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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..cce5635 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66986 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66986) diff --git a/old/66986-0.txt b/old/66986-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2b77633..0000000 --- a/old/66986-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5106 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Seal of Gijon, 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 Seal of Gijon - Or, Nick Carter’S Ice-House Fight - -Author: Nick Carter - -Editor: Chickering Carter - -Release Date: December 21, 2021 [eBook #66986] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: David Edwards, Thomas Frost and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Northern Illinois - University Digital Library) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEAL OF GIJON *** - - - - - 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. 137. NEW YORK, April 24, 1915. =Price Five Cents.= - - - THE SEAL OF GIJON; - - Or, NICK CARTER’S ICE-HOUSE FIGHT. - - Edited by CHICKERING CARTER. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -SLIPPED AWAY. - - -“Look out! You’ll run us down!” - -The response was a growling oath, as the heavy launch came on, full -speed, straight across the river. - -Nick Carter, sitting at the wheel of another craft of the same type, -saw the danger, even before his assistant shouted this warning. - -“Keep quiet, Chick!” he ordered, in his calm tones. “I’ll make it!” - -The famous detective had handled motor boats before, and he knew he -could dodge the erratic craft cutting across his bows, unless the other -man changed his course at the crucial moment. - -They were abreast of Yonkers, and at that point the lordly Hudson is -swift, as well as wide. - -The launch coming across the river had suddenly appeared from the -shadow of the Palisades, apparently bound straight for the busy city on -the opposite shore. - -In it were three men. - -The one at the wheel, who appeared to be in general command, had a -square, bulldog sort of face, with heavy jaw, outstanding ears, and -other features that make more for physical determination than beauty. - -Another man, who scowled at Nick Carter and Chick with an evil -intentness that made the latter long to jump on him and have it out -there and then, sat in the stern and whispered something in the ear of -the engineer. - -This second man was lean of face and evidently long of body. He had -deep-set, unwinking eyes, and a square face at the bottom which -suggested that he was at enmity with most of his kind. - -With it all, there was a restless cunning in the far-buried eyes which -made him even more unpleasant to contemplate than the man to whom he -was whispering. - -As if to counterbalance to some extent the preponderance of brutal -humanity in the launch, the third passenger was a rather small, slight -young man, who looked hardly old enough to vote. His face was pale and -his eyes had a gentle, appealing expression, almost like that of a very -innocent, unsophisticated girl. - -Appearances are deceitful very often. So let it be stated at once that -this gentle young fellow, barely out of his teens, and whose voice -was as mild as his looks, was none other than Pet Carlin, one of the -cruelest, most unscrupulous gangsters in New York City. - -Carlin’s name was supposed to be Peter. That had been shortened by his -associates to “Pete.” Afterward the final “e” had been clipped off, -because of his inoffensive appearance and manner, and he was known as -“Pet.” - -Nick Carter shut off his power, and manipulated the wheel carefully, as -he saw that the man in the other boat was recklessly driving straight -toward him. - -There was only a narrow margin for the two launches to pass each -other, but it would have been done successfully had not the stranger -deliberately turned his wheel just as Nick Carter was gliding past in -safety by the most skillful management of his helm. - -“Larry!” exclaimed Pet, in a startled tone. - -He was staring hard at the two passengers in Nick Carter’s boat--two -men who wore handcuffs on their wrists--and a quick look of recognition -had passed back to him. - -“What?” growled the man at the wheel, Larry Dugan. “What’s biting yer, -Pet?” - -“Look!” - -All three of the men in the launch gazed at the two handcuffed men, and -all three expressed their astonishment in low grunts. - -“Get ’em!” whispered the man behind the steersman--he of the deep-set, -cunning eyes. “We’ve got to do it!” - -It was just as this was said that the collision came. - -The launch coming across the river headed straight for the middle of -the other. Only because Nick Carter swung his wheel around, thus -receiving a glancing blow, instead of one head-on, was his boat saved -from being cut in two. - -As it was, the two launches hung motionless for a moment, as two men -might before they fell after receiving a mortal blow. - -Then, as Nick gave another quick turn to his wheel, and at the same -time opened the throttle, he slid past the other launch and was free, -in the open water. - -It was only for a moment, however. - -The detective had seen, at the first glance, that the launch occupied -by the three forbidding-looking men was superior to his own in the case -with which it could be manipulated. - -It was narrower in the beam, and the engine was more powerful. Besides, -it answered to its helm more smoothly and promptly than his own. - -Nevertheless, as Nick Carter, in that short instant, managed to get a -full view of the faces of the men, he recognized them all. Also, he saw -that they knew his two handcuffed passengers. - -Further proof of this came at once, when, as Nick swung his launch -clear, the man at the wheel of the other boat, with a snarl, twisted -his wheel and again brought the two launches against each other, -parallel, with a crash. - -“Look out, Chick! Hold the gunwale of that other boat!” shouted Nick -Carter. “Don’t let them get away!” - -“I should say not!” was Chick’s response. “Don’t you see who they are?” - -“Of course I do!” shouted back Nick Carter. “That fellow at the wheel -is Larry Dugan.” - -The detective had seen that three of the worst ruffians in New -York--men who could be hired to beat, or even kill, a man, for -pay--were in the launch, and he could not keep a horrible suspicion -out of his mind which implicated Don Solado and Prince Miguel, his two -handcuffed prisoners. - -It was Nick Carter’s determination now to catch the three thugs. He had -little doubt that they had been hired by Solado and Miguel to make away -with a man they wanted to keep out of sight, for a time at least. - -The man’s name was Prince Marcos. - -In this supposition he was right. But he did not give the rascals -credit for quite so much audacity as they possessed. - -As Nick reached over the sides of the two launches which were rubbing -against each other, and grabbed the man nearest to him, who happened to -be Pet Carlin, there was a loud shout from Chick. - -“Look out, chief! They’re getting our men!” - -The launches sprang violently apart, and Nick was obliged to let go of -Pet to save himself from going overboard. - -With his throttle wide open, sending the boat along at full speed, Nick -swung around in pursuit of the other craft. - -He had special reason to do this now, for, as Chick had warned him, -the trio of ruffians had actually snatched away Don Solado and Prince -Miguel, his handcuffed prisoners, under his very nose. - -Only the fact that Nick had been hampered by his position at the wheel -and the levers of the engine had enabled the rascals to be successful. - -It was impossible for the detectives to move quickly--even if it had -been safe to leave the launch to its own devices. He was obliged to -keep his hand on the steering wheel, and to see that the engine was not -running wild. - -Larry Dugan, Foxey, and Pet all understood this, and they had taken -instant advantage of the odds in their favor. - -Pulling the two prisoners from one boat to the other, they had allowed -them to lie down in the bottom, while Dugan, with a skill equal to Nick -Carter’s own, had sent his launch full speed toward the wharves and -tangle of shipping that one always sees on the water front of Yonkers. - -It was the multitude of craft of all kinds hiding the wharves that gave -the three thugs their advantage. - -Larry Dugan was unusually skillful in handling the launch, and he had -a long start of Nick Carter before the latter could get his launch -around, headed for shore. - -It was broad daylight, but there was a bone-racking fog on the river, -and it hid the escaping boat even as it plunged in among the anchored -shipping and big lumber barges that stretched for a quarter of a mile, -at least. - -“They can’t be far away,” said Nick, as he pushed his launch along. -“Keep a bright lookout, Chick!” - -“All right!” - -But the rascals knew this part of the river and the peculiarities of -the water front of Yonkers as well as did Nick Carter, and they got -clear away. - -The fog helped them materially. They might never have dodged the -pursuing boat otherwise. - -The detective also knew Yonkers. But, because he did know it, he was -quite aware that it would not be so very difficult for Larry Dugan to -elude him, especially with the fog to help. - -“They’ve beaten us, chief!” grumbled Chick, a quarter of an hour later. -“They’ve gone along inside this line of barges and shot out at the end. -While we have been poking about here, they’ve headed down the river.” - -“I think you’re right, Chick,” conceded