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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d252965 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66782 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66782) diff --git a/old/66782-0.txt b/old/66782-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f7b3c60..0000000 --- a/old/66782-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5267 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Duplicate Night; Where's the -Commandant?-[continued.], 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: The Duplicate Night; Where's the Commandant?-[continued.] - -Author: Nick Carter - -Editor: Chickering Carter - -Release Date: November 21, 2021 [eBook #66782] - -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 THE DUPLICATE NIGHT; WHERE'S THE -COMMANDANT?-[CONTINUED.] *** - - - - - 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. One year $2.50 - 4 months 85c. 2 copies one year 4.00 - 6 months $1.25 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. 141.= NEW YORK, May 22, 1915. =Price Five Cents.= - - - - - THE DUPLICATE NIGHT; - - Or, NICK CARTER’S DOUBLE REFLECTION. - - Edited by CHICKERING CARTER. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE DUPLICATE NIGHT. - - -It was a fateful moment--one to be remembered. - -A fateful moment in the lives and fortunes of some to whom there then -came no premonition of evil, no dread of the terrible sword that hung by -a hair above their heads, upon whom was cast no shadow through the glare -and glitter around them, amid the gay festivities in which each played a -part. - -It was a fateful moment, one brought only by chance to the notice of -Nick Carter. - -It was remembered by the celebrated detective, moreover, only because of -two incidents that would have been entirely unnoticed by a less keen and -discerning man. - -One was the single stroke of a tall, old-fashioned clock in the main -hall of the great mansion. - -It struck the half after ten. - -The hall in which it struck, and in which Nick Carter then was standing, -was that of the magnificent Carrington mansion on Washington Heights, -the home of the wealthy railway magnate, Horace K. Carrington, a -millionaire fifty times over, and prominent with his handsome wife in -the most fashionable and exclusive circles of New York society. - -It was the night of the fifteenth of January, memorable for an unusual -warm spell of more than a week, which had melted the last vestige of -snow and drawn the last sign of frost from the ground. - -It was also memorable as the night of a private masked ball in the -Carrington mansion, in which something like three hundred of their most -intimate friends had gathered. - -The avenue and streets adjoining the extensive estate were thronged with -conveyances of the most expensive kinds, limousines, and costly motor -cars predominating. - -The elegant grounds, covering nearly an entire square, were almost as -bright as day under the glare of a myriad of electric lights suspended -among the trees of the surrounding park. - -The superb mansion itself was ablaze from basement to roof. Its broad -halls and spacious, sumptuously furnished rooms were thronged with -masked guests, many in elaborate fancy and historic costumes, and some -in nondescript attire. - -Courtiers and princes rubbed elbows with clowns and jesters. Queens in -regal raiment hobnobbed in corners and alcoves with country bumpkins, -while the whirl of the dance presented a kaleidoscopic picture, the -details of which would require a volume. It was a weird, yet dazzling -picture, with the gleam and glitter of jewels of inestimable worth. - -Aside from the numerous officers and guardians in and about the -extensive grounds, guardians of diamonds and gems that would have -aggregated millions, two men in evening dress and of refined and -unofficial bearing mingled with the servants and other house -functionaries in various parts of the mansion, apparently having only an -eye to the general conduct of affairs. - -These two men were Nick Carter and his chief assistant, Chick Carter, -both carefully disguised, the balmasque feature of the gathering and the -unusual opportunity for knavery that it presented, in view of costly -jewels worn by his guests, having led their host to secretly employ the -two famous detectives as safeguards against designing intruders and -possible crime. - -At precisely half past ten, the fateful moment mentioned, Nick Carter -was standing in the main hall and near the front door of the house. He -could see the entire length of the hall, the broad stairway to the -second floor, and through several open doors the throng of dancers in -the adjoining rooms. All of them still wore masks, eleven o’clock having -been the hour stipulated for their removal. - -Mingled with the strains of orchestral music the single stroke of the -clock reached the detective’s ear. There was no mistaking the sweet and -mellow resonance of its bell. - -At the same moment a woman, threading her way between numerous other -persons in the hall caught the detective’s eye. - -She was one of the guests, and her costume spoke for itself. She was -clad completely in black, from her dainty ties to the mask that hid her -face and the veil that partly concealed her hair and fell in picturesque -folds over her shapely neck and shoulders. But this ebon costume was -bespangled with countless glittering stars and radiant diamonds. - -Plainly enough, she was a personification of--Night. - -Nick thought it a striking costume, one that set off to advantage the -fine, graceful form of the woman. He watched her furtively while she -came through the hall and went up the stairs to the second floor. He -could see the gleam and glitter of her eyes, but no other feature of her -face, yet he felt sure she was comparatively young and beautiful. - -“She appears to be a bit nervous and in a hurry,” he said to himself, -while she mounted the stairs. “She may be seeking some one, or possibly -has lost her partner for this dance. That would irritate most young -women.” - -Nick turned upon hearing the voice of his chief assistant. Chick had -just entered through the open front door and paused at Nick’s elbow. - -“A penny for your thoughts,” he said quietly. - -“They are not worth it,” Nick dryly answered. “I was thinking of a woman -who just went upstairs. She is clad all in black and sprinkled with -stars. She evidently represents Night, and I----” - -“There she is, now,” said Chick, with a glance toward the rear part of -the hall. - -Nick gazed in that direction. - -“By Jove, that’s quite remarkable,” he muttered audibly. - -“It is a striking costume, Nick, for fair.” - -“I don’t mean the costume.” - -“No? What do you mean?” - -“That two women have costumes precisely alike,” said Nick. “This one -appears to be an exact duplicate of the other. She is, so to speak, a -duplicate Night.” - -“She probably is the same one,” said Chick. - -“Impossible!” - -“Why so?” - -“The other just went upstairs. She cannot be in two places at once.” - -“She may have come down. There is a side stairway.” - -“She would not have had time when you called my attention to her. She -had only disappeared at the head of these stairs.” - -“There can be only one explanation,” said Chick. “There are two women -wearing similar costumes. There evidently is, as you put it, a duplicate -Night.” - -Nick had been watching this second woman while they were talking, and -his brows had knit perceptibly. - -“She appears a bit nervous and in a hurry, like the other,” he muttered, -after the masked woman had gazed into two of the rooms in which the -dance was in progress. “She evidently is searching for some one.” - -“Some one she knows, then, or with whom she came here,” said Chick. -“She could not identify any one else, unless informed of the wearer’s -costume.” - -“True.” - -“She appears to be----” - -“Wait!” Nick interrupted. “Ah, she has found him. He was dancing in the -rear parlor.” - -The music had ceased and the dance ended. - -A man in the costume of a Mexican toreador had just emerged from the -room mentioned. - -The woman in starry black hastened to approach and speak to him. - -He bowed and listened to her, while she slipped one hand around his arm -and strove to draw him away. He hesitated for a few seconds, then bowed -again and accompanied her. - -They disappeared into a diverging hall, one leading to a side door of -the palatial residence. - -“We’ll go out this way,” Nick muttered, turning toward the front door. - -“Out after them?” questioned Chick, a bit surprised. - -“Yes. I’m something more than curious. I want to know where they are -going.” - -“After a breath of fresh air, most likely, and one cannot blame them,” -said Chick. “It’s like a melting pot indoors.” - -“No hotter than that melting pot from which we saved the Waldmere plate -a few months ago,” Nick replied, as they picked their way out through -the throng and descended the front steps. - -“That’s right, too.” - -“This is an ice box, Chick, compared with that room in which we rounded -up Stuart Floyd and his gang when engaged in that infernal work. It’s a -pity that that rascal gave the prison-hospital guardians the slip and is -again at large. The community would be more safe if your bullet had -killed him, instead of only wounding him. He was a bad egg and is likely -to break out again.” - -“Quite likely,” Chick admitted. “But his escape was no fault of ours.” - -“That’s very true, but it’s no less deplorable.” - -“Are the Waldmeres here to-night?” - -“I don’t know. I imagine they are, however, for they are friends of the -Carringtons, and travel with the swell set. Ah, there they go,” Nick -abruptly digressed, upon turning a front corner of the great house. - -It brought a side driveway, the porte-cochère, and the side door into -view, also the grounds south of the house and the side and rear streets, -then brightly lighted and in which numerous motor cars and carriages -were waiting. - -The couple in whose movements Nick Carter had become interested had left -the house and were walking quite briskly toward a broad driveway gate in -the rear, one entered from the back street and leading to the garage and -stable. Both of these were brightly lighted, also, and contained many -waiting conveyances, with their liveried chauffeurs, drivers, and -footmen. - -The Spanish cavalier and woman in starry black paid no attention to -others, however, nor appeared to have any occasion for secrecy. They -still wore their masks, nevertheless, and they walked briskly out -through the rear gate and entered a limousine waiting near by. - -The door was closed with a bang and the chauffeur drove quickly away, so -quickly that Nick was unable to get a glimpse of his face, or to learn -the number of the car. - -“They evidently are going home,” Chick remarked, while they paused in -the driveway some thirty feet from the gate, which was as near as they -had come to overtaking the couple. “The woman may be ill, or overcome -with the heat in the house.” - -Nick shook his head. - -“Nothing of the kind,” he replied. “She walked too briskly for one in -that condition.” - -“There is something in that,” Chick allowed. - -“Furthermore, if they are going home, why did they wear their masks -after leaving the house? They either are coming back, or there is -something under the surface.” - -“A secret love affair, perhaps,” suggested Chick. “They may have stolen -out for a brief flirtation, intending to return before the festivities -end. I don’t see, Nick, as it’s anything for us to butt into.” - -“Not at present, Chick, at all events,” Nick replied. “We’ll return to -the house.” - -They did so without further comment upon the circumstances, and they -separated again after rejoining the throng in the house. - -Nearly two hours later, or considerably after midnight, Nick Carter felt -a hand on his arm and heard the subdued voice of Mr. Horace Carrington, -the host, a portly man in the fifties, then wearing an elaborate -courtier’s costume. - -“I want you for a few moments, Carter,” he said quietly. “Come with me.” - -“Anything wrong?” questioned Nick, noting his gravity. - -“I fear so,” said Carrington. “A lady, one of my guests, wants to talk -with you. She is waiting in my private library. This way.” - -Nick followed him with further questions and entered the room, where the -lady at once arose to meet him. - -She was a woman in starry black--the duplicate Night. - -She no longer wore a mask, however, and Nick found himself face to face -with an old acquaintance, one for whom he already had done double -service. She was none other than the whilom beautiful chorus girl for -love of whom Lord Archie Waldmere had sacrificed his heritage and -English birthrights and become estranged from home and family--now Lady -Mollie Waldmere. - -“Good gracious!” Nick quietly exclaimed. “Is it you, Mrs. Waldmere? What -has happened?” - -She extended a trembling hand and gazed at him with apprehensive and -glistening eyes. - -“I don’t know,” she replied. “I cannot even imagine. I have told Mr. -Carrington, and he said you were here incognito and in disguise, so I -asked him to call you. I have not forgotten what you have done for -Archie and me, Mr. Carter.” - -“Don’t mention that, Mrs. Waldmere,” said Nick. “What now is the -trouble?” - -“I don’t know,” Mollie tremulously repeated. “I only know that I--I -cannot find my husband.” - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -A DEEPENING MYSTERY. - - -Nick Carter was much less surprised, of course, upon learning of the -mysterious disappearance of Archie Waldmere, than he would have been if -he had not seen the episodes that had occurred about half past ten, and -the remarkable duplication of the costume described. - -Naturally, too, several pertinent questions at once arose in Nick’s -mind. - -Who was the other woman--the duplicate Night? - -Was Waldmere the masked man who had accompanied her from the house and -departed in a limousine? - -Did he, in that case, know with whom he was going, or did he suppose he -was departing with his wife? - -If not, and he went willingly with another, what motive had he in so -doing? - -Was he guilty of a secret love affair, as Chick had suggested, and had -he gone to indulge in a clandestine flirtation, intending to return -within a reasonable time, only to be inadvertently detained until this -late hour? - -Nick was not inclined to believe anything of that kind, as a matter of -fact. He had a very high opinion of the titled young Englishman, who had -been loyal enough to his love for a beautiful chorus girl to make her -his wife, in spite of the opposition of his choleric old father, the -Earl of Eggleston, and the consequent estrangement from home and family -and native land, he having for the two years since his marriage been -engaged in Western mining projects, occupying a fine residence in -Riverside Drive. - -In view of all of these facts, of which Nick was thoroughly informed, he -did not believe that Waldmere was guilty of a clandestine love affair. -He decided that he would not immediately disclose what he had seen, -however, and that he first would look into the matter superficially and -make sure he was right on certain points. - -For Nick did not know positively, of course, that it was Mollie Waldmere -whom he had seen ascending the front stairs at precisely half past ten. -There was a possibility of its having been the other--the unknown -personification of Night. - -“It really is extraordinary, most extraordinary,” Mr. Carrington -remarked, when the detective did not reply for a moment to the anxious -woman. “I cannot account for it.” - -“I don’t think there is any cause for alarm,” said Nick. “Have you made -sure, Mrs. Waldmere, that your husband is not in the house?” - -“Dear me, yes!” exclaimed Mollie, gazing at him. “I have searched -everywhere in the crowd. It is nearly two hours since we unmasked. -Archie was to have gone in with me for refreshments, but I have waited -and searched in vain. I know, Mr. Carter, that something has happened to -him. He would never desert me in this way. Besides, he did a most -extraordinary thing earlier in the evening.” - -“What was that?” Nick inquired. “Sit down, Mrs. Waldmere, and tell me. I -will look into the matter.” - -Mr. Carrington had closed the door of his private library, and all three -then sat down to continue the discussion. - -“He sent me a note about half past ten, Mr. Carter, asking me to join -him in the west-front chamber, and saying that he wanted me. Here it is, -merely these penciled lines on a scrap of paper. I thrust it into my -waist, not wanting to drop it on the floor.” - -Nick read the fragment of paper she hurriedly produced. It contained -only these lines: - - “Come up to the west-front chamber, Mollie. I want you. - - ARCHIE.” - - - -Nick returned the paper to her, remarking: - -“I infer that you did not find Archie in the west-front chamber.” - -“No, I did not,” said Mollie nervously. “I could not imagine why he -wanted me. I hunted vainly for him on the second floor. I have not seen -him since, Mr. Carter.” - -“Examine the writing, Mrs. Waldmere,” said Nick. “Does it look like -Archie’s hand?” - -“Why, no, not exactly,” she replied, after a brief scrutiny. “I really -don’t believe that it is his. But I did not notice it, Mr. Carter, at -the time. I felt a bit nervous and hastened upstairs to find him.” - -Nick remembered having observed it, and he now had positively fixed the -identity of the woman seen on the stairs. He took the note from her -again and asked: - -“Was this brought to you by one of the servants?” - -“No, it was not.” - -“By whom?” - -“It was slipped into my hand by a man clad in a Mexican costume. I was -surprised, of course, but I opened and read it. The man then had -disappeared. I wondered how he had identified me, of course, but I -supposed that Archie had told him what costume I was wearing. That made -me nervous, you see, for I feared he might be ill. I could think of no -other reason for his wanting me.” - -“When had you previously seen him?” - -“Not for half an hour, Mr. Carter, or longer.” - -Nick took the note from her again, saying, while he slipped it into his -pocket: - -“I will keep this for a time, Mrs. Waldmere, if you have no objection.” - -“None whatever.” - -“Tell me, now, what costume your husband wore.” - -“That of a Spanish cavalier.” - -“Did he have it made, or rent from a costumer?” - -“He hired it from Perrot, in Fifth Avenue.” - -“And yours?” - -“Came from the same place. Some of the jewels have been added, and will -be removed before I return it,” said Mollie, pointing to some of the -ornaments. - -Nick gazed thoughtfully at the floor for a moment, then turned to Mr. -Carrington. - -“Your guests were admitted by card, I believe?” he said inquiringly. - -“Yes. Each presented an invitation card to Perkins, the butler, with the -bearer’s name and that of the costume worn.” - -“Who now has the cards?” - -“Perkins has charge of them.” - -“Have him bring them here,” Nick directed. “I wish to examine them.” - -Mr. Carrington withdrew to find the butler. - -“When did you decide to wear this costume, Mrs. Waldmere?” Nick then -asked, turning to her again. - -“Oh, nearly a week ago,” said Mollie. “I engaged it of Perrot about that -time.” - -“Who except him knew you were to wear it? Did you inform any person?” - -“Only one, aside from my husband and the servants, who may have heard me -discussing it with him,” said Mollie. “I told one intimate friend of -mine, Clara Ringold, of Brooklyn. She and her husband were invited and -intended coming, but I have not seen either of them. Something must have -prevented them.” - -“What costume was she to wear?” - -“That of a cabaret singer. She has a beautiful voice. We confided in one -another, Mr. Carter, that we might recognize each other during the -evening.” - -“Where were you at that time?” - -“When we confided in one another?” - -“Yes.” - -“I was calling on Mrs. Ringold in her Brooklyn residence. That was -several days ago.” - -“Were you alone with her?” - -“Yes. We were seated in the library.” - -“She is the wife of the Honorable Charles Ringold, I take it, who was a -member of the last Congress.” - -“Yes, the same,” bowed Mrs. Waldmere. “She----” - -“One moment, please,” Nick interposed. - -Mr. Carrington had returned, bringing a pasteboard box containing the -invitation cards received by the butler at the front door, and -presumably bearing the name of every guest who had entered the house. - -Nick at once began a rapid inspection of them, his companions watching -him with mute interest, and he was not long in finding what he sought. -He discovered first the two cards presented by the missing man and his -wife: - -“Mr. Archie Waldmere, Spanish Cavalier. Mrs. Archie Waldmere, Night.” - -The names of the costumes had been written on the cards by Waldmere -himself, and his wife readily identified them. - -A few moments later Nick produced two others, and he then placed the box -on the table. - -“Here are two of more importance,” he remarked, showing them to -Carrington and Mollie. - -They bore the following names: - -“Mr. Charles Ringold, Mexican Toreador. Mrs. Clara Ringold, Cabaret -Singer.” - -“The names of the costumes evidently were written by the same person, -for the hands are identical,” Nick observed, while his companions -examined them. - -“But this is very strange,” said Mr. Carrington, with a look of -perplexity. “I have not seen Ringold nor his wife since the unmasking. I -supposed they were not here.” - -“I am very sure they have not been here, Mr. Carrington,” said Mollie -confidently. - -“But these admission cards--how came they here, in that case?” -Carrington demanded. “Perkins certainly received them at the door.” - -“The arriving guests were not required to unmask for Perkins, were -they?” Nick inquired. - -“No, certainly not. He had a list of the invited guests, and checked off -each arrival.” - -“The explanation is a simple one,” said Nick. “Two strangers got by -Perkins by using these two cards.” - -“But Ringold would not have given his cards to others. He is above such -discourtesy as that,” Carrington warmly protested. - -“Undoubtedly,” Nick agreed. “It is safe to assume, then, that the cards -were obtained from him by covert means, also that a subterfuge of some -kind was employed to prevent him and his wife from coming here to-night, -or even communicating with you.” - -“But that smacks of knavery, Mr. Carter, if not crime itself,” said Mr. -Carrington apprehensively. - -“I now am sure of knavery of some kind,” Nick replied. “Whether it is so -serious as to come under the head of crime remains to be learned.” - -“Dear me, this is shocking.” - -“I now will tell you what I saw about half past ten this evening,” Nick -added. “I want you to say nothing about it, pending my further -investigations.” - -Both of his companions pledged themselves to secrecy, and Nick then -briefly told them of his earlier observations, much to the amazement of -Mr. Carrington and the increasing anxiety of Mollie Waldmere. - -“Don’t let my disclosures add to your alarm,” said Nick, observing her -paleness. “The circumstances admit of only one interpretation.” - -“What is your opinion?” Mollie questioned. - -“Though he departed voluntarily, your husband did not go intentionally -with another woman,” Nick explained. “He was lured away by her, thinking -her to be you, Mrs. Waldmere, and detecting no difference in the two -costumes. You were likewise lured to the second floor of the house by -the forged note given to you, in order to preclude your seeing and -preventing the subterfuge that deceived your husband.” - -“That undoubtedly explains it, Nick,” said Mr. Carrington. - -“And all this was evidently accomplished by two persons who, in some -way, obtained the invitation cards of Mr. and Mrs. Ringold, and also -prevented their coming here to-night.” - -“Oh, my! this is terrible,” said Mollie, with lips quivering. “I cannot -help feeling alarmed, Mr. Carter.” - -“I will take the case and sift it to the bottom,” Nick assured her. “You -suspect no person, of course, of having designs upon Mr. Waldmere?” - -“No, indeed!” - -“Nor know of any reason for such?” - -“I have not the slightest suspicion.” - -“I see you have a telephone here,” said Nick, with a glance at Mr. -Carrington. “Let me try to get the Ringolds and see what I can learn.” - -“Do so, Carter, by all means.” - -“I am sure they have a telephone,” said Mollie. “I frequently talk with -Clara.” - -Nick looked up the number, but he tried in vain for several minutes to -get a response. All he could obtain was that of the exchange operator: - -“They do not answer.” - -“There must be a reason for this,” said Nick, replacing the receiver. -“They ought to hear the repeated ringing of a telephone bell, even if -they are abed.” - -“What’s to be done?” asked Mollie anxiously. “I am trying to be calm, -Mr. Carter, but I am frightfully disturbed.” - -Nick came to an abrupt determination. - -“I will go to Brooklyn and see what can be learned,” he replied. “In the -meantime, Mrs. Waldmere, you must go home and wait until you hear from -me.” - -“When will that be?” - -“I will telephone to you as soon as I return from Brooklyn. I then shall -go to my residence, from which I will ring you up. Chick will remain -here, Mr. Carrington, until your guests have departed. I think there -will be nothing more wrong.” - -“This is bad enough, Carter, Heaven knows,” was the grave reply. - -“Oh, it may not prove as serious as you apprehend, not serious at all, -perhaps,” Nick said lightly, though chiefly to encourage the woman. - -“Well, well, I hope not.” - -“Do nothing more about it, nor say anything to others,” Nick repeated. -“Leave the matter entirely to me. I will do all that can be done with -the case, and will lose no time in doing it.” - -Mollie Waldmere thanked him feelingly, then went to make her -preparations for returning home. - -Mr. Carrington detained the detective for a moment, asking gravely: - -“Tell me frankly, Carter, what do you think of this? Do not deceive me.” - -“Frankly, then, Mr. Carrington, it looks bad, quite bad,” said Nick. -“Knaves do not take such risks, nor go to so much trouble, unless with -some strong incentive. I cannot conjecture what lies back of it, of -course, but I am going to find out.” - -“Will you communicate with me later?” - -“Surely by to-morrow morning. Keep quiet in the meantime and leave me to -do the rest.” - -Nick remained only to talk briefly with Chick, telling him what he had -learned, and he then departed hurriedly, heading for home in a taxicab. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -NICK CONFIRMS HIS THEORY. - - -Nick Carter stopped at his Madison Avenue residence on his way to -Brooklyn only to pick up his junior assistant, Patsy Garvan, whom he -aroused from bed and with whom he soon was seated in the waiting -taxicab. - -“I thought I might need you,” Nick remarked, as they sped away. “There’s -no telling what we may learn, and it’s always well to be on the safe -side.” - -“Sure thing, chief,” Patsy readily agreed. “But what’s up?” - -Nick then told him what had occurred in the Carrington mansion, -carefully covering all of the essential points, as was his custom when -discussing a case with any of his assistants. - -“Gee whiz! it don’t look good to me,” said Patsy, after listening -attentively. “Some one has it in for Waldmere good and strong, chief, or -such chances would not have been taken.” - -“That is what I told Mr. Carrington,” Nick nodded. - -“But why did they take that way to get him?” Patsy doubtfully -questioned. “They could have nailed him much more easily by----” - -“But it is not easy to get away with a man like Waldmere,” Nick -interrupted. “He is interested almost solely in his home, his business, -and his social enjoyments. Any covert attempt to lure him from either -would at once be regarded with suspicion. Besides, there may be much -more to this affair than appears on the surface.” - -“Have you any suspicions?” - -“None whatever, Patsy, at present,” said Nick. “We must dig up evidence -that will supply us with a definite clew. I think the Ringolds may be -able to aid us.” - -“Are you acquainted with them?” - -“With Mr. Ringold, but not with his wife,” said Nick. “We will ring them -up, however, in spite of the hour.” - -It was two o’clock when they sprang from the taxicab in front of the -fine Ringold residence in a fashionable quarter of Brooklyn. With Patsy -following, Nick hastened up the walk leading to the house and rang the -bell. - -The summons brought a response from one of the front windows on the -second floor. It was hurriedly opened and the head and shoulders of Mr. -Ringold himself appeared. - -“Who’s there?” he called, gazing down. - -“Nick Carter,” replied the detective. “Slip on your bath robe, Ringold, -and come down to the door. I want to talk with you.” - -“Great Scott!” Mr. Ringold exclaimed audibly. “You here, Nick, at this -hour? What’s wrong?” - -“Come down and admit me. I then will tell you.” - -“I’ll be with you in half a minute.” - -Little more than that had elapsed when Mr. Ringold opened the door and -admitted the detectives, conducting them in to the library, and -switching on the light. - -“Now, Nick, what’s it all about?” he inquired, gazing curiously at him. - -“It’s about the Carrington ball,” Nick replied. “How happened it that -you and your wife did not go?” - -“For only one reason,” said Mr. Ringold. “It had been postponed, Nick, -because of the sudden illness of Mr. Carrington.” - -“That so?” queried Nick, smiling. “Who informed you?” - -“A messenger sent out by Mrs. Carrington. He came in a limousine this -afternoon. He stated that Carrington was ill, that the ball had -necessarily been postponed, and that the invitation and admission cards -had been recalled and would be reissued later.” - -“Did you see the messenger?” - -“No. I had not returned home from my office.” - -“Who saw him?” - -“My wife talked with him. She gave him the cards of our invitation. He -said that he and the Carrington butler had been sent to collect them -from all who had been invited.” - -“Mrs. Ringold suspected nothing wrong?” - -“Why should she?” - -“Nor you, when she informed you?” - -“Certainly not. The messenger told a plausible story. He appeared -trustworthy, or my wife would have detected it. Is there something -wrong, then, that you have called here?” Mr. Ringold demanded, a bit -impatiently. - -Nick then told him the circumstances, or in so far as served his -purpose, while his hearer gazed amazedly and with manifest regret. - -“By Jove, this is most astonishing, Carter,” he then said gravely. “Who -would have thought of such an imposition? I care less for having been -cheated out of a fine evening’s enjoyment, than that our invitation -cards have been turned to such a despicable use. I will ask my wife to -join us, if you wish to question her.” - -“You may, Ringold, if you have no objection,” said Nick. “I want a -description of the messenger, also any other information that your wife -can give me.” - -“I will speak to her.” - -“Gee, it looks like a neatly framed-up job, chief, for fair,” said -Patsy, while they waited. - -“Decidedly so,” Nick agreed. “See whether that telephone is in working -order.” - -He glanced at one on the library table and Patsy hastened to obey, -presently reporting that he could get no communication from the local -exchange. - -“The instrument has been put out of commission,” said Nick. - -“That’s about the size of it,” nodded Patsy. - -“It was done to prevent the Ringolds from calling up Mrs. Carrington to -inquire concerning her husband’s alleged illness, or to verify the -postponement, in case of any suspicion.” - -“Right again, chief, for a hundred.” - -“It’s ten to one that the wires have been cut outside where they enter -the house,” Nick added. “We’ll have a look at them presently.” - -Mr. Ringold returned with his wife at that moment and Nick resumed his -inquiries. The woman could add but little, however, to what her husband -already had stated. She described the messenger as a dark man of medium -build, wearing a livery and accompanied by a chauffeur, who remained in -the limousine while the other performed his supposedly genuine mission. - -“At what time did he call, Mrs. Ringold?” Nick inquired. - -“I think it was shortly after five o’clock,” she replied. - -“It then was dark out-of-doors?” - -“Yes, indeed. It had been dark for some little time.” - -“It did not occur to you to telephone to Mrs. Carrington, I infer, to -inquire concerning her husband, or to express your sympathy,” said Nick. - -“Well, I think quite likely I should have done so,” Mrs. Ringold -replied; “but I first undertook to call up my friend, Mrs. Waldmere, and -I found that the telephone was out of order. That precluded both -communications.” - -“And you suspected nothing wrong?” - -“No, nothing whatever. I did not dream of such an imposition as my -husband has just mentioned.” - -Nick did not add to his inquiries. He directed both to say nothing about -the matter, and after a word of regret for having disturbed them, he -withdrew from the house with his assistant. - -“Now, Patsy, we’ll have a look at those wires,” he said quietly, after -Ringold had closed the front door. - -“I’m with you, chief,” Patsy nodded. - -They had no difficulty in finding where the wires entered the house, a -point near one of the library windows. As Nick had predicted, moreover, -they were found to be neatly cut and the instrument temporarily rendered -useless. - -“Here are tracks of the rascal’s boots,” he remarked, pointing to some -imprints in the damp earth. “He stole in here after getting the -invitation cards and cut the wires.” - -“Surest thing you know,” said Patsy. - -“That is why he waited until after dark before calling here,” Nick -added. “He then could turn the trick without being seen. Come, we’ll go -home. We can accomplish no more until to-morrow.” - -“But what can we then accomplish?” questioned Patsy. “We seem to have no -clew to the identity of the rascals, nor any thread worth following up.” - -“I’m not so sure of that,” Nick replied. “We’ll consider it later.” - -It was three o’clock when they arrived home, and they found Chick -waiting for them in the library, with a cigar in his mouth and his heels -elevated to the edge of the table. - -“Well, we don’t get much beauty sleep to-night,” he remarked, with a -laugh, when Nick and Patsy entered. - -“You don’t need any,” said Patsy dryly. - -“So my mirror tells me,” replied Chick, laughing again. “What more have -you learned, Nick?” - -Nick informed him of the results of his hurried visit to Brooklyn. - -“By Jove, it’s a curious case,” Chick then declared. “The job certainly -was well planned and very neatly executed. But what’s the big idea? Who -is out after Waldmere? With what object, Nick, and who are the -culprits?” - -“Those are questions more easily asked than answered,” said Nick. “It is -hard to say why Waldmere has been abducted.” - -“You think, then, that he has been abducted?” - -“The circumstances point strongly to that. Waldmere is not a man to be -mixed in a mess with another woman.” - -“That’s true,” Chick agreed. “The motive may have been revenge. Stuart -Floyd is at large, you know, and he may have had it in for Waldmere -because of those former cases, and for having put us on his track. He is -capable of any kind of a knavish job.” - -“There is nothing in speculations,” said Nick. “I’ll think it over in -bed and we’ll discuss it in the morning.” - -“That’s good judgment, in view of the hour,” Chick vouchsafed, rising. -“There is a bare possibility, too, that Waldmere will have returned by -that time.” - -Nick did not reply to this, nor was it verified the following morning. - -Ten o’clock found all three seated in the detective’s business office. -Nick had been in communication with Mrs. Waldmere, also with Mr. -Carrington, but only with negative results. The situation stood -precisely where it had stood the previous night. - -Nick Carter’s mind had been active in the meantime, however, and he had -decided what steps must be taken. - -“The motive for this crime is beyond conjecture,” said he, in reply to a -question from Chick. “It can be learned only when we have identified -Waldmere’s abductors, discovered what relations have existed between -them, and unearthed additional evidence in the case. That is what next -must be done.” - -“But along what lines?” Chick inquired. - -“One is opened, Chick, by a single significant point,” Nick replied. -“The crooks must have learned several days ago what costume Mrs. -Waldmere intended wearing, or they would not have been able, nor have -had time, to prepare a duplicate of it.” - -“True, Nick; that goes without saying.” - -“The question is, then, from whom did they get their information?” Nick -proceeded. “Mrs. Waldmere discussed the costume with her husband, and -also confided in only one intimate friend, Clara Ringold.” - -“The crooks may have got their information, then, from a servant in one -house or the other.” - -“That’s the very point. But it was a servant in the Ringold house.” - -“Why do you feel so sure of that?” - -“For several reasons,” said Nick. “First, because Waldmere is a fine -fellow and his wife a lovable mistress, and their servants would be much -less likely to be treacherous than persons employed elsewhere.” - -“There is some truth in that,” Chick allowed. - -“Second, because the crooks made a mark of the Ringolds and used their -invitation cards,” Nick went on. “Why did they select that Brooklyn -couple, instead of some invited couple living nearer?” - -“You say.” - -“First, because there would be less danger of detection, of a personal -call at the Carrington residence when the telephone proved useless, than -in the case of persons living in town.” - -“That’s true.” - -“Second, because the rascals most likely selected the very couple from -whose servant they had got the information, knowing that inquiries would -subsequently be made, and that the servant could keep them still further -informed as to what investigations were being made and what was -suspected.” - -“By Jove, there is something in that, Nick, also.” - -“And that is why I suspect a servant in the Ringold house, some one who -overheard Mrs. Waldmere and Mrs. Ringold discussing their costumes.” - -“Why didn’t you question the Ringolds about their servants last night, -then?” - -“Because I had rung them up at two o’clock in the morning,” said Nick. -“If the servant heard the bell, he, or she, as the case may be, would -have suspected my mission and might have been in a position to play the -eavesdropper without being detected. I didn’t want my suspicion -discovered. It would put the servant on his guard, and us at a -corresponding disadvantage.” - -“I see,” Chick nodded. “It was a wise precaution.” - -“You had better go over there this morning, however, and talk with Mrs. -Ringold,” Nick added. “Your identity and mission may not be suspected, -while the servant might have seen Patsy and me last night when we passed -through the lighted hall. Find out who is employed in the house and what -is known about them.” - -“I’ve got you,” said Chick. “Leave it to me.” - -“Aren’t you overlooking one point, chief?” questioned Patsy, who had -been listening to the foregoing. - -“What point is that, Patsy?” - -“The crooks may have learned from the costumer, or from one of his -clerks, what costume Mrs. Waldmere intended wearing.” - -“I have thought of that, but it is quite improbable,” said Nick. “They -would not have known, to begin with, that Mrs. Waldmere had any -intention of hiring a costume from Perrot. Furthermore, costumers of his -high standing do not betray their patrons, and crooks know it and would -have sought elsewhere for the desired information.” - -“Gee! I guess you’re right, chief, after all.” - -“I think my other suspicion is the correct one.” - -“I’ll run over to Brooklyn, then, at once,” said Chick. - -“Do so,” Nick replied, rising. “I’ll pay Perrot a in the meantime and -see what I can learn from him. The costume worn by Mrs. Waldmere must -have been previously seen by the duplicate Night, whoever she was, or -she could not have duplicated it. We’ll look into that. You may go with -me, Patsy.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -A SCARLET THREAD. - - -It was eleven o’clock when Nick Carter and Patsy entered the extensive -business establishment of the leading New York costumer, Monsieur Jules -Perrot, in Fifth Avenue. Perrot himself, a suave and polished Frenchman, -happened to be conspicuously in evidence and hastened to meet them, -bowing and smiling and rubbing his hands. - -Nick addressed him quietly and introduced himself, evoking ejaculations -and a more intent and interested stare from Perrot, which turned to an -expression of gravity when the detective stated his mission. - -“I will aid you wiz pleasure, monsieur,” he said readily. “Walk into my -office, please, both of you. Ze devil must have been abroad last night, -ze wolf in ze lamb’s clothing. _Pardieu!_ your case is not all, Monsieur -Carter. There is another.” - -“Another, Mr. Perrot?” questioned Nick. “What do you mean?” - -“Wait! I will bring my books,” said Perrot, turning to enter an outer -office. “I will bring my books--and ze letter!” - -“Gee! this looks like something more in the wind,” remarked Patsy. - -“I am more inclined to think that all relates to one job,” Nick replied. -“It would be strange, indeed, if there were two at just this time and -place. We can presently tell.” - -Perrot returned while Nick was speaking, bringing a book containing the -daily record of his rented costumes, and over his arm--the costume of a -Mexican toreador, seen by Nick the previous night, and worn by the man -who had slipped the forged note into the hands of Mollie Waldmere. - -“H’m! I thought so,” Nick quietly remarked to Patsy, at once recognizing -the costume. “There is but one job, in which all of these costumes -figure. I will stake my reputation on that.” - -“Ziss was returned to me ziss morning by a messenger,” said Perrot, -laying the costume on a table. “In ze pocket of ze blouse was found ziss -sheet of paper, on which is written--but you shall see. You shall see -for yourself, Monsieur Carter.” - -He turned to an open roll-top desk, from which he took a somewhat -crumpled scrap of paper, evidently torn from a notebook. Written on it -with a lead pencil were the following lines: - - “DEAR OLD PAL: I am waiting with the car where you directed. Bring - the gink out quickly, or a gun may move me on. Land him in the car, - pal, and I’ll do the rest. I’ve got the stuff to quiet him until we - can slip him the steel. I’ll pick you up as directed. Have the cat - land him and there’ll be nothing to it. - - TOBY.” - - - -Nick Carter frowned while he read this communication, so suggestive of -sanguinary designs. Had it been written by the driver of the limousine -in which Waldmere was seen to depart with an unknown woman? Was it she -referred to as the cat? Had the note been sent in to the wearer of the -toreador costume? Had he slipped it into the pocket and inadvertently -left it there when returning the costume? - -Naturally, of course, these questions at once arose in Nick’s mind, and -they seemed to compel affirmative answers. He gave the note to Patsy to -read, then turned to Perrot and inquired: - -“When was this costume returned?” - -“A messenger brought it about an hour ago,” said Perrot. “My girl Marie -found the paper in the pocket and brought it to me. It was not there -when the costume went out. We are sure of that, Monsieur Carter.” - -“Who had the costume last night?” - -“It was let to a man who gave the name of John Talbot, address Lexington -Avenue. He paid in advance and sent for ze costume yesterday afternoon. -I have sent my clerk to ze address, but no such a man is known there.” - -“That does not surprise me,” said Nick. “Talbot was a stranger to you?” - -“Yes, Monsieur Carter, a total stranger.” - -“Do you recall him? Can you describe him?” - -“Only that he is a man of good build, quite dark, and with a beard.” - -“The beard cuts no ice,” said Nick, taking the note from Patsy. “If -engaged in such deviltry as this suggests, he would have called here in -disguise. I will keep this note, Mr. Perrot, and look into the matter.” - -Perrot signified his consent with a bow, a smile, and numerous gestures. - -“_Pardieu!_” he exclaimed. “As you will, Monsieur Carter. I wondered if -I ought to give it to ze police.” - -“You have done better,” Nick assured him. “Now, Mr. Perrot, about the -costume hired by Mrs. Archie Waldmere.” - -“Ha, I remember!” said Perrot. “Madame is one fine lady. It was ze lace -costume of Night.” - -“That’s the one,” bowed Nick. “Do you remember when she engaged it?” - -“One week to-day, Monsieur Carter. Wait--I will be sure. I will show you -ze entry.” - -Perrot hastened to find it in the book, and the date confirmed his -statement. - -“Was the costume seen, or let to any other person, during the week?” -Nick inquired. - -“It was, monsieur,” Perrot said quickly. “It was let two days later to a -young woman who--wait! I will show you. Ha, it is here! To Miss Belle -Blair, Boston Road, Fordham. She paid in advance and returned it ze next -day. It was in ze pairfect order. One would not think she had worn it.” - -“Nor had she,” Nick said dryly. - -“Hey! What is that? You think----” - -“I think, Perrot, that you must say nothing of any of this to others,” -Nick pointedly interrupted. “There is a crime involved, and I rely upon -your discretion.” - -“_Pardieu!