kidding” about it, either. - - -Man Shows a Prophetic Egg. - -J. P. Edwards was in Piggott, Ark., recently, showing a curious egg one -of his hens laid the day before, and the exhibit surely aroused the most -profound wonderment. The egg is an ordinary one in shape and size, but -on the surface of the snow-white shell there appear to be faint maps of -the eastern and western hemispheres. North and South America are intact, -except a part of the extreme southern point, the Gulf of Mexico and -Panama Canal being plainly shown. - -On the eastern hemisphere everything looks as though having been torn by -cyclonic winds and in danger of being scattered to the “four corners of -the earth,” wherever they are. - -Some say this freak egg is simply one result of the European war, -earthquakes, land monopoly, et cetera. Those who are of prophetic vision -see “signs” in this egg which prognosticate the future face of the -world. - - -Girl Plumber-Butcher Quits Her Laundry. - -“Cattle are more interesting than clothes,” says Miss Allie Pitts, of -Eureka Springs, Ark., who has forsaken the butcher business to run a -laundry. Miss Pitts is twenty-seven years old. She was accustomed to -killing her own cattle and hogs when she was in the meat business. This -summer she plans to quit the laundry, buy a cattle ranch, and ship her -own stock to market. - -Before she became a butcher Miss Pitts was a plumber. At an age when -most girls are giggling over beaus and party dresses, this mountain girl -was repairing broken water pipes and defective drains. - -“I guess it’s because I’m just naturally odd,” she says bashfully when -asked how she came to choose such odd professions. “I went to keeping -books in a meat shop, and one day when the butcher was taken sick I -offered to take his place. Then I bought a shop of my own in Granby, -Mo. With the help of a man I employed I did all my own butchering, -cutting up the beef, and rendering the lard. I knocked the animals in -the head as they came down the runway. Oh, yes, I hated it at first, but -I soon got used to it. Some way I hated worst to kill the hogs. - -“Cattle are interesting,” she continued musingly; “much more interesting -than clothes. I’m going back into the cattle business.” - -The restrictions of corsets, high heels, and frills are unknown to this -wholesome mountain girl. She dresses very plainly in a short, dark -skirt, mannish waist and tie, and knockabout hat. She has mild blue -eyes, curling dark hair, and talks with a little lisp. - - -Edison Will Make Benzol. - -Another step for the manufacture of benzol in this country has been -taken. Thomas A. Edison has opened a factory in Johnstown, Pa., for the -manufacture of benzol from coal gas, a process never before developed in -this country. - -Carbolic acid and aniline dyes are made from benzol, which heretofore -has come chiefly from Germany. Since the war there has been a great -shortage of this product, and chemists and manufacturers have given much -attention to producing it in this country. Recently Secretary of the -Interior Lane announced that Doctor Rittman, one of the department’s -chemists, had discovered a method of producing benzol from petroleum, -and this week he announced that he had made arrangements with a -manufacturing firm to use the Rittman method. - - -Rancher Battles with Trapped White Wolf. - -John S. Sherrod, the rancher near Glenwood Springs, Col., who caught a -huge white wolf in his traps near Fruita, was in Glenwood Springs and -admitted having experienced a very thrilling time in connection with the -wolf, and the near loss of his life in the Grand River. - -The wolf was caught on the south side of the Grand River, and Sherrod -had to cross in a boat. When landing on the north bank, the wolf sprang -at the trapper, who grappled with the beast in order to save his life. -The strain on the chain attached to the trap was too much with the two -pulling on it, and it gave way, allowing the wolf and his captor to drop -into the river, which is quite swift at this point. - -Sherrod was almost drowned in his efforts to keep the wolf’s head under -water, but he finally succeeded in besting the animal, which he pulled -out on the bank and killed with a club. - -The wolf’s pelt is worth one hundred dollars, and Sherrod seems to think -he earned every cent of it. - - -Some Facts You May Not Know. - -Among the rare specimens not open to public inspection in the Harvard -Zoölogical Museum is what is asserted to be the largest frog in the -world. It weighs about six pounds, is twenty-seven inches long from tip -to toe, and of a slaty-black color. Its web feet are equal in size to -those of a large swan. Only three of its kind have ever reached the -United States. - -The smallest cows in the world are found in the Samoan Islands. The -average weight does not exceed 150 pounds, while the bulls weigh about -200 pounds. They are about the size of merino sheep. - -The Siamese have a superstitious dislike of odd numbers, and they -studiously strive to have in their own houses an even number of windows, -doors, rooms, and cupboards. - -There is a tribe of Indians in Mexico whose language is limited to about -300 words and who cannot count more than ten. - -Next to the United States, Germany has the greatest number of telegraph -offices and the largest line mileage. - -Sugar exists in the sap of about 190 plants and trees. - -The Chinese pupil reciting his lesson turns his back on the tutor. - -Warships taking refuge in a neutral port are liable to be disarmed after -twenty-four hours. - -In some parts of Siberia milk is sold frozen around a piece of wood, -which serves as a handle to carry it. - -Herons, which average only four pounds in weight, often have been known -to eat more than three pounds of fish at a meal. - -In 1850 only one woman worked for wages to every ten men; now the ratio -is one woman to four men. - - -His Second Fall Cures Him. - - There was a man in our town, - And he was wondrous wise; - He jumped into a bramble bush - And scratched out both his eyes; - And when he saw his eyes were out - With all his might and main, - He jumped into the bramble bush - And scratched them in again. - -W. J. Parker, a Corunna, Mich., lawyer, unwittingly took the part of the -wise man in the Mother Goose story, with results as satisfactory as the -tale sets forth. He recently slipped on an icy sidewalk and sustained a -sprain of his ankle that compelled him to hobble about on crutches. - -On a recent evening when he started down cellar to fix the furnace fire, -he slipped and fell downstairs, and when he picked himself up, found his -ankle was all right again and that he could walk without crutches and -without pain. - -Surgeons who examined the ankle say the first fall caused an obscure -dislocation and that the second one reduced it. Parker has discarded the -crutches permanently. - - -Has Lived Seventy-two Years on Same Farm Land. - -Luman Owen, resident of Oak Grove, Wis., who has lived on the same farm -seventy-two years, says he is the oldest living white person in -Wisconsin who was born in the Badger State. - -“My father came to Oak Grove, Dodge County, with his family and took up -land from the government in the fall of 1842, which is seventy-two years -this last fall,” said Mr. Owen. “I have lived on that same land -continuously ever since, and am the last survivor of the family of nine -persons. However, this was not their first place of settlement in -Wisconsin. They came to Waukesha in the fall of 1836, from Ogdensburg, -N. Y., and were on a boat from the time they left Ogdensburg, until -they landed in Milwaukee, seven weeks and four days. They could have -walked the distance in less time than that. - -“My father took up land from the government in Waukesha, then called -Prairieville, and there, in the spring of 1837, I was born. In 1842 our -family moved to Dodge County, and again took up land from the -government, the patents for which are signed by President James K. Polk. -There was no homestead law in those days. Land had to be bought from the -government at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. - -“When we came here, this part of the country was wilderness, inhabited -by wild animals and Indians, but it settled up fast, and as soon as -people began to raise more than they wanted for their own use, the next -thing was to get to market. We were sixty-five miles from Milwaukee, -where all surplus farm products had to be hauled, and most invariably by -an ox team, which was a long, tedious journey. If a man took in a load -of produce to market and was fortunate enough to get a load of -merchandise or immigrants or something of the kind to bring back, he -would come out about even financially. But if he failed to get the load -back, he would come home owing hotel bills along the road.” - - -Man Who Dumped Brewery is Dead. - -Reverend Abraham de Kack, one-time prosperous brewer, who emptied the -contents of his brewing plant into Grand River and later became a -Methodist minister, is dead in Ionia, Mich., of pneumonia. - -De Kack, more generally known as “De Quack,” and familiarly to his -immediate circle of acquaintances as “Quackie,” which appellation is by -no means lacking in the respect that it would seemingly fail to convey, -was once a brewer in Holland, and later a celery grower, and finally a -preacher of the gospel. - -It was many years ago that De Kack brewed beer--it was considered good -beer, too--but when he saw the harm that alcohol does, even in small -amounts, he at once went to his little brewery, discharged the help, -opened up the spigots of the beer vats, and, at the loss of a small -fortune to himself, drained all the beer into the sewers. Then he became -a minister. - -It was a habit of De Kack’s to pay his hired help daily as far as -possible, for he took seriously the biblical saying: “Owe no man.” -Martin Dows, of Grand Rapids, one of De Kack’s employees, received his -pay every night for twenty-nine years. - - -Old Nag Dies After Race. - -After serving his master, Peter l’Heureux, of Marlboro, Mass., for the -most of his twenty-six years of life, Mr. l’Heureux’s faithful family -horse, either out of shame because he was beaten or because he felt bad -about putting his owner out of pocket, turned around and died after he -had just lost the second straight out of three heats in a race against -the equine owned by Joseph Chaput on the Lakeside Avenue Straightaway. - -For some time there had been arguments between the two men relative to -the merits of their horses as “steppers.” It was decided to settle the -matter. Bets were placed and all concerned repaired to the scene of -contest. There were friends of both parties, probably 500 in all, -assembled to see some free racing. - -The distance was to be a quarter mile, best two heats out of three, -and, after the stationing of officials, the race was on. L’Heureux’s -horse was beaten by a good ten yards in the first heat and was a bad -second in the next sprint. The animal was just turned round by the -driver and headed in the direction of home when it suddenly pitched out -of the shafts--dead. - - -“Boy” Prisoner Proves to be Married Woman. - -After fraternizing with men prisoners in the jail and sharing a cell -with Robert Stewart for several months, “Frank A. Dawson,” alias “Frank -Morris,” of Oklahoma, arrested in Sutton, W. Va., on a charge of -burglary, was found to be a woman. - -Dawson, who appeared to be a youth of sixteen years, sent a note to -Jailer Hyer, when her case was to have been called in court, and -informed him that she was in disguise. - -Dawson’s story was confirmed by a matron, and she further asserted that -she is Mrs. Frank C. Dawson, of Clarksburg, and that she has a mother, -brother, and a young child residing in that city. - -Mrs. Dawson is a very pretty young woman. She and Stewart have occupied -the same cell at night and she has daily associated with the other -prisoners in the corridors. Stewart asserts that he was not aware of her -sex. - -According to the police, Dawson and Stewart are responsible for a number -of daring burglaries in this vicinity, in which they are said to have -made away with several thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry and valuables. - - -Boy Risks Life for Thirty-five Cents. - -While Lee Mills, nineteen years old, was returning to his home in Webb -City, Mo., from a “movie” show, at a late hour, two rough-bearded men -stepped from behind the corner of a building, each holding an automatic -revolver, and commanded “Hands up!” Instead of complying, young Mills, -who was carrying an umbrella, used the latter as a “spear” and attacked -the two holdup men. They opened fire upon him, but Mills, undaunted, -continued to use his stout umbrella until he had put both men to flight. -They fired many shots at him, but only one took effect, striking him in -the right arm and passing through the fleshy part, without breaking any -bones. - -When young Mills was taken to a hospital for treatment, the doctor, -thinking his patient must have a considerable sum of money with him to -have put up so fierce a fight against such odds, asked him if he wanted -his valuables taken care of. - -“Oh, no,” replied Mills, “it isn’t necessary, as I only have thirty-five -cents,” which statement proved true. - - -=TOBACCO HABIT= Conquered easily in 3 days! =Improve health= prolong your -life. Relieve stomach or kidney trouble, hoarseness, headaches, -irritability, nervous worry, heart weakness. Avoid blindness! =FREE= =Gain -lasting vigor=, calm nerves, better memory, clear eyes, superior mental -strength. Banish spells of melancholy; avoid collapse. If you chew, dip -snuff or =smoke pipe=, =cigarettes=, =cigars=, get my interesting free book. -Just what you have been looking for. Proved worth weight in gold to -others; why not you? Overcome nicotine habit, start anew and be -genuinely happy. Book mailed free. =EDW. J. WOODS. 230 L., -Station E.New York, N.Y.= - - - - -$ - -OLD COINS WANTED. - - -$4.25 EACH paid for U. S. Flying Eagle Cents dated 1856. All U. S. Large -Cents, 1/2 Cents, 2c Pieces, 3c Pieces, Gold Dollars and Hundreds of -other U. S. and foreign coins command a CASH premium. Send TEN cents at -once for New Illustrated Coin Value Book, 4x7, showing GUARANTEED -prices. Get Posted, it may mean your fortune. =Clarke & Co., Coin -Dealers, Box 67, Le Roy, N.Y.= - - - - -The Nick Carter Stories - -ISSUED EVERY SATURDAY BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS - - -When it comes to detective stories worth while, the =Nick Carter Stories= -contain the only ones that should be considered. They are not overdrawn -tales of bloodshed. They rather show the working of one of the finest -minds ever conceived by a writer. The name of Nick Carter is familiar -all over the world, for the stories of his adventures may be read in -twenty languages. No other stories have withstood the severe test of -time so well as those contained in the =Nick Carter Stories=. It proves -conclusively that they are the best. We give herewith a list of some of -the back numbers in print. You can have your news dealer order them, or -they will be sent direct by the publishers to any address upon receipt -of the price in money or postage stamps. - -704--Written in Red. -707--Rogues of the Air. -709--The Bolt from the Blue. -710--The Stockbridge Affair. -711--A Secret from the Past. -712--Playing the Last Hand. -713--A Slick Article. -714--The Taxicab Riddle. -717--The Master Rogue’s Alibi. -719--The Dead Letter. -720--The Allerton Millions. -728--The Mummy’s Head. -729--The Statue Clue. -730--The Torn Card. -731--Under Desperation’s Spur. -732--The Connecting Link. -733--The Abduction Syndicate. -736--The Toils of a Siren. -738--A Plot Within a Plot. -739--The Dead Accomplice. -741--The Green Scarab. -746--The Secret Entrance. -747--The Cavern Mystery. -748--The Disappearing Fortune. -749--A Voice from the Past. -752--The Spider’s Web. -753--The Man With a Crutch. -754--The Rajah’s Regalia. -755--Saved from Death. -756--The Man Inside. -757--Out for Vengeance. -758--The Poisons of Exili. -759--The Antique Vial. -760--The House of Slumber. -761--A Double Identity. -762--“The Mocker’s” Stratagem. -763--The Man that Came Back. -764--The Tracks in the Snow. -765--The Babbington Case. -766--The Masters of Millions. -767--The Blue Stain. -768--The Lost Clew. -770--The Turn of a Card. -771--A Message in the Dust. -772--A Royal Flush. -774--The Great Buddha Beryl. -775--The Vanishing Heiress. -776--The Unfinished Letter. -777--A Difficult Trail. -782--A Woman’s Stratagem. -783--The Cliff Castle Affair. -784--A Prisoner of the Tomb. -785--A Resourceful Foe. -789--The Great Hotel Tragedies. -795--Zanoni, the Transfigured. -796--The Lure of Gold. -797--The Man With a Chest. -798--A Shadowed Life. -799--The Secret Agent. -800--A Plot for a Crown. -801--The Red Button. -802--Up Against It. -803--The Gold Certificate. -804--Jack Wise’s Hurry Call. -805--Nick Carter’s Ocean Chase. -806--Nick Carter and the Broken Dagger. -807--Nick Carter’s Advertisement. -808--The Kregoff Necklace. -810--The Copper Cylinder. -811--Nick Carter and the Nihilists. -812--Nick Carter and the Convict Gang. -813--Nick Carter and the Guilty Governor. -814--The Triangled Coin. -815--Ninety-nine--and One. -816--Coin Number 77. - - -NEW SERIES - -NICK CARTER STORIES - -1--The Man from Nowhere. -2--The Face at the Window. -3--A Fight for a Million. -4--Nick Carter’s Land Office. -5--Nick Carter and the Professor. -6--Nick Carter as a Mill Hand. -7--A Single Clew. -8--The Emerald Snake. -9--The Currie Outfit. -10--Nick Carter and the Kidnapped Heiress. -11--Nick Carter Strikes Oil. -12--Nick Carter’s Hunt for a Treasure. -13--A Mystery of the Highway. -14--The Silent Passenger. -15--Jack Dreen’s Secret. -16--Nick Carter’s Pipe Line Case. -17--Nick Carter and the Gold Thieves. -18--Nick Carter’s Auto Chase. -19--The Corrigan Inheritance. -20--The Keen Eye of Denton. -21--The Spider’s Parlor. -22--Nick Carter’s Quick Guess. -23--Nick Carter and the Murderess. -24--Nick Carter and the Pay Car. -25--The Stolen Antique. -26--The Crook League. -27--An English Cracksman. -28--Nick Carter’s Still Hunt. -29--Nick Carter’s Electric Shock. -30--Nick Carter and the Stolen Duchess. -31--The Purple Spot. -32--The Stolen Groom. -33--The Inverted Cross. -34--Nick Carter and Kono McCall. -35--Nick Carter’s Death Trap. -36--Nick Carter’s Siamese Puzzle. -37--The Man Outside. -38--The Death Chamber. -39--The Wind and the Wire. -40--Nick Carter’s Three Cornered Chase. -41--Dazaar, the Arch-Fiend. -42--The Queen of the Seven. -43--Crossed Wires. -44--A Crimson Clew. -45--The Third Man. -46--The Sign of the Dagger. -47--The Devil Worshipers. -48--The Cross of Daggers. -49--At Risk of Life. -50--The Deeper Game. -51--The Code Message. -52--The Last of the Seven. -53--Ten-Ichi, the Wonderful. -54--The Secret Order of Associated Crooks. -55--The Golden Hair Clew. -56--Back From the Dead. -57--Through Dark Ways. -58--When Aces Were Trumps. -59--The Gambler’s Last Hand. -60--The Murder at Linden Fells. -61--A Game for Millions. -62--Under Cover. -63--The Last Call. -64--Mercedes Danton’s Double. -65--The Millionaire’s Nemesis. -66--A Princess of the Underworld. -67--The Crook’s Blind. -68--The Fatal Hour. -69--Blood Money. -70--A Queen of Her Kind. -71--Isabel Benton’s Trump Card. -72--A Princess of Hades. -73--A Prince of Plotters. -74--The Crook’s Double. -75--For Life and Honor. -76--A Compact With Dazaar. -77--In the Shadow of Dazaar. -78--The Crime of a Money King. -79--Birds of Prey. -80--The Unknown Dead. -81--The Severed Hand. -82--The Terrible Game of Millions. -83--A Dead Man’s Power. -84--The Secrets of an Old House. -85--The Wolf Within. -86--The Yellow Coupon. -87--In the Toils. -88--The Stolen Radium. -89--A Crime in Paradise. -90--Behind Prison Bars. -91--The Blind Man’s Daughter. -92--On the Brink of Ruin. -93--Letter of Fire. -94--The $100,000 Kiss. -95--Outlaws of the Militia. -96--The Opium-Runners. -97--In Record Time. -98--The Wag-Nuk Clew. -99--The Middle Link. -100--The Crystal Maze. -101--A New Serpent in Eden. -102--The Auburn Sensation. -103--A Dying Chance. -104--The Gargoni Girdle. -105--Twice in Jeopardy. -106--The Ghost Launch. -107--Up in the Air. -108--The Girl Prisoner. -109--The Red Plague. -110--The Arson Trust. -111--The King of the Firebugs. -112--“Lifter’s” of the Lofts. -113--French Jimmie and His Forty Thieves. -114--The Death Plot. -115--The Evil Formula. -116--The Blue Button. -117--The Deadly Parallel. -118--The Vivisectionists. -119--The Stolen Brain. -120--An Uncanny Revenge. -121--The Call of Death. -122--The Suicide. -123--Half a Million Ransom. -124--The Girl Kidnapper. -125--The Pirate Yacht. -126--The Crime of the White Hand. -127--Found in the Jungle. -128--Six Men in a Loop. -129--The Jewels of Wat Chang. -130--The Crime in the Tower. -131--The Fatal Message. -132--Broken Bars. - - -Dated March 27th, 1915. - -133--Won by Magic. - - -Dated April 3d, 1915. - -134--The Secret of Shangore. - - -Dated April 10th, 1915. - -135--Straight to the Goal. - - -Dated April 17th, 1915. - -136--The Man They Held Back. - - -=PRICE, FIVE CENTS PER COPY.= If you want any back numbers of our weeklies -and cannot procure them from your news dealer, they can be obtained -direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as money. - - -STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh Ave., NEW YORK CITY - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NICK CARTER STORIES NO 120 - 160 / -DEC 26, 1914 - OCT 2, 1915 *** - -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - 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 will have to check the laws of the country where - you are located before using this eBook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/66764-0.zip b/old/66764-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index cf76367..0000000 --- a/old/66764-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/66764-h.zip b/old/66764-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9388fc5..0000000 --- a/old/66764-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/66764-h/66764-h.htm b/old/66764-h/66764-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index bec69b4..0000000 --- a/old/66764-h/66764-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5369 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" -"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> - <head> <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> -<title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Melting-Pot, by Nick Carter. -</title> -<style type="text/css"> - -a:link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} - - link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} - -a:visited {background-color:#ffffff;color:purple;text-decoration:none;} - -a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;color:#FF0000;text-decoration:underline;} - -.big {font-size: 130%;} - -.cbig250 {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold; -font-size:250%;} - -.clft {margin-left:8%;} - -.big250 {text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold; -font-size:250%;} - -.bigsans250 {text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold; -font-size:250%;font-family:sans-serif;} - -body{margin-left:4%;margin-right:6%;background:#ffffff;color:black;font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:medium;} - -.c {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} - -.fint {text-align:center;text-indent:0%; -margin-top:2em;} - -.figcenter {margin:3% auto 3% auto;clear:both; -text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} - - h1 {margin-top:5%;text-align:center;clear:both; -font-weight:normal;} - - h2 {margin-top:4%;margin-bottom:2%;text-align:center;clear:both; - font-size:100%;font-weight:normal;} - - h3 {margin:4% auto 2% auto;text-align:center;clear:both; -font-size:100%;font-weight:bold;} - - hr {width:90%;margin:2em auto 2em auto;clear:both;color:black;} - - hr.full {width: 60%;margin:2% auto 2% auto;border-top:1px solid black; -padding:.1em;border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left:none;border-right:none;} - - img {border:none;} - -.lftspc {margin-left:.25em;} - -.nind {text-indent:0%;} - - p {margin-top:.2em;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:.2em;text-indent:4%;} - -.pagenum {font-style:normal;position:absolute;display: none; -left:95%;font-size:55%;text-align:right;color:gray; -background-color:#ffffff;font-variant:normal;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0em;} - -.rt {text-align:right;} - -small {font-size: 70%;} - -.smcap {font-variant:small-caps;font-size:120%;} - -table {margin-top:2%;margin-bottom:2%;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;border:none;} - -div.poetry {text-align:center;} -div.poem {font-size:90%;margin:auto auto;text-indent:0%; -display: inline-block; text-align: left;} -.poem .stanza {margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom:1em;} -.poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} -.poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - -th {padding-bottom:.5em;padding-top:.5em;} -</style> - </head> -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Nick Carter Stories No 120 - 160 / Dec 26, 1914 - Oct 2, 1915, by Nick Carter</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Nick Carter Stories No 120 - 160 / Dec 26, 1914 - Oct 2, 1915</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0;'>The Melting-Pot; Where's the Commandant?</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Nick Carter</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: C.C. Waddell</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Editor: Chickering Carter</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 18, 2021 [eBook #66764]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Edwards, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Northern Illinois University Digital Library)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NICK CARTER STORIES NO 120 - 160 / DEC 26, 1914 - OCT 2, 1915 ***</div> -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/cover.jpg"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" height="500" alt="[Image of -the book's cover is unavailable.]" /></a> -</div> - -<table cellpadding="1" summary="deprecated" -style="border:3px solid black; -padding:.5em;"> -<tr class="c"><th><a href="#THE_MELTING_POT">THE MELTING POT </a></th></tr> -<tr class="c"><td><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER: I.</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_II"> II., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_III"> III., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IV"> IV., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_V"> V., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VI"> VI., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VII"> VII., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"> VIII., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IX"> IX. </a></td></tr> - -<tr class="c"><th><a href="#Wheres_the_Commandant">WHERE’S THE COMMANDANT?</a></th></tr> -<tr class="c"><td><a href="#CHAPTERW_I">CHAPTER: I., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTERW_II"> II., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTERW_III"> III., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTERW_IV"> IV. </a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_1" id="page_1">{1}</a></span></p> - -<p class="cbig250"> -<img src="images/nickcarter.png" -width="500" -alt="NICK CARTER STORIES" /></p> - -<p class="c"><i>Issued Weekly. Entered as Second-class Matter at the New York Post -Office, by</i> <span class="smcap">Street & Smith</span>, <i>79-89 Seventh Ave., New York. Copyright, -1915, by</i> <span class="smcap">Street & Smith</span>. <i>O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith, Proprietors.</i></p> - -<p class="c">Terms to NICK CARTER STORIES Mail Subscribers.</p> - -<p class="c">(<i>Postage Free.</i>)</p> - -<p class="c">Single Copies or Back Numbers, 5c. Each.</p> - -<table cellpadding="0" summary="deprecated"> -<tr><td>3 months</td><td class="rt">65c.</td></tr> -<tr><td>4 months</td><td class="rt">85c.</td></tr> -<tr><td>6 months</td><td class="rt">$1.25</td></tr> -<tr><td>One year</td><td class="rt">$2.50</td></tr> -<tr><td>2 copies one year</td><td class="rt">4.00</td></tr> -<tr><td>1 copy two years</td><td class="rt">4.00</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="c"><b>How to Send Money</b>—By post-office or express money order, registered -letter, bank check or draft, at our risk. At your own risk if sent by -currency, coin, or postage stamps in ordinary letter.</p> - -<p class="c"><b>Receipts</b>—Receipt of your remittance is acknowledged by proper change of -number on your label. If not correct you have not been properly -credited, and should let us know at once.</p> - -<p class="c"> -<b>No. 140.</b> <span style="margin-left: 2em; -margin-right:2em;">NEW YORK, May 15, 1915.</span> <b>Price Five Cents.</b><br /> -</p> - -<h1><a name="THE_MELTING_POT" id="THE_MELTING_POT"></a>THE MELTING POT;<br /> -<small>Or, NICK CARTER AND THE WALDMERE PLATE.</small></h1> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_2" id="page_2">{2}</a></span></p> - -<p class="c">Edited by CHICKERING CARTER.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> -<small>AN OLD OFFENDER.</small></h2> - -<p>“Oh, no, I have not forgotten you. I never forget the face of a crook.”</p> - -<p>The speaker was Nick Carter. His voice, though somewhat under ordinary -pitch, had a subtle and ominous ring. There was a threatening glint in -the eyes he had fixed upon the face of the man he addressed.</p> - -<p>It was a striking and impressive face, nearly as strong and impressive -as that of the famous detective—but for directly opposite reasons.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter’s face was frank, manly, and wholesome.</p> - -<p>That at which he was gazing was pallid, sinister, and severe. Its -clean-cut features were as hard as flint. The thin-lipped mouth denoted -cruelty and vicious determination. The square jaw and aggressive chin -evinced firmness and bulldog tenacity. The cold gray eyes had a shifty -gleam and glitter seen only in the eyes of what the detective had called -this man—a crook.</p> - -<p>He took up the epithet bitterly, saying, with a sneer:</p> - -<p>“Crook, eh! You cannot prove it.”</p> - -<p>“I may sooner or later.”</p> - -<p>“You have tried—and failed.”</p> - -<p>“Failure never deters me from trying again. You know the old adage.”</p> - -<p>“You succeeded only in smirching my name, in giving me a bad reputation. -It caused my friends to desert and avoid me. It excluded me from the -clubs, the reputable hotels, from every desirable place that I had been -accustomed to frequent. It has changed my life and turned it as arid as -the heart of a desert. I have you to thank for all this—you, Carter!”</p> - -<p>“You are mistaken,” Nick replied. “You have only yourself to thank for -it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_3" id="page_3">{3}</a></span></p><p>“We view it differently.”</p> - -<p>“Where have you been for the past two years?”</p> - -<p>“Not where you tried to put me.”</p> - -<p>“In Sing Sing.”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Nor have you been in New York, or I should have known it.”</p> - -<p>“You would have known it, too, if I had been arrested.”