Nick. “They’d hardly go up the -river, of course. Well, we’ll go down, too. We’ve lost our prisoners, -but I don’t care so much for that if they don’t get hold of Prince -Marcos.” - -“What is all this about Prince Marcos?” asked Chick. “I don’t think I -have ever got the story straight, in spite of all I’ve heard.” - -“It can be told in a few words,” answered Nick. “Prince Marcos is the -hereditary ruler of Joyalita, a small monarchy near the Caribbean Sea. -He is a decent fellow, from all I’ve seen of him.” - -“Yes, I understand that,” was Chick’s quiet comment. - -“Well, there is a party of grafters in Joyalita who would like the -country, such as it is, to be annexed to another one adjoining. That -would probably throw Prince Marcos out, and his Cousin Miguel who has -just got away from us on that boat, would be made provisional ruler.” - -“I see. Miguel would get Marcos’ job. But what is this about Marcos -wanting to get home by the eighteenth?” - -“If he gets to Joyalita on or before that date, he will be able to use -his power to prevent the annexation.” - -“By a casting vote?” asked Chick. - -“No. As head of the country and government, he won’t have to vote. His -word controls the situation.” - -“What they call a royal prerogative in Europe, eh?” - -“Yes.” - -“And this other citizen in the handcuffs, Don Solado--where does he -come in?” - -“He is prime minister, and he is on the side of Miguel.” - -“It’s all clear enough to me now,” remarked Chick. “Don Solado and -Miguel are trying to hold Marcos here till it will be too late for him -to stop this big grafting annexation?” - -“Exactly! We shall have to work like Trojans now to enable Marcos to -win. I’ve pledged myself to do it, however, and we shall have to manage -it, somehow,” was Nick Carter’s steady conclusion, as he turned the -launch downstream. “We have Larry Dugan and his crowd against us, as -well as Solado and Miguel. That will make it harder. But we can beat -the gang if we stick to it.” - -“We’ll stick to it, all right!” responded Chick, with that determined -note in his voice which his chief knew meant business. - -“That’s what I like to hear, Chick. It won’t be an easy task, but we -have simply got to get Prince Marcos to Joyalita by the eighteenth of -this month.” - -“You bet!” added Chick. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -SECRET FOES AT WORK. - - -In spite of the sharp lookout maintained by Nick Carter and his -assistant for the launch with the five rascals in it all the way down -to that upper part of Manhattan Island where New York City has reached -only to give certain favored persons semirural homes, they saw nothing -of the evil-faced Larry Dugan and his companions. - -“There’s Crownledge,” pointed out Chick, as they came opposite the -handsome house, in its own grounds, which Marcos and his mother had -taken for a temporary residence. - -The launch ran up to the landing, and Nick Carter, leaving his -assistant to take care of the boat, went into the house. - -He was met at the door by Claudia Solado, Marcos’ cousin. The girl was -delighted to see the detective. - -“Mr. Carter, I am so glad you have come,” she said, as she put her -soft hand into his. “Marcos wants to start for Joyalita at once, and, -really, he is not well enough. After all he passed through in escaping -from Prince Miguel and my uncle, and being so nearly drowned, he is -weak and feverish. I am sure that if he will stay in the house until -to-morrow morning, he will be so much better that there will be no -danger.” - -“You have not seen Don Solado, your uncle, or Prince Miguel, near -Crownledge this morning, have you?” he asked. - -“No. The last I saw of them was when you saved Marcos from drowning and -allowed those two men to capture you to save him.” - -“That didn’t hurt me much, you see,” laughed Nick Carter. “They seemed -to think they could hold me on that hired yacht of theirs up the river. -But I got the better of them. If I had not, probably I should not be -here now.” - -“Where are they?” - -“I don’t know. But so long as they are not bothering Marcos, I don’t -think we need care. Where is the prince?” - -“In the library.” - -“May I see him?” - -“Of course. He is anxious for you to go in. He saw you through the -window, coming up from the river.” - -Marcos was a well-built, robust young man at ordinary times. But he did -not look robust just now. His face was pale and his movements lacked -their usual resiliency. - -Notwithstanding all this, his resemblance to Nick Carter was startling. -The features were alike, and even the poise of the head, the set of the -shoulders, and the general attitude, were identical. - -“This is a pleasure, Mr. Carter!” - -As Prince Marcos said this, the girl actually looked closely at her -cousin to make sure that he was speaking, and not the detective. - -“Glad to see you are all right, sir,” returned Carter. “You’ll pardon -my not calling you ‘your highness,’ will you not? In the first place, -I do not think it would be wise for you to use your title while in New -York, and then again I must confess it is much easier to me to speak as -if you were an ordinary American or Englishman.” - -“Quite right, my dear Carter!” returned Marcos heartily. “I wish you -would address me as plain Mr. Joyal. That will suggest my country to -me, and the name does not smell of royalty, does it?” - -He asked this with a naïveté that pleased the detective. There was no -nonsense about Marcos. - -“Very well, Mr. Joyal. That shall be your name hereafter. Where is your -valet?” - -“He is here. In the adjoining room. Phillips!” - -As he called this name, Phillips came in, a tall, quiet-mannered young -man in a plain business suit. He did not look like a valet. It was part -of his latest instructions from his employer that he should not appear -to be what he was. Marcos had wisely come to the conclusion that there -must not be any suggestion of royalty about him or his entourage if he -meant to get back in safety to his own realm within the time limit. - -“You were hurt by those men who stole Prince Marcos--I mean, Mr. -Joyal--from Crownledge, the night before last, were you not?” asked -Nick Carter. - -“Yes. But I am quite well now,” answered Phillips composedly. - -“I am glad to hear it. Mr. Joyal may need your help. He will be -starting for Joyalita to-night.” - -“Very good, sir.” - -Phillips would have said “Very good!” if he had been told that he -was to be led to execution that night, or if it had been decided to -make him Prince of Joyalita. Which is by way of saying that he was a -perfectly trained man-servant of the European type. Impassiveness was -his trade-mark. - -He withdrew now, without another word. - -“My mother is at Newport, visiting friends, and desires to stay there -for a month,” remarked Marcos. “After that she will spend another month -or two in this country. I am glad of it.” - -“So am I,” said Nick Carter quietly. “It is better for the party that -goes to Joyalita to be as small and unobtrusive as possible.” - -“Is it necessary to wait until to-night before Marcos goes?” asked -Claudia. “Don’t you think it will be dangerous for him to remain in New -York all day?” - -“I don’t think so. But there would be some likelihood of the enemy -spying out our doings in the daylight. We must get away without any -brass-band accompaniment.” - -“Do you know where my Uncle Solado is now?” asked the girl. - -“I do not,” replied the detective. - -This was the absolute truth. He did not know. He could have told how -Solado and Miguel had been dragged away by Larry Dugan and his two -fellow ruffians and carried off in a power launch. But that would only -have led to more questioning, which he did not want. - -“What time should we start?” asked Marcos. - -“Not before nine o’clock,” replied the detective decidedly. “It will -be quite dark by that time, and we shall have a chance to slip away -without being noticed.” - -“I suppose that is the better plan,” assented Marcos. “It will seem -like a long day, however.” - -“All the better,” rejoined Nick. “You need a rest. These four hours may -do you a world of good.” - -“You will not remain with me, I suppose?” - -“I want to go down to my home to look after my mail and so on. But I -will come back early in the afternoon.” - -“You have not had breakfast yet, have you?” - -“I shall breakfast at home, with my assistant. And, by the way, he -is waiting for me down by the river. Before I go, there is one thing -I want to speak about. The other night, at the ball in the Hotel -Supremacy, there came into my possession, in a curious way, a valuable -jewel-incrusted watch, on which was the letter ‘M’ in diamonds, and----” - -“Mr. Carter!” interrupted Marcos eagerly. “Have you that watch still? -Can you get it?” - -“The watch is in my safe. I intend to bring it to you to-day.” - -“Can you? Can you?” cried Marcos excitedly. “That watch means so much -to me. It is more than a mere timekeeper or ornament. It is bound up in -the destinies of the ruling house of Joyalita. I cannot tell you how -important it is. The watch, with the fob attached, is known as the Seal -of Gijon.” - -“The watch shall be restored to you when I come back this afternoon.” - -“You found it, you say?” - -“At the Hotel Supremacy. It is claimed by Prince Miguel, your cousin,” -returned Nick Carter. “Mrs. van Raikes, who gave the ball at the hotel -that night, enlisted my services to find the watch. I had it then, but -I did not say so. I was sure that there was a significance attached to -it which required that it should not be lightly passed along without my -being sure that it did not get into improper hands.” - -“As a