_ You may safely do so.” - -“The Night costume was hired only in order to make one so nearly -resembling it as to defy ordinary inspection,” Nick added. “But the name -of the woman is not Belle Blair, nor does she reside in Fordham. She is -a crook, as well as the said Talbot.” - -“That’s dead open and shut, chief,” remarked Patsy. “They worked along -the same lines.” - -“Exactly,” Nick nodded; then, to Perrot: “Have the costumes let to Mr. -and Mrs. Waldmere been returned?” - -“Not yet, Monsieur Carter, and there is no haste. I know them. That is -enough.” - -“And I think you can add nothing to the information you have given me,” -said Nick, smiling. “I am obliged to you for it. Here is my card. If -anything turns up later, perchance, telephone to me.” - -Perrot promised to do so, and the detective departed. - -“Gee! this certainly looks bad, chief, don’t it?” questioned Patsy, as -they walked down the avenue. - -“Superficially, Patsy, it certainly does,” Nick allowed. - -“Was some one out to get Waldmere? Has he been turned down in cold -blood?” - -“I am not ready to say. I wish to dig a little deeper.” - -One o’clock that afternoon brought additional evidence. It came through -Monsieur Perrot, who was admitted to the detective’s residence in a -state of suppressed excitement. - -He brought in a paper wrapper--the cape of the Spanish cavalier costume -worn by Archie Waldmere the previous night. - -It was gashed in two places with a knife, as if the wearer had been -stabbed, and the cloth was saturated with blood. - -Perrot stated that it had been found by an East River boatman. It was -caught on a spike in the river wall at which one of the crosstown -streets end, directly over the swirling waters of the East River. - -The boatman had given the cape to a policeman, who found Perrot’s name -on it and began an investigation. When told that Nick already was at -work on the case, the officer at once sent the costumer to the detective -to exhibit the garment and state the circumstances mentioned. - -Nick examined the cape carefully after Perrot had departed, and -subjected the stains to a test. - -“Human blood, Patsy,” he remarked. “There is no question about it.” - -“Gee! the case looks worse and worse,” Patsy replied gravely. “It -appears like dollars to fried holes that Waldmere was knifed to death. -The collar is torn, as if he put up a struggle.” - -“So I see,” Nick nodded, still inspecting the garment. - -“And the two gashes are on the left side, as if thrusts were aimed at -his heart. Gee whiz! it looks to me, chief, as if he was brutally killed -and then chucked into the East River.” - -“Go up to the street Bolton mentioned,” said Nick, referring to the -policeman. “See whether there is any sign of blood on the river wall, or -the near street. Question the people living close by and find out -whether a motor car was heard to stop there during the night.” - -“I’ve got you, chief,” said Patsy, hastening to make ready. - -“Report as soon as possible.” - -“Trust me for that.” - -It was three o’clock when Patsy returned, and his report was still -further convincing. - -He had found marks of blood on the river wall and in the near street. - -Two near residents, moreover, had heard a motor car stop there just -before midnight, but had supposed only that some person was returning -home. - -Nick heard this report without any comments. It was not much different -from what he was expecting. - -Chick Carter had returned from Brooklyn, in the meantime, and was -discussing his call on Mrs. Ringold when Patsy entered. He now resumed -it with Nick, saying quite earnestly: - -“They employ only four servants. One is a chauffeur, but he is married -and has a home of his own.” - -“He’s out of it, then,” said Nick. “Who are the others?” - -“A housekeeper of nearly sixty, who has been there several years.” - -“It’s safe to drop her, also.” - -“That leaves only the cook, in whom Mrs. Ringold has absolute -confidence, and a girl who serves as a maid, named Annette Levine. She -has been there less than a year.” - -“Did you see her?” Nick inquired. - -“Rather!” said Chick expressively. “She was so much in evidence that I -could not help suspecting her.” - -“You mean?” - -“Merely that she passed through the hall five times while I was talking -with Mrs. Ringold in the library,” Chick explained. “I had cautioned -Mrs. Ringold to speak low, so I know that the girl could not have -overheard us. But I noticed that she glanced furtively into the room -each time she passed the open door.” - -“Gee! that girl needs looking after,” said Patsy, who had been -listening. - -“Describe her, Chick.” - -“Oh, she’s a slender, thin-featured girl of about twenty, possibly a -little older. She has gray, catty eyes and a foxy countenance. I agree -with Patsy that she needs looking after.” - -Nick turned abruptly to his junior assistant. - -“Go over there, Patsy, and watch the house until you are sure Annette -Levine is in bed for the night,” he directed. - -“I told Mrs. Ringold to give the girl the evening, if she asked for it,” -put in Chick. - -“So much the better. You will know what to do, Patsy, in that case.” - -“You bet I’ll know, chief,” cried Patsy, hurriedly departing. - -“In the meantime, Chick, you had better see the policemen who were on -duty in the street back of the Carrington place last night,” said Nick. -“One of them may have noticed that particular limousine, or its driver. -Find out who they were and what they can tell you.” - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE DOUBLE REFLECTION. - - -Nick Carter was alone in his library at five o’clock that afternoon. -Both Chick and Patsy still were absent and at work on the mystifying -case. - -As he frequently did when wishing to concentrate his mind upon a -difficult problem, Nick had stretched himself on the library couch, -relaxing physically, as an aid to his mental operations. - -The dusk of the January afternoon had deepened into darkness. Joseph, -the detective’s butler, had switched on the lights in the hall, the -business office, and library, and he then was in the rear of the house, -directing preparations for dinner. - -Nick was lying with his eyes closed, deep in thought, undisturbed by the -faint sounds from the avenue outside, scarce breaking the stillness then -in the hall and library. - -Nick was thinking of the missing man, the titled Engglishman, of Lord -Archie Waldmere, and of the two previous cases in which he had served -him so successfully, and in both of which the now notorious crook and -escaped convict, Stuart Floyd, had figured conspicuously. - -Nick was reviewing these sensational cases, as well as that then -engaging him. He was wondering whether, as Chick had suggested, revenge -was the motive in the present strange affair and whether Stuart Floyd -might, after all, be back of the whole business. - -The couch on which Nick was lying was so placed that a person reclining -on it faced a mirror on one of the walls, that opposite the open door -leading into the hall. - -In the hall and nearly opposite this door was a large coat-and-hat -stand, backed with a plate mirror. It stood at such an angle that a -person lying on the couch and looking into the library mirror, which -hung at an angle from the wall, could see the mirror in the hatstand, -and reflected in that a portion of the hall and the front door leading -to the street. - -In the front door was an oval plate-glass window, with filmy lace -curtains draped daintily to each side. It was plainly visible from the -library by means of the double reflection under the conditions -described. - -The French clock on the library mantel struck the half after five. - -Nick Carter heard it. It recalled to his mind the single stroke of the -clock in the hall of the Carrington mansion, the half after ten the -night before, a fateful moment. - -Sensitive in the superlative degree, particularly to outside influences, -and still thinking of the knave by whom Waldmere twice had been -victimized, Nick suddenly opened his eyes. - -He started slightly. He thought for an instant that he beheld a ghost, -an apparition, or some mental fantasy called up by the nature of his -thoughts. - -For his eyes were turned toward the mirror on the wall, and in double -reflection he saw the brightly lighted front hall, the massive front -door, the oval window; and he beheld between the parted lace draperies -the face of a man peering into the hall--the face of Stuart Floyd. - -It would have caused most men to leap up from the couch, but Nick Carter -never lost command of himself. He knew on the instant that this was no -mental fantasy, no optical illusion. - -There was no mistaking that clean-cut, hard-featured face, with its -gleaming, malignant eyes and drawn, sinister lips. Its expression was -like that of a dog about to bite. - -“Floyd himself, as sure as fate,” flashed through Nick’s mind. “He’s -gazing in here with some object in view. Can he see me, I wonder, as -plainly as I can see him? He will take to his heels, in that case, if I -stir to undertake catching him. But how can I otherwise get him, or -contrive----” - -Nick’s train of thought ended abruptly. - -The face at the window suddenly vanished. Nick now leaped up and rushed -through the hall, hurriedly opening the front door and descending the -steps to the sidewalk. He gazed quickly in all directions. There were -pedestrians to be seen in all directions--but no sign of Stuart Floyd. - -An approaching taxicab was swerving toward the curbing. The glare of its -lamps dazzled Nick’s eyes and prevented his seeing distinctly. He turned -sharp on his heel and entered the house, going into his library, which -then was unoccupied. - -“By Jove, that was strange,” he said to himself, taking the swivel chair -at his desk. “That certainly was Stuart Floyd. But why was he gazing -into my house? Has he vengeful designs upon me? Is he out to plant a -bomb, or to turn some other cowardly trick? If he----” - -The doorbell rang, ending Nick’s train of thought, and he heard his -butler going through the hall to answer the summons. He sprang up and -intercepted him, saying quickly: - -“Go back, Joseph, to the kitchen. I will answer the bell. There may be -something doing.” - -Joseph looked surprised but Nick did not say what more he had in mind. -It was not in his nature to let another face possible peril, instead of -meeting it himself. He saw Joseph retreating, and he then strode to the -door and opened it. - -The taxicab mentioned had stopped in front of the house. Its passenger -had alighted and was standing on the steps. - -“I’m looking for Mr. Nick Carter,” said he. “My driver says this is -where he resides.” - -“That is correct,” said Nick. - -“Is he at home? I have a letter of introduction to him from----” - -“Come in, sir,” Nick interposed. “Walk into my library and take a chair. -What can I do for you?” - -“Ah!” exclaimed the stranger. “You are Mr. Carter, then?” - -“Yes. Be seated.” - -Nick had sized up his visitor while speaking. He was a tall man of -powerful build and somewhat over fifty. He was smooth shaved, with -strong features, quite an aggressive expression, and searching gray -eyes. His mouth was broad, his lips thin, his chin square, and -determined. - -It was a face that did not impress Nick favorably. It evinced -characteristics that were not pleasing to the keen insight of the -detective. The stranger was well dressed, however, in a plaid suit and -voluminous frieze overcoat, both of pronounced English cut and pattern. - -“I am glad I find you at home, Mr. Carter,” he said, in sonorous tones, -taking a chair near that of the detective and producing a letter from -his breast pocket. “Here is the introduction I mentioned. You are -acquainted with Captain Phil Grady, of Scotland Yard, who is also a -personal friend of mine. He is the writer and he advised me to see you.” - -Nick felt some of his misgivings beginning to melt away. He glanced -through the letter, introducing one Sir Edward Chadwick, of London, and -he then smiled and shook hands with the Englishman. - -“I know Grady very well, Mr. Chadwick,” he replied. “I am pleased to -know you, also. How is my old friend, and when did you last see him?” - -“Quite recently, Mr. Carter, and I left him well,” rejoined Chadwick, -with a smile softening the stern line of his thin lips. “I arrived in -Boston this morning and came to New York by rail. I am here on important -business and need your advice, and possibly your aid. I am stopping at -the New Oriental.” - -“I will be glad to be of any service to you,” said Nick. “What is the -nature of your business?” - -“I wish to find a young man who, I have reason to believe, is somewhere -in the United States.” - -“Ah, I see.” - -“I am a stranger here, and appreciate, of course, the difficulties of my -undertaking,” Chadwick continued, with a suavity that Nick did not quite -fancy. “I am his uncle, however, and accepted the mission at the earnest -solicitation of his father, my elder brother, who now is on his -deathbed, if not already dead.” - -“I understand,” bowed the detective. “What is your nephew’s name and -when did you last hear from him?” - -“Nearly three years ago.” - -“Where was he at that time?” - -“He then was in London,” said Chadwick, spreading his large hands on his -knees. “He defied his father and was disinherited and cast out by his -entire family, myself included. He became infatuated with a chorus girl -in an American opera company, and married her in spite of his father’s -bitter opposition, the Honorable Earl of Eggleston. He fled with her -from England, and----” - -“One moment,” Nick interposed. “The young man is Lord Archie Waldmere, I -think, a son of the Earl of Eggleston by his second wife, now deceased.” - -Sir Edward Chadwick stared with manifest amazement. - -“Goodness!” he exclaimed. “Is it possible, Mr. Carter, that you know -him?” - -“I am quite well acquainted with him.” - -“And you know where he may be found?” - -“Well, not at just this moment,” Nick said, a bit dryly. “He has been -living in New York, however, for the past two years.” - -“Well, well, that is most surprising. This is great and glorious news,” -cried Chadwick, vigorously rubbing his hands. “Captain Grady was right. -He said that I would get next to the right man, Mr. Carter, if I called -upon you. Really, I am overjoyed.” - -Nick somehow felt that the speaker’s joy was not so deep as he asserted. -His voice had a twang that grated on the detective’s ears. His narrow -eyes gleamed and glittered in a way, moreover, that Nick did not fancy. -With no show of these distrustful feelings, however, he said agreeably: - -“It certainly appears that you have come to the right man, Mr. Chadwick. -So the Earl of Eggleston is on his deathbed, is he?” - -“Alas, yes!” - -“Is that why he is seeking his son?” - -“Exactly,” bowed Sir Edward. “His only other son, who would have been -the heir to his title and his estate, died seven months ago. The earl -has no direct male successor except Lord Waldmere. He desires a -reconciliation, therefore, and is anxious to forgive the recreant son -and reinstate him as heir to his title and property. That is as it -should be, Mr. Carter, and I have done all in my power to bring it -about.” - -“No doubt,” said Nick, gazing steadily at his visitor. “This will be -good news for Waldmere, providing he can be found.” - -“Found?” echoed the Englishman inquiringly. “What do you mean by found? -I thought you knew where he was living.” - -“So I do,” said Nick. “Where he now is living, or whether he is living, -at present, are open questions.” - -“What do you mean?” questioned Chadwick, with a gasp. “I don’t -understand you.” - -“I will make it plain with a very few words,” Nick replied. - -He swung round a little in his chair while speaking, and he then -proceeded to tell his visitor of the disappearance of Waldmere, and of -the circumstances and apprehensions concerning him. - -The Englishman listened, with occasional interruptions and questions, -and with almost constant wringing of his hands. - -“Well, well, this is terrible, terrible,” he declared, after Nick had -concluded. “This news will kill his father, if not already dead. You say -you are at work on the case, Mr. Carter. Have you no clew, no -encouragement to give me?” - -Nick already had decided that he would not disclose any of his -suspicions. He shook his head and replied gravely: - -“I can say nothing favorable at present. I don’t know what my further -investigations may bring to light.” - -“But will you confer with me?” Sir Edward questioned. “Will you let me -aid you? Will you keep me informed----” - -“Yes, certainly,” Nick interposed. “I will inform you promptly when I -have discovered anything definite. I will at once telephone to you, Mr. -Chadwick, if you intend remaining at the Oriental.” - -“That is my intention, of course, now that I have learned so much from -you, and depend upon you so completely.” - -“You shall hear from me, then, sooner or later,” Nick earnestly assured -him. “Frankly, I am all at sea at present.” - -“Well, well, I am sorry, sorry enough to hear that,” declared Sir -Edward, unconscious of the sharper gleam in his narrow eyes, but which -was instantly noticed by the detective. - -“If you would like to meet Mrs. Waldmere, however,” said Nick, “I will -call on her with you and----” - -“No, no, I do not wish to meet her, Mr. Carter, at present,” protested -the Englishman, with a half-subdued growl. “She was the apple of -discord. I suppose we will have to put up with her. I will meet her -after Lord Waldmere has been found and--but that is enough for the -present, enough for the present,” he abruptly broke off, rising to go. -“Let me hear from you, Mr. Carter. Telephone to me, or call to see me. I -shall be on nettles until you find Lord Waldmere safe and sound.” - -“Unless I am much mistaken and less discerning than you think me, you -soon will be on nettles for an entirely different reason,” Nick said to -himself, while he arose and accompanied Sir Edward Chadwick to the door. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -PLAYING THE SPY. - - -It was six o’clock when Sir Edward Chadwick left Nick Carter’s residence -and departed in the waiting taxicab. Half an hour later Chick Carter -came in and entered the library. - -He found Nick seated at his desk. Lying on it were several articles that -figured as evidence in the case, also a pad of cable blanks and a thick -blue book as large as an unabridged dictionary. - -On a chair near by was the gashed and bloody cape worn by Waldmere the -previous night, the gory aspect and circumstances in connection with -which seemed to tell beyond reasonable doubt his tragic fate. - -“Ah, it’s you, Chick,” Nick remarked, looking up when his assistant -entered. “Anything new?” - -“No, nothing,” said Chick, removing his overcoat and hat and drawing up -a chair. “I have tried in vain to trace the murder car, the limousine in -which Waldmere was brutally done to a frazzle. There seems to be nothing -in it, as far as I see, except murder most foul and----” - -“Oh, but there is,” Nick interrupted, turning in his swivel chair. - -“Something else to it?” - -“Exactly.” - -“What do you mean?” Chick questioned, gazing. “Have you discovered new -evidence?” - -“I have had a visitor and--and seen a devil,” Nick dryly asserted. - -“Seen a devil!” - -“A knave who has all the makings of one. None other than Stuart Floyd.” - -“Great Scott!” Chick exclaimed. “You don’t mean, Nick, that he was your -visitor?” - -“Not exactly,” said Nick. “He only looked in, Chick, probably with some -evil design, though I cannot say for what.” - -“And your visitor?” - -“He was Sir Edward Chadwick, of London, England, who said he arrived in -Boston this morning. I am glad he called. He forms, unless I am much -mistaken, the strongest link in the chain I am welding together.” - -“Well, well, you surprise me,” said Chick. “Who the deuce is Sir Edward -Chadwick, and what did he want?” - -“I think he wanted to learn what I suspect and am doing in this case,” -Nick replied. “He met with no success, however, but departed quite -convinced that I am all in the dark. I made sure of that, for I had -talked with him only a few minutes when I began to distrust him.” - -Nick then stated in detail what had passed between him and the -Englishman, and then proceeded to inform Chick what he since had been -doing. - -“I have been looking him up,” said he, with a glance at the English blue -book mentioned. “Sir Edward Chadwick is the only brother of the Earl of -Eggleston, Lord Waldmere having taken the name of his mother after his -marriage and estrangement from his father, she having been his second -wife and now dead for many years.” - -“I remember his saying so.” - -“Chadwick is married and has one son, now about thirty years old. I have -cabled to Captain Grady for particulars as to the character and standing -of both. I ought to receive an answer by to-morrow morning.” - -“Most likely. They are very prompt.” - -“Chadwick stated that he arrived in Boston this morning,” Nick went on. -“I have telephoned to Boston, also, and learned that no liner arrived -there this morning, none since last Saturday, four days ago.” - -“By Jove, that smacks of a lie and certainly warrants suspicion.” - -“I think Chadwick has been here longer, and has been framing up this -job. Thinking himself entirely free from suspicion, and that the steps -he has taken and his pretended anxiety to find Waldmere will shield him -from distrust, he feels confident that no one will think of looking up -his movements with a view to confirming any of his statements.” - -“I see,” Chick nodded. “But what do you suspect?” - -“Well, if there was no direct male heir to the estate and title of the -Earl of Eggleston, both would fall legally, and possibly by will, to Sir -Edward Chadwick,” Nick said pointedly. - -“You suspect him of treachery, then, and of playing a deep game.” - -“That hits the nail on the head.” - -“You think he has conspired with others to murder Waldmere, and remove -the only barrier to his inheriting the estate and title of his brother?” - -“That also rings a bull’s-eye,” Nick nodded. - -“But wouldn’t he incur such serious suspicion at home, Nick, that he -might----” - -“Not in the way he has undertaken the job,” Nick interposed. “He -ostensibly is acting as agent for the Earl of Eggleston, and apparently -is engaged in a genuine search for Waldmere. He has appealed to Scotland -Yard and got a letter of introduction to me. I feel quite sure, however, -that both steps were taken only to give color to his pretentions. If I -am right, Chick, he is getting in his secret work with the help of -knaves hired for the purpose, while he keeps well in the background and -pretends to be playing an honorable part.” - -“But the killing of Waldmere may enable him to----” - -“I’m not sure that there has been any killing,” Nick again interrupted. - -“No murder?” - -“Not yet.” - -“Great guns!” Chick exclaimed. “That’s encouraging, at least, but why do -you think so?” - -“I have been looking over some of this evidence again,” said Nick, -glancing at the articles on his desk. “I think I detect the work of a -crook who is as crafty and designing as Chadwick himself, assuming that -I have sized him up correctly.” - -“You mean Floyd?” - -“Yes.” - -“Why do you think he figures in the case?” - -“Because of his presence at my door to-night and the fact that, even -while he fled, the taxicab containing Chadwick was approaching my -house,” said Nick. “There was something more than a coincidence, Chick, -in that both were here at the same time. It is very significant of -relations between them.” - -“By Jove, that does seem reasonable,” said Chick. “I agree with you.” - -“Just what relations exist between them, however, and how the two came -together, are open questions,” Nick added. “Floyd is a keen and clever -rascal. He would not engage in such a job as this, if my suspicions are -correct, without clearly seeing his way to getting all that would be -coming to him. He would not undertake such a job, moreover, for any -small sum.” - -“That’s true.” - -“Bear in mind, now, that Chadwick is a long way from home. It’s a -hundred to one that he has not at immediate command any such sum as -Floyd would require, nor could he easily obtain it from England without -laying himself liable to subsequent suspicion.” - -“That’s right, too.” - -“What’s the logical deduction, then?” - -“You say.” - -“Simply this--that Floyd might go so far as to get away with Waldmere -and plant all of the evidence indicating that he has been murdered, but -he would go no further than that,” Nick pointedly reasoned. “He would -not complete the job, nor put himself in a way to the electric chair, -until he had received the price agreed upon for the murder. He would -hold Waldmere a prisoner until he got his money.” - -“I see the point,” Chick nodded. “That would, indeed, be very like him.” - -“Here, now, is something in support of that theory,” said Nick, turning -to his desk. “Here is the note that lured Mollie Waldmere to the -west-front chamber that she might not see the duplicate Night and -prevent her from enticing Waldmere from the house. - -“Here are the two admission cards craftily obtained from the Ringolds, -on which were written the names of the costumes worn by the two crooks. -Here, too, is the note found in the pocket of the Mexican costume, -apparently sent to the wearer by a confederate and indicating that -Waldmere was to be taken away in a limousine and murdered.” - -“I see,” said Chick, bending over the desk to examine them. - -“Do you see anything specially significant in connection with them?” - -“I can’t say that I do.” - -“Well, I can,” said Nick. “The writing on all of these articles is the -same, or so nearly alike that I am sure that the same man wrote all of -them.” - -“By Jove, I think so, too, now that you point it out,” said Chick. “They -must have been written by the wearer of the Mexican costume, who hired -it from Perrot under the name of Talbot.” - -“Certainly, since it was he who wrote the note given by him to Mollie -Waldmere.” - -“Unquestionably.” - -“Plainly, then, the chauffeur’s note was not sent in to him at all,” -Nick continued. “He wrote it himself. He did so only to put it in the -pocket of his costume, knowing it would be found later and that murder -would then be suspected, a suspicion seemingly confirmed by the finding -of the gashed and bloodstained cape worn by Waldmere.” - -“You now think, then, that the whole business is only a blind?” - -“The murder part of it.” - -“And that Waldmere is alive?” - -“I do.” - -“And confined somewhere pending a settlement for the job?” - -“That is precisely what I suspect.” - -“By Jove, I am inclined to think you are right,” Chick now said -earnestly. “But what’s to be done, Nick, in that case?” - -“I already have decided,” said Nick. “I was waiting only for you to -return.” - -“What’s your scheme?” - -“Chadwick is a stranger in New York. He cannot go about alone, nor will -he venture into the underworld, where, if I am right, Waldmere is in -custody. An interview with him may be necessary, however, possibly -several of them, and it’s long odds that they will be held in Chadwick’s -quarters in the Oriental, since he thinks he has blinded me and feels -safe from suspicion.” - -“Quite likely, Nick, but what’s your scheme?” Chick repeated. - -“We’ll plant a dictograph in Chadwick’s apartments.” - -“Ah, I see.” - -“That is, providing we can get an adjoining, or an opposite room,” Nick -added. “We then can watch his apartments and overhear anything said -there. There is no time like the present, moreover, for he left here -only an hour ago, presumably to return to the hotel, and he very likely -will be at dinner when we arrive there.” - -“We could, in that case, turn the trick in a very few minutes.” - -“We’ll attempt it,” said Nick, taking the instrument and a coil of fine, -pliable wire from a drawer in his desk. “We’ll go up there in disguise. -Have a gun on your hip, also, for there’s no telling what may come off.” - -“I’ll wear two, Nick, to make a dead-sure thing of it,” Chick said -dryly. - -It was seven o’clock when the two detectives arrived at the New -Oriental, where they lost no time in getting in their work. - -Nick confided in the chief clerk, from whom he learned that Chadwick had -arrived that afternoon, that he was traveling alone, and had just gone -in to dinner, also that he had a small suite on the third floor. - -One directly opposite to it happened to be unoccupied, and no less than -ten minutes after their arrival at the hotel both detectives were -established in the vacant suite. - -“Now, Chick, we’ll work lively,” Nick remarked, throwing off his coat -and hat. “You keep an eye on the corridor. I’ll do the painting.” - -“I’ve got you,” Chick nodded. “Lie low, if you hear me whistle.” - -Nick stole out with the dictograph and wire, as well as the tools he -required. He opened the opposite door with a picklock and entered the -suite, which consisted of only a sitting room, bedroom, and bath. The -Englishman had left the lights on, and his outside garments and luggage -were in the bedroom. - -A table stood in the middle of the sitting room. Near one of the walls, -that adjoining the hall, was a desk supplied with writing materials. It -was prevented from standing flush against the wall by a projection of -the baseboard, and Nick quickly attached the dictograph to the back of -the desk, well out of sight. - -He then ran the fine wire downward to the floor, tucking it between the -carpet and the baseboard, and conducting it to the door. Then he ran it -over the threshold, close to the jamb on the hinge side, and then under -the hall carpet and into the opposite room. - -No warning whistle from Chick had delayed him, and the entire work had -occupied less than fifteen minutes. - -“We now will wait developments,” said Nick, when all was ready. “Out -with the lights and set this door ajar. If this man has no visitor -to-night, Chick, I shall be much mistaken.” - -Chick adjusted the door, leaving a crack, through which they could see -that of the opposite suite, and both then sat down to wait in the -darkness. - -The steps of others could occasionally be heard in the corridor, but -half an hour had passed when the Englishman returned to his apartments. - -Both detectives saw him enter his lighted rooms, consulting his watch -when he closed the door. - -“That may be significant,” Nick whispered. “He expects some one, -perhaps, at an appointed time.” - -Nick was right, and eight o’clock brought the expected visitor. - -He knocked once, then twice, on the Englishman’s door. The detectives -could see him quite plainly in the lighted corridor, a stocky, -smooth-shaved man in a plaid overcoat and wearing a fur cap. - -Nick could see his face only in profile while he waited, but he felt -sure he had previously seen him, though he could not then say where. - -When Sir Edward Chadwick admitted him, however, and the stocky man -entered and removed his cap, revealing in the bright light of the room a -strikingly bald head, as round as a bullet and glistening like a -billiard ball, Nick identified him on the instant. - -“Great Scott!” he whispered to Chick, as the Englishman closed the door. -“That’s Baldy Gammon. That does settle it.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -MR. PIMLICO. - - -Nick Carter, though he never had seen the man, now knew where he had -seen the face. He had trained himself never to forget the face of a -crook, even though seen only as he had seen that of Baldy Gammon. - -It was included in his rogues’ gallery, two excellent photographs, front -and profile, on a Bertillon signaletic card sent to him from Scotland -Yard about two years before. - -The card contained also a description and the criminal record of one -Jasper Gammon, nicknamed Baldy Gammon because of his bald head. There -could be no mistaking this fellow, who had a notorious record as a -confidence man, sneak thief, and all-around swindler. - -“Baldy Gammon?” muttered Chick, not placing him. “Who the deuce is he?” - -Nick quietly informed him, at the same time taking up the dictograph -receiver and holding it to his ear. Every word uttered in the opposite -suite could be distinctly heard, every sound that was made, in fact, and -Nick whispered the interview to Chick while the scene in the suite -across the hall was in progress. Minds as keen and perceptive as those -of the two detectives could easily supply most of the following -invisible details: - -Sir Edward Chadwick closed the door and waved Baldy Gammon to a chair, -taking one opposite his visitor. - -“Well, you are on time,” he said approvingly, though his voice still had -the hard twang that had grated on Nick’s ears and suggested the flinty -nature of the speaker. - -“Yes, Sir Edud,” replied Gammon, with a pronounced vernacular. “I allas -makes it a point to be on time--allas, Sir Edud.” - -“Well, skip all else and light upon the issue,” said Chadwick. “What’s -the verdict?” - -Baldy Gammon drew forward in his chair and announced, with manifest -satisfaction, together with a leer in his coal-black eyes. - -“We’ve got ’im, Sir Edud, got ’im foul and dead to rights. In other -words, Sir Edud, we’ve got ’im just where we wants ’im.” - -“I already know that, Mr. Gammon,” returned Chadwick bluntly. - -“You does?” - -Baldy Gammon looked surprised, and Sir Edward Chadwick proceeded to -explain. - -“I have called on Nick Carter and learned how the game was played and -the stumblingblock removed,” he said pointedly. “I thought it wise to -cover my tracks by seeing this American detective without delay. He does -not suspect me, nor will he, now, and though he is at work on the case, -he frankly admitted that he is all in the dark.” - -“The which is a werry good place for ’im to be, Sir Edud,” Gammon dryly -vouchsafed. “Don’t ’e know, then, as ’ow you ’ave been ’ere for nearly a -week?” - -“He knows nothing about me, Mr. Gammon, except what I saw fit to tell -him.” - -“Well, it’s safe to say, Sir Edud, as ’ow you’d tell ’im nothink worth -knowin,” said Gammon, with a grin. - -“Come to the point,” frowned Chadwick. “I did not employ you to comment -upon my sagacity.” - -“Werry true, Sir Edud; werry true, indeed.” - -“Come to the point. Is it all over?” - -Baldy Gammon shook his almost hairless head and appeared a little -disturbed. - -“Well, not quite, Sir Edud, not quite,” he reluctantly admitted. - -“What do you mean, Gammon?” Sir Edward harshly demanded. “What do you -mean by not quite? Hasn’t he been disposed of, put out of the way, out -of existence?” - -“Not yet, Sir Edud.” - -“Why not? Hang it, why the delay? I inferred from what Carter told me -that it was all over, that the infernal----” - -“Now, ’old your ’osses, Sir Edud, ’old your ’osses,” Gammon interrupted, -with as much suavity he could command. “It’s as ’ow it cawn’t be ’elped. -I’ll tell you just ’ow it is, Sir Edud.” - -“Do so, then, and lose no time about it,” Chadwick commanded, frowning -more darkly. “I had hoped you brought me better news.” - -“It’s precisely what I suspected,” Nick Carter murmured. “I’ll wager my -reputation on it.” - -“Looks so,” Chick tersely agreed. - -Baldy Gammon, having broken the ice, came forth with his explanation. - -“It’s like this, Sir Edud,” he began. “When I came over ’ere for this -’ere work, knowing as ’ow you soon would follow me, I ’ad in mind the -werry man for a job o’ this kind. It don’t matter what ’is name be, nor -would ’e like me to inform you.” - -“I’m not at all anxious to know it.” - -“I’ve knowed ’im for some time, Sir Edud, and I knowed ’e would ’ave the -right ’elp and a ’ead to frame up the job in the right way. ’Ow well he -did it, Sir Edud, goes without saying. We’ve got the man. We’ve got ’im -where we wants ’im.” - -“You know where I want him,” snarled Chadwick harshly. “You know what -depends upon his death, and----” - -“’Ear me out, Sir Edud,” interrupted Gammon pacifically. “It’s as ’ow we -can turn ’im down at any moment.” - -“Why in thunder hasn’t it been done, then? Why this needless delay? -Delays are always dangerous.” - -“It’s like this, Sir Edud,” Gammon proceeded. “This covey I speak of, -’im as run the whole blooming job, and who can be banked on to do ’is -part when the time comes--this ’ere covey don’t feel dead sure of -getting what’s coming to ’im.” - -“The money you agreed upon? Is that what you mean?” - -“That’s what I means, Sir Edud, and----” - -“But couldn’t you convince him that the money would be forthcoming?” -snapped Chadwick impatiently. “You should have made it plain that he -will finally get it.” - -“I tried to, so I did, Sir Edud, but it’s as ’ow the covey don’t feel -that way,” Gammon replied, a bit dubiously. “You see, Sir Edud, ’e wants -to be dead sure of ’is afore taking the risk of a chair what isn’t -over-inviting. I could not tell ’im just who you are and all the facts, -the which would be werry convincing. You ordered me not to do that, Sir -Edud, and I allas act on the square. So the covey is ’olding off till -sure----” - -“Wait!” Sir Edward exclaimed harshly. “Where is this man? I must see -him. I must talk with him myself. I can convince him that the money will -be forthcoming. Send the man here to see me.” - -Baldy Gammon stared thoughtfully at the carpet for a moment. - -“I ain’t a bit sure as ’ow ’e’d come, Sir Edud, unless ’e comes in -disguise,” he then replied. - -“I don’t care how he comes, so be it he comes quickly,” snapped the -other. - -“That could be inside of an hour, Sir Edud.” - -“I will wait here for him.” - -“’E has a silvery-gray wig and a flowing beard, the which I’ve seen ’im -wear at times,” observed Gammon. “I’m thinking as ’ow ’e would come in -them.” - -“Let him wear them, then.” - -“And I will ’ave him use the same signal knock as I used.” - -“Once, then twice.” - -“Yes, Sir Edud.” - -“Very good. I will remember.” - -“To make dead sure,” added Gammon, “I will ’ave ’im mention ’is name as -Mr. Pimlico. That’s no common name, Sir Edud, and you’ll be sure it’s -’im.” - -“I understand you, Gammon,” Sir Edward said, with a growl. “Send the man -here to-night. Tell him I insist upon seeing him.” - -Baldy Gammon arose with a bow and gesture of assent, then hurriedly -departed. - -Nick Carter whispered a few words to Chick, then stole noiselessly out -of the suite in which they had been listening. - -It was half past eight when Baldy Gammon departed, leaving Sir Edward -Chadwick to await the arrival of the said Mr. Pimlico. - -Chick Carter made no move to prevent the departure of this London crook, -nor to follow him. He remained seated in the darkness of the opposite -suite, with the door still ajar and his gaze fixed upon that directly -across the corridor. - -Nine o’clock came and with it came Mr. Pimlico. - -There could be no mistaking the man Baldy Gammon had described, with his -silvery-gray hair and flowing beard, giving him the appearance of a man -of seventy. - -Chick heard him coming and saw Chadwick open the door in response to the -signal knock. He surveyed the man a bit sharply, saying tersely: - -“Well, sir?” - -“My name is Pimlico,” said the other. - -“Ah! Come in.” - -The door closed behind the couple and Chick Carter seized the dictograph -receiver. - -Sir Edward Chadwick took a chair near the table, his visitor one -directly opposite, saying, while he sat down: - -“Gammon brought me word that you wish to see me.” - -“I do,” Sir Edward said curtly. - -“What need is there?” Mr. Pimlico demanded. - -“Much need.” - -“He said he told you just how matters stand.” - -“So he did.” - -“I am taking chances by coming here, sir, even in disguise.” - -“There would have been no need of your coming, Mr. Pimlico, or whatever -your name may be, if you had done what you had agreed to do,” Sir Edward -said, quite sternly. - -“I have taken all of the steps agreed upon except one--the last step,” -Pimlico said, with ominous significance, but with unruffled calmness. “I -am in a position to take that final step at any moment. But you have not -forgotten, of course, there is another side of the bargain.” - -“You mean----” - -“The payment of the amount agreed upon,” Pimlico put in firmly. - -“That will be paid when your work is completed, when I have positive -proof that it is done.” - -“What assurance have I of that?” - -“My word of honor,” said Sir Edward, with a steadily deepening frown. -“That ought to be sufficient under such circumstances.” - -“Could there be more desperate circumstances?” Pimlico calmly inquired. -“Bear in mind that you are a stranger to me, that I have taken the word -of another for what I already have done, and to the effect that you are -a responsible person and will make good. That is hardly enough, however, -in view of the nature of the work and the risks involved. Before the -final step is taken, ending the whole business, I must see the color of -your money.” - -Sir Edward shifted uneasily in his chair and eyed his visitor more -darkly. Pimlico’s voice had a firmness that did not please him. He -feared that he might find it impossible to move him, to prevail upon him -to take that final step so essential to his knavish treachery. He feared -that his designs might miscarry at this last moment. It was these fears -that impelled him to go further than he otherwise would have gone--to -the extent of confiding in his hireling. - -He drew himself up, as if he suddenly came to that determination, saying -with much less asperity: - -“You mean, then, that you insist upon being paid in advance, Mr. -Pimlico.” - -“That is what I mean,” bowed Pimlico, deliberately stroking his gray -beard. - -“But I cannot comply with that demand.” - -“Cannot, sir, or will not?” Pimlico pointedly questioned. - -“Cannot,” Sir Edward said earnestly. “I would pay you on the spot, my -friend, if it were possible for me to do so.” - -“That’s the point. How do I know that it ever will be possible?” - -“I can convince you of that.” - -“In what way?” - -“First tell me--if convinced of my integrity and ability to pay you -later, will you complete the work you thus far have done so ably?” - -“I will consider it, at least, and very possibly do it,” said Pimlico, -after a moment. - -Sir Edward drew nearer the table and rested his arms on it. Gazing -intently across it at his hearer, he said, with augmented feeling, but -with voice somewhat lowered: - -“I will tell you just where I stand and why I have done this, something -I directed Gammon not to confide to you.” - -“Nor did he,” said Pimlico simply. - -“Gammon is a man of his word. I happen to know that, my friend, or I -would not have employed him for work of this kind. So am I a man of my -word,” Sir Edward forcibly added. “I am a man of high standing in -England, a man of character and ambition, in the way of which is the one -barrier I now want removed. An earldom and a vast fortune await me when -that is out of my way.” - -“This man Waldmere?” - -“Yes.” - -“What is he to you?” - -“I am his uncle. His father, the Earl of Eggleston, is my only brother. -He is dying, if not already dead, and his title and vast estate will -soon be mine, providing Waldmere is dead and out of the way. Can you -doubt, then, that I will pay you the price agreed upon with Gammon?” Sir -Edward forcibly questioned. “Why, man, I will pay even more liberally. I -will double the amount, and it shall be paid when----” - -“One moment,” Pimlico interrupted. “Has Gammon told you where Waldmere -is confined?” - -“No, he has not.” - -“Or who I really am and where I hang out?” - -“No, neither.” - -“Have you any idea?” - -“Not the slightest. I have left it all to Gammon. Nor do I care about -that, Mr. Pimlico,” Sir Edward added. “If you will do what I require, if -you will put this man away, if you will complete your work at once and -contrive that positive proof of Waldmere’s death shall be found, I will -do all that I have agreed to do and something more than that, as soon -as----” - -He stopped short. - -A pencil with which Pimlico had been toying had slipped from his fingers -and fallen to the floor. - -Sir Edward Chadwick leaned over to pick it up and replace it on the -table. When he straightened up and again gazed at his visitor--he -underwent a change as if death had suddenly claimed him. - -There had been an equally quick change in the other. - -Mr. Pimlico had disappeared. His gray wig and flowing beard were lying -on the floor. His right hand held a revolver, his left a pair of -handcuffs, and the stern face that now met the gaze of the horrified -Englishman was that of--Nick Carter. - -It wore an expression far different from that seen by the designing -Englishman in the library of the detective’s residence a short time -before. He thought he then had played his cards well. He had succeeded -only in sealing his own fate. - -How he had been duped, by what means it had been accomplished, or how -much more the detective knew than he had blindly told him--into none of -these did Sir Edward Chadwick pause to inquire. With a half-smothered -oath, with his great white teeth meeting with an audible snap, he -started to rise and reached for a weapon. - -Nick Carter was much too quick for him, however. His hands shot like a -flash across the table. They closed with a viselike grip on those of the -titled crook. There was a swirl of glittering steel around his brawny -wrists, a quick snap of the double locks, and Sir Edward Chadwick was -secured in manacles almost before he knew it. - -“Take them off! Hang you, take them off!” he fiercely snarled, tugging -vainly at them. “What’s the meaning of this? What----” - -“Silence!” Nick sternly commanded, forcing the frantic man back in his -chair. “You know very well what it means. You are under arrest, Sir -Edward Chadwick, a would-be murderer by your own blind confession. You -will answer to the law for conspiracy with intent to kill. Now, having -got the mastery, I will take steps to secure the hirelings.” - -The Englishman broke forth again with bitter oaths and imprecations, -though his face had gone ghastly and his lips were as gray as ashes. - -“Take them off! Take them off!” he repeated, striving vainly to break -the steel bracelets. “You can do nothing. You cannot prove it. My word -is as good as yours. There were no witnesses, no----” - -“You are very much mistaken,” Nick again interrupted sternly. “I have -all the corroboration the law will require. There is a dictograph behind -this desk, and my chief assistant in the opposite suite has heard every -word you have said. I will call him, that you may see for yourself and -end your vain struggles.” - -A cry failed to prove effective, however, and Nick stepped into the hall -and threw open the door of the opposite suite. - -It no longer was occupied. - -Chick Carter had disappeared. - -Nick wondered and waited--but waited vainly. - -Chick did not return. - -Nor did an hour bring any sign of--the genuine Mr. Pimlico. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -TAKING LONG CHANCES. - - -It was a misty, humid, disagreeable night, with the unseasonable January -warm spell hanging on, making winter garments almost unbearable, though -ordinary discretion precluded removing them. - -Patsy Garvan found it damp and uncomfortable while watching the Ringold -residence from a concealment in the adjoining grounds. He was glad when -the early dusk of the afternoon deepened into darkness, enabling him to -steal out and move around without incurring detection, thus relieving -the monotony of his persistent vigil. - -It was eight o’clock when his patience was finally rewarded. He had seen -the Ringolds at dinner, had watched them through the lace-draped windows -of the house, and had seen Nan Levine serving at the table, then -clearing it, and supping with another servant in the kitchen. Nothing in -her looks or actions, however, denoted that she was in haste, or had any -intention of going out that evening. - -Patsy was agreeably disappointed, therefore, when he saw her leaving the -house. She emerged from the side door, with a dark cloak enveloping her -slender figure, while her head and face were covered with a veil. She -tripped out to the street, where she paused to glance sharply around for -a moment, and then she hurried away. - -“Gee whiz! she is breaking cover, all right,” thought Patsy, at once -elated. “She’s off on a definite mission, too, and that looks more like -business. There’s no mistaking her, for all she’s so bundled up and -closely veiled. That points to something doing, for fair. It’s ten to -one, now, that Chick sized her up correctly.” - -Stealing out, Patsy followed the girl with no great difficulty. He knew -that his disguise would preclude recognition, even if she had seen him -the previous night, as Nick had apprehended. It soon became obvious to -Patsy, however, that she did not feel that she had incurred suspicion, -or had any thought of being followed. - -Patsy shadowed her over to New York, where she took the Third Avenue -elevated. Leaving it a little later, she finally brought up at an -inferior wooden house in a low street on the East Side. She darted up -the inclosed steps and rang the bell three times, and she was admitted -so quickly that Patsy was unable to see who answered the summons. - -“She’s under cover again, all right, but this looks still more like -business,” he said to himself. “But how am I to get next? That’s the -question.” - -Patsy had paused on the opposite side of the street and was sizing up -the house and its surroundings. The ground floor was used for a small -store. Over the door was a sign bearing the single word--Hogan. - -“It looks like a measly little grocery store,” muttered Patsy. “But why -is it closed so early? Other shops around here are open. Hogan must have -other business on for to-night, something doing in which that girl -figures. Gee, I must contrive in some way to turn the trick.” - -The front room of the dwelling over the store was in darkness, but Patsy -could see that the roller shades were drawn down, with no sign of any -person near them in the act of peering out. He could also see on the -rear wall of an adjoining building the faint reflection of light from -the side window of a rear room of the house. - -“That’s where the girl has gone,” he rightly reasoned. “But who is with -her and how am I to get up there? Those windows are a good ten feet from -the ground. I’ll have a look at the back of the crib. There may be a -porch.” - -Moving more cautiously, Patsy found a narrow passageway between the -house and the building mentioned, through which he stealthily picked his -way into a small back yard, so small it was hardly worthy the name. - -For the rear wall of a large garage fronting on the next street was -within six feet of the back of the house. The yard was as dark as a -pocket, moreover, but Patsy could feel the outlines of a bulkhead door, -evidently opening into a cellar under the store. - -There was no sign of a porch, or means of getting up to the second-floor -windows. Patsy could see, nevertheless, that the curtain of one of them -was up about an inch above the lower sash. - -While looking up he also saw that the garage was quite a new one and -that it was built of cement blocks, a building of only one story, and -having a flat roof. - -“If I can get up there, by gracious, I might get a look into that room, -at least,” he said to himself. “A look might help. I’ll make a bid for -it, even if I have to seek aid from whomever runs the shebang.” - -Feeling around a rear corner of the garage, bent upon finding a way to -the front, Patsy discovered that the alternate corner blocks of cement -were set inward about half an inch, a quite common and slightly -ornamental construction, as courses of bricks at uniform distances are -sometimes laid. - -Naturally, of course, each receding block left a slight projection, the -upper edge of that on which it was set, and Patsy was not long in -finding that he could fix his toes on these projections, and, by -grasping those above that he could mount to the garage roof almost as -easily as if provided with a ladder. - -“Gee! this was softer than I could have hoped,” he said to himself when -seated on the edge of the low roof. “The house is near, but not quite -near enough. By Jove, if I had only a piece of--holy smoke! I’m a smelt -if I haven’t got it. Things sure are coming my way.” - -It was a piece of board that had caught his eye, a strip about six feet -long and as many inches wide, and which evidently had been overlooked by -the builders when cleaning up the roof of the garage. - -Patsy seized it with much the same avidity as a terrier seizes a rat. -Creeping along the roof with it he quickly reached a point directly -opposite the lighted window of the dwelling--that already specially -noticed. - -A narrow beam of light was shed out below the roller shade, lending a -faint glow to the misty night air. Through the narrow space between the -curtain and sash, however, Patsy could see only that there were several -persons in the back room, which evidently was a kitchen, and he was too -far from the closed window to hear their voices. - -“Gee whittaker! I’ve got to get still nearer,” he said to himself, -ruefully gazing into the black abyss below. “I might as well be on top -of the Flatiron Building. I must take a chance with this plank, by -gracious, if I lose a leg.” - -Crouching on his hands and knees, proceeding all the while with the -utmost quietude and caution, Patsy found that the strip of board was -long enough to reach from the outside stone sill of the window to the -edge of the garage roof, with about a three-inch rest on each end. - -“It will support me, all right,” he muttered, gazing at it after having -gingerly placed it in position. “Gee! but it’s a ticklish crawl. Can I -wriggle out on it without displacing one end, or the other? If not, it -will be a quick trip to the ground for mine.” - -Patsy viewed it doubtfully for several moments. It was a stunt from -which the boldest would have shrunk. Then he looked at the lighted -window again and listened vainly--and his face then took on an -expression that spoke louder than words. - -“It’s got to be done,” he murmured decidedly. “There’s nothing else to -it. I must find out who is in that room, and what is going on there. I -might as well be a bump on a log, as sitting here.” - -Starting up, Patsy removed his overcoat and hat, placing them near by on -the roof. - -He then crouched close to the edge, grasping each side of the plank as -far out as he could reach. - -He found that it rested firmly on each end, and he then worked his hands -still farther out, gradually letting himself down until he lay flat upon -it, with his feet on the garage roof and his head within eight inches of -the house window, his eyes directly in line with the lower edge of the -slightly raised curtain. - -The beam of light from within fell full on his face. It looked unusually -pale, but never more set and determined. - -Patsy had reasoned that it might be more difficult to return than to get -out there on his narrow support. But he had resolved to cross that -bridge when he came to it. - -It was enough for him, just then, that he had accomplished his immediate -object. He now could see plainly into the room and also hear the voices -of its occupants. - -He took them in visually with a single swift glance--five persons. - -One was a brawny Irishman in his shirt sleeves. He was seated near the -stove and smoking a clay pipe. - -Another was a corpulent, red-faced woman, whose garments denoted that -she was the mistress of the house, as the other appeared to be its -master. - -“Hogan and his wife,” thought Patsy. “I’ve seen him driving a taxi, too, -and his wife most likely runs the little store.” - -Patsy afterward learned that he was right. - -A third person was Annette Levine, divested of her outside garments. - -A fourth was a dark, finely formed woman in the twenties, whom Patsy -instantly recognized as a familiar character in