</p> - -<p>“Most likely—if arrested under your own name.”</p> - -<p>“You remember that, then, also.”</p> - -<p>“Both the face and name of a crook, Stuart Floyd, I always remember,” -said Nick. “I make it a point never to forget them.”</p> - -<p>Floyd’s thin lips curled again with intense scorn and bitterness.</p> - -<p>“That epithet again,” said he between his teeth. “I have you to thank -for it—and repay.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! I see now why you stopped me,” said Nick. “You wanted to threaten -me.”</p> - -<p>They had met in Madison Avenue; in fact, the detective having left his -residence only a few moments before. It was about ten o’clock in the -morning.</p> - -<p>“Threaten you!” exclaimed Floyd, with ominous quietude. “There has been -no day or night for two years that I have not threatened you.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed!”</p> - -<p>“Have you supposed that I forgot, that my memory is less retentive than -yours, that I have less cause than you to remember? Have you thought for -a moment that I forget and forgive?”</p> - -<p>“It matters very little to me, Floyd, whether you do or not,” Nick -calmly informed him, entirely unaffected by the subdued yet vicious -intensity with which the other was speaking.</p> - -<p>“Later, Carter, you will pipe a different tune,” Floyd went on, with -eyes vengefully gleaming. “I will not sleep until the debt is paid. I am -going to put something over on you, Carter, that will more than balance -our<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_4" id="page_4">{4}</a></span> account. Smile scornfully, if you will, but wait until I plunge you -into the melting pot. It will come—take my word for that. It’s you for -the melting pot. You for the melting pot!”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter did not ask him what he meant—did not seriously care. Nor -did he attempt to detain him, though he glanced after him a bit sharply.</p> - -<p>Stuart Floyd had stepped to one side, then walked briskly away without a -backward glance, and he was quickly lost to view in the throng of -pedestrians then in the avenue.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter walked on as if nothing had occurred. The threat did not -alarm him. He gave it hardly a second thought.</p> - -<p>It was two years since he had seen Stuart Floyd, since he arrested him -for complicity in the looting of the Imperial Loan Company by Morris -Garland and Moses Hart, its two treacherous managers, the case involving -the felonious pawning of Lady Waldmere’s valuable jewels, held by them -for collateral.</p> - -<p>The prosecution, however, had not ended quite as Nick had expected. Both -Garland and Hart were convicted and sent to the State’s prison, where -they still were confined.</p> - -<p>The two women involved in the abduction of Lady Waldmere, Vera Vantoon -and her sister, Leah, were given a year for that part of the crime. It -could not be proved, however, that either was involved in the looting of -the loan company. They since had served their time and been liberated.</p> - -<p>Though Nick Carter was convinced of his guilt, moreover, Stuart Floyd -had, with the help of an able criminal lawyer, contrived to slip through -the fingers of justice. Both Garland and Hart had sworn that Floyd knew -nothing about the looting, that he had acted only as their agent in the -handling of the jewels, and that he was entirely ignorant of the -abduction of Lady Waldmere.</p> - -<p>Nick felt morally sure, however, that Stuart Floyd was back of the whole -business, despite the fact that it could not be proved to the -satisfaction of the jury that had acquitted him.</p> - -<p>Nick was not surprised at Floyd’s subsequent disappearance, for he had -posed as a person of character and a popular man about town. The -suspicion was one that would not down, however, and the stigma -apparently had resulted in his disappearance, though none could say -where he had gone. It was with some surprise, therefore, that the -detective encountered him that morning.</p> - -<p>Nick had not lost sight of Lord Waldmere and his wife in the meantime, -and he was an occasional caller at the handsome residence bought in -Riverside Drive by the Englishman, who had been cast out and -disinherited because of his marriage with Mary Royal, at that time a -beautiful American chorus girl.</p> - -<p>Lord Waldmere’s investments in Colorado mines had proved very -profitable, however, and he fast was becoming further estranged from his -native land and more and more infatuated with American life and customs, -in part due to the wishes of his charming wife. He had dropped his -English title, becoming simply Mr. Archie Waldmere, though his prestige -had won him a legion of friends and admission into the first circles of -society.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter was informed on all of these points, and of all of the -friends of the Waldmeres, none was more friendly and gratefully regarded -than the famous detective.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_5" id="page_5">{5}</a></span></p> - -<p>It was with some little surprise, nevertheless, three days following his -meeting with Stuart Floyd, that Nick received an urgent telephone -summons to the Waldmere residence with his chief assistants, Chick -Carter and Patsy Garvan.</p> - -<p>The communication came from Mr. Waldmere himself, convincing Nick that -something very serious had occurred. Without waiting to inquire into the -details, however, he at once complied, in company with Chick and Patsy.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> -<small>THE STOLEN PLATE.</small></h2> - -<p>It was eleven o’clock when Nick Carter arrived with Chick and Patsy at -the Waldmere residence that morning. The butler admitted them, while -Lord Waldmere and his wife came hurrying through the broad, handsomely -furnished hall to meet them.</p> - -<p>“Come into the library,” said Lord Waldmere, after their greeting. “By -Jove, I’m deucedly glad you could come so quickly. I’m in a terrible -state. I’m the victim of a beastly job, as you American detectives call -them. ’Pon my word, Carter, I don’t know whether I’m afoot or horseback. -I’m infernally upset, don’t you know——”</p> - -<p>“Won’t it be well, then, Waldmere, to let your wife tell me what has -occurred?” Nick suggested, interrupting. “I infer that it is something -of a criminal nature, or you would not require my services.”</p> - -<p>“That hits the bally nail on the nob,” groaned the Englishman. “I have -been jolly well robbed, Mr. Carter, jolly well robbed and——”</p> - -<p>“Sit down, Archie, dear, and let me state the case,” Mrs. Waldmere -interrupted, after all had entered the finely furnished library. “I can -inform Mr. Carter much more briefly than you, and he evidently feels -that time may be valuable.”</p> - -<p>Lord Waldmere always yielded to his wife, at which none wondered, for -her beauty and charm were quite irresistible.</p> - -<p>“Archie has, as you already know, decided to remain permanently in -America, or at least until a reconciliation has been effected with his -family, of which there appears to be no prospect as long as his father, -the Earl of Eggleston, lives.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know about that,” Nick bowed.</p> - -<p>“Archie not only has been successful in his mining ventures,” Mrs. -Waldmere continued, “but he also inherited from his mother, who was the -earl’s second wife, nearly all of her extensive estate.</p> - -<p>“It comprised the London residence of her father, also the old manor -house and estate in Dorsetshire, with all that they contained. This -included a fine library, numerous costly paintings, portraits, and other -furnishings, and also a large quantity of valuable silver and gold -plate, which has been a heritage of the Waldmeres for two centuries. It -is of the massive and beautifully engraved kind that we do not see in -these days, and it is valued at something like a hundred thousand -dollars.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the blooming truth, Mr. Carter,” nodded Waldmere. “I would jolly -well rather have given a leg, old top, than have lost it.”</p> - -<p>“Lost it!” echoed Nick. “Do you mean that you have been robbed of the -plate?<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_6" id="page_6">{6}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Yes, bah Jove, that’s just what I mean. The bally stuff, you see, -was——”</p> - -<p>“One moment, Archie,” Mrs. Waldmere interposed. “Let’s state the facts -briefly.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, do so,” put in Nick attentively.</p> - -<p>“After having bought this beautiful residence, which still is only -partly furnished,” she continued; “Archie decided to ship over here most -of his English furnishings, including the library, the paintings and -portraits, a quantity of costly rugs, tapestries, and draperies, and -also all of the gold and silver plate.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, I see!” Nick nodded. “The plate has been stolen during -transportation.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me what you know about it.”</p> - -<p>“That can be briefly told. Archie wrote to his London agent, Mr. Cherry, -a thoroughly reliable man, giving him all of the necessary directions. -Mr. Cherry had the goods packed for shipment. They filled twenty large -cases. These were marked and numbered to correspond with an inventory -mailed to Archie, stating what each case contained.”</p> - -<p>“The inventory was duly received?” Nick questioned.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it came nearly two weeks ago.”</p> - -<p>“Continue.”</p> - -<p>“The goods were shipped on the liner <i>Flodora</i>, which should have -arrived in New York five days ago. As you may have read in the -newspapers, however, she had a break in some part of her engine and was -compelled to put into Boston, where her cargo was discharged and shipped -to New York by rail. We were notified by New York agents on the day of -her arrival, informing us how our shipment would be forwarded.”</p> - -<p>“I follow you,” said Nick.</p> - -<p>“To guard against any mishap, Mr. Carter, we then sent our chauffeur to -Boston to engage a special car for our goods and to see that all of the -twenty cases were put into it.”</p> - -<p>“What is his name?”</p> - -<p>“Frank Gilbert. I have known him for years. He is strictly honest and -capable. He remained in Boston and saw the twenty cases put into the -freight car. He also saw that it was properly closed and sealed. The car -was sent on an hour later, for the train was being made up at the time, -and it arrived here and was sidetracked in the railway yard early this -morning. We were notified by telephone and told that we could take away -the goods.”</p> - -<p>“What more, Mrs. Waldmere?” Nick inquired.</p> - -<p>“Following our instructions, Gilbert already had made arrangements with -Macklin & Dale, the express company, to bring the cases to this house,” -she continued. “We telephoned to them at once, and were told that they -would have a van at the car at ten o’clock. We sent Gilbert there at -half past nine with the bill of lading, which the freight agent requires -from strangers before he will deliver the goods. Gilbert arrived at the -car at precisely ten o’clock. No dray was there.”</p> - -<p>“The truckman was late?”</p> - -<p>“Something more than that. He was sent, as agreed, but was stopped on -his way by a policeman, who claimed to identify him as a crook wanted by -the authorities, and who detained him half an hour to question him.”</p> - -<p>“H’m, I see,” Nick nodded. “Something more, indeed, Mrs. Waldmere.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_7" id="page_7">{7}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“In the meantime, Mr. Carter, another wagon, bearing the firm name of -the express company, went to the railway yard. Two men were in charge of -it. They presented a forged bill of lading, stating that they had been -sent to take away three of the cases, the numbers of which were -specified, as soon as possible. One of the yard hands was sent to the -car with them, and the cases were delivered to them about twenty minutes -before Gilbert arrived. They were the three cases, Mr. Carter, that -contained the valuable Waldmere plate.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, by Jove, and the bally rascals got away with them,” cried -Waldmere, in tones of bitter dismay. “I’ve been jolly well robbed, Mr. -Carter, jolly well robbed of——”</p> - -<p>“One moment, Waldmere,” said Nick, checking him with a gesture. “Your -wife has made this crime perfectly clear to me. Just how it was -accomplished is not quite as plain. We must look into it. I infer, Mrs. -Waldmere, there is nothing more of importance that you can add.”</p> - -<p>“No, nothing, Mr. Carter,” she replied. “That’s the whole story.”</p> - -<p>“That, on the contrary, is only the beginning of the story,” corrected -Nick. “Much must be done and with some risk, I anticipate, before the -whole story is told. What, besides sending for me, have you done about -the robbery?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing,” said Mrs. Waldmere. “Gilbert informed us of it by telephone. -We directed him to have the car reclosed and locked pending an -investigation, and I then advised Archie to telephone to you and place -the case in your hands. He did so immediately.”</p> - -<p>Nick looked at his watch. It was nearly twelve o’clock. Two hours had -passed since the crime was committed. It was obvious to him, of course, -that the crooks had made a big haul and got safely away with their -plunder.</p> - -<p>Nick glanced expressively at Patsy Garvan after a moment, and the latter -rightly read the look in his chief’s eyes. He arose almost immediately -and sauntered into the adjoining hall, closing the library door when he -passed out of the room. He knew that Nick wanted to be sure that the -following conversation was not heard by any of the servants.</p> - -<p>“Before beginning an investigation, Mr. Waldmere, I wish to caution you -and your wife to say nothing about any views I may express, neither to -your friends nor in the hearing of your servants,” said Nick, addressing -both quite impressively. “Though you did not observe, I directed one of -my assistants to close the door and wait for me in the hall. That will -insure us against an eavesdropper.”</p> - -<p>“But, hang it, my dear Carter, I’m deucedly well sure that all of my -servants are trustworthy,” Waldmere quickly asserted. “<span class="lftspc">’</span>Pon my word, -sir——”</p> - -<p>“The word of one of them, or possibly more, may not be near as good as -you think,” Nick interrupted. “Permit me to be the judge, please, and do -what I have directed.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, Mr. Carter,” put in Mrs. Waldmere. “You may depend upon it.”</p> - -<p>“It must be obvious to you, of course, that this theft was very -carefully planned and quickly committed, with definite information of -your designs and what was to be stolen. Otherwise, it could not possibly -have been accomplished in the way it was done.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_8" id="page_8">{8}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Surely not, Nick,” Chick nodded. “That’s dead open and shut.”</p> - -<p>“To whom have you confided your intentions, Waldmere, outside of this -house?” Nick inquired.</p> - -<p>“Only to my London agent and the expressman I employed. But the latter -cannot have known what the three cases contained.”</p> - -<p>“You have confided in none of your friends, or acquaintances?”</p> - -<p>“No, not one.”</p> - -<p>“But you have discussed the matter here at times with your wife?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, certainly.”</p> - -<p>“Your London agent is reliable, you say?”</p> - -<p>“Absolutely,” Waldmere declared. “There is no question about it.”</p> - -<p>“Obviously, then, the information obtained by the crooks must have been -imparted by some one who overheard you discussing your designs, and who -has been constantly informed of your intentions and what was being done. -Naturally, of course, suspicion points to one of your servants.”</p> - -<p>“But——”</p> - -<p>“Don’t let’s argue the point,” Nick again interrupted. “Let me have my -way, Waldmere, that we may get after the crooks as quickly as possible.”</p> - -<p>“Very well. It’s up to you.”</p> - -<p>“Now, to proceed, how many servants do you employ?”</p> - -<p>“Six,” said Mrs. Waldmere. “Picard, our French chef. A woman in the -kitchen, named Maggie Coyle.”</p> - -<p>“Young, or well along in years?”</p> - -<p>“About fifty.”</p> - -<p>“Not likely, then, to be in such a job,” said Nick. “Besides, her -position in the house, as well as that of the chef, would have made it -difficult for them to have learned all of the necessary details. They -are out of it.”</p> - -<p>“We employ a butler, John Patterson,” continued Mrs. Waldmere. “Also my -maid, Della Martin, and a maid for general work, named Minerva Grand. -All came well recommended. I have known our chauffeur, Frank Gilbert, -for years, as I have said.”</p> - -<p>“They comprise your list of servants?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Has Gilbert returned from the railway yard?”</p> - -<p>“He has and is waiting in the basement. He met the truckman sent by -Macklin & Dale, and we directed him to bring him here, also, thinking -you might wish to question both.”</p> - -<p>“I will do so,” said Nick. “Have the truckman sent up here. I want both -of you to wait in another room while I am talking with him, also with -Gilbert, whom I will send for a little later. Do not ask my reasons, but -kindly comply.”</p> - -<p>Waldmere looked a bit surprised, but he made no objection. He arose at -once and left the room with his wife.</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you make of it?” Chick inquired, while they waited for -the truckman. “It looks to me like a bit of remarkably clever work.”</p> - -<p>Nick nodded and added:</p> - -<p>“With inside help.”</p> - -<p>“You feel sure of that?”</p> - -<p>“Reasonably sure,” said Nick. “The circumstances point to absolutely -definite information on the part of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_9" id="page_9">{9}</a></span> crooks, much more so than if -there had been only three cases shipped and all three stolen.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true,” Chick allowed.</p> - -<p>“They must have known the numbers of the three cases containing the gold -plate. They must have known that the location of those three particular -cases in the freight car was such that they could quickly remove them, -or they could not have figured so fine as to time. They got away with -them, mind you, only twenty minutes before Gilbert arrived in the yard.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right, too, by Jove.”</p> - -<p>“Furthermore—but here comes our man,” Nick broke off abruptly. “We will -size it up later.”</p> - -<p>The truckman had entered while the detective was speaking.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> -<small>NICK CARTER’S CRAFT.</small></h2> - -<p>Nick Carter needed only to glance at the face of the man who had entered -to feel assured of his honesty. He was a rugged, red-cheeked Scotchman -of nearly fifty years, clad in a checked blouse and overalls and -carrying in one of his begrimed and calloused hands a faded woolen cap.</p> - -<p>“Come nearer, my man,” said Nick pleasantly. “What is your name?”</p> - -<p>“Tom McLauren, sir,” he replied, complying.</p> - -<p>“How long have you been in the employ of Macklin & Dale?”</p> - -<p>“Ten years, sir.”</p> - -<p>“I have been told on what job you were sent out this morning, also that -you were detained by a policeman who——”</p> - -<p>“That’s wrong, sir,” McLauren said quickly. “I may have said a -policeman, sir, not thinking, but he was a plain-clothes man who stopped -me.”</p> - -<p>“One you knew by sight?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. But he showed me his detective badge and——”</p> - -<p>“I understand,” Nick interrupted. “Where did he stop you?”</p> - -<p>“In Forty-eighth Street, sir, when I was driving through from Second -Avenue. He held me up and made me pull off to one side of the street, -and then he began to question me, as much as saying that I was a crook -he was looking for. I tried to convince him he was wrong, but the -infernal bonehead wouldn’t have it, and he threatened to take me down to -headquarters, team and all, unless I answered his questions. He hung me -up there for near half an hour, sir, until I got hot around my collar -and told him he’d better pull a gink who went by just then, instead of -me.”</p> - -<p>“Some one you knew?” questioned Nick.</p> - -<p>“I know him by sight, sir, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you appeal to him, then, and have him vouch for you?”</p> - -<p>“I’d have got fat, sir, doing that,” said McLauren, with an expressive -grin. “Surest thing you know, in that case, the dick would have collared -me.”</p> - -<p>“You mean that the man who went by is a crook?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon so, though I couldn’t swear to it,” said McLauren. “But he’s a -gangman, all right, and I’ve heard he’s a gunman, as well. I only know -him by sight, sir.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_10" id="page_10">{10}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Do you know his name?”</p> - -<p>“I do.”</p> - -<p>“What is it?”</p> - -<p>“Tim Bannon, sir, though he’s better known as Bug Bannon, being a small, -bow-legged chap with a head like a bullet.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” grunted Nick, who knew all about the young gangster. “Did he -say anything, or look at the man who had stopped you?”</p> - -<p>“He did not. He was whistling and on the other side of the street.”</p> - -<p>“How much longer were you detained, McLauren?”</p> - -<p>“Only a couple of minutes, sir. The dick seemed to see he was in wrong -and he let me go.”</p> - -<p>“Describe him,” said Nick.</p> - -<p>“He looked all right, sir, as far as that goes,” said the truckman. -“He’s a medium-built man, kind of pale, but with dark hair and a beard. -He——”</p> - -<p>“That’s all, McLauren,” Nick interrupted. “Send in Frank Gilbert when -you go out. Wait until I have finished with him and I will give you -further instructions.”</p> - -<p>“I hope you don’t think, sir, that I——”</p> - -<p>“I know that you had no hand in the robbery,” Nick again cut in, -anticipating what the other was about to say. “Do what I have directed -and say nothing about my inquiries.”</p> - -<p>“I will not, sir,” McLauren assured him, with a look of relief as he -turned and left the room.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, this looks as if——” Chick began.</p> - -<p>He quickly checked himself, however, when the chauffeur, who had been -waiting in the hall, entered and closed the door.</p> - -<p>He was a tall, clean-cut man in the twenties, with a frank face and -clear blue eyes, that met with convincing gaze the somewhat searching -scrutiny of the detective.</p> - -<p>“I wish to ask you only a few questions, Gilbert,” said Nick. “Much may -depend upon the information I obtain from you, however, so be very -careful when replying. Don’t overlook any little incident that may have -occurred, however trivial it may seem to you.”</p> - -<p>“I understand you, Mr. Carter,” bowed the chauffeur, taking the chair to -which the detective waved him. “I will overlook nothing, sir.”</p> - -<p>“To begin with, then, have you told any person about the intentions of -your employer, or why you were going to Boston?”</p> - -<p>“Not one word, sir,” said Gilbert. “I was for two years in the chorus -with Miss Royal, now Lady Waldmere, and I have always felt a very -sincere regard for her. I would cut out my tongue, or lose a hand, -rather than harm her in any way.”</p> - -<p>“I believe you,” said Nick. “Tell me, now, just what you did after -arriving in Boston. Omit nothing of importance.”</p> - -<p>“I was there only one day,” Gilbert replied. “I first went to the -customhouse, where I saw the collector and gave a voucher for what the -imported cases contain, and I got permission to have them sent to New -York without delay.”</p> - -<p>“And then?”</p> - -<p>“I then went to the pier where the <i>Flodora</i> was docked. I was fortunate -in finding that all of the cases had been discharged from the liner, and -I at once had them taken<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_11" id="page_11">{11}</a></span> to the railway, to be put into a special -freight car. A train was being made up when I arrived there, and I -arranged for the car with the yardmaster, whom I found in his office in -the freight house.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see the twenty cases put into the car?”</p> - -<p>“I did, sir. I also saw the car closed and locked.”</p> - -<p>“Who handled the cases when transferred from the dray to the car?”</p> - -<p>“The truckman, assisted by a train hand in the car.”</p> - -<p>“Who else was present?”</p> - -<p>“Only one other man, sir, who directed the loading of the car. I -supposed he was one of the yard hands employed for that kind of work. He -appeared to have some authority.”</p> - -<p>“He appeared so to you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, certainly.”</p> - -<p>“And to the train hand, no doubt?”</p> - -<p>“So far as I noticed. The train hand did what he was told.”</p> - -<p>“When and where did you first see this man?”</p> - -<p>“He came along just as we were beginning to load the car. He at once -began to tell the train hand where to put the cases. I supposed he -wanted the car loaded in a certain way.”</p> - -<p>“That was a natural supposition,” Nick allowed, smiling a bit oddly. -“The train hand had much the same impression, no doubt.”</p> - -<p>“He appeared to, Mr. Carter.”</p> - -<p>“He probably inferred that this officious individual had an interest in -the cases, and a right to say where they should be put,” said Nick. -“Never mind about that, however. Did you see the man after the car was -closed and locked?”</p> - -<p>“Only when we were leaving the yard.”</p> - -<p>“Did he leave with you?”</p> - -<p>“He went as far as the freight house with me. Then he took the bill of -lading given me by the freight agent, and told me to wait while he got a -duplicate of it for the way-bill clerk. I did so, Mr. Carter, and he -returned in about five minutes and gave me the bill of lading. I -supposed he was one of the yard officials, and that was the last I saw -of him.”</p> - -<p>“You returned to New York that night?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Describe the man, Mr. Gilbert,” said Nick.</p> - -<p>“Why, sir, he was a man of medium build and about forty years old. He -was quite dark, but with a rather pallid skin and——”</p> - -<p>“That is sufficient,” Nick interrupted. “Tell Mr. Waldmere that he may -send you and McLauren after the seventeen cases remaining in the car. I -will look after getting—the other three.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean, Mr. Carter, that——”</p> - -<p>“Never mind what I mean,” Nick again cut in. “Say nothing about the -questions I have asked. Do only what I have directed.”</p> - -<p>“I will, sir.”</p> - -<p>Gilbert bowed and withdrew. He looked as if something unthought of -before had suddenly dawned upon him.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, we seem to be getting down to cases,” Chick remarked, when the -chauffeur had closed the door.</p> - -<p>“We are,” Nick tersely agreed.</p> - -<p>“You think the man who showed up just in time to direct loading the -freight car<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_12" id="page_12">{12}</a></span>——”</p> - -<p>“Is the man we want, or one of them,” put in Nick. “There is no doubt of -that. He got by both Gilbert and the train hand by assuming an air of -authority that completely deceived both. One supposed him a road -employee; the other the owner, perhaps, of the twenty cases.”</p> - -<p>“Most likely.”</p> - -<p>“Be that as it may, he got the three cases containing the gold plate -placed so near the car door that they could be quickly removed after -arriving in New York. He further fooled Gilbert, moreover, into letting -him forge a copy of the bill of lading, probably on a blank already -obtained.”</p> - -<p>“Sure thing,” Chick nodded. “That’s as plain as twice two.”</p> - -<p>“He was on Gilbert’s trail from the time he left New York.”</p> - -<p>“If we could discover his identity——”</p> - -<p>“Leave that to me,” Nick interrupted. “Call in Patsy, also Waldmere, and -his wife. Stay—wait one moment!”</p> - -<p>Nick arose abruptly and approached a large roll-top desk near one of the -walls. The cover of it was raised. Taking a lens from his pocket, Nick -examined the polished woodwork on all sides, including the faces of -several small interior drawers, surveying all of them at an angle that -caught the light in a way that served his purpose.</p> - -<p>“Now, Chick, I’m ready,” he remarked, resuming his seat.</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan entered a few moments later, followed immediately by -Waldmere and his wife. Both gazed inquiringly at the detective, anxious -to know what he had learned, but Nick did not inform them. Instead, -addressing Waldmere, he said, with seeming indifference:</p> - -<p>“I will have finished in a short time. I think you said, Waldmere, that -the inventory of the twenty cases, which was mailed to you from London, -was received about two weeks ago.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Just about that,” Waldmere nodded.</p> - -<p>“Where is it?”</p> - -<p>“In my desk.”</p> - -<p>“Has it been there most of the time?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. It is in one of the small drawers.”</p> - -<p>“I inferred so,” Nick said, a bit dryly. “May I see it?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly.”</p> - -<p>Before the Englishman could open the small interior drawer toward which -he reached, however, Nick checked him by saying abruptly, as if suddenly -hit with another idea:</p> - -<p>“Stay! I don’t think I really care to see it. Instead, Waldmere, I would -like to question your butler and the two maids.”</p> - -<p>“Very well.”</p> - -<p>“Which of them, Mrs. Waldmere, has charge of this room?” Nick added, -turning to her. “I refer to the sweeping and dusting.”</p> - -<p>“Minerva Grand,” she replied.</p> - -<p>“The general housemaid?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. She is a very sweet and dainty girl.”</p> - -<p>“Call in both maids and the butler,” said Nick, turning to Waldmere -again. “I will question each of them. Do not interfere with me, nor -volunteer any suggestion if I give either of them an order.”</p> - -<p>Waldmere looked very much puzzled, but he bowed without replying, and -rang for the butler.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_13" id="page_13">{13}</a></span></p> - -<p>Patterson came in with the two maids a little later. He was stiff and -sedate, the type of man who could not commit a crime if he tried. He -presented a marked contrast to the two girls, both of whom were pretty -and only just turned twenty.</p> - -<p>Della Martin, the elder, was a dark, capable-looking girl, who responded -with manifest confidence to the detective’s questions, evincing no sign -of fear.