matter of fact, Mr. Carter, I may as well tell you that that -watch is the insignia of the ruler of Joyalita. It has the character of -the great seal used in most monarchies. I did not take it to the Hotel -Supremacy that night. In fact, I never have been in the hotel at any -time. It could have been taken there only by my cousin, Prince Miguel.” - -“How did he get it?” - -“It disappeared from my desk, where I had it in a secret drawer.” - -“Who knew of that secret drawer besides yourself?” - -“No one that I know of.” - -“Phillips?” - -“Phillips is above suspicion,” returned Marcos coldly. - -“No doubt. But did he know of the secret drawer?” persisted Nick. - -“He did not. I am sure of it.” - -“What other servants have had access to your room?” - -“Only the maid who attended to the room, and she never was long enough -there to get at the drawer. Phillips always makes it a point to go in -and out of my apartment at short intervals when any one is there doing -work of any kind.” - -“Hum!” was all Nick Carter replied to this. Adding: “Don’t speak of -what I have told you to anybody.” - -He went away, giving the assurance that he would return in the -afternoon, and, after telling Chick to come home as soon as he had -returned the boat to the man from whom it had been hired, Joe Travers, -he hustled downtown as fast as a subway express could take him. - -After breakfast and a change of clothing, Nick Carter’s first action -was to look in his safe to make sure that the jewel watch was safe. - -He took it out and looked at it. When he had examined it for a few -moments, he saw that there was a spring, evidently intended to be -secret, hidden beneath the catch that opened the outer case. - -“I should like to know what that spring controls,” he muttered, as he -looked at the watch under a strong light on his large library table. -“But it is not my secret. If it has any bearing on the attack of Solado -and Miguel upon Marcos, or if it was the principal inducement to Miguel -to steal the article, I may learn something about it later. At all -events, if there is anything more to interfere with the departure of -Marcos from New York, I will keep this secret spring in mind.” - -The detective was accustomed to take clews wherever he found them, and -it was his experience that trifles like this spring in the valuable -watch often led to discoveries very much worth while. - -He was still musing over the watch when his telephone bell rang. - -Something seemed to tell him that there was a communication of -importance trembling on the wire, and he responded with a sharp “Hello!” - -“This is Claudia,” was the response. “That you, Mr. Carter?” - -“Yes. What is it, Miss Solado?” - -“Your assistant, Mr. Chickering Carter----” - -“Yes, yes?” cried the detective, as the girl paused. - -“He has gone!” - -“Gone? Where?” - -“I can’t tell you everything on the telephone,” rejoined the girl. “But -if you will hurry up to Crownledge, you will know what to do.” - -“I’ll come right away,” answered Nick. “But I wish you’d tell me where -my assistant was when he disappeared.” - -“There was a scuffle in the house, and when Phillips and Jason went to -see what it was all about, Mr. Chickering had gone. Please hurry!” - -“I’ll come at once, of course--be with you in about twenty minutes. But -one more question. Who is Jason?” - -“Phillips’ assistant. The ‘second man,’ as they call him. He is a -chauffeur in Joyalita, but has not acted in that capacity in New York.” - -“Mr. Marcos’--I mean Mr. Joyal’s--servant, eh?” - -“Yes. Under Phillips.” - -“I understand,” replied Nick. “Good-by! I’ll soon be with you.” - -“You will find me waiting for you,” was the girl’s agitated answer. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -NICK CARTER TASTES SALT. - - -When Nick Carter dashed up to the front entrance of Crownledge in his -own big touring car, with Danny Maloney at the wheel, he found Claudia -Solado on the porch, looking for him. - -“Oh, Mr. Carter! I’m so glad you have come. He’s gone!” - -“Who? My assistant?” - -“Marcos, my cousin.” - -“What do you mean? That there have been two disappearances?” - -“Yes. Did they go together?” - -“We don’t know.” - -“Where was Marcos when he vanished?” - -“The last seen of him was when he went into his bedroom to lie down for -a nap. He is not strong, and Phillips advised him to take a sleep. He -thought that a good idea, and Phillips went with him. My cousin leaned -on his arm, and I noticed how pale and weak he seemed as he left the -library, where he had been sitting.” - -“What does Phillips say about the disappearance? How long did he stay -in the bedroom?” - -“Only while my cousin lay down on the outside of the bed, with a quilt -over him. Phillips put the quilt on, saw that he was comfortable, and -that the electric-bell button, hanging loosely to a wire, was within -reach of his hand on the pillow, so that he could call any one he might -want without getting up. He told Jason to look in now and then, without -disturbing my cousin.” - -“Who is this Jason? Was he born in Joyalita?” - -“No. I think he came from New York about a year ago,” replied the girl. -“I am not sure. You know, English is the tongue generally spoken in -Joyalita, although there is some little Spanish. Jason speaks English, -but I fancy I detect a certain twang that you hear from many people in -New York, especially those who were born there.” - -“We’ll have Jason into the library and hear what he has to say,” -announced Nick, as he went into that room with Claudia. - -“Jason has gone!” - -It was the cool voice of Phillips. He had heard the conversation -between Claudia and the detective, and had followed them into the -library. - -“Where’s he gone?” demanded Nick Carter. - -“I don’t know, sir. I might say, if you please, that I have not been -quite satisfied with Jason since we have been here,” ventured Phillips. - -“Why?” - -“He has twice, to my knowledge, been away all night, without any one -knowing it but me. He seemed very tired when he returned on both -occasions. He told me he had been sitting up with a friend of his who -was sick, and who lived downtown somewhere.” - -“Did you prove that to be untrue?” asked the detective. - -“No, sir. But I took the liberty of examining his trunk one day when I -had sent him on an errand that would keep him away for two hours. In -the trunk I found two valuable watch movements----” - -“Watch movements?” - -“Yes, sir. The cases were not there. Just the movements. I was a -watchmaker once, and I know the value of such things, although they -are not easily disposed of, except to a watchmaker who might happen to -want them.” - -“I understand,” interrupted Nick. “What else did you find in his trunk? -Anything suspicious?” - -“Yes. There were two chisels, a pointed crowbar, or ‘jimmy,’ a pair of -fine steel pliers, and an automatic revolver.” - -“I wonder whether they are in his trunk now?” - -“No, sir. I have looked in it, and there is nothing but the ordinary -clothing, and not much of that.” - -“He is in his regular livery, is he?” - -“No, sir. He never wears that when he goes out on his private business. -Even the trousers he changes, although there is nothing distinctive -about them except a blue stripe down the outside of each leg, which -would hardly be seen at night, anyhow.” - -“How did you open the trunk? Wasn’t it locked?” - -“No. And that is where I look upon Jason as a man of particular -cunning,” replied Phillips. “He must have found out that I had been -examining his belongings--or suspected it. So he had shut down the -trunk, without locking it, and put some of his clothes on top. That -would enable him to see if I disturbed anything.” - -“Not if you put them back the same way,” suggested Nick. “You could do -that, couldn’t you?” - -“I tried. But Jason is a cunning rascal, I’m afraid, and he would be -pretty sure to see that some one had been at his trunk.” - -“If you think he is dishonest, why do you keep him here? Mr. Joyal--the -prince--would allow you to discharge him if you thought it well to do -so, wouldn’t he?” - -“Yes. But I want to keep Jason till I can catch him in the act. Then I -may find out several things that are distressing me. Mr.--er--Joyal has -missed some valuable property, and we think Jason is the man who took -it.” - -“What kind of property?” - -Phillips looked from side to side, as if to make sure no one should -overhear. Then he whispered: - -“The Seal of Gijon is gone.” - -“I have heard of it,” answered the detective. “It is a jeweled watch, -with a diamond-mounted fob.” - -“That’s it, sir,” nodded Phillips. “The prince--I mean, Mr. Joyal--lost -it several days ago. He is very anxious about it.” - -“Does he suspect Jason?” - -“No, sir. There would have been no use in telling him that Jason was -acting peculiarly until I had proof.” - -“What theory have you of the disappearance of Mr. Joyal?” asked the -detective, changing the subject abruptly. - -“None at all, sir. I can’t account for it.” - -“Well, you keep a close watch around Crownledge. I may be back here -this evening.” - -“I hope you will find Mr. Joyal.” - -“I will try,” returned Nick, as he went out of the room, with Claudia -by his side. - -They walked to the front porch together. When Nick Carter had thrown -a glance around, to make sure they were not followed, and that no one -could overhear, he said to the girl, in a low tone: - -“I wish you would stay at Crownledge for the remainder of the day, if -you can. Keep a watchful eye on everything. It may be that Marcos has -gone out for something that he thinks he should attend to promptly in -his own person, and that my assistant has gone with him as a sort