the Tenderloin, one Lucy -Devoll, a girl formerly intimate with the Vantoon sisters, then in -prison for their complicity in two of the crimes committed by Stuart -Floyd. - -The fifth person was none other than the notorious crook himself--Stuart -Floyd. - -He looked white and pinched, and there was an abnormal glitter in his -eyes that told of feverish anxiety and physical consumption, of the -horrible price paid for traveling the downward path. - -“Eureka!” thought Patsy, when he discovered these worthies. “I’m in -right, if I can only stick here. If worse comes, I can wriggle around -and drop into the yard. It’s not more than ten feet.” - -Patsy lost nothing that was said in the room while these few thoughts -passed through his mind. - -Stuart Floyd was talking, addressing the girl who had entered only a few -minutes before. - -“What type of man is he, Nan, the one who called this morning?” he -asked. - -“A decent-looking, muscular man, smooth shaved,” said Nan Levine, as she -was called. “He’s about medium complexion.” - -“It might have been Chick Carter,” said Floyd, with knit brows. “You are -sure it wasn’t Nick himself?” - -“I’m dead sure of that,” nodded Nan. “I saw him over the baluster rail -at two this morning, and also Patsy Garvan, as you call him. ’Twasn’t -either of them who called this morning, and I don’t reckon he was a -detective.” - -“Possibly not.” - -“I walked by the door three or four times, but I couldn’t hear what he -was saying to the mistress. They sat too far from the door.” - -“Gee! the chief was right,” thought Patsy. “He’s never wrong, by Jove, -as far as that goes.” - -“Oh, I know the Carters are on the case,” Floyd said moodily. “I got -wise to that this afternoon.” - -“How was that, Stu?” inquired Hogan, removing his pipe. - -“I saw the gink Gammon is serving going down Madison Avenue in a taxi,” -said Floyd. “Gammon thinks I ain’t wise to him, but I am. From what -Gammon has told me, I reckoned the English gink was going to pump -Carter, or pull off some kind of a bluff. So I hurried down and had a -look through Carter’s front door.” - -“Gee! that’s news to me,” thought Patsy, with increasing interest. - -“I saw Carter himself on a couch in one of the rooms,” Floyd went on. “I -piped him through a mirror in the hall. I’m not sure that he didn’t pipe -me, as well.” - -“Was the English gazabo there?” questioned Hogan. - -“No,” said Floyd bluntly. “The taxi driver must have blundered and went -too far south. All of a sudden I saw him coming up the avenue and I knew -he was going to stop at the dick’s house.” - -“Thunder!” Lucy Devoll exclaimed. “What did you do?” - -“Bolted,” said Floyd grimly. “I made a quick get-away, you can bet on -that. The gink went in there, and that’s all I waited to see. Gammon had -an appointment with him at eight. He ought to show up pretty soon. Then -we’ll know how the cat is going to jump.” - -“Do you think the dicks have got any line on me?” questioned Hogan -apprehensively. - -“How can they have any line on you?” Floyd returned, with a growl. “You -was in disguise and you had a rented limousine with a phony number. -There’s no way that they can have picked up a line on you.” - -“Begad, I hope not.” - -“You stand well as a taxi driver,” Floyd added. “You’re as safe from -suspicion as a preacher. That’s why I had the infernal live stock -brought here.” - -“You’re right, mebbe.” - -“I know I’m right,” Floyd asserted confidently. - -“I can see where you’ll get the surprise of your life a little later,” -said Patsy Garvan to himself. - -“But when do we get the coin? That’s what I want to know,” vouchsafed -the Devoll girl, most expressively. “I’ve gone into this blindly, as Nan -has, on your word, Floyd, and----” - -“Oh, I’ve got that all fixed,” Floyd interrupted. “That’s what Gammon is -after to-night.” - -“Well, I hope he gets it.” - -“He knows I won’t turn down the man until I’m dead sure of the coin. I’m -not taking that kind of a chance. The rest of the job cut no great ice -and was easily done, but putting out a man’s light--that’s a different -matter.” - -“I should say so,” frowned Lucy. - -“If the coin is ready for us----” - -“Easy!” - -“That must be Gammon.” - -Patsy heard the ringing of the doorbell--three times. - -The corpulent woman, Hogan’s wife, hastened out to open the front door. - -Patsy clung to his board, watching constantly, listening intently, but -he began to feel the strain of his awkward and perilous position. He -scarce dared to stir, lest the board should slip from one end, or the -other, and his distress was each moment becoming more painful. - -“I’ll hang on, by thunder, till I learn the whole business,” he -muttered, gritting his teeth. “I’ll land this bunch, too, or know the -reason why.” - -Less than a minute had passed when Mrs. Hogan returned to the kitchen. -She was closely followed by Baldy Gammon, and Patsy Garvan saw the -English crook for the first time. - -He knew nothing about him, of course, nor about the first interview Nick -had had with Sir Edward Chadwick, and much that he had heard was almost -Greek to the determined young detective. Hence, his resolution to get -all that could be obtained. - -Stuart Floyd sprang up with an inquiring stare when Gammon entered, but -the latter said quickly, with a sharp glance at the several other -occupants of the room: - -“Gimme a word with you alone, Floyd. It’s as ’ow I ’ave somethink to -tell you.” - -“What about?” - -“You know. Come into the front room,” Gammon insisted. - -Stuart Floyd followed him without replying. - -Hogan frowned darkly, and Lucy Devoll stole to the kitchen door to -listen. - -Patsy rightly reasoned that Floyd and Gammon were the two responsible -for the active work of abducting Waldmere, and that the others were -merely in their employ. He wondered, too, of course, to what Englishman -they had referred. - -“Gee! I wish they had done their talking there,” he said to himself -during the lull in the kitchen. “This may leave me dead lame as to the -exact truth--as lame as I’ll be after lying so long on this board. It’s -like being on a rack.” - -Patsy had not long to wait, however, before Gammon returned to the -kitchen. Scarce ten minutes had passed, and the English crook then was -followed by a man with silvery-gray hair and a flowing beard. - -Patsy instantly recognized him, nevertheless. - -“Great guns!” he exclaimed mentally. “What’s on, now? Floyd is going out -in disguise. Gee! had I better try to follow him?” - -Floyd already had on his street garments, and brief consideration -convinced Patsy that he could not possibly get down from his perilous -perch in time to overtake him. - -For Floyd lingered only to say a few words quietly to Hogan, and he then -turned sharp on his heel and departed. - -Gammon remained, however, and took the chair the other had vacated. - -Floyd had gone, of course, to keep the appointment as Mr. Pimlico. - -Lucy Devoll, frowning, began to question Gammon about it, and so sharp -and insistent were her inquiries that he finally proceeded to tell them -of the exact situation. - -Patsy listened exultantly--but it was of brief duration. - -The talk in the kitchen led up to Nan Levine’s mission there, of which -Baldy Gammon was ignorant. The moment he learned of the morning caller -at the Ringold residence, however, he seemed to be inspired with -suspicions that had entirely escaped Stuart Floyd, or been utterly -ignored. - -“’Ang it, girl, you may ’ave been followed ’ere!” he exclaimed, starting -to his feet. “’Ow do you know you wasn’t? What’s out back ’ere? Let’s -’ave a look?” - -“Oh, there’s nothing there,” growled Hogan, laying down his pipe. - -“’Ow do you know? Let’s make sure of it, all the same. I’ll see for my -blooming self.” - -This sudden turn of affairs fell, of course, with alarming possibilities -on the mind of Patsy Garvan, particularly when he saw the scowling -ruffian striding toward the window on the sill of which the plank was -resting. - -“Gee! this is a case of sneak--if sneaking is possible,” he muttered, in -rising excitement. “It’s a quick get-away for mine.” - -Patsy had begun to wriggle back on the board with his first thought. His -muscles were stiff and cramped, however, and he could not move quickly, -nor steadily. - -Twice he felt the board slip treacherously on the stone sill of the -window. - -Then the curtain was raised high from within. - -Baldy Gammon appeared at the window. - -A blaze of light poured out upon Patsy, and he recoiled involuntarily. - -That one slight move threw the board from the sill. - -Patsy heard a roar from Gammon--but heard no more for several moments. - -He fell through space as if out of an airship, turning while he fell, -and in another instant he had crashed completely through the bulkhead -door mentioned, and landed, stunned and bleeding, on the floor of the -shop cellar. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE LAST TRAIL. - - -There was a very good reason for Chick Carter’s disappearance from the -suite in which Nick had left him. The designs of the latter in leaving, -after hearing with the dictograph the interview between Chadwick and -Gammon, must be perfectly obvious. It was a simple thing for Nick to -hasten home and return in a disguise such as Gammon had described. - -Nick also had in mind, of course, to arrest the genuine Mr. Pimlico the -moment he put in an appearance. - -The instinctive caution of Stuart Floyd, however, when venturing out of -haunts in which he felt comparatively safe, prevented this second design -of Nick Carter, or briefly postponed and transferred it to another -quarter, and also occasioned the sudden disappearance of Chick. - -For Floyd did not take the elevator after entering the Oriental Hotel, -nor did he enter the house through the front door. He came in through a -side door, then stole up the stairs to the third floor, seeking the -corridor and door to which Gammon had directed him. - -He came so quietly that Chick Carter did not hear him until the rascal -was nearly to the door of the Englishman’s suite--and at the same moment -Floyd caught sight of a slender wire glistening on the threshold. - -There was no need to tell Stuart Floyd what it was, nor did he stop to -learn whither it ran. - -He turned like a flash and darted toward the main stairway of the hotel, -down which he fled at top speed, tearing off his disguise while he sped -down the stair and thrusting it into his pocket. - -Chick Carter had caught sight of him, however, and instantly guessed the -truth. - -“He’s wise, by thunder, and knows we’re on his trail,” flashed through -Chick’s mind. “But in getting him, I must get the others, also. I’ll -take the other course.” - -Chick did not stop to inform Nick what had occurred. He rushed to the -side stairway at the end of the corridor, and flew down each flight at -record speed, bent upon picking up Floyd when he emerged from the front -of the house. - -Though he came near being too late, his tremendous efforts proved -successful. He caught sight of Floyd running across the avenue on which -the house fronted, and then darting into a cross street leading toward -the East Side. - -“I’ll get you now, by Jove,” Chick muttered, with eyes alert. “If you -give me the slip this night, you shall have a medal.” - -Floyd, seeming to feel reasonably safe when well away from the hotel, -slowed down in order not to attract attention. Several times he looked -back, however, but could discover no one following him. - -Chick was steadily gaining on him, nevertheless, and before a block had -been covered he met a policeman. - -“Here, Grady, one moment,” he said sharply. - -The officer recognized him instantly, for Chick had removed his -disguise. - -“Oh, it’s you, Mr. Carter,” said he, touching his helmet. - -“Yes,” said Chick quickly. “I’m on the track of a crook, Stuart Floyd.” - -“The deuce you say!” - -“I may need you and others to pull a gang. Follow me at a short distance -and pick up help as you come along. Don’t lose sight of me.” - -“Not on your life,” said Grady, with eyes beginning to glow. - -“Join me at once, if you see me wave my arm.” - -“I’ve got you, sir.” - -There had been only a momentary stop, and Chick had not for an instant -lost sight of his man. - -Floyd was fifty yards ahead of the detective, and on the opposite side -of the street. He no longer was hurrying greatly. He seemed to feel that -he had got safely away. - -Chick crept on after him, steadily gaining. - -Grady had a constant eye on Chick and cautiously followed him. Presently -he picked up another policeman, and a moment later a plain-clothes man -from the precinct station. - -All followed Chick, hugging the buildings they were passing. - -Five minutes later, Chick saw Floyd stop suddenly in front of an old -wooden house. It was that in which Hogan dwelt with his wife. - -Floyd, when about to enter, heard a terrible crash in the rear yard, -and then a window thrown open and a roar from Baldy Gammon. - -Instead of entering the house, Floyd rushed through the alley and into -the little back yard. - -Hogan and Gammon came tearing down a back stairway and joined him. - -“What’s wrong? What the devil’s wrong?” Floyd demanded, yanking a search -lamp from his pocket. - -“A spy! A spy at that window,” cried Hogan, pointing. “He’s fell through -this door and gone into the cellar.” - -Chick Carter, waving his arm, had to wait only thirty seconds for his -three assistants to join him. He knew that he had rounded up his game. - -“One of you watch this front door,” he directed, in whispers. “The -others follow me. Guns ready!” - -Chick did not wait for an answer. He plunged through the alley, the -policemen after him, and arrived in the yard, a veritable rat trap, just -as Floyd switched on the electric light. - -“Hands up!” Chick cried. “We’ve got you covered, Floyd. You, too, -Gammon! You’ll be dead ones if you show fight.” - -The policemen were not idle while Chick spoke. Both bored in upon the -three cornered crooks, and Floyd and Gammon found themselves with -revolvers at their heads. - -Hogan uttered a groan, and threw up his hands. - -Patsy Garvan came crawling out of the cellar at the same moment, only a -bit bruised by his fall. He also had a gun in his hand--and that settled -it. - -The arrest of the entire gang was easily made, and thirty minutes saw -all except Sir Edward Chadwick locked in the precinct station. Word then -was sent to Nick, who then turned his man over to the police, and the -case was practically ended. - -For Lord Archie Waldmere was found confined in an ice box in the Hogan -cellar, not much the worse for his distressful experience, he having -been lured away and overcome precisely as Nick had deduced from the -surrounding circumstances. - -It would be vain to attempt describing his gratitude to the Carters, as -well as that of his wife, or the amazement with which he learned of the -treachery of his uncle and the altered sentiments of his dying father. -It opened the way for him to a new life in England, or to a renewal of -the old, and he took it later with the willing consent of Lady Waldmere. - -But neither ever forgot the Carters, or failed to visit them when in the -States. - -Stuart Floyd went back to prison and died there six months later. - -Others engaged in the conspiracy were punished in accord with the law, -and are behind prison bars to this day. - - - THE END. - - -“The Edge of a Crime; or, Nick Carter’s Trail of Mercy,” will be the -title of the long, complete story which will be found in the next issue, -No. 142, of the NICK CARTER Stories, out May 29th. You will also find -the usual interesting serial, short stories, and useful bits of -information. - - - - - Where’s the Commandant? - - By C. C. WADDELL. - - -(This interesting story was commenced in No. 140 of NICK CARTER STORIES. - Back numbers can always be obtained from your news dealer or the - publishers.) - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE SEVERED ROPES. - - -It was eight a. m. by the time Grail reached the fort, for he had -stopped on the way to submit to a chemist an envelope containing the -remnants of the decoy message. The chemist agreed with him thoroughly -that its disintegration must have been accomplished by means of -chemicals. He thought a mixture of certain acids, drying into the fiber -of the paper, would cause it rapidly to disintegrate and crumble to -dust, although he declined to commit himself definitely on the point -until he had made a complete analysis. - -His theory, however, was all that Grail really cared for, since it -showed him that he was on the right track, and that the destruction of -the note was due to no accident or mischance, but was part of a -deliberate and premeditated plan--an incident to be duly reckoned with -in any investigation of the colonel’s disappearance. - -Too thoroughly did he recognize his own limitations even to consider the -task of handling the business in person. But how was he to secure the -aid he required at the fort? If the army post has ramparts of privacy -against the world, there is little going on inside which does not become -generally known, and Grail had no sooner set foot on the reservation -than he sensed the same feeling of hostility and suspicion which had -manifested itself in the manner of the officers who met him at the -foundry the night before. - -The challenge of the sentinel on post, the side glances of the enlisted -men, even the stiff salute of his own orderly, gave him to understand -that he was ostracized--under the ban as much in barracks as along -officers’ row. There was no open disrespect shown, but the very air was -full of a silent disapproval. He evidently had not a friend in the -place--no one upon whom he could call for help. - -Outwardly calm, but inwardly raging at the injustice, he turned in at -headquarters--he would have starved rather than go over to the mess for -breakfast--and, in order to conceal his perturbation, buried himself in -the morning papers. - -Staring fixedly at the headlines in the Brantford _Bee_, although -unconscious of a word, he was roused from his abstraction by a slight -cough, and glanced up, to find standing in front of him Sergeant Cato, -the relief telegraph operator, and a decidedly superior type of noncom. -Indeed, Cato had ambitions toward winning shoulder straps for himself, -and had been materially aided by Grail in his preparation for the -necessary examination. - -There was no recognition of this now, however, in the stiff, distant -salute which he gave his superior. - -“The list of messages sent out during the night, sir,” he said. - -Evidently, thought Grail, he was only to be addressed in the strict line -of official duty. Even this man whom he had befriended reflected in his -manner the general uncompromising spirit. - -Perfunctorily the adjutant took the slip handed him, and glanced at it. -Then he gave a quick start. - -“To Miss Vedant, at Chicago!” he exclaimed, forgetting his determination -to be as stiffly military himself as any one accosting him. “And sent by -Major Appleby at two o’clock! Do you mean to say, Cato, that----” - -The sergeant gave a slight sigh of relief, and noticeably unbent. - -“Yes, sir,” he returned. “It was to inform her of her father’s -disappearance. I thought myself it was a mistake to frighten her, when -the thing’ll probably be cleared up before she can get here; but the -message was handed me for transmission, and what could I do?” - -“So you expect the affair to be cleared up before Miss Vedant arrives, -eh?” Grail asked. “What makes you say that, sergeant?” - -Cato flushed a trifle. “Well, sir, if I may make so bold, it’s because I -am banking on you.” - -“Me?” - -“Yes, sir.” He shifted his feet uneasily. “Excuse me, captain, if I go -too far; but it is a cinch, to my mind, that you’ll never rest easy -under this talk that’s going around.” - -“You mean that there is a rumor that I am in some way responsible for -Colonel Vedant’s disappearance?” - -Cato nodded. “That was what made me so sure the thing would be -straightened out,” he explained. “I knew you’d move heaven and earth -before you’d let a charge like that stand against you.” - -Grail was silent a moment. “Is the fact of the colonel’s disappearance -pretty generally known among the men, sergeant?” he asked finally. - -The other gave a significant shrug of the shoulders. “It’s the only -thing they’re talking about over in the barracks, sir.” - -“And do many of them believe this gossip connecting my name with it?” - -Cato’s reluctance to answer was more eloquent than words. “You know what -a bunch like that is, sir,” he said apologetically. “Let somebody tell -’em St. Peter is a crook, and they’ll be proving it to you in five -minutes. That’s what made me a bit standoffish when I came in just now, -captain. I knew you couldn’t help but be wise to the way the post is -feeling, and I didn’t want to seem to be handing you out any sympathy.” - -An incredulous look flashed into the adjutant’s face, and he bent -quickly forward. “Am I to understand, then, sergeant, that you do not -entertain the same unfavorable opinion of me as the others?” - -“Me, sir!” Cato’s tone was one of surprise. “What kind of a soft-brained -pup do you think I am, sir? You sell out to Japanese spies, and make -away with the old man? Why, Captain Grail, if you told me yourself that -you’d done it, I wouldn’t believe you--no, not if you swore to it! It’s -because I’m certain of your innocence, captain, that I’ve been so -positive the colonel would be found. Foolish as the charge is, you’ve -got to disprove it for your own sake; and, with that sort of a -proposition facing you, I knew you would manage to do it somehow. I only -wish,” he added, “that I could be of some help to you.” - -The adjutant turned sharply about at the suggestion. Quick-witted, -discreet, diplomatic, and, above all, devoted to his cause, here was the -very helper for whom he had been seeking. - -“Help me!” He sprang to his feet. “You can, sergeant. You can help me -enormously. Are you willing to put in a day or two of scout work for me, -following up what may seem to be a series of absurd and irrelevant -investigations, but asking no questions until you are through, or until -I see fit to enlighten you as to my purpose?” - -“Try me!” said Cato, drawing himself up. - -Grail studied for a moment the eager face of the young noncom in front -of him; then nodded his satisfaction. - -“Good!” He drew from his pocket the stump of the cigarette he had found -outside Schilder’s office door, and showed it to the other. “You will -notice,” he said, “that this is an imported cigarette, not likely to be -found in the average tobacco shop. What I want you to do, therefore, is -to go, unostentatiously, through the saloons and small stationery stands -down on the river front, in the neighborhood of the Dolliver Foundry, -and find out for me, if possible, just where cigarettes of this kind are -kept in stock, and, if possible, learn the names of the customers who -have asked for them.” - -The sergeant signified his comprehension. “And what else, sir?” he -asked, handing back the cigarette after a careful examination. - -“I fancy,” Grail said, “that you will find your work pretty well cut out -for you along that one line. Still, you may have luck; and, in that -case, I would like to have you find out about a motor boat which arrived -yesterday, consigned to Otto Schilder.” - -“You will want me to use a disguise of some kind in making my inquiries, -I suppose, sir?” - -“Provided the disguise doesn’t make you too conspicuous--yes,” the -adjutant assented. “That was a point, however, that I intended leaving -largely to your own judgment. As a suggestion, though, it might be well, -if you could manage it, to play the part of a foreigner seeking a job at -the foundry--say, a Russian or a Pole.” - -“I think I can manage it,” Cato returned. “Why, captain, taking off that -Russky dialect is my strong specialty. I used to work at a rolling mill -at Portsmouth, Ohio, where there was a whole bunch of them.” And, to -illustrate his powers, he dropped into an imitation which left no doubt -in Grail’s mind as to his ability to make good. - -Accordingly, after a little further discussion, the sergeant started off -on his mission, while Grail, feeling as though a load had been removed -from his shoulders, hurried out to give orders for the inflation of the -dirigible balloon which formed a part of the equipment of the post. He -was the most enthusiastic aviator among the officers, and was regularly -permitted to take out the dirigible without going through the form of -making official application. - -No one asked him the purpose or object he had in view. Silently, and -with eyes averted, the men obeyed his orders; and the officers all kept -distinctly aloof, although usually when there was a flight to be -undertaken a crowd was very quick to gather. - -“Never mind,” Grail said to himself. “By to-morrow, if all goes well, -the tide will have turned, and they’ll be only too anxious to hear what -I have to say.” - -The preparations completed, he climbed into the light framework under -the big, swaying bag, and was just about to give the order “Let go!” -when, casting a final glance about, he chanced to observe that two of -the cords which held up the car were badly frayed. Had a flight been -attempted with them in that condition there could hardly have failed to -be a serious accident. - -Stopping his engine, Grail sprang to the ground, and faced the little -squad of men who had been helping him make ready. - -“This machine was in perfect condition when it was brought out of the -hangar,” he remarked to them grimly, as he pointed to the almost severed -ropes. “Consequently one of you must be responsible for this damage.” - -Then, as they hesitated, glancing uncertainly at one another, he took a -quick step forward, and caught up a sharp fragment of broken glass which -one of them--a new recruit by the name of Simmons--had attempted to drop -behind him. - -“Ah!” he cried triumphantly. “I thought I would be able to smoke out the -culprit. Now we will have the corporal of the guard.” - -He held the offender in a close grip until the corporal he summoned -arrived; then turned him over, with an injunction that he be held in -close confinement, and permitted to speak to no one, or send out any -word, until his own return. - -Presently the weakened cords were replaced with new ones, under his -instructions, and everything was again in readiness for the flight. - -It may seem strange that Grail did not immediately follow up so serious -an affair; but, as a matter of fact, he was so perturbed and puzzled by -the dastardly attempt on his life that he wanted a little time for -reflection. Was it merely the crazy freak of a simple-minded “rookie,” -or did the incident hold a deeper and more sinister significance? Could -it be a further development of the plot which had already resulted in -the colonel’s disappearance, and was Simmons merely a tool in the hands -of the secret conspirators? - - -Revolving these questions and many others in his mind, he gave the word -to cut loose, and a moment later he was hovering high up in the air -above the grassy parade ground. He turned the nose of his craft due -east, and, with his propeller whirring, flew away toward the river’s -long, crescentlike curve around the town. - -The dirigible from Fort Denton was not an unusual sight aloft, and -consequently attracted but little attention from the people of the city; -but out at the post Grail’s flight was watched with curious interest. -Officers and men alike, although pretending indifference, laid aside -their duties to follow, with eager gaze, the evolutions of the airship. -They gained but little for their pains, however. Out over the line of -smoky chimneys marking the water front they saw him go; then sail in a -straight line across the river, where he turned to the south, and, -having executed a couple of wide circles over the wildernesslike bottoms -below the town, headed back for home. But as to his purpose they -gathered not the slightest intimation. - -At that distance they could not discern that as he swept above the -weed-grown, bush-covered lowlands so frequently subject to overflow, he -leaned over in the car, and studied with the eye of the skilled -topographer every feature of the country beneath him. - -Upon a tumble-down shack in a clump of stunted willows his gaze lingered -longest, and as he estimated its distance from the river, as well as -from the few other habitations which dotted the waste acres, his eye -showed a glint of satisfaction. Unwilling, however, to reveal by his -movements the nature of the survey he was making to any possible -watcher, he did not hang long over the spot, or descend for a closer -view, but contented himself with two rounds, at high altitude, as -already described, and beat back westward toward the fort. - -With the wind against him, his return trip consumed more time than the -outgoing one, and it was well after noon when he finally effected a -skillful descent to the parade ground. He had been absent from the post -altogether a little over two hours. - -“Has Sergeant Cato returned yet?” was the first question he asked as he -sprang from the car; but, receiving a sullen negative for answer, bent -his steps, as soon as he had seen the dirigible safely put away, toward -the guardhouse. - -There he found himself confronted by Lieutenant Hemingway, who happened -to be acting as officer of the day. The younger man’s eyes fell, and he -showed his embarrassment by blushing painfully; but Grail was cool and -steady as a statue. - -“I wish to speak to Private Simmons, placed under arrest by my orders,” -he said brusquely. - -“Simmons?” Hemingway spoke rather superciliously. “Oh, yes--the man -brought in from the balloon squad. Why, he isn’t here. I heard that -there was only a slight disorderly charge against him, and I let him go -to his quarters.” - -“You _heard!_” repeated Grail icily. “Didn’t you know the nature of the -accusation against him?” - -The other manifested a shade of anxiety. “Why--er--no,” he stammered. “I -was not here, you see, when the fellow was brought in, and just as I -returned both the corporal and sergeant were called out by a fight over -at barracks.” - -“And you did not consult the book before taking this step?” - -“No,” Hemingway was obliged to confess. To tell the truth, he had deemed -it rather smart to set at liberty one whom he supposed to be merely a -victim of the adjutant’s ill humor; but now doubts began to assail him. - -Hastily he caught up the record of offenders for the day, and noted the -charge entered opposite the name of Simmons; then fell back, with a -little gasp. - -“Attempted murder!” he exclaimed. “Here, corporal! Sergeant! Somebody! -Hustle over to barracks, and bring back that man Simmons we had here a -while ago.” - -But, as might have been expected, the bird had flown; and, although a -squad was instantly ordered out to search the city for him, and the -police were put upon the case, both Hemingway and Grail knew that with -so much of a start the chances of catching him were very slim indeed. - -The culpable lieutenant, court-martial staring him in the face, started -to stammer some wild excuses; but Grail merely turned on his heel, and -marched off to his quarters. He had scored heavily over one of his -enemies, but he gathered little gratification from the fact. He would -have preferred a chance to question Simmons. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE HAPPIEST GIRL. - - -Under the circumstances, there seemed to be nothing for Grail to do but -await with what patience he could muster the return of Sergeant Cato; -and as the afternoon slipped away with no report from the latter, he -threw himself on a couch in the office at headquarters and presently -drifted off into a dose. Worn out by his exertions, the strain he had -been under, and his loss of sleep the night before, he was soon wrapped -in a profound slumber; and, as nothing happened to disturb him, five -o’clock still found him sleeping heavily. - -Meanwhile, the train from Chicago, bearing the distressed daughter of -the commandant, had arrived, and Major Appleby, who had gone down to -meet her, could only return a gloomy shake of the head to the unspoken -question of her wide, trouble-filled eyes. - -“Don’t ask me anything now, my dear,” he said, in a low tone. “We are -trying to keep the matter quiet for the present, and you can’t tell who -might overhear us in this crowd. As soon as we get outside, though, you -shall learn all there is to know. Mrs. Schilder is waiting for us in her -car, and wants to take you to her home.” - -“Mrs. Schilder?” The girl’s lips parted in a little gasp of surprise, -for she had only a very slight acquaintance with the wife of the foundry -manager. - -“Yes,” the major explained. “Mrs. Appleby and I would have been -delighted to have you with us, but it seemed preferable that you should -not be at the fort, where you would be kept constantly upset by all -sorts of unfounded rumors. So, as Mrs. Schilder pointed out that you -would probably be more comfortable in her home than anywhere else, we -accepted her invitation on your behalf.” - -Miss Vedant hesitated a moment, then gave a slight shrug, as though to -signify that it was a matter of indifference to her. Troubled and shaken -as she was, she was in no mood to protest against any arrangement they -might have made, and, anyway, it was too late now to draw back without -seeming ungracious, for the major, by this time, was conducting her out -through the tall, pillared entrance of the station, and she saw, a few -steps away across the plaza, Mrs. Schilder waiting for them in the -automobile. - -Mrs. Schilder, modishly gowned, and undeniably beautiful, in a dark, -foreign style, greeted the girl with just the proper touch of -sympathetic restraint to put Meredith at her ease. - -“I don’t want you to think me unduly urgent in this matter, my dear,” -she said, “but I could not help feeling that if I were in your place I -should want to be among friends who understood the situation. You must -not regard yourself as a guest with us, either; you are to consider -yourself at home, and do in all things just as you choose. At any rate,” -she added, with a reassuring pressure of the hand, “give me the -happiness of having you with me until your father is restored, which -must certainly be within a few hours.” - -Meredith glanced up eagerly. “You believe that?” she exclaimed, then -turned as if for corroboration to Major Appleby, who sat with them in -the tonneau. - -The major cleared his throat. “We are at least very close on the trail -of the Japanese spies who are undoubtedly responsible for the outrage,” -he assented guardedly, “For a time we were at sea, thinking they had -fled the city, but through a hint astutely obtained by Mrs. -Schilder”--he bowed pompously toward that lady--“from her butler, who is -also a Japanese, we are now confident that they are still in Brantford, -and, therefore, with the efforts we are making, must be run to earth in -very short time.” - -“Japanese spies?” Meredith repeated. “So that is what is back of the -affair? Remember, I know nothing except what was contained in your -telegram. Please tell me all the circumstances,” she pleaded. - -The major started to comply, with a labored, heavy account, but Mrs. -Schilder tactfully interposed, and, taking the recital into her own -hands, told in a few words the story of the occurrences at the foundry -the night before. - -“But why are Japanese spies suspected?” The girl’s brows wrinkled into a -little frown. “I see nothing in all this to indicate such a theory. Did -Captain Grail see any Japanese around?” - -“He did not say so,” stiffly responded the major. “To tell you the -truth, my dear, Captain Grail, beyond giving a bare account of the -incident, declined to commit himself in any way, or even to confer with -the other officers of the post over measures looking toward your -father’s recovery.” - -The girl stared at him almost incredulously. “Yet he must know more of -what happened than anybody else,” she cried. A wave of hot indignation -swept over her face at the thought that an officer so closely associated -with her father could from any cause show indifference at such a crisis. - -Involuntarily she drew back, with a hand on Mrs. Schilder’s arm. “Would -you mind taking me out to the fort before we go to your house? I must -see Captain Grail myself, and question him--now, at once. I cannot -understand what he means by such an attitude.” - -The major endeavored to dissuade her. “I doubt if it would do you any -good,” he urged. Then, hesitating, he excused himself to Mrs. Schilder, -and leaned over to whisper: “If you must know, my dear, Grail is not -popular at the fort just now. We have, in short, excellent reasons to -believe that he himself is implicated in the colonel’s disappearance.” - -Involuntarily she drew back, with a little cry of unbelief. -“Impossible!” she declared. “You cannot realize what you are saying, -major!” - -“I not only realize, but reiterate it,” he said solemnly. “More than -that, I have stated the case mildly to you, for we have evidence to -prove that his was the crafty brain which hatched up this whole -so-called mystery. Now, I am sure, you will see the futility of -attempting to gain any information from him.” - -“No.” She shook her head. “If what you say is true, then I think there -is more reason than ever that I should see Captain Grail.” - -With an air of determination, she leaned once more toward Mrs. Schilder, -who had discreetly turned her eyes away during the colloquy, and was -gazing out over the side of the car. “I am afraid the major must -consider me very self-willed,” she said, “but I am going to ask you -again if I may not be driven to the post?” - -Her hostess immediately bent forward to give the desired order to the -chauffeur, and, despite Appleby’s fuming, the car was whirled around and -headed for the new destination. Back down Carney Street they sped, past -the courthouse and city hall, and finally reached the fort. - -Inquiry having developed that Grail was in his office at headquarters, -the major, with an air of stern virtue, prepared to conduct Meredith to -him; but again Mrs. Schilder suavely interposed. - -“Perhaps Miss Vedant would prefer to see the adjutant alone,” she said, -laying a detaining hand on Appleby’s arm. - -Meredith gave her a quick glance of gratitude, and assuring them both -that she needed no one with her during the interview, hurried on through -the door. - -A moment later Grail was awakened by the announcement, “A lady to see -you, sir,” and he rose up, blinking and confused, to find her standing -before him. - -“You?” he cried in amazement, for he had never dreamed that Appleby and -the crowd would permit her to come near such a pariah as himself. “You, -Meredith!” - -Ormsby Grail had dreamed dreams centering about this fair-haired, -slender daughter of his colonel. He had seen her blossom from the child -he had once taken on his knee into a charming woman, and learned to love -her. But he had refrained from whispering any word of his love to her. -She was too young, he told himself; she could not possibly know her own -mind. Even when it was decided that she should go to Chicago for a year -to cultivate her remarkable voice, he still had not ventured to speak. -He would wait a little longer, he decided. She seemed to him no more -than a child. - -So, although he wrote to her frequently, in a friendly, brotherly sort -of fashion, and never let a week go by without some remembrance from -him, he sedulously concealed from her the real state of his feelings--or -thought he did--and never dared visit her in Chicago. - -Half extending his arms, he took a hasty step toward her, then halted -abruptly, the recollection sweeping over him of what she must have -heard. - -“You wished to see me?” he asked, in a controlled voice. - -“Yes.” Her glance met his steadily, although she was somewhat nervously -twisting her hands in their brown suede gloves. “I want to ask you about -father.” - -“Haven’t the others told you?” he inquired. Then, as she nodded, he -added, with a touch of defiance: “I suppose you have heard, too, what -they are saying about me?” - -“I have heard.” - -“And do you believe it?” - -“If I believed part of it,” she said, “I would be the happiest girl in -the world!” - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -NEW DEVELOPMENTS. - - -Grail stared at the girl in bewilderment as she repeated: “Yes, the -happiest girl in the world. For if I thought you were responsible for -his disappearance, as they say, I should know that no harm could -possibly have befallen him. It is because I am certain of your innocence -that I am apprehensive; and it is because I know you must be moving -heaven and earth in the effort to find him that I have come to ask you -what you have discovered. What faith can I put in Major Appleby’s -promises”--she gave a deprecating gesture--“when I see how he is -bungling things? But, surely, you can tell me whether or not there is -any real ground for hope?” - -A great flash of joy and wonder lighted Grail’s face. “Meredith,” he -cried huskily, “I never expected to feel so proud in all my life! You -don’t know what your trust and confidence mean to me!” - -Then, afraid that if he said more, he might say too much, he placed a -chair for her and drew up one for himself. - -“More than that,” he went on, “I am going to prove to you that your -faith is not misplaced. Take my word for it, your father shall be -restored to you within a very short time; before to-morrow morning, -unless I am very much mistaken.” - -Never yet, in their long acquaintance, had Grail failed to make good a -promise to her, and his assurance now brought a sigh of genuine relief -to her lips and a smile to her pale, anxious face. - -“Ah!” she exclaimed. “You mean that the running down of these Japanese -spies must result in disclosing father’s whereabouts?” - -“Japanese spies!” His lips curled contemptuously. “They exist only in -the imagination of Appleby and Hemingway.” - -“Precisely what I thought, too, when the major told me,” she said. “I -know, of course, that all the foreign nations keep secret agents hanging -around our forts and army posts, just as we do around theirs; but that -any of these men would go to such lengths struck me, on the face of it, -as ridiculous.” - -“There you are wrong,” Grail returned. “Ordinarily, I grant, you would -be right; but the colonel’s present series of experiments being -concerned with a new and surprising development in the use of the -wireless in warfare, has stirred these fellows up to a pitch where they -have been ready to dare almost anything. Besides, the chap who, I am -convinced, engineered this deal----” He caught himself just as he was on -the verge of revealing to her the point which had caused him most -concern in the affair. - -Dexterously he extricated himself from the situation by knocking a book -from the desk with his elbow and stooping over to regain it. - -“As I was about to say,” he resumed, “the chap who engineered this deal -was not a Japanese, but of a nation which furnishes spies of an even -more bold and subtle character.” - -He drew from his pocket the half-smoked cigarette which formed his -principal clew. - -“Are you sufficiently versed in such things to tell me of what make this -is?” he asked. - -“Russian,” she replied, without a moment’s hesitation. “The little -countess we used to know in Washington, you remember, smoked cigarettes -exactly like that.” - -“Exactly,” he said, “and the man for whom we have got to look in this -case is a Russian.” - -A thoughtful look came into Meredith’s eyes. “Dad was in Russia once, on -secret-service business himself,” she said; “and although they would -never tell me about it, mother confessed to me on one occasion that for -a long time she had been fearful of an attempt at revenge upon him, for -something that happened while he was on the mission. You don’t suppose, -do you, that this could in any way be an outcome of that old affair?” - -“Absurd!” he answered. “Why, it was almost twenty years ago that your -father was over there. If there was anything coming to him on that -score, I fancy he would have been called to account long before this.” - -Then, he deftly turned the subject to a discussion of the facts from -which he had built up the hypothesis he was following. - -“I had been on the lookout for a Russian spy, you see,” he explained, -“for I had been tipped off by Sasaku, one of the dining-room boys, who -is rather attached to me, that a fellow he had once seen chased out of -Tokyo was here in Brantford, showing considerable interest in doings at -the fort. Accordingly, I framed it up with Sasaku to get in with the -chap, on the plea of being a ‘gumshoe man’ himself, desirous of working -to mutual advantage, and gave him yesterday a bundle of fake papers to -fool the other with, and get him to divulge his name and his business. - -“That,” he added disdainfully, “is the sole basis for the ‘Japanese spy’ -story you have heard. And, by the way”--he glanced with a frown at his -watch--“I ought to have heard from Sasaku before this. He promised to -send me a communication at the very first opportunity.” - -“But where does the cigarette come in?” Meredith asked, a trifle -impatiently. - -“The cigarette? Oh, that was the connecting link. It is really the -corner stone to my entire theory; for although I very quickly decided -that the gumshoe artists were at the bottom of the job, I was, at first, -rather inclined to suspect Otto Schilder as the moving spirit. It seemed -pretty crude work for one of the kaiser’s men, I will admit; but there -was no one else handy to lay it to, and as a German he was, of course, -open to question. The discovery of the cigarette outside the office -door, however, cleared things up amazingly. I recollected a glint of -light I had seen flash across the doorway when the current was cut off, -and, by putting two and two together, it didn’t take me long to figure -out just about what had happened. The telltale spark I saw traversed the -aperture of the doorway from top to bottom; consequently, the cigarette -must have fallen or been dropped from above. Had the smoker been on the -roof, then? And was it possible that the colonel, seized and muffled as -he stood on the threshold, had been hauled up there by a rope? An -electric crane, though, with its long arm sweeping silently over the -yard, and lifting scrap iron across the fence to be loaded on cars -outside, gave me a more plausible idea.” - -“But if you knew so much,” Meredith interrupted, “why did you not at -once denounce these men?” - -“With what proof?” asked Grail. “Remember, some little time had elapsed -before I got this theory, and to identify the guilty men in that large -force of laborers would then have been practically impossible. Besides, -all the evidence I had to present was this cigarette butt; and, although -it was perfectly plain to me that it had been tossed away by one of the -men in the basket of the crane just before grabbing the colonel, I might -have had difficulty in getting others to see it in the same light. No, -no! To have shown my hand at that stage would have been simply to tip -all the fat into the fire.” - -“But what of father?” exclaimed Miss Verdant sharply. “Is no effort -being made to find him, or learn what has become of him?” - -“Assuredly,” Grail hastened to appease her. “That is, of course, the -object to which everything else must be subservient. Trust me, Meredith. -Take my word for it that your father is safe and sound, and will be with -you by this time to-morrow night.” - -“Is that ‘orders’?” she asked, in playful allusion to an old joke -between them, although her lip quivered as she tried to smile. - -“That’s ‘orders,’” assented Ormsby firmly, “and I want you to be enough -of a soldier’s daughter to obey them. You are all broken up by this -thing, and worn out by your trip, as well. What you’ve got to do now is -to take some rest, and quit worrying. Come! I’ll take you over to Major -Appleby’s house. I suppose you are stopping there?” - -“No,” she explained. “I am to be with Mrs. Schilder, I believe.” - -Grail looked up sharply, and seemed on the point of saying something, -but reconsidered the impulse. - -“You don’t need to tell me to trust you, captain.” She extended her -hand. “Indeed, if it were not for my reliance on you, I don’t know what -I should do.” - -The adjutant, choking back words that rose tumultuously to his lips, -escorted her to the door; then paused, with an involuntary exclamation, -to stare at the group of officers gathered about Mrs. Schilder’s car, -excitedly discussing an evening paper which one of them had just brought -in. - -Its flaring black headlines were plainly discernible to Grail, and in a -flash he read that his little Japanese friend and ally, Sasaku, had been -murdered in the city. - - - TO BE CONTINUED. - - - - -“I CROW.” - - -Many a “star” might well envy the most insignificant member of her -troupe the supreme sense of importance and satisfaction with which he -performs his little duty, be it only that of blowing out the candle -through the hole in the scenery when the hero aims his deadly rifle at -the flame and the cap explodes. - -Think of the pleasure his performance accorded this small boy, for -instance: - -First Boy--“You ought to come to the concert our music teacher is goin’ -to give.” - -Second Boy--“You goin’ to be in?” - -“Yes. I am one of the primmer donnas. We are goin’ to give a cantata.” - -“Wot’s that?” - -“Oh, it’s all about sunshine and storms and picnics and all sorts of -country things. It’s great.” - -“Do you sing all that?” - -“N-o. I’m only in the first scene: ‘Early mornin’ on the farm.’” - -“What do you do?” - -“I crow.” - - - - -THE WRONG PASSENGER. - - -One may, perhaps, presume so far upon old acquaintanceship as to indulge -occasionally in a mild, practical joke, but to attempt familiarity with -strangers is “another kind of game.” - -A city street arab was wont to play rather roughly with a good-natured -bulldog, owned by a shopkeeper of the neighborhood. One day the boy was -walking with a friend when he saw the dog approaching. - -“Hi! there’s Towse!” he cried. “Now see me scare him!” - -He stepped in front of the dog, with arms extended, and partially -blocked the passage. The animal looked surprised, stopped, and evidently -considered within himself what it would be best to do. - -“I never knew him to act like that,” said the joker. “He always lies -down on his back and rolls. I’ll stir him up a little.” - -With that he sprang at the dog and caught him by the ears. - -Towse was evidently amazed, but he proved equal to the