</p> - -<p>The other, Minerva Grand, was the more attractive. She was slender and -dainty, with a face like that of a doll. Her complexion was a clear pink -and white, her eyes wonderfully blue, her mouth well formed and -sensitive. An abundance of wavy yellow hair appeared like a halo over -her winsome countenance. A more artless and innocent-looking girl could -not be imagined, and her deportment was in keeping with her looks.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter questioned all three, but his inquiries were really only a -blind, to dispel misgivings on the part of either of them, and neither -Chick nor Patsy could fathom at what he was driving.</p> - -<p>After several minutes, however, Nick turned to Minerva Grand and said -pleasantly:</p> - -<p>“I wish you would bring me a cup of hot water with a spoon in it. Have -it quite hot.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, I will,” she replied, bowing demurely.</p> - -<p>“I want to dissolve an alkali to make a chemical test.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, please you,” said Minerva, hastening to obey.</p> - -<p>“You may go, Patterson, and you,” Nick added, addressing the others. “If -you are wanted again, I will ring.”</p> - -<p>Both withdrew, and Waldmere was about to ask a question. He caught a -forbidding gleam in the detective’s eyes, however, and he said nothing.</p> - -<p>Nick fished out part of a lozenge from his pocket, a bit of -confectionery that he happened to have. He held it in the palm of his -hand when Minerva returned with a cup of steaming water, containing a -silver spoon.</p> - -<p>“Hold the spoon a moment, my girl,” said Nick, taking the cup from her.</p> - -<p>Minerva removed it without speaking.</p> - -<p>Nick dropped the piece of lozenge into the water, then glanced up at her -pretty face.</p> - -<p>“Now the spoon, if you please,” said he, taking it from her. “That is -all, thank you. You may go.”</p> - -<p>Minerva bowed, blushing, and left the room.</p> - -<p>Chick, Patsy, and the Waldmeres were still more puzzled.</p> - -<p>Nick arose and walked to the window. Unobserved by the others, he took -his lens from his pocket and briefly studied—the finger print left by -the girl on the steam-dampened handle of the silver spoon.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> -<small>WHAT NICK HAD LEARNED.</small></h2> - -<p>It was after one o’clock when Nick Carter left the Waldmere residence, -after having given such further instructions as the circumstances seemed -to require.</p> - -<p>Twenty minutes later found him seated in his business office with Chick -and Patsy, when he at once began to tell them what he thought of the -case.</p> - -<p>“There is little to it, and also much to it,” said he enigmatically. “We -must do some quick work, mighty quick work, or farewell to the Waldmere -plate.”</p> - -<p>“How do you size it up, chief?” questioned Patsy, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_14" id="page_14">{14}</a></span> saw that Nick was -somewhat anxious over the outcome of the case.</p> - -<p>“That may be told in a nutshell,” Nick replied. “Waldmere’s designs were -known by his servants. One of them put a gang of crooks wise to the -possibility of this robbery and what could be derived from it.”</p> - -<p>“Surely,” put in Chick. “That’s as plain as twice two, though Waldmere -does not think so.”</p> - -<p>“The information was stealthily learned from the inventory received two -weeks ago,” Nick continued. “A copy of it was secretly made, no doubt, -and given to one of the crooks.”</p> - -<p>“Ten to one,” Chick nodded.</p> - -<p>“That gave them the numbers of the three cases containing the gold -plate, and they afterward were kept constantly informed as to the time -of their arrival and of what Waldmere’s intentions consisted.”</p> - -<p>“That’s obvious, also.”</p> - -<p>“Just how she was led into this crime, however, and with whom she has -been communicating and handing out this information, remain to be -discovered. It must be discovered, too, without delay.”</p> - -<p>“She!” exclaimed Patsy, gazing. “Do you suspect one of the maids, -chief?”</p> - -<p>“More than suspect, Patsy,” Nick replied. “I am sure of her.”</p> - -<p>“Which one, chief?”</p> - -<p>“Minerva Grand.”</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! That doll-faced girl! She don’t look capable of stealing a -feather from a peacock’s tail.”</p> - -<p>“That’s too true for a joke, Patsy,” said Chick, a bit dryly. “Are you -really sure of it, Nick?”</p> - -<p>“Dead sure, Chick, and then some.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, it seems almost incredible.”</p> - -<p>“Let me explain,” said Nick. “I found on the highly polished face of one -of the small interior drawers in Waldmere’s desk numerous dainty finger -prints.”</p> - -<p>“H’m, is that so?”</p> - -<p>“I might not have been so quick to suspect, however, if I had found the -same on the adjoining small drawers, also. But they were only on one. It -was the one to which Waldmere reached when I asked him to let me see the -inventory. I already felt sure it was in that drawer.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, that explains it,” said Chick, smiling. “I wondered at what you -were driving.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! I was in on that, all right,” put in Patsy. “I couldn’t fathom -it.”</p> - -<p>“I suspected that they were the finger prints of the girl who sweeps and -dusts the room,” Nick continued. “That would have given her an -opportunity, or many of them, in fact, to stealthily examine the -inventory, and even make a copy of it.”</p> - -<p>“Surely,” Chick nodded.</p> - -<p>“I decided, however, that I had better clinch my suspicion. I found the -same dainty finger print on the damp silver spoon which I had her bring -and hold for a moment.”</p> - -<p>“Gosh, that did settle it!” said Patsy. “Clever work, chief, all right.”</p> - -<p>“I am convinced of the guilt of this girl and the part she has played in -the robbery.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you arrest her, then, and force a confession from her?” -Chick inquired.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_15" id="page_15">{15}</a></span></p> - -<p>“That last might not be easily done,” Nick replied. “Furthermore, the -girl may not know the crooks.”</p> - -<p>“Not know them? How can that be, providing your suspicions are correct?”</p> - -<p>“She may have been lured into this by a supposed friend, one who is in -league with the crooks and who is acting as a sort of go-between.”</p> - -<p>“I see the point,” bowed Chick. “Minerva Grand might not be able to put -us on the track of the gang itself.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the point precisely,” said Nick. “I would not take the chance of -arresting her, therefore, or even of letting her know that I suspect -her. That is why I did not make a special mark of her in my inquiries, -also why I have kept all this from the Waldmeres and left them entirely -in the dark. I feared they might betray me to the girl by some word, or -look.”</p> - -<p>“I see.”</p> - -<p>“Now, to go a step further, the man who held up McLauren was one of the -gang,” Nick continued. “He was, in reality, the chief of the gang. He is -the same man who followed Frank Gilbert to Boston, and who so artfully -had the three cases put near the door of the freight car, and afterward -succeeded in getting a forged copy of the bill of lading. He is a keen -and clever rascal. He is all the mustard in the pot, that fellow.”</p> - -<p>“You speak as if you already know him,” said Chick, gazing.</p> - -<p>“I do know him, Chick.”</p> - -<p>“The dickens! Whom do you suspect?”</p> - -<p>“A man who stopped me in Madison Avenue a few days ago,” Nick declared, -with more feeling. “It was the first time I have seen him for a couple -of years. He cursed me for having put him to the bad, and he threatened -me with something no less strange than—the melting pot.”</p> - -<p>“The melting pot?” Chick echoed perplexedly. “What did he mean?”</p> - -<p>“That’s right, too. What?” questioned Patsy.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter laughed a bit grimly.</p> - -<p>“I did not know what he meant at the time, nor seriously care,” he -replied, after a moment. “I now know, however, what he meant by the -melting pot. He threatened to put something over on me and send me all -to the bad. It now is plain enough to me that he had this robbery in -mind, and the job well in hand.”</p> - -<p>“You mean?”</p> - -<p>“It’s the melting pot, not for me, Chick, in reality, but for this -priceless Waldmere plate—unless we can move quickly enough to prevent -it.”</p> - -<p>“By gracious, chief, that must be what he meant!” cried Patsy, with -countenance lighting.</p> - -<p>“But who is the man, Nick?” Chick demanded. “You have said nothing to me -about meeting him.”</p> - -<p>“I thought it hardly worth while,” Nick replied. “The threats of such -rascals have no weight with me. The man was Stuart Floyd.”</p> - -<p>“Great guns!” said Chick. “Is he in New York again?”</p> - -<p>“Very much here.”</p> - -<p>“Were you aware of it before?”</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“He must have been lying mighty low. I have not heard so much as a hint -at it.”</p> - -<p>“All the same, Chick, he is the man behind the gun in this job,” Nick -said confidently. “He has got back<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_16" id="page_16">{16}</a></span> at Waldmere for that other affair in -which he was put on the rocks?”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, the case seems to be shaping up.”</p> - -<p>“It is shaping up to that extent,” Nick went on. “But Floyd is much too -keen and cautious to have figured openly in this robbery with such a -girl as Minerva Grand. There is a go-between, either a girl friend, or a -lover. That’s who we must find and get after.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, I guess you are right,” Chick said, more gravely.</p> - -<p>“Sure thing!” put in Patsy.</p> - -<p>“We will take that chance,” Nick replied. “It is nearly a safe gamble, -too, that Floyd, after holding up McLauren as a pretended detective, -waited only for Bug Bannon to show up before he would release the -truckman.”</p> - -<p>“That’s how I sized it up,” Chick agreed.</p> - -<p>“You think Bannon is in the job, chief?” questioned Patsy, who had lost -part of what had been said in Waldmere’s library.</p> - -<p>“I do, Patsy.”</p> - -<p>“In what way?”</p> - -<p>“He probably was watching in the railway yard when the three cases were -taken away by others of the gang,” Nick explained. “Bannon then flew up -to Forty-eighth Street to covertly notify Floyd that the two men had got -safely away with their plunder.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! that seems reasonable.”</p> - -<p>“Floyd then released McLauren,” added the detective. “I suspected all -this when McLauren was telling his story.”</p> - -<p>“We’d better get after Bannon, then,” Chick suggested.</p> - -<p>“Both Bannon and Minerva Grand,” said Nick. “Both must be shadowed.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the stuff, chief.”</p> - -<p>“This is the girl’s afternoon and evening out, and she may have an -appointment with the suspected go-between. The gang will have learned -that we are on the case, of course, and may look to Minerva Grand to -find out what we make of it.”</p> - -<p>“They’ll get fat, chief, on what she can tell them,” laughed Patsy.</p> - -<p>“You had better follow up the girl, Chick, and be governed by -circumstances.”</p> - -<p>“That will suit me, Nick, all right,” Chick said agreeably.</p> - -<p>“Not having communicated openly with Floyd, and I having said nothing -about this at the Waldmere residence, Bannon naturally will not fear -that he is suspected,” Nick added. “Do you know him by sight, Patsy?”</p> - -<p>“Well, rather!” Patsy exclaimed expressively. “I know the face of every -rat of his kind from Harlem to the Battery.”</p> - -<p>“Get out in disguise, then, and see what you can accomplish,” Nick -abruptly directed. “I will begin a still-hunt for Floyd himself, in the -meantime, also for the two men who got away with the cases. This work -must be done in record time, mind you, or it will be all off with the -Waldmere plate.”</p> - -<p>“Record time goes!” cried Patsy, hastening to make ready.</p> - -<p>“By this time to-morrow, perhaps, unless we can prevent it, the melting -pot will have turned the priceless plate into ingots, precluding -identification, and which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_17" id="page_17">{17}</a></span> could be sold for good, hard cash,” Nick -declared, rising. “It’s up to us to head off that deviltry and round up -these crooks.”</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> -<small>ANGEL FACE.</small></h2> - -<p>Chick Carter was the first of the three detectives to leave home on the -work assigned him. Carefully disguised, Chick boarded a subway train and -arrived shortly before three o’clock in the neighborhood of the Waldmere -residence.</p> - -<p>Nick had made it a point to learn before leaving that morning that none -of the servants were in the habit of going out before three on the -afternoon and evening allowed them.</p> - -<p>Chick easily found a concealment from which he could watch both the side -and rear door of the house, from one of which he knew that Minerva Grand -would depart, if she availed herself of the privilege afforded. Though -inclined to agree with Nick, in that the latter’s suspicions were -correct, it seemed almost incredible to Chick that a girl of Minerva’s -appearance and bearing could willingly have a hand in any kind of crime.</p> - -<p>“She’s the most innocent-looking wisp of a girl I ever did see,” he said -to himself while surveying the doors and windows of the stately -residence. “She may have been lured into the job, or forced into it by -some means. It would be very like Stuart Floyd to take advantage of her -artlessness, knowing that she would be about the last to invite -suspicion. This afternoon and evening ought to settle it, at all -events.”</p> - -<p>There was no sign of Minerva Grand, however, at any of the windows. The -house appeared to have relapsed into its customary state of dignity and -repose. Nor in any direction, moreover, could Chick discover any other -person watching it, and he rightly inferred that the crooks felt -tolerably sure that the truth was not even suspected.</p> - -<p>His vigil proved to be longer than he anticipated. The minutes -lengthened into hours. Six o’clock came, but no sign of the suspected -girl, though Mrs. Waldmere’s maid had left the house soon after four.</p> - -<p>“It may be, by Jove, that she left before I arrived here,” thought -Chick, a bit impatient. “I’d better find out positively. I might -telephone to Mrs. Waldmere from the next house, or—ah, there comes a -light on the top floor. It may be in the girl’s room.”</p> - -<p>The sun had set and dusk was deepening to darkness. The light that had -caught Chick’s eye caused him to linger and watch. A moment later he saw -Minerva draw down the curtain, and he knew he had not waited vainly.</p> - -<p>“She may have been waiting for evening,” he said to himself. “She would -know, at least, that there is less risk than in daylight. Or she may -have an appointment for the evening, as Nick suspects.”</p> - -<p>Chick then had not long to wait.</p> - -<p>The light in the upper room suddenly vanished. Presently the side door -of the house was opened, and in the stream of light from the hall the -dainty figure of the girl appeared for a moment, only to be lost briefly -in the gloom of the vestibule after she closed the door.</p> - -<p>Chick then saw her trip lightly down the steps and out<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_18" id="page_18">{18}</a></span> to the street, -clad in a trim jacket and a hat that only partly hid her abundance of -yellow hair.</p> - -<p>After turning the first corner, however, stealthily followed by the -detective, Minerva stopped short and took a voluminous veil from her -pocket, which she carefully tied over her hat and hair, then drew it -down until it completely hid her girlish face.</p> - -<p>“That does settle it,” thought Chick, constantly watching her. “She’s -off on some evil mission. Nick sized her up correctly, all right. She -evidently has no fear of being followed, which will make it all the -easier for me. By Jove, this seems like chasing a fairy. She can’t weigh -more than ninety pounds.”</p> - -<p>Minerva had started off again, with the detective after her.</p> - -<p>Ten minutes brought her to a subway station, where she took a downtown -train.</p> - -<p>Alighting at Forty-second Street, she walked briskly away and soon -brought up opposite a restaurant and concert hall having a somewhat -unenviable reputation. There she paused in a doorway to gaze over at the -lighted windows.</p> - -<p>“She’s looking for some one, or waiting for some one to show up,” -thought Chick, after briefly watching her. “I may get a line on the -party before her, by Jove, in case he already has arrived. She cannot -see from over there.”</p> - -<p>Minerva still was lingering in the doorway.</p> - -<p>Leaving the corner on which he had paused to watch her, Chick sauntered -into the place and bought a drink at the bar.</p> - -<p>Beyond the barroom, through a broad entrance adorned with potted palms, -was a large concert hall filled with numerous tables and with curtained -booths flanking the side walls.</p> - -<p>Patrons of the place were seated at many of the tables, eating, -drinking, and smoking. A score of waiters were hurrying to and fro. In -the rear of the hall an orchestra was playing popular airs. The noise -and stir were incessant.</p> - -<p>Gazing into the broad mirror back of the bar, Chick suddenly made a -discovery—a woman seated alone in one of the nearest booths.</p> - -<p>The curtains were partly drawn, and Chick would not have discovered her -save for the angle afforded by the mirror.</p> - -<p>“By gracious! there’s the connecting link,” he said to himself. “This -does settle it. Vera Vantoon, eh? That jade who figured with Stuart -Floyd in the looting of the loan company. She was hand and glove with -Floyd at that time, and it’s long odds that their intimacy has not -ended. This is the person for whom Minerva Grand is looking. She’s the -connecting link, all right. By Jove, I must contrive to overhear what -passes between them.”</p> - -<p>Chick was quick to take advantage of the girl’s delay in entering the -place, which he rightly inferred was due to diffidence and inexperience.</p> - -<p>Stepping back of the palms near the entrance to the concert hall, Chick -beckoned to one of the waiters then at the bar. He was a slender chap in -a starched cap and a long white apron, who appeared bright enough to -grasp a situation without having it hammered into him.</p> - -<p>“I am a detective, one of Nick Carter’s staff,” Chick<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_19" id="page_19">{19}</a></span> quietly informed -him. “There is a woman in the third booth on this side of the hall. Have -you noticed her?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” nodded the waiter. “I serve at the tables nearest that -booth.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know her?”</p> - -<p>“Only by sight. She comes in here quite often.”</p> - -<p>“Can you get me a cap and apron like yours?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, by asking the manager.”</p> - -<p>“Where is he?”</p> - -<p>“The tall man near the end of the bar.”</p> - -<p>“What is his name?”</p> - -<p>“Scoville.”</p> - -<p>“Call him over here.”</p> - -<p>The waiter obeyed, returning with the manager, to whom Chick quickly -explained the situation and stated what he wanted. The mere mention of -Nick Carter’s name was sufficient to insure Scoville’s coöperation.</p> - -<p>“Why, sure thing,” he said, after listening. “I would only bite off my -own nose by refusing. Slip around the end of the bar, Mr. Carter, and -into my private room. I’ll fit you out in half a minute and be glad to -accommodate you in this matter.”</p> - -<p>Chick did as directed, gliding around into the manager’s office, unseen -by any in the concert hall.</p> - -<p>Half a minute later, wearing a cap and apron, he emerged and mingled -with the waiters, selecting that side of the room on which was the booth -in which Vera Vantoon was seated.</p> - -<p>The entire episode had transpired in less than five minutes, yet Chick -had hardly arrived near the booth mentioned, when he saw Minerva Grand -entering the concert hall with her veil partly raised.</p> - -<p>At he same moment, too, he saw Vera Vantoon thrust her hand between the -curtains of the booth and beckon to the approaching girl.</p> - -<p>Minerva passed him without so much as a glance and hurriedly entered the -booth.</p> - -<p>Chick edged nearer to it, remaining as stiff and staid as a wooden -Indian within three feet of the drawn curtains, there then being no -persons at the near tables for him to serve.</p> - -<p>Chick was near enough to hear the first words that came through the -curtains of the booth, and most of what followed when the voices of the -two women were lowered.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Angel Face!” Vera Vantoon exclaimed, clasping both hands of the -girl. “Heavens, but you were a long time getting here.”</p> - -<p>“Getting here!” echoed Minerva, evidently in nervous excitement. “The -getting here cuts no ice. I could have got here long ago. It’s where I’m -likely to get after leaving here. That’s what troubles me. I didn’t -think you would serve me such a trick, Vera. On my word, I didn’t.”</p> - -<p>Vera Vantoon laughed a bit coarsely in cold and mirthless fashion.</p> - -<p>“So you are wise to it, now, are you?” she replied.</p> - -<p>“How can I help being wise to it? I’ll never forgive you, Vera, never!”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be foolish, Angel Face,” returned the woman, still clasping the -girl’s hands. “I’ve done you the favor of your life. Think what you’re -to gain.”</p> - -<p>“A prison cell, mebbe.”</p> - -<p>“Rats! Nothing of that kind, Angel Face, take my word for it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_20" id="page_20">{20}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Your word ain’t much good. You didn’t tell me the truth.”</p> - -<p>“About what?”</p> - -<p>“Why you wanted that list of boxes, and why I was to keep you posted as -to what the master and mistress were doing. I know all about it now. You -were planning to rob them.”</p> - -<p>“H’m, just so,” thought Chick, listening intently. “It’s as Nick -suspected. This simpleton has been lured blindly into the crime by a -designing woman. It was child’s play for Vera Vantoon.”</p> - -<p>The woman laughed again and slipped her arm around the girl’s waist.</p> - -<p>“What of it?” she replied, with voice lowered. “Don’t be frightened at -that. Think what you’re to gain by it. Do you want to be a servant and -slave the whole of your life? This little job will put you in right as -long as you live.”</p> - -<p>“But I’m scared out of my wits, Vera.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid we’ll be caught.”</p> - -<p>“Rats! How are you to be caught? Who would suspect you, Angel Face? Only -a clairvoyant would ever guess that you had a hand in it.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me all about it,” said Vera, who evidently had a powerful -influence over the girl. “That’s why I wanted you to meet me here -to-night. Tell me the whole business, all that took place to-day in the -house. I’ll see that nothing happens to you, Angel Face.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll have all you can do, you jade, to look out for yourself,” -thought Chick, a bit grimly.</p> - -<p>Yielding to the woman’s persuasive tongue, Minerva then proceeded to -state all that had transpired that morning in the Waldmere residence, in -so far as she knew and had been able to determine what it signified.</p> - -<p>Vera Vantoon listened with knit brows and drawn lips, slipping in a -question now and then, but for most part quietly absorbing all that the -misguided girl imparted.</p> - -<p>“Humph!” she grunted contemptuously, after the girl had finished. “So -Nick Carter is on the case, is he?”</p> - -<p>“That is the name of the man who questioned me,” nodded Minerva.</p> - -<p>“Well, we expected it,” sneered Vera. “He’ll get fat on this case.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid of him, Vera.”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t be,” said the woman. “He’ll never question you again. We’ll -look out for that. You’ll never see him again, Angel Face, take my word -for it.”</p> - -<p>“That sounds as if a job had been put up on Nick,” Chick said to -himself. “If they get by with it, now that I’ve got this she-devil under -my eyes, they will go some, all right.”</p> - -<p>It had become obvious to Chick that the girl had been a tool in the -hands of this woman, and that he would learn nothing more by playing the -eavesdropper then and there, Vera Vantoon confiding nothing to her -companion, who evidently was entirely ignorant of the identity of the -latter’s confederates.</p> - -<p>“They will separate after leaving here,” he said to himself. “The girl -will probably go straight home. There would be nothing for me in -remaining on her track. I’ll drop her and get after the woman.”</p> - -<p>Gliding noiselessly away from the position he had occu<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_21" id="page_21">{21}</a></span>pied. Chick -returned to the manager’s office and resumed his discarded garments.</p> - -<p>He then sauntered out to the bar again, from which he continued to watch -the booth, lest his own doings might have been observed by some spy in -league with the woman, who then would be warned of her danger.</p> - -<p>A furtive scrutiny for a few minutes convinced Chick, however, that Vera -Vantoon had come alone to keep the appointment, and he then returned to -the street to await her departure.</p> - -<p>Five minutes later both women came out and proceeded together as far as -the nearest corner, where they conversed briefly before separating.</p> - -<p>Minerva Grand drew down her veil and hurried away in the direction of a -subway station.</p> - -<p>“Bound home,” thought Chick. “Now for the woman.”</p> - -<p>Vera Vantoon did not take a conveyance.</p> - -<p>Glancing sharply around, she drew her cloak about her and walked rapidly -away, heading for Second Avenue and then toward one of the lowest -sections of the East Side.</p> - -<p>Ten minutes brought her into a narrow street, in one of the worst and -most congested precincts of the city, in so far as the buildings were -concerned.</p> - -<p>They were old and of the lowest type, crowded in nondescript fashion -into the foul territory they occupied, with a labyrinth of black alleys -running hither and thither among them, and forming a maze through which -crooks familiar with the surroundings could easily elude a pursuer, even -though nearly as well acquainted with the miserable quarters.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, she’s heading for the lair of her confederates,” thought -Chick, after stealthily following her into the narrow street. “It may -not be dead easy to trail her.”</p> - -<p>This became doubly apparent in a very few moments. There were but few -persons in the dismal street, which made it more difficult for Chick to -closely follow her.</p> - -<p>Her dark figure, too, could be seen only at intervals, when she passed -one of the blurs of light that relieved only feebly the prevailing -gloom.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, nevertheless, Chick saw her turn aside—and then he lost sight -of her.</p> - -<p>He waited with strained eyes for half a minute, but could not discover -her.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, I mustn’t let her give me the slip,” he muttered. “Better -arrest her than stand for that.”</p> - -<p>He darted on with the last, quickly reaching the spot where he last had -seen her.</p> - -<p>The woman had vanished as if the earth had swallowed her.</p> - -<p>Chick gazed sharply around and discovered the black entrance of an alley -between two gloomy buildings.</p> - -<p>“Hang it, she could not have gone in there,” he said to himself, -irritated by the threatening mishap. “She did not go as far as that, as -well as I could tell. It may be all off, by thunder, unless I can trace -her. I wish, now, that I had arrested both her and that yellow-haired -girl. It now looks bad, for fair.”</p> - -<p>Chick was looking in vain all the while for the vanished woman.</p> - -<p>It did not appear that she could have entered either of the buildings -near which he last had seen her. Both were shrouded in darkness.</p> - -<p>The only refuge to which she could have resorted ap<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_22" id="page_22">{22}</a></span>peared to be the -alley mentioned, and Chick felt reasonably sure that she had not gone as -far as that.</p> - -<p>He now turned in that direction, nevertheless, and crept into the gloomy -hole. It was so dark he scarce could see his hand before his face. He -reached into his pocket to get his searchlight.</p> - -<p>As he did so, he stumbled against something lying on the ground.</p> - -<p>He stooped and felt of it with his hand, suppressing a cry of surprise.</p> - -<p>He had stumbled against—the body of a man!</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> -<small>DOWN AND OUT.</small></h2> - -<p>Patsy Garvan, while Chick was engaged as described, was working out -another string of the bow by which Nick Carter was hoping not only to -save the Waldmere plate from the melting pot, but also to round up the -crooks who had stolen it.</p> - -<p>Patsy’s first move was to perfect a disguise that would have caused his -own wife not only to turn him down, but even to have fired him out of -the house, if he had dared venture into it.</p> - -<p>No more tough and sinister-looking a chap ever stood in leather, than -was Patsy Garvan when he appeared in a lower section of the Bowery about -four o’clock that afternoon.</p> - -<p>Patsy was not looking for Bug Bannon at that time. Though he knew the -notorious young gangster by sight, and many of the haunts in which he -might possibly be found, Patsy was bent upon working out a scheme of his -own by which to accomplish his chief’s object.</p> - -<p>The nature of it appeared soon after he entered an inferior saloon in -one of the side streets, a haunt of the disreputable, and where he -finally found the person he had been seeking.</p> - -<p>This was an infamous character by the name of John Flynn, though he was -much better known to his select circle of friends, and to the police, as -Pilot Flynn. He had obtained this sobriquet from the fact that his chief -vocation, if not his only one, was that of a steerer for stuss games and -other gambling joints, or, in other words, a pilot for such strangers as -could be artfully lured to their own undoing.</p> - -<p>Patsy had had a case against this fellow a month before, one that would -have sent him to Sing Sing. He had not pressed it, nor even arrested -him, however, because of the fact that Flynn associated at times with -two other crooks much wanted by Patsy and the police, and through whom -he hoped to discover them.