of -bodyguard.” - -Claudia shook her head incredulously. - -“I can hardly think that. My cousin would most likely have told me or -Phillips, or both of us, if he had intended to be away even for half an -hour. Besides, he was lying down when last seen by Phillips.” - -“Well, at all events, if you can stay here for the remainder of the -day, it may help us materially. I still intend to leave here to-night -with Marcos for Joyalita, if possible. If not, we will go not later -than to-morrow.” - -“Do you know where Marcos is, then?” - -“I know where he may be,” answered Nick. “I am going to see.” - -His touring car was still at the front steps. With a smiling farewell -and lifting of his hat to the girl, the detective took his place in the -car and directed Maloney to take him home. - -When Nick Carter told Claudia that he knew where Marcos might be, he -was not speaking without reason. Nor was his guess so wild as to be -almost uncertainty. - -True, as he had come to his conclusion by a process of induction only. -But it was a process that had served him well at every stage of his -career, and he had the faith in it that is based on proven tests. - -When he reached the porch of Crownledge with Claudia Solado, and -glanced around him, his eye lighted on a trifle which his quick brain -told him might not be such a trifle, after all. - -Without the girl observing him, he stopped suddenly and picked up a -small cake of mud and grass that evidently had dropped from somebody’s -shoe. From the shape of it, Nick knew that it had been wedged into the -instep of a rather large shoe which must have belonged to a man. - -The mass of soil, with half a dozen clipped-off blades of grass -embedded in it, had filled all the space in the instep between the heel -and the beginning of the sole. - -When the detective picked it up, he held it carefully in the fingers of -his left hand, so that it should preserve its shape until he was ready -to examine it at his leisure. He held his hand at his side, and the -girl took no notice of it. - -Until the car reached Madison Avenue, and he had told Danny Maloney, -the chauffeur, that he might want him again at night, but that he need -not stay any longer then, Nick Carter contented himself with surveying -his prize casually as it lay flat on the palm of his hand. - -No sooner was he locked in his library, however, than he closed the -blinds, and, having lighted a cigar, turned his strong incandescent -light down upon his table. - -On a sheet of white paper he laid the mass of mud and grass. - -It was nearly dry. Therefore, it was possible to handle it without its -losing its shape. - -“I don’t think I can be mistaken,” muttered Nick. “I think I know this -wiry grass too well, and this sandy mud is of a kind that is not found -in many places hereabouts. However, I’ll look at it through my glass.” - -He took a very strong magnifying glass from his table drawer and -studied the mixture for nearly half a minute. - -As he put the glass down, a satisfied smile flickered across his strong -face. - -“There is just one more test,” he muttered. “Although I believe it is -superfluous. However, here goes.” - -He put the tuft of grass to his tongue. - -“I knew it,” was his soft exclamation. “Salt! It could not be anything -else.” - -He pressed a push button at the side of his table, and then unfastened -the door of the room. As he returned to his seat, he puffed contentedly -at his cigar, still regarding the mud and tuft of grass on the white -paper. - -“Want me, chief?” - -A young fellow, with the bright, alert expression on his rather thin -features that tells of an active brain, stood in the doorway. - -“Yes, Patsy! Close the door and come over here.” - -The young man obeyed, and Nick Carter pointed to the stuff on the paper -on his table. - -“What’s that, Patsy?” - -Patsy Garvan--for it was the trusted young assistant of that name who -had come in--bent closely over the paper and studied the grass for a -moment. - -“I should say it is salt meadow grass,” he answered. - -“Why do you think so?” - -“It is coarse, and there is a color to it you don’t see in any other -kind. If you’ll let me taste it, I can tell you.” - -Nick Carter laughed and drew several whiffs of smoke from his cigar -before he spoke again. - -“That’s just what I did, Patsy,” he said, at last. “Put your tongue to -it and let me know what you think.” - -Patsy lifted the paper and put out his tongue. - -“I should say so,” was his remark, as he replaced the paper and its -contents on the table. “Gee! You couldn’t fool me on that. Where did -you get it?” - -“Never mind about that, Patsy. Where do you suppose this grass and mud -came from?” - -“Hackensack meadows, of course! Have you been over there?” - -“No. But the man from whose shoe this came must have been. Look here -Patsy! Chick has been taken away against his will----” - -“What?” blurted out Patsy Garvan. “Chick? Say! Let me----” - -“And one of the men who took him dropped this mud and grass from his -shoe.” - -“He did? Say, chief! We’re going after Chick right away, ain’t we?” - -Patsy was on his feet, his fists clenched, and anger blazing all over -his face. - -He had a regard for Chick only second to that he felt for Nick Carter -himself. The thought of his chum being held anywhere made him frantic. - -“Keep cool, Patsy! We’ll go, of course! But we’ll have to be careful.” - -“How do you mean careful?” - -“This is the open season for duck hunting, and there are any number of -ducks over there, in the meadows.” - -“Sure! But I don’t quite get you? What do I care for the darned ducks?” - -“Put on that leather coat you have,” directed Nick calmly. “And your -high boots, as well as your big corduroy cap. Get your double-barreled -gun and that string of wooden decoy ducks we used down on the -Chesapeake two years ago. You have them, haven’t you?” - -“Yes.” - -“Very well. Don’t be more than ten minutes. Then come down to the -library again. I’m going to put on my duck-hunting rig, too.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE ICE HOUSE IN THE SWAMP. - - -It was hardly ten minutes later when Patsy came again into the library. -But, rapid as he had been in his movements, he had not been able to -beat his chief. - -Nick Carter was already in the room, dressed in about the same kind -of clothes as he had told his assistant to put on. That is, he wore a -heavy leather coat, with pockets of various sizes all over it, a cap -that hid most of his face, and rubber boots which came up to his hips. - -He carried a handsome repeating shotgun--light, but deadly, in the -hands of a sure shot like the detective. - -Glancing at himself in a mirror, Nick was satisfied that he would -not be easily recognized. To make sure, he put on a heavy beard and -mustache, with the result that he did not look any more like the real -Nick Carter, than he did like Mrs. Pankhurst. - -“Keep your cap well down, Patsy,” he directed. “Your face is not well -known to these people we are going after. But some of them may have -seen you.” - -“What’s the plan of campaign?” asked Patsy, as they crossed in a -ferryboat to Hoboken. - -“That will develop as we go on,” replied Nick. “Here’s a street car -that will take us across the meadows--or as far as we want to go.” - -The Hackensack meadows cover a very wide expanse in New Jersey, -a little way back from the bay and Hudson River. They are called -“meadows.” Really, they are marshes over most of their extent, and duck -shooting and fishing are the uses most people make of them. - -There are solid spreads of ground here and there, and several lines of -railroad cross and recross them. - -As a rule, however, the meadows are decidedly sloppy, and as the water -that floods them comes from the sea, everything is salt about them. The -grass cut from these meadows is used mainly for bedding for cattle. As -fodder it is useless. - -It was at a dreary, desolate spot in the middle of the marshes that -Nick Carter got off the car, with Patsy Garvan, and waited in the road -as the car went spinning away farther into the back country. - -“We’ll get a boat here, Patsy,” said Nick. - -This was soon arranged. There was a boathouse close by, and from it -any one could hire a flat-bottomed rowboat, warranted not to capsize -easily, in which the occupant could penetrate the high grass, and thus -lie in wait for ducks as long as suited him. - -He could fish, too, if he liked. There is a great deal of fish in the -waters of the meadows, and it is a favorite resort for anglers, as well -as duck hunters. - -It was a dull day, and there was a heavy fog. But that was not enough -to discourage an enthusiastic duck hunter, as Nick remarked to the boat -owner before they started. - -He did not tell that smiling individual that fog was just what he -wanted, although, if he had, he would have been telling the exact truth. - -“Do you see that barn over there, Patsy?” he asked, when they were well -among the reeds and rushes. “It’s a big one, over to the right.” - -“An ice house, isn’t it?” was Patsy’s response. - -“It was at one time, but it hasn’t been used for that purpose lately. -Do you see some smoke coming from the chimney at this end?” - -“By jing! I do! Is there somebody living in there!” - -“I should say so, if there is a fire in the place. If I am not much -mistaken, we shall find certain gentlemen in that building who know me. -They may know you, too. That I am not so sure about.” - -“Do you mean that you think Chick is in there?” asked Patsy, who had -been turning things over in his mind. “Is that the idea?” - -“I don’t know about that. But I do think there may be somebody in the -place that