occasion. -Fastening his teeth in the boy’s trousers, in startling nearness to an -expanse of bare knee, he held on like a vise. - -Just at that moment the boy caught sight of an unfamiliar spot of white -on the animal’s head, and dropped his hold to take at once to his heels, -leaving a goodly portion of woolen cloth in the creature’s mouth. - -“Run, Patsy, run!” he shouted to his chum. “He’s gone and turned hisself -into another dog!” - - - - -HOW LONG IS FIVE MINUTES? - - -In a murder trial before a court in the West, the prisoner was able to -account for the whole of his time, except five minutes, on the evening -when the crime was committed. His counsel argued that it was impossible -for him to have killed the man, under the circumstances, in so brief a -period, and on that plea largely based his defense, the other testimony -being strongly against his client. When the prosecuting attorney -replied, he said: - -“How long a time really is five minutes? Let us see. Will his honor -command absolute silence in the courtroom for that space?” - -The judge graciously complied. There was a clock on the wall. Every eye -in the courtroom was fixed upon it, as the pendulum ticked off the -seconds. There was breathless silence. The keen-witted counsel waited -until the tired audience gave a sigh of relief at the close of the -period, and then asked quietly: - -“Could he not have struck one fatal blow in all that time?” - -The prisoner was found guilty, and, as it was proved afterward, justly. - - - - -DON’T SNUB THE BOYS. - - -Don’t snub a boy because he wears shabby clothes. When Edison, the great -inventor, first entered Boston, he wore a pair of yellow linen breeches -in the depth of winter. - -Don’t snub a boy because his home is plain and unpretending. Abraham -Lincoln’s early home was a log cabin. - -Don’t snub a boy because he chooses a humble trade. The author of -“Pilgrim’s Progress” was a tinker. - -Don’t snub a boy because of physical disability. Milton was blind, and -Cato was deaf. - -Don’t snub a boy because he seems dull or stupid. Hogarth, the -celebrated painter and engraver, was slow at learning, and did not -develop as soon as some boys. - -Don’t snub a boy because he stutters. Demosthenes, the greatest orator -of Greece, overcame a harsh and stammering voice. - -Don’t snub any one; not alone because some day he may outstrip you in -the race of life, but because it is neither kind nor Christian. - - - - -KEEPING THEM DOWN. - - -Rich Youth--“I should not object to the work of earning my own living if -I had to, but what I should hate would be the officiousness and petty -tyranny of superiors. I should hate to have to bow to the whims of some -wealthy man not a bit better than myself.” - -Poor Youth--“That’s easily avoided. Be a typewriter, as I am. Employers -never put on airs over me. I know how to take the starch out of em.” - -“Eh? What do you do?” - -“Ask em to spell a hard word now and then.” - - - - -THE NEWS OF ALL NATIONS. - -Blames Cat for Loss of Ship. - -Captain Roland F. Quillen, of Bethel, Va., whose three-masted schooner -_William J. Quillen_ was sunk off Cape Hatteras after a collision with -the Norwegian steamship _Laly_, never again will take a cat to sea. He -attributes the accident, which nearly cost his life and the lives of his -crew, to a gray cat which he had aboard. - -“I’ve shipped for twenty-five years and always have taken along dogs,” -Captain Quillen said. “Just before I started from Baltimore for Mayport, -Fla., somebody stole my dog. So I got a cat--a gray cat. Cats are bad -luck, I guess. This was my first accident. The cat was lost.” - - -Turn Funeral Coach into a “Tango Car.” - -The dead business is dead in Atlantic City, N. J. This is the conclusion -of the management of the Atlantic City & Shore Fast Line after six -months’ experiment in specializing in the dying business. - -A half year back they went to considerable expense to have a finely -equipped trolley, twice the size of the ordinary cars, constructed to -carry funeral parties to the cemetery on the mainland. At the expiration -of the six months they found the car a dead loss. - -Work was started at once to make it a paying proposition. It is being -dismantled and will be transformed into a “tango car.” The conveyance -will have the central seats removed, a fine maple floor will be put down -and waxed. Then it will be put in special service to carry gay parties -to the country clubs on the mainland. They can tango their way over and -back again; in fact, never stop tangoing from the time the car starts -out from its station. - -“There’s more than one way of making ends meet,” declare the officials. - - -Woman Buys a Large Dairy. - -Mrs. Elsie Rothery, a Memphis woman, has bought and assumed active -management of a large dairy farm near Natchez, Miss. She purchased the -300-acre farm on which the Natchez Creamery is located, together with a -number of fine milk cows and the dairy equipment. - -She intends to conduct a modern dairy on an extensive scale. - - -Noted Woman Detective, Mrs. M. E. Holland, Dies. - -Mrs. M. E. Holland, who was called “America’s greatest woman detective,” -died recently at her home in Chicago. She was forty-eight years old and -had been ill for two weeks. She was recovering from an operation when -pneumonia set in. - -Mrs. Holland was editor of _The Detective_, official organ of the police -authorities and sheriffs of the country. She was internationally known -as a finger-print expert and had figured in some of the most important -cases in the country. A number of years ago she was hired by the -government to install in the secret-service bureau the finger-print -system of identification. - -She was a native of Galena, Ill., but had lived in Chicago many years. -She had the largest private rogues’ gallery in the world, and, with her -former husband, was joint partner in a large police-equipment house. She -owned personally a special make of handcuff and the patent right of the -Oregon boot, an affair which superseded the ball-and-chain device, and -was the patentee of a folding stretcher that has been adopted -universally in police circles. Mrs. Holland was the only woman in the -country holding honorary memberships in the associations of police -chiefs and detective-bureau chiefs throughout the United States, and was -a familiar figure at their conventions. - -Mrs. Holland was divorced from her first husband and was married to -Arthur McCarthy, a police sergeant, in January, 1914. She continued to -work with her former husband, however, in publishing _The Detective_. -Later she was divorced from McCarthy. - - -“Snooker” is New Pool Game. - -There’s a new game in New York called snooker. It is English pool, and -is played on a table six feet wide and twelve feet long. The pockets at -each corner and on the sides are smaller than those of the regulation -pool table, and in proportion the balls are smaller. - -Fifteen red balls are racked together at one end of the table. In back -of the pyramid is a black ball that counts seven for you every time you -succeed in putting it in the pocket. Directly in front of the apex of -the pyramid is a pink ball that is valued at six points. In the center -of the table is a blue, worth five, while at the opposite end of the -table are a yellow, green, and brown ball, worth two, three, and four -points. - -The game is played by shooting alternately at any of the other colored -balls. When the fifteen red balls are pocketed, the remaining -extra-point balls are played off in rotation. The penalties of the game -are just about as numerous as the creditors on the trail of the man who -is hard up. Snooker has resulted in putting the nose of one Mr. Kelly -much out of joint. - - -Old Ma Wolf a Jealous Mother. - -“All my sheep, gather in a heap, for I spy the woolly, woolly wolf,” -shouted an urchin standing in front of the wolf dens in the New York -Zoölogical Park recently, when some of his playmates gathered in the -park to watch the animals. The wolves he spied are Cherokee, Seneca, and -Iroquois, latest arrivals in the prairie-wolf pack, and they are just as -limber and wild as the Indians used to be on the plains of North Dakota, -from which Minnehaha, the mother wolf, came to the park a few years ago. - -Since the trio arrived, interest has centered about them more than any -other attraction in the park. Their mother is insanely jealous of them -and especially solicitous for their welfare. - -Only by patient watching and waiting was it possible for Alexander -Ferguson and Peter Romanoff, the keepers, to steal into the cage and -snatch the puppies away from Minnehaha. The howl she set up was chorused -by all the other wolves in the park, and this brought hundreds of -persons running in the direction of the wolf dens. - -Minnehaha was forgotten when the crowd discovered Miss Marcella Burke, -secretary to Raymond L. Ditmars, curator of the New York Zoölogical -Society, with Iroquois, Cherokee, and Seneca in her arms. The little -ones did not like the idea of being taken out of the cage, but Miss -Burke, who has handled a variety of animals in the course of her -work--more perhaps than any other young woman, excepting those engaged -in the circus business--petted the puppies and soon made them feel at -home. - -The children gathered around Miss Burke, and besought her to give them -the little wolves. One chap said that he had a dog like Seneca, and -another was certain that Cherokee was a spaniel and not a wolf at all, -while still another exclaimed that Iroquois was neither a dog nor a -wolf, but a cat. During the argument, Minnehaha never let up her -high-pitched staccato cry, manifesting clearly that the puppies were -neither dog nor cat, but hers at all hazards. - -It was not until her offspring were returned to the cage that she ceased -howling for them. Her coddling of the little ones kept the crowd amused -for some time, and Minnehaha tenderly picked each one up by the slack of -the neck and tucked them away in the cave. She snarled at the spectators -and stood guard at the cave hole, ready to resent another intrusion. - - -Elephant Famine New Horror of War. - -The European war has caused a shortage in elephants in this country, -according to Ernest Siegfried, manager of Louis Ruhe’s wild-animal farm -at Woodside, N. Y. Yesterday he received a rush order for six elephants -to be delivered at once to the Barnum & Bailey circus, but he was unable -to fill it. - -“The activity of the fleets of the Allies in stopping German commerce is -responsible for this shortage,” said Mr. Siegfried. “The importation of -elephants has been carried on chiefly in the past by Germans through the -port of Hamburg.” - -Mr. Siegfried declared that his firm was fortunate in getting out of -Germany, just before the war started, a considerable consignment of -other wild animals, among the number being fourteen lions, two tigers, -two leopards, three wolves, two polar bears, three brown Russian bears, -three camels, and a number of deer and kangaroos. - -While there is some demand for these animals, they cannot take the place -of elephants, and there is a danger that some of the smaller circuses -throughout the country will have to go through this season at least -without their elephants. - - -Woman Routs Burglar. - -A burglar climbed up to the window of the guest chamber in Judge John E. -Keeler’s house on Strawberry Hill, in Stamford, Conn., at four o’clock -the other morning. - -A New York woman whose name was withheld occupied the guest chamber. She -awoke when the burglar had half of his body inside the open window, -shoved him out of the window, and hurled the water pitcher after him. -Then she became hysterical. - -The burglar escaped. - - -Aged Ninety; Still a Sprinter. - -David Anderson, of 33 Chestnut Street, Yonkers, N. Y., celebrated his -ninetieth birthday by a little sprint around the block in which he -lives. Anderson won a gold medal in a hundred-yard dash when he was -seventy-four. He has an open challenge to any man not more than ten -years his junior. - - -Americans in the Air Corps. - -The formation of an American section in the French aviation corps has -been completed by Norman Prince, of Boston, and soon will be in active -service. It consists of seven pilots, who will fly a new type of -160-horse-power monoplane. Three of the seven American aviators have -qualified for the military certificate at Pau. They are Norman Prince, -William Thaw, of New York, and Andre Ruel, of Chicago. The others -expected to pass the tests are Elliott C. Cowden, junior, of New York; -James Bach, an American, living in Paris; B. Hall, of Texas, and Frazier -Curtis, of Boston. Prince says that he needs a reserve of three pilots, -at least. Beckwith Havens, winner of the Chicago-Detroit flying-boat -cruise, may enlist. - - -Oddities of Ball Players. - -The lamented “Bugs” Raymond, world-famous pitcher of the New York Giants -and St. Louis Cardinals, always carried about him his pressmen’s union -card. It was always in his pocket on the ball field. Bugs was very proud -of it, just as he should have been, for a finer bunch of lovers of true -sport than the pressmen on newspapers never lived. - -Larry Lajoie, the famous swatter, has a pair of rubber-soled canvas -shoes. Those shoes were on his feet when he first played with the Fall -River team. Lajoie never has parted with them. They have a special place -in his suit case. - -Frank Chance, when with the Chicago Cubs, used to seek four-leaved -clovers. So does Hughey Jennings to this day. - - -Mysterious Message in Heart of Potato. - -A great deal of interest and curiosity has been created in the vicinity -of West Nashville, Tenn., by a message found in an Irish potato. - -Mrs. Walter Lovell was preparing some potatoes for dinner when her knife -struck something she thought was a cob, but on examination proved to be -a heavy piece of brown paper, about a foot long and five inches wide, -with the following writing on it: - -“Peter Johnson, Edmore, Mich.; Harry Hansen, Edmore, Mich. Please -answer.” - -This was written with an indelible pencil. The peeling of the potato was -smooth, with no indication of a plug. The potato was unusually large, -weighing about three pounds, and had grown firmly around the paper, -leaving a cavity when it was removed. - -As to how the paper was grown into the potato with no indications on the -peeling remains a mystery. - - -Big Grizzley is Hotel Guest. - -An unusual guest appeared recently at the Stewart Hotel, in San -Francisco, when a huge grizzly bear, accompanied by Fred Thompson, his -owner, and nature man Joe Knowles, waddled up to the desk and gravely -went through the formalities of registering, giving his name as “Baby of -the Rockies.” - -After a good feed on lumps of sugar, Baby, who weighs slightly over 500 -pounds, took a trip up the elevator, which he jammed on his way up. -Arrived at the seventh floor, Baby and escort visited a party of women. -The grizzly was captured by Thompson five years ago. - - -Four Legs Fatal to This Curious Chicken. - -The town of Cheshire, Conn., has developed a chicken which ought to have -been born in the days of Phineas T. Barnum, so that its praises could be -properly expressed by the world’s greatest showman and purveyor of -natural and man-made wonders, more frequently the latter. - -Joseph Wheeler, a prominent poultry raiser, found among a recently -hatched Rhode Island Red brood a chicken perfectly formed except that it -had four legs. All went well for nearly a week. Then it was discovered -that the two sets of legs were arranged for locomotion in opposite -directions. The result was that the chick pulled itself apart. - -People from all over the countryside came to see it, and in death it has -been turned over to a taxidermist. - - -How Ships Take Oil on Run. - -The method of supplying vessels, especially battleships, with fuel oil -at sea is remarkably simple when compared with that required for -coaling. A tanker is run up to within about six hundred feet of the -vessel needing oil, a tow line is attached, and a second line supports a -hose through which the oil is pumped. Meanwhile the ships are steaming -at an hourly speed of from ten to twelve knots. An automatic tension -furnishes the necessary elastic medium for paying out and taking up the -supporting cable, as required by motion of the vessel. - -By this method it is possible to transport from the tanker to the vessel -taking on the fuel nearly seven hundred barrels an hour. - - -Owes Life to Sleeping Dog. - -A dog averted perhaps a fatal injury to its owner, J. H. Adams, a farmer -near Polo, Ill. He fell thirty feet from the haymow of his barn and -alighted upon the dog, which was lying asleep. The dog was killed, but -the man escaped. - - -Facts for You. - -For the convenience of travelers, an English firm is compressing tea -into blocks that resemble American plug tobacco. - -After experimenting for thirty-two years, a New York man claims to have -perfected a synthetic gold, made from copper and aluminium. - -A French inventor’s parachute can be guided in falling by pulling cords -to draw in its sides. - -Extensive deposits of iron ore have been discovered in Bavaria, the ore -lying close to the surface of the ground. - -In the last twenty years the per-capita consumption of paper in the -United States has increased about six-fold. - -Aluminium can be rolled into sheets one-two-thousandth of an inch in -thickness that are as strong as tinfoil. - -Charcoal made of peat and formed into briquettes has been used -successfully for melting iron ore in England. - -A new sanitary holder for tumblers is made of spring wire, so shaped as -to touch the glass as little as possible. - -To enable a man to walk on an inclined roof, spiked frames, to be -strapped under the shoes, have been patented. - -Experts from the United States Department of Agriculture are making an -extensive study of the coconut industry in the Philippines. - -To enable visitors to get a closer view of the whirlpool of Niagara -Falls, a passenger-carrying cableway will be built across the river. - -California possesses more than one-twelfth of the hydroelectric power -development of the United States, about 450,000 horse power. - -A violet-rays water-sterilizing apparatus invented in France -automatically opens a valve and diverts the water into a drain if the -rays should stop. - -Experiments are under way with glass for spectacles intended to filter -out the injurious rays of artificial light, leaving the effect of -sunlight. - -A new deepest hole in the earth is a well that has been bored in Silesia -to a depth of 7,348 feet, 6,848 feet of which has been lined with iron -tubing. - -A New South Wales irrigation dam, which will cost $3,680,000, will -impound 33,380,000,000 cubic feet of water, backed up in a lake forty -miles long. - -By authority of the Brazilian government, the railways of that country -and Paraguay will be connected, providing another transcontinental line -for South America. - -For finding leaks in motor-cycle tires there has been invented a box to -fit over them in compartments of which is cotton that is moved by the -escaping air as it passes over a hole. - - -Raise Your Own Food. - -Sufficient vegetables can be raised on a quarter-acre lot to supply a -family of six persons for an entire year if close attention is given to -the rotation and succession of crops, says the Federal Department of -Agriculture. The same lot will accommodate such permanent crops as -asparagus, rhubarb, and small fruits and berries, if care is taken in -arranging the garden. It will provide fresh vegetables for the summer -and enough for canning for use in the winter. - -A smaller area, such as is found in the average city back yard, will -accommodate several of the smaller crops, such as lettuce, peas, -parsley, radishes, beets, and onions, all of which are in constant -demand by the average housewife. - - -Pigeons Overrule Solomon. - -According to an order of Judge Beall, in special sessions court, of -Yonkers, N. Y., a flock of pigeons was permitted to determine ownership. -The birds were in the cote of William Warholy, who asserted they -belonged to him. John Yosko was also a claimant, charging the pigeons -had been stolen from his cote. - -Recalling that pigeons are credited with a wonderful instinct in finding -their own roosts, Judge Beall ordered two policemen to release the -pigeons in dispute and report the result. - -One-half of the number of birds flew to Warholy’s cote and the others to -Yosko’s cote, thereby reserving decision for the judge. - - -Garden Rake is Life-saver. - -Jennie Reed, four-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Reed, of Grand -Rapids, Mich., owes her life to a garden rake. The little girl fell into -a cistern while playing with little Raymond Algra, a neighbor boy. The -boy called his mother and told her Jennie was in the cistern. Mrs. Algra -seized a garden rake, which had been left near by, and drew the child to -safety. Jennie was delivered to her mother little worse for her cold -plunge. - - -Prehistoric Race Relics Found in Nebraska. - -Ruins left by some prehistoric race in the vicinity of Howe, Neb., have -recently been inspected and studied by Professor Gerard Fowke, the St. -Louis geologist, who is curator of the St. Louis Museum. - -Mr. Fowke has been gathering scientific data of the primitive -inhabitants of the Missouri Valley, and he investigated the remains of -their civilization. He began with the ancient ruins north of Kansas City -and followed the west bank of the river northward, tracing the northern -retreat of these ancient farmers and gardeners. - -After an exhaustive examination of the ruins found at Howe, Neb., and at -Peru, the professor is of the opinion that the ancient remains recently -discovered near White Cloud, Kan., were of works made by the same race. -Considerable work has been done at Howe under the direction of C. L. -Meek, and a large number of the bone and horn gardening instruments have -been unearthed. The tools for the most part were found cached beneath -what had once been the floors of the dwellings, where they were buried -in beds of ashes. - -Scientists are now of the belief that a number of the remains found -along the Missouri River and the neighboring country were those of a -civilization which preceded that of the Indians. - -Skeletons discovered by Robert P. Gilder, of Omaha, and now in the -University of Nebraska museum, are declared by scientists to greatly -antedate the Indian. The skulls show much less brain capacity than those -of the Indian, and have the very receding forehead characteristic of the -early members of the race, and but little higher than the ape or gorilla -type. - - -Well Stops Flowing at Night. - -Hawkinsville, Ga., has a well which refuses to work at night. This well, -which is located at the county jail, has an estimated flow of about -fifty gallons of water per minute until about a year ago, when it -suddenly and without apparent cause quit flowing entirely and remained -dry until about a month ago, or just after the earthquake in Italy, when -it commenced flowing again, the flow this time being not over two or -three gallons per minute. But the strange thing about this well is that -it flows only in daytime. It begins flowing about nine o’clock in the -morning and quits about the same time in the evening, and remains dry -all night. - - -Missing Police Pet is Found with Kittens. - -“Now, Annie; now, Annie,” crooned Captain of Detectives Walker on his -knees at the central police station, in Cleveland, Ohio, “nobody’s going -to hurt em. Say, George, better give that teeny one some of that milk. -It looks as if it needs some.” - -And Lieutenant George Matowitz, assisted by Lieutenant Charles Sterling, -obeyed the commands of their superior, picked up a kitten in the corner, -and administered nourishment via a bottle and nipple. - -Annie, feline mascot of the police department, was discovered after a -disappearance lasting four days. Hidden behind the telephone booths in -the reporters’ room at the central station, she was found nursing her -litter of kittens. - -The police department rejoiced, for Annie is the only official mascot at -the station, and her disappearance had caused no small amount of worry -among Cleveland’s finest. - -Captain Walker sent to the nearest drug store for a bottle and nipple -and obtained a quart of milk, which was administered to all the little -newcomers by Lieutenants Sterling and Matowitz, while Annie, secure in -the grasp of Walker, arched her back and otherwise indicated her feline -rage. - - -Villainous Bugs to Pose for the Movies. - -Bugs in movies--ten or twenty-legged insects posing for the camera--are -promised by a new entrant into the picture field, the division of -entomology at the Minnesota College of Agriculture. The various -creepers, borers, and aviators, after they have been placed on the film, -will be routed over a circuit of Minnesota towns. The promoters of the -venture are confident that their “star” bugs are sure to make a hit. - -Only bold, dangerous villains, the most destructive known to exist in -the State, are sure of a position in the cast. They are to be shown in -the native environment, and all their destructive operations reproduced -before those who suffer from their malicious activities. - - -Has a Lamb with Eight Legs. - -Martin Werner, living near High Ridge, Mo., has a lamb which has eight -legs. The lamb is otherwise normal. It is considered a remarkable -curiosity by Mr. Werner’s neighbors. - - -Heliograph to Sell Goods. - -Perhaps the most novel of all methods of selling goods is that devised -by a grocer in Tonasket, Wash., who uses the heliograph for signaling -inquiries and quotations to a forest-service station located fifteen -miles away across the mountains, and receives orders flashed back by the -same method. The grocer’s heliograph is an improvised instrument, -consisting only of a mirror held in front of an automobile headlight. -With this he flashes his messages in the code used by the forest -service. - - -Electricity in a Fence Kills Three. - -Three persons were killed and two badly shocked by current from a -high-voltage wire which broke and fell across the rear fence of a house -on Grover Street, Los Angeles, Cal. The 2,200 volts in the wire set fire -to the fence across which it fell. Two men were killed when they threw -buckets of water on the flames. A woman seized her husband’s hand and -fell dead. - - -War Chiefs Begin by Prayer. - -Lord Curzon’s statement in the House of Lords that Lord Roberts had -conducted family prayers for his household for fifty years, is -supplemented by data collected by the _Church Family Newspaper_ -regarding Lord Fisher, first sea lord, and Lord Kitchener. - -“We learn, on unimpeachable authority,” says the journal, “that Lord -Fisher makes a habit of going to a certain church practically every day -for prayer and meditation before commencing his responsible duties. - -“We understand that Lord Kitchener follows out a similar rule whenever -he is in London.” - - -“Tipperary” Causes Mix-up of Nations. - -Allan McAtee, Scotch, of Bridgeport, Ohio, asked two Austrian girls to -give ear while he sang “Tipperary.” - -He was interrupted by Policeman Tom Howley, formerly of County Donegal, -Ireland, who arrested him for disorderly conduct. - -Next morning McAtee faced Mayor Herman A. Schafer, German by right of -descent, who fined McAtee one dollar. - -Harry Wilson, an American and a friend of McAtee’s, paid the fine. - - -Fuel Value of Wood. - -The fuel value of wood is in weight about half that of coal. But the -forest-service laboratory at Washington has determined that a cord of -seasoned hickory, oak, beech, birch, hard maple, ash, elm, locust, -longleaf pine, or cherry equals a ton of coal; a cord and a half of -short leaf pine, hemlock, red gum, Douglas fir, sycamore, or soft maple, -and two cords of cedar, redwood, poplar, catalpa, Norway pine, cypress, -brasswood, spruce, or white pine are needed to equal in heat a ton of -coal. - - -Eighteen Pigs Young Sow’s Record. - -Lawrence Murphy, of Pilot Knob, Ind., has a bigboned Poland China sow -that had a litter of eighteen pigs. Believing this number more than the -sow could care for, Murphy took five of the pigs away to raise by hand, -but in this he was unsuccessful. - -The sow at present has only ten pigs, she having laid on three of them -at time of birth. The sow weighs 350 pounds and is not yet two years -old. Her record is nine pigs in her first litter and eighteen in her -second, which is considered quite extraordinary. - - -Serves as Juror at Eighty-five Years. - -A. R. Wright, who is serving as a juror at this term of district court -in Fort Dodge, Iowa, despite his eighty-five years, is probably the -oldest man that ever has served on a jury in Iowa. Notwithstanding his -advanced years, Mr. Wright is in possession of all of his faculties. - -He saw a dispatch in a local paper recently about a man seventy-eight -years of age who served on a jury, and he decided to go him one better. - - -Boa Tries to Eat Zoo. - -Ten pythons, a crate of parrakeets, now reposing inside the largest of -the giant snakes; armadillos, boa constrictors, monkeys, parrots, -Theodora, a baby bear; Brazilian wild cats and South American birds of -all combinations of brilliant colors were part of the cargo of the -Lamport & Holt liner _Terence_, which docked in New York recently. - -In spite of the varied temperaments of the members of the party, the -trip was calm and peaceful, except for one dary day, when “Old Tom,” the -largest python, broke loose and devoured a crate of parrakeets to -appease the appetite engendered by the sea breezes. Tom fell asleep -while digesting the crate, however, and was bundled back into captivity -before he awoke. - -The zoölogical consignment is the property of Henry Bartels, of 72 -Cortlandt Street, and was shipped to him by his brother Ferdinand, who -has been collecting beasts and birds in the Amazon region to fill the -hole in the wild-animal trade left when Hagenbeck was put out of -business by the war. - - -Countess Szechenyi Invents War Game. - -Countess Szechenyi, who was Miss Gladys Vanderbilt, of New York, and -Countess Sigray, daughter of the late Marcus Daly, have invented a -popular war game for Budapest. It arose from an argument between the -two, as each has a pet theory as to when the war will end. The game -consists of writing forecasts of the date of the close of the struggle, -sealing them in envelopes, and filing them to be read after peace is -declared. A growing number of people, lured by the chance of saying, “I -told you so,” are canning their own opinion with red wax and ceremony. - - -Dog Saves Man from Attack by a Park Buffalo. - -James Crowley, keeper of the menagerie in Central Park, New York, who -has charge of the herd of buffalos and bears in the pens near the -Arsenal, had a narrow escape from injury, when one of the biggest -buffalos of the herd attacked him. Crowley’s pet Airedale terrier rushed -at the big buffalo and kept the animal busy long enough to let Crowley -escape. The dog then made a dash for safety and managed to get out of -the pen. - -Crowley went to the buffalo pen just when his animal charges were -enjoying breakfast. In the pen he was surprised to find the body of an -old pet rooster, “Dick,” evidently a victim of a snow storm. “Black -Diamond,” who is the fighter of the herd of buffalos and about the -biggest of the lot, was not so much interested in his breakfast that he -did not see Crowley, and when the latter’s back was turned, he sneaked -up behind him. - -It would have fared badly for Crowley, for the buffalo was coming at -full speed, with head lowered when the dog interfered and attacked the -animal. Crowley then saw his danger and escaped before the buffalo could -get free from the dog, and in a few minutes more the dog, knowing that -danger to his master was past, came racing to safety out of the pen. - - -Sings as Convicts Weep. - -Mrs. Mary Greer McLane, daughter of Bishop Greer, of New York, sang -Easter hymns recently for the prisoners in Sing Sing prison. With her -sister and father she entered the chapel of the prison, where every -bench was filled. Her audience listened in absolute silence. When she -had finished, more than one gray sleeve was used as a handkerchief. - -Bishop Greer conducted the Episcopal services, and Mgr. Evers, of New -York, and Father Cashin the Roman Catholic services. - - -His First Ride Proves Fatal. - -Upon the very first ride on the motor cycle for which he had been saving -for years, Samuel Leechman, twenty-six years old, a salesman, of New -York, was killed before he had gone fourteen blocks. - -On Central Park West he swerved at Seventy-ninth Street to avoid a -passenger from a trolley car. The wheels skidded and Leechman was -thrown. The police could get no ambulance for half an hour, and then -Leechman was dead. - -Friends say motor cycling had always been Leechman’s hobby, but he had -not been able to purchase one until the day of his death. - - -Hog Nearly Eight Feet Long. - -A hog weighing 1,210 pounds and less than two years old is the record in -swine raising made by Colonel W. E. Wimpey, of De Kalb County, Ga. The -hog is 7 feet 10 inches long, 39½ inches high, and 74½ inches around the -body. - - -Cupid Calls Mayor to Aid of Pastor. - -Backed up with a letter of commendation from the Bishop of Ontaria and -kind words from other persons of prominence, a clergyman of the Church -of England, from Barrie, Canada, has asked Mayor Mitchel, of New York -City, to find him a wife. - -When the mayor replied he had no means of obtaining wives, but would be -glad to publish his letter, the minister sent the following: - -“DEAR SIR: This is to thank you for kindly acceding to my request to aid -me in finding a wife, and you may publish my want. I desire a well-bred, -cultured woman, healthy, cheerful, preferably not over thirty years of -age. For publication let me repeat that I am an Episcopalian minister, -graduate of a leading university, healthy, vigorous, bright, artistic, -practical, affectionate, and very devoted where deserved. - -“I send you credentials that will enable you to attest my position and -social standing. - -“Of course, all communications will be honorably treated by me as -strictly confidential.” - -In his letter, which was enclosed, the bishop wrote: - -“He is in good health, very active, full of pluck and energy. He could -be designated as a manly man. He is about thirty years old, and has no -ties.” - -A letter from M. L. Mackenzie King, director of the Rockefeller -Foundation for Investigation of Industrial Relations in Ottawa, to the -clergyman, which he sent to the mayor, said that Mr. King had received -“an exceedingly kind and generous letter” on the clergyman’s behalf from -her royal highness, the Princess Frederica, of Brunswick and Lunenburg, -which letter was written “by her royal highness in her own hand.” - -Barrie is a town of 5,500 people, with several manufacturing -establishments and other industries, about sixty-four miles northwest of -Toronto. It is the county seat of Simcoe County. - -Any woman desiring to communicate with the clergyman on matrimony may -address him at Post-office Box 701, Barrie, Ont. - - -Ate All the Rolls in Sight--Three. - -The most striking effect of the eight months of war on Vienna has been -the banishment of the roll which has made the Austrian capital famous. -The Café Imperial on rare occasions with late coffee still serves white -rolls. The other evening three were brought to a party of six, just as -the party was finishing the meal, and an American girl, who came late, -ate all three. The waiter’s voice was full of real pathos as he pointed -out the girl to the manager and said: “That, sir, is the fraülein who -has eaten three of our rolls. I can’t understand how she dared.” No -other hotel serves anything but gray war bread, and the signing of peace -is spoken of as the day of the restoration of the Vienna roll. - - -Fireman with a Tough Head. - -Three thousand New Yorkers gasped when an iron shutter fell three -stories, striking a fireman squarely on the head. Two minutes later an -ambulance corps couldn’t find a fireman who would admit his head had -been bruised. - - -Has Fireproof Cotton Press. - -J. R. Roddie, a negro of Muskogee, Okla., has invented and obtained a -patent upon an all-steel and fireproof cotton press. Not only does the -new press obviate the danger of fire, but the claim is made for it that -it can be operated by one man, whereas the present cotton presses -require two and three men to operate, and that it can be built for -one-half the cost of the presses now in use. - - -Offered Fifteen Cents to Settle. - -An unidentified autoist, after running into a rig driven by Mrs. Frank -Reynolds, Mount Holly, N. J., and tossing her and the horse several feet -into a ditch along the roadside, stopped his car, turned around, and -offered to settle the affair by paying her fifteen cents for a broken -strap on the horse’s harness. She refused to accept his offer. - -Mrs. Reynolds is a large woman, and received a jolting from which she -will not recover for several days. No bones were broken. The horse was -severely injured. Mrs. Reynolds secured the number of the machine, and -will sue the driver for damages. - - -Rye Bread Fad Lifts German Flour Ban. - -Some of the restrictions against the use of wheat flour in Germany for -making bread and pastry have been removed, says a dispatch from -Amsterdam. This step has been taken because of the increased consumption -of rye bread, which resulted in the use of an undue proportion of that -grain rather than wheat. - - -Lone, Timid Prisoner Released on Parole. - -Elwood Armstrong, the sole prisoner in the Sussex County Jail, in -Georgetown, Del., who recently complained to Sheriff Jacob West that he -was lonely and afraid to remain in the prison at night without company, -will no longer be afraid. - -Recently he was paroled for two years to Charles S. Richards, of -Georgetown, formerly secretary of state, and brother of Robert H. -Richards, of Wilmington, formerly attorney general. This was done after -he had confessed to the theft of five dozen eggs. - -Accordingly the jail is now empty. The turnkey has taken a vacation, and -the sheriff does not have enough to do to keep him busy. - -Chickens are roosting in the cells, some of which are modern steel -affairs, and the jail yard will soon be planted in early corn. - -The dry forces say it is a concrete example of what happens when the -liquor traffic is forbidden. This is a local-option section. - - * * * * * - - 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--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. -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 Keno 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 Massage. -132--Broken Bars. -133--Won by Magic. -134--The Secret of Shangore. -135--Straight to the Goal. -136--The Man They Held Back. - - -Dated April 24th, 1915. - -137--The Seal of Gijon. - - -Dated May 1st, 1915. - -138--The Traitors of the Tropics. - - -Dated May 8th, 1915. - -139--The Pressing Peril. - - -Dated May 15th, 1915. - -140--The Melting-Pot. - -=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 THE DUPLICATE NIGHT; WHERE'S THE -COMMANDANT?-[CONTINUED.] *** - -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. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <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:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Duplicate Night; Where's the Commandant?-[continued.]</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'>Editor: Chickering Carter</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 21, 2021 [eBook #66782]</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 THE DUPLICATE NIGHT; WHERE'S THE COMMANDANT?-[CONTINUED.] ***</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_DUPLICATE_NIGHT"><b>THE DUPLICATE NIGHT;</b></a></th></tr> -<tr class="c"><td><a href="#CHAPTER_Ia">CHAPTER: I., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IIa"> II., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IIIa"> III., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IVa"> IV., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_Va"> V., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIa"> VI., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIIa"> VII., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIIIa"> VIII., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IXa"> IX. </a></td></tr> - -<tr class="c"><th><a href="#Wheres_the_Commandant">WHERE’S THE COMMANDANT?-[continued.]</a></th></tr> -<tr class="c"><td><a href="#CHAPTER_Vb">CHAPTER: V., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIb"> VI., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIIb"> VII. </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"><b>Terms to NICK CARTER STORIES Mail Subscribers.</b></p> - -<p class="c">(<i>Postage Free.</i>)</p> - -<p class="c"><b>Single Copies or Back Numbers, 5c. Each.</b></p> - -<table cellpadding="2" summary="deprecated"> -<tr><td align="left">3 months</td><td align="left">65c.</td><td align="left">One year</td><td align="left">$2.50</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">4 months</td><td align="left">85c.</td><td align="left">2 copies one year</td><td align="left">4.00</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">6 months</td><td align="left">$1.25</td><td align="left">1 copy two years</td><td align="left">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. 141.</b> <span style="margin-left: 2em; -margin-right:2em;"> NEW YORK, May 22, 1915. </span> <b>Price Five Cents.</b><br /> -</p> - -<h1><a name="THE_DUPLICATE_NIGHT" id="THE_DUPLICATE_NIGHT"></a>THE DUPLICATE NIGHT;<br /> -<small>Or, NICK CARTER’S DOUBLE REFLECTION.</small></h1> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_2" id="page_2">{2}</a></span></p> - -<p class="cb">Edited by CHICKERING CARTER.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Ia" id="CHAPTER_Ia"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> -<small>THE DUPLICATE NIGHT.</small></h2> - -<p>It was a fateful moment—one to be remembered.</p> - -<p>A fateful moment in the lives and fortunes of some to whom there then -came no premonition of evil, no dread of the terrible sword that hung by -a hair above their heads, upon whom was cast no shadow through the glare -and glitter around them, amid the gay festivities in which each played a -part.</p> - -<p>It was a fateful moment, one brought only by chance to the notice of -Nick Carter.</p> - -<p>It was remembered by the celebrated detective, moreover, only because of -two incidents that would have been entirely unnoticed by a less keen and -discerning man.</p> - -<p>One was the single stroke of a tall, old-fashioned clock in the main -hall of the great mansion.</p> - -<p>It struck the half after ten.</p> - -<p>The hall in which it struck, and in which Nick Carter then was standing, -was that of the magnificent Carrington mansion on Washington Heights, -the home of the wealthy railway magnate, Horace K. Carrington, a -millionaire fifty times over, and prominent with his handsome wife in -the most fashionable and exclusive circles of New York society.</p> - -<p>It was the night of the fifteenth of January, memorable for an unusual -warm spell of more than a week, which had melted the last vestige of -snow and drawn the last sign of frost from the ground.</p> - -<p>It was also memorable as the night of a private masked ball in the -Carrington mansion, in which something like three hundred of their most -intimate friends had gathered.</p> - -<p>The avenue and streets adjoining the extensive estate were thronged with -conveyances of the most expensive kinds, limousines, and costly motor -cars predominating.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_3" id="page_3">{3}</a></span></p><p>The elegant grounds, covering nearly an entire square, were almost as -bright as day under the glare of a myriad of electric lights suspended -among the trees of the surrounding park.</p> - -<p>The superb mansion itself was ablaze from basement to roof. Its broad -halls and spacious, sumptuously furnished rooms were thronged with -masked guests, many in elaborate fancy and historic costumes, and some -in nondescript attire.</p> - -<p>Courtiers and princes rubbed elbows with clowns and jesters. Queens in -regal raiment hobnobbed in corners and alcoves with country bumpkins, -while the whirl of the dance presented a kaleidoscopic picture, the -details of which would require a volume. It was a weird, yet dazzling -picture, with the gleam and glitter of jewels of inestimable worth.</p> - -<p>Aside from the numerous officers and guardians in and about the -extensive grounds, guardians of diamonds and gems that would have -aggregated millions, two men in evening dress and of refined and -unofficial bearing mingled with the servants and other house -functionaries in various parts of the mansion, apparently having only an -eye to the general conduct of affairs.</p> - -<p>These two men were Nick Carter and his chief assistant, Chick Carter, -both carefully disguised, the balmasque feature of the gathering and the -unusual opportunity for knavery that it presented, in view of costly -jewels worn by his guests, having led their host to secretly employ the -two famous detectives as safeguards against designing intruders and -possible crime.</p> - -<p>At precisely half past ten, the fateful moment mentioned, Nick Carter -was standing in the main hall and near the front door of the house. He -could see the entire length of the hall, the broad stairway to the -second floor, and through several open doors the throng of dancers in -the adjoining rooms. All of them still wore masks, eleven o’clock having -been the hour stipulated for their removal.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_4" id="page_4">{4}</a></span></p> - -<p>Mingled with the strains of orchestral music the single stroke of the -clock reached the detective’s ear. There was no mistaking the sweet and -mellow resonance of its bell.</p> - -<p>At the same moment a woman, threading her way between numerous other -persons in the hall caught the detective’s eye.</p> - -<p>She was one of the guests, and her costume spoke for itself. She was -clad completely in black, from her dainty ties to the mask that hid her -face and the veil that partly concealed her hair and fell in picturesque -folds over her shapely neck and shoulders. But this ebon costume was -bespangled with countless glittering stars and radiant diamonds.</p> - -<p>Plainly enough, she was a personification of—Night.</p> - -<p>Nick thought it a striking costume, one that set off to advantage the -fine, graceful form of the woman. He watched her furtively while she -came through the hall and went up the stairs to the second floor. He -could see the gleam and glitter of her eyes, but no other feature of her -face, yet he felt sure she was comparatively young and beautiful.</p> - -<p>“She appears to be a bit nervous and in a hurry,” he said to himself, -while she mounted the stairs. “She may be seeking some one, or possibly -has lost her partner for this dance. That would irritate most young -women.”</p> - -<p>Nick turned upon hearing the voice of his chief assistant. Chick had -just entered through the open front door and paused at Nick’s elbow.</p> - -<p>“A penny for your thoughts,” he said quietly.</p> - -<p>“They are not worth it,” Nick dryly answered. “I was thinking of a woman -who just went upstairs. She is clad all in black and sprinkled with -stars. She evidently represents Night, and I——”</p> - -<p>“There she is, now,” said Chick, with a glance toward the rear part of -the hall.</p> - -<p>Nick gazed in that direction.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, that’s quite remarkable,” he muttered audibly.</p> - -<p>“It is a striking costume, Nick, for fair.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t mean the costume.”</p> - -<p>“No? What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“That two women have costumes precisely alike,” said Nick. “This one -appears to be an exact duplicate of the other. She is, so to speak, a -duplicate Night.”</p> - -<p>“She probably is the same one,” said Chick.</p> - -<p>“Impossible!”</p> - -<p>“Why so?”</p> - -<p>“The other just went upstairs. She cannot be in two places at once.”</p> - -<p>“She may have come down. There is a side stairway.”</p> - -<p>“She would not have had time when you called my attention to her. She -had only disappeared at the head of these stairs.”</p> - -<p>“There can be only one explanation,” said Chick. “There are two women -wearing similar costumes. There evidently is, as you put it, a duplicate -Night.”</p> - -<p>Nick had been watching this second woman while they were talking, and -his brows had knit perceptibly.</p> - -<p>“She appears a bit nervous and in a hurry, like the other,” he muttered, -after the masked woman had gazed into two of the rooms in which the -dance was in progress. “She evidently is searching for some one.”</p> - -<p>“Some one she knows, then, or with whom she came<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_5" id="page_5">{5}</a></span> here,” said Chick. -“She could not identify any one else, unless informed of the wearer’s -costume.”</p> - -<p>“True.”</p> - -<p>“She appears to be——”</p> - -<p>“Wait!” Nick interrupted. “Ah, she has found him. He was dancing in the -rear parlor.”</p> - -<p>The music had ceased and the dance ended.</p> - -<p>A man in the costume of a Mexican toreador had just emerged from the -room mentioned.</p> - -<p>The woman in starry black hastened to approach and speak to him.</p> - -<p>He bowed and listened to her, while she slipped one hand around his arm -and strove to draw him away. He hesitated for a few seconds, then bowed -again and accompanied her.</p> - -<p>They disappeared into a diverging hall, one leading to a side door of -the palatial residence.</p> - -<p>“We’ll go out this way,” Nick muttered, turning toward the front door.</p> - -<p>“Out after them?” questioned Chick, a bit surprised.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I’m something more than curious. I want to know where they are -going.”</p> - -<p>“After a breath of fresh air, most likely, and one cannot blame them,” -said Chick. “It’s like a melting pot indoors.”</p> - -<p>“No hotter than that melting pot from which we saved the Waldmere plate -a few months ago,” Nick replied, as they picked their way out through -the throng and descended the front steps.</p> - -<p>“That’s right, too.”