</p> - -<p>It was about half past four when Patsy entered the saloon mentioned, and -he discovered Flynn eating free lunch from a table in the rear of the -long room. There were many others in the dive, and the entrance of Patsy -was hardly noticed. He threaded his way through the smoke-filled place -and brought up at Flynn’s elbow.</p> - -<p>“How are you, Pilot?” he said quietly.</p> - -<p>Flynn swung round and viewed him sharply through a pair of sinister, -beady black eyes.</p> - -<p>“What’s eating you?” he snarled under his breath, suspiciously.</p> - -<p>“Don’t know me, eh?” queried Patsy.</p> - -<p>“Not so you’d notice it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, don’t show any surprise when I tell you,” cau<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_23" id="page_23">{23}</a></span>tioned Patsy. “I’ve -been looking for you. I’m—whisper! Patsy Garvan.”</p> - -<p>Flynn’s hangdog face lost some of its color. He drew back, muttering an -oath, then quickly added:</p> - -<p>“Looking for me? You’re not——”</p> - -<p>“No, I’m not going to take you in,” put in Patsy. “Nothing of that -kind.”</p> - -<p>“What d’ye want, then?” Flynn asked, with a look of relief.</p> - -<p>“I want you to do something for me.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that?”</p> - -<p>“Come into the back room and I’ll order some booze,” said Patsy. -“There’s no one in there. I’ll tell you while we fire a ball or two.”</p> - -<p>This proposition suited Flynn to the letter, particularly since learning -that he was not to be arrested, but rather was in a fair way to acquire -further consideration on the part of the detective.</p> - -<p>“I’m with you,” he nodded. “That’s good enough for me.”</p> - -<p>Patsy led the way into a dingy rear room and rang for one of the -bartenders. He appeared in a moment and took the order, presently -returning with the drinks. Patsy paid him, and then closed the door, -drawing a chair to the bare table, at which Flynn had seated himself.</p> - -<p>“Now, Pilot, we’ll get down to business,” he said quietly, with an -assurance the other did not quite fancy. “When did you last see Bug -Bannon?”</p> - -<p>“I dunno,” said Flynn, crafty-eyed. “It must be a week, sure, since I -had me lamps on him.”</p> - -<p>“You’re pretty good friends, aren’t you?”</p> - -<p>“For all I know.”</p> - -<p>“You know you are,” said Patsy, a bit sharply. “Come across with -straight goods, now, or you’ll get all that’s coming to you. Are you -on?”</p> - -<p>“Sure.”</p> - -<p>“One word from me will send you up the river.”</p> - -<p>“I know that, Garvan,” Flynn grimly admitted. “What is it you want?”</p> - -<p>“I want to find Bug Bannon between now and dark. Do you know where to -look for him?”</p> - -<p>“I might find him for you. What’s up?”</p> - -<p>“I’m after a bunch that pulled off a robbery this morning.”</p> - -<p>“How does Bannon fit in?”</p> - -<p>“He’s in touch with them, and I want to nail them through him.”</p> - -<p>“Rats! He wouldn’t tell you,” said Flynn. “He’s no snitch. He wouldn’t -squeal if he was in the chair.”</p> - -<p>“That may be true, perhaps, but with your help I can get the information -I want, and very probably the crooks I am after,” said Patsy. “In other -words, Pilot, I want you to put me in right with Bannon.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that ‘in-right’ gag?” questioned Flynn distrustfully. “What d’ye -mean by that?”</p> - -<p>Patsy made no bones over explaining.</p> - -<p>“I want you to go with me and find Bannon,” he said curtly. “When we -have found him, you must introduce me to him as a particular pal of -yours, Sandy Glynn by name, and tell him that you knew me in Chicago. -Tell him that you owe me a special service, in return for something done -for you, and——”</p> - -<p>“Say! D’ye think I——”</p> - -<p>“Never mind what I think, Pilot,” Patsy interrupted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_24" id="page_24">{24}</a></span> “You’re going to -do what I direct, and do it right up to snuff, or it’s you for the stone -house with the barred windows. Do you get me?”</p> - -<p>“Sure I get you,” growled Flynn, scowling darkly. “What more d’ye want?”</p> - -<p>“You must tell Bannon that I am wanted by the Chicago police, that -detectives are here after me for a burglary, and that you want him to -find a safe concealment for me, where I can lie low till the dicks have -gone. You must ask it as a special favor, making it plain that he is the -only one to whom you can turn to help you out. Hand it to him good and -strong, Pilot, for your liberty depends upon your making good. That’s -what I want of you—and all I want. I’ll do the rest.”</p> - -<p>Flynn’s face wore a look as black as midnight. He sat silent for a -moment, scowling daggers at the detective, and then he snarled bitterly -between his teeth:</p> - -<p>“Say! I’ll not do this.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, you will,” Patsy quietly insisted.</p> - -<p>“You’re making a snitch of me, a dirty cur, a traitor to——”</p> - -<p>“Enough of that, Pilot,” Patsy interrupted. “You’re going to do it, and -do it up right—or you’re going with me! You know what that means.”</p> - -<p>“But Bug Bannon will knife me for it.”</p> - -<p>“No, he won’t. When I get through with him, he’ll be where he cannot do -any knifing.”</p> - -<p>“But——”</p> - -<p>“Besides,” Patsy again cut in, “he need never know but what you thought -you were acting on the level.”</p> - -<p>“How can that be?”</p> - -<p>“You can claim that you did know a crook named Sandy Glynn, and with -whom you were friendly in Chicago. You can insist that I was made up as -a marker for him, and that you did not dream that I was a detective. You -can get by all right with that story, even if you and Bannon do come -together again. He would swallow it, hands down, coming from you.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the worst of it, blast you!” Flynn snarled fiercely. “That’s why -I can’t do it.”</p> - -<p>“You’ve got to do it, Pilot. You’ll do it, or do time.”</p> - -<p>“That goes, does it?” questioned Flynn, hesitating.</p> - -<p>“You bet it goes!”</p> - -<p>“Suppose I make good, all right. Will you promise never to give me -away?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly.”</p> - -<p>“On the dead?”</p> - -<p>“You know me,” said Patsy. “My word is as good as a government bond.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbe ’tis, but I wish you were at the bottom of the East River,” Flynn -growled harshly. “But I’ll do it, hang you! I’ll do it to save my own -skin.”</p> - -<p>“With no monkey business, mind you,” cautioned Patsy. “That will be all -your life is worth.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll hand it to him right.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know where to find him?”</p> - -<p>“I can round him up between now and dark. That’s what you said.”</p> - -<p>“Come on, then,” said Patsy, rising. “Let’s lose no time about it.”</p> - -<p>Despite Flynn’s assurance, however, nearly three hours were spent in a -vain search before he finally found the gangster.</p> - -<p>Eight o’clock that evening saw all three seated around<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_25" id="page_25">{25}</a></span> a small table in -a saloon in Second Avenue, on which several rounds of drinks already had -been served.</p> - -<p>Flynn had told his story and had put it fully as strong as Patsy Garvan -had directed.</p> - -<p>It appeared to have made a favorable impression upon Bannon, as also had -the disguised detective, who had played his part to the letter.</p> - -<p>“I know a place, all right, and a gang you’d fit in well with,” Bannon -finally said, in response to a suggestion from Patsy that he ought to -get under cover without delay. “There’s a guy among ’em you’d like to -meet. He’s the big finger of the bunch.”</p> - -<p>Patsy felt sure that he referred to Stuart Floyd.</p> - -<p>“That will suit me, Bug, and then some,” he assured the grinning rascal. -“You will always find me ready to hold my end up.”</p> - -<p>“That sounds good to me, Glynn, and the Pilot’s not likely to put me in -wrong in any way.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be off, then, if you two ginks are going,” said Flynn, when Bannon -appeared willing to depart and take Patsy along with him. “I’ll see you -again to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“Out the front way, Pilot,” Bannon replied, glancing toward the swinging -doors. “It’s the back way and the alley for us.”</p> - -<p>“So long, then!”</p> - -<p>Flynn arose with the last and hurried out of the place. He was glad to -get away. Though himself a crook and a steerer, the despicable part that -he had played was far from his liking.</p> - -<p>“We’ll be off, too, Sandy, if you’re ready,” Bannon then said quietly.</p> - -<p>“The sooner the better,” Patsy nodded.</p> - -<p>“Half a minute while I make sure the coast is clear.”</p> - -<p>Patsy waited, well pleased with the result of his subterfuge, and the -outlook that now appeared to insure his complete success. He was not -deterred for a moment by the thought that he was carrying his life in -his hand.</p> - -<p>Bannon sauntered into a back room, evidently being perfectly familiar -with the place and its surroundings. He returned to the door a moment -later and beckoned Patsy to follow him.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got him down pat, all right,” flashed through Patsy’s mind while -he complied. “He don’t so much as even scent a rat in the meal. If I can -only get next to Floyd and the rest of the gang—well, I can see their -finish.”</p> - -<p>Bannon conducted him out of a back door and around two old buildings in -the rear, which brought them into one of the crosstown streets. He then -headed for another section of the East Side—that to which Chick Carter -shadowed Vera Vantoon only a short time later.</p> - -<p>All the while Patsy kept up a quiet stream of talk, describing the -supposed burglary for which he was wanted, and in a way to further -impress Bannon, but never an inquisitive word to awaken a feeling of -distrust.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, the unexpected happened, in so far as Patsy was concerned.</p> - -<p>Ten minutes brought them to the street in which Chick lost sight of his -quarry.</p> - -<p>“Keep your trap closed, now,” cautioned Bannon, as they were nearing the -alley previously mentioned. “I’ve got to give a signal in half a -minute.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_26" id="page_26">{26}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“I’m dumb,” nodded Patsy, detecting no sign of treachery in the other’s -eyes.</p> - -<p>Bannon halted upon arriving at the entrance to the alley. He glanced up -and down the street, noting that it was deserted, and then he said -softly:</p> - -<p>“Wait here and watch out in that direction. We’ll sneak through the -alley in half a minute and——”</p> - -<p>Patsy heard no more.</p> - -<p>Involuntarily, as it were, he had turned his head to look in the -direction indicated by his companion.</p> - -<p>Bannon’s hand then leaped from his side pocket. It was gripping the -barrel of a revolver. It rose and fell like a flash, the butt of the -weapon landing with a sickening thud squarely on Patsy’s head.</p> - -<p>He went down and out and into dreamland as quickly and completely as if -felled with an ax.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> -<small>INTO A TRAP.</small></h2> - -<p>To one not versed in the detective’s art, the announcement of Nick -Carter that he was going on a still-hunt after Stuart Floyd would have -sounded like a vain and vaunting assertion.</p> - -<p>To hunt up one man among the million in New York, a man presumably aware -of the fact that he was wanted by the police, and therefore having a -potent incentive to keeping out of sight—to attempt to hunt up such a -man would seem to a novice a vain and hopeless undertaking.</p> - -<p>None knew better than Nick Carter, however, the underworld and the ways -of its crooks.</p> - -<p>Nick did not seek Floyd in any of the haunts to which such criminals -sometimes resort. He knew there would be nothing in that.</p> - -<p>He reasoned, however, that Floyd would leave no stone unturned to find -out what investigations were being made and what was known and suspected -about the robbery, and Nick was much too keen to overlook the -probability that the desired information might be covertly sought in the -railway yard, when Frank Gilbert and McLauren returned to the freight -car to remove the remaining cases.</p> - -<p>This required two trips by the couple, it being impossible to take them -away in a single load, and it was during their second visit to the car -that Nick put in an appearance—or, rather, did not put in an -appearance.</p> - -<p>For, without displaying any interest in the labors of the two men, or in -the contents of the car, Nick picked his way between several trains that -were sidetracked in that part of the yard, apparently seeking some other -car in which he had an interest. He was carefully disguised and felt -sure that he was safe from ordinary recognition.</p> - -<p>Nick had not long been thus engaged before he made a convincing -discovery. Peering under the long rows of freight cars, he saw beyond -that in which Gilbert and McLauren were working—the legs of a man.</p> - -<p>One fact alone convinced Nick that his immediate suspicions were -correct. The legs were motionless. The man was stationary.</p> - -<p>“The rascal is listening on the other side of the car from which the two -men are taking out the cases,” Nick said to himself, after briefly -watching what little he could see of the motionless figure. “The -opposite door must be closed and his presence is not suspected. He hopes -to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_27" id="page_27">{27}</a></span> hear Gilbert and the truckman discussing what occurred in the -Waldmere residence this morning, and what I said about the robbery. -Otherwise, he would not be standing there like a lay figure in a shop -window. I’ll have a closer look at him for a starter.”</p> - -<p>Passing around the trains under which he had been gazing, Nick speedily -reached a position from which he could view the suspect.</p> - -<p>He was not the type of man the detective had expected to see. He was -roughly clad and looked like a ragpicker. He had a short iron hook in -one hand and carried a partly filled burlap bag under his arm.</p> - -<p>His hair and beard were gray and long, his figure bowed, and he appeared -to be fully seventy years old.</p> - -<p>This questionable character, who had been standing just where the -detective had thought, looked up and saw Nick just as he appeared beyond -the end of the sidetracked train.</p> - -<p>He betrayed no fear, however, no inclination to run away. Instead, he -walked straight toward the detective, glancing under the cars and over -the ground, as if in search of bits of iron and junk, or anything else -with which he could turn a penny.</p> - -<p>He passed directly by Nick, with merely an indifferent glance at him, as -he might have bestowed upon any of the yard hands, and then he ambled on -with unsteady gait and sought the near street.</p> - -<p>Nick passed quickly around a string of cars and followed him.</p> - -<p>“Floyd himself, by Jove, or I am much mistaken,” he said to himself. -“The make-up is a good one, but I don’t think I can be mistaken in those -shifty gray eyes. Now to prevent his eluding me, if he even suspects my -identity.”</p> - -<p>There seemed to be no probability of the last. Without looking back, -walking as slowly and feebly as if really bowed with years, pausing at -intervals to peer into a rubbish barrel he was passing, or to prod into -it with his iron hook—thus the man proceeded toward the East Side, with -the detective cautiously following.</p> - -<p>Nick knew the district tolerably well at which his quarry finally -brought up, knew it to be one of the worst in the city. He was somewhat -surprised that Floyd, if he had not mistaken his identity, was seeking -such a locality, for he had been in the past a man of good taste and -fastidious habits.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, constantly watching him, Nick saw the man turn suddenly -from the street and disappear between two old storage buildings.</p> - -<p>Nick was not in a mood to be given the slip, nor to stand upon ceremony -if threatened with anything of that kind.</p> - -<p>He had deferred arresting the man only with a view to trailing him until -he could discover his confederates, as well as the hiding place of the -stolen plate.</p> - -<p>Walking more rapidly, therefore, Nick quickly arrived at the alley into -which his quarry had disappeared.</p> - -<p>Still, he could not discover him. The alley ran through to a more open -area, in which there were several old sheds and hovels. Beyond them was -a small, square stone building of only two low stories and having a flat -roof. Its few narrow windows were protected with iron shutters, all of -which were closed and secured. The general appearance of the building -denoted that it once had been used for storing explosives of some kind -before municipal regulations prohibited it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_28" id="page_28">{28}</a></span></p> - -<p>It then appeared to be unoccupied and out of use, however, and directly -beyond it loomed the blank, windowless brick wall of a brewery fronting -on the next street.</p> - -<p>Nick lost no time in picking his way through the narrow alley. Even -then, he could not at first discover his man. Passing quickly around two -of the sheds mentioned, however, he then saw him in a small wooden -building near the stone structure described.</p> - -<p>The door of it was wide open, and the man was seated on a low stool -within, engaged in pulling a quantity of rags from his burlap bag and -tossing them upon a rag heap in one corner.</p> - -<p>For the first time, in view of all this, Nick began to fear that he had -mistaken the man’s identity. This seemed even more probable in that he -did not appear disturbed by the approach of the detective, merely -looking up with a questioning stare when he paused at the open door.</p> - -<p>“How’s the rag business, old man?” Nick inquired, a bit bluntly.</p> - -<p>“Bad—vair bad!” was the reply, with a cracked and cackling voice.</p> - -<p>“Little doing, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Vair liddle. Nodding at all.”</p> - -<p>“Is this where you store your stuff?” questioned Nick, stepping inside -the low building.</p> - -<p>“Ven I have anyding to store.”</p> - -<p>“How long have you been here?”</p> - -<p>“Vell, not long. I just game in.”</p> - -<p>“How long, I mean, have you had this place for your business?”</p> - -<p>“Vat is it to you?” came the question, with a sharper scrutiny. “Vat for -you vish to know?”</p> - -<p>“Merely from curiosity,” said Nick, drawing nearer to him. “I saw you in -the railway yard a short time ago, didn’t I?”</p> - -<p>“I vas dere,” nodded the man. “You have eyes. Mebbe you might have saw -me.”</p> - -<p>Nick laughed a bit grimly.</p> - -<p>“I saw you, all right,” he replied, with rather ominous intonation. “Do -you go there after rags?”</p> - -<p>“Junk,” was the terse rejoinder.</p> - -<p>“That all?”</p> - -<p>“Vat all?” questioned the man, looking up sharply. “Vat for do you care -vy I go dere?”</p> - -<p>“Merely from curiosity,” Nick repeated.</p> - -<p>“Vell, you vas better pocket your curiosity,” snapped the other. -“Junk—that’s vat I said.”</p> - -<p>“I heard you.”</p> - -<p>“For vat else would I go dere?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I want to know,” Nick said more sternly.</p> - -<p>“Vell, you dake it out in vanting.”</p> - -<p>“See here, old man, this hair of yours don’t appear quite——”</p> - -<p>Nick broke off abruptly.</p> - -<p>He had reached down while speaking and seized the man’s soiled woolen -cap and mop of gray hair, giving them a violent jerk.</p> - -<p>They came away in his hand, while the gray beard of the bowed rascal was -torn out of place.</p> - -<p>The result was precisely what the detective had expected.</p> - -<p>The removal of the disguise revealed the pallid face and distorted -features of the knave who had threatened<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_29" id="page_29">{29}</a></span> him in Madison Avenue only a -few days before, those of Stuart Floyd.</p> - -<p>Floyd evidently was expecting no less.</p> - -<p>In reality, he appeared to have planned for it. Like a flash, lurching -forward from his stool while Nick was speaking, he suddenly threw both -arms with viselike clutch around the detective’s legs, at the same time -shouting, with frantic ferocity:</p> - -<p>“Now, boys, quick! Get him! Get him! Get him!”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter hardly knew where they came from, they came so quickly—the -three ruffians who rushed into the place.</p> - -<p>Two were powerful fellows in the neighborhood of forty, both armed with -heavy bludgeons. That they meant business, moreover, and were out for -bloodshed or murder, even, if it became necessary, was speedily -apparent.</p> - -<p>Nick realized on the instant that he had walked into a trap, an ambush -from which escape would not be easy.</p> - -<p>He reached for his revolver, bent upon putting up the fight of his life, -but he could not draw the weapon.</p> - -<p>For the frantic rascal on the floor, fiercely clutching Nick’s legs, was -wriggling to and fro so furiously that the detective was nearly thrown -from his feet.</p> - -<p>All the while, though the entire episode transpired in less than a -quarter minute, Floyd was fiercely repeating:</p> - -<p>“Get him, boys, get him! Get him! Get him!”</p> - -<p>There was absolutely no occasion for these sanguinary commands.</p> - -<p>For the ruffians who had entered instantly attacked the swaying -detective from behind. They fell upon him like wolves upon a wounded -stag.</p> - -<p>Blow followed blow in quick succession, with merciless force, until Nick -sank, dazed and bleeding, upon the floor, scarce conscious of what -afterward transpired.</p> - -<p>In a vague way, however, as one senses such things in a dream, or a -hideous nightmare, Nick knew that he was being hurriedly bound and -robbed of his revolvers. He heard the brutal voices of his assailants, -but they sounded faint to him and far away.</p> - -<p>He knew, in a dazed way, that the great heap of rags was hurriedly -pushed aside, that a trapdoor which they had concealed was quickly -opened, and that he then was hurriedly carried down several low steps -and through a dark, earthy-smelling passage, then up other steps, and -into a stone-walled room lighted only by the feeble rays of an oil lamp.</p> - -<p>Then the cobwebs began to clear from his battered head.</p> - -<p>He heard Floyd’s hard voice more distinctly, as harsh and hard as nails. -He could see the faces of his assailants more plainly, the two brutal -ruffians, and the third none other than Bug Bannon.</p> - -<p>“Get out, Bagley, and close the shed door,” Floyd then was commanding. -“You slip out, Bannon, and make sure no other dicks are around, and that -none else is wise to this. Rope him to that ring in the wall, Gorman, -hands behind him, and be sure that he’s tied fast.”</p> - -<p>“Leave that to me,” growled the ruffian.</p> - -<p>“I told him I’d get him,” Floyd added, in fierce exultation. “I warned -him, damn him, to beware of the melting pot! I warned him! I told him -I’d get him—and, curse him, now I’ve got him!<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_30" id="page_30">{30}</a></span>”</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> -<small>THE MELTING POT.</small></h2> - -<p>Nick Carter never forgot the scene at which he helplessly gazed later -that evening.</p> - -<p>He was seated on a bare earth floor, within four grim stone walls, to an -iron ring in one of which he was securely bound.</p> - -<p>Two narrow windows in the side walls were closed with tight-fitting iron -shutters, precluding the escape of a ray of light from within.</p> - -<p>The ceiling was crossed with great faded beams, between which could be -seen the chinks of a square trapdoor, showing that there was a room -above. A narrow wooden stairway in one corner led up to it.</p> - -<p>In one of the end walls was a door covered with sheet iron, closed and -securely locked. Near by was an excavation leading into the narrow -underground passage, through which Nick had been carried by his -assailants, and which evidently had been quite recently made from the -rag shed to this secret refuge of the outlaws into whose hands the -detective had fallen.</p> - -<p>In a pile at one side of the room were numerous articles in cloth -wrappings, some of which were partly displaced. Through these could be -seen the glitter of yellow metal, and the dull luster of tarnished -silver.</p> - -<p>Obviously, these parcels had been brought there secretly and separately, -or a few at a time, by the thieves then in possession of them.</p> - -<p>There could be no mistaking what all this was—the contents of the three -stolen cases—the valuable Waldmere plate.</p> - -<p>In a temporary brick structure in the middle of the earth floor a coal -fire was fiercely burning, forced by a bellows thrust through the low -brickwork.</p> - -<p>Above it, suspended from an iron frame, hung a heavy caldron, with a -long ladle in it—and a quantity of silverware that was being rapidly -melted.</p> - -<p>In the earth floor near one of the walls were numerous rectangular -holes, molds for receiving the melted metal, and from some of which the -silver ingots already had been pulled with an iron hook, to make room -for more of the costly fluid.</p> - -<p>The room was almost as hot as an oven, and perspiration stood in great -drops on the faces of the three men then at work there—Floyd, Bagley, -and Gorman.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter had been sternly watching them for some time. He had found -that he had solved more than the mystery of the stolen Waldmere plate.</p> - -<p>He had known for weeks of numerous plate robberies from the dwellings of -wealthy suburban residents, till it had become a question in the minds -of the police as to who were committing the crimes and how so much plate -was disposed of successfully.</p> - -<p>It no longer was a question in Nick Carter’s mind. He knew, now, that he -was in the secret quarters of the gang, and where Floyd had been and how -employed since the looting of the Imperial Loan Company.</p> - -<p>“Go up, Gorman, and open that trapdoor,” Floyd suddenly commanded, -wiping his dripping face and glancing up at the ceiling. “Then some of -this infernal heat will go into the loft.”</p> - -<p>“So ’twill,” nodded Gorman, red and glowing. “We’ve forgotten that.”</p> - -<p>He hastened up the stairway to obey, and Nick presently<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_31" id="page_31">{31}</a></span> saw the square -trapdoor raised and laid over on the upper floor.</p> - -<p>Gorman leered down at him for a moment before returning.</p> - -<p>Nick ignored him, however, but then said to Floyd, resuming a -conversation that had ended when the miscreants began the work now -engaging them:</p> - -<p>“You’ll suffer more heat than this, Floyd, for this night’s work. Take -my word for that.”</p> - -<p>“Not in this world,” Floyd replied, with a sneer.</p> - -<p>“No, in the next.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not going that way just now.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll go sooner or later.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll take chances on the heating system, Carter, all the same,” Floyd -said scornfully. “I’ll get none the worst of it because of anything you -have accomplished.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be so sure of that.”</p> - -<p>“Rats! We’ve got safely away with stuff, as I gave you a hint when I -last saw you. We’ve got you, too, as I warned you. All this ought to -convince you, Carter, that I’m not to be easily cornered.”</p> - -<p>“Nor am I easily convinced on so doubtful a point. You’ll get yours in -time,” Nick sternly predicted.</p> - -<p>“You already are getting yours,” Floyd retorted, laughing derisively.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps.”</p> - -<p>“I warned you that I’d get you for having put me to the bad. You thought -you were keen and clever when you picked me up in the railway yard. You -picked up a live wire.”</p> - -<p>“Very well.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you bonehead, did you think I would not anticipate your seeking me -there? I knew you would get after me in that way. I went there only to -trap you.”</p> - -<p>“That now appears quite obvious,” Nick said dryly.</p> - -<p>“I knew that you would recognize me and follow me,” Floyd went on, with -malicious satisfaction. “I had the trap all laid. You are a fall guy, -Carter, all right. I knew you’d walk into it.”</p> - -<p>“It has not occurred to you, perhaps, that I did so with open eyes,” -Nick said pointedly.</p> - -<p>“Bunk!” sneered Floyd. “Tell that to the marines. Why would you have -done that?”</p> - -<p>“Merely to get a line on you rascals.”</p> - -<p>“At the risk of your life, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly. That’s not uncommon,” said Nick.</p> - -<p>“Rot!” Floyd glared at him doubtfully. “If you walked into it with your -eyes open, Carter, we’ll make mighty sure to close them for you. You’ll -keep them closed, too. Take my word for that.”</p> - -<p>“Let it go at that, then,” Nick said indifferently.</p> - -<p>All the while, in grim amusement over this colloquy, Gorman and Bagley -continued their work of melting the silver plate and pouring it into the -earth molds.</p> - -<p>The seething caldron glowed with the heat.</p> - -<p>The fire burned intensely under it, forced by the wheezy bellows.</p> - -<p>It was like a scene in the infernal regions.</p> - -<p>The melting pot was getting in its work.</p> - -<p>Floyd appeared to be making good.</p> - -<p>Seeing him tear the cloth wrapping from a magnificent piece of gold -plate, superbly embossed and engraved, Nick frowned more darkly and -asked:</p> - -<p>“Are you going to melt all of that gold plate, Floyd?”</p> - -<p>“You can bet I’m going to melt it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_32" id="page_32">{32}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“That’s a sacrilege.”</p> - -<p>“Call it what you like.”</p> - -<p>“Such plate could not be replaced in these days. That was the work of -some of the finest goldsmiths in Europe. You can do better than melt it, -Floyd,” Nick earnestly protested, anxious to save the fine old plate -from destruction, if possible.</p> - -<p>“How better?” questioned Floyd curiously.</p> - -<p>“By selling it back to Waldmere,” said Nick. “He would pay thrice the -intrinsic value of the metal.”</p> - -<p>“Think he would, eh?”</p> - -<p>“I am sure of it.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a good scheme, then, no doubt.”</p> - -<p>“You had better adopt it and save the plate.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbe I had, Carter, but I’ll do nothing of the kind. The risk is too -great.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t let that deter you,” Nick insisted. “A man as clever as you could -safely make the deal and realize what the stuff is worth. You’d get by, -all right.