I want to find. Of course, I want to find Chick. But I do -not fear that he is in trouble. The person I am after is called Prince -Marcos----” - -“What? Is it that Marcos case we’re on?” broke in Patsy. “I thought -he’d gone back to his own country, wherever it is. You said so a few -days ago. At least, you said he was going.” - -“That was a week ago,” Nick Carter reminded him. “Before I had anything -to do with the case. Now I know better. He is in New York, somewhere, -and I have to find him.” - -“I wish I knew a little more about the case,” grumbled Patsy. “That -would make it easier for me to work.” - -“I don’t know that it would make it any easier,” was Nick Carter’s dry -rejoinder. “You know that all I require of you as a rule is to obey -orders--unless you are on a case by yourself.” - -“That’s so,” rejoined Patsy, with a sly grin. “But I’ve heard you say -that no rule should be so iron bound that it cannot be twisted when the -occasion calls for it. All I would like to know, if you see fit to tell -me, is what we are after.” - -Patsy Garvan was not sure in what way his chief would receive this -rebellious protest. He was relieved, therefore, when he saw Nick smile. - -“I’ll tell you that much,” conceded the detective: “There is a man -called Miguel and another named Solado who are trying to prevent Prince -Marcos getting back to his own country by the eighteenth. I believe -they are holding Marcos in this old ice house.” - -“And what about Chick?” asked Patsy. - -“I don’t know.” - -“Do you think he is in this place, too?” - -“He may be. We are going to find out.” - -“That’s the talk,” responded Patsy. “Let’s hurry! How are you going to -get in? Knock at the front door?” - -“Hardly!” said Nick. “You see that window at the top of the building? -It is a door, in fact, boarded up.” - -“Yes.” - -“And you see the chute from it to the water? That is where they used to -draw up the ice when it was brought here in boats. They did not get ice -from these salt meadows, of course. But there are fresh-water streams -not far away, and the ice was brought from them and stored here, handy -to send to Jersey City and Hoboken.” - -“Well?” asked Patsy. - -“I am going up that chute.” - -“You’ll be seen, won’t you?” - -“Not likely. In the first place, there is a heavy fog, and, secondly, -the windows in the living portion of the building are on the other -side.” - -“You seem to know a great deal about this old ice house,” observed -Patsy. - -“I do. This is not the first time I’ve looked it over. I should have -made an investigation here soon, even if there had been no Prince -Marcos case.” - -Patsy Garvan would have liked to ask why. But he felt that he had -catechized his chief about as much as was safe. So he held back his -curiosity and prepared to obey orders. - -“Row the boat right up to that chute, Patsy.” - -“All right! But it doesn’t reach down to the water.” - -“I see that. It does not matter. I can reach the bottom of it when I -stand up in the boat.” - -Watched by the wondering Patsy, Nick Carter waited till the -flat-bottomed boat had run directly under the end of the chute. Then -he caught the chute and tested its strength as well as he could while -standing in the wabbly little craft. - -The chute was supported by strong iron rods that extended from the -wooden wall, keeping it at the proper angle, so that it was easy to -slide the blocks of ice upward by means of a block and tackle. - -As Nick Carter had said, the building was capacious enough to -accommodate many tons of ice, and it had been used as a storehouse for -a long time. - -Of later years, when facilities for handling ice were better, and when -large corporations controlled the industry, there was no room for this -small concern to continue in business. - -So they had sold out, and the storehouse had been empty for years until -within the past few months. - -So, when a tenant offered himself, the owner of the building--who had -almost forgotten that it was in existence--was only too glad to accept -a nominal rental. - -Who the tenant was Nick Carter had found out within the last -twenty-four hours, and for that reason when he discovered the cake of -mud, with salt grass embedded in it, he had not much doubt that he -would be able to find Prince Marcos if he followed this clew. - -“What are you going to do?” asked Patsy. - -“That will depend on what I find when I get to the top of the chute. -Keep the boat well hidden in the rushes as soon as I am out of it.” - -Patsy nodded. Then he gave his chief a hoist to help him into the -bottom of the chute, and watched admiringly to see Nick Carter making -his way up the treacherous runway, partly on the tips of his toes and -partly on hands and knees. - -At the top was a closed door. The fastening was not difficult, and as -Patsy backed his boat into a thicket of long grass, he saw Nick Carter -open the door and go in. - -For ten minutes Patsy watched the door, but no one came out, and there -was no sound from within. - -“I’ll wait here a little while. Then I’ll go in after him,” declared -Patsy to himself. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -COLD-BLOODED PLOTTING. - - -When Nick Carter entered the building he found himself in a large, -half-dark warehouse that had formerly held many tons of ice. - -A great quantity of moldy sawdust was scattered about, and the thick -boards of the flooring were broken in many places. - -In one corner of the great room was a small trapdoor. Nick lifted it -and found that a straight ladder led to another warehouse, not so lofty -as the one above. Evidently it had been used to store ice, too. - -The detective could not understand why there should be this separate -storeroom until he had examined a long tank at one end, and found that -it was an ammonia generator, with an engine underneath. - -“They used to make artificial ice here, I see,” muttered Nick Carter. - -He walked very softly across the floor, because he was convinced that -in the room below there were persons who would come after him quickly -if they were aware of his presence. - -In a corner of this second room was a sort of vestibule, with two doors. - -It was easy to open these doors, for neither was locked. - -The detective found himself at the top of a long flight of stairs which -turned sharply not far from the bottom. - -From where he stood he could look down into what appeared to be an -office, furnished with a roll-top desk and a chair. - -There was other furniture, no doubt. But the desk and chair were all -Nick could see, except the old linoleum with which the floor was -covered. - -Low voices came to him--so low that if his ears had not been sharper -than those of most people, he would not have been able to make out what -was being said. - -As it was, he not only caught the words, but also he recognized the -voices as those of Don Solado and Prince Miguel. - -Solado was speaking when Nick Carter first heard any of the -conversation, and what he said was of personal interest to the -detective. - -“Now we know who that man is who pretended to be Marcos,” were Solado’s -words, bitten off with a spitefulness that told how viciously in -earnest he was, “the thing to do is to get him out of the way.” - -“Permanently?” asked Miguel, in a languid tone. - -“Permanently,” came the quick assent. “We can’t afford to have an -interfering individual like him disturbing us when we are planning for -the welfare of our beloved country, Joyalita.” - -“Solado!” interrupted Miguel. - -“Well?” - -“You would oblige me if you were not quite so much of a humbug.” - -“Your highness?” spluttered Solado, his tone indicating that he was -much scandalized. - -“You know what I mean, Solado,” was the imperturbable response. “Don’t -be so confoundedly diplomatic. Call a spade a spade, and don’t try to -fool either yourself or me.” - -“I don’t understand----” - -“Oh, yes, you do. This talk about working for the welfare of our -beloved country is all very well when you are speaking for the benefit -of strangers, and I have no objection to your giving it to Marcos, -himself. But it only wastes precious time when you and I are alone -together.” - -Nick Carter listened with more intentness than ever. He had learned, at -the very beginning, that there was a plot to kill him--or to get him -out of the way for a long time. He did not quite know what was meant -by “permanently,” although he could guess. But he had found out now -that Marcos was somewhere close at hand--doubtless in the power of -these two traitorous rascals. - -“What I was going to say,” went on Solado, “is that there is a strong -reason for getting this American detective out of the way. He is taking -too active a part in this matter. I do not feel that we have Marcos -safe even now until we have pared the claws of Carter.” - -“You’re right to a certain extent, Solado,” was the response. “It would -be well to stop this detective if we could. But I suggest that our -first business is to take Marcos away, so that there will be no danger -of his getting back to Joyalita by the eighteenth.” - -“Isn’t he safe enough here?” asked Solado. - -“He would be safer out at sea. Then we should not have to fear the -detective, even though we were not able to dispose of him--permanently, -as you so humanely put it,” returned Miguel, with a grin. - -“The blackguards!” muttered Nick Carter, over their heads. - -“You forget that assistant of his,” came from Solado, in response to -Miguel’s suggestion. “What are we to do with him?” - -“I thought it was settled what was to be done with him,” answered -Miguel, in a more earnest tone than he yet had used. “There is a lot of -ammonia stored