</p> - -<p>“This is an ice box, Chick, compared with that room in which we rounded -up Stuart Floyd and his gang when engaged in that infernal work. It’s a -pity that that rascal gave the prison-hospital guardians the slip and is -again at large. The community would be more safe if your bullet had -killed him, instead of only wounding him. He was a bad egg and is likely -to break out again.”</p> - -<p>“Quite likely,” Chick admitted. “But his escape was no fault of ours.”</p> - -<p>“That’s very true, but it’s no less deplorable.”</p> - -<p>“Are the Waldmeres here to-night?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. I imagine they are, however, for they are friends of the -Carringtons, and travel with the swell set. Ah, there they go,” Nick -abruptly digressed, upon turning a front corner of the great house.</p> - -<p>It brought a side driveway, the porte-cochère, and the side door into -view, also the grounds south of the house and the side and rear streets, -then brightly lighted and in which numerous motor cars and carriages -were waiting.</p> - -<p>The couple in whose movements Nick Carter had become interested had left -the house and were walking quite briskly toward a broad driveway gate in -the rear, one entered from the back street and leading to the garage and -stable. Both of these were brightly lighted, also, and contained many -waiting conveyances, with their liveried chauffeurs, drivers, and -footmen.</p> - -<p>The Spanish cavalier and woman in starry black paid no attention to -others, however, nor appeared to have any occasion for secrecy. They -still wore their masks, nevertheless, and they walked briskly out -through the rear gate and entered a limousine waiting near by.</p> - -<p>The door was closed with a bang and the chauffeur drove quickly away, so -quickly that Nick was unable<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_6" id="page_6">{6}</a></span> to get a glimpse of his face, or to learn -the number of the car.</p> - -<p>“They evidently are going home,” Chick remarked, while they paused in -the driveway some thirty feet from the gate, which was as near as they -had come to overtaking the couple. “The woman may be ill, or overcome -with the heat in the house.”</p> - -<p>Nick shook his head.</p> - -<p>“Nothing of the kind,” he replied. “She walked too briskly for one in -that condition.”</p> - -<p>“There is something in that,” Chick allowed.</p> - -<p>“Furthermore, if they are going home, why did they wear their masks -after leaving the house? They either are coming back, or there is -something under the surface.”</p> - -<p>“A secret love affair, perhaps,” suggested Chick. “They may have stolen -out for a brief flirtation, intending to return before the festivities -end. I don’t see, Nick, as it’s anything for us to butt into.”</p> - -<p>“Not at present, Chick, at all events,” Nick replied. “We’ll return to -the house.”</p> - -<p>They did so without further comment upon the circumstances, and they -separated again after rejoining the throng in the house.</p> - -<p>Nearly two hours later, or considerably after midnight, Nick Carter felt -a hand on his arm and heard the subdued voice of Mr. Horace Carrington, -the host, a portly man in the fifties, then wearing an elaborate -courtier’s costume.</p> - -<p>“I want you for a few moments, Carter,” he said quietly. “Come with me.”</p> - -<p>“Anything wrong?” questioned Nick, noting his gravity.</p> - -<p>“I fear so,” said Carrington. “A lady, one of my guests, wants to talk -with you. She is waiting in my private library. This way.”</p> - -<p>Nick followed him with further questions and entered the room, where the -lady at once arose to meet him.</p> - -<p>She was a woman in starry black—the duplicate Night.</p> - -<p>She no longer wore a mask, however, and Nick found himself face to face -with an old acquaintance, one for whom he already had done double -service. She was none other than the whilom beautiful chorus girl for -love of whom Lord Archie Waldmere had sacrificed his heritage and -English birthrights and become estranged from home and family—now Lady -Mollie Waldmere.</p> - -<p>“Good gracious!” Nick quietly exclaimed. “Is it you, Mrs. Waldmere? What -has happened?”</p> - -<p>She extended a trembling hand and gazed at him with apprehensive and -glistening eyes.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” she replied. “I cannot even imagine. I have told Mr. -Carrington, and he said you were here incognito and in disguise, so I -asked him to call you. I have not forgotten what you have done for -Archie and me, Mr. Carter.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t mention that, Mrs. Waldmere,” said Nick. “What now is the -trouble?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” Mollie tremulously repeated. “I only know that I—I -cannot find my husband.”</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIa" id="CHAPTER_IIa"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> -<small>A DEEPENING MYSTERY.</small></h2> - -<p>Nick Carter was much less surprised, of course, upon learning of the -mysterious disappearance of Archie Waldmere, than he would have been if -he had not seen the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_7" id="page_7">{7}</a></span> episodes that had occurred about half past ten, and -the remarkable duplication of the costume described.</p> - -<p>Naturally, too, several pertinent questions at once arose in Nick’s -mind.</p> - -<p>Who was the other woman—the duplicate Night?</p> - -<p>Was Waldmere the masked man who had accompanied her from the house and -departed in a limousine?</p> - -<p>Did he, in that case, know with whom he was going, or did he suppose he -was departing with his wife?</p> - -<p>If not, and he went willingly with another, what motive had he in so -doing?</p> - -<p>Was he guilty of a secret love affair, as Chick had suggested, and had -he gone to indulge in a clandestine flirtation, intending to return -within a reasonable time, only to be inadvertently detained until this -late hour?</p> - -<p>Nick was not inclined to believe anything of that kind, as a matter of -fact. He had a very high opinion of the titled young Englishman, who had -been loyal enough to his love for a beautiful chorus girl to make her -his wife, in spite of the opposition of his choleric old father, the -Earl of Eggleston, and the consequent estrangement from home and family -and native land, he having for the two years since his marriage been -engaged in Western mining projects, occupying a fine residence in -Riverside Drive.</p> - -<p>In view of all of these facts, of which Nick was thoroughly informed, he -did not believe that Waldmere was guilty of a clandestine love affair. -He decided that he would not immediately disclose what he had seen, -however, and that he first would look into the matter superficially and -make sure he was right on certain points.</p> - -<p>For Nick did not know positively, of course, that it was Mollie Waldmere -whom he had seen ascending the front stairs at precisely half past ten. -There was a possibility of its having been the other—the unknown -personification of Night.</p> - -<p>“It really is extraordinary, most extraordinary,” Mr. Carrington -remarked, when the detective did not reply for a moment to the anxious -woman. “I cannot account for it.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think there is any cause for alarm,” said Nick. “Have you made -sure, Mrs. Waldmere, that your husband is not in the house?”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, yes!” exclaimed Mollie, gazing at him. “I have searched -everywhere in the crowd. It is nearly two hours since we unmasked. -Archie was to have gone in with me for refreshments, but I have waited -and searched in vain. I know, Mr. Carter, that something has happened to -him. He would never desert me in this way. Besides, he did a most -extraordinary thing earlier in the evening.”</p> - -<p>“What was that?” Nick inquired. “Sit down, Mrs. Waldmere, and tell me. I -will look into the matter.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Carrington had closed the door of his private library, and all three -then sat down to continue the discussion.</p> - -<p>“He sent me a note about half past ten, Mr. Carter, asking me to join -him in the west-front chamber, and saying that he wanted me. Here it is, -merely these penciled lines on a scrap of paper. I thrust it into my -waist, not wanting to drop it on the floor.”</p> - -<p>Nick read the fragment of paper she hurriedly produced. It contained -only these lines:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_8" id="page_8">{8}</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“Come up to the west-front chamber, Mollie. I want you.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Archie.</span>”<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>Nick returned the paper to her, remarking:</p> - -<p>“I infer that you did not find Archie in the west-front chamber.”</p> - -<p>“No, I did not,” said Mollie nervously. “I could not imagine why he -wanted me. I hunted vainly for him on the second floor. I have not seen -him since, Mr. Carter.”</p> - -<p>“Examine the writing, Mrs. Waldmere,” said Nick. “Does it look like -Archie’s hand?”</p> - -<p>“Why, no, not exactly,” she replied, after a brief scrutiny. “I really -don’t believe that it is his. But I did not notice it, Mr. Carter, at -the time. I felt a bit nervous and hastened upstairs to find him.”</p> - -<p>Nick remembered having observed it, and he now had positively fixed the -identity of the woman seen on the stairs. He took the note from her -again and asked:</p> - -<p>“Was this brought to you by one of the servants?”</p> - -<p>“No, it was not.”</p> - -<p>“By whom?”</p> - -<p>“It was slipped into my hand by a man clad in a Mexican costume. I was -surprised, of course, but I opened and read it. The man then had -disappeared. I wondered how he had identified me, of course, but I -supposed that Archie had told him what costume I was wearing. That made -me nervous, you see, for I feared he might be ill. I could think of no -other reason for his wanting me.”</p> - -<p>“When had you previously seen him?”</p> - -<p>“Not for half an hour, Mr. Carter, or longer.”</p> - -<p>Nick took the note from her again, saying, while he slipped it into his -pocket:</p> - -<p>“I will keep this for a time, Mrs. Waldmere, if you have no objection.”</p> - -<p>“None whatever.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me, now, what costume your husband wore.”</p> - -<p>“That of a Spanish cavalier.”</p> - -<p>“Did he have it made, or rent from a costumer?”</p> - -<p>“He hired it from Perrot, in Fifth Avenue.”</p> - -<p>“And yours?”</p> - -<p>“Came from the same place. Some of the jewels have been added, and will -be removed before I return it,” said Mollie, pointing to some of the -ornaments.</p> - -<p>Nick gazed thoughtfully at the floor for a moment, then turned to Mr. -Carrington.</p> - -<p>“Your guests were admitted by card, I believe?” he said inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Each presented an invitation card to Perkins, the butler, with the -bearer’s name and that of the costume worn.”</p> - -<p>“Who now has the cards?”</p> - -<p>“Perkins has charge of them.”</p> - -<p>“Have him bring them here,” Nick directed. “I wish to examine them.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Carrington withdrew to find the butler.</p> - -<p>“When did you decide to wear this costume, Mrs. Waldmere?” Nick then -asked, turning to her again.</p> - -<p>“Oh, nearly a week ago,” said Mollie. “I engaged it of Perrot about that -time.”</p> - -<p>“Who except him knew you were to wear it? Did you inform any person?”</p> - -<p>“Only one, aside from my husband and the servants, who may have heard me -discussing it with him,” said Mollie. “I told one intimate friend of -mine, Clara Ringold, of Brooklyn. She and her husband were invited<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_9" id="page_9">{9}</a></span> and -intended coming, but I have not seen either of them. Something must have -prevented them.”</p> - -<p>“What costume was she to wear?”</p> - -<p>“That of a cabaret singer. She has a beautiful voice. We confided in one -another, Mr. Carter, that we might recognize each other during the -evening.”</p> - -<p>“Where were you at that time?”</p> - -<p>“When we confided in one another?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“I was calling on Mrs. Ringold in her Brooklyn residence. That was -several days ago.”</p> - -<p>“Were you alone with her?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. We were seated in the library.”</p> - -<p>“She is the wife of the Honorable Charles Ringold, I take it, who was a -member of the last Congress.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, the same,” bowed Mrs. Waldmere. “She——”</p> - -<p>“One moment, please,” Nick interposed.</p> - -<p>Mr. Carrington had returned, bringing a pasteboard box containing the -invitation cards received by the butler at the front door, and -presumably bearing the name of every guest who had entered the house.</p> - -<p>Nick at once began a rapid inspection of them, his companions watching -him with mute interest, and he was not long in finding what he sought. -He discovered first the two cards presented by the missing man and his -wife:</p> - -<p>“Mr. Archie Waldmere, Spanish Cavalier. Mrs. Archie Waldmere, Night.”</p> - -<p>The names of the costumes had been written on the cards by Waldmere -himself, and his wife readily identified them.</p> - -<p>A few moments later Nick produced two others, and he then placed the box -on the table.</p> - -<p>“Here are two of more importance,” he remarked, showing them to -Carrington and Mollie.</p> - -<p>They bore the following names:</p> - -<p>“Mr. Charles Ringold, Mexican Toreador. Mrs. Clara Ringold, Cabaret -Singer.”</p> - -<p>“The names of the costumes evidently were written by the same person, -for the hands are identical,” Nick observed, while his companions -examined them.</p> - -<p>“But this is very strange,” said Mr. Carrington, with a look of -perplexity. “I have not seen Ringold nor his wife since the unmasking. I -supposed they were not here.”</p> - -<p>“I am very sure they have not been here, Mr. Carrington,” said Mollie -confidently.</p> - -<p>“But these admission cards—how came they here, in that case?” -Carrington demanded. “Perkins certainly received them at the door.”</p> - -<p>“The arriving guests were not required to unmask for Perkins, were -they?” Nick inquired.</p> - -<p>“No, certainly not. He had a list of the invited guests, and checked off -each arrival.”</p> - -<p>“The explanation is a simple one,” said Nick. “Two strangers got by -Perkins by using these two cards.”</p> - -<p>“But Ringold would not have given his cards to others. He is above such -discourtesy as that,” Carrington warmly protested.</p> - -<p>“Undoubtedly,” Nick agreed. “It is safe to assume, then, that the cards -were obtained from him by covert means, also that a subterfuge of some -kind was employed to prevent him and his wife from coming here to-night, -or even communicating with you.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_10" id="page_10">{10}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“But that smacks of knavery, Mr. Carter, if not crime itself,” said Mr. -Carrington apprehensively.</p> - -<p>“I now am sure of knavery of some kind,” Nick replied. “Whether it is so -serious as to come under the head of crime remains to be learned.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, this is shocking.”</p> - -<p>“I now will tell you what I saw about half past ten this evening,” Nick -added. “I want you to say nothing about it, pending my further -investigations.”</p> - -<p>Both of his companions pledged themselves to secrecy, and Nick then -briefly told them of his earlier observations, much to the amazement of -Mr. Carrington and the increasing anxiety of Mollie Waldmere.</p> - -<p>“Don’t let my disclosures add to your alarm,” said Nick, observing her -paleness. “The circumstances admit of only one interpretation.”</p> - -<p>“What is your opinion?” Mollie questioned.</p> - -<p>“Though he departed voluntarily, your husband did not go intentionally -with another woman,” Nick explained. “He was lured away by her, thinking -her to be you, Mrs. Waldmere, and detecting no difference in the two -costumes. You were likewise lured to the second floor of the house by -the forged note given to you, in order to preclude your seeing and -preventing the subterfuge that deceived your husband.”</p> - -<p>“That undoubtedly explains it, Nick,” said Mr. Carrington.</p> - -<p>“And all this was evidently accomplished by two persons who, in some -way, obtained the invitation cards of Mr. and Mrs. Ringold, and also -prevented their coming here to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my! this is terrible,” said Mollie, with lips quivering. “I cannot -help feeling alarmed, Mr. Carter.”</p> - -<p>“I will take the case and sift it to the bottom,” Nick assured her. “You -suspect no person, of course, of having designs upon Mr. Waldmere?”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed!”</p> - -<p>“Nor know of any reason for such?”</p> - -<p>“I have not the slightest suspicion.”</p> - -<p>“I see you have a telephone here,” said Nick, with a glance at Mr. -Carrington. “Let me try to get the Ringolds and see what I can learn.”</p> - -<p>“Do so, Carter, by all means.”</p> - -<p>“I am sure they have a telephone,” said Mollie. “I frequently talk with -Clara.”</p> - -<p>Nick looked up the number, but he tried in vain for several minutes to -get a response. All he could obtain was that of the exchange operator:</p> - -<p>“They do not answer.”</p> - -<p>“There must be a reason for this,” said Nick, replacing the receiver. -“They ought to hear the repeated ringing of a telephone bell, even if -they are abed.”</p> - -<p>“What’s to be done?” asked Mollie anxiously. “I am trying to be calm, -Mr. Carter, but I am frightfully disturbed.”</p> - -<p>Nick came to an abrupt determination.</p> - -<p>“I will go to Brooklyn and see what can be learned,” he replied. “In the -meantime, Mrs. Waldmere, you must go home and wait until you hear from -me.”</p> - -<p>“When will that be?”</p> - -<p>“I will telephone to you as soon as I return from Brooklyn. I then shall -go to my residence, from which I will ring you up. Chick will remain -here, Mr. Carrington, until your guests have departed. I think there -will be nothing more wrong.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_11" id="page_11">{11}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“This is bad enough, Carter, Heaven knows,” was the grave reply.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it may not prove as serious as you apprehend, not serious at all, -perhaps,” Nick said lightly, though chiefly to encourage the woman.</p> - -<p>“Well, well, I hope not.”</p> - -<p>“Do nothing more about it, nor say anything to others,” Nick repeated. -“Leave the matter entirely to me. I will do all that can be done with -the case, and will lose no time in doing it.”</p> - -<p>Mollie Waldmere thanked him feelingly, then went to make her -preparations for returning home.</p> - -<p>Mr. Carrington detained the detective for a moment, asking gravely:</p> - -<p>“Tell me frankly, Carter, what do you think of this? Do not deceive me.”</p> - -<p>“Frankly, then, Mr. Carrington, it looks bad, quite bad,” said Nick. -“Knaves do not take such risks, nor go to so much trouble, unless with -some strong incentive. I cannot conjecture what lies back of it, of -course, but I am going to find out.”</p> - -<p>“Will you communicate with me later?”</p> - -<p>“Surely by to-morrow morning. Keep quiet in the meantime and leave me to -do the rest.”</p> - -<p>Nick remained only to talk briefly with Chick, telling him what he had -learned, and he then departed hurriedly, heading for home in a taxicab.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIIa" id="CHAPTER_IIIa"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> -<small>NICK CONFIRMS HIS THEORY.</small></h2> - -<p>Nick Carter stopped at his Madison Avenue residence on his way to -Brooklyn only to pick up his junior assistant, Patsy Garvan, whom he -aroused from bed and with whom he soon was seated in the waiting -taxicab.</p> - -<p>“I thought I might need you,” Nick remarked, as they sped away. “There’s -no telling what we may learn, and it’s always well to be on the safe -side.”</p> - -<p>“Sure thing, chief,” Patsy readily agreed. “But what’s up?”</p> - -<p>Nick then told him what had occurred in the Carrington mansion, -carefully covering all of the essential points, as was his custom when -discussing a case with any of his assistants.</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! it don’t look good to me,” said Patsy, after listening -attentively. “Some one has it in for Waldmere good and strong, chief, or -such chances would not have been taken.”</p> - -<p>“That is what I told Mr. Carrington,” Nick nodded.</p> - -<p>“But why did they take that way to get him?” Patsy doubtfully -questioned. “They could have nailed him much more easily by——”</p> - -<p>“But it is not easy to get away with a man like Waldmere,” Nick -interrupted. “He is interested almost solely in his home, his business, -and his social enjoyments. Any covert attempt to lure him from either -would at once be regarded with suspicion. Besides, there may be much -more to this affair than appears on the surface.”</p> - -<p>“Have you any suspicions?”</p> - -<p>“None whatever, Patsy, at present,” said Nick. “We must dig up evidence -that will supply us with a definite clew. I think the Ringolds may be -able to aid us.”</p> - -<p>“Are you acquainted with them?<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_12" id="page_12">{12}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“With Mr. Ringold, but not with his wife,” said Nick. “We will ring them -up, however, in spite of the hour.”</p> - -<p>It was two o’clock when they sprang from the taxicab in front of the -fine Ringold residence in a fashionable quarter of Brooklyn. With Patsy -following, Nick hastened up the walk leading to the house and rang the -bell.</p> - -<p>The summons brought a response from one of the front windows on the -second floor. It was hurriedly opened and the head and shoulders of Mr. -Ringold himself appeared.</p> - -<p>“Who’s there?” he called, gazing down.</p> - -<p>“Nick Carter,” replied the detective. “Slip on your bath robe, Ringold, -and come down to the door. I want to talk with you.”</p> - -<p>“Great Scott!” Mr. Ringold exclaimed audibly. “You here, Nick, at this -hour? What’s wrong?”</p> - -<p>“Come down and admit me. I then will tell you.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be with you in half a minute.”</p> - -<p>Little more than that had elapsed when Mr. Ringold opened the door and -admitted the detectives, conducting them in to the library, and -switching on the light.</p> - -<p>“Now, Nick, what’s it all about?” he inquired, gazing curiously at him.</p> - -<p>“It’s about the Carrington ball,” Nick replied. “How happened it that -you and your wife did not go?”</p> - -<p>“For only one reason,” said Mr. Ringold. “It had been postponed, Nick, -because of the sudden illness of Mr. Carrington.”</p> - -<p>“That so?” queried Nick, smiling. “Who informed you?”</p> - -<p>“A messenger sent out by Mrs. Carrington. He came in a limousine this -afternoon. He stated that Carrington was ill, that the ball had -necessarily been postponed, and that the invitation and admission cards -had been recalled and would be reissued later.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see the messenger?”</p> - -<p>“No. I had not returned home from my office.”</p> - -<p>“Who saw him?”</p> - -<p>“My wife talked with him. She gave him the cards of our invitation. He -said that he and the Carrington butler had been sent to collect them -from all who had been invited.”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Ringold suspected nothing wrong?”</p> - -<p>“Why should she?”</p> - -<p>“Nor you, when she informed you?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not. The messenger told a plausible story. He appeared -trustworthy, or my wife would have detected it. Is there something -wrong, then, that you have called here?” Mr. Ringold demanded, a bit -impatiently.</p> - -<p>Nick then told him the circumstances, or in so far as served his -purpose, while his hearer gazed amazedly and with manifest regret.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, this is most astonishing, Carter,” he then said gravely. “Who -would have thought of such an imposition? I care less for having been -cheated out of a fine evening’s enjoyment, than that our invitation -cards have been turned to such a despicable use. I will ask my wife to -join us, if you wish to question her.”</p> - -<p>“You may, Ringold, if you have no objection,” said Nick. “I want a -description of the messenger, also any other information that your wife -can give me.”</p> - -<p>“I will speak to her.”</p> - -<p>“Gee, it looks like a neatly framed-up job, chief, for fair,” said -Patsy, while they waited.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_13" id="page_13">{13}</a></span></p> - -<p>“Decidedly so,” Nick agreed. “See whether that telephone is in working -order.”</p> - -<p>He glanced at one on the library table and Patsy hastened to obey, -presently reporting that he could get no communication from the local -exchange.</p> - -<p>“The instrument has been put out of commission,” said Nick.</p> - -<p>“That’s about the size of it,” nodded Patsy.</p> - -<p>“It was done to prevent the Ringolds from calling up Mrs. Carrington to -inquire concerning her husband’s alleged illness, or to verify the -postponement, in case of any suspicion.”</p> - -<p>“Right again, chief, for a hundred.”</p> - -<p>“It’s ten to one that the wires have been cut outside where they enter -the house,” Nick added. “We’ll have a look at them presently.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Ringold returned with his wife at that moment and Nick resumed his -inquiries. The woman could add but little, however, to what her husband -already had stated. She described the messenger as a dark man of medium -build, wearing a livery and accompanied by a chauffeur, who remained in -the limousine while the other performed his supposedly genuine mission.</p> - -<p>“At what time did he call, Mrs. Ringold?” Nick inquired.</p> - -<p>“I think it was shortly after five o’clock,” she replied.</p> - -<p>“It then was dark out-of-doors?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed. It had been dark for some little time.”</p> - -<p>“It did not occur to you to telephone to Mrs. Carrington, I infer, to -inquire concerning her husband, or to express your sympathy,” said Nick.</p> - -<p>“Well, I think quite likely I should have done so,” Mrs. Ringold -replied; “but I first undertook to call up my friend, Mrs. Waldmere, and -I found that the telephone was out of order. That precluded both -communications.”</p> - -<p>“And you suspected nothing wrong?”</p> - -<p>“No, nothing whatever. I did not dream of such an imposition as my -husband has just mentioned.”</p> - -<p>Nick did not add to his inquiries. He directed both to say nothing about -the matter, and after a word of regret for having disturbed them, he -withdrew from the house with his assistant.</p> - -<p>“Now, Patsy, we’ll have a look at those wires,” he said quietly, after -Ringold had closed the front door.</p> - -<p>“I’m with you, chief,” Patsy nodded.</p> - -<p>They had no difficulty in finding where the wires entered the house, a -point near one of the library windows. As Nick had predicted, moreover, -they were found to be neatly cut and the instrument temporarily rendered -useless.</p> - -<p>“Here are tracks of the rascal’s boots,” he remarked, pointing to some -imprints in the damp earth. “He stole in here after getting the -invitation cards and cut the wires.”</p> - -<p>“Surest thing you know,” said Patsy.</p> - -<p>“That is why he waited until after dark before calling here,” Nick -added. “He then could turn the trick without being seen. Come, we’ll go -home. We can accomplish no more until to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“But what can we then accomplish?” questioned Patsy. “We seem to have no -clew to the identity of the rascals, nor any thread worth following up.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure of that,” Nick replied. “We’ll consider it later.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_14" id="page_14">{14}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>It was three o’clock when they arrived home, and they found Chick -waiting for them in the library, with a cigar in his mouth and his heels -elevated to the edge of the table.</p> - -<p>“Well, we don’t get much beauty sleep to-night,” he remarked, with a -laugh, when Nick and Patsy entered.</p> - -<p>“You don’t need any,” said Patsy dryly.</p> - -<p>“So my mirror tells me,” replied Chick, laughing again. “What more have -you learned, Nick?”</p> - -<p>Nick informed him of the results of his hurried visit to Brooklyn.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, it’s a curious case,” Chick then declared. “The job certainly -was well planned and very neatly executed. But what’s the big idea? Who -is out after Waldmere? With what object, Nick, and who are the -culprits?”</p> - -<p>“Those are questions more easily asked than answered,” said Nick. “It is -hard to say why Waldmere has been abducted.”</p> - -<p>“You think, then, that he has been abducted?”</p> - -<p>“The circumstances point strongly to that. Waldmere is not a man to be -mixed in a mess with another woman.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true,” Chick agreed. “The motive may have been revenge. Stuart -Floyd is at large, you know, and he may have had it in for Waldmere -because of those former cases, and for having put us on his track. He is -capable of any kind of a knavish job.”</p> - -<p>“There is nothing in speculations,” said Nick. “I’ll think it over in -bed and we’ll discuss it in the morning.”</p> - -<p>“That’s good judgment, in view of the hour,” Chick vouchsafed, rising. -“There is a bare possibility, too, that Waldmere will have returned by -that time.”</p> - -<p>Nick did not reply to this, nor was it verified the following morning.</p> - -<p>Ten o’clock found all three seated in the detective’s business office. -Nick had been in communication with Mrs. Waldmere, also with Mr. -Carrington, but only with negative results. The situation stood -precisely where it had stood the previous night.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter’s mind had been active in the meantime, however, and he had -decided what steps must be taken.</p> - -<p>“The motive for this crime is beyond conjecture,” said he, in reply to a -question from Chick. “It can be learned only when we have identified -Waldmere’s abductors, discovered what relations have existed between -them, and unearthed additional evidence in the case. That is what next -must be done.”</p> - -<p>“But along what lines?” Chick inquired.</p> - -<p>“One is opened, Chick, by a single significant point,” Nick replied. -“The crooks must have learned several days ago what costume Mrs. -Waldmere intended wearing, or they would not have been able, nor have -had time, to prepare a duplicate of it.”</p> - -<p>“True, Nick; that goes without saying.”</p> - -<p>“The question is, then, from whom did they get their information?” Nick -proceeded. “Mrs. Waldmere discussed the costume with her husband, and -also confided in only one intimate friend, Clara Ringold.”</p> - -<p>“The crooks may have got their information, then, from a servant in one -house or the other.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the very point. But it was a servant in the Ringold house.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you feel so sure of that?<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_15" id="page_15">{15}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“For several reasons,” said Nick. “First, because Waldmere is a fine -fellow and his wife a lovable mistress, and their servants would be much -less likely to be treacherous than persons employed elsewhere.”</p> - -<p>“There is some truth in that,” Chick allowed.</p> - -<p>“Second, because the crooks made a mark of the Ringolds and used their -invitation cards,” Nick went on. “Why did they select that Brooklyn -couple, instead of some invited couple living nearer?”</p> - -<p>“You say.”</p> - -<p>“First, because there would be less danger of detection, of a personal -call at the Carrington residence when the telephone proved useless, than -in the case of persons living in town.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true.”</p> - -<p>“Second, because the rascals most likely selected the very couple from -whose servant they had got the information, knowing that inquiries would -subsequently be made, and that the servant could keep them still further -informed as to what investigations were being made and what was -suspected.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, there is something in that, Nick, also.”</p> - -<p>“And that is why I suspect a servant in the Ringold house, some one who -overheard Mrs. Waldmere and Mrs. Ringold discussing their costumes.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you question the Ringolds about their servants last night, -then?”</p> - -<p>“Because I had rung them up at two o’clock in the morning,” said Nick. -“If the servant heard the bell, he, or she, as the case may be, would -have suspected my mission and might have been in a position to play the -eavesdropper without being detected. I didn’t want my suspicion -discovered. It would put the servant on his guard, and us at a -corresponding disadvantage.”</p> - -<p>“I see,” Chick nodded. “It was a wise precaution.”</p> - -<p>“You had better go over there this morning, however, and talk with Mrs. -Ringold,” Nick added. “Your identity and mission may not be suspected, -while the servant might have seen Patsy and me last night when we passed -through the lighted hall. Find out who is employed in the house and what -is known about them.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got you,” said Chick. “Leave it to me.”</p> - -<p>“Aren’t you overlooking one point, chief?” questioned Patsy, who had -been listening to the foregoing.</p> - -<p>“What point is that, Patsy?”</p> - -<p>“The crooks may have learned from the costumer, or from one of his -clerks, what costume Mrs. Waldmere intended wearing.”</p> - -<p>“I have thought of that, but it is quite improbable,” said Nick. “They -would not have known, to begin with, that Mrs. Waldmere had any -intention of hiring a costume from Perrot. Furthermore, costumers of his -high standing do not betray their patrons, and crooks know it and would -have sought elsewhere for the desired information.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! I guess you’re right, chief, after all.”</p> - -<p>“I think my other suspicion is the correct one.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll run over to Brooklyn, then, at once,” said Chick.</p> - -<p>“Do so,” Nick replied, rising. “I’ll pay Perrot a in the meantime and -see what I can learn from him. The costume worn by Mrs. Waldmere must -have been previously seen by the duplicate Night, whoever she was, or -she could not have duplicated it. We’ll look into that. You may go with -me, Patsy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_16" id="page_16">{16}</a></span>”</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IVa" id="CHAPTER_IVa"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> -<small>A SCARLET THREAD.</small></h2> - -<p>It was eleven o’clock when Nick Carter and Patsy entered the extensive -business establishment of the leading New York costumer, Monsieur Jules -Perrot, in Fifth Avenue. Perrot himself, a suave and polished Frenchman, -happened to be conspicuously in evidence and hastened to meet them, -bowing and smiling and rubbing his hands.</p> - -<p>Nick addressed him quietly and introduced himself, evoking ejaculations -and a more intent and interested stare from Perrot, which turned to an -expression of gravity when the detective stated his mission.</p> - -<p>“I will aid you wiz pleasure, monsieur,” he said readily. “Walk into my -office, please, both of you. Ze devil must have been abroad last night, -ze wolf in ze lamb’s clothing. <i>Pardieu!</i> your case is not all, Monsieur -Carter. There is another.”</p> - -<p>“Another, Mr. Perrot?” questioned Nick. “What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Wait! I will bring my books,” said Perrot, turning to enter an outer -office. “I will bring my books—and ze letter!”</p> - -<p>“Gee! this looks like something more in the wind,” remarked Patsy.</p> - -<p>“I am more inclined to think that all relates to one job,” Nick replied. -“It would be strange, indeed, if there were two at just this time and -place. We can presently tell.”</p> - -<p>Perrot returned while Nick was speaking, bringing a book containing the -daily record of his rented costumes, and over his arm—the costume of a -Mexican toreador, seen by Nick the previous night, and worn by the man -who had slipped the forged note into the hands of Mollie Waldmere.</p> - -<p>“H’m! I thought so,” Nick quietly remarked to Patsy, at once recognizing -the costume. “There is but one job, in which all of these costumes -figure. I will stake my reputation on that.”</p> - -<p>“Ziss was returned to me ziss morning by a messenger,” said Perrot, -laying the costume on a table. “In ze pocket of ze blouse was found ziss -sheet of paper, on which is written—but you shall see. You shall see -for yourself, Monsieur Carter.”</p> - -<p>He turned to an open roll-top desk, from which he took a somewhat -crumpled scrap of paper, evidently torn from a notebook. Written on it -with a lead pencil were the following lines:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Old Pal</span>: I am waiting with the car where you directed. Bring -the gink out quickly, or a gun may move me on. Land him in the car, -pal, and I’ll do the rest. I’ve got the stuff to quiet him until we -can slip him the steel. I’ll pick you up as directed. Have the cat -land him and there’ll be nothing to it.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Toby.</span>”<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>Nick Carter frowned while he read this communication, so suggestive of -sanguinary designs. Had it been written by the driver of the limousine -in which Waldmere was seen to depart with an unknown woman? Was it she -referred to as the cat? Had the note been sent in to the wearer of the -toreador costume? Had he slipped it into the pocket and inadvertently -left it there when returning the costume?</p> - -<p>Naturally, of course, these questions at once arose in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_17" id="page_17">{17}</a></span> Nick’s mind, and -they seemed to compel affirmative answers. He gave the note to Patsy to -read, then turned to Perrot and inquired:</p> - -<p>“When was this costume returned?”</p> - -<p>“A messenger brought it about an hour ago,” said Perrot. “My girl Marie -found the paper in the pocket and brought it to me. It was not there -when the costume went out. We are sure of that, Monsieur Carter.”</p> - -<p>“Who had the costume last night?”</p> - -<p>“It was let to a man who gave the name of John Talbot, address Lexington -Avenue. He paid in advance and sent for ze costume yesterday afternoon. -I have sent my clerk to ze address, but no such a man is known there.”</p> - -<p>“That does not surprise me,” said Nick. “Talbot was a stranger to you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Monsieur Carter, a total stranger.”</p> - -<p>“Do you recall him? Can you describe him?”</p> - -<p>“Only that he is a man of good build, quite dark, and with a beard.”</p> - -<p>“The beard cuts no ice,” said Nick, taking the note from Patsy. “If -engaged in such deviltry as this suggests, he would have called here in -disguise. I will keep this note, Mr. Perrot, and look into the matter.”</p> - -<p>Perrot signified his consent with a bow, a smile, and numerous gestures.</p> - -<p>“<i>Pardieu!</i>” he exclaimed. “As you will, Monsieur Carter. I wondered if -I ought to give it to ze police.”</p> - -<p>“You have done better,” Nick assured him. “Now, Mr. Perrot, about the -costume hired by Mrs. Archie Waldmere.”</p> - -<p>“Ha, I remember!” said Perrot. “Madame is one fine lady. It was ze lace -costume of Night.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the one,” bowed Nick. “Do you remember when she engaged it?”</p> - -<p>“One week to-day, Monsieur Carter. Wait—I will be sure. I will show you -ze entry.”</p> - -<p>Perrot hastened to find it in the book, and the date confirmed his -statement.</p> - -<p>“Was the costume seen, or let to any other person, during the week?” -Nick inquired.</p> - -<p>“It was, monsieur,” Perrot said quickly. “It was let two days later to a -young woman who—wait! I will show you. Ha, it is here! To Miss Belle -Blair, Boston Road, Fordham. She paid in advance and returned it ze next -day. It was in ze pairfect order. One would not think she had worn it.”</p> - -<p>“Nor had she,” Nick said dryly.</p> - -<p>“Hey! What is that? You think——”</p> - -<p>“I think, Perrot, that you must say nothing of any of this to others,” -Nick pointedly interrupted. “There is a crime involved, and I rely upon -your discretion.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Pardieu!</i> You may safely do so.”</p> - -<p>“The Night costume was hired only in order to make one so nearly -resembling it as to defy ordinary inspection,” Nick added. “But the name -of the woman is not Belle Blair, nor does she reside in Fordham. She is -a crook, as well as the said Talbot.”</p> - -<p>“That’s dead open and shut, chief,” remarked Patsy. “They worked along -the same lines.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly,” Nick nodded; then, to Perrot: “Have the costumes let to Mr. -and Mrs. Waldmere been returned?”</p> - -<p>“Not yet, Monsieur Carter, and there is no haste. I know them. That is -enough.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_18" id="page_18">{18}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“And I think you can add nothing to the information you have given me,” -said Nick, smiling. “I am obliged to you for it. Here is my card. If -anything turns up later, perchance, telephone to me.”</p> - -<p>Perrot promised to do so, and the detective departed.</p> - -<p>“Gee! this certainly looks bad, chief, don’t it?” questioned Patsy, as -they walked down the avenue.</p> - -<p>“Superficially, Patsy, it certainly does,” Nick allowed.</p> - -<p>“Was some one out to get Waldmere? Has he been turned down in cold -blood?”</p> - -<p>“I am not ready to say. I wish to dig a little deeper.”</p> - -<p>One o’clock that afternoon brought additional evidence. It came through -Monsieur Perrot, who was admitted to the detective’s residence in a -state of suppressed excitement.</p> - -<p>He brought in a paper wrapper—the cape of the Spanish cavalier costume -worn by Archie Waldmere the previous night.</p> - -<p>It was gashed in two places with a knife, as if the wearer had been -stabbed, and the cloth was saturated with blood.</p> - -<p>Perrot stated that it had been found by an East River boatman. It was -caught on a spike in the river wall at which one of the crosstown -streets end, directly over the swirling waters of the East River.</p> - -<p>The boatman had given the cape to a policeman, who found Perrot’s name -on it and began an investigation. When told that Nick already was at -work on the case, the officer at once sent the costumer to the detective -to exhibit the garment and state the circumstances mentioned.</p> - -<p>Nick examined the cape carefully after Perrot had departed, and -subjected the stains to a test.</p> - -<p>“Human blood, Patsy,” he remarked. “There is no question about it.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! the case looks worse and worse,” Patsy replied gravely. “It -appears like dollars to fried holes that Waldmere was knifed to death. -The collar is torn, as if he put up a struggle.”</p> - -<p>“So I see,” Nick nodded, still inspecting the garment.</p> - -<p>“And the two gashes are on the left side, as if thrusts were aimed at -his heart. Gee whiz! it looks to me, chief, as if he was brutally killed -and then chucked into the East River.”</p> - -<p>“Go up to the street Bolton mentioned,” said Nick, referring to the -policeman. “See whether there is any sign of blood on the river wall, or -the near street. Question the people living close by and find out -whether a motor car was heard to stop there during the night.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got you, chief,” said Patsy, hastening to make ready.</p> - -<p>“Report as soon as possible.”</p> - -<p>“Trust me for that.”</p> - -<p>It was three o’clock when Patsy returned, and his report was still -further convincing.</p> - -<p>He had found marks of blood on the river wall and in the near street.</p> - -<p>Two near residents, moreover, had heard a motor car stop there just -before midnight, but had supposed only that some person was returning -home.</p> - -<p>Nick heard this report without any comments. It was not much different -from what he was expecting.</p> - -<p>Chick Carter had returned from Brooklyn, in the meantime, and was -discussing his call on Mrs. Ringold when<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_19" id="page_19">{19}</a></span> Patsy entered. He now resumed -it with Nick, saying quite earnestly:</p> - -<p>“They employ only four servants. One is a chauffeur, but he is married -and has a home of his own.”</p> - -<p>“He’s out of it, then,” said Nick. “Who are the others?”</p> - -<p>“A housekeeper of nearly sixty, who has been there several years.”</p> - -<p>“It’s safe to drop her, also.”</p> - -<p>“That leaves only the cook, in whom Mrs. Ringold has absolute -confidence, and a girl who serves as a maid, named Annette Levine. She -has been there less than a year.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see her?” Nick inquired.</p> - -<p>“Rather!” said Chick expressively. “She was so much in evidence that I -could not help suspecting her.”</p> - -<p>“You mean?”</p> - -<p>“Merely that she passed through the hall five times while I was talking -with Mrs. Ringold in the library,” Chick explained. “I had cautioned -Mrs. Ringold to speak low, so I know that the girl could not have -overheard us. But I noticed that she glanced furtively into the room -each time she passed the open door.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! that girl needs looking after,” said Patsy, who had been -listening.</p> - -<p>“Describe her, Chick.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, she’s a slender, thin-featured girl of about twenty, possibly a -little older. She has gray, catty eyes and a foxy countenance. I agree -with Patsy that she needs looking after.”</p> - -<p>Nick turned abruptly to his junior assistant.</p> - -<p>“Go over there, Patsy, and watch the house until you are sure Annette -Levine is in bed for the night,” he directed.</p> - -<p>“I told Mrs. Ringold to give the girl the evening, if she asked for it,” -put in Chick.</p> - -<p>“So much the better. You will know what to do, Patsy, in that case.”</p> - -<p>“You bet I’ll know, chief,” cried Patsy, hurriedly departing.</p> - -<p>“In the meantime, Chick, you had better see the policemen who were on -duty in the street back of the Carrington place last night,” said Nick. -“One of them may have noticed that particular limousine, or its driver. -Find out who they were and what they can tell you.”</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Va" id="CHAPTER_Va"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> -<small>THE DOUBLE REFLECTION.</small></h2> - -<p>Nick Carter was alone in his library at five o’clock that afternoon. -Both Chick and Patsy still were absent and at work on the mystifying -case.</p> - -<p>As he frequently did when wishing to concentrate his mind upon a -difficult problem, Nick had stretched himself on the library couch, -relaxing physically, as an aid to his mental operations.</p> - -<p>The dusk of the January afternoon had deepened into darkness. Joseph, -the detective’s butler, had switched on the lights in the hall, the -business office, and library, and he then was in the rear of the house, -directing preparations for dinner.</p> - -<p>Nick was lying with his eyes closed, deep in thought, undisturbed by the -faint sounds from the avenue outside, scarce breaking the stillness then -in the hall and library.</p> - -<p>Nick was thinking of the missing man, the titled Eng<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_20" id="page_20">{20}</a></span>glishman, of Lord -Archie Waldmere, and of the two previous cases in which he had served -him so successfully, and in both of which the now notorious crook and -escaped convict, Stuart Floyd, had figured conspicuously.</p> - -<p>Nick was reviewing these sensational cases, as well as that then -engaging him. He was wondering whether, as Chick had suggested, revenge -was the motive in the present strange affair and whether Stuart Floyd -might, after all, be back of the whole business.</p> - -<p>The couch on which Nick was lying was so placed that a person reclining -on it faced a mirror on one of the walls, that opposite the open door -leading into the hall.</p> - -<p>In the hall and nearly opposite this door was a large coat-and-hat -stand, backed with a plate mirror. It stood at such an angle that a -person lying on the couch and looking into the library mirror, which -hung at an angle from the wall, could see the mirror in the hatstand, -and reflected in that a portion of the hall and the front door leading -to the street.</p> - -<p>In the front door was an oval plate-glass window, with filmy lace -curtains draped daintily to each side. It was plainly visible from the -library by means of the double reflection under the conditions -described.</p> - -<p>The French clock on the library mantel struck the half after five.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter heard it. It recalled to his mind the single stroke of the -clock in the hall of the Carrington mansion, the half after ten the -night before, a fateful moment.</p> - -<p>Sensitive in the superlative degree, particularly to outside influences, -and still thinking of the knave by whom Waldmere twice had been -victimized, Nick suddenly opened his eyes.</p> - -<p>He started slightly. He thought for an instant that he beheld a ghost, -an apparition, or some mental fantasy called up by the nature of his -thoughts.