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll get by, Carter, and you can bank on it,” Floyd asserted -confidently. “But I shall stick to the safe road. I’ll put this stuff -into shape that can be easily turned into cash. It will pay us -handsomely enough, all right,” he added, with an exultant leer.</p> - -<p>“That’s no pipe dream,” growled Bagley, with eyes glowing. “It beats any -stuff of the kind that I ever lamped. It ought to bring——”</p> - -<p>He broke off abruptly when a low, peculiar whistle fell upon his ears. -Though instantly recognized, he instinctively reached for his revolver.</p> - -<p>“It’s Bannon,” snapped Floyd quickly. “Bannon or Vera.”</p> - -<p>“Sure!” put in Gorman, gazing.</p> - -<p>This was verified in a moment by the appearance of Bannon from the -tunnel leading from the rag shed.</p> - -<p>He came out of the ground like an imp out of Hades, with an evil gleam -in his narrow eyes, and obviously in some excitement.</p> - -<p>“Say, Floyd, I’ve been up against it,” he cried at once. “I’ve been -double-crossed by a scurvy whelp, who would have thrown us all down and -into the hands of the dicks.”</p> - -<p>“Whom do you mean?” Floyd demanded, staring at him.</p> - -<p>“Pilot Flynn.”</p> - -<p>“That cur!”</p> - -<p>“Gee! Wait till I get back at him,” Bannon fiercely threatened. “I’ll -pepper him as full of holes as a sieve.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” snapped Floyd. “Tell me.”</p> - -<p>Bannon hastened to do so, describing the subterfuge of Patsy Garvan and -stating what had followed.</p> - -<p>It brought a murderous light into Floyd’s eyes, while uglier scowls -settled on the sweaty faces of Gorman and Bagley.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter, listened with some misgivings, also, though he still felt -quite that Patsy would yet contrive to accomplish what he had -undertaken.</p> - -<p>“But what led you to suspect?” Floyd questioned. “What put you wise to -the game?”</p> - -<p>“I wasn’t wise, only suspicious, and I knocked him out to make sure,” -Bannon quickly explained. “I made sure, too, all right.”</p> - -<p>“How so?”</p> - -<p>“Here’s his barker and a pair of bracelets,” said Bannon, producing -them. “I knew his mug, all right, after<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_33" id="page_33">{33}</a></span> I had downed him. He’s one of -this dick’s push. His name is Patsy Garvan.”</p> - -<p>Floyd swung around and glared at the detective.</p> - -<p>“What do you know about this, Carter?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“I’m not telling all I know,” Nick bluntly answered.</p> - -<p>“You’re not, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Not is right.”</p> - -<p>“By Heaven, I’ll find a way to make you,” Floyd harshly threatened. “I’m -going to find out just where we stand, or——”</p> - -<p>“Easy!” Bannon turned like a flash, then added quickly: “Oh, it’s only -the skirt. It’s Vera.”</p> - -<p>She came by the same way as Bannon, with her skirts drawn around her to -avoid the earthy walls, and with a look of alarm in her evil black eyes.</p> - -<p>“Who’s the stiff in the alley?” she asked abruptly, with a startled -glance at the detective.</p> - -<p>“Still there, is he?” Floyd quickly questioned, instead of explaining.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“He’ll lie still for some time to come,” Bannon viciously predicted. “I -gave it to him good and strong.”</p> - -<p>“And I’ll see that you get yours, in return,” thought Nick, far from -daunted by his own threatening situation.</p> - -<p>“You ought to have downed him earlier, farther from here,” said Floyd, -doubtfully shaking his head.</p> - -<p>“Why so?”</p> - -<p>“He may get wise.”</p> - -<p>“Rats!” sneered Bannon curtly. “What can he make of it? He don’t know -why I came this way, nor which way I went after dropping him. He’ll get -fat trying to trail me from where I left him.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what’s on your mind?” asked Floyd, turning to the woman again, to -whom Bagley had hurriedly explained the situation. “Have you seen the -girl, as you planned?”</p> - -<p>“Want it in his hearing?” questioned Vera, with another glance at Nick.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” snapped Floyd. “He cuts no ice, now that we have him where we -want him. We’ll finish him, along with this other good work, before -morning.”</p> - -<p>“That will be the safest way,” Nick coolly advised.</p> - -<p>“Leave that to us.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I am doing—under protest.”</p> - -<p>“Have you seen the girl?” Floyd repeated, again turning to Vera Vantoon.</p> - -<p>“Sure, I’ve seen her,” Vera nodded.</p> - -<p>“Were you expected?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what. I can always bank on Angel Face.”</p> - -<p>“Angel Face!” thought Nick, with a quick thrill of satisfaction. “She -refers to Minerva Grand, as sure as I’m a foot high. Things are looking -up. It’s money to marbles that Chick shadowed the girl, then dropped her -to follow this woman. He would not have forgotten her and her past -relations with Stuart Floyd. He cannot be far from here. There’ll be -something doing presently that will give these rascals the surprise of -their lives.”</p> - -<p>Nick did not for a moment think that Chick would have lost sight of this -woman.</p> - -<p>Now replying to Floyd’s inquiry, Vera Vantoon told him of her meeting -with Minerva, and reported in detail the information the girl had -imparted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_34" id="page_34">{34}</a></span></p> - -<p>Some of the color faded from Floyd’s face while he listened.</p> - -<p>Those of Bug Bannon, Bagley, and Gorman took on more serious -expressions.</p> - -<p>“What the devil did he want of hot water and a spoon?” Bannon -suspiciously demanded, addressing Floyd. “What kind of a test could he -have wanted to make?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be hanged if I know.”</p> - -<p>“It don’t go down, not down my throat,” Bannon growled. “He had some -other object. He may be putting something over that we don’t know -about.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll darned soon find out!” cried Floyd, with eyes blazing. “What was -it, Carter? What was your game?”</p> - -<p>“You’ll not find out from me,” Nick curtly answered.</p> - -<p>“Won’t I?”</p> - -<p>“Not by a long chalk.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll see!” thundered Floyd, lifting from the melting pot the ladle -half filled with liquid silver. “You answer! You tell me! Out with -it—or I’ll pour this down your infernal neck!”</p> - -<p>He meant what he said—and he looked it.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> -<small>DEAD ASHES.</small></h2> - -<p>Chick Carter whipped out his searchlight, crouching above the prostrate -man he had found in the alley.</p> - -<p>At the same moment a low moan broke from the victim of Bug Bannon’s -treacherous assault. Patsy’s head was harder than the cowardly young -ruffian had thought. Patsy was fast on his way to reviving.</p> - -<p>The glare from the searchlight fell on his upturned face, and a low cry -of dismay came from Chick.</p> - -<p>“Great guns!” he muttered. “It’s Patsy.”</p> - -<p>Patsy heard him, and the sound of the familiar voice was like a -stimulant. It brought him completely out of dreamland.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s you, Chick,” he said faintly. “Gee! that was a hard crack on -the bean—but I’m still in the ring.”</p> - -<p>Chick heard him with a thrill of relief.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, I thought you were done up, Patsy,” he replied, raising him to -a sitting position. “How are you feeling?”</p> - -<p>“Better every second. I’ll be on my pins in a minute.”</p> - -<p>“What happened? How did it occur?” Chick inquired.</p> - -<p>It took Patsy only a few moments to inform him, and for Chick to state -how he had discovered Vera Vantoon and afterward lost sight of her. -Before they had finished, Patsy was on his feet, but with a look of -disgust on his rather pale face.</p> - -<p>“Hang it, then, we’ve lost both of them,” he said dubiously. “What’s to -be done? The chief may be in dead wrong by this time.”</p> - -<p>“The fact that both of them vanished in this locality is significant,” -Chick replied. “If only one had come here, I might think nothing of it. -Under the circumstances, however, it’s ten to one that the gang has -quarters in this section.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! there’s something in that,” said Patsy, quick to see the point. -“In one of these old buildings, perhaps.”</p> - -<p>“Are you fit for a search?” asked Chick, still a bit anxious.</p> - -<p>“As fit as a fiddle,” Patsy assured him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_35" id="page_35">{35}</a></span></p> - -<p>“Take one of my revolvers, then,” said Chick, giving it to him. “We may -run foul of some one.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be ready for him. I hope it may be that whelp that downed me. I -can see where he’d get his.”</p> - -<p>Chick laughed softly.</p> - -<p>“Come on,” he muttered, leading the way. “We’ll steal through the alley -and have a look at the back of these buildings.”</p> - -<p>Patsy followed him.</p> - -<p>For something like five minutes they searched cautiously and noiselessly -back of the gloomy buildings and between the sheds and hovels, but could -find in the darkness no trace of the vanished rascals, no clew to their -whereabouts.</p> - -<p>They then had brought up near the rag shed in which Nick had found the -disguised crook, and some twenty yards from the grim and gloom-shrouded -stone building.</p> - -<p>“Gee! this don’t look good to me!” Patsy whispered, at Chick’s elbow. -“They sure have given us the slip.”</p> - -<p>“It does look so,” Chick quietly admitted.</p> - -<p>“There isn’t a sign of light from any of these miserable cribs. It ought -to find its way out through some chink or nail hole, if they are under -cover in any of them.”</p> - -<p>“True.”</p> - -<p>“We had better——”</p> - -<p>“Hush! Stop a bit.”</p> - -<p>“What now?” Patsy whispered, noting the changed expression on Chick’s -face.</p> - -<p>“There’s something doing.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Look there.”</p> - -<p>Chick pointed to the stone building, not to its grim walls and black -windows, from which not a twinkle of light could be seen—but higher, to -a point above its low, flat roof.</p> - -<p>In the middle of it was a scuttle and glass skylight—and Stuart Floyd -had made one mistake that was to bring disaster.</p> - -<p>In opening the trapdoor in the ceiling, which was nearly directly above -the melting pot, he had forgotten the skylight in a line with the -trapdoor.</p> - -<p>Chick and Patsy had not, till then, looked up in that direction for a -clew.</p> - -<p>Now, however, both could see the faint glow that came up from below and -stood out in relief, as it were, against the surrounding night gloom.</p> - -<p>It was like the glow shed out from the open door of a brightly lighted -hall.</p> - -<p>“Holy smoke!” Patsy muttered, with a quick thrill. “There’s some one in -the old stone crib.”</p> - -<p>“More than one, Patsy, I suspect,” Chick whispered.</p> - -<p>“Can we get in?”</p> - -<p>“Wait here while I have a look.”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead.”</p> - -<p>Chick glided away in the darkness, presently returning.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think we can get in on the ground floor,” he said quietly. “The -door and window shutters are of sheet iron, and all are securely -closed.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! that sure smacks of something doing.”</p> - -<p>“I’m convinced of it, now.”</p> - -<p>“Could you hear anything from inside?”</p> - -<p>“Not a sound,” said Chick. “There is a way, however, by which we can -look in.”</p> - -<p>“You mean?<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_36" id="page_36">{36}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>Chick pointed toward the roof.</p> - -<p>“There’s a skylight,” he said quietly.</p> - -<p>“Must be,” Patsy tersely agreed. “But how can we get up there?”</p> - -<p>“It’s not more than eighteen feet to the edge of the roof. I climbed -over several planks back here that are that long.”</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz!” exclaimed Patsy, elated. “I’ve got you. We can lean one of -the planks against the rear wall and get up there by means of it.”</p> - -<p>“Easily.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll not be heard, either, through that stone wall.”</p> - -<p>“Not if we are careful.”</p> - -<p>“Come on,” whispered Patsy impatiently. “Let’s get the plank.”</p> - -<p>It did not take them long to find one that would serve their purpose, -nor to lug it to the rear of the low building and place at an angle -against the stone wall. It reached within a foot of the edge of the -roof, and that was more than ample.</p> - -<p>“Shoes off, Patsy,” whispered Chick.</p> - -<p>Both were ready within half a minute.</p> - -<p>In another minute both were crouching on the roof.</p> - -<p>Noiselessly they crept to the skylight and gazed down through the -trapdoor on the red-glowing scene below.</p> - -<p>“Thundering guns!” whispered Patsy, staring. “The rats are there, all -right. They are melting a lot of silver plate.”</p> - -<p>“Part of the Waldmere plate.”</p> - -<p>“Surest thing you know.”</p> - -<p>They could not see Nick, owing to the location of the trap in the upper -floor, but while listening intently—they heard him addressed by Floyd -and his name mentioned.</p> - -<p>“Holy smoke!” Patsy then whispered. “They’ve got the chief.”</p> - -<p>“I heard,” Chick nodded, feeling over the skylight.</p> - -<p>“Hadn’t we better get help and force an entrance?”</p> - -<p>“Floyd might send a bullet into Nick, in that case, before he could be -prevented. There’s a better way.”</p> - -<p>“What way?”</p> - -<p>Chick held up one of the small panes of the skylight. He had found the -putty dry and crumbling, and, after a moment, he had quietly removed the -pane. Feeling through the opening, he then found that he could release -the hook that secured the scuttle.</p> - -<p>“That upper floor is less than seven feet below the skylight,” he -whispered. “We can let ourselves down to it without a drop. The noise -down there will prevent our being heard, providing we are careful. There -must be a stairway to the lower floor. We can steal down and hold up the -whole gang.”</p> - -<p>Patsy nodded his approval.</p> - -<p>“Better way is right,” he murmured. “It looks like soft walking.”</p> - -<p>“It will enable us to protect Nick, also.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the stuff. Safety first.”</p> - -<p>“Are you ready?”</p> - -<p>“Ready as a trivet.”</p> - -<p>Working cautiously and deliberately, Chick succeeded in lifting the -skylight without making a sound, and he laid it over on the roof.</p> - -<p>“I’ll go first, Patsy,” he murmured.</p> - -<p>Patsy merely nodded.</p> - -<p>Chick let himself over the sill, then grasped the frame<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_37" id="page_37">{37}</a></span> of the scuttle -and lowered himself till his feet touched the floor some eighteen inches -from the trapdoor.</p> - -<p>Patsy followed him.</p> - -<p>The scene below was, indeed, one that diverted the attention of the -crooks from anything overhead.</p> - -<p>It was at that very moment that Stuart Floyd, fiercely threatening the -detective, had seized the ladle of liquid silver from the melting pot -and was approaching with the evident intention of making good his -infamous threat.</p> - -<p>Chick Carter did not give him time to do so.</p> - -<p>His revolver was out on the instant and its report rang like thunder -above all other sounds.</p> - -<p>Floyd went to the floor with a bullet in his shoulder, and the ladle -fell from his lax hand.</p> - -<p>Chick dropped to the edge of the trapdoor and thrust the smoking weapon -through it.</p> - -<p>“Hands up!” he yelled fiercely. “Up with them! He’ll be a dead man who -stirs!”</p> - -<p>Patsy had darted toward the dimly lighted stairway and already was -nearly down.</p> - -<p>“Dead man is right!” he shouted, weapon leveled. “Move foot or finger, -man or woman, and I’ll shoot to kill!”</p> - -<p>Without exception, the several crooks had knuckled to the sudden -startling situation. As a matter of fact, they supposed the building was -surrounded and that a posse of police were breaking in on them. Once -their hands were up, however, it was all over but the shouting, as Patsy -afterward said.</p> - -<p>Within five minutes the crooks were secured, Floyd among them, he having -suffered only a flesh wound.</p> - -<p>Half an hour later all were in the Tombs, including Minerva Grand, the -first step toward the punishment they deserved.</p> - -<p>Midnight saw the priceless plate, or that most cherished by Waldmere, -taken safely into his residence—and thus, crowning with complete -success the splendid work of Nick Carter and his assistants, the -sensational case ended.</p> - -<p>The fire under the melting pot had become dead ashes.</p> - -<p class="fint">THE END.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding the fact that Floyd and his gang had apparently been -rounded up, Nick Carter and his associates were to have yet more trouble -with this gang of blackmailers, crooks, and thieves. You will learn -about these later developments in “The Duplicate Night; or, Nick -Carter’s Double Reflection,” which you will find in the next issue, No. -141, of the <span class="smcap">Nick Carter Stories</span>, out May 22d. Then, too, there will be -the usual installment of the serial, together with other special -articles which you will enjoy.</p> - -<h3><a name="TURN_TO_THE_JURY_SIR" id="TURN_TO_THE_JURY_SIR"></a>“TURN TO THE JURY, SIR!”</h3> - -<p>Some years ago a witness was being examined in a case of slander, when -the judge required him to repeat the precise words spoken.</p> - -<p>The witness hesitated until he riveted the attention of the whole court -upon him; then fixing his eyes earnestly on the judge, began:</p> - -<p>“May it please your honor, ‘you lie and steal and get your living by -stealing!’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> - -<p>The face of the judge reddened, and he immediately exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Turn to the jury, sir!<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_38" id="page_38">{38}</a></span>”</p> - -<hr /> - -<h1><a name="Wheres_the_Commandant" id="Wheres_the_Commandant"></a>Where’s the Commandant?<br /><br /> -<small>By C. C. WADDELL.</small></h1> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTERW_I" id="CHAPTERW_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> -<small>THE GLINT IN THE DARKNESS.</small></h2> - -<p>Colonel Vedant and his adjutant, Captain Ormsby Grail, hurried down to -the Dolliver Foundry, one of the large industrial plants along -Brantford’s bustling seven miles of water front, in response to an -urgent message from Otto Schilder, manager of the plant. It was ten -o’clock at night, but as the Dolliver people were turning out some -castings for a wireless telegraph mast of new design, to be erected at -Fort Denton, and required frequent consultations with the commandant, -there seemed nothing especially strange in the request.</p> - -<p>On the arrival of the officers, however, they learned, to their -surprise, that there was no desire for the colonel’s presence, and the -manager flatly disclaimed having sent for him. The old soldier stared -incredulously, his somewhat florid face taking on a deeper flush behind -his gray military mustache.</p> - -<p>“Pardon me, Mr. Schilder”—he made little effort to conceal his -irritation—“but do I understand you to say that it would have been -impossible for any such message to be sent me from the foundry this -evening?”</p> - -<p>The manager removed his cigar, and rose from his desk to face the other.</p> - -<p>“Positively so, colonel.” He spoke emphatically, and with a slight -German accent. “There has been nobody in the office since six o’clock -except myself and Miss Griffin”—with a wave of the hand toward his -stenographer—“and we have been wholly engrossed in making up some -arrears in correspondence.”</p> - -<p>“You hear, Grail?” The colonel turned toward his adjutant. “Are you -responsible for this blunder? Got the name twisted, or something of that -sort, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Hardly, sir.” The younger officer appeared no less perplexed than his -superior, but his tone was one of firm conviction. “The note was written -on a letterhead of the Dolliver Foundry, and was ostensibly from Mr. -Schilder; I am familiar with his signature. As to the contents, I could -not well have been mistaken. You remember, I read the message over to -you twice. The contents make small difference, anyhow, since Mr. -Schilder denies having sent us a communication of any sort.”</p> - -<p>“Small difference,” admitted the colonel, “except as offering a possible -clew to the perpetrator of this hoax, for it cannot well be anything -else, unless, indeed——” He paused abruptly, the umbrage he had shown -giving way to something like concern. “Come, captain!” He addressed his -companion a trifle peremptorily, at the same time backing toward the -door. “We are detaining Mr. Schilder. Permit us to apologize for the -interruption, sir, and let us——”</p> - -<p>At this point, a remarkable thing happened. The electric lights went -out, cutting short the colonel’s apology, and shrouding not only the -office, but the foundry yard outside in darkness.</p> - -<p>For a moment Grail was absolutely blinded; then, as his vision cleared -and the square of the open doorway became faintly visible, he saw cut -across it a tiny flash of fire like the glow of a lightning bug in -flight. No<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_39" id="page_39">{39}</a></span> other sight or sound punctuated the interval, and almost -immediately the lights came on again.</p> - -<p>“Ah!” Schilder blinked before the sudden radiance. “The dynamo must have -slipped a belt, or——” He halted, with a little gasp. “Why,” he -exclaimed, “what has become of the colonel?”</p> - -<p>It was certainly astonishing. Not one of the three other occupants of -the room had stirred. Grail and the manager stood in exactly the same -position as before, and the stenographer still sat at her table with her -fingers resting on the keys of her typewriter, but the colonel was gone.</p> - -<p>With a common impulse, the two men stepped swiftly to the door, and -glanced out across the yard. There had not been sufficient time for any -one to cross it and reach the gate, yet the colonel was nowhere to be -seen, and his erect, soldierly figure could not possibly have gone -unrecognized in that wide-open space, and under the glare of the half -dozen or more arc lamps now brightly burning. Nor could there be any -question of his having strayed from the direct path in the darkness and -being now hidden from their view by a pile of rubbish or material, for -the inclosure was remarkably free from obstruction. Indeed, the last of -what had been a towering scrap heap was being cleaned up, and, with the -aid of an electric crane, loaded on cars by the force of men then at -work.</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you know about that!” Schilder muttered. Then, closely -followed by Grail, he hurried across the yard to interrogate the old -watchman at the gate. But the latter was firm in his protestation that -no one had passed him. Even with the yard lights all out, he could -still, he declared, have seen anybody leaving the place by the -illumination from the street lamp on the corner.</p> - -<p>“Then,” said Grail, “he must have gone out some other way.”</p> - -<p>The manager waved his hand significantly toward the high board fence -which completely surrounded the yard, and which was topped with sharp -spikes to keep out pilferers. There was but one exit—the gate at which -they had already made inquiry; the big doors leading into the foundry -building were barred and padlocked.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he is still in the office,” ventured Grail. “He might have had -a seizure of some kind in the darkness, you know, and fallen behind a -piece of furniture.”</p> - -<p>But even as he voiced the suggestion he realized its utter absurdity. -Schilder’s office contained nothing except the desk which could have -concealed the body of a man, and the desk was pushed back close against -the wall. Nevertheless, they made an inspection of the place, but -entirely without result. Then, when the manager called in every man -working in the yard, and questioned him, to no purpose, the searchers -seemed to have come to the end of their tether.</p> - -<p>“But it is preposterous, you know!” exclaimed Grail, attempting to throw -off his misgivings. “There is, of course, some absolutely simple -explanation, and the colonel is, no doubt, out at the post by this time, -swearing about me for not putting in an appearance. May I use your -telephone, Mr. Schilder?”</p> - -<p>Inquiry at the fort elicited that Colonel Vedant had not returned, and -no information regarding him could be gained from his quarters, the -club, or any of his customary haunts. When Grail had gone through the -entire list, and called up the post again, only to receive the same -negative answer, he made no effort to conceal his growing anxiety. A -suspicion of foul play strengthened in his mind. “If<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_40" id="page_40">{40}</a></span> not that,” he -asked, “why should the colonel, of his own accord, disappear in this -absurdly mysterious manner? Colonel Vedant is not the sort of man to be -waylaid or carried off without making at least a show of resistance, and -I certainly heard no outcry or sound of a struggle. Did you?”</p> - -<p>Schilder shook his head. “No, no; there’s nothing in that,” he said -impatiently. “How, please tell me, could such a scheme have been planned -in advance, and put into effect, when we allow no strangers hanging -around here under any pretext? But, overlooking all that,” he argued, -“and even granting that the old gentleman might have been knocked out by -the sudden, silent blow of a blackjack or sandbag, how was he so quickly -spirited away? The lights were out hardly more than long enough for one -to draw a deep breath—surely not a sufficient time to get farther than -ten or twelve steps from the door. Is it possible that with all those -yard lights going again, the colonel could have been dragged or carried -the length of the inclosure, and none of the men at work out there have -noticed it?”</p> - -<p>Grail made no immediate answer. He stepped to the door, and, leaning -over, narrowly inspected the cinder-covered ground about the threshold. -But no marks or footprints indicating a struggle rewarded his searching -gaze; the surface was absolutely undisturbed. Then, all at once, he -espied, a foot or two away, a small object. He glanced back over his -shoulder, and, seeing that Schilder had turned to address a word of -direction to the stenographer, reached out and quickly transferred it to -his pocket.</p> - -<p>It was a half-smoked cigarette—a cigarette of dull-gray paper, with a -peculiar long pasteboard mouthpiece.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTERW_II" id="CHAPTERW_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> -<small>THE CLEW THAT FAILED.</small></h2> - -<p>“There’s no need to keep you any longer, Miss Griffin,” Schilder said to -the stenographer, as Grail came back toward him. “And—er—Miss Griffin, -I guess it would be just as well if you didn’t mention this occurrence -to any one on the outside. We want no unnecessary notoriety, eh, -captain?”</p> - -<p>The adjutant agreed with him. “If you don’t mind, though, Mr. Schilder,” -he said, “and if Miss Griffin will oblige me, I’d like to have her take -down a note for me to Major Appleby. This matter ought to be reported to -him at once, and I don’t like to use the telephone. It will be very -brief, Miss Griffin,” he continued, turning to the girl. “You can take -it direct on the machine. Only I will ask you to give me a carbon copy; -we have to be very particular in the army in regard to all -communications, you know.”</p> - -<p>Then, when she had slipped in her sheets of paper, and sat ready at her -typewriter, he swung around so as to face Schilder, and crisply -dictated:</p> - -<p>“Please come at once, on receipt of this, to the office of the Dolliver -Foundry, as I desire to confer with you on a matter of the greatest -importance.”</p> - -<p>His eyes never for a moment left Schilder’s face while the message was -being transcribed, but if he had expected to see anything there, he was -doomed to disappointment. The countenance of the manager remained as -expressionless as a mask.</p> - -<p>“What do you think of that?” Grail finally asked him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_41" id="page_41">{41}</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well”—the other man was lighting a cigar—“it certainly seems urgent -enough.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Grail dryly; “except for the address and signature, it is, -word for word, the same as the note received by Colonel Vedant.</p> - -<p>“Ah, thank you, Miss Griffin,” he added, as he took the two sheets of -paper which she handed him, and, signing the original, slipped it into -an envelope. “I’m going to ask you, too, if you don’t mind, to stop at -the A. D. T. office on your way to the car, and have them rush this -right out to the fort.”</p> - -<p>After this, nothing more was said until the girl had donned her hat and -jacket and taken her departure. Grail thoughtfully folded up and put -into his pocket the carbon copy, which he had been studying meanwhile -under the light at the desk.</p> - -<p>“I observe, Mr. Schilder,” he said, “that the capital D on your -typewriter blurs badly, and that the m is slightly chipped on one side. -It will be interesting to compare this copy with the note received by -the colonel, to see if both show the same defects.”</p> - -<p>The manager, however, merely shrugged his shoulders. “You still cling to -the idea that the note must have come from here, eh? Well, you’re on the -wrong scent, captain—entirely on the wrong scent. A sheet of our letter -paper would be no very difficult thing to get hold of, and when you come -to look into the matter I think you’ll find that the original note was -written at post headquarters.”</p> - -<p>“At post headquarters! What do you mean by that?” demanded Grail.</p> - -<p>“My dear captain,” Schilder answered, “hasn’t it struck you yet that the -most likely person in the world to write that note to Colonel Vedant -was—Colonel Vedant himself? Between ourselves, now—you are better -acquainted with conditions than I—isn’t there something which might -have induced the old fellow to drop quietly out of sight?”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” Grail spoke slowly. “So that is your solution, is it?”</p> - -<p>“A more plausible one, at any rate, than to imagine he was kidnaped, or -something of that sort,” Schilder contended. “It wouldn’t have been much -of a trick for him to have slipped off his coat so as to look like one -of the workmen, and then to have dodged through the gate when old Dennis -wasn’t looking. Men have done such things before, captain.”