in the lower part of this building, isn’t there?” - -“Yes, but----” - -“There is no ‘but’ about it,” broke in the other man impatiently. “If -you only had a little more red blood in you, Solado, instead of being -always afraid to do what common sense dictates, we should have had -Marcos safe long ago, and we shouldn’t be bothered with this detective -and his man, as we are. Are you going to forget that he had handcuffs -on us, and that, if it hadn’t been for Dugan and his men, we might have -been in that prison over in New York now?” - -“I haven’t forgotten anything,” hissed Solado. “There will be an -international inquiry into that outrage when we get back to Joyalita. -The heir presumptive to the throne and the prime minister can’t be -treated as felons without making trouble.” - -“Bah!” - -“I mean what I say!” shouted Solado, who seemed to lose control of -himself as he thought of the indignity that had been put upon him. “We -are guests of a civilized country--men of substance and wealth. We -were torn away from our private yacht and treated like criminals, just -because this man, Nicholas Carter, seems to be in the way of Prince -Marcos.” - -“A good way to put it,” sneered Miguel. “And I have no objection to -your taking up the matter with the United States government when once -we are safely in our own country. At present, it would be well to take -the law into our own hands.” - -“What do you mean?” - -Miguel leaned a little closer to his fellow conspirator, so that the -light of the kerosene lamp fell full upon the hard, evil features of -the pair. Nick Carter instinctively bent over the crazy banister to -listen. - -“I mean just this, Solado: If this place should accidentally catch -fire, there is ammonia enough stored in the basement to make a smoke -that would soon settle the business of any one who had to inhale it----” - -“Well?” - -“Where is that fellow?” - -“Who? The assistant? He’s down there somewhere. So is Marcos.” - -“They’re not together?” - -“Of course not. Dugan put them in separate cellars. There are four -cellars and they have been used as storage places for different -materials ever since the building was no longer used as an ice house.” - -“You have allowed Marcos to have cigarettes?” - -“Yes. He smokes most of the time. That’s his chief amusement--except -when I go down to see him. Then he changes his occupation by abusing -me.” - -“Very well. Where are Dugan and his men?” - -“They are coming to-night to help me get Marcos away. It isn’t safe to -leave him here. The house stands by itself, and we don’t know who might -come to see what we are doing.” - -“Dugan has it leased at present, hasn’t he?” - -“Yes. He has some portable property he did not want to keep in New -York, so he took this place for a year, under the name of Morrison. And -there is a lot of stuff in one of the four cellars belonging to him. He -will take that to-night, when we move Marcos. His men will be with him, -and he will do everything at once.” - -“Where did you intend to put Marcos?” - -“Dugan has a place where he will be safe--in New York. It is a tenement -somewhere. He would not give me the address, but he will take us all -there.” - -“I think the yacht would be the best plan. Let it go away, down the -coast somewhere. Then perhaps we could lose Marcos in Mexico. You know -there is a lot of promiscuous shooting in that region at present. It -would need only a bare hint to make some of those officious Mexicans -take a man as a spy and shoot him before he could explain.” - -Miguel was a savage-looking fellow at best. When he made this -deliberately cold-blooded proposition he looked positively fiendish. - -“Very well,” returned Solado. “I’m willing. But we will leave the other -fellow in the cellar.” - -“You mean Carter’s man?” - -“Yes.” - -For a few seconds the two plotters looked directly into each other’s -eyes. Then, slowly, each reached a hand across the table, and the two -shook hands upon it. - -“The scoundrels!” muttered Nick Carter. “I’m glad I got here in time. -Actually they are going to kill Chick right in this building. They -can’t mean anything else. Well, I’ll----” - -He turned quickly, determined to get out, go down the chute, and, with -Patsy, make his way to the basement in another way. - -It would not be difficult to effect an entrance, for all the doors were -of old and weather-rotted wood, and he could break through any of them, -he was sure. - -When once he had Chick and Marcos outside in safety, he would go after -Solado and Miguel. He was resolved, too, that they would not get away -this time. - -Later, he would lay a trap for Dugan and his gang, and thus clean -up the whole job in a neat and expeditious way, and without the -expenditure of very much labor. - -Probably Nick Carter would have carried out his plans exactly as he had -planned them, but for an unforeseen accident. - -As he turned to go away from the place where he had been standing on -the stairs, listening to the edifying conversation below, he chanced to -lean rather hard against the banister. - -With a loud crack, it gave way. The detective, losing his balance, -turned a complete somersault to the room below, landing on his head and -shoulders on the table. - -The table collapsed under his weight; the lamp smashed--fortunately, -going out, instead of blowing up--and Nick Carter, stunned, and for the -moment helpless, felt himself rudely grasped by somebody and tumbled in -a heap down a steep flight of stairs. - -When he reached the bottom he was quite unconscious. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -HOW PATSY BROKE IN. - - -The blow on the head, suffered by the detective when he fell to the -table, had been a severe one, and, aggravated by another tumble when -the table crumpled up beneath him, it had inflicted worse injuries than -might have been thought by any one who had seen the catastrophe. - -It was hours before Nick Carter came to himself. When he did, he was in -pitch-darkness, and he realized, from the peculiar, damp smell, that he -was in a cellar. - -Also, he caught a pungent odor, which he recognized, and which reminded -him of the conversation he had heard just before he plunged through the -broken banister. - -“Ammonia, as sure as I am here,” he muttered. “I’ll have to move -quickly, for it seems to me as if the stuff has been disturbed lately. -If it has, probably it means----” - -The thump of an engine made him pause. - -“The fiends! They are generating the ammonia gas, and, of course, they -will set it free by opening some of the valves, and then----” - -The smell of ammonia waxed stronger, and his breath began to come with -difficulty. - -He fumbled along the rough stone wall, damp with the ooze of the marsh, -until he came to an iron tank, from which the fumes were emerging so -strongly that he reeled away, half suffocated. - -“This won’t do. They’ll get me like a stray dog in a gas chamber if I -don’t find my way out.” - -The thumping of the engine continued, and his sense of direction told -him that it was against the wall in which was a heavy door. - -“There is a pump and it works underneath the tank in some way,” -muttered Nick. “I can’t get at it on this side. The only chance would -be to get to the other room, and the door is too heavy to be broken -down in a hurry. I have no tools, and----” - -“Gee! That’s a bum smell!” - -It was Patsy Garvan’s voice, almost at his ear. - -“Patsy!” he cried. - -“Chief! Where are you?” - -“In the cellar. Get in, quickly!” - -“Hold on a moment!” came back the answer. “This is all fast water out -here. I’m in the boat. Wait till I find the window.” - -Nick Carter understood now that the front of the building was in the -water and high grass, while at the back it looked upon a rushing stream. - -He made a short survey of his quarters. - -“I see some boards that look as if they are nailed on at one place on -the wall. I can’t reach them, but I dare say you can kick them open. -Try, at all events,” he directed. - -“All right! Gee! This is a stunt for an orphan boy. It has me going, -I’m telling you. Holy mackerel! If this boat would only behave a -little. It’s swinging around like a skidding auto. I wish I’d put the -chains on! Wow! There she goes!” - -Patsy Garvan was uttering all these ejaculations in low tones, but they -were none the less earnest on that account. - -He had waited for what he considered a long enough time, and then had -just been preparing to go up the chute, when he heard the crash as Nick -Carter went through the banisters. - -“Gee! Something’s broke loose!” exclaimed Patsy then. “Me for the high -grass!” - -He had dropped back into the boat and shot away into the tangle of -rushes. - -Nobody had appeared at the front of the building, and he could not -see the back. So he kept in hiding for half an hour or so, and then -ventured up the chute once more. - -This time he crawled to the very top. But the rascals within had -investigated to find out how Nick had got in, and when they found the -door at the top of the chute a little way open, they had carefully -bolted it within. - -It required only this bolted door to assure Patsy that some trick had -been played on his beloved chief, and he cautiously made his way around -the large wooden building. - -He noted that there was a strong stone wall foundation, and when he saw -that there were three square openings, each secured by heavy boards -within, he understood that a large and water-tight cellar was part of -the equipment of the warehouse. - -When he heard Nick Carter tell him to kick in the boards at one of the -windows it was perfectly clear to him what he was to do. - -Holding his boat