</p> - -<p>For his eyes were turned toward the mirror on the wall, and in double -reflection he saw the brightly lighted front hall, the massive front -door, the oval window; and he beheld between the parted lace draperies -the face of a man peering into the hall—the face of Stuart Floyd.</p> - -<p>It would have caused most men to leap up from the couch, but Nick Carter -never lost command of himself. He knew on the instant that this was no -mental fantasy, no optical illusion.</p> - -<p>There was no mistaking that clean-cut, hard-featured face, with its -gleaming, malignant eyes and drawn, sinister lips. Its expression was -like that of a dog about to bite.</p> - -<p>“Floyd himself, as sure as fate,” flashed through Nick’s mind. “He’s -gazing in here with some object in view. Can he see me, I wonder, as -plainly as I can see him? He will take to his heels, in that case, if I -stir to undertake catching him. But how can I otherwise get him, or -contrive——”</p> - -<p>Nick’s train of thought ended abruptly.</p> - -<p>The face at the window suddenly vanished. Nick now leaped up and rushed -through the hall, hurriedly opening the front door and descending the -steps to the sidewalk. He gazed quickly in all directions. There were -pedestrians to be seen in all directions—but no sign of Stuart Floyd.</p> - -<p>An approaching taxicab was swerving toward the curbing. The glare of its -lamps dazzled Nick’s eyes and prevented his seeing distinctly. He turned -sharp on his heel<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_21" id="page_21">{21}</a></span> and entered the house, going into his library, which -then was unoccupied.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, that was strange,” he said to himself, taking the swivel chair -at his desk. “That certainly was Stuart Floyd. But why was he gazing -into my house? Has he vengeful designs upon me? Is he out to plant a -bomb, or to turn some other cowardly trick? If he——”</p> - -<p>The doorbell rang, ending Nick’s train of thought, and he heard his -butler going through the hall to answer the summons. He sprang up and -intercepted him, saying quickly:</p> - -<p>“Go back, Joseph, to the kitchen. I will answer the bell. There may be -something doing.”</p> - -<p>Joseph looked surprised but Nick did not say what more he had in mind. -It was not in his nature to let another face possible peril, instead of -meeting it himself. He saw Joseph retreating, and he then strode to the -door and opened it.</p> - -<p>The taxicab mentioned had stopped in front of the house. Its passenger -had alighted and was standing on the steps.</p> - -<p>“I’m looking for Mr. Nick Carter,” said he. “My driver says this is -where he resides.”</p> - -<p>“That is correct,” said Nick.</p> - -<p>“Is he at home? I have a letter of introduction to him from——”</p> - -<p>“Come in, sir,” Nick interposed. “Walk into my library and take a chair. -What can I do for you?”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” exclaimed the stranger. “You are Mr. Carter, then?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Be seated.”</p> - -<p>Nick had sized up his visitor while speaking. He was a tall man of -powerful build and somewhat over fifty. He was smooth shaved, with -strong features, quite an aggressive expression, and searching gray -eyes. His mouth was broad, his lips thin, his chin square, and -determined.</p> - -<p>It was a face that did not impress Nick favorably. It evinced -characteristics that were not pleasing to the keen insight of the -detective. The stranger was well dressed, however, in a plaid suit and -voluminous frieze overcoat, both of pronounced English cut and pattern.</p> - -<p>“I am glad I find you at home, Mr. Carter,” he said, in sonorous tones, -taking a chair near that of the detective and producing a letter from -his breast pocket. “Here is the introduction I mentioned. You are -acquainted with Captain Phil Grady, of Scotland Yard, who is also a -personal friend of mine. He is the writer and he advised me to see you.”</p> - -<p>Nick felt some of his misgivings beginning to melt away. He glanced -through the letter, introducing one Sir Edward Chadwick, of London, and -he then smiled and shook hands with the Englishman.</p> - -<p>“I know Grady very well, Mr. Chadwick,” he replied. “I am pleased to -know you, also. How is my old friend, and when did you last see him?”</p> - -<p>“Quite recently, Mr. Carter, and I left him well,” rejoined Chadwick, -with a smile softening the stern line of his thin lips. “I arrived in -Boston this morning and came to New York by rail. I am here on important -business and need your advice, and possibly your aid. I am stopping at -the New Oriental.”</p> - -<p>“I will be glad to be of any service to you,” said Nick. “What is the -nature of your business?<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_22" id="page_22">{22}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“I wish to find a young man who, I have reason to believe, is somewhere -in the United States.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, I see.”</p> - -<p>“I am a stranger here, and appreciate, of course, the difficulties of my -undertaking,” Chadwick continued, with a suavity that Nick did not quite -fancy. “I am his uncle, however, and accepted the mission at the earnest -solicitation of his father, my elder brother, who now is on his -deathbed, if not already dead.”</p> - -<p>“I understand,” bowed the detective. “What is your nephew’s name and -when did you last hear from him?”</p> - -<p>“Nearly three years ago.”</p> - -<p>“Where was he at that time?”</p> - -<p>“He then was in London,” said Chadwick, spreading his large hands on his -knees. “He defied his father and was disinherited and cast out by his -entire family, myself included. He became infatuated with a chorus girl -in an American opera company, and married her in spite of his father’s -bitter opposition, the Honorable Earl of Eggleston. He fled with her -from England, and——”</p> - -<p>“One moment,” Nick interposed. “The young man is Lord Archie Waldmere, I -think, a son of the Earl of Eggleston by his second wife, now deceased.”</p> - -<p>Sir Edward Chadwick stared with manifest amazement.</p> - -<p>“Goodness!” he exclaimed. “Is it possible, Mr. Carter, that you know -him?”</p> - -<p>“I am quite well acquainted with him.”</p> - -<p>“And you know where he may be found?”</p> - -<p>“Well, not at just this moment,” Nick said, a bit dryly. “He has been -living in New York, however, for the past two years.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well, that is most surprising. This is great and glorious news,” -cried Chadwick, vigorously rubbing his hands. “Captain Grady was right. -He said that I would get next to the right man, Mr. Carter, if I called -upon you. Really, I am overjoyed.”</p> - -<p>Nick somehow felt that the speaker’s joy was not so deep as he asserted. -His voice had a twang that grated on the detective’s ears. His narrow -eyes gleamed and glittered in a way, moreover, that Nick did not fancy. -With no show of these distrustful feelings, however, he said agreeably:</p> - -<p>“It certainly appears that you have come to the right man, Mr. Chadwick. -So the Earl of Eggleston is on his deathbed, is he?”</p> - -<p>“Alas, yes!”</p> - -<p>“Is that why he is seeking his son?”</p> - -<p>“Exactly,” bowed Sir Edward. “His only other son, who would have been -the heir to his title and his estate, died seven months ago. The earl -has no direct male successor except Lord Waldmere. He desires a -reconciliation, therefore, and is anxious to forgive the recreant son -and reinstate him as heir to his title and property. That is as it -should be, Mr. Carter, and I have done all in my power to bring it -about.”</p> - -<p>“No doubt,” said Nick, gazing steadily at his visitor. “This will be -good news for Waldmere, providing he can be found.”</p> - -<p>“Found?” echoed the Englishman inquiringly. “What do you mean by found? -I thought you knew where he was living.”</p> - -<p>“So I do,” said Nick. “Where he now is living, or whether he is living, -at present, are open questions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_23" id="page_23">{23}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” questioned Chadwick, with a gasp. “I don’t -understand you.”</p> - -<p>“I will make it plain with a very few words,” Nick replied.</p> - -<p>He swung round a little in his chair while speaking, and he then -proceeded to tell his visitor of the disappearance of Waldmere, and of -the circumstances and apprehensions concerning him.</p> - -<p>The Englishman listened, with occasional interruptions and questions, -and with almost constant wringing of his hands.</p> - -<p>“Well, well, this is terrible, terrible,” he declared, after Nick had -concluded. “This news will kill his father, if not already dead. You say -you are at work on the case, Mr. Carter. Have you no clew, no -encouragement to give me?”</p> - -<p>Nick already had decided that he would not disclose any of his -suspicions. He shook his head and replied gravely:</p> - -<p>“I can say nothing favorable at present. I don’t know what my further -investigations may bring to light.”</p> - -<p>“But will you confer with me?” Sir Edward questioned. “Will you let me -aid you? Will you keep me informed——”</p> - -<p>“Yes, certainly,” Nick interposed. “I will inform you promptly when I -have discovered anything definite. I will at once telephone to you, Mr. -Chadwick, if you intend remaining at the Oriental.”</p> - -<p>“That is my intention, of course, now that I have learned so much from -you, and depend upon you so completely.”</p> - -<p>“You shall hear from me, then, sooner or later,” Nick earnestly assured -him. “Frankly, I am all at sea at present.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well, I am sorry, sorry enough to hear that,” declared Sir -Edward, unconscious of the sharper gleam in his narrow eyes, but which -was instantly noticed by the detective.</p> - -<p>“If you would like to meet Mrs. Waldmere, however,” said Nick, “I will -call on her with you and——”</p> - -<p>“No, no, I do not wish to meet her, Mr. Carter, at present,” protested -the Englishman, with a half-subdued growl. “She was the apple of -discord. I suppose we will have to put up with her. I will meet her -after Lord Waldmere has been found and—but that is enough for the -present, enough for the present,” he abruptly broke off, rising to go. -“Let me hear from you, Mr. Carter. Telephone to me, or call to see me. I -shall be on nettles until you find Lord Waldmere safe and sound.”</p> - -<p>“Unless I am much mistaken and less discerning than you think me, you -soon will be on nettles for an entirely different reason,” Nick said to -himself, while he arose and accompanied Sir Edward Chadwick to the door.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIa" id="CHAPTER_VIa"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> -<small>PLAYING THE SPY.</small></h2> - -<p>It was six o’clock when Sir Edward Chadwick left Nick Carter’s residence -and departed in the waiting taxicab. Half an hour later Chick Carter -came in and entered the library.</p> - -<p>He found Nick seated at his desk. Lying on it were several articles that -figured as evidence in the case, also a pad of cable blanks and a thick -blue book as large as an unabridged dictionary.</p> - -<p>On a chair near by was the gashed and bloody cape<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_24" id="page_24">{24}</a></span> worn by Waldmere the -previous night, the gory aspect and circumstances in connection with -which seemed to tell beyond reasonable doubt his tragic fate.</p> - -<p>“Ah, it’s you, Chick,” Nick remarked, looking up when his assistant -entered. “Anything new?”</p> - -<p>“No, nothing,” said Chick, removing his overcoat and hat and drawing up -a chair. “I have tried in vain to trace the murder car, the limousine in -which Waldmere was brutally done to a frazzle. There seems to be nothing -in it, as far as I see, except murder most foul and——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but there is,” Nick interrupted, turning in his swivel chair.</p> - -<p>“Something else to it?”</p> - -<p>“Exactly.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” Chick questioned, gazing. “Have you discovered new -evidence?”</p> - -<p>“I have had a visitor and—and seen a devil,” Nick dryly asserted.</p> - -<p>“Seen a devil!”</p> - -<p>“A knave who has all the makings of one. None other than Stuart Floyd.”</p> - -<p>“Great Scott!” Chick exclaimed. “You don’t mean, Nick, that he was your -visitor?”</p> - -<p>“Not exactly,” said Nick. “He only looked in, Chick, probably with some -evil design, though I cannot say for what.”</p> - -<p>“And your visitor?”</p> - -<p>“He was Sir Edward Chadwick, of London, England, who said he arrived in -Boston this morning. I am glad he called. He forms, unless I am much -mistaken, the strongest link in the chain I am welding together.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well, you surprise me,” said Chick. “Who the deuce is Sir Edward -Chadwick, and what did he want?”</p> - -<p>“I think he wanted to learn what I suspect and am doing in this case,” -Nick replied. “He met with no success, however, but departed quite -convinced that I am all in the dark. I made sure of that, for I had -talked with him only a few minutes when I began to distrust him.”</p> - -<p>Nick then stated in detail what had passed between him and the -Englishman, and then proceeded to inform Chick what he since had been -doing.</p> - -<p>“I have been looking him up,” said he, with a glance at the English blue -book mentioned. “Sir Edward Chadwick is the only brother of the Earl of -Eggleston, Lord Waldmere having taken the name of his mother after his -marriage and estrangement from his father, she having been his second -wife and now dead for many years.”</p> - -<p>“I remember his saying so.”</p> - -<p>“Chadwick is married and has one son, now about thirty years old. I have -cabled to Captain Grady for particulars as to the character and standing -of both. I ought to receive an answer by to-morrow morning.”</p> - -<p>“Most likely. They are very prompt.”</p> - -<p>“Chadwick stated that he arrived in Boston this morning,” Nick went on. -“I have telephoned to Boston, also, and learned that no liner arrived -there this morning, none since last Saturday, four days ago.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, that smacks of a lie and certainly warrants suspicion.”</p> - -<p>“I think Chadwick has been here longer, and has been framing up this -job. Thinking himself entirely free from suspicion, and that the steps -he has taken and his pretended anxiety to find Waldmere will shield him -from distrust, he feels confident that no one will think of look<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_25" id="page_25">{25}</a></span>ing up -his movements with a view to confirming any of his statements.”</p> - -<p>“I see,” Chick nodded. “But what do you suspect?”</p> - -<p>“Well, if there was no direct male heir to the estate and title of the -Earl of Eggleston, both would fall legally, and possibly by will, to Sir -Edward Chadwick,” Nick said pointedly.</p> - -<p>“You suspect him of treachery, then, and of playing a deep game.”</p> - -<p>“That hits the nail on the head.”</p> - -<p>“You think he has conspired with others to murder Waldmere, and remove -the only barrier to his inheriting the estate and title of his brother?”</p> - -<p>“That also rings a bull’s-eye,” Nick nodded.</p> - -<p>“But wouldn’t he incur such serious suspicion at home, Nick, that he -might——”</p> - -<p>“Not in the way he has undertaken the job,” Nick interposed. “He -ostensibly is acting as agent for the Earl of Eggleston, and apparently -is engaged in a genuine search for Waldmere. He has appealed to Scotland -Yard and got a letter of introduction to me. I feel quite sure, however, -that both steps were taken only to give color to his pretentions. If I -am right, Chick, he is getting in his secret work with the help of -knaves hired for the purpose, while he keeps well in the background and -pretends to be playing an honorable part.”</p> - -<p>“But the killing of Waldmere may enable him to——”</p> - -<p>“I’m not sure that there has been any killing,” Nick again interrupted.</p> - -<p>“No murder?”</p> - -<p>“Not yet.”</p> - -<p>“Great guns!” Chick exclaimed. “That’s encouraging, at least, but why do -you think so?”</p> - -<p>“I have been looking over some of this evidence again,” said Nick, -glancing at the articles on his desk. “I think I detect the work of a -crook who is as crafty and designing as Chadwick himself, assuming that -I have sized him up correctly.”</p> - -<p>“You mean Floyd?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you think he figures in the case?”</p> - -<p>“Because of his presence at my door to-night and the fact that, even -while he fled, the taxicab containing Chadwick was approaching my -house,” said Nick. “There was something more than a coincidence, Chick, -in that both were here at the same time. It is very significant of -relations between them.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, that does seem reasonable,” said Chick. “I agree with you.”</p> - -<p>“Just what relations exist between them, however, and how the two came -together, are open questions,” Nick added. “Floyd is a keen and clever -rascal. He would not engage in such a job as this, if my suspicions are -correct, without clearly seeing his way to getting all that would be -coming to him. He would not undertake such a job, moreover, for any -small sum.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true.”</p> - -<p>“Bear in mind, now, that Chadwick is a long way from home. It’s a -hundred to one that he has not at immediate command any such sum as -Floyd would require, nor could he easily obtain it from England without -laying himself liable to subsequent suspicion.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right, too.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the logical deduction, then?”</p> - -<p>“You say.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_26" id="page_26">{26}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Simply this—that Floyd might go so far as to get away with Waldmere -and plant all of the evidence indicating that he has been murdered, but -he would go no further than that,” Nick pointedly reasoned. “He would -not complete the job, nor put himself in a way to the electric chair, -until he had received the price agreed upon for the murder. He would -hold Waldmere a prisoner until he got his money.”</p> - -<p>“I see the point,” Chick nodded. “That would, indeed, be very like him.”</p> - -<p>“Here, now, is something in support of that theory,” said Nick, turning -to his desk. “Here is the note that lured Mollie Waldmere to the -west-front chamber that she might not see the duplicate Night and -prevent her from enticing Waldmere from the house.</p> - -<p>“Here are the two admission cards craftily obtained from the Ringolds, -on which were written the names of the costumes worn by the two crooks. -Here, too, is the note found in the pocket of the Mexican costume, -apparently sent to the wearer by a confederate and indicating that -Waldmere was to be taken away in a limousine and murdered.”</p> - -<p>“I see,” said Chick, bending over the desk to examine them.</p> - -<p>“Do you see anything specially significant in connection with them?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t say that I do.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I can,” said Nick. “The writing on all of these articles is the -same, or so nearly alike that I am sure that the same man wrote all of -them.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, I think so, too, now that you point it out,” said Chick. “They -must have been written by the wearer of the Mexican costume, who hired -it from Perrot under the name of Talbot.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, since it was he who wrote the note given by him to Mollie -Waldmere.”</p> - -<p>“Unquestionably.”</p> - -<p>“Plainly, then, the chauffeur’s note was not sent in to him at all,” -Nick continued. “He wrote it himself. He did so only to put it in the -pocket of his costume, knowing it would be found later and that murder -would then be suspected, a suspicion seemingly confirmed by the finding -of the gashed and bloodstained cape worn by Waldmere.”</p> - -<p>“You now think, then, that the whole business is only a blind?”</p> - -<p>“The murder part of it.”</p> - -<p>“And that Waldmere is alive?”</p> - -<p>“I do.”</p> - -<p>“And confined somewhere pending a settlement for the job?”</p> - -<p>“That is precisely what I suspect.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, I am inclined to think you are right,” Chick now said -earnestly. “But what’s to be done, Nick, in that case?”</p> - -<p>“I already have decided,” said Nick. “I was waiting only for you to -return.”</p> - -<p>“What’s your scheme?”</p> - -<p>“Chadwick is a stranger in New York. He cannot go about alone, nor will -he venture into the underworld, where, if I am right, Waldmere is in -custody. An interview with him may be necessary, however, possibly -several of them, and it’s long odds that they will be held in Chadwick’s -quarters in the Oriental, since he thinks he has blinded me and feels -safe from suspicion.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_27" id="page_27">{27}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Quite likely, Nick, but what’s your scheme?” Chick repeated.</p> - -<p>“We’ll plant a dictograph in Chadwick’s apartments.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, I see.”</p> - -<p>“That is, providing we can get an adjoining, or an opposite room,” Nick -added. “We then can watch his apartments and overhear anything said -there. There is no time like the present, moreover, for he left here -only an hour ago, presumably to return to the hotel, and he very likely -will be at dinner when we arrive there.”</p> - -<p>“We could, in that case, turn the trick in a very few minutes.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll attempt it,” said Nick, taking the instrument and a coil of fine, -pliable wire from a drawer in his desk. “We’ll go up there in disguise. -Have a gun on your hip, also, for there’s no telling what may come off.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll wear two, Nick, to make a dead-sure thing of it,” Chick said -dryly.</p> - -<p>It was seven o’clock when the two detectives arrived at the New -Oriental, where they lost no time in getting in their work.</p> - -<p>Nick confided in the chief clerk, from whom he learned that Chadwick had -arrived that afternoon, that he was traveling alone, and had just gone -in to dinner, also that he had a small suite on the third floor.</p> - -<p>One directly opposite to it happened to be unoccupied, and no less than -ten minutes after their arrival at the hotel both detectives were -established in the vacant suite.</p> - -<p>“Now, Chick, we’ll work lively,” Nick remarked, throwing off his coat -and hat. “You keep an eye on the corridor. I’ll do the painting.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got you,” Chick nodded. “Lie low, if you hear me whistle.”</p> - -<p>Nick stole out with the dictograph and wire, as well as the tools he -required. He opened the opposite door with a picklock and entered the -suite, which consisted of only a sitting room, bedroom, and bath. The -Englishman had left the lights on, and his outside garments and luggage -were in the bedroom.</p> - -<p>A table stood in the middle of the sitting room. Near one of the walls, -that adjoining the hall, was a desk supplied with writing materials. It -was prevented from standing flush against the wall by a projection of -the baseboard, and Nick quickly attached the dictograph to the back of -the desk, well out of sight.</p> - -<p>He then ran the fine wire downward to the floor, tucking it between the -carpet and the baseboard, and conducting it to the door. Then he ran it -over the threshold, close to the jamb on the hinge side, and then under -the hall carpet and into the opposite room.</p> - -<p>No warning whistle from Chick had delayed him, and the entire work had -occupied less than fifteen minutes.</p> - -<p>“We now will wait developments,” said Nick, when all was ready. “Out -with the lights and set this door ajar. If this man has no visitor -to-night, Chick, I shall be much mistaken.”</p> - -<p>Chick adjusted the door, leaving a crack, through which they could see -that of the opposite suite, and both then sat down to wait in the -darkness.</p> - -<p>The steps of others could occasionally be heard in the corridor, but -half an hour had passed when the Englishman returned to his apartments.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_28" id="page_28">{28}</a></span></p> - -<p>Both detectives saw him enter his lighted rooms, consulting his watch -when he closed the door.</p> - -<p>“That may be significant,” Nick whispered. “He expects some one, -perhaps, at an appointed time.”</p> - -<p>Nick was right, and eight o’clock brought the expected visitor.</p> - -<p>He knocked once, then twice, on the Englishman’s door. The detectives -could see him quite plainly in the lighted corridor, a stocky, -smooth-shaved man in a plaid overcoat and wearing a fur cap.</p> - -<p>Nick could see his face only in profile while he waited, but he felt -sure he had previously seen him, though he could not then say where.</p> - -<p>When Sir Edward Chadwick admitted him, however, and the stocky man -entered and removed his cap, revealing in the bright light of the room a -strikingly bald head, as round as a bullet and glistening like a -billiard ball, Nick identified him on the instant.</p> - -<p>“Great Scott!” he whispered to Chick, as the Englishman closed the door. -“That’s Baldy Gammon. That does settle it.”</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIa" id="CHAPTER_VIIa"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> -<small>MR. PIMLICO.</small></h2> - -<p>Nick Carter, though he never had seen the man, now knew where he had -seen the face. He had trained himself never to forget the face of a -crook, even though seen only as he had seen that of Baldy Gammon.</p> - -<p>It was included in his rogues’ gallery, two excellent photographs, front -and profile, on a Bertillon signaletic card sent to him from Scotland -Yard about two years before.</p> - -<p>The card contained also a description and the criminal record of one -Jasper Gammon, nicknamed Baldy Gammon because of his bald head. There -could be no mistaking this fellow, who had a notorious record as a -confidence man, sneak thief, and all-around swindler.</p> - -<p>“Baldy Gammon?” muttered Chick, not placing him. “Who the deuce is he?”</p> - -<p>Nick quietly informed him, at the same time taking up the dictograph -receiver and holding it to his ear. Every word uttered in the opposite -suite could be distinctly heard, every sound that was made, in fact, and -Nick whispered the interview to Chick while the scene in the suite -across the hall was in progress. Minds as keen and perceptive as those -of the two detectives could easily supply most of the following -invisible details:</p> - -<p>Sir Edward Chadwick closed the door and waved Baldy Gammon to a chair, -taking one opposite his visitor.</p> - -<p>“Well, you are on time,” he said approvingly, though his voice still had -the hard twang that had grated on Nick’s ears and suggested the flinty -nature of the speaker.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Sir Edud,” replied Gammon, with a pronounced vernacular. “I allas -makes it a point to be on time—allas, Sir Edud.”</p> - -<p>“Well, skip all else and light upon the issue,” said Chadwick. “What’s -the verdict?”</p> - -<p>Baldy Gammon drew forward in his chair and announced, with manifest -satisfaction, together with a leer in his coal-black eyes.</p> - -<p>“We’ve got ’im, Sir Edud, got ’im foul and dead to rights. In other -words, Sir Edud, we’ve got ’im just where we wants ’im.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_29" id="page_29">{29}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“I already know that, Mr. Gammon,” returned Chadwick bluntly.</p> - -<p>“You does?”</p> - -<p>Baldy Gammon looked surprised, and Sir Edward Chadwick proceeded to -explain.</p> - -<p>“I have called on Nick Carter and learned how the game was played and -the stumblingblock removed,” he said pointedly. “I thought it wise to -cover my tracks by seeing this American detective without delay. He does -not suspect me, nor will he, now, and though he is at work on the case, -he frankly admitted that he is all in the dark.”</p> - -<p>“The which is a werry good place for ’im to be, Sir Edud,” Gammon dryly -vouchsafed. “Don’t ’e know, then, as ’ow you ’ave been ’ere for nearly a -week?”</p> - -<p>“He knows nothing about me, Mr. Gammon, except what I saw fit to tell -him.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s safe to say, Sir Edud, as ’ow you’d tell ’im nothink worth -knowin,” said Gammon, with a grin.</p> - -<p>“Come to the point,” frowned Chadwick. “I did not employ you to comment -upon my sagacity.”</p> - -<p>“Werry true, Sir Edud; werry true, indeed.”</p> - -<p>“Come to the point. Is it all over?”</p> - -<p>Baldy Gammon shook his almost hairless head and appeared a little -disturbed.</p> - -<p>“Well, not quite, Sir Edud, not quite,” he reluctantly admitted.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean, Gammon?” Sir Edward harshly demanded. “What do you -mean by not quite? Hasn’t he been disposed of, put out of the way, out -of existence?”</p> - -<p>“Not yet, Sir Edud.”</p> - -<p>“Why not? Hang it, why the delay? I inferred from what Carter told me -that it was all over, that the infernal——”</p> - -<p>“Now, ’old your ’osses, Sir Edud, ’old your ’osses,” Gammon interrupted, -with as much suavity he could command. “It’s as ’ow it cawn’t be ’elped. -I’ll tell you just ’ow it is, Sir Edud.”</p> - -<p>“Do so, then, and lose no time about it,” Chadwick commanded, frowning -more darkly. “I had hoped you brought me better news.”</p> - -<p>“It’s precisely what I suspected,” Nick Carter murmured. “I’ll wager my -reputation on it.”</p> - -<p>“Looks so,” Chick tersely agreed.</p> - -<p>Baldy Gammon, having broken the ice, came forth with his explanation.</p> - -<p>“It’s like this, Sir Edud,” he began. “When I came over ’ere for this -’ere work, knowing as ’ow you soon would follow me, I ’ad in mind the -werry man for a job o’ this kind. It don’t matter what ’is name be, nor -would ’e like me to inform you.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not at all anxious to know it.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve knowed ’im for some time, Sir Edud, and I knowed ’e would ’ave the -right ’elp and a ’ead to frame up the job in the right way. ’Ow well he -did it, Sir Edud, goes without saying. We’ve got the man. We’ve got ’im -where we wants ’im.”</p> - -<p>“You know where I want him,” snarled Chadwick harshly. “You know what -depends upon his death, and——”</p> - -<p>“<span class="lftspc">’</span>Ear me out, Sir Edud,” interrupted Gammon pacifically. “It’s as ’ow we -can turn ’im down at any moment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_30" id="page_30">{30}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Why in thunder hasn’t it been done, then? Why this needless delay? -Delays are always dangerous.”</p> - -<p>“It’s like this, Sir Edud,” Gammon proceeded. “This covey I speak of, -’im as run the whole blooming job, and who can be banked on to do ’is -part when the time comes—this ’ere covey don’t feel dead sure of -getting what’s coming to ’im.”</p> - -<p>“The money you agreed upon? Is that what you mean?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I means, Sir Edud, and——”</p> - -<p>“But couldn’t you convince him that the money would be forthcoming?” -snapped Chadwick impatiently. “You should have made it plain that he -will finally get it.”</p> - -<p>“I tried to, so I did, Sir Edud, but it’s as ’ow the covey don’t feel -that way,” Gammon replied, a bit dubiously. “You see, Sir Edud, ’e wants -to be dead sure of ’is afore taking the risk of a chair what isn’t -over-inviting. I could not tell ’im just who you are and all the facts, -the which would be werry convincing. You ordered me not to do that, Sir -Edud, and I allas act on the square. So the covey is ’olding off till -sure——”</p> - -<p>“Wait!” Sir Edward exclaimed harshly. “Where is this man? I must see -him. I must talk with him myself. I can convince him that the money will -be forthcoming. Send the man here to see me.”</p> - -<p>Baldy Gammon stared thoughtfully at the carpet for a moment.</p> - -<p>“I ain’t a bit sure as ’ow ’e’d come, Sir Edud, unless ’e comes in -disguise,” he then replied.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care how he comes, so be it he comes quickly,” snapped the -other.</p> - -<p>“That could be inside of an hour, Sir Edud.”</p> - -<p>“I will wait here for him.”</p> - -<p>“<span class="lftspc">’</span>E has a silvery-gray wig and a flowing beard, the which I’ve seen ’im -wear at times,” observed Gammon. “I’m thinking as ’ow ’e would come in -them.”</p> - -<p>“Let him wear them, then.”</p> - -<p>“And I will ’ave him use the same signal knock as I used.”</p> - -<p>“Once, then twice.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Sir Edud.”</p> - -<p>“Very good. I will remember.”</p> - -<p>“To make dead sure,” added Gammon, “I will ’ave ’im mention ’is name as -Mr. Pimlico. That’s no common name, Sir Edud, and you’ll be sure it’s -’im.”</p> - -<p>“I understand you, Gammon,” Sir Edward said, with a growl. “Send the man -here to-night. Tell him I insist upon seeing him.”</p> - -<p>Baldy Gammon arose with a bow and gesture of assent, then hurriedly -departed.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter whispered a few words to Chick, then stole noiselessly out -of the suite in which they had been listening.</p> - -<p>It was half past eight when Baldy Gammon departed, leaving Sir Edward -Chadwick to await the arrival of the said Mr. Pimlico.</p> - -<p>Chick Carter made no move to prevent the departure of this London crook, -nor to follow him. He remained seated in the darkness of the opposite -suite, with the door still ajar and his gaze fixed upon that directly -across the corridor.</p> - -<p>Nine o’clock came and with it came Mr. Pimlico.</p> - -<p>There could be no mistaking the man Baldy Gammon had described, with his -silvery-gray hair and flowing beard, giving him the appearance of a man -of seventy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_31" id="page_31">{31}</a></span></p> - -<p>Chick heard him coming and saw Chadwick open the door in response to the -signal knock. He surveyed the man a bit sharply, saying tersely:</p> - -<p>“Well, sir?”</p> - -<p>“My name is Pimlico,” said the other.</p> - -<p>“Ah! Come in.”</p> - -<p>The door closed behind the couple and Chick Carter seized the dictograph -receiver.</p> - -<p>Sir Edward Chadwick took a chair near the table, his visitor one -directly opposite, saying, while he sat down:</p> - -<p>“Gammon brought me word that you wish to see me.”</p> - -<p>“I do,” Sir Edward said curtly.</p> - -<p>“What need is there?” Mr. Pimlico demanded.</p> - -<p>“Much need.”</p> - -<p>“He said he told you just how matters stand.”</p> - -<p>“So he did.”</p> - -<p>“I am taking chances by coming here, sir, even in disguise.”</p> - -<p>“There would have been no need of your coming, Mr. Pimlico, or whatever -your name may be, if you had done what you had agreed to do,” Sir Edward -said, quite sternly.</p> - -<p>“I have taken all of the steps agreed upon except one—the last step,” -Pimlico said, with ominous significance, but with unruffled calmness. “I -am in a position to take that final step at any moment. But you have not -forgotten, of course, there is another side of the bargain.”</p> - -<p>“You mean——”</p> - -<p>“The payment of the amount agreed upon,” Pimlico put in firmly.</p> - -<p>“That will be paid when your work is completed, when I have positive -proof that it is done.”</p> - -<p>“What assurance have I of that?”</p> - -<p>“My word of honor,” said Sir Edward, with a steadily deepening frown. -“That ought to be sufficient under such circumstances.”</p> - -<p>“Could there be more desperate circumstances?” Pimlico calmly inquired. -“Bear in mind that you are a stranger to me, that I have taken the word -of another for what I already have done, and to the effect that you are -a responsible person and will make good. That is hardly enough, however, -in view of the nature of the work and the risks involved. Before the -final step is taken, ending the whole business, I must see the color of -your money.”</p> - -<p>Sir Edward shifted uneasily in his chair and eyed his visitor more -darkly. Pimlico’s voice had a firmness that did not please him. He -feared that he might find it impossible to move him, to prevail upon him -to take that final step so essential to his knavish treachery. He feared -that his designs might miscarry at this last moment. It was these fears -that impelled him to go further than he otherwise would have gone—to -the extent of confiding in his hireling.</p> - -<p>He drew himself up, as if he suddenly came to that determination, saying -with much less asperity:</p> - -<p>“You mean, then, that you insist upon being paid in advance, Mr. -Pimlico.”</p> - -<p>“That is what I mean,” bowed Pimlico, deliberately stroking his gray -beard.</p> - -<p>“But I cannot comply with that demand.”</p> - -<p>“Cannot, sir, or will not?” Pimlico pointedly questioned.</p> - -<p>“Cannot,” Sir Edward said earnestly. “I would pay you<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_32" id="page_32">{32}</a></span> on the spot, my -friend, if it were possible for me to do so.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the point. How do I know that it ever will be possible?”</p> - -<p>“I can convince you of that.”</p> - -<p>“In what way?”</p> - -<p>“First tell me—if convinced of my integrity and ability to pay you -later, will you complete the work you thus far have done so ably?”</p> - -<p>“I will consider it, at least, and very possibly do it,” said Pimlico, -after a moment.</p> - -<p>Sir Edward drew nearer the table and rested his arms on it. Gazing -intently across it at his hearer, he said, with augmented feeling, but -with voice somewhat lowered:</p> - -<p>“I will tell you just where I stand and why I have done this, something -I directed Gammon not to confide to you.”</p> - -<p>“Nor did he,” said Pimlico simply.</p> - -<p>“Gammon is a man of his word. I happen to know that, my friend, or I -would not have employed him for work of this kind. So am I a man of my -word,” Sir Edward forcibly added. “I am a man of high standing in -England, a man of character and ambition, in the way of which is the one -barrier I now want removed. An earldom and a vast fortune await me when -that is out of my way.”</p> - -<p>“This man Waldmere?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“What is he to you?”</p> - -<p>“I am his uncle. His father, the Earl of Eggleston, is my only brother. -He is dying, if not already dead, and his title and vast estate will -soon be mine, providing Waldmere is dead and out of the way. Can you -doubt, then, that I will pay you the price agreed upon with Gammon?” Sir -Edward forcibly questioned. “Why, man, I will pay even more liberally. I -will double the amount, and it shall be paid when——”</p> - -<p>“One moment,” Pimlico interrupted. “Has Gammon told you where Waldmere -is confined?”</p> - -<p>“No, he has not.”</p> - -<p>“Or who I really am and where I hang out?”</p> - -<p>“No, neither.”</p> - -<p>“Have you any idea?”</p> - -<p>“Not the slightest. I have left it all to Gammon. Nor do I care about -that, Mr. Pimlico,” Sir Edward added. “If you will do what I require, if -you will put this man away, if you will complete your work at once and -contrive that positive proof of Waldmere’s death shall be found, I will -do all that I have agreed to do and something more than that, as soon -as——”</p> - -<p>He stopped short.</p> - -<p>A pencil with which Pimlico had been toying had slipped from his fingers -and fallen to the floor.</p> - -<p>Sir Edward Chadwick leaned over to pick it up and replace it on the -table. When he straightened up and again gazed at his visitor—he -underwent a change as if death had suddenly claimed him.</p> - -<p>There had been an equally quick change in the other.</p> - -<p>Mr. Pimlico had disappeared. His gray wig and flowing beard were lying -on the floor. His right hand held a revolver, his left a pair of -handcuffs, and the stern face that now met the gaze of the horrified -Englishman was that of—Nick Carter.</p> - -<p>It wore an expression far different from that seen by the designing -Englishman in the library of the de<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_33" id="page_33">{33}</a></span>tective’s residence a short time -before. He thought he then had played his cards well. He had succeeded -only in sealing his own fate.</p> - -<p>How he had been duped, by what means it had been accomplished, or how -much more the detective knew than he had blindly told him—into none of -these did Sir Edward Chadwick pause to inquire. With a half-smothered -oath, with his great white teeth meeting with an audible snap, he -started to rise and reached for a weapon.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter was much too quick for him, however. His hands shot like a -flash across the table. They closed with a viselike grip on those of the -titled crook. There was a swirl of glittering steel around his brawny -wrists, a quick snap of the double locks, and Sir Edward Chadwick was -secured in manacles almost before he knew it.</p> - -<p>“Take them off! Hang you, take them off!” he fiercely snarled, tugging -vainly at them. “What’s the meaning of this? What——”</p> - -<p>“Silence!” Nick sternly commanded, forcing the frantic man back in his -chair. “You know very well what it means. You are under arrest, Sir -Edward Chadwick, a would-be murderer by your own blind confession. You -will answer to the law for conspiracy with intent to kill. Now, having -got the mastery, I will take steps to secure the hirelings.”</p> - -<p>The Englishman broke forth again with bitter oaths and imprecations, -though his face had gone ghastly and his lips were as gray as ashes.</p> - -<p>“Take them off! Take them off!” he repeated, striving vainly to break -the steel bracelets. “You can do nothing. You cannot prove it. My word -is as good as yours. There were no witnesses, no——”</p> - -<p>“You are very much mistaken,” Nick again interrupted sternly. “I have -all the corroboration the law will require. There is a dictograph behind -this desk, and my chief assistant in the opposite suite has heard every -word you have said. I will call him, that you may see for yourself and -end your vain struggles.”</p> - -<p>A cry failed to prove effective, however, and Nick stepped into the hall -and threw open the door of the opposite suite.</p> - -<p>It no longer was occupied.</p> - -<p>Chick Carter had disappeared.</p> - -<p>Nick wondered and waited—but waited vainly.</p> - -<p>Chick did not return.</p> - -<p>Nor did an hour bring any sign of—the genuine Mr. Pimlico.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIIa" id="CHAPTER_VIIIa"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> -<small>TAKING LONG CHANCES.</small></h2> - -<p>It was a misty, humid, disagreeable night, with the unseasonable January -warm spell hanging on, making winter garments almost unbearable, though -ordinary discretion precluded removing them.</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan found it damp and uncomfortable while watching the Ringold -residence from a concealment in the adjoining grounds. He was glad when -the early dusk of the afternoon deepened into darkness, enabling him to -steal out and move around without incurring detection, thus relieving -the monotony of his persistent vigil.</p> - -<p>It was eight o’clock when his patience was finally rewarded. He had seen -the Ringolds at dinner, had watched them through the lace-draped windows -of the house, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_34" id="page_34">{34}</a></span> had seen Nan Levine serving at the table, then -clearing it, and supping with another servant in the kitchen. Nothing in -her looks or actions, however, denoted that she was in haste, or had any -intention of going out that evening.</p> - -<p>Patsy was agreeably disappointed, therefore, when he saw her leaving the -house. She emerged from the side door, with a dark cloak enveloping her -slender figure, while her head and face were covered with a veil. She -tripped out to the street, where she paused to glance sharply around for -a moment, and then she hurried away.</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! she is breaking cover, all right,” thought Patsy, at once -elated. “She’s off on a definite mission, too, and that looks more like -business. There’s no mistaking her, for all she’s so bundled up and -closely veiled. That points to something doing, for fair. It’s ten to -one, now, that Chick sized her up correctly.”</p> - -<p>Stealing out, Patsy followed the girl with no great difficulty. He knew -that his disguise would preclude recognition, even if she had seen him -the previous night, as Nick had apprehended. It soon became obvious to -Patsy, however, that she did not feel that she had incurred suspicion, -or had any thought of being followed.</p> - -<p>Patsy shadowed her over to New York, where she took the Third Avenue -elevated. Leaving it a little later, she finally brought up at an -inferior wooden house in a low street on the East Side. She darted up -the inclosed steps and rang the bell three times, and she was admitted -so quickly that Patsy was unable to see who answered the summons.</p> - -<p>“She’s under cover again, all right, but this looks still more like -business,” he said to himself. “But how am I to get next? That’s the -question.”</p> - -<p>Patsy had paused on the opposite side of the street and was sizing up -the house and its surroundings. The ground floor was used for a small -store. Over the door was a sign bearing the single word—Hogan.</p> - -<p>“It looks like a measly little grocery store,” muttered Patsy. “But why -is it closed so early? Other shops around here are open. Hogan must have -other business on for to-night, something doing in which that girl -figures. Gee, I must contrive in some way to turn the trick.”</p> - -<p>The front room of the dwelling over the store was in darkness, but Patsy -could see that the roller shades were drawn down, with no sign of any -person near them in the act of peering out. He could also see on the -rear wall of an adjoining building the faint reflection of light from -the side window of a rear room of the house.</p> - -<p>“That’s where the girl has gone,” he rightly reasoned. “But who is with -her and how am I to get up there? Those windows are a good ten feet from -the ground. I’ll have a look at the back of the crib. There may be a -porch.”</p> - -<p>Moving more cautiously, Patsy found a narrow passageway between the -house and the building mentioned, through which he stealthily picked his -way into a small back yard, so small it was hardly worthy the name.</p> - -<p>For the rear wall of a large garage fronting on the next street was -within six feet of the back of the house. The yard was as dark as a -pocket, moreover, but Patsy could feel the outlines of a bulkhead door, -evidently opening into a cellar under the store.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_35" id="page_35">{35}</a></span></p> - -<p>There was no sign of a porch, or means of getting up to the second-floor -windows. Patsy could see, nevertheless, that the curtain of one of them -was up about an inch above the lower sash.</p> - -<p>While looking up he also saw that the garage was quite a new one and -that it was built of cement blocks, a building of only one story, and -having a flat roof.</p> - -<p>“If I can get up there, by gracious, I might get a look into that room, -at least,” he said to himself. “A look might help. I’ll make a bid for -it, even if I have to seek aid from whomever runs the shebang.”</p> - -<p>Feeling around a rear corner of the garage, bent upon finding a way to -the front, Patsy discovered that the alternate corner blocks of cement -were set inward about half an inch, a quite common and slightly -ornamental construction, as courses of bricks at uniform distances are -sometimes laid.</p> - -<p>Naturally, of course, each receding block left a slight projection, the -upper edge of that on which it was set, and Patsy was not long in -finding that he could fix his toes on these projections, and, by -grasping those above that he could mount to the garage roof almost as -easily as if provided with a ladder.</p> - -<p>“Gee! this was softer than I could have hoped,” he said to himself when -seated on the edge of the low roof. “The house is near, but not quite -near enough. By Jove, if I had only a piece of—holy smoke! I’m a smelt -if I haven’t got it. Things sure are coming my way.”</p> - -<p>It was a piece of board that had caught his eye, a strip about six feet -long and as many inches wide, and which evidently had been overlooked by -the builders when cleaning up the roof of the garage.</p> - -<p>Patsy seized it with much the same avidity as a terrier seizes a rat. -Creeping along the roof with it he quickly reached a point directly -opposite the lighted window of the dwelling—that already specially -noticed.</p> - -<p>A narrow beam of light was shed out below the roller shade, lending a -faint glow to the misty night air. Through the narrow space between the -curtain and sash, however, Patsy could see only that there were several -persons in the back room, which evidently was a kitchen, and he was too -far from the closed window to hear their voices.</p> - -<p>“Gee whittaker! I’ve got to get still nearer,” he said to himself, -ruefully gazing into the black abyss below. “I might as well be on top -of the Flatiron Building. I must take a chance with this plank, by -gracious, if I lose a leg.”</p> - -<p>Crouching on his hands and knees, proceeding all the while with the -utmost quietude and caution, Patsy found that the strip of board was -long enough to reach from the outside stone sill of the window to the -edge of the garage roof, with about a three-inch rest on each end.</p> - -<p>“It will support me, all right,” he muttered, gazing at it after having -gingerly placed it in position. “Gee! but it’s a ticklish crawl. Can I -wriggle out on it without displacing one end, or the other? If not, it -will be a quick trip to the ground for mine.”