</p> - -<p>“Not men like Colonel Vedant,” Grail insisted warmly. “He is the type -that fights rather than runs away. Besides, in this case there is -absolutely no ground for such a suspicion. His record is unassailable, -and he is due for honorable retirement in a few months. He has no -financial troubles. His health, for all his fifty odd years, is perfect, -and no one who knows him could doubt his sanity for a moment. What -possible reason could there be for such a man to chuck the game?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps a woman?” suggested Schilder.</p> - -<p>“Rot! The only woman the colonel is interested in is his daughter, and -he would never do anything to cause her the slightest distress or -uneasiness. Why, man, on her account alone, if for no other reason, the -theory you offer is simply ridiculous.”</p> - -<p>There was some further discussion along the same line, but of little -consequence. Shortly after, Major Appleby, with a couple of officers -from the fort, arrived in a motor car.</p> - -<p>“Bless my soul!” exclaimed the major, a short and rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_42" id="page_42">{42}</a></span> -apoplectic-looking warrior, when the situation had duly been made clear -to him. “We must lose no time in getting to the bottom of this.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Schilder,” remarked Grail quietly, “is firmly convinced that the -colonel took himself off voluntarily.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” protested Major Appleby, and his companions promptly echoed -the opinion. “Vedant is the last man in the world to have done a thing -of that sort.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” conceded the manager; “you gentlemen are probably more -competent to judge on that point than I. Just the same, I surely am -curious to see what other explanation you can get to fit the facts.”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” The major cocked his head importantly on one side. “That will no -doubt come out in the investigation. The chief thing now is to learn -just what the exact facts are.”</p> - -<p>The inquiry he set on foot, however, elicited nothing new, and in the -end the newcomers had to confess themselves as completely baffled as -Grail and Schilder. Still, it did not escape the shrewd eyes of the -foundry manager, as the fruitless investigation proceeded, that certain -more or less vague suspicions were forming in the minds of Appleby and -his associates; and he gathered, too, not so much from anything that was -said or done as by a sort of coolness in the atmosphere, that these were -in some way hostile to the adjutant.</p> - -<p>A sly smile flickered across his lips under the cover of his beard, and, -with an air of impatience, he broke in on the aimless conjectures of the -three officers.</p> - -<p>“Come, come, gentlemen,” he said; “all this amounts to nothing. And, -since you seem determined to make it a case of foul play, I guess I had -better start to do something on my own hook.”</p> - -<p>“You!” The major glared at him haughtily. “What have you got to do with -it?”</p> - -<p>Schilder laughed. “The Dolliver Foundry can hardly afford, my dear sir, -to have a mystery of this sort taking place on its premises without at -least a show of effort on my part to clear it up. Delay, moreover, -merely makes the matter look worse for us; so, although I dislike -needless notoriety as much as any of the rest of you, I——” Instead of -completing the sentence, he reached out for the telephone on his desk.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do?” demanded Appleby sharply.</p> - -<p>“Call up the chief of police, and place the matter in his hands.”</p> - -<p>“The chief of police!” The major gave a violent start, and glanced -uneasily at his companions. Only Grail seemed unperturbed, and the side -glance he cast at Schilder was distinctly skeptical. It was almost as -though he said: “I dare you to make good your bluff.”</p> - -<p>The major lost no time, however, in entering a remonstrance.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I beg of you, Mr. Schilder,” he urged, “let us not do anything -rash! There are—er—certain matters which I am loath to mention here, -but which, provided the officers at the fort have sufficient time to -sift them out, will, I am sure, bring a speedy solution. You bear me out -in this, do you not, gentlemen?” he appealed to his two companions.</p> - -<p>They assented, and it was noticeable that in doing so both carefully -avoided looking in the direction of the adjutant.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_43" id="page_43">{43}</a></span></p> - -<p>Schilder, a mocking twinkle in his eye, turned toward Grail.</p> - -<p>“And you, captain?” he asked. “Can you give me the same assurance?”</p> - -<p>The young officer met his gaze steadily. “Why not?” he said. “To my -mind, the investigation simply resolves itself into a matter of -determining the authorship of the note received by the colonel, and -surely we at the fort are as competent to handle that as some blundering -policeman.”</p> - -<p>Major Appleby gave a grunt of recollection, and his manner toward Grail -relaxed.</p> - -<p>“Ah, yes,” he said, with evident relief. “I had forgotten for the moment -the existence of that clew. The note is at headquarters, I presume, -captain?”</p> - -<p>Grail nodded. “I left it on my desk, when the colonel and I came away.”</p> - -<p>“Then, come,” urged the major, moving toward the door; “let us lose no -time in taking a look at it. We can trust you, I suppose, Mr. Schilder, -to take no action until you hear from us?”</p> - -<p>“Anything in reason, major,” the manager agreed. “And I certainly hope -for all our sakes that you meet with quick success.”</p> - -<p>After he had returned from seeing the party off in their automobile, -however, and had closed his desk for the night, he lingered a moment in -the office before taking his departure.</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” he muttered thoughtfully, “if that man Grail is stringing -me, or am I stringing him?”</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, as the motor car swiftly left the factory chimneys and -slumlike streets of the river front behind, and climbed the hilly -streets back toward the fort, Major Appleby turned toward the adjutant, -who sat beside him in the tonneau.</p> - -<p>“What do you make of it all, captain?” he asked, in a conciliatory tone. -“You were on the ground, and ought to be able to form a better judgment -than any of the rest of us.”</p> - -<p>“It’s gumshoe work,” Grail answered; “a trick of some of those foreign -spies who have been hanging around ever since Colonel Vedant started on -his present series of experiments. They thought, no doubt, that, with a -hurry call of this sort, they might catch him with some of the papers on -his person.”</p> - -<p>“Then, you believe that Schilder is——”</p> - -<p>Grail shook his head. “Too obvious,” he objected. “Whatever else -Schilder may be, he is not a fool.”</p> - -<p>“But whom else can we suspect, under the circumstances?” queried -Appleby. “Have you any theory at all, captain, that will account for the -mystery?”</p> - -<p>The adjutant hesitated a moment. “I think I will wait to answer those -questions, major, until after we have examined the colonel’s note.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, true!” assented the other. “That must naturally be our starting -point. And here we are!”</p> - -<p>The automobile turned in from the tree-shaded street, and sped down the -roadway past officers’ row. It halted in front of headquarters, and the -four passengers piled hurriedly out. Grail, abstractedly acknowledging -the salute of the soldier on guard, pressed forward in the lead, and, -unlocking the door, swung it open. There was no need to switch on the -lights, as the room was already sufficiently illuminated by a night bulb -which hung in front of the safe.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_44" id="page_44">{44}</a></span></p> - -<p>The adjutant, closely followed by the others, advanced to the desk, then -paused, with a little gasp of bewilderment.</p> - -<p>“Why,” he exclaimed, “the note is gone! I am positive I left it here.”</p> - -<p>He turned to the colonel’s “striker,” who lounged sleepily in the -adjoining room, to inquire if any one had been there in his absence.</p> - -<p>“Not a soul, sir,” was the answer.</p> - -<p>“Then, have you yourself been in here, or touched any of the papers on -the desk?”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t stirred from my seat, sir, since you and the colonel went.”</p> - -<p>That seemed to settle pretty well the question of outside interference, -for, with the guard outside and this man seated where he could command -the whole interior of the place, no person could have entered -undetected. Yet the note was indubitably gone. The drawers of the desk -were ransacked, the files gone over, even the floor thoroughly searched, -without revealing the slightest trace of it. With all the doors and -windows closed, there was no chance of it having been carried away by -some frolicsome breeze.</p> - -<p>Major Appleby regarded Grail with a portentous frown. “Captain,” he said -stiffly, “this is very, very strange.”</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTERW_III" id="CHAPTERW_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> -<small>UNDER SUSPICION.</small></h2> - -<p>There was little sleep at Fort Denton that night. Two o’clock found the -lights still burning brightly in Major Appleby’s quarters, where most of -the officers of the post were assembled. Conspicuous by his absence from -this gathering, however, was the adjutant, Captain Grail. He had been -there at an earlier hour to join in the deliberations, but after once -more making a report of the circumstances connected with Colonel -Vedant’s disappearance, he somewhat stiffly withdrew. He sensed in the -conference that same feeling of doubt and hostility toward him which had -manifested itself in Appleby and his companions on first hearing the -story, and his self-respect would not permit him to remain.</p> - -<p>After his departure, a rather uneasy silence settled down on the -council. A few pointless remarks were made, but for the most part the -group devoted themselves to their cigars, and studied the pattern of the -carpet.</p> - -<p>Finally, however, Captain Dobbs, the surgeon—a bald, blunt-spoken old -fellow—brought things to an issue.</p> - -<p>“What’s the use of mincing matters?” he boomed, glancing defiantly -around the circle. “Every man here believes that Grail’s at the bottom -of this thing. Then why not get down to cases, instead of sitting around -here like a pack of dummies?”</p> - -<p>A little gasp, partly of relief, partly of surprise at such plain -speaking, ran around the room, and everybody glanced involuntarily -toward Major Appleby where he sat at the head of the table.</p> - -<p>“H’m!” The major cleared his throat, and moved a bit uncomfortably under -the scrutiny. “Without—er—going quite so far as our friend Dobbs,” he -finally ventured cautiously, “I take it that no one here will deny there -is some reason in what he says. We must be prudent, though, gentlemen. -Remember, the honor of the army is involved.”</p> - -<p>“Prudent! Ha!” The doctor gave a scornful cackle. “Why, the whole post -has been like a whispering gallery all afternoon. I doubt if there’s a -man on the reserva<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_45" id="page_45">{45}</a></span>tion, from cook boy to colonel, who hasn’t been -cocking his head to one side, and asking, under his breath, what there -was in this business about Grail. The only person who didn’t seem to be -wise to it was Grail himself. Now, let’s cut out all this innuendo and -gossip, and look the facts squarely in the face. If the report that’s -been going around is true, it’s unquestionably got a bearing on the -affair we’re investigating; if not, the sooner we put a stopper on it -and turn our searchlights in another direction, the better for all -concerned. In either event, I guess the honor of the army will take care -of itself.”</p> - -<p>There was a murmur of approval as the surgeon finished speaking, -followed by calls from various parts of the room for Hemingway; and -eventually, in response to these demands, a flushed young lieutenant -rose rather reluctantly to his feet.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Hemingway,” the major said, “you seem to be the person best -qualified to make a statement in this matter. Will you, therefore, -repeat for the benefit of us all, the communication which you made in -confidence to Mrs. Appleby and myself this afternoon?”</p> - -<p>“In confidence—to Mrs. Appleby!” the doctor snorted, scarcely taking -the trouble to lower his voice. “No wonder it was all over the post in -less than half an hour.”</p> - -<p>In the general eagerness to hear Hemingway, however, his growling passed -unnoticed, and the young lieutenant, shifting unhappily from one foot to -the other, commenced his story.</p> - -<p>“In the first place,” he said, glancing appealingly around the circle of -officers, “and as I told Major Appleby, I don’t want any one to think -that I’ve been up to any sneaking or underhand business. But when a -thing came right up and slapped me in the face I couldn’t help taking -notice of it, especially after the colonel told all of us that he wanted -us to be on our guard during the course of these experiments.”</p> - -<p>“Cut out the excuses,” protested one of his auditors. “It’s the facts we -want to get at.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then,” cried Hemingway defiantly, “I say that Captain Grail has -been having dealings with Sasaku, the Jap waiter at the mess, which are -open to very grave suspicion. I am in charge of the mess this month, as -you all know, and I had noticed that Grail seemed to have considerable -to say to the Jap when he dropped in for his meals; but I never attached -any importance to the matter until to-day at noon, when I saw him hand -Sasaku a long envelope, which the latter immediately slipped under his -jacket. Then, I will admit, I began to get a little worked up, for there -was a certain furtiveness about the transaction which I didn’t -altogether like; so, as soon as Grail left, I promptly nailed Sasaku, -and demanded to know what it was the captain had given him.”</p> - -<p>“And he lied, of course!” commented a former mess manager, out of the -depths of his experience. “Probably told you that you must have been -mistaken.”</p> - -<p>“No,” returned Hemingway; “he simply informed me coolly that it was none -of my business, and gave me notice that he was quitting his job.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you grab the impudent beggar, and search him?” another -officer broke in.</p> - -<p>“Well”—the lieutenant flushed again—“I didn’t want to make any -blunder, don’t you know, so I decided to report the matter first to -Major Appleby before taking any definite action; and by the time I got -back to the mess again the Jap had cleared out, bag and baggage.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_46" id="page_46">{46}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Cleared out! Where?”</p> - -<p>“That’s the question.” Hemingway shook his head. “I’ve had Corporal -Stone and half a dozen men out ransacking the town for him since four -o’clock, and not a trace can be found. We think he must have sneaked -aboard a train somehow, and got away, unless——” He paused.</p> - -<p>“Unless,” Major Appleby pointedly finished, “his departure may have some -connection with the far more serious matter of the colonel’s -disappearance.”</p> - -<p>“Has any one put this business about the Jap up to Grail?” the surgeon -inquired, with a frown.</p> - -<p>“Not directly,” Appleby admitted; “that is, unless the colonel may have -mentioned it to him. He was really the only one who had an opportunity, -for Grail left the post shortly after the occurrence, and did not return -until nine o’clock, and from that time until they set out for the -foundry the two were closeted together in the office. Vedant, however, -was rather inclined to pooh-pooh the whole matter, and he may very -easily have failed to speak.”</p> - -<p>“Can any one doubt, though, that Grail knew what was in the wind?” -demanded young Hemingway hotly. “Why, the very way he left us here -to-night showed it. I say, too,” he insisted, “that a man who’d been -caught selling secrets to a Japanese spy, and saw court-martial looming -up ahead of him, couldn’t well think of a smoother plan to sidetrack -inquiry and shift attention from himself than to have the colonel -abducted.”</p> - -<p>“But that would indicate that this fellow Schilder was in on the deal, -too,” objected one of the officers who had not yet spoken. “And what -interest could he——”</p> - -<p>“Schilder? Pshaw! He was only a convenient tool,” interrupted Hemingway. -“Believe me, he’s as much in the dark as anybody else.”</p> - -<p>“How could the game have been worked without his connivance, though?” -inquired the other.</p> - -<p>“Humph! Trust a pack of slick Japanese to handle that all right.” -Hemingway gave a toss of the head. “Knowing the colonel’s movements in -advance, what would have been easier than for them to secret themselves -about the foundry yard; then, at the psychological moment, cut off the -lights and rush the colonel out and away. With their agility and -cunning, a trick like that would be simply pie to them.”</p> - -<p>“How do you explain this business about the note from Schilder, though?” -broke in another questioner. “You think, of course, that Grail or the -Jap forged the note that was received; but, if so, why doesn’t Grail -show it up now, instead of making things look worse for himself with the -assertion that it has disappeared?”</p> - -<p>“Ah, that was the smoothest part of the whole deal,” declared the -youthful investigator. “He knew that he was bound to be suspected, -didn’t he? And he knew, too, that documentary evidence of that sort, -subjected to such close examination as would naturally be given it, -might lead to his detection. So what does he do but get it out of the -way, and at the same time fog the issue with another touch of apparent -mystery.”</p> - -<p>His emphatic arguments began to carry weight with the rest. It was at -least a solution that he offered, and, groping about in the dark as they -were, they were ready to accept almost any theory that bore the color of -plausibility.</p> - -<p>“I think,” said Dobbs, the surgeon, voicing a general<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_47" id="page_47">{47}</a></span> sentiment, “it’s -about time for us to put this matter up to Grail straight, and see what -he has to say for himself.”</p> - -<p>The major summoned his striker. “My compliments to Adjutant Grail, and -ask him if he can make it convenient to come here at once to answer a -few questions.”</p> - -<p>In less than five minutes the messenger was back with the astonishing -reply:</p> - -<p>“The adjutant’s compliments, sir, and he wishes to know if you care to -put your request in the form of an order. If not, sir, he does not care -to discuss anything with the officers to-night.”</p> - -<p>The major grew red with indignation at the injury to his dignity, and -the surgeon growled darkly that the answer bore out his suspicions. But -Appleby was not a man of snapshot action, and he said, with an -assumption of chilly dignity:</p> - -<p>“Very well; say to the adjutant, with my compliments, that I shall issue -no orders to-night.” Then, turning to the officers, with a portentous -shrug, he added: “We will await the developments of to-morrow.”</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTERW_IV" id="CHAPTERW_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> -<small>MYSTERIOUS ASHES.</small></h2> - -<p>After sending his curt message to Major Appleby, Grail sat in the office -at headquarters, whither he had betaken himself from the meeting, -smoking fiercely, and glowering at a spot on the wall. He had set -himself in defiance of the whole post, and he could not but feel that he -was in the right. At any rate, he scorned to defend himself against the -aspersions of a blunderer like Appleby, or an officious young ass like -Hemingway; for, as it happened, he knew of the story set afloat by the -mess manager, Colonel Vedant having detailed it to him jestingly during -their hurried trip to the foundry. Grail had been prevented then from -offering any explanation, owing to their arrival at Schilder’s office.</p> - -<p>Rather than make such an explanation now, he vowed he would be drawn and -quartered, for he bitterly resented the attitude taken by his brother -officers, their readiness—nay, almost eagerness—to believe the very -worst of him.</p> - -<p>Grail loved his profession. More than once he had refused flattering -offers to leave it for a career in civil life. But now, in his hot -indignation, he declared that not another week should find him wearing -the uniform and associating with such double-faced, intriguing cads.</p> - -<p>On the impulse of the moment, he stepped over to his desk, and, -snatching up a pen, started to write out his resignation. But as he -blotted the sheet before affixing his signature he paused, with an -exclamation of annoyance, to find that the lines he had written were -streaked with fine gray dust, which had fallen on the paper. A sort of -gritty powder, it seemed to be, like the dust which rises from the -handling of filed papers or documents. Without giving the matter second -thought, Grail was about to tear up the blurred resignation and start to -draft another one, when his attention was suddenly caught by a flake of -the powder slightly larger than the others.</p> - -<p>It was a tiny shred of paper, but what especially aroused his interest -was that it showed the trace of a lithographed letter “V” of the -peculiar style and shading used as a heading by the Dolliver Foundry.</p> - -<p>Quickly he caught up the blotter he had been using, and shook it over a -sheet of carbon paper, for there had flashed into his mind a prompt -suspicion as to the nature<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_48" id="page_48">{48}</a></span> of that dust. That it had fallen from the -blotter there could be no question, and he recalled distinctly that he -had left the mysteriously missing note lying on that blotter when he and -the colonel took their hasty departure.</p> - -<p>A moment or two gave him all the confirmation of his suspicion that he -required, for under his vigorous shaking there sifted down on the dark -surface several fragments, from a sixteenth to a thirty-second of an -inch in diameter, on which he could plainly decipher indications of -typewriting.</p> - -<p>Snatching up a reading glass belonging to the colonel, he bent over -these to satisfy himself he had made no mistake; then straightened up, -with a muttered expletive and a little, puzzled frown between the eyes.</p> - -<p>The glass brought out on one of the specks what appeared unquestionably -the upper half of an “m”—and, what was more, the letter was slightly -chipped on one side.</p> - -<p>Grail leaned over to subject the fragment to a second examination, and -make sure that he had not been misled; then drew from his pocket the -carbon copy of the note he had dictated to Schilder’s stenographer, and -compared the two impressions. They were alike, defect and all, as two -pennies struck from the same die. One was forced to the conclusion that -they had been made by the same machine.</p> - -<p>Dropping his chin into his hand, the adjutant sat staring almost -incredulously at the telltale speck in front of him. This knocked into -smithereens the entire theory he had evolved as to the disappearance of -Colonel Vedant, for, despite the pains he had taken to secure a copy of -the note from Schilder’s typewriter, he had never really believed that -the original summons had come from there.</p> - -<p>Now, however, he was driven to a fresh line of speculation. Recalling -the foundry manager’s freely expressed insinuations, he arose half -impatiently, and tested the two typewriting machines used at -headquarters. There were, as he expected, no point of similarity shown -with the copy of the note he had caused to be transcribed by Miss -Griffin. The “m” on both machines was clear-cut and flawless; there was -no indication of blurring on the “D.”</p> - -<p>Returning to the desk, he resumed his perplexed contemplation of the -fragments on the sheet of carbon paper. It seemed certain that Schilder -must have sent the decoy message, relying on its speedy disintegration -to cover up his tracks. And right there another consideration arose to -muddle him: How had this disintegration been accomplished? Hitherto he -had been so intent on establishing the identity of these specks of -typewriting with the missing message that he had not stopped to question -the agency which could so quickly and thoroughly destroy a stout sheet -of linen paper.</p> - -<p>“Some powerful chemical, doubtless,” he reflected, recollecting that the -note had been a trifle damp when he drew it from the envelope; and with -this suggestion, he scraped together a little pinch of the dust to taste -and smell of it. The tests confirmed his opinion. There was a faint, -pungent odor to the particles, which, although familiar, he could not -exactly place; and one of them, applied to his tongue, produced a slight -burning sensation. The paper undoubtedly had been treated with some -solution, which, in drying, reduced it to shreds.</p> - -<p>He carefully transferred what remained of it to an envelope, in order to -have his conclusions verified and the exact nature of the solvent -determined by expert analy<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_49" id="page_49">{49}</a></span>sis; but he really needed no such -corroboration. He was fully satisfied that the demolition of the message -must have been effected in the way he assumed.</p> - -<p>With so much settled, though, he seemed in no way relieved. Indeed, the -frown of perplexity on his forehead grew deeper, and, seated there -before his desk, he fell into a brown study.</p> - -<p>Why, he thought, should Schilder have gone to so much trouble to get rid -of this note, when he could so easily have supported his denial of -writing it by the simple expedient of using another machine? As he -himself had said to Grail, it would be quite a job, without other clews, -to trace, among all the hundreds of machines in a city like Brantford, -the particular one on which a specific communication was written.</p> - -<p>“No,” the adjutant said aloud, fishing from his pocket the half-smoked -cigarette he had found at the threshold of the foundry office, and, -surveying it with a decisive nod, “I can’t be so far off the track. This -new complication simply means that the trail is a bit more involved than -I thought. However”—he shrugged his shoulders with returning -resentment—“that is something for the bunch of wiseacres down the row -to work out. I’m done with the whole business.” And once more he drew a -sheet of paper toward him to indite his resignation.</p> - -<p>With his pen dipped in the ink, he hesitated. There came a natural -reluctance to quit in this way under fire. The fresh developments he had -unearthed, too, served as a challenge to his ingenuity. He had a -well-defined theory to account for the disappearance of the colonel, -and, after his first anxiety at Schilder’s office, had not entertained -any serious alarm as to the outcome. It was, he believed, merely a bold -attempt on the part of some of the foreign spies who had been hanging -around the post of late to obtain information in regard to the -experiments in progress there. They must have become aware of the -colonel’s habit of carrying home with him at night the reports made to -him, in order that he might digest them at his leisure. Since the coup -had failed, however, Colonel Vedant having no papers with him that -evening, and being the last person in the world to divulge under duress -or otherwise any official secrets, Grail felt satisfied that the captive -would be released just as soon as those responsible for the outrage were -safe beyond the reach of retribution.</p> - -<p>He had not really credited Schilder with any hand in the affair. On that -one point, at least, he was agreed with Lieutenant Hemingway, regarding -the German merely as a rather thick-headed dupe who had unwittingly -allowed his establishment to be used as a theater for the enterprise.</p> - -<p>Now, however, with the seeming assurance that this decoy message must -have come from the typewriter at the foundry, he began to wonder if he -had not been taking too much for granted. One was certainly justified in -believing that either the manager or his stenographer must have had -knowledge of the writing of the note.</p> - -<p>“Suppose,” Grail speculated, “the assumption I’ve been going on is a -mistake? By Jove, I’m not infallible, and I’ve got no proof to support -me—that is, nothing you could call real proof. Suppose, then, that -there’s more to this job than I’ve been willing to concede, and that the -old colonel is actually in danger? Have I got the right, merely from -personal pique, to stand from under and leave the old boy to the mercy -of a set of bunglers like Appleby and his crew?<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_50" id="page_50">{50}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>While he hesitated, his glance happened to fall on the pen he still held -between his fingers, which he had picked up from the desk at random. It -was a gold one, belonging to the colonel—a gift from his daughter, -Meredith, as was shown by the tiny plate affixed to the handle, with the -inscription: “Merry Christmas. M. L. V.”</p> - -<p>Before the adjutant’s mind rose suddenly the vision of the fair-haired, -lovely girl, so devotedly attached to her father. He knew what this -affair would mean to her, how deeply she would be affected, whether -there were any actual menace in the situation or not. He laid down his -pen, and, picking up the form of resignation he had drafted, tore it -across, and dropped it into the wastebasket.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got to stick it out,” he muttered. “I’ve got to stick it out and -clear this thing up—for her sake!”</p> - -<p>His mind made up, he threw himself whole-heartedly into his task. A -glance at his watch showed him it was after three o’clock, but no -thought of sleep suggested itself to him. Instead, he caught up his hat -and coat, and started out to take another look over the scene of the -disappearance.</p> - -<p>But there was nothing new to be gained, he found. The foundry yard, -silent and deserted now, the last vestige of the scrap heaps cleared -away, and only the idle crane, with its long, sweeping arm at rest, to -serve as a reminder of the evening’s earlier activity, offered nothing -more in the way of a clew; nor could old Dennis, at the gate, although -garrulous enough, add any fresh information to what he had already told.