firmly at the boarded window where he had first caught -the fumes of ammonia, and which had called forth his ejaculation, he -warned Nick by saying cautiously: - -“Chief!” - -“Well?” - -“Look out! I’m going to stave in this board with the end of the boat. -It may hurt you if you get in the way.” - -“The boat is below the level of the window, isn’t it?” asked Nick. - -“Just a little,” was Patsy’s reply. “If it wasn’t, the water would pour -into the cellar.” - -“Then, how are you going to get the end of the boat against the boards, -Patsy?” - -“I’ll tilt the end, and bring it up against the window with the bow for -a battering-ram. Get me?” - -Nick smiled in the darkness at the ingenuity of his assistant, but he -merely told Patsy to go ahead, without any more comment. - -There was a pause, as Patsy rowed his boat a few yards from the wall. - -He had quite worked out in his own mind how he meant to force his way. - -The boat was heavy and flat-bottomed. Any extra weight at one end would -always cause the other to stand up clear of the water. - -The wall of stone that formed the foundation of the big wooden building -was only a few inches above the level of the still water. - -It was safe to have it thus, because there were no tides, no -disturbances of the surface at any time, or, at least, very few. - -The tall reeds and grass made such a protection that the water was -practically stagnant most of the time. - -Patsy made his way to the stern, and also carried there the oars, a can -of bait, a landing net, boat hook, and other things in the boat, as -well as the two guns belonging to himself and Nick Carter. - -“I’ll weight it down all I can,” he said to himself. - -The bow of the boat shot up in the air so that it would easily clear -the top of the stone foundation. It was pointing directly at the boards -Patsy was prepared to attack. - -The water was not deep at this point--in fact, at one time, there had -been ground, more or less solid, above the surface--so Patsy dug the -end of an oar into the bottom and, with a hard shove, sent the boat -full tilt against the boards. - -There was a crash as the end of the boat tore its way through. At the -same time the fumes of ammonia gushed forth so fiercely that they -tainted all the outside atmosphere. - -Patsy was hurled flat upon his back, and the oar broke in two and -floated slowly away. - -The bow of the boat remained on the edge of the stone wall, poking a -little way into the cellar. - -“Chief!” cried Patsy. “Are you there?” - -“Of course I am,” was the reply. “Can’t you get that boat out of the -way, so that I can crawl out?” - -“Sure! Just hold your mules a minute! She’s in pretty tight--as the -butcher said to the pound of sausage meat--but I can pry her out, I -guess. In fact, I have to. Gee! She went in for keeps, but her little -cousin, Patsy, wants her outside!” - -Chattering thus, hardly knowing what he said, Patsy stood in the bow -and shoved against the wall with all his strength. - -The result was what he might have expected, although, perhaps, he had -not thought of it. The boat slipped away from him, and he found himself -clinging to the stone wall, his head in the cellar--where the fumes of -ammonia made him cough--and a large expanse of empty water under his -legs and feet. - -“Holy Samuel!” he gasped. “Here’s more of it!” - -He got to one side of the ledge, so that Nick Carter had room to crawl -out, and looked in dismay at the boat slowly drifting away. - -“There’s only one thing to be done, Patsy!” observed Nick. - -“I know it. But I ain’t going to get wetter than I’m obliged,” was -Patsy’s prompt response. “I’ll leave my duds behind me.” - -The opening of the window had allowed so much of the ammonia to escape -that it was possible to remain on the ledge without suffering very -much. So Patsy dropped inside the cellar, with his face to the air, and -divested himself of his garments. - -“I’ll bring the boat back in a jiffy!” he announced. “Stay here till I -get back, chief!” - -With much cheerfulness, Patsy let himself down into the water, and swam -over to the boat. Then he climbed in and rowed back to the window. - -While Nick Carter got in, his good-tempered young assistant retrieved -his clothing, and in a few minutes was dressed again. - -“That’s better than getting everything soaked with water!” observed -Patsy. “It didn’t take long, and it wasn’t any worse than going in -swimming with the boys the way I used to do.” - -“I’m glad I’m out of that place, Patsy!” said Nick Carter, with a -smile of gratitude. “But we’ve still got to get after Chick and Prince -Marcos.” - -“You bet!” agreed Patsy earnestly. “Think they are in this place -somewhere?” - -“You haven’t seen anybody come out, have you?” - -“No. I’ll take my solemn oatmeal nobody came out while you were inside. -I’ve been going around this shanty steadily.” - -“Then the gang must be inside still,” declared Nick Carter. “My belief -is that they have some other office room beside the one I saw them in, -and that they are there now.” - -Patsy looked at his chief with a puzzled expression. Nick Carter had -not told him anything about his adventures in the warehouse, and he did -not understand in the least how Nick had come into the cellar. - -Patsy Garvan could guess, though. He was as skillful at putting two and -two together and getting at the result, as anybody in Nick Carter’s -circle of acquaintance--and that is saying a great deal. - -“How many are there in the gang?” asked Patsy. - -“Only two, that I know of for certain. But I am inclined to think there -must be some more. Larry Dugan----” - -“What?” broke in Patsy. “Is that murdering skunk in it?” - -“I believe so,” returned Nick seriously. “But I don’t believe he is in -this house at present.” - -“You don’t? Why?” - -“Because I heard the people inside say that he was coming at dark, to -take Marcos away.” - -Patsy turned quickly to his chief, his face twitching with anxiety. - -“And Chick? He’s the boy I’m interested in. Dear old Chick!” - -“That’s right. We have to look after Chick,” was Nick Carter’s response. - -Patsy Garvan involuntarily pulled back his coat cuffs, as if getting -ready for action. - -“Let’s get busy!” he said. “If Chick’s in this place, we’re going to -have him out. And if Larry Dugan and his crowd are coming to-night, we -have no time to lose. It’s getting dark now.” - -“We’ll row around to that back door, Patsy,” was the quiet way Nick -Carter issued his order. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -CHICK’S FELLOW PRISONER. - - -We must go back to the early morning, at Crownledge, to find out how -Marcos and Chick had been kidnapped in the very midst of their friends. - -The only thing Chick knew was that, when he had taken the power boat -back to its owner, Joe Travers, he was coming up through the grounds of -the big residence, and suddenly found himself overpowered by several -men whom he could not see. - -A sandbag knocked him nearly senseless, and then a bag was pulled over -his head and he was carried some little distance, until he felt himself -in a boat, rocking rather violently. - -He soon recovered entire consciousness, but found his arms bound so -tightly outside the sack that he could not move. - -There was rather a long trip on the boat, which, from its sound and -motion, he soon knew to be a power launch, and then he was made to step -ashore and walk up a hill. - -A ride in a motor car, followed by a short trip in a rowboat, was -Chick’s experience. He was thrown into some chamber, the dampness of -which penetrated the sack and his other clothing, and sent a chill -through him. Before he was left alone the ropes were taken from his -arms. - -He heard a door slam while struggling to get the sack off his head and -shoulders. - -When he did release himself, he did not find that he could see much -better, although some chinks of light showed here and there and -convinced him that he was in a cellar. - -It must be remembered that Chick had not seen the outside world during -any part of his captivity. The sack was a thick one. Moreover, he had -been in a horizontal position in both boats. - -Even in the automobile he had been compelled to lie in the bottom, with -his shoulders resting against the seat. - -The fact that he had a great deal of room in the car told him that it -was a large one. But that was not much to go by. There are many makes -of large cars which seem to be identical when one has no chance to look -them over. - -Chick noticed that this one rode very easily. Hence he had reason to -suppose it was of an expensive type. Aside from that, he could not have -distinguished it from any of half a dozen high-priced motor cars with -which he was familiar. - -“Well, this is cheerful!” thought Chick, as he moved about his cellar -and discovered that there was nothing in it but a heap of sawdust and -a very moldy smell. “Sawdust, eh? That looks as if it might be an ice -house. Let me put on my considering cap, and see whether I can figure -this thing out. I ought to be able to do that, even if I have been -sandbagged.” - -He let his thoughts travel back to the moment when he was stricken down -in the grounds of Crownledge, and then, bit by bit, put the evidence -together until he had pieced it out to the present time. - -“Let me see!” he murmured. “We had a short ride on a rather rough sea -to begin with. There were the short, choppy waves of the Hudson, and -they got a little longer after a while. Then they shortened up again. -Good!” - -He did not speak for a few moments, as he digested this, and sought for -an explanation. - -“I have it! They took me down the river a little. Then they