</p> - -<p>Patsy viewed it doubtfully for several moments. It was a stunt from -which the boldest would have shrunk. Then he looked at the lighted -window again and listened vainly—and his face then took on an -expression that spoke louder than words.</p> - -<p>“It’s got to be done,” he murmured decidedly. “There’s nothing else to -it. I must find out who is in that room,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_36" id="page_36">{36}</a></span> and what is going on there. I -might as well be a bump on a log, as sitting here.”</p> - -<p>Starting up, Patsy removed his overcoat and hat, placing them near by on -the roof.</p> - -<p>He then crouched close to the edge, grasping each side of the plank as -far out as he could reach.</p> - -<p>He found that it rested firmly on each end, and he then worked his hands -still farther out, gradually letting himself down until he lay flat upon -it, with his feet on the garage roof and his head within eight inches of -the house window, his eyes directly in line with the lower edge of the -slightly raised curtain.</p> - -<p>The beam of light from within fell full on his face. It looked unusually -pale, but never more set and determined.</p> - -<p>Patsy had reasoned that it might be more difficult to return than to get -out there on his narrow support. But he had resolved to cross that -bridge when he came to it.</p> - -<p>It was enough for him, just then, that he had accomplished his immediate -object. He now could see plainly into the room and also hear the voices -of its occupants.</p> - -<p>He took them in visually with a single swift glance—five persons.</p> - -<p>One was a brawny Irishman in his shirt sleeves. He was seated near the -stove and smoking a clay pipe.</p> - -<p>Another was a corpulent, red-faced woman, whose garments denoted that -she was the mistress of the house, as the other appeared to be its -master.</p> - -<p>“Hogan and his wife,” thought Patsy. “I’ve seen him driving a taxi, too, -and his wife most likely runs the little store.”</p> - -<p>Patsy afterward learned that he was right.</p> - -<p>A third person was Annette Levine, divested of her outside garments.</p> - -<p>A fourth was a dark, finely formed woman in the twenties, whom Patsy -instantly recognized as a familiar character in the Tenderloin, one Lucy -Devoll, a girl formerly intimate with the Vantoon sisters, then in -prison for their complicity in two of the crimes committed by Stuart -Floyd.</p> - -<p>The fifth person was none other than the notorious crook himself—Stuart -Floyd.</p> - -<p>He looked white and pinched, and there was an abnormal glitter in his -eyes that told of feverish anxiety and physical consumption, of the -horrible price paid for traveling the downward path.</p> - -<p>“Eureka!” thought Patsy, when he discovered these worthies. “I’m in -right, if I can only stick here. If worse comes, I can wriggle around -and drop into the yard. It’s not more than ten feet.”</p> - -<p>Patsy lost nothing that was said in the room while these few thoughts -passed through his mind.</p> - -<p>Stuart Floyd was talking, addressing the girl who had entered only a few -minutes before.</p> - -<p>“What type of man is he, Nan, the one who called this morning?” he -asked.</p> - -<p>“A decent-looking, muscular man, smooth shaved,” said Nan Levine, as she -was called. “He’s about medium complexion.”</p> - -<p>“It might have been Chick Carter,” said Floyd, with knit brows. “You are -sure it wasn’t Nick himself?”</p> - -<p>“I’m dead sure of that,” nodded Nan. “I saw him over the baluster rail -at two this morning, and also Patsy Garvan, as you call him. ’Twasn’t -either of them who<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_37" id="page_37">{37}</a></span> called this morning, and I don’t reckon he was a -detective.”</p> - -<p>“Possibly not.”</p> - -<p>“I walked by the door three or four times, but I couldn’t hear what he -was saying to the mistress. They sat too far from the door.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! the chief was right,” thought Patsy. “He’s never wrong, by Jove, -as far as that goes.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I know the Carters are on the case,” Floyd said moodily. “I got -wise to that this afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“How was that, Stu?” inquired Hogan, removing his pipe.</p> - -<p>“I saw the gink Gammon is serving going down Madison Avenue in a taxi,” -said Floyd. “Gammon thinks I ain’t wise to him, but I am. From what -Gammon has told me, I reckoned the English gink was going to pump -Carter, or pull off some kind of a bluff. So I hurried down and had a -look through Carter’s front door.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! that’s news to me,” thought Patsy, with increasing interest.</p> - -<p>“I saw Carter himself on a couch in one of the rooms,” Floyd went on. “I -piped him through a mirror in the hall. I’m not sure that he didn’t pipe -me, as well.”</p> - -<p>“Was the English gazabo there?” questioned Hogan.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Floyd bluntly. “The taxi driver must have blundered and went -too far south. All of a sudden I saw him coming up the avenue and I knew -he was going to stop at the dick’s house.”</p> - -<p>“Thunder!” Lucy Devoll exclaimed. “What did you do?”</p> - -<p>“Bolted,” said Floyd grimly. “I made a quick get-away, you can bet on -that. The gink went in there, and that’s all I waited to see. Gammon had -an appointment with him at eight. He ought to show up pretty soon. Then -we’ll know how the cat is going to jump.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think the dicks have got any line on me?” questioned Hogan -apprehensively.</p> - -<p>“How can they have any line on you?” Floyd returned, with a growl. “You -was in disguise and you had a rented limousine with a phony number. -There’s no way that they can have picked up a line on you.”</p> - -<p>“Begad, I hope not.”</p> - -<p>“You stand well as a taxi driver,” Floyd added. “You’re as safe from -suspicion as a preacher. That’s why I had the infernal live stock -brought here.”</p> - -<p>“You’re right, mebbe.”</p> - -<p>“I know I’m right,” Floyd asserted confidently.</p> - -<p>“I can see where you’ll get the surprise of your life a little later,” -said Patsy Garvan to himself.</p> - -<p>“But when do we get the coin? That’s what I want to know,” vouchsafed -the Devoll girl, most expressively. “I’ve gone into this blindly, as Nan -has, on your word, Floyd, and——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ve got that all fixed,” Floyd interrupted. “That’s what Gammon is -after to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I hope he gets it.”</p> - -<p>“He knows I won’t turn down the man until I’m dead sure of the coin. I’m -not taking that kind of a chance. The rest of the job cut no great ice -and was easily done, but putting out a man’s light—that’s a different -matter.”</p> - -<p>“I should say so,” frowned Lucy.</p> - -<p>“If the coin is ready for us——”</p> - -<p>“Easy!”</p> - -<p>“That must be Gammon.”</p> - -<p>Patsy heard the ringing of the doorbell—three times.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_38" id="page_38">{38}</a></span></p> - -<p>The corpulent woman, Hogan’s wife, hastened out to open the front door.</p> - -<p>Patsy clung to his board, watching constantly, listening intently, but -he began to feel the strain of his awkward and perilous position. He -scarce dared to stir, lest the board should slip from one end, or the -other, and his distress was each moment becoming more painful.</p> - -<p>“I’ll hang on, by thunder, till I learn the whole business,” he -muttered, gritting his teeth. “I’ll land this bunch, too, or know the -reason why.”</p> - -<p>Less than a minute had passed when Mrs. Hogan returned to the kitchen. -She was closely followed by Baldy Gammon, and Patsy Garvan saw the -English crook for the first time.</p> - -<p>He knew nothing about him, of course, nor about the first interview Nick -had had with Sir Edward Chadwick, and much that he had heard was almost -Greek to the determined young detective. Hence, his resolution to get -all that could be obtained.</p> - -<p>Stuart Floyd sprang up with an inquiring stare when Gammon entered, but -the latter said quickly, with a sharp glance at the several other -occupants of the room:</p> - -<p>“Gimme a word with you alone, Floyd. It’s as ’ow I ’ave somethink to -tell you.”</p> - -<p>“What about?”</p> - -<p>“You know. Come into the front room,” Gammon insisted.</p> - -<p>Stuart Floyd followed him without replying.</p> - -<p>Hogan frowned darkly, and Lucy Devoll stole to the kitchen door to -listen.</p> - -<p>Patsy rightly reasoned that Floyd and Gammon were the two responsible -for the active work of abducting Waldmere, and that the others were -merely in their employ. He wondered, too, of course, to what Englishman -they had referred.</p> - -<p>“Gee! I wish they had done their talking there,” he said to himself -during the lull in the kitchen. “This may leave me dead lame as to the -exact truth—as lame as I’ll be after lying so long on this board. It’s -like being on a rack.”</p> - -<p>Patsy had not long to wait, however, before Gammon returned to the -kitchen. Scarce ten minutes had passed, and the English crook then was -followed by a man with silvery-gray hair and a flowing beard.</p> - -<p>Patsy instantly recognized him, nevertheless.</p> - -<p>“Great guns!” he exclaimed mentally. “What’s on, now? Floyd is going out -in disguise. Gee! had I better try to follow him?”</p> - -<p>Floyd already had on his street garments, and brief consideration -convinced Patsy that he could not possibly get down from his perilous -perch in time to overtake him.</p> - -<p>For Floyd lingered only to say a few words quietly to Hogan, and he then -turned sharp on his heel and departed.</p> - -<p>Gammon remained, however, and took the chair the other had vacated.</p> - -<p>Floyd had gone, of course, to keep the appointment as Mr. Pimlico.</p> - -<p>Lucy Devoll, frowning, began to question Gammon about it, and so sharp -and insistent were her inquiries that he finally proceeded to tell them -of the exact situation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_39" id="page_39">{39}</a></span></p> - -<p>Patsy listened exultantly—but it was of brief duration.</p> - -<p>The talk in the kitchen led up to Nan Levine’s mission there, of which -Baldy Gammon was ignorant. The moment he learned of the morning caller -at the Ringold residence, however, he seemed to be inspired with -suspicions that had entirely escaped Stuart Floyd, or been utterly -ignored.</p> - -<p>“<span class="lftspc">’</span>Ang it, girl, you may ’ave been followed ’ere!” he exclaimed, starting -to his feet. “<span class="lftspc">’</span>Ow do you know you wasn’t? What’s out back ’ere? Let’s -’ave a look?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, there’s nothing there,” growled Hogan, laying down his pipe.</p> - -<p>“<span class="lftspc">’</span>Ow do you know? Let’s make sure of it, all the same. I’ll see for my -blooming self.”</p> - -<p>This sudden turn of affairs fell, of course, with alarming possibilities -on the mind of Patsy Garvan, particularly when he saw the scowling -ruffian striding toward the window on the sill of which the plank was -resting.</p> - -<p>“Gee! this is a case of sneak—if sneaking is possible,” he muttered, in -rising excitement. “It’s a quick get-away for mine.”</p> - -<p>Patsy had begun to wriggle back on the board with his first thought. His -muscles were stiff and cramped, however, and he could not move quickly, -nor steadily.</p> - -<p>Twice he felt the board slip treacherously on the stone sill of the -window.</p> - -<p>Then the curtain was raised high from within.</p> - -<p>Baldy Gammon appeared at the window.</p> - -<p>A blaze of light poured out upon Patsy, and he recoiled involuntarily.</p> - -<p>That one slight move threw the board from the sill.</p> - -<p>Patsy heard a roar from Gammon—but heard no more for several moments.</p> - -<p>He fell through space as if out of an airship, turning while he fell, -and in another instant he had crashed completely through the bulkhead -door mentioned, and landed, stunned and bleeding, on the floor of the -shop cellar.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IXa" id="CHAPTER_IXa"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> -<small>THE LAST TRAIL.</small></h2> - -<p>There was a very good reason for Chick Carter’s disappearance from the -suite in which Nick had left him. The designs of the latter in leaving, -after hearing with the dictograph the interview between Chadwick and -Gammon, must be perfectly obvious. It was a simple thing for Nick to -hasten home and return in a disguise such as Gammon had described.</p> - -<p>Nick also had in mind, of course, to arrest the genuine Mr. Pimlico the -moment he put in an appearance.</p> - -<p>The instinctive caution of Stuart Floyd, however, when venturing out of -haunts in which he felt comparatively safe, prevented this second design -of Nick Carter, or briefly postponed and transferred it to another -quarter, and also occasioned the sudden disappearance of Chick.</p> - -<p>For Floyd did not take the elevator after entering the Oriental Hotel, -nor did he enter the house through the front door. He came in through a -side door, then stole up the stairs to the third floor, seeking the -corridor and door to which Gammon had directed him.</p> - -<p>He came so quietly that Chick Carter did not hear him until the rascal -was nearly to the door of the Englishman’s suite—and at the same moment -Floyd caught sight of a slender wire glistening on the threshold.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_40" id="page_40">{40}</a></span></p> - -<p>There was no need to tell Stuart Floyd what it was, nor did he stop to -learn whither it ran.</p> - -<p>He turned like a flash and darted toward the main stairway of the hotel, -down which he fled at top speed, tearing off his disguise while he sped -down the stair and thrusting it into his pocket.</p> - -<p>Chick Carter had caught sight of him, however, and instantly guessed the -truth.</p> - -<p>“He’s wise, by thunder, and knows we’re on his trail,” flashed through -Chick’s mind. “But in getting him, I must get the others, also. I’ll -take the other course.”</p> - -<p>Chick did not stop to inform Nick what had occurred. He rushed to the -side stairway at the end of the corridor, and flew down each flight at -record speed, bent upon picking up Floyd when he emerged from the front -of the house.</p> - -<p>Though he came near being too late, his tremendous efforts proved -successful. He caught sight of Floyd running across the avenue on which -the house fronted, and then darting into a cross street leading toward -the East Side.</p> - -<p>“I’ll get you now, by Jove,” Chick muttered, with eyes alert. “If you -give me the slip this night, you shall have a medal.”</p> - -<p>Floyd, seeming to feel reasonably safe when well away from the hotel, -slowed down in order not to attract attention. Several times he looked -back, however, but could discover no one following him.</p> - -<p>Chick was steadily gaining on him, nevertheless, and before a block had -been covered he met a policeman.</p> - -<p>“Here, Grady, one moment,” he said sharply.</p> - -<p>The officer recognized him instantly, for Chick had removed his -disguise.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s you, Mr. Carter,” said he, touching his helmet.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Chick quickly. “I’m on the track of a crook, Stuart Floyd.”</p> - -<p>“The deuce you say!”</p> - -<p>“I may need you and others to pull a gang. Follow me at a short distance -and pick up help as you come along. Don’t lose sight of me.”</p> - -<p>“Not on your life,” said Grady, with eyes beginning to glow.</p> - -<p>“Join me at once, if you see me wave my arm.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got you, sir.”</p> - -<p>There had been only a momentary stop, and Chick had not for an instant -lost sight of his man.</p> - -<p>Floyd was fifty yards ahead of the detective, and on the opposite side -of the street. He no longer was hurrying greatly. He seemed to feel that -he had got safely away.</p> - -<p>Chick crept on after him, steadily gaining.</p> - -<p>Grady had a constant eye on Chick and cautiously followed him. Presently -he picked up another policeman, and a moment later a plain-clothes man -from the precinct station.</p> - -<p>All followed Chick, hugging the buildings they were passing.</p> - -<p>Five minutes later, Chick saw Floyd stop suddenly in front of an old -wooden house. It was that in which Hogan dwelt with his wife.</p> - -<p>Floyd, when about to enter, heard a terrible crash in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_41" id="page_41">{41}</a></span> the rear yard, -and then a window thrown open and a roar from Baldy Gammon.</p> - -<p>Instead of entering the house, Floyd rushed through the alley and into -the little back yard.</p> - -<p>Hogan and Gammon came tearing down a back stairway and joined him.</p> - -<p>“What’s wrong? What the devil’s wrong?” Floyd demanded, yanking a search -lamp from his pocket.</p> - -<p>“A spy! A spy at that window,” cried Hogan, pointing. “He’s fell through -this door and gone into the cellar.”</p> - -<p>Chick Carter, waving his arm, had to wait only thirty seconds for his -three assistants to join him. He knew that he had rounded up his game.</p> - -<p>“One of you watch this front door,” he directed, in whispers. “The -others follow me. Guns ready!”</p> - -<p>Chick did not wait for an answer. He plunged through the alley, the -policemen after him, and arrived in the yard, a veritable rat trap, just -as Floyd switched on the electric light.</p> - -<p>“Hands up!” Chick cried. “We’ve got you covered, Floyd. You, too, -Gammon! You’ll be dead ones if you show fight.”</p> - -<p>The policemen were not idle while Chick spoke. Both bored in upon the -three cornered crooks, and Floyd and Gammon found themselves with -revolvers at their heads.</p> - -<p>Hogan uttered a groan, and threw up his hands.</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan came crawling out of the cellar at the same moment, only a -bit bruised by his fall. He also had a gun in his hand—and that settled -it.</p> - -<p>The arrest of the entire gang was easily made, and thirty minutes saw -all except Sir Edward Chadwick locked in the precinct station. Word then -was sent to Nick, who then turned his man over to the police, and the -case was practically ended.</p> - -<p>For Lord Archie Waldmere was found confined in an ice box in the Hogan -cellar, not much the worse for his distressful experience, he having -been lured away and overcome precisely as Nick had deduced from the -surrounding circumstances.</p> - -<p>It would be vain to attempt describing his gratitude to the Carters, as -well as that of his wife, or the amazement with which he learned of the -treachery of his uncle and the altered sentiments of his dying father. -It opened the way for him to a new life in England, or to a renewal of -the old, and he took it later with the willing consent of Lady Waldmere.</p> - -<p>But neither ever forgot the Carters, or failed to visit them when in the -States.</p> - -<p>Stuart Floyd went back to prison and died there six months later.</p> - -<p>Others engaged in the conspiracy were punished in accord with the law, -and are behind prison bars to this day.</p> - -<p class="fint">THE END.</p> - -<p>“The Edge of a Crime; or, Nick Carter’s Trail of Mercy,” will be the -title of the long, complete story which will be found in the next issue, -No. 142, of the <span class="smcap">Nick Carter</span> Stories, out May 29th. You will also find -the usual interesting serial, short stories, and useful bits of -information.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_42" id="page_42">{42}</a></span></p> - -<h1><a name="Wheres_the_Commandant" id="Wheres_the_Commandant"></a>Where’s the Commandant?<br /><br /> -<small>By C. C. WADDELL.</small></h1> - -<p>(This interesting story was commenced in No. 140 of <span class="smcap">Nick Carter STORIES</span>. -Back numbers can always be obtained from your news dealer or the -publishers.)</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Vb" id="CHAPTER_Vb"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> -<small>THE SEVERED ROPES.</small></h2> - -<p>It was eight a. m. by the time Grail reached the fort, for he had -stopped on the way to submit to a chemist an envelope containing the -remnants of the decoy message. The chemist agreed with him thoroughly -that its disintegration must have been accomplished by means of -chemicals. He thought a mixture of certain acids, drying into the fiber -of the paper, would cause it rapidly to disintegrate and crumble to -dust, although he declined to commit himself definitely on the point -until he had made a complete analysis.</p> - -<p>His theory, however, was all that Grail really cared for, since it -showed him that he was on the right track, and that the destruction of -the note was due to no accident or mischance, but was part of a -deliberate and premeditated plan—an incident to be duly reckoned with -in any investigation of the colonel’s disappearance.</p> - -<p>Too thoroughly did he recognize his own limitations even to consider the -task of handling the business in person. But how was he to secure the -aid he required at the fort? If the army post has ramparts of privacy -against the world, there is little going on inside which does not become -generally known, and Grail had no sooner set foot on the reservation -than he sensed the same feeling of hostility and suspicion which had -manifested itself in the manner of the officers who met him at the -foundry the night before.</p> - -<p>The challenge of the sentinel on post, the side glances of the enlisted -men, even the stiff salute of his own orderly, gave him to understand -that he was ostracized—under the ban as much in barracks as along -officers’ row. There was no open disrespect shown, but the very air was -full of a silent disapproval. He evidently had not a friend in the -place—no one upon whom he could call for help.</p> - -<p>Outwardly calm, but inwardly raging at the injustice, he turned in at -headquarters—he would have starved rather than go over to the mess for -breakfast—and, in order to conceal his perturbation, buried himself in -the morning papers.</p> - -<p>Staring fixedly at the headlines in the Brantford <i>Bee</i>, although -unconscious of a word, he was roused from his abstraction by a slight -cough, and glanced up, to find standing in front of him Sergeant Cato, -the relief telegraph operator, and a decidedly superior type of noncom. -Indeed, Cato had ambitions toward winning shoulder straps for himself, -and had been materially aided by Grail in his preparation for the -necessary examination.</p> - -<p>There was no recognition of this now, however, in the stiff, distant -salute which he gave his superior.</p> - -<p>“The list of messages sent out during the night, sir,” he said.</p> - -<p>Evidently, thought Grail, he was only to be addressed in the strict line -of official duty. Even this man whom he had befriended reflected in his -manner the general uncompromising spirit.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_43" id="page_43">{43}</a></span></p> - -<p>Perfunctorily the adjutant took the slip handed him, and glanced at it. -Then he gave a quick start.</p> - -<p>“To Miss Vedant, at Chicago!” he exclaimed, forgetting his determination -to be as stiffly military himself as any one accosting him. “And sent by -Major Appleby at two o’clock! Do you mean to say, Cato, that——”</p> - -<p>The sergeant gave a slight sigh of relief, and noticeably unbent.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” he returned. “It was to inform her of her father’s -disappearance. I thought myself it was a mistake to frighten her, when -the thing’ll probably be cleared up before she can get here; but the -message was handed me for transmission, and what could I do?”</p> - -<p>“So you expect the affair to be cleared up before Miss Vedant arrives, -eh?” Grail asked. “What makes you say that, sergeant?”</p> - -<p>Cato flushed a trifle. “Well, sir, if I may make so bold, it’s because I -am banking on you.”</p> - -<p>“Me?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.” He shifted his feet uneasily. “Excuse me, captain, if I go -too far; but it is a cinch, to my mind, that you’ll never rest easy -under this talk that’s going around.”</p> - -<p>“You mean that there is a rumor that I am in some way responsible for -Colonel Vedant’s disappearance?”</p> - -<p>Cato nodded. “That was what made me so sure the thing would be -straightened out,” he explained. “I knew you’d move heaven and earth -before you’d let a charge like that stand against you.”</p> - -<p>Grail was silent a moment. “Is the fact of the colonel’s disappearance -pretty generally known among the men, sergeant?” he asked finally.</p> - -<p>The other gave a significant shrug of the shoulders. “It’s the only -thing they’re talking about over in the barracks, sir.”</p> - -<p>“And do many of them believe this gossip connecting my name with it?”</p> - -<p>Cato’s reluctance to answer was more eloquent than words. “You know what -a bunch like that is, sir,” he said apologetically. “Let somebody tell -’em St. Peter is a crook, and they’ll be proving it to you in five -minutes. That’s what made me a bit standoffish when I came in just now, -captain. I knew you couldn’t help but be wise to the way the post is -feeling, and I didn’t want to seem to be handing you out any sympathy.”</p> - -<p>An incredulous look flashed into the adjutant’s face, and he bent -quickly forward. “Am I to understand, then, sergeant, that you do not -entertain the same unfavorable opinion of me as the others?”</p> - -<p>“Me, sir!” Cato’s tone was one of surprise. “What kind of a soft-brained -pup do you think I am, sir? You sell out to Japanese spies, and make -away with the old man? Why, Captain Grail, if you told me yourself that -you’d done it, I wouldn’t believe you—no, not if you swore to it! It’s -because I’m certain of your innocence, captain, that I’ve been so -positive the colonel would be found. Foolish as the charge is, you’ve -got to disprove it for your own sake; and, with that sort of a -proposition facing you, I knew you would manage to do it somehow. I only -wish,” he added, “that I could be of some help to you.”</p> - -<p>The adjutant turned sharply about at the suggestion. Quick-witted, -discreet, diplomatic, and, above all, devoted to his cause, here was the -very helper for whom he had been seeking.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_44" id="page_44">{44}</a></span></p> - -<p>“Help me!” He sprang to his feet. “You can, sergeant. You can help me -enormously. Are you willing to put in a day or two of scout work for me, -following up what may seem to be a series of absurd and irrelevant -investigations, but asking no questions until you are through, or until -I see fit to enlighten you as to my purpose?”</p> - -<p>“Try me!” said Cato, drawing himself up.</p> - -<p>Grail studied for a moment the eager face of the young noncom in front -of him; then nodded his satisfaction.</p> - -<p>“Good!” He drew from his pocket the stump of the cigarette he had found -outside Schilder’s office door, and showed it to the other. “You will -notice,” he said, “that this is an imported cigarette, not likely to be -found in the average tobacco shop. What I want you to do, therefore, is -to go, unostentatiously, through the saloons and small stationery stands -down on the river front, in the neighborhood of the Dolliver Foundry, -and find out for me, if possible, just where cigarettes of this kind are -kept in stock, and, if possible, learn the names of the customers who -have asked for them.”</p> - -<p>The sergeant signified his comprehension. “And what else, sir?” he -asked, handing back the cigarette after a careful examination.</p> - -<p>“I fancy,” Grail said, “that you will find your work pretty well cut out -for you along that one line. Still, you may have luck; and, in that -case, I would like to have you find out about a motor boat which arrived -yesterday, consigned to Otto Schilder.”</p> - -<p>“You will want me to use a disguise of some kind in making my inquiries, -I suppose, sir?”</p> - -<p>“Provided the disguise doesn’t make you too conspicuous—yes,” the -adjutant assented. “That was a point, however, that I intended leaving -largely to your own judgment. As a suggestion, though, it might be well, -if you could manage it, to play the part of a foreigner seeking a job at -the foundry—say, a Russian or a Pole.”</p> - -<p>“I think I can manage it,” Cato returned. “Why, captain, taking off that -Russky dialect is my strong specialty. I used to work at a rolling mill -at Portsmouth, Ohio, where there was a whole bunch of them.” And, to -illustrate his powers, he dropped into an imitation which left no doubt -in Grail’s mind as to his ability to make good.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, after a little further discussion, the sergeant started off -on his mission, while Grail, feeling as though a load had been removed -from his shoulders, hurried out to give orders for the inflation of the -dirigible balloon which formed a part of the equipment of the post. He -was the most enthusiastic aviator among the officers, and was regularly -permitted to take out the dirigible without going through the form of -making official application.</p> - -<p>No one asked him the purpose or object he had in view. Silently, and -with eyes averted, the men obeyed his orders; and the officers all kept -distinctly aloof, although usually when there was a flight to be -undertaken a crowd was very quick to gather.</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” Grail said to himself. “By to-morrow, if all goes well, -the tide will have turned, and they’ll be only too anxious to hear what -I have to say.”</p> - -<p>The preparations completed, he climbed into the light framework under -the big, swaying bag, and was just about to give the order “Let go!” -when, casting a final glance about, he chanced to observe that two of -the cords which held up the car were badly frayed. Had a flight been -at<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_45" id="page_45">{45}</a></span>tempted with them in that condition there could hardly have failed to -be a serious accident.</p> - -<p>Stopping his engine, Grail sprang to the ground, and faced the little -squad of men who had been helping him make ready.</p> - -<p>“This machine was in perfect condition when it was brought out of the -hangar,” he remarked to them grimly, as he pointed to the almost severed -ropes. “Consequently one of you must be responsible for this damage.”</p> - -<p>Then, as they hesitated, glancing uncertainly at one another, he took a -quick step forward, and caught up a sharp fragment of broken glass which -one of them—a new recruit by the name of Simmons—had attempted to drop -behind him.</p> - -<p>“Ah!” he cried triumphantly. “I thought I would be able to smoke out the -culprit. Now we will have the corporal of the guard.”</p> - -<p>He held the offender in a close grip until the corporal he summoned -arrived; then turned him over, with an injunction that he be held in -close confinement, and permitted to speak to no one, or send out any -word, until his own return.</p> - -<p>Presently the weakened cords were replaced with new ones, under his -instructions, and everything was again in readiness for the flight.</p> - -<p>It may seem strange that Grail did not immediately follow up so serious -an affair; but, as a matter of fact, he was so perturbed and puzzled by -the dastardly attempt on his life that he wanted a little time for -reflection. Was it merely the crazy freak of a simple-minded “rookie,” -or did the incident hold a deeper and more sinister significance? Could -it be a further development of the plot which had already resulted in -the colonel’s disappearance, and was Simmons merely a tool in the hands -of the secret conspirators?</p> - -<p>Revolving these questions and many others in his mind, he gave the word -to cut loose, and a moment later he was hovering high up in the air -above the grassy parade ground. He turned the nose of his craft due -east, and, with his propeller whirring, flew away toward the river’s -long, crescentlike curve around the town.</p> - -<p>The dirigible from Fort Denton was not an unusual sight aloft, and -consequently attracted but little attention from the people of the city; -but out at the post Grail’s flight was watched with curious interest. -Officers and men alike, although pretending indifference, laid aside -their duties to follow, with eager gaze, the evolutions of the airship. -They gained but little for their pains, however. Out over the line of -smoky chimneys marking the water front they saw him go; then sail in a -straight line across the river, where he turned to the south, and, -having executed a couple of wide circles over the wildernesslike bottoms -below the town, headed back for home. But as to his purpose they -gathered not the slightest intimation.</p> - -<p>At that distance they could not discern that as he swept above the -weed-grown, bush-covered lowlands so frequently subject to overflow, he -leaned over in the car, and studied with the eye of the skilled -topographer every feature of the country beneath him.</p> - -<p>Upon a tumble-down shack in a clump of stunted willows his gaze lingered -longest, and as he estimated its distance from the river, as well as -from the few other habitations which dotted the waste acres, his eye -showed a glint of satisfaction. Unwilling, however, to reveal by his -movements the nature of the survey he was making to any<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_46" id="page_46">{46}</a></span> possible -watcher, he did not hang long over the spot, or descend for a closer -view, but contented himself with two rounds, at high altitude, as -already described, and beat back westward toward the fort.</p> - -<p>With the wind against him, his return trip consumed more time than the -outgoing one, and it was well after noon when he finally effected a -skillful descent to the parade ground. He had been absent from the post -altogether a little over two hours.</p> - -<p>“Has Sergeant Cato returned yet?” was the first question he asked as he -sprang from the car; but, receiving a sullen negative for answer, bent -his steps, as soon as he had seen the dirigible safely put away, toward -the guardhouse.</p> - -<p>There he found himself confronted by Lieutenant Hemingway, who happened -to be acting as officer of the day. The younger man’s eyes fell, and he -showed his embarrassment by blushing painfully; but Grail was cool and -steady as a statue.</p> - -<p>“I wish to speak to Private Simmons, placed under arrest by my orders,” -he said brusquely.</p> - -<p>“Simmons?” Hemingway spoke rather superciliously. “Oh, yes—the man -brought in from the balloon squad. Why, he isn’t here. I heard that -there was only a slight disorderly charge against him, and I let him go -to his quarters.”</p> - -<p>“You <i>heard!</i>” repeated Grail icily. “Didn’t you know the nature of the -accusation against him?”</p> - -<p>The other manifested a shade of anxiety. “Why—er—no,” he stammered. “I -was not here, you see, when the fellow was brought in, and just as I -returned both the corporal and sergeant were called out by a fight over -at barracks.”</p> - -<p>“And you did not consult the book before taking this step?”</p> - -<p>“No,” Hemingway was obliged to confess. To tell the truth, he had deemed -it rather smart to set at liberty one whom he supposed to be merely a -victim of the adjutant’s ill humor; but now doubts began to assail him.</p> - -<p>Hastily he caught up the record of offenders for the day, and noted the -charge entered opposite the name of Simmons; then fell back, with a -little gasp.</p> - -<p>“Attempted murder!” he exclaimed. “Here, corporal! Sergeant! Somebody! -Hustle over to barracks, and bring back that man Simmons we had here a -while ago.”</p> - -<p>But, as might have been expected, the bird had flown; and, although a -squad was instantly ordered out to search the city for him, and the -police were put upon the case, both Hemingway and Grail knew that with -so much of a start the chances of catching him were very slim indeed.</p> - -<p>The culpable lieutenant, court-martial staring him in the face, started -to stammer some wild excuses; but Grail merely turned on his heel, and -marched off to his quarters. He had scored heavily over one of his -enemies, but he gathered little gratification from the fact. He would -have preferred a chance to question Simmons.</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIb" id="CHAPTER_VIb"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> -<small>THE HAPPIEST GIRL.</small></h2> - -<p>Under the circumstances, there seemed to be nothing for Grail to do but -await with what patience he could muster the return of Sergeant Cato; -and as the afternoon slipped away with no report from the latter, he -threw himself on a couch in the office at headquarters and presently<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_47" id="page_47">{47}</a></span> -drifted off into a dose. Worn out by his exertions, the strain he had -been under, and his loss of sleep the night before, he was soon wrapped -in a profound slumber; and, as nothing happened to disturb him, five -o’clock still found him sleeping heavily.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, the train from Chicago, bearing the distressed daughter of -the commandant, had arrived, and Major Appleby, who had gone down to -meet her, could only return a gloomy shake of the head to the unspoken -question of her wide, trouble-filled eyes.</p> - -<p>“Don’t ask me anything now, my dear,” he said, in a low tone. “We are -trying to keep the matter quiet for the present, and you can’t tell who -might overhear us in this crowd. As soon as we get outside, though, you -shall learn all there is to know. Mrs. Schilder is waiting for us in her -car, and wants to take you to her home.”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Schilder?” The girl’s lips parted in a little gasp of surprise, -for she had only a very slight acquaintance with the wife of the foundry -manager.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” the major explained. “Mrs. Appleby and I would have been -delighted to have you with us, but it seemed preferable that you should -not be at the fort, where you would be kept constantly upset by all -sorts of unfounded rumors. So, as Mrs. Schilder pointed out that you -would probably be more comfortable in her home than anywhere else, we -accepted her invitation on your behalf.”</p> - -<p>Miss Vedant hesitated a moment, then gave a slight shrug, as though to -signify that it was a matter of indifference to her. Troubled and shaken -as she was, she was in no mood to protest against any arrangement they -might have made, and, anyway, it was too late now to draw back without -seeming ungracious, for the major, by this time, was conducting her out -through the tall, pillared entrance of the station, and she saw, a few -steps away across the plaza, Mrs. Schilder waiting for them in the -automobile.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Schilder, modishly gowned, and undeniably beautiful, in a dark, -foreign style, greeted the girl with just the proper touch of -sympathetic restraint to put Meredith at her ease.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want you to think me unduly urgent in this matter, my dear,” -she said, “but I could not help feeling that if I were in your place I -should want to be among friends who understood the situation. You must -not regard yourself as a guest with us, either; you are to consider -yourself at home, and do in all things just as you choose. At any rate,” -she added, with a reassuring pressure of the hand, “give me the -happiness of having you with me until your father is restored, which -must certainly be within a few hours.”</p> - -<p>Meredith glanced up eagerly. “You believe that?” she exclaimed, then -turned as if for corroboration to Major Appleby, who sat with them in -the tonneau.</p> - -<p>The major cleared his throat. “We are at least very close on the trail -of the Japanese spies who are undoubtedly responsible for the outrage,” -he assented guardedly, “For a time we were at sea, thinking they had -fled the city, but through a hint astutely obtained by Mrs. -Schilder”—he bowed pompously toward that lady—“from her butler, who is -also a Japanese, we are now confident that they are still in Brantford, -and, therefore, with the efforts we are making, must be run to earth in -very short time.”</p> - -<p>“Japanese spies?” Meredith repeated. “So that is what is back of the -affair? Remember, I know nothing except<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_48" id="page_48">{48}</a></span> what was contained in your -telegram. Please tell me all the circumstances,” she pleaded.</p> - -<p>The major started to comply, with a labored, heavy account, but Mrs. -Schilder tactfully interposed, and, taking the recital into her own -hands, told in a few words the story of the occurrences at the foundry -the night before.</p> - -<p>“But why are Japanese spies suspected?” The girl’s brows wrinkled into a -little frown. “I see nothing in all this to indicate such a theory. Did -Captain Grail see any Japanese around?”</p> - -<p>“He did not say so,” stiffly responded the major. “To tell you the -truth, my dear, Captain Grail, beyond giving a bare account of the -incident, declined to commit himself in any way, or even to confer with -the other officers of the post over measures looking toward your -father’s recovery.”</p> - -<p>The girl stared at him almost incredulously. “Yet he must know more of -what happened than anybody else,” she cried. A wave of hot indignation -swept over her face at the thought that an officer so closely associated -with her father could from any cause show indifference at such a crisis.</p> - -<p>Involuntarily she drew back, with a hand on Mrs. Schilder’s arm. “Would -you mind taking me out to the fort before we go to your house? I must -see Captain Grail myself, and question him—now, at once. I cannot -understand what he means by such an attitude.”</p> - -<p>The major endeavored to dissuade her. “I doubt if it would do you any -good,” he urged. Then, hesitating, he excused himself to Mrs. Schilder, -and leaned over to whisper: “If you must know, my dear, Grail is not -popular at the fort just now. We have, in short, excellent reasons to -believe that he himself is implicated in the colonel’s disappearance.”</p> - -<p>Involuntarily she drew back, with a little cry of unbelief. -“Impossible!” she declared. “You cannot realize what you are saying, -major!”</p> - -<p>“I not only realize, but reiterate it,” he said solemnly. “More than -that, I have stated the case mildly to you, for we have evidence to -prove that his was the crafty brain which hatched up this whole -so-called mystery. Now, I am sure, you will see the futility of -attempting to gain any information from him.”</p> - -<p>“No.” She shook her head. “If what you say is true, then I think there -is more reason than ever that I should see Captain Grail.”</p> - -<p>With an air of determination, she leaned once more toward Mrs. Schilder, -who had discreetly turned her eyes away during the colloquy, and was -gazing out over the side of the car. “I am afraid the major must -consider me very self-willed,” she said, “but I am going to ask you -again if I may not be driven to the post?”</p> - -<p>Her hostess immediately bent forward to give the desired order to the -chauffeur, and, despite Appleby’s fuming, the car was whirled around and -headed for the new destination. Back down Carney Street they sped, past -the courthouse and city hall, and finally reached the fort.</p> - -<p>Inquiry having developed that Grail was in his office at headquarters, -the major, with an air of stern virtue, prepared to conduct Meredith to -him; but again Mrs. Schilder suavely interposed.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps Miss Vedant would prefer to see the adjutant alone,” she said, -laying a detaining hand on Appleby’s arm.</p> - -<p>Meredith gave her a quick glance of gratitude, and as<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_49" id="page_49">{49}</a></span>suring them both -that she needed no one with her during the interview, hurried on through -the door.</p> - -<p>A moment later Grail was awakened by the announcement, “A lady to see -you, sir,” and he rose up, blinking and confused, to find her standing -before him.</p> - -<p>“You?” he cried in amazement, for he had never dreamed that Appleby and -the crowd would permit her to come near such a pariah as himself. “You, -Meredith!”</p> - -<p>Ormsby Grail had dreamed dreams centering about this fair-haired, -slender daughter of his colonel. He had seen her blossom from the child -he had once taken on his knee into a charming woman, and learned to love -her. But he had refrained from whispering any word of his love to her. -She was too young, he told himself; she could not possibly know her own -mind. Even when it was decided that she should go to Chicago for a year -to cultivate her remarkable voice, he still had not ventured to speak. -He would wait a little longer, he decided. She seemed to him no more -than a child.</p> - -<p>So, although he wrote to her frequently, in a friendly, brotherly sort -of fashion, and never let a week go by without some remembrance from -him, he sedulously concealed from her the real state of his feelings—or -thought he did—and never dared visit her in Chicago.</p> - -<p>Half extending his arms, he took a hasty step toward her, then halted -abruptly, the recollection sweeping over him of what she must have -heard.</p> - -<p>“You wished to see me?” he asked, in a controlled voice.</p> - -<p>“Yes.” Her glance met his steadily, although she was somewhat nervously -twisting her hands in their brown suede gloves. “I want to ask you about -father.”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t the others told you?” he inquired. Then, as she nodded, he -added, with a touch of defiance: “I suppose you have heard, too, what -they are saying about me?”</p> - -<p>“I have heard.”</p> - -<p>“And do you believe it?”</p> - -<p>“If I believed part of it,” she said, “I would be the happiest girl in -the world!”</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIb" id="CHAPTER_VIIb"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> -<small>NEW DEVELOPMENTS.</small></h2> - -<p>Grail stared at the girl in bewilderment as she repeated: “Yes, the -happiest girl in the world. For if I thought you were responsible for -his disappearance, as they say, I should know that no harm could -possibly have befallen him. It is because I am certain of your innocence -that I am apprehensive; and it is because I know you must be moving -heaven and earth in the effort to find him that I have come to ask you -what you have discovered. What faith can I put in Major Appleby’s -promises”—she gave a deprecating gesture—“when I see how he is -bungling things? But, surely, you can tell me whether or not there is -any real ground for hope?”</p> - -<p>A great flash of joy and wonder lighted Grail’s face. “Meredith,” he -cried huskily, “I never expected to feel so proud in all my life! You -don’t know what your trust and confidence mean to me!”</p> - -<p>Then, afraid that if he said more, he might say too much, he placed a -chair for her and drew up one for himself.</p> - -<p>“More than that,” he went on, “I am going to prove to you that your -faith is not misplaced. Take my word for it, your father shall be -restored to you within a very short time; before to-morrow morning, -unless I am very much mistaken.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_50" id="page_50">{50}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>Never yet, in their long acquaintance, had Grail failed to make good a -promise to her, and his assurance now brought a sigh of genuine relief -to her lips and a smile to her pale, anxious face.</p> - -<p>“Ah!” she exclaimed. “You mean that the running down of these Japanese -spies must result in disclosing father’s whereabouts?”</p> - -<p>“Japanese spies!” His lips curled contemptuously. “They exist only in -the imagination of Appleby and Hemingway.”</p> - -<p>“Precisely what I thought, too, when the major told me,” she said. “I -know, of course, that all the foreign nations keep secret agents hanging -around our forts and army posts, just as we do around theirs; but that -any of these men would go to such lengths struck me, on the face of it, -as ridiculous.”</p> - -<p>“There you are wrong,” Grail returned. “Ordinarily, I grant, you would -be right; but the colonel’s present series of experiments being -concerned with a new and surprising development in the use of the -wireless in warfare, has stirred these fellows up to a pitch where they -have been ready to dare almost anything. Besides, the chap who, I am -convinced, engineered this deal——” He caught himself just as he was on -the verge of revealing to her the point which had caused him most -concern in the affair.</p> - -<p>Dexterously he extricated himself from the situation by knocking a book -from the desk with his elbow and stooping over to regain it.</p> - -<p>“As I was about to say,” he resumed, “the chap who engineered this deal -was not a Japanese, but of a nation which furnishes spies of an even -more bold and subtle character.”</p> - -<p>He drew from his pocket the half-smoked cigarette which formed his -principal clew.</p> - -<p>“Are you sufficiently versed in such things to tell me of what make this -is?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Russian,” she replied, without a moment’s hesitation. “The little -countess we used to know in Washington, you remember, smoked cigarettes -exactly like that.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly,” he said, “and the man for whom we have got to look in this -case is a Russian.”</p> - -<p>A thoughtful look came into Meredith’s eyes. “Dad was in Russia once, on -secret-service business himself,” she said; “and although they would -never tell me about it, mother confessed to me on one occasion that for -a long time she had been fearful of an attempt at revenge upon him, for -something that happened while he was on the mission. You don’t suppose, -do you, that this could in any way be an outcome of that old affair?”