</p> - -<p>Leaving him after a brief colloquy, Grail thoughtfully strolled down to -the railroad tracks skirting the banks of the river, and patrolled them -slowly the length of the foundry inclosure and back, climbing up on each -of the scrap-loaded freight cars standing on the siding to investigate, -but only to drop down again every time, with a shake of the head. The -night was beginning to give way now to the first faint gray of the -summer dawn. More and more distinctly the different features of the -water front revealed themselves—the chimneys of the big smelter, -Brantford’s largest industry; the railroad machine shops beyond; and, -overhead, dark and shadowy against the sky, the dim perspective of the -great bridge stretching across the stream.</p> - -<p>The horizon flushed into pink and crimson; the gilded cross of a steeple -off in the distance flashed with the first beams of the rising sun; -somewhere up the river a factory whistle blew. Morning had come.</p> - -<p>Only the wide river was invisible now, blanketed in the thick mist which -still hung over its swift, muddy current. Grail stood a moment staring -out at the impenetrable veil; then, obliged to step nimbly from the -tracks for the passage of an express train, turned, and made his way -back past the gate of the foundry.</p> - -<p>As he reached old Dennis, he halted suddenly, and wheeled to glance -sharply once more out over the mist-enveloped stream.</p> - -<p>“What is that noise?” he inquired.</p> - -<p>The old gateman cupped his wrinkled fingers behind his ear, and bent his -head to listen.</p> - -<p>“Is it th’ choog, choog, choog ye mane?” he returned. “Sure, that must -be a autymobile over in th’ bottoms.”</p> - -<p>“No.” Grail shook his head. “That’s the exhaust of a motor boat, if I -ever heard one.”</p> - -<p>“A motor boat!” scoffed Dennis. “Wid all thim sand bars out there? Sure, -there’s a loonytick runnin’ it, thin.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_51" id="page_51">{51}</a></span> W’y, sorr, nobody don’t niver -sail motor boats on this river. Th’ boss just had wan iv th’ things -shipped in yistedah, he was tellin’ me, but ’tis not on no river he’ll -be thryin’ it. He’s goin’ to have it tuk out to Lake Manawa.”</p> - -<p>A quick flash shot into the adjutant’s eye at this information, but his -tone betrayed only a polite interest.</p> - -<p>“So Mr. Schilders is going to have a boat out at the lake this summer, -eh?”</p> - -<p>“As I tell ye, sorr. An’ sure it may be out there already f’r all that I -know. He was dickerin’ wid a felly yisteday afthernoon to haul it out -f’r him.”</p> - -<p>Grail merely nodded, and turned the conversation to another channel. The -chug-chug which had caught his attention had faded away by this time, -and there seemed nothing to keep him there, but still he lingered on, -chatting with the old watchman.</p> - -<p>It might have been observed, though, that he directed an occasional keen -glance toward the mists, thinning fast now in the rays of the rising -sun, and that when at last the vapors were entirely dissipated, and the -river visible from shore to shore, a little frown of disappointment -gathered between his eyes. On all the broad expanse of the tawny stream -there was no craft of any kind to be discerned. He bade old Dennis good -morning, and betook himself back to the post.</p> - -<p class="fint">TO BE CONTINUED.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2><a name="TIPS_TO_YOUNG_PITCHERS" id="TIPS_TO_YOUNG_PITCHERS"></a>TIPS TO YOUNG PITCHERS.<br /><br /> -<small>HOW TO CURVE A BALL.</small></h2> - -<p>To be able to curve a ball is the ambition of every young player. If he -happens to be the pitcher of his team, his desire is all the stronger. -He wants to fool the other fellows when they come to the bat. He cannot -be blamed for that. But while curve pitching is undoubtedly a great -accomplishment, it must be remembered that in the old days of baseball -many brilliant battles were won with the straight-arm delivery. It is -not absolutely necessary, therefore, to curve a ball in order to win -success. The writer vividly recalls the famous games in the early -seventies in the neighborhood of New York. He was a boy then, and walked -miles to see the contests. A curved ball was unknown then, so far as the -pitching was concerned. And the pitchers were very effective, too. They -studied the weakness of the batsmen, just as the pitchers do now. And -that is the study all young pitchers must pursue. Begin your work by -pitching a straight ball. You cannot gain control in a better way. As -you are young in pitching experience, so also are your opponents young -in their knowledge of batting. If you watch them closely you will -perceive very quickly that nearly every one of them swings his bat at -about the same height every time. For instance, you will notice that the -first batter will swing his bat just in front of his waistband. In order -to fool him, pitch the ball a little higher or a little lower than that -point. The next batter may snap his bat high. Give him a high ball, but -a few inches lower than he is likely to strike. The rule is by no means -infallible, but it is a good one. It takes a boy a long time to overcome -the inclination to swing in the same way every time he strikes. There is -another important point to remember: Do not give the batsmen a chance to -hit the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_52" id="page_52">{52}</a></span> ball with the end of their bats, if you can avoid it. This is -simple enough if the batter stands close to the plate. You can keep the -ball well in on him without much trouble. But when he stands back in the -box, you must use discretion. Try to coax him with a ball or two just -inside the plate. If he refuses to “bite,” then, of course, you’ll have -to put it over. As you improve in your work, you can begin to practice -curves.</p> - -<p>Curve pitching cannot be taught by book or other directions. It must be -learned by actual practice and experience. The principles of making a -ball curve, however, may be explained. Let the young aspirant grasp the -ball firmly in his hand, giving the pressure with his forefinger and -middle finger. The other two fingers should be drawn in toward the palm. -Next let him snap the ball first out of one side of the hand and next -out of the other side. He will soon learn the effect these movements -have on the ball. Then he must practice faithfully to so control it as -to make the curves useful. Strange as it may seem, it is much more -difficult for the beginner to throw or pitch a straight ball than one -that describes an arc in its course. This is so because of the natural -tendency of the player to throw the ball out of the side of his hand. To -pitch a straight ball, it is necessary that the two fingers which grasp -the ball should be straight up and down, with their backs in front of -the player as he throws. Beyond these few hints it is almost impossible -to give any intelligible instructions. It will depend almost entirely on -the young player’s ability, inclination, and perseverance, how much of a -success he will make at curve pitching. He cannot have too much -practice, but he should take care not to overexert himself. It is not -necessary to exert all his force. He can practice curves without putting -his greatest speed into the ball.</p> - -<h3><a name="DRUNKEN_MONKEYS" id="DRUNKEN_MONKEYS"></a>DRUNKEN MONKEYS.</h3> - -<p>Did you ever hear that monkeys were an intemperate race of creatures? It -is true. They actually get tipsy when they get the chance; but the -punishment of their crime is something terrible even for a tipsy monkey. -They are not merely taken to prison for safety and locked up for a few -hours. There are no monkey policemen to do them that service, and we -have not heard that there are any monkey magistrates to give them a -severe lecture in the morning, fine them a few dollars, and tell them -not to do it any more. No, it seems there are none of these beautiful -provisions for Jacko’s safety and comfort provided in his native land, -and so he falls into the hands of his enemies, and lifelong -imprisonment, or even banishment to colder climates, is the punishment.</p> - -<p>Like men, monkeys are easily outwitted when under the influence of -liquor. They have human vices, and love stimulants. In Darfour and Sena, -Africa, the natives make a fermented beer, of which the monkeys are -passionately fond. Aware of this, the natives go to the parts of the -forest frequented by the monkeys, and set on the ground calabashes full -of the enticing liquor. As soon as the monkey sees and tastes it, he -utters loud cries of joy that soon attract his comrades. Then an orgy -begins, and in a short time they all show degrees of intoxication. Then -the negroes appear. Some of the drinkers are too far gone to distrust -them, but appar<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_53" id="page_53">{53}</a></span>ently take them for larger species of their own genus. -The negroes take some up, and these begin to weep and cover them with -maudlin kisses. When the negro takes one by the hand to lead him off, -the nearest monkey will cling to the one who thus finds a support, and -endeavor to go on also.</p> - -<p>Another will clutch at him, and so on, until the negro leads a -staggering line of ten or a dozen tipsy monkeys. When finally brought to -the village, they are securely caged and gradually sobered down; but for -two or three days a gradually diminishing supply of liquor is given -them, so as to reconcile them by degrees to their state of captivity.</p> - -<h3><a name="AN_ANTIQUE_MEAL" id="AN_ANTIQUE_MEAL"></a>AN ANTIQUE MEAL.</h3> - -<p>“I have eaten apples that ripened more than eighteen hundred years ago; -bread made from wheat grown before the children of Israel passed through -the Red Sea; spread it with butter that was made when Elizabeth was -Queen of England, and washed down the repast with wine that was old when -Columbus was playing barefoot with the boys of Genoa,” said a gentleman -at the club the other day.</p> - -<p>The remarkable “spread” was given by an antiquary named Gorbel, in the -city of Brussels. The apples were from a jar taken from the ruins of -Pompeii, that buried city to whose people we owe our knowledge of -canning fruit.</p> - -<p>The wheat was taken from a chamber in one of the smaller pyramids, the -butter from a stone shelf in an old well in Scotland, where it had lain -in an earthenware crock in icy water, and the wine came from an old -vault in the city of Corinth.</p> - -<p>There were six guests at the table, and each had a mouthful of bread and -a teaspoonful of the wine, but was permitted to help himself liberally -to the butter, there being several pounds of it. The apple jar held -about two-thirds of a gallon, and the fruit was as sweet, and the flavor -as fine, as though it had been packed yesterday.</p> - -<h3><a name="THE_KEENEST_EYESIGHT" id="THE_KEENEST_EYESIGHT"></a>THE KEENEST EYESIGHT.</h3> - -<p>Like every other sense, that of sight improves by use under healthy -conditions, and therefore the people who have the greatest exercise of -their vision in the open air, under light of the sun, have the best -eyesight. Generally speaking, savage tribes possess the keenest -eyesight, acquired through hunting.</p> - -<p>Natives of the Solomon Islands are very quick at perceiving distant -objects, such as ships at sea, and will pick out birds concealed in -dense foliage some sixty or seventy feet high. Shepherds and sailors are -blessed with good sight; the Eskimo will detect a white fox in the snow -a great distance away, while the Arabs of the deserts of Arabia have -such extreme powers of vision that on the vast plains of the desert they -will pick out objects invisible to the ordinary eye at ranges from one -to ten miles distant.</p> - -<p>Among civilized peoples, the Norwegians have better eyesight than most, -if not all, others, as they more generally fulfill the necessary -conditions. The reason why defective eyes are so much on the increase in -this and many European countries lies in too much study of books in -early life, and in badly lighted rooms.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_54" id="page_54">{54}</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_55" id="page_55">{55}</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<h2><a name="THE_NEWS_OF_ALL_NATIONS" id="THE_NEWS_OF_ALL_NATIONS"></a>THE NEWS OF ALL NATIONS.</h2> - -<h3>Big Indiana Gas Well.</h3> - -<p>A gas well which gives more than 12,000,000 feet volume has been drilled -in half a mile from Linton, Ind., on the Gillett farm. It is the largest -gusher in the central States.</p> - -<h3>Missouri River’s Jokes with Farmers.</h3> - -<p>Suppose that, years ago when you were a young man, you came to Missouri -and bought a farm on the banks of the Missouri River, and spent the next -fifteen or twenty years in clearing the land and bringing it into a high -state of cultivation. And then suppose that, just when you had begun to -derive some benefit from your years of toil, the river should suddenly -reach out and swallow up about half your farm.</p> - -<p>Then suppose that the river, after keeping your farm for several years, -should grow seemingly repentant and replace your farm, you would no -doubt feel that all the land within the bounds mentioned in your deeds -was your own as much as it ever was.</p> - -<p>But that would all depend on the precise manner in which the river -replaced your land. That is where the accretion law of Missouri comes -in, and it is a fearful and mysterious thing. If the river, in putting -your land back, began piling it up against your bank and continued doing -so, the land to the water’s edge would be yours, even if it went beyond -your original boundaries. But if the river, as it often does, should -first throw up a bar out in the channel and then gradually fill up the -space between that and your land until finally the current changed and -left the island thus formed joined to your land, you would have no claim -to any land thus formed. It would belong to the county, and could be -surveyed and sold to the highest bidder, and the money it brought would -go to the school fund.</p> - -<p>The Missouri River is a malicious stream, and if it ever comes to -judgment, will have a lot to answer for. Instead of pursuing its course -in an orderly manner and sticking to one established course, it is -forever changing, eating away the bank on one side and throwing up new -banks on the other side, cutting out old sand bars here and building new -ones there, so that the main channel is never the same for very long at -a time.</p> - -<p>In Holt County, near Fortescue, there has been a great deal of -excitement lately, caused by the disputes over the possession of some of -the land thus formed, commonly known as “bar land.” Several men had -fenced land which was claimed under deed by John C. Hinkle, a Civil War -veteran, who has lived on this land for the last fifty years. About -fifteen years ago the river took five hundred acres of Mr. Hinkle’s land -and afterward put it back as a bar. Mr. Hinkle claimed the land on the -ground that the bar had made to his land, and the other men claimed it -on the ground that it had been put back as an island, which finally -joined Mr. Hinkle’s land, and was therefore as much theirs as any one’s. -The court upheld the squatters’ claim that the land did not belong to -Hinkle, and this decision was the signal for squatters to rush in and -seize bar land all along the river front. In the last thirty days -perhaps a dozen men have settled on these bars.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_56" id="page_56">{56}</a></span></p> - -<p>The fact of possession seems to be given considerable weight in this -matter, and the land has generally been seized in the night. A squatter -will pick out a piece of land that most suits his fancy, get some help, -slip in at night, put a fence around it, and build a shack on it. Of -course, it is not much of a house or much of a fence, but it is enough -to establish proof of possession.</p> - -<p>Sometimes two different men will have designs on the same piece of land, -or perhaps the man whose deed calls for this land will offer objections -to its being seized, and these conditions have given rise to several -exciting encounters. Several houses have been torn down, many fences cut -to pieces and in at least one instance men have been escorted from the -land of their choice at the point of a Winchester, with instruction to -“beat it” and not to come back. While no blood has been shed so far, it -is freely predicted that it is only a matter of time until somebody is -carried out “feet first.”</p> - -<p>The county has ordered the land surveyed, with the intention of selling -it to the highest bidder, but the law says that the ones in possession -have a right to buy it at the highest bid, so that even if the county -sells the land, the ones actually on the ground have a big advantage. -This fact will probably cause others to try to seize land before the -survey is made.</p> - -<p>The land is not so very valuable except in a dry year, as it is liable -to overflow any time the river rises a few feet.</p> - -<h3>Cowboy Sheriff.</h3> - -<p>Many who have visited the Pawnee Bill and Buffalo Bill Wild-West Shows -wonder what has become of all the likely looking cowboys whose daring -feats ahorse and with the lasso excited wonder and admiration.</p> - -<p>Some are with other shows, some perform for moving pictures, but most of -them have quit the business and settled down. Among those who quit when -Pawnee Bill and Buffalo Bill closed is Tom Tait, who has located in -Gillette, Wyo., county seat of Campbell County, where he has been -elected sheriff. All his life has been spent on the cattle ranges of -Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas, with the exception of the time he was -on the road with the show. As a tamer of wild horses he has few equals, -and as a “cow hand” none at all.</p> - -<h3>All Six Died with Boots On.</h3> - -<p>The Grim Reaper has surely played relentless and strange havoc with the -Law family, of Muscatine, Iowa. Brad E. Law, a popular grocer, died -recently while sitting in a chair at his home. He died “with his boots -on,” so to speak, and so did his two brothers, his father, and his -father’s two brothers. One of the grocer’s brothers, an engineer, was -struck by a piece of a flying wheel, which broke and severed his head, -and the other brother died while at the dinner table. His father died -while plowing in the field, and one of his father’s brothers died in the -pulpit, while preaching a sermon. His father’s other brother died while -driving to town on his farm wagon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_57" id="page_57">{57}</a></span></p> - -<p>They all met death while they were not expecting it. Neither of them was -sick before his death, and sickness was not the cause of any of the -deaths.</p> - -<h3>Tourists Welcome in Canada.</h3> - -<p>Numerous items have appeared lately in the press, advising residents of -the United States to obtain passports when visiting or passing through -Canada. Officials of the Canadian Pacific Railway made inquiries of the -government at Ottawa whether passports are now required. The government -announces that its officials are in no way interfering with bona-fide -tourist traffic, and that persons desirous of visiting points of -interest in Canada or of passing through Canada en route to other places -will be accorded the same courteous treatment as was customary before -the outbreak of war, and that passports are not required.</p> - -<h3>Why Belgium Thanks United States.</h3> - -<p>More than $21,500,000 has been received and the greater part of it spent -for Belgian relief, according to a statement issued in New York by the -commission for relief in Belgium.</p> - -<p>One hundred and ten thousand tons of foodstuffs, cargo for twenty ships, -are now on the way to American seaports from interior points, the -statement adds.</p> - -<p>Nearly sixty cargoes of foodstuffs, valued at more than $20,000,000, had -been sent to Rotterdam up to the middle of March by the commission.</p> - -<h3>New Way to Hunt the Coyote.</h3> - -<p>Hunting coyotes on motor cycles is a popular sport in Sherman County, -Kan. A party of ten young men went coyote hunting in this manner from -there, and in one day succeeded in capturing three of the prairie pests.</p> - -<h3>New Attachment for Razor.</h3> - -<p>A Canadian inventor had secured a patent on which appears to be a simple -attachment for converting an ordinary razor into one of the safety type.</p> - -<p>The device consists simply of a piece of springy sheet metal folded so -that it may be slipped over the razor blade. By holding the razor so -that the side of the attachment comes in contact with the face, the -right angle for the blade is attained.</p> - -<h3>Girl’s Foot Worth $14,000.</h3> - -<p>Fourteen thousand dollars was the price set on the right foot of a -seven-year-old girl of Kenosha, Wis. A jury in the circuit court awarded -that sum to Minnie Extra, daughter of a Kenosha laborer. A car on the -Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railway had mangled her foot so that -amputation at the ankle was necessary.</p> - -<h3>Dog Politician Aids Master.</h3> - -<p>Joseph B. Steele, Independent candidate for the mayoralty nomination at -the primaries in Granite City, Mo., has no “houn’ dawg” to aid him, but -a devoted political worker in “Queen,” a bright little terrier. He -picked up the dog on the streets recently and give it a home.</p> - -<p>In way of repayment, the dog trotted about the town carrying in its -mouth a card bearing Steele’s picture and an announcement of his -candidacy. According to Steele, the dog is so intelligent that on -meeting a doubtful voter<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_58" id="page_58">{58}</a></span> it rises on its hind legs to call the sign -more emphatically to his attention. The dog campaigner attracted much -interest in Granite City.</p> - -<p>Steele obtained the idea of enlisting Queen from the dog’s fondness for -retrieving sticks and carrying objects about in its mouth. After a short -training in carrying the card, the animal showed a remarkable enthusiasm -for politics.</p> - -<h3>This Boat Travels on Land.</h3> - -<p>The visitor to the lumber districts of Canada may occasionally see what -is to him a very remarkable sight—a primitive-looking steamboat high -and dry on a road, crawling along quite comfortably, apparently just as -much at home as in its natural element.</p> - -<p>These boats are known as “alligators,” and are used for towing the rafts -of logs down the rivers and lakes to the mills. Sometimes it is desired -to transfer one of these craft to a new sphere of operations, which can -only be reached overland, and the boat is then hauled out of the water, -placed upon rollers, and travels to its destination by means of its own -power.</p> - -<h3>“Dead” Fifty-two Years. Still Alive.</h3> - -<p>After being mourned as dead for fifty-two years, John Wesley Franse, a -Civil War veteran, has been found living in a small town near San -Francisco, according to a letter received by relatives in St. Louis, Mo. -Franse was found by his sister, Mrs. William H. Marvin, of Kirkwood, a -St. Louis suburb.</p> - -<p>Franse served in the Confederate army under General Sterling Price. The -entire regiment to which he belonged was captured and placed in the -Union prison at Alton, Ill. Believing that he had died there, members of -the Franse family for more than fifty years visited the Alton cemetery -each Decoration Day and placed flowers on one of the unmarked -Confederate graves.</p> - -<p>At a social in Los Angeles recently Mrs. Marvin mentioned that her -maiden name was Franse. Another guest said he knew an old man near by -that name, and the search followed which resulted in the finding of the -long-lost veteran.</p> - -<h3>Found in a Pound of Raisins.</h3> - -<p>One pound of raisins purchased from a store in Derry Church, Pa., by a -special agent of the dairy and food commission was analyzed by State -Chemist Charles la Wall. He found: Prunes, rice, beans, and fuzzy dirt; -human and animal hairs, straight and curly; fibers of cotton and wool -dyed green, yellow, brown, pink, and gray; straw and a little bit of -bran, sand, cornstarch, broken wheat, and yeast spores; pine wood and -fragments of unidentified other timber; tobacco leaf, cigarette paper, -and cigarette tobacco. Also, the wings and legs of a few unfortunate -insects. Otherwise the raisins were all right. The groceryman was -arrested.</p> - -<h3>McManus Sisters in Doubt.</h3> - -<p>That adequate reparation for the murder of John B. McManus, the former -Chicagoan, killed on his ranch outside of Mexico City, would not be -exacted by the United States government is the belief expressed by his -two sisters living in Chicago. They have taken the matter up with a -number of Chicago Congressmen.</p> - -<p>“I doubt if a proper indemnity will ever be paid<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_59" id="page_59">{59}</a></span> Mrs. McManus,” said -Miss Elizabeth McManus, when seen with her sister, Mrs. Mary Dorgan. -“And it seems as if the matter of bringing the murderers to justice -would also be allowed to lapse, as in other cases. Outrages were -committed against the sisters of the Sacred Heart in Mexico City, and I -find the state department did nothing further than to complain to the -Mexican government.”</p> - -<p>A letter from Counselor Lansing informed Miss McManus the Brazilian -minister had placed the “full facts” before the new minister of Mexican -foreign affairs.</p> - -<h3>This Potato King is a “Jap.”</h3> - -<p>Reading a story of the visit of George Shima, the potato king of Lodi, -Cal., to Los Angeles, in a paper of that city, merchants of Lodi recall -that not many years ago the Japanese capitalist could not obtain credit -in the stores of this city, not because he was not honest, but as a -newcomer he had not established credit.</p> - -<p>Those business men who refused to trust him did not anticipate that in a -few years Shima would control 37,000 acres in California and have 6,000 -acres in his own holdings, and have established a large credit in -California banks.</p> - -<p>Last July Shima owned about a quarter of the 4,000,000 sacks of potatoes -in California, and to-day he owns half of the 500,000 sacks unsold in -the State.</p> - -<h3>Ready for the Golden Shore.</h3> - -<p>William Reid, a negro, who has lived in Red Bank, N. J., since he was -mustered out of the Union army in 1865, celebrated his seventy-fifth -birthday and vouchsafed the information that he had made preparations -for a pleasant funeral.</p> - -<p>He told his friends he dug his own grave in Whiteridge Cemetery, South -Eatontown, four years ago, and that a slab now covers the space which he -some day expects to fill.</p> - -<p>During his spare moments he has constructed his own coffin, and this is -stored with Reid’s favorite undertaker. Reid told his friends that while -he was ready for the golden shore, he didn’t care how long the storage -charges continued.</p> - -<h3>Unique Fire Tower in Forest.</h3> - -<p>Harry Childers, of La Pine, Ore., has been appointed fire guard by the -forest service for the Rosland ranger station. The lookout at this -station is one of the most unique in the State, being a 250-foot tower -built on a big yellow pine. The trunk of the tree is divided about -twenty feet from the ground and forms two parallel supports for the -tower up to a height of nearly 200 feet. The lookout’s station in the -top of the tower sways from two to ten feet in the wind.</p> - -<h3>Forty-one Years Postmaster.</h3> - -<p>John K. Gaither, for forty-one years postmaster at La Center, Wash., a -few miles northeast of Ridgefield, will retire from the service as soon -as Patrick M. Kane, recently appointed, can file his bond and get his -commission.</p> - -<p>Mr. Gaither, who is seventy-six years old, came west from Indiana in the -year of 1873, and the following year was appointed postmaster. When he -took over the La<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_60" id="page_60">{60}</a></span> Center post office, there were only four patrons who -subscribed for newspapers. Mr. Gaither is hale and hearty and active in -several societies.</p> - -<h3>Jailer’s Order Kicked Back.</h3> - -<p>For permitting a prisoner to leave the jail before completing the -reading of three chapters in the Bible, Jack Sheehan, warden of the city -prison, in Johnston, Pa., was sentenced by Mayor Joseph Cauffel to read -the same three chapters of the book of Corinthians. Sheehan did it.</p> - -<p>J. R. Edwards had appeared before the mayor on a charge of having -imbibed too freely. He was sentenced to read the three chapters aloud, -and Warden Sheehan was delegated to listen to see that the sentence was -fully complied with. Sheehan could not stand the prisoner’s reading and -told him to go, it is alleged. Sheehan was then sentenced to do the -reading.</p> - -<h3>Kentucky Woman, 112.</h3> - -<p>“Aunt Crissie” Stallard, who is probably the most noted woman in -Kentucky, has just celebrated her one-hundred-and-twelfth birthday, and -is still hale and hearty. “Aunt Crissie” was born in West Virginia and -came to Kentucky at the age of twenty, and married James Stallard that -same year. Her husband died twenty years later.</p> - -<p>This aged woman has outlived all of her children except one who has been -helpless for years. She is still living on her farm, near Hilliard, -where she lived in 1823. She does all her own work—milking, gardening, -getting her own firewood, just as she did back in the old days.</p> - -<p>Her neighboring friends have offered to supply her with plenty of coal, -but thus far she has repeatedly refused their offers. Aunt Crissie has a -farm of 240 acres of land, with mineral and timber on it. Companies have -offered large sums of money for the farm, but her reply is always the -same: “I will never sell so long as I can provide for myself.”</p> - -<h3>Through High School at Ten.</h3> - -<p>Whitesburg, Ky., can perhaps boast of the youngest high-school graduate -in the State. Miss Grace Newman, ten years old, daughter of Attorney J. -H. Newman, of that place, is the heroine. Having entered the high-school -examination at Whitesburg, and averaging among the best, she received -her diploma and a good compliment. She is exceedingly small for one of -her age.</p> - -<h3>Traded a Colt for 160 Acres.</h3> - -<p>Charles Watson, of Fort Scott, Kan., swapped a two-year-old colt for 160 -acres of land in 1856, and the man rode the colt away because he feared -Watson would go back on the deal. To-day the land is worth at least -$16,000, and “Uncle Charlie,” as Watson is familiarly called, is rich. -He is a veteran of the Civil War.</p> - -<h3>Thousand Killed in Mines.</h3> - -<p>More than 1,000 lives were lost in and about the mines of Pennsylvania -in 1914, according to statistics made public by the state department of -mines. Six hundred men and boys were killed in the anthracite mines—a -reduction of twenty-four, compared with 1913—and 413 lost their<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_61" id="page_61">{61}</a></span> lives -in the bituminous regions—a decrease of 198, compared with the previous -year.</p> - -<p>The total production of coal in the State was 237,251,835 tons. The -anthracite output amounted to 91,367,305 tons, a decrease of 259,659 -compared with 1913, and the bituminous production was 145,884,530 tons, -a decrease of 27,081,129 tons compared with the previous year. The -number of persons employed in and about the mines last year was 376,831.