</p> - -<p>“Absurd!” he answered. “Why, it was almost twenty years ago that your -father was over there. If there was anything coming to him on that -score, I fancy he would have been called to account long before this.”</p> - -<p>Then, he deftly turned the subject to a discussion of the facts from -which he had built up the hypothesis he was following.</p> - -<p>“I had been on the lookout for a Russian spy, you see,” he explained, -“for I had been tipped off by Sasaku, one of the dining-room boys, who -is rather attached to me, that a fellow he had once seen chased out of -Tokyo was here in Brantford, showing considerable interest in doings at -the fort. Accordingly, I framed it up with Sasaku to get in with the -chap, on the plea of being a ‘gumshoe man’ himself, desirous of working -to mutual advantage, and gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_51" id="page_51">{51}</a></span> him yesterday a bundle of fake papers to -fool the other with, and get him to divulge his name and his business.</p> - -<p>“That,” he added disdainfully, “is the sole basis for the ‘Japanese spy’ -story you have heard. And, by the way”—he glanced with a frown at his -watch—“I ought to have heard from Sasaku before this. He promised to -send me a communication at the very first opportunity.”</p> - -<p>“But where does the cigarette come in?” Meredith asked, a trifle -impatiently.</p> - -<p>“The cigarette? Oh, that was the connecting link. It is really the -corner stone to my entire theory; for although I very quickly decided -that the gumshoe artists were at the bottom of the job, I was, at first, -rather inclined to suspect Otto Schilder as the moving spirit. It seemed -pretty crude work for one of the kaiser’s men, I will admit; but there -was no one else handy to lay it to, and as a German he was, of course, -open to question. The discovery of the cigarette outside the office -door, however, cleared things up amazingly. I recollected a glint of -light I had seen flash across the doorway when the current was cut off, -and, by putting two and two together, it didn’t take me long to figure -out just about what had happened. The telltale spark I saw traversed the -aperture of the doorway from top to bottom; consequently, the cigarette -must have fallen or been dropped from above. Had the smoker been on the -roof, then? And was it possible that the colonel, seized and muffled as -he stood on the threshold, had been hauled up there by a rope? An -electric crane, though, with its long arm sweeping silently over the -yard, and lifting scrap iron across the fence to be loaded on cars -outside, gave me a more plausible idea.”</p> - -<p>“But if you knew so much,” Meredith interrupted, “why did you not at -once denounce these men?”</p> - -<p>“With what proof?” asked Grail. “Remember, some little time had elapsed -before I got this theory, and to identify the guilty men in that large -force of laborers would then have been practically impossible. Besides, -all the evidence I had to present was this cigarette butt; and, although -it was perfectly plain to me that it had been tossed away by one of the -men in the basket of the crane just before grabbing the colonel, I might -have had difficulty in getting others to see it in the same light. No, -no! To have shown my hand at that stage would have been simply to tip -all the fat into the fire.”</p> - -<p>“But what of father?” exclaimed Miss Verdant sharply. “Is no effort -being made to find him, or learn what has become of him?”</p> - -<p>“Assuredly,” Grail hastened to appease her. “That is, of course, the -object to which everything else must be subservient. Trust me, Meredith. -Take my word for it that your father is safe and sound, and will be with -you by this time to-morrow night.”</p> - -<p>“Is that ‘orders’?” she asked, in playful allusion to an old joke -between them, although her lip quivered as she tried to smile.</p> - -<p>“That’s ‘orders,’<span class="lftspc">”</span> assented Ormsby firmly, “and I want you to be enough -of a soldier’s daughter to obey them. You are all broken up by this -thing, and worn out by your trip, as well. What you’ve got to do now is -to take some rest, and quit worrying. Come! I’ll take you over to Major -Appleby’s house. I suppose you are stopping there?”</p> - -<p>“No,” she explained. “I am to be with Mrs. Schilder, I believe.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_52" id="page_52">{52}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>Grail looked up sharply, and seemed on the point of saying something, -but reconsidered the impulse.</p> - -<p>“You don’t need to tell me to trust you, captain.” She extended her -hand. “Indeed, if it were not for my reliance on you, I don’t know what -I should do.”</p> - -<p>The adjutant, choking back words that rose tumultuously to his lips, -escorted her to the door; then paused, with an involuntary exclamation, -to stare at the group of officers gathered about Mrs. Schilder’s car, -excitedly discussing an evening paper which one of them had just brought -in.</p> - -<p>Its flaring black headlines were plainly discernible to Grail, and in a -flash he read that his little Japanese friend and ally, Sasaku, had been -murdered in the city.</p> - -<p class="fint">TO BE CONTINUED.</p> - -<h2><a name="I_CROW" id="I_CROW"></a>“I CROW.”</h2> - -<p>Many a “star” might well envy the most insignificant member of her -troupe the supreme sense of importance and satisfaction with which he -performs his little duty, be it only that of blowing out the candle -through the hole in the scenery when the hero aims his deadly rifle at -the flame and the cap explodes.</p> - -<p>Think of the pleasure his performance accorded this small boy, for -instance:</p> - -<p>First Boy—“You ought to come to the concert our music teacher is goin’ -to give.”</p> - -<p>Second Boy—“You goin’ to be in?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. I am one of the primmer donnas. We are goin’ to give a cantata.”</p> - -<p>“Wot’s that?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s all about sunshine and storms and picnics and all sorts of -country things. It’s great.”</p> - -<p>“Do you sing all that?”</p> - -<p>“N-o. I’m only in the first scene: ‘Early mornin’ on the farm.’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> - -<p>“What do you do?”</p> - -<p>“I crow.”</p> - -<h2><a name="THE_WRONG_PASSENGER" id="THE_WRONG_PASSENGER"></a>THE WRONG PASSENGER.</h2> - -<p>One may, perhaps, presume so far upon old acquaintanceship as to indulge -occasionally in a mild, practical joke, but to attempt familiarity with -strangers is “another kind of game.”</p> - -<p>A city street arab was wont to play rather roughly with a good-natured -bulldog, owned by a shopkeeper of the neighborhood. One day the boy was -walking with a friend when he saw the dog approaching.</p> - -<p>“Hi! there’s Towse!” he cried. “Now see me scare him!”</p> - -<p>He stepped in front of the dog, with arms extended, and partially -blocked the passage. The animal looked surprised, stopped, and evidently -considered within himself what it would be best to do.</p> - -<p>“I never knew him to act like that,” said the joker. “He always lies -down on his back and rolls. I’ll stir him up a little.”</p> - -<p>With that he sprang at the dog and caught him by the ears.</p> - -<p>Towse was evidently amazed, but he proved equal to the occasion. -Fastening his teeth in the boy’s trousers, in startling nearness to an -expanse of bare knee, he held on like a vise.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_53" id="page_53">{53}</a></span></p> - -<p>Just at that moment the boy caught sight of an unfamiliar spot of white -on the animal’s head, and dropped his hold to take at once to his heels, -leaving a goodly portion of woolen cloth in the creature’s mouth.</p> - -<p>“Run, Patsy, run!” he shouted to his chum. “He’s gone and turned hisself -into another dog!”</p> - -<h2><a name="HOW_LONG_IS_FIVE_MINUTES" id="HOW_LONG_IS_FIVE_MINUTES"></a>HOW LONG IS FIVE MINUTES?</h2> - -<p>In a murder trial before a court in the West, the prisoner was able to -account for the whole of his time, except five minutes, on the evening -when the crime was committed. His counsel argued that it was impossible -for him to have killed the man, under the circumstances, in so brief a -period, and on that plea largely based his defense, the other testimony -being strongly against his client. When the prosecuting attorney -replied, he said:</p> - -<p>“How long a time really is five minutes? Let us see. Will his honor -command absolute silence in the courtroom for that space?”</p> - -<p>The judge graciously complied. There was a clock on the wall. Every eye -in the courtroom was fixed upon it, as the pendulum ticked off the -seconds. There was breathless silence. The keen-witted counsel waited -until the tired audience gave a sigh of relief at the close of the -period, and then asked quietly:</p> - -<p>“Could he not have struck one fatal blow in all that time?”</p> - -<p>The prisoner was found guilty, and, as it was proved afterward, justly.</p> - -<h2><a name="DONT_SNUB_THE_BOYS" id="DONT_SNUB_THE_BOYS"></a>DON’T SNUB THE BOYS.</h2> - -<p>Don’t snub a boy because he wears shabby clothes. When Edison, the great -inventor, first entered Boston, he wore a pair of yellow linen breeches -in the depth of winter.</p> - -<p>Don’t snub a boy because his home is plain and unpretending. Abraham -Lincoln’s early home was a log cabin.</p> - -<p>Don’t snub a boy because he chooses a humble trade. The author of -“Pilgrim’s Progress” was a tinker.</p> - -<p>Don’t snub a boy because of physical disability. Milton was blind, and -Cato was deaf.</p> - -<p>Don’t snub a boy because he seems dull or stupid. Hogarth, the -celebrated painter and engraver, was slow at learning, and did not -develop as soon as some boys.</p> - -<p>Don’t snub a boy because he stutters. Demosthenes, the greatest orator -of Greece, overcame a harsh and stammering voice.</p> - -<p>Don’t snub any one; not alone because some day he may outstrip you in -the race of life, but because it is neither kind nor Christian.</p> - -<h2><a name="KEEPING_THEM_DOWN" id="KEEPING_THEM_DOWN"></a>KEEPING THEM DOWN.</h2> - -<p>Rich Youth—“I should not object to the work of earning my own living if -I had to, but what I should hate would be the officiousness and petty -tyranny of superiors. I should hate to have to bow to the whims of some -wealthy man not a bit better than myself.”</p> - -<p>Poor Youth—“That’s easily avoided. Be a typewriter, as I am. Employers -never put on airs over me. I know how to take the starch out of em.”</p> - -<p>“Eh? What do you do?”</p> - -<p>“Ask em to spell a hard word now and then.<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> - -<h2><a name="THE_NEWS_OF_ALL_NATIONS" id="THE_NEWS_OF_ALL_NATIONS"></a>THE NEWS OF ALL NATIONS.</h2> - -<h3>Blames Cat for Loss of Ship.</h3> - -<p>Captain Roland F. Quillen, of Bethel, Va., whose three-masted schooner -<i>William J. Quillen</i> was sunk off Cape Hatteras after a collision with -the Norwegian steamship <i>Laly</i>, never again will take a cat to sea. He -attributes the accident, which nearly cost his life and the lives of his -crew, to a gray cat which he had aboard.</p> - -<p>“I’ve shipped for twenty-five years and always have taken along dogs,” -Captain Quillen said. “Just before I started from Baltimore for Mayport, -Fla., somebody stole my dog. So I got a cat—a gray cat. Cats are bad -luck, I guess. This was my first accident. The cat was lost.”</p> - -<h3>Turn Funeral Coach into a “Tango Car.”</h3> - -<p>The dead business is dead in Atlantic City, N. J. This is the conclusion -of the management of the Atlantic City & Shore Fast Line after six -months’ experiment in specializing in the dying business.</p> - -<p>A half year back they went to considerable expense to have a finely -equipped trolley, twice the size of the ordinary cars, constructed to -carry funeral parties to the cemetery on the mainland. At the expiration -of the six months they found the car a dead loss.</p> - -<p>Work was started at once to make it a paying proposition. It is being -dismantled and will be transformed into a “tango car.” The conveyance -will have the central seats removed, a fine maple floor will be put down -and waxed. Then it will be put in special service to carry gay parties -to the country clubs on the mainland. They can tango their way over and -back again; in fact, never stop tangoing from the time the car starts -out from its station.</p> - -<p>“There’s more than one way of making ends meet,” declare the officials.</p> - -<h3>Woman Buys a Large Dairy.</h3> - -<p>Mrs. Elsie Rothery, a Memphis woman, has bought and assumed active -management of a large dairy farm near Natchez, Miss. She purchased the -300-acre farm on which the Natchez Creamery is located, together with a -number of fine milk cows and the dairy equipment.</p> - -<p>She intends to conduct a modern dairy on an extensive scale.</p> - -<h3>Noted Woman Detective, Mrs. M. E. Holland, Dies.</h3> - -<p>Mrs. M. E. Holland, who was called “America’s greatest woman detective,” -died recently at her home in Chicago. She was forty-eight years old and -had been ill for two weeks. She was recovering from an operation when -pneumonia set in.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Holland was editor of <i>The Detective</i>, official organ of the police -authorities and sheriffs of the country. She was internationally known -as a finger-print expert and had figured in some of the most important -cases in the country. A number of years ago she was hired by the -government to install in the secret-service bureau the finger-print -system of identification.</p> - -<p>She was a native of Galena, Ill., but had lived in Chicago many years. -She had the largest private rogues’ gallery in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_56" id="page_56">{56}</a></span> the world, and, with her -former husband, was joint partner in a large police-equipment house. She -owned personally a special make of handcuff and the patent right of the -Oregon boot, an affair which superseded the ball-and-chain device, and -was the patentee of a folding stretcher that has been adopted -universally in police circles. Mrs. Holland was the only woman in the -country holding honorary memberships in the associations of police -chiefs and detective-bureau chiefs throughout the United States, and was -a familiar figure at their conventions.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Holland was divorced from her first husband and was married to -Arthur McCarthy, a police sergeant, in January, 1914. She continued to -work with her former husband, however, in publishing <i>The Detective</i>. -Later she was divorced from McCarthy.</p> - -<h3>“Snooker” is New Pool Game.</h3> - -<p>There’s a new game in New York called snooker. It is English pool, and -is played on a table six feet wide and twelve feet long. The pockets at -each corner and on the sides are smaller than those of the regulation -pool table, and in proportion the balls are smaller.</p> - -<p>Fifteen red balls are racked together at one end of the table. In back -of the pyramid is a black ball that counts seven for you every time you -succeed in putting it in the pocket. Directly in front of the apex of -the pyramid is a pink ball that is valued at six points. In the center -of the table is a blue, worth five, while at the opposite end of the -table are a yellow, green, and brown ball, worth two, three, and four -points.</p> - -<p>The game is played by shooting alternately at any of the other colored -balls. When the fifteen red balls are pocketed, the remaining -extra-point balls are played off in rotation. The penalties of the game -are just about as numerous as the creditors on the trail of the man who -is hard up. Snooker has resulted in putting the nose of one Mr. Kelly -much out of joint.</p> - -<h3>Old Ma Wolf a Jealous Mother.</h3> - -<p>“All my sheep, gather in a heap, for I spy the woolly, woolly wolf,” -shouted an urchin standing in front of the wolf dens in the New York -Zoölogical Park recently, when some of his playmates gathered in the -park to watch the animals. The wolves he spied are Cherokee, Seneca, and -Iroquois, latest arrivals in the prairie-wolf pack, and they are just as -limber and wild as the Indians used to be on the plains of North Dakota, -from which Minnehaha, the mother wolf, came to the park a few years ago.</p> - -<p>Since the trio arrived, interest has centered about them more than any -other attraction in the park. Their mother is insanely jealous of them -and especially solicitous for their welfare.</p> - -<p>Only by patient watching and waiting was it possible for Alexander -Ferguson and Peter Romanoff, the keepers, to steal into the cage and -snatch the puppies away from Minnehaha. The howl she set up was chorused -by all the other wolves in the park, and this brought hundreds of -persons running in the direction of the wolf dens.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_57" id="page_57">{57}</a></span></p> - -<p>Minnehaha was forgotten when the crowd discovered Miss Marcella Burke, -secretary to Raymond L. Ditmars, curator of the New York Zoölogical -Society, with Iroquois, Cherokee, and Seneca in her arms. The little -ones did not like the idea of being taken out of the cage, but Miss -Burke, who has handled a variety of animals in the course of her -work—more perhaps than any other young woman, excepting those engaged -in the circus business—petted the puppies and soon made them feel at -home.</p> - -<p>The children gathered around Miss Burke, and besought her to give them -the little wolves. One chap said that he had a dog like Seneca, and -another was certain that Cherokee was a spaniel and not a wolf at all, -while still another exclaimed that Iroquois was neither a dog nor a -wolf, but a cat. During the argument, Minnehaha never let up her -high-pitched staccato cry, manifesting clearly that the puppies were -neither dog nor cat, but hers at all hazards.</p> - -<p>It was not until her offspring were returned to the cage that she ceased -howling for them. Her coddling of the little ones kept the crowd amused -for some time, and Minnehaha tenderly picked each one up by the slack of -the neck and tucked them away in the cave. She snarled at the spectators -and stood guard at the cave hole, ready to resent another intrusion.</p> - -<h3>Elephant Famine New Horror of War.</h3> - -<p>The European war has caused a shortage in elephants in this country, -according to Ernest Siegfried, manager of Louis Ruhe’s wild-animal farm -at Woodside, N. Y. Yesterday he received a rush order for six elephants -to be delivered at once to the Barnum & Bailey circus, but he was unable -to fill it.</p> - -<p>“The activity of the fleets of the Allies in stopping German commerce is -responsible for this shortage,” said Mr. Siegfried. “The importation of -elephants has been carried on chiefly in the past by Germans through the -port of Hamburg.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Siegfried declared that his firm was fortunate in getting out of -Germany, just before the war started, a considerable consignment of -other wild animals, among the number being fourteen lions, two tigers, -two leopards, three wolves, two polar bears, three brown Russian bears, -three camels, and a number of deer and kangaroos.</p> - -<p>While there is some demand for these animals, they cannot take the place -of elephants, and there is a danger that some of the smaller circuses -throughout the country will have to go through this season at least -without their elephants.</p> - -<h3>Woman Routs Burglar.</h3> - -<p>A burglar climbed up to the window of the guest chamber in Judge John E. -Keeler’s house on Strawberry Hill, in Stamford, Conn., at four o’clock -the other morning.</p> - -<p>A New York woman whose name was withheld occupied the guest chamber. She -awoke when the burglar had half of his body inside the open window, -shoved him out of the window, and hurled the water pitcher after him. -Then she became hysterical.</p> - -<p>The burglar escaped.</p> - -<h3>Aged Ninety; Still a Sprinter.</h3> - -<p>David Anderson, of 33 Chestnut Street, Yonkers, N. Y., celebrated his -ninetieth birthday by a little sprint around the block in which he -lives. Anderson won a gold medal<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_58" id="page_58">{58}</a></span> in a hundred-yard dash when he was -seventy-four. He has an open challenge to any man not more than ten -years his junior.</p> - -<h3>Americans in the Air Corps.</h3> - -<p>The formation of an American section in the French aviation corps has -been completed by Norman Prince, of Boston, and soon will be in active -service. It consists of seven pilots, who will fly a new type of -160-horse-power monoplane. Three of the seven American aviators have -qualified for the military certificate at Pau. They are Norman Prince, -William Thaw, of New York, and Andre Ruel, of Chicago. The others -expected to pass the tests are Elliott C. Cowden, junior, of New York; -James Bach, an American, living in Paris; B. Hall, of Texas, and Frazier -Curtis, of Boston. Prince says that he needs a reserve of three pilots, -at least. Beckwith Havens, winner of the Chicago-Detroit flying-boat -cruise, may enlist.</p> - -<h3>Oddities of Ball Players.</h3> - -<p>The lamented “Bugs” Raymond, world-famous pitcher of the New York Giants -and St. Louis Cardinals, always carried about him his pressmen’s union -card. It was always in his pocket on the ball field. Bugs was very proud -of it, just as he should have been, for a finer bunch of lovers of true -sport than the pressmen on newspapers never lived.</p> - -<p>Larry Lajoie, the famous swatter, has a pair of rubber-soled canvas -shoes. Those shoes were on his feet when he first played with the Fall -River team. Lajoie never has parted with them. They have a special place -in his suit case.</p> - -<p>Frank Chance, when with the Chicago Cubs, used to seek four-leaved -clovers. So does Hughey Jennings to this day.</p> - -<h3>Mysterious Message in Heart of Potato.</h3> - -<p>A great deal of interest and curiosity has been created in the vicinity -of West Nashville, Tenn., by a message found in an Irish potato.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Walter Lovell was preparing some potatoes for dinner when her knife -struck something she thought was a cob, but on examination proved to be -a heavy piece of brown paper, about a foot long and five inches wide, -with the following writing on it:</p> - -<p>“Peter Johnson, Edmore, Mich.; Harry Hansen, Edmore, Mich. Please -answer.”</p> - -<p>This was written with an indelible pencil. The peeling of the potato was -smooth, with no indication of a plug. The potato was unusually large, -weighing about three pounds, and had grown firmly around the paper, -leaving a cavity when it was removed.</p> - -<p>As to how the paper was grown into the potato with no indications on the -peeling remains a mystery.</p> - -<h3>Big Grizzley is Hotel Guest.</h3> - -<p>An unusual guest appeared recently at the Stewart Hotel, in San -Francisco, when a huge grizzly bear, accompanied by Fred Thompson, his -owner, and nature man Joe Knowles, waddled up to the desk and gravely -went through the formalities of registering, giving his name as “Baby of -the Rockies.”</p> - -<p>After a good feed on lumps of sugar, Baby, who weighs slightly over 500 -pounds, took a trip up the elevator, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_59" id="page_59">{59}</a></span> he jammed on his way up. -Arrived at the seventh floor, Baby and escort visited a party of women. -The grizzly was captured by Thompson five years ago.</p> - -<h3>Four Legs Fatal to This Curious Chicken.</h3> - -<p>The town of Cheshire, Conn., has developed a chicken which ought to have -been born in the days of Phineas T. Barnum, so that its praises could be -properly expressed by the world’s greatest showman and purveyor of -natural and man-made wonders, more frequently the latter.</p> - -<p>Joseph Wheeler, a prominent poultry raiser, found among a recently -hatched Rhode Island Red brood a chicken perfectly formed except that it -had four legs. All went well for nearly a week. Then it was discovered -that the two sets of legs were arranged for locomotion in opposite -directions. The result was that the chick pulled itself apart.</p> - -<p>People from all over the countryside came to see it, and in death it has -been turned over to a taxidermist.</p> - -<h3>How Ships Take Oil on Run.</h3> - -<p>The method of supplying vessels, especially battleships, with fuel oil -at sea is remarkably simple when compared with that required for -coaling. A tanker is run up to within about six hundred feet of the -vessel needing oil, a tow line is attached, and a second line supports a -hose through which the oil is pumped. Meanwhile the ships are steaming -at an hourly speed of from ten to twelve knots. An automatic tension -furnishes the necessary elastic medium for paying out and taking up the -supporting cable, as required by motion of the vessel.</p> - -<p>By this method it is possible to transport from the tanker to the vessel -taking on the fuel nearly seven hundred barrels an hour.</p> - -<h3>Owes Life to Sleeping Dog.</h3> - -<p>A dog averted perhaps a fatal injury to its owner, J. H. Adams, a farmer -near Polo, Ill. He fell thirty feet from the haymow of his barn and -alighted upon the dog, which was lying asleep. The dog was killed, but -the man escaped.</p> - -<h3>Facts for You.</h3> - -<p>For the convenience of travelers, an English firm is compressing tea -into blocks that resemble American plug tobacco.</p> - -<p>After experimenting for thirty-two years, a New York man claims to have -perfected a synthetic gold, made from copper and aluminium.</p> - -<p>A French inventor’s parachute can be guided in falling by pulling cords -to draw in its sides.</p> - -<p>Extensive deposits of iron ore have been discovered in Bavaria, the ore -lying close to the surface of the ground.</p> - -<p>In the last twenty years the per-capita consumption of paper in the -United States has increased about six-fold.</p> - -<p>Aluminium can be rolled into sheets one-two-thousandth of an inch in -thickness that are as strong as tinfoil.</p> - -<p>Charcoal made of peat and formed into briquettes has been used -successfully for melting iron ore in England.</p> - -<p>A new sanitary holder for tumblers is made of spring wire, so shaped as -to touch the glass as little as possible.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_60" id="page_60">{60}</a></span></p> - -<p>To enable a man to walk on an inclined roof, spiked frames, to be -strapped under the shoes, have been patented.</p> - -<p>Experts from the United States Department of Agriculture are making an -extensive study of the coconut industry in the Philippines.</p> - -<p>To enable visitors to get a closer view of the whirlpool of Niagara -Falls, a passenger-carrying cableway will be built across the river.</p> - -<p>California possesses more than one-twelfth of the hydroelectric power -development of the United States, about 450,000 horse power.</p> - -<p>A violet-rays water-sterilizing apparatus invented in France -automatically opens a valve and diverts the water into a drain if the -rays should stop.</p> - -<p>Experiments are under way with glass for spectacles intended to filter -out the injurious rays of artificial light, leaving the effect of -sunlight.</p> - -<p>A new deepest hole in the earth is a well that has been bored in Silesia -to a depth of 7,348 feet, 6,848 feet of which has been lined with iron -tubing.</p> - -<p>A New South Wales irrigation dam, which will cost $3,680,000, will -impound 33,380,000,000 cubic feet of water, backed up in a lake forty -miles long.</p> - -<p>By authority of the Brazilian government, the railways of that country -and Paraguay will be connected, providing another transcontinental line -for South America.</p> - -<p>For finding leaks in motor-cycle tires there has been invented a box to -fit over them in compartments of which is cotton that is moved by the -escaping air as it passes over a hole.</p> - -<h3>Raise Your Own Food.</h3> - -<p>Sufficient vegetables can be raised on a quarter-acre lot to supply a -family of six persons for an entire year if close attention is given to -the rotation and succession of crops, says the Federal Department of -Agriculture. The same lot will accommodate such permanent crops as -asparagus, rhubarb, and small fruits and berries, if care is taken in -arranging the garden. It will provide fresh vegetables for the summer -and enough for canning for use in the winter.</p> - -<p>A smaller area, such as is found in the average city back yard, will -accommodate several of the smaller crops, such as lettuce, peas, -parsley, radishes, beets, and onions, all of which are in constant -demand by the average housewife.</p> - -<h3>Pigeons Overrule Solomon.</h3> - -<p>According to an order of Judge Beall, in special sessions court, of -Yonkers, N. Y., a flock of pigeons was permitted to determine ownership. -The birds were in the cote of William Warholy, who asserted they -belonged to him. John Yosko was also a claimant, charging the pigeons -had been stolen from his cote.</p> - -<p>Recalling that pigeons are credited with a wonderful instinct in finding -their own roosts, Judge Beall ordered two policemen to release the -pigeons in dispute and report the result.</p> - -<p>One-half of the number of birds flew to Warholy’s cote and the others to -Yosko’s cote, thereby reserving decision for the judge.</p> - -<h3>Garden Rake is Life-saver.</h3> - -<p>Jennie Reed, four-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Reed, of Grand -Rapids, Mich., owes her life to a garden rake. The little girl fell into -a cistern while play<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_61" id="page_61">{61}</a></span>ing with little Raymond Algra, a neighbor boy. The -boy called his mother and told her Jennie was in the cistern. Mrs. Algra -seized a garden rake, which had been left near by, and drew the child to -safety. Jennie was delivered to her mother little worse for her cold -plunge.</p> - -<h3>Prehistoric Race Relics Found in Nebraska.</h3> - -<p>Ruins left by some prehistoric race in the vicinity of Howe, Neb., have -recently been inspected and studied by Professor Gerard Fowke, the St. -Louis geologist, who is curator of the St. Louis Museum.</p> - -<p>Mr. Fowke has been gathering scientific data of the primitive -inhabitants of the Missouri Valley, and he investigated the remains of -their civilization. He began with the ancient ruins north of Kansas City -and followed the west bank of the river northward, tracing the northern -retreat of these ancient farmers and gardeners.</p> - -<p>After an exhaustive examination of the ruins found at Howe, Neb., and at -Peru, the professor is of the opinion that the ancient remains recently -discovered near White Cloud, Kan., were of works made by the same race. -Considerable work has been done at Howe under the direction of C. L. -Meek, and a large number of the bone and horn gardening instruments have -been unearthed. The tools for the most part were found cached beneath -what had once been the floors of the dwellings, where they were buried -in beds of ashes.</p> - -<p>Scientists are now of the belief that a number of the remains found -along the Missouri River and the neighboring country were those of a -civilization which preceded that of the Indians.</p> - -<p>Skeletons discovered by Robert P. Gilder, of Omaha, and now in the -University of Nebraska museum, are declared by scientists to greatly -antedate the Indian. The skulls show much less brain capacity than those -of the Indian, and have the very receding forehead characteristic of the -early members of the race, and but little higher than the ape or gorilla -type.</p> - -<h3>Well Stops Flowing at Night.</h3> - -<p>Hawkinsville, Ga., has a well which refuses to work at night. This well, -which is located at the county jail, has an estimated flow of about -fifty gallons of water per minute until about a year ago, when it -suddenly and without apparent cause quit flowing entirely and remained -dry until about a month ago, or just after the earthquake in Italy, when -it commenced flowing again, the flow this time being not over two or -three gallons per minute. But the strange thing about this well is that -it flows only in daytime. It begins flowing about nine o’clock in the -morning and quits about the same time in the evening, and remains dry -all night.</p> - -<h3>Missing Police Pet is Found with Kittens.</h3> - -<p>“Now, Annie; now, Annie,” crooned Captain of Detectives Walker on his -knees at the central police station, in Cleveland, Ohio, “nobody’s going -to hurt em. Say, George, better give that teeny one some of that milk. -It looks as if it needs some.”</p> - -<p>And Lieutenant George Matowitz, assisted by Lieutenant Charles Sterling, -obeyed the commands of their superior, picked up a kitten in the corner, -and administered nourishment via a bottle and nipple.</p> - -<p>Annie, feline mascot of the police department, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_62" id="page_62">{62}</a></span> discovered after a -disappearance lasting four days. Hidden behind the telephone booths in -the reporters’ room at the central station, she was found nursing her -litter of kittens.</p> - -<p>The police department rejoiced, for Annie is the only official mascot at -the station, and her disappearance had caused no small amount of worry -among Cleveland’s finest.</p> - -<p>Captain Walker sent to the nearest drug store for a bottle and nipple -and obtained a quart of milk, which was administered to all the little -newcomers by Lieutenants Sterling and Matowitz, while Annie, secure in -the grasp of Walker, arched her back and otherwise indicated her feline -rage.</p> - -<h3>Villainous Bugs to Pose for the Movies.</h3> - -<p>Bugs in movies—ten or twenty-legged insects posing for the camera—are -promised by a new entrant into the picture field, the division of -entomology at the Minnesota College of Agriculture. The various -creepers, borers, and aviators, after they have been placed on the film, -will be routed over a circuit of Minnesota towns. The promoters of the -venture are confident that their “star” bugs are sure to make a hit.</p> - -<p>Only bold, dangerous villains, the most destructive known to exist in -the State, are sure of a position in the cast. They are to be shown in -the native environment, and all their destructive operations reproduced -before those who suffer from their malicious activities.</p> - -<h3>Has a Lamb with Eight Legs.</h3> - -<p>Martin Werner, living near High Ridge, Mo., has a lamb which has eight -legs. The lamb is otherwise normal. It is considered a remarkable -curiosity by Mr. Werner’s neighbors.</p> - -<h3>Heliograph to Sell Goods.</h3> - -<p>Perhaps the most novel of all methods of selling goods is that devised -by a grocer in Tonasket, Wash., who uses the heliograph for signaling -inquiries and quotations to a forest-service station located fifteen -miles away across the mountains, and receives orders flashed back by the -same method. The grocer’s heliograph is an improvised instrument, -consisting only of a mirror held in front of an automobile headlight. -With this he flashes his messages in the code used by the forest -service.</p> - -<h3>Electricity in a Fence Kills Three.</h3> - -<p>Three persons were killed and two badly shocked by current from a -high-voltage wire which broke and fell across the rear fence of a house -on Grover Street, Los Angeles, Cal. The 2,200 volts in the wire set fire -to the fence across which it fell. Two men were killed when they threw -buckets of water on the flames. A woman seized her husband’s hand and -fell dead.</p> - -<h3>War Chiefs Begin by Prayer.</h3> - -<p>Lord Curzon’s statement in the House of Lords that Lord Roberts had -conducted family prayers for his household for fifty years, is -supplemented by data collected by the <i>Church Family Newspaper</i> -regarding Lord Fisher, first sea lord, and Lord Kitchener.</p> - -<p>“We learn, on unimpeachable authority,” says the jour<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_63" id="page_63">{63}</a></span>nal, “that Lord -Fisher makes a habit of going to a certain church practically every day -for prayer and meditation before commencing his responsible duties.</p> - -<p>“We understand that Lord Kitchener follows out a similar rule whenever -he is in London.”</p> - -<h3>“Tipperary” Causes Mix-up of Nations.</h3> - -<p>Allan McAtee, Scotch, of Bridgeport, Ohio, asked two Austrian girls to -give ear while he sang “Tipperary.”</p> - -<p>He was interrupted by Policeman Tom Howley, formerly of County Donegal, -Ireland, who arrested him for disorderly conduct.</p> - -<p>Next morning McAtee faced Mayor Herman A. Schafer, German by right of -descent, who fined McAtee one dollar.</p> - -<p>Harry Wilson, an American and a friend of McAtee’s, paid the fine.</p> - -<h3>Fuel Value of Wood.</h3> - -<p>The fuel value of wood is in weight about half that of coal. But the -forest-service laboratory at Washington has determined that a cord of -seasoned hickory, oak, beech, birch, hard maple, ash, elm, locust, -longleaf pine, or cherry equals a ton of coal; a cord and a half of -short leaf pine, hemlock, red gum, Douglas fir, sycamore, or soft maple, -and two cords of cedar, redwood, poplar, catalpa, Norway pine, cypress, -brasswood, spruce, or white pine are needed to equal in heat a ton of -coal.</p> - -<h3>Eighteen Pigs Young Sow’s Record.</h3> - -<p>Lawrence Murphy, of Pilot Knob, Ind., has a bigboned Poland China sow -that had a litter of eighteen pigs. Believing this number more than the -sow could care for, Murphy took five of the pigs away to raise by hand, -but in this he was unsuccessful.</p> - -<p>The sow at present has only ten pigs, she having laid on three of them -at time of birth. The sow weighs 350 pounds and is not yet two years -old. Her record is nine pigs in her first litter and eighteen in her -second, which is considered quite extraordinary.</p> - -<h3>Serves as Juror at Eighty-five Years.</h3> - -<p>A. R. Wright, who is serving as a juror at this term of district court -in Fort Dodge, Iowa, despite his eighty-five years, is probably the -oldest man that ever has served on a jury in Iowa. Notwithstanding his -advanced years, Mr. Wright is in possession of all of his faculties.</p> - -<p>He saw a dispatch in a local paper recently about a man seventy-eight -years of age who served on a jury, and he decided to go him one better.</p> - -<h3>Boa Tries to Eat Zoo.</h3> - -<p>Ten pythons, a crate of parrakeets, now reposing inside the largest of -the giant snakes; armadillos, boa constrictors, monkeys, parrots, -Theodora, a baby bear; Brazilian wild cats and South American birds of -all combinations of brilliant colors were part of the cargo of the -Lamport & Holt liner <i>Terence</i>, which docked in New York recently.</p> - -<p>In spite of the varied temperaments of the members of the party, the -trip was calm and peaceful, except for one dary day, when “Old Tom,” the -largest python, broke loose and devoured a crate of parrakeets to -appease the appetite engendered by the sea breezes. Tom fell<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_64" id="page_64">{64}</a></span> asleep -while digesting the crate, however, and was bundled back into captivity -before he awoke.</p> - -<p>The zoölogical consignment is the property of Henry Bartels, of 72 -Cortlandt Street, and was shipped to him by his brother Ferdinand, who -has been collecting beasts and birds in the Amazon region to fill the -hole in the wild-animal trade left when Hagenbeck was put out of -business by the war.</p> - -<h3>Countess Szechenyi Invents War Game.</h3> - -<p>Countess Szechenyi, who was Miss Gladys Vanderbilt, of New York, and -Countess Sigray, daughter of the late Marcus Daly, have invented a -popular war game for Budapest. It arose from an argument between the -two, as each has a pet theory as to when the war will end. The game -consists of writing forecasts of the date of the close of the struggle, -sealing them in envelopes, and filing them to be read after peace is -declared. A growing number of people, lured by the chance of saying, “I -told you so,” are canning their own opinion with red wax and ceremony.</p> - -<h3>Dog Saves Man from Attack by a Park Buffalo.</h3> - -<p>James Crowley, keeper of the menagerie in Central Park, New York, who -has charge of the herd of buffalos and bears in the pens near the -Arsenal, had a narrow escape from injury, when one of the biggest -buffalos of the herd attacked him. Crowley’s pet Airedale terrier rushed -at the big buffalo and kept the animal busy long enough to let Crowley -escape. The dog then made a dash for safety and managed to get out of -the pen.</p> - -<p>Crowley went to the buffalo pen just when his animal charges were -enjoying breakfast. In the pen he was surprised to find the body of an -old pet rooster, “Dick,” evidently a victim of a snow storm. “Black -Diamond,” who is the fighter of the herd of buffalos and about the -biggest of the lot, was not so much interested in his breakfast that he -did not see Crowley, and when the latter’s back was turned, he sneaked -up behind him.</p> - -<p>It would have fared badly for Crowley, for the buffalo was coming at -full speed, with head lowered when the dog interfered and attacked the -animal. Crowley then saw his danger and escaped before the buffalo could -get free from the dog, and in a few minutes more the dog, knowing that -danger to his master was past, came racing to safety out of the pen.</p> - -<h3>Sings as Convicts Weep.</h3> - -<p>Mrs. Mary Greer McLane, daughter of Bishop Greer, of New York, sang -Easter hymns recently for the prisoners in Sing Sing prison. With her -sister and father she entered the chapel of the prison, where every -bench was filled. Her audience listened in absolute silence. When she -had finished, more than one gray sleeve was used as a handkerchief.</p> - -<p>Bishop Greer conducted the Episcopal services, and Mgr. Evers, of New -York, and Father Cashin the Roman Catholic services.</p> - -<h3>His First Ride Proves Fatal.</h3> - -<p>Upon the very first ride on the motor cycle for which he had been saving -for years, Samuel Leechman, twenty-six years old, a salesman, of New -York, was killed before he had gone fourteen blocks.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_65" id="page_65">{65}</a></span></p> - -<p>On Central Park West he swerved at Seventy-ninth Street to avoid a -passenger from a trolley car. The wheels skidded and Leechman was -thrown. The police could get no ambulance for half an hour, and then -Leechman was dead.</p> - -<p>Friends say motor cycling had always been Leechman’s hobby, but he had -not been able to purchase one until the day of his death.</p> - -<h3>Hog Nearly Eight Feet Long.</h3> - -<p>A hog weighing 1,210 pounds and less than two years old is the record in -swine raising made by Colonel W. E. Wimpey, of De Kalb County, Ga. The -hog is 7 feet 10 inches long, 39½ inches high, and 74½ inches around the -body.</p> - -<h3>Cupid Calls Mayor to Aid of Pastor.</h3> - -<p>Backed up with a letter of commendation from the Bishop of Ontaria and -kind words from other persons of prominence, a clergyman of the Church -of England, from Barrie, Canada, has asked Mayor Mitchel, of New York -City, to find him a wife.</p> - -<p>When the mayor replied he had no means of obtaining wives, but would be -glad to publish his letter, the minister sent the following:</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>: This is to thank you for kindly acceding to my request to aid -me in finding a wife, and you may publish my want. I desire a well-bred, -cultured woman, healthy, cheerful, preferably not over thirty years of -age. For publication let me repeat that I am an Episcopalian minister, -graduate of a leading university, healthy, vigorous, bright, artistic, -practical, affectionate, and very devoted where deserved.</p> - -<p>“I send you credentials that will enable you to attest my position and -social standing.</p> - -<p>“Of course, all communications will be honorably treated by me as -strictly confidential.”</p> - -<p>In his letter, which was enclosed, the bishop wrote:</p> - -<p>“He is in good health, very active, full of pluck and energy. He could -be designated as a manly man. He is about thirty years old, and has no -ties.”</p> - -<p>A letter from M. L. Mackenzie King, director of the Rockefeller -Foundation for Investigation of Industrial Relations in Ottawa, to the -clergyman, which he sent to the mayor, said that Mr. King had received -“an exceedingly kind and generous letter” on the clergyman’s behalf from -her royal highness, the Princess Frederica, of Brunswick and Lunenburg, -which letter was written “by her royal highness in her own hand.”</p> - -<p>Barrie is a town of 5,500 people, with several manufacturing -establishments and other industries, about sixty-four miles northwest of -Toronto. It is the county seat of Simcoe County.</p> - -<p>Any woman desiring to communicate with the clergyman on matrimony may -address him at Post-office Box 701, Barrie, Ont.</p> - -<h3>Ate All the Rolls in Sight—Three.</h3> - -<p>The most striking effect of the eight months of war on Vienna has been -the banishment of the roll which has made the Austrian capital famous. -The Café Imperial on rare occasions with late coffee still serves white -rolls. The other evening three were brought to a party of six, just as -the party was finishing the meal, and an American girl, who came late, -ate all three. The waiter’s voice was full of real pathos as he pointed -out the girl to the man<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_66" id="page_66">{66}</a></span>ager and said: “That, sir, is the fraülein who -has eaten three of our rolls. I can’t understand how she dared.” No -other hotel serves anything but gray war bread, and the signing of peace -is spoken of as the day of the restoration of the Vienna roll.</p> - -<h3>Fireman with a Tough Head.</h3> - -<p>Three thousand New Yorkers gasped when an iron shutter fell three -stories, striking a fireman squarely on the head. Two minutes later an -ambulance corps couldn’t find a fireman who would admit his head had -been bruised.</p> - -<h3>Has Fireproof Cotton Press.</h3> - -<p>J. R. Roddie, a negro of Muskogee, Okla., has invented and obtained a -patent upon an all-steel and fireproof cotton press. Not only does the -new press obviate the danger of fire, but the claim is made for it that -it can be operated by one man, whereas the present cotton presses -require two and three men to operate, and that it can be built for -one-half the cost of the presses now in use.</p> - -<h3>Offered Fifteen Cents to Settle.</h3> - -<p>An unidentified autoist, after running into a rig driven by Mrs. Frank -Reynolds, Mount Holly, N. J., and tossing her and the horse several feet -into a ditch along the roadside, stopped his car, turned around, and -offered to settle the affair by paying her fifteen cents for a broken -strap on the horse’s harness. She refused to accept his offer.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Reynolds is a large woman, and received a jolting from which she -will not recover for several days. No bones were broken. The horse was -severely injured. Mrs. Reynolds secured the number of the machine, and -will sue the driver for damages.</p> - -<h3>Rye Bread Fad Lifts German Flour Ban.</h3> - -<p>Some of the restrictions against the use of wheat flour in Germany for -making bread and pastry have been removed, says a dispatch from -Amsterdam. This step has been taken because of the increased consumption -of rye bread, which resulted in the use of an undue proportion of that -grain rather than wheat.</p> - -<h3>Lone, Timid Prisoner Released on Parole.</h3> - -<p>Elwood Armstrong, the sole prisoner in the Sussex County Jail, in -Georgetown, Del., who recently complained to Sheriff Jacob West that he -was lonely and afraid to remain in the prison at night without company, -will no longer be afraid.</p> - -<p>Recently he was paroled for two years to Charles S. Richards, of -Georgetown, formerly secretary of state, and brother of Robert H. -Richards, of Wilmington, formerly attorney general. This was done after -he had confessed to the theft of five dozen eggs.</p> - -<p>Accordingly the jail is now empty. The turnkey has taken a vacation, and -the sheriff does not have enough to do to keep him busy.</p> - -<p>Chickens are roosting in the cells, some of which are modern steel -affairs, and the jail yard will soon be planted in early corn.</p> - -<p>The dry forces say it is a concrete example of what happens when the -liquor traffic is forbidden. This is a local-option section.</p> - -<h3><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_67" id="page_67">{67}</a></span> </h3> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_68" id="page_68">{68}</a></span> </p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="cbig250">THE NICK CARTER STORIES</p> - -<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_69" id="page_69">{69}</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—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 /> -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_70" id="page_70">{70}</a></span></p> - -<p>NEW SERIES</p> - -<p>NICK CARTER STORIES</p> - -<p class="nind"> -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 Keno 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_71" id="page_71">{71}</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 Massage.<br /> -132—Broken Bars.<br /> -133—Won by Magic.<br /> -134—The Secret of Shangore.<br /> -135—Straight to the Goal.<br /> -136—The Man They Held Back.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="clft">Dated April 24th, 1915.</p> - -<p class="nind"> -137—The Seal of Gijon.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="clft">Dated May 1st, 1915.</p> - -<p class="nind"> -138—The Traitors of the Tropics.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="clft">Dated May 8th, 1915.</p> - -<p class="nind"> -139—The Pressing Peril.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="clft">Dated May 15th, 1915.</p> - -<p class="nind"> -140—The Melting-Pot.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_72" id="page_72">{72}</a></span></p> - -<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 THE DUPLICATE NIGHT; WHERE'S THE COMMANDANT?-[CONTINUED.] ***</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. 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