</p> - -<h3>Some Quaint Tricks of the Numeral Nine.</h3> - -<p>There are some curious facts and fancies connected with numbers. The -number nine is, perhaps, the first as regards such experiments, although -number seven is more prominent in literature and history. When you once -use it you can’t get rid of it. It will turn up again, no matter what -you do to put it “down and out.”</p> - -<p>All through the multiplication table the product of nine comes to nine. -No matter what you multiply with or how many times you repeat or change -the figures, the result is always the same.</p> - -<p>For instance, twice nine equals eighteen; add eight and one, and you -have nine. Three times nine equals twenty-seven; two and seven make nine -again. Go on until you try eleven times nine equals ninety-nine. This -seems to bring an exception. But add the digits—nine and nine make -eighteen; and again, one and eight make nine. Go on to an indeterminable -extent and the thing continues. Take any number at random. For example, -450 times nine equals 4,050, and the digits, added, make nine once more. -Take 6,000 times 9, equals, 54,000, and again you have five and four.</p> - -<p>Take any rows of figures, reverse the order, and subtract the lesser -from the greater—the difference will certainly be always nine or a -multiple of nine. For example, 5,071 minus 1,705 equals 3,366. Add these -digits and you have eighteen, and one and eight make the familiar nine.</p> - -<p>You have the same result no matter how you raise the numbers by squares -and cubes.</p> - -<p>One more way is given by which number nine shows its strange powers. -Write down any number you please, add its digits, and then subtract the -sum of said digits from the original number. No matter what numbers you -start with, the sum of the digits in the answer will be nine.</p> - -<p>Try these experiments, and you will be delighted with the exact manner -in which they prove the statement. Some quaint puzzles have been made -based on these fixed principles.</p> - -<h3>Launch New United States Ship in June.</h3> - -<p>The new superdreadnaught <i>Arizona</i> will be launched early in June. As -soon as it takes the water, preparations will begin for the laying of -the keel of the still greater superdreadnaught <i>California</i>. The -launching of the <i>Arizona</i> is expected to prove one of the greatest -naval celebrations in the history of New York.</p> - -<h3>Ninety-pound Voter, Still in Knee Pants.</h3> - -<p>John Smith, of Recluse, Miss., still in knee pants and weighing a little -less than ninety pounds, is the smallest voter in the South. John -attained his majority a few days ago and hastened to the depot for a -ticket to Gulf<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_62" id="page_62">{62}</a></span>port, the county seat, to get out his registration papers -and be qualified as a full-sized man voter.</p> - -<p>When he asked for the ticket, the agent handed him a child’s half-fare -one. John was set back at this, but remarked that the agent didn’t know -anything anyway. He would show them something when he came back from -Gulfport.</p> - -<p>When the conductor passed him in the train and shouted “Ticket, sonny!” -John wanted to fight, but again he managed to control himself.</p> - -<p>When he entered the court clerk’s office in Gulfport, he was asked:</p> - -<p>“Want an errand boy’s job, kiddo?”</p> - -<p>“No, dog-gone it,” yelled John, “I want to register.”</p> - -<p>“The deuce you do,” shouted the clerk. But John submitted -birth-registration papers and took oath as to his age. He was registered -and now had the right to vote. His chest swelled.</p> - -<p>Just at that time the candidate for next term of court clerk entered and -said, “Hello, kid.” “Now, that’s where you lost a vote,” answered John -indignantly. The candidate apologized when he learned the facts.</p> - -<p>John, with his ninety pounds, knee pants, and registration papers, went -back to Recluse. He now struts about the town discussing the tariff, the -effect of the Mexican situation on the chances of the Democratic party, -and everything his father talks about. And he doesn’t stand for any -“kidding” about it, either.</p> - -<h3>Man Shows a Prophetic Egg.</h3> - -<p>J. P. Edwards was in Piggott, Ark., recently, showing a curious egg one -of his hens laid the day before, and the exhibit surely aroused the most -profound wonderment. The egg is an ordinary one in shape and size, but -on the surface of the snow-white shell there appear to be faint maps of -the eastern and western hemispheres. North and South America are intact, -except a part of the extreme southern point, the Gulf of Mexico and -Panama Canal being plainly shown.</p> - -<p>On the eastern hemisphere everything looks as though having been torn by -cyclonic winds and in danger of being scattered to the “four corners of -the earth,” wherever they are.</p> - -<p>Some say this freak egg is simply one result of the European war, -earthquakes, land monopoly, et cetera. Those who are of prophetic vision -see “signs” in this egg which prognosticate the future face of the -world.</p> - -<h3>Girl Plumber-Butcher Quits Her Laundry.</h3> - -<p>“Cattle are more interesting than clothes,” says Miss Allie Pitts, of -Eureka Springs, Ark., who has forsaken the butcher business to run a -laundry. Miss Pitts is twenty-seven years old. She was accustomed to -killing her own cattle and hogs when she was in the meat business. This -summer she plans to quit the laundry, buy a cattle ranch, and ship her -own stock to market.</p> - -<p>Before she became a butcher Miss Pitts was a plumber. At an age when -most girls are giggling over beaus and party dresses, this mountain girl -was repairing broken water pipes and defective drains.</p> - -<p>“I guess it’s because I’m just naturally odd,” she says bashfully when -asked how she came to choose such odd professions. “I went to keeping -books in a meat shop, and one day when the butcher was taken sick I -offered to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_63" id="page_63">{63}</a></span> take his place. Then I bought a shop of my own in Granby, -Mo. With the help of a man I employed I did all my own butchering, -cutting up the beef, and rendering the lard. I knocked the animals in -the head as they came down the runway. Oh, yes, I hated it at first, but -I soon got used to it. Some way I hated worst to kill the hogs.</p> - -<p>“Cattle are interesting,” she continued musingly; “much more interesting -than clothes. I’m going back into the cattle business.”</p> - -<p>The restrictions of corsets, high heels, and frills are unknown to this -wholesome mountain girl. She dresses very plainly in a short, dark -skirt, mannish waist and tie, and knockabout hat. She has mild blue -eyes, curling dark hair, and talks with a little lisp.</p> - -<h3>Edison Will Make Benzol.</h3> - -<p>Another step for the manufacture of benzol in this country has been -taken. Thomas A. Edison has opened a factory in Johnstown, Pa., for the -manufacture of benzol from coal gas, a process never before developed in -this country.</p> - -<p>Carbolic acid and aniline dyes are made from benzol, which heretofore -has come chiefly from Germany. Since the war there has been a great -shortage of this product, and chemists and manufacturers have given much -attention to producing it in this country. Recently Secretary of the -Interior Lane announced that Doctor Rittman, one of the department’s -chemists, had discovered a method of producing benzol from petroleum, -and this week he announced that he had made arrangements with a -manufacturing firm to use the Rittman method.</p> - -<h3>Rancher Battles with Trapped White Wolf.</h3> - -<p>John S. Sherrod, the rancher near Glenwood Springs, Col., who caught a -huge white wolf in his traps near Fruita, was in Glenwood Springs and -admitted having experienced a very thrilling time in connection with the -wolf, and the near loss of his life in the Grand River.</p> - -<p>The wolf was caught on the south side of the Grand River, and Sherrod -had to cross in a boat. When landing on the north bank, the wolf sprang -at the trapper, who grappled with the beast in order to save his life. -The strain on the chain attached to the trap was too much with the two -pulling on it, and it gave way, allowing the wolf and his captor to drop -into the river, which is quite swift at this point.</p> - -<p>Sherrod was almost drowned in his efforts to keep the wolf’s head under -water, but he finally succeeded in besting the animal, which he pulled -out on the bank and killed with a club.</p> - -<p>The wolf’s pelt is worth one hundred dollars, and Sherrod seems to think -he earned every cent of it.</p> - -<h3>Some Facts You May Not Know.</h3> - -<p>Among the rare specimens not open to public inspection in the Harvard -Zoölogical Museum is what is asserted to be the largest frog in the -world. It weighs about six pounds, is twenty-seven inches long from tip -to toe, and of a slaty-black color. Its web feet are equal in size to -those of a large swan. Only three of its kind have ever reached the -United States.</p> - -<p>The smallest cows in the world are found in the Samoan Islands. The -average weight does not exceed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_64" id="page_64">{64}</a></span> 150 pounds, while the bulls weigh about -200 pounds. They are about the size of merino sheep.</p> - -<p>The Siamese have a superstitious dislike of odd numbers, and they -studiously strive to have in their own houses an even number of windows, -doors, rooms, and cupboards.</p> - -<p>There is a tribe of Indians in Mexico whose language is limited to about -300 words and who cannot count more than ten.</p> - -<p>Next to the United States, Germany has the greatest number of telegraph -offices and the largest line mileage.</p> - -<p>Sugar exists in the sap of about 190 plants and trees.</p> - -<p>The Chinese pupil reciting his lesson turns his back on the tutor.</p> - -<p>Warships taking refuge in a neutral port are liable to be disarmed after -twenty-four hours.</p> - -<p>In some parts of Siberia milk is sold frozen around a piece of wood, -which serves as a handle to carry it.</p> - -<p>Herons, which average only four pounds in weight, often have been known -to eat more than three pounds of fish at a meal.</p> - -<p>In 1850 only one woman worked for wages to every ten men; now the ratio -is one woman to four men.</p> - -<h3>His Second Fall Cures Him.</h3> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">There was a man in our town,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And he was wondrous wise;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He jumped into a bramble bush<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And scratched out both his eyes;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And when he saw his eyes were out<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With all his might and main,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He jumped into the bramble bush<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And scratched them in again.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>W. J. Parker, a Corunna, Mich., lawyer, unwittingly took the part of the -wise man in the Mother Goose story, with results as satisfactory as the -tale sets forth. He recently slipped on an icy sidewalk and sustained a -sprain of his ankle that compelled him to hobble about on crutches.</p> - -<p>On a recent evening when he started down cellar to fix the furnace fire, -he slipped and fell downstairs, and when he picked himself up, found his -ankle was all right again and that he could walk without crutches and -without pain.</p> - -<p>Surgeons who examined the ankle say the first fall caused an obscure -dislocation and that the second one reduced it. Parker has discarded the -crutches permanently.</p> - -<h3>Has Lived Seventy-two Years on Same Farm Land.</h3> - -<p>Luman Owen, resident of Oak Grove, Wis., who has lived on the same farm -seventy-two years, says he is the oldest living white person in -Wisconsin who was born in the Badger State.</p> - -<p>“My father came to Oak Grove, Dodge County, with his family and took up -land from the government in the fall of 1842, which is seventy-two years -this last fall,” said Mr. Owen. “I have lived on that same land -continuously ever since, and am the last survivor of the family of nine -persons. However, this was not their first place of settlement in -Wisconsin. They came to Waukesha in the fall of 1836, from Ogdensburg, -N. Y., and were on a boat from the time they left Ogdensburg,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_65" id="page_65">{65}</a></span> until -they landed in Milwaukee, seven weeks and four days. They could have -walked the distance in less time than that.</p> - -<p>“My father took up land from the government in Waukesha, then called -Prairieville, and there, in the spring of 1837, I was born. In 1842 our -family moved to Dodge County, and again took up land from the -government, the patents for which are signed by President James K. Polk. -There was no homestead law in those days. Land had to be bought from the -government at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.</p> - -<p>“When we came here, this part of the country was wilderness, inhabited -by wild animals and Indians, but it settled up fast, and as soon as -people began to raise more than they wanted for their own use, the next -thing was to get to market. We were sixty-five miles from Milwaukee, -where all surplus farm products had to be hauled, and most invariably by -an ox team, which was a long, tedious journey. If a man took in a load -of produce to market and was fortunate enough to get a load of -merchandise or immigrants or something of the kind to bring back, he -would come out about even financially. But if he failed to get the load -back, he would come home owing hotel bills along the road.”</p> - -<h3>Man Who Dumped Brewery is Dead.</h3> - -<p>Reverend Abraham de Kack, one-time prosperous brewer, who emptied the -contents of his brewing plant into Grand River and later became a -Methodist minister, is dead in Ionia, Mich., of pneumonia.</p> - -<p>De Kack, more generally known as “De Quack,” and familiarly to his -immediate circle of acquaintances as “Quackie,” which appellation is by -no means lacking in the respect that it would seemingly fail to convey, -was once a brewer in Holland, and later a celery grower, and finally a -preacher of the gospel.</p> - -<p>It was many years ago that De Kack brewed beer—it was considered good -beer, too—but when he saw the harm that alcohol does, even in small -amounts, he at once went to his little brewery, discharged the help, -opened up the spigots of the beer vats, and, at the loss of a small -fortune to himself, drained all the beer into the sewers. Then he became -a minister.</p> - -<p>It was a habit of De Kack’s to pay his hired help daily as far as -possible, for he took seriously the biblical saying: “Owe no man.” -Martin Dows, of Grand Rapids, one of De Kack’s employees, received his -pay every night for twenty-nine years.</p> - -<h3>Old Nag Dies After Race.</h3> - -<p>After serving his master, Peter l’Heureux, of Marlboro, Mass., for the -most of his twenty-six years of life, Mr. l’Heureux’s faithful family -horse, either out of shame because he was beaten or because he felt bad -about putting his owner out of pocket, turned around and died after he -had just lost the second straight out of three heats in a race against -the equine owned by Joseph Chaput on the Lakeside Avenue Straightaway.</p> - -<p>For some time there had been arguments between the two men relative to -the merits of their horses as “steppers.” It was decided to settle the -matter. Bets were placed and all concerned repaired to the scene of -contest. There were friends of both parties, probably 500 in all, -assembled to see some free racing.</p> - -<p>The distance was to be a quarter mile, best two heats<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_66" id="page_66">{66}</a></span> out of three, -and, after the stationing of officials, the race was on. L’Heureux’s -horse was beaten by a good ten yards in the first heat and was a bad -second in the next sprint. The animal was just turned round by the -driver and headed in the direction of home when it suddenly pitched out -of the shafts—dead.</p> - -<h3>“Boy” Prisoner Proves to be Married Woman.</h3> - -<p>After fraternizing with men prisoners in the jail and sharing a cell -with Robert Stewart for several months, “Frank A. Dawson,” alias “Frank -Morris,” of Oklahoma, arrested in Sutton, W. Va., on a charge of -burglary, was found to be a woman.</p> - -<p>Dawson, who appeared to be a youth of sixteen years, sent a note to -Jailer Hyer, when her case was to have been called in court, and -informed him that she was in disguise.</p> - -<p>Dawson’s story was confirmed by a matron, and she further asserted that -she is Mrs. Frank C. Dawson, of Clarksburg, and that she has a mother, -brother, and a young child residing in that city.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Dawson is a very pretty young woman. She and Stewart have occupied -the same cell at night and she has daily associated with the other -prisoners in the corridors. Stewart asserts that he was not aware of her -sex.</p> - -<p>According to the police, Dawson and Stewart are responsible for a number -of daring burglaries in this vicinity, in which they are said to have -made away with several thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry and valuables.</p> - -<h3>Boy Risks Life for Thirty-five Cents.</h3> - -<p>While Lee Mills, nineteen years old, was returning to his home in Webb -City, Mo., from a “movie” show, at a late hour, two rough-bearded men -stepped from behind the corner of a building, each holding an automatic -revolver, and commanded “Hands up!” Instead of complying, young Mills, -who was carrying an umbrella, used the latter as a “spear” and attacked -the two holdup men. They opened fire upon him, but Mills, undaunted, -continued to use his stout umbrella until he had put both men to flight. -They fired many shots at him, but only one took effect, striking him in -the right arm and passing through the fleshy part, without breaking any -bones.</p> - -<p>When young Mills was taken to a hospital for treatment, the doctor, -thinking his patient must have a considerable sum of money with him to -have put up so fierce a fight against such odds, asked him if he wanted -his valuables taken care of.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,” replied Mills, “it isn’t necessary, as I only have thirty-five -cents,” which statement proved true.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_67" id="page_67">{67}</a></span></p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p><span class="big250"> -<b>TOBACCO HABIT</b></span> <b>Conquered</b> easily in 3 days! <b>Improve health</b> prolong your -life. Relieve stomach or kidney trouble, hoarseness, headaches, -irritability, nervous worry, heart weakness. Avoid blindness! <b>FREE</b> <b>Gain -lasting vigor</b>, calm nerves, better memory, clear eyes, superior mental -strength. Banish spells of melancholy; avoid collapse. If you chew, dip -snuff or <b>smoke pipe</b>, <b>cigarettes</b>, <b>cigars</b>, get my interesting free book. -Just what you have been looking for. Proved worth weight in gold to -others; why not you? Overcome nicotine habit, start anew and be -genuinely happy. Book mailed free. <b>EDW. J. WOODS. 230 L., Station E.New York, N.Y.</b></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_68" id="page_68">{68}</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="nind"><span class="big250"><span class="bigsans250">$</span> -<b>OLD COINS WANTED.</b></span> $4.25 EACH paid for U. S. Flying Eagle Cents dated 1856. All U. S. Large -Cents, 1/2 Cents, 2c Pieces, 3c Pieces, Gold Dollars and Hundreds of -other U. S. and foreign coins command a CASH premium. Send TEN cents at -once for New Illustrated Coin Value Book, 4x7, showing GUARANTEED -prices. Get Posted, it may mean your fortune. <b>Clarke & Co., Coin -Dealers, Box 67, Le Roy, N.Y.</b></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_69" id="page_69">{69}</a></span> </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_70" id="page_70">{70}</a></span> </p> - -<hr /> - -<h2 class="big250">The Nick Carter Stories</h2> - -<p class="c"> -ISSUED EVERY SATURDAY <span style="margin-left: 2em;">BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>When it comes to detective stories worth while, the <b>Nick Carter Stories</b> -contain the only ones that should be considered. They are not overdrawn -tales of bloodshed. They rather show the working of one of the finest -minds ever conceived by a writer. The name of Nick Carter is familiar -all over the world, for the stories of his adventures may be read in -twenty languages. No other stories have withstood the severe test of -time so well as those contained in the <b>Nick Carter Stories</b>. It proves -conclusively that they are the best. We give herewith a list of some of -the back numbers in print. You can have your news dealer order them, or -they will be sent direct by the publishers to any address upon receipt -of the price in money or postage stamps.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_71" id="page_71">{71}</a></span></p> - -<p class="nind"> -704—Written in Red.<br /> -707—Rogues of the Air.<br /> -709—The Bolt from the Blue.<br /> -710—The Stockbridge Affair.<br /> -711—A Secret from the Past.<br /> -712—Playing the Last Hand.<br /> -713—A Slick Article.<br /> -714—The Taxicab Riddle.<br /> -717—The Master Rogue’s Alibi.<br /> -719—The Dead Letter.<br /> -720—The Allerton Millions.<br /> -728—The Mummy’s Head.<br /> -729—The Statue Clue.<br /> -730—The Torn Card.<br /> -731—Under Desperation’s Spur.<br /> -732—The Connecting Link.<br /> -733—The Abduction Syndicate.<br /> -736—The Toils of a Siren.<br /> -738—A Plot Within a Plot.<br /> -739—The Dead Accomplice.<br /> -741—The Green Scarab.<br /> -746—The Secret Entrance.<br /> -747—The Cavern Mystery.<br /> -748—The Disappearing Fortune.<br /> -749—A Voice from the Past.<br /> -752—The Spider’s Web.<br /> -753—The Man With a Crutch.<br /> -754—The Rajah’s Regalia.<br /> -755—Saved from Death.<br /> -756—The Man Inside.<br /> -757—Out for Vengeance.<br /> -758—The Poisons of Exili.<br /> -759—The Antique Vial.<br /> -760—The House of Slumber.<br /> -761—A Double Identity.<br /> -762—“The Mocker’s” Stratagem.<br /> -763—The Man that Came Back.<br /> -764—The Tracks in the Snow.<br /> -765—The Babbington Case.<br /> -766—The Masters of Millions.<br /> -767—The Blue Stain.<br /> -768—The Lost Clew.<br /> -770—The Turn of a Card.<br /> -771—A Message in the Dust.<br /> -772—A Royal Flush.<br /> -774—The Great Buddha Beryl.<br /> -775—The Vanishing Heiress.<br /> -776—The Unfinished Letter.<br /> -777—A Difficult Trail.<br /> -782—A Woman’s Stratagem.<br /> -783—The Cliff Castle Affair.<br /> -784—A Prisoner of the Tomb.<br /> -785—A Resourceful Foe.<br /> -789—The Great Hotel Tragedies.<br /> -795—Zanoni, the Transfigured.<br /> -796—The Lure of Gold.<br /> -797—The Man With a Chest.<br /> -798—A Shadowed Life.<br /> -799—The Secret Agent.<br /> -800—A Plot for a Crown.<br /> -801—The Red Button.<br /> -802—Up Against It.<br /> -803—The Gold Certificate.<br /> -804—Jack Wise’s Hurry Call.<br /> -805—Nick Carter’s Ocean Chase.<br /> -806—Nick Carter and the Broken Dagger.<br /> -807—Nick Carter’s Advertisement.<br /> -808—The Kregoff Necklace.<br /> -810—The Copper Cylinder.<br /> -811—Nick Carter and the Nihilists.<br /> -812—Nick Carter and the Convict Gang.<br /> -813—Nick Carter and the Guilty Governor.<br /> -814—The Triangled Coin.<br /> -815—Ninety-nine—and One.<br /> -816—Coin Number 77.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_72" id="page_72">{72}</a></span></p> - -<p>NEW SERIES</p> - -<p>NICK CARTER STORIES</p> - -<p> -1—The Man from Nowhere.<br /> -2—The Face at the Window.<br /> -3—A Fight for a Million.<br /> -4—Nick Carter’s Land Office.<br /> -5—Nick Carter and the Professor.<br /> -6—Nick Carter as a Mill Hand.<br /> -7—A Single Clew.<br /> -8—The Emerald Snake.<br /> -9—The Currie Outfit.<br /> -10—Nick Carter and the Kidnapped Heiress.<br /> -11—Nick Carter Strikes Oil.<br /> -12—Nick Carter’s Hunt for a Treasure.<br /> -13—A Mystery of the Highway.<br /> -14—The Silent Passenger.<br /> -15—Jack Dreen’s Secret.<br /> -16—Nick Carter’s Pipe Line Case.<br /> -17—Nick Carter and the Gold Thieves.<br /> -18—Nick Carter’s Auto Chase.<br /> -19—The Corrigan Inheritance.<br /> -20—The Keen Eye of Denton.<br /> -21—The Spider’s Parlor.<br /> -22—Nick Carter’s Quick Guess.<br /> -23—Nick Carter and the Murderess.<br /> -24—Nick Carter and the Pay Car.<br /> -25—The Stolen Antique.<br /> -26—The Crook League.<br /> -27—An English Cracksman.<br /> -28—Nick Carter’s Still Hunt.<br /> -29—Nick Carter’s Electric Shock.<br /> -30—Nick Carter and the Stolen Duchess.<br /> -31—The Purple Spot.<br /> -32—The Stolen Groom.<br /> -33—The Inverted Cross.<br /> -34—Nick Carter and Kono McCall.<br /> -35—Nick Carter’s Death Trap.<br /> -36—Nick Carter’s Siamese Puzzle.<br /> -37—The Man Outside.<br /> -38—The Death Chamber.<br /> -39—The Wind and the Wire.<br /> -40—Nick Carter’s Three Cornered Chase.<br /> -41—Dazaar, the Arch-Fiend.<br /> -42—The Queen of the Seven.<br /> -43—Crossed Wires.<br /> -44—A Crimson Clew.<br /> -45—The Third Man.<br /> -46—The Sign of the Dagger.<br /> -47—The Devil Worshipers.<br /> -48—The Cross of Daggers.<br /> -49—At Risk of Life.<br /> -50—The Deeper Game.<br /> -51—The Code Message.<br /> -52—The Last of the Seven.<br /> -53—Ten-Ichi, the Wonderful.<br /> -54—The Secret Order of Associated Crooks.<br /> -55—The Golden Hair Clew.<br /> -56—Back From the Dead.<br /> -57—Through Dark Ways.<br /> -58—When Aces Were Trumps.<br /> -59—The Gambler’s Last Hand.<br /> -60—The Murder at Linden Fells.<br /> -61—A Game for Millions.<br /> -62—Under Cover.<br /> -63—The Last Call.<br /> -64—Mercedes Danton’s Double.<br /> -65—The Millionaire’s Nemesis.<br /> -66—A Princess of the Underworld.<br /> -67—The Crook’s Blind.<br /> -68—The Fatal Hour.<br /> -69—Blood Money.<br /> -70—A Queen of Her Kind.<br /> -71—Isabel Benton’s Trump Card.<br /> -72—A Princess of Hades.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_73" id="page_73">{73}</a></span>73—A Prince of Plotters.<br /> -74—The Crook’s Double.<br /> -75—For Life and Honor.<br /> -76—A Compact With Dazaar.<br /> -77—In the Shadow of Dazaar.<br /> -78—The Crime of a Money King.<br /> -79—Birds of Prey.<br /> -80—The Unknown Dead.<br /> -81—The Severed Hand.<br /> -82—The Terrible Game of Millions.<br /> -83—A Dead Man’s Power.<br /> -84—The Secrets of an Old House.<br /> -85—The Wolf Within.<br /> -86—The Yellow Coupon.<br /> -87—In the Toils.<br /> -88—The Stolen Radium.<br /> -89—A Crime in Paradise.<br /> -90—Behind Prison Bars.<br /> -91—The Blind Man’s Daughter.<br /> -92—On the Brink of Ruin.<br /> -93—Letter of Fire.<br /> -94—The $100,000 Kiss.<br /> -95—Outlaws of the Militia.<br /> -96—The Opium-Runners.<br /> -97—In Record Time.<br /> -98—The Wag-Nuk Clew.<br /> -99—The Middle Link.<br /> -100—The Crystal Maze.<br /> -101—A New Serpent in Eden.<br /> -102—The Auburn Sensation.<br /> -103—A Dying Chance.<br /> -104—The Gargoni Girdle.<br /> -105—Twice in Jeopardy.<br /> -106—The Ghost Launch.<br /> -107—Up in the Air.<br /> -108—The Girl Prisoner.<br /> -109—The Red Plague.<br /> -110—The Arson Trust.<br /> -111—The King of the Firebugs.<br /> -112—“Lifter’s” of the Lofts.<br /> -113—French Jimmie and His Forty Thieves.<br /> -114—The Death Plot.<br /> -115—The Evil Formula.<br /> -116—The Blue Button.<br /> -117—The Deadly Parallel.<br /> -118—The Vivisectionists.<br /> -119—The Stolen Brain.<br /> -120—An Uncanny Revenge.<br /> -121—The Call of Death.<br /> -122—The Suicide.<br /> -123—Half a Million Ransom.<br /> -124—The Girl Kidnapper.<br /> -125—The Pirate Yacht.<br /> -126—The Crime of the White Hand.<br /> -127—Found in the Jungle.<br /> -128—Six Men in a Loop.<br /> -129—The Jewels of Wat Chang.<br /> -130—The Crime in the Tower.<br /> -131—The Fatal Message.<br /> -132—Broken Bars.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="clft">Dated March 27th, 1915.</p> - -<p class="nind"> -133—Won by Magic.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="clft">Dated April 3d, 1915.</p> - -<p class="nind"> -134—The Secret of Shangore.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="clft">Dated April 10th, 1915.</p> - -<p class="nind"> -135—Straight to the Goal.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="clft">Dated April 17th, 1915.</p> - -<p class="nind"> -136—The Man They Held Back.<br /></p> - -<p> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_74" id="page_74">{74}</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="c"><b>PRICE, FIVE CENTS PER COPY.</b> If you want any back numbers of our weeklies -and cannot procure them from your news dealer, they can be obtained -direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as money.</p> - -<p class="c">STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh Ave., NEW YORK CITY</p> - -<hr class="full" /> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NICK CARTER STORIES NO 120 - 160 / DEC 26, 1914 - OCT 2, 1915 ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. -</div> - -<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> -<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person -or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the -Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when -you share it without charge with others. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work -on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the -phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: -</div> - -<blockquote> - <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> - 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you - are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws - of the country where you are located before using this eBook. - </div> -</blockquote> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg™ License. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format -other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain -Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -provided that: -</div> - -<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation.” - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ - works. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. - </div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right -of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread -public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state -visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. -</div> - -</div> diff --git a/old/66764-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/66764-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index d6721ec..0000000 --- a/old/66764-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/66764-h/images/nickcarter.png b/old/66764-h/images/nickcarter.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 399258d..0000000 --- a/old/66764-h/images/nickcarter.png +++ /dev/null |