crossed. -The choppy waves are at the sides of the river, and the long ones in -the middle. That’s how I know they took me across. Yes, by George! -There’s another thing! We got in the way of a ferryboat and might have -been run down. I’d forgotten that.” - -How Chick became aware of that incident, with a bag tied over his -head and shoulders, lying in the bottom of the boat, can be logically -explained. - -He had heard the screeching of the ferryboat’s siren, responded to by -the toot of the power boat. Then there had been a great deal of hoarse -language--profane, probably--followed by a jolting of the motor boat -as it was swung around so sharply that it might have upset, followed -by comparative quiet and the steady coughing of the motor as they went -along. - -“If we hadn’t been in the middle of the river we should not have been -likely to get in the way of a ferry,” was the way Chick figured it out. -“Well, that means that we came over to Hoboken, or somewhere along the -Jersey side of the river, where a small boat could land. Of course! I -get it now! It’s all an open book!” - -He slapped one hand on his knee and actually grinned. He was in a bad -fix, and he knew it. But the thought that he had unraveled a problem, -perhaps as well as it could have been done by Nick Carter himself, gave -him such satisfaction that, for the moment, he cared for nothing else. - -“I was yanked out of the boat and put in a motor car,” he continued -half audibly. “Very well! Before I got into the automobile I had to -climb up a hill. That makes it all the more binding. I know the roads -at the top of the hill, and I would bet a hundred dollars that I’m in -the Hackensack meadows somewhere.” - -A few minutes more of cogitation, and Chick had decided in what part of -the meadows he was. - -“I know a big ice house about halfway between Hoboken and Carlstadt,” -he muttered. “It’s out in the marshes, but you can see it from the -road. Of course! That’s it! I was taken in a boat from the motor car. -They rowed me along some of the creeks between the grass swamps, maybe -through some of them. Anyhow, I can guess where I am. Now, let me see -about getting out.” - -Chick uttered this last sentence with perfect coolness and confidence. -He had no fear of being kept a prisoner for long, especially with his -hands and feet free. - -That Prince Marcos had been kidnapped at the same time as himself he -had no idea. - -It had seemed to Chick that his own capture was the logical result of -the activity of Nick Carter and himself in helping Marcos to escape the -clutches of Solado and Miguel. - -The cunning rascals would know that so long as these two clear-sighted, -quick-acting detectives were at large, they could not expect to carry -out their purpose of holding Prince Marcos away from his own country -until they had carried out their treacherous purpose of practically -giving it away to another government. - -“They’re pretty shrewd citizens, I reckon,” muttered Chick, as he -surveyed his prison. “But they seem to have slipped a cog this time -when they left me here without any guard or ropes about me. I’ll take -the liberty of opening one of those shutters and going out when the -time comes.” - -Chick did not try to do it at once. It was still daylight, and he -knew he would have small chance of escape, even if he got out of the -building, unless he had some means of leaving the meadows. - -“As soon as I am outside, they’ll see me, of course,” was his -reflection. “They could bring me down with a bullet, or they could drop -a big stone or chunk of iron on my head, and I’d be all in. I’ll have -to wait till dark. The only thing against it is that they’ll probably -have some scheme cooked up before that to put me out.” - -Chick rubbed his chin musingly. He had had experience enough with the -seamy side of humanity to be aware that rascals of the type of Solado -and Miguel were not likely to leave a prisoner loosely guarded unless -they contemplated a coup to his disadvantage when he should attempt to -escape. - -It was at this stage of his reflections that he caught the muffled -sound of voices. They seemed to come from a corner of his cellar that -was a little darker than any other part--if that could be possible. - -He stepped softly to the corner and listened. At the same time he -detected a dull light close to the wall, which he found came from a -place where the stone partition had slightly crumbled away. - -The irregular opening thus made was too close to the other wall for him -to look through, but it permitted the sound of voices to reach him. - -He heard only a few words, but they were illuminating. So Chick pressed -his face to the wall, as near as he could get to the hole, to hear more. - -All he got as a reward was the sound of a door closing with a bang. - -The words that had come to him were in the tones of Miguel, and they -were uttered with a savage vindictiveness that made Chick wish he could -have been in the adjoining cellar to ram them down the speaker’s throat. - -“You’ll stay here till you give in--or rot!” was what Miguel told the -prisoner, whoever he might be. - -When the door slammed there was silence, and then it came to Chick that -possibly the prisoner might be none other than his beloved chief. - -There was no sound reason why it should be Nick Carter who had just -been threatened. On the other hand, it might be he, for, if it was -considered worth while to take Chick prisoner, was it not probable that -Nick had been taken at the same time? - -“I’ll have to take a chance,” muttered Chick. “I must find out who is -in that other room.” - -He squeezed his head into the angle of the wall, in the vain endeavor -to bring his eyes level with the opening. Then, in strained accents, he -called out: - -“Who is in that cellar?” - -“Hello!” was the response. “Who is that?” - -Chick’s sense of hearing was keen, and at once he knew it was Marcos -answering him. - -“Is it Prince Marcos?” he called out cautiously. “Say ‘Yes’ if it is. I -am a friend of his.” - -“Yes.” - -“I thought so. That was Prince Miguel talking to you just now, was it -not?” - -“Who are you?” was the noncommittal rejoinder. “I don’t know you--do I?” - -“You ought to. I am Chickering Carter. My boss is Nicholas Carter. We -are both trying to help you get back to Joyalita.” - -“Of course!” replied Marcos heartily. “I beg your pardon for not -knowing your voice at first. Have you got a knife?” - -“Yes,” answered Chick rather wonderingly. “What can I do with that?” - -“Use it, when any one comes down to you,” was the reply. “They’re going -to have an interview with you soon, according to what I was just told. -You will have to do what they tell you, or----” - -There was a pause, and Chick waited for several seconds before he burst -out eagerly: - -“Well, go on. I have to do as I am told, or--what?” - -“You’ll have to fight your way out, and I have always thought a knife -was the best kind of weapon to use for that purpose,” replied Marcos -coolly. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -A WATCHFUL ENEMY. - - -“How have they got you?” asked Chick, after a short silence. “Could we -not make a break to get out together?” - -“If we could get this door down between us, we might,” answered Marcos. -“It doesn’t look so very strong. But I can’t find any lock. Are there -bolts on your side?” - -“No. I can’t find anything that feels like a fastening,” replied Chick. -“Wait a moment! Here’s something. I see! The door is nailed shut. There -are four or five spikes hammered in around the door. If I had a good -stout clawhammer----” - -“Sorry I can’t help you,” came from Marcos, together with the faint -odor of a cigarette. “I don’t usually carry a clawhammer as part of -my equipment. Unfortunately, I haven’t anything that might take its -place--not even a knife.” - -The word “knife” gave Chick an idea. He had a jackknife, in the handle -of which were many useful tools. There was no regular nail puller, but -one of the implements in the handle was a small pair of highly tempered -steel pliers, with serrated edges. They could be used for pulling nails -of ordinary size. - -The nails holding the door were very large and heavy. Indeed, they -were, as Chick had called them, spikes, rather than nails. - -“I’ll try what I can do,” announced Chick, through the hole in the -wall. “I’ve got a pair of pincers that may do the work, because the -wood is so rotten. But I’m not sure.” - -“If I can help at all, by kicking the door, or throwing my weight -against it, you can command me,” observed Marcos. “We have to get out -of this place to-night somehow. I am so confident that your chief, -Carter, will do it, if we don’t release ourselves, that actually I am -not particularly worried.” - -“You are the real goods,” exclaimed Chick admiringly. “I’m going to -help you, and I believe we’ll make it. If we don’t, then you can bet on -Nick Carter. Here goes for the spikes!” - -It took a long time for Chick to get out the first spike, but he -conquered the second one much quicker. - -He had to use the biggest blade of his knife to cut away the wood -around the spikes, as well as the steel pliers. But he persisted, and -victory came in each case. - -With all his energy, it was two hours before Chick had drawn out the -last of the heavy spikes. - -Then he could not move the door. There were slats of wood nailed in on -both sides. - -That meant another hour. - -He had been encouraged through his work by Marcos, who smoked -cigarettes incessantly, and occasionally begged Chick to accept one -through the hole in the wall. - -But Chick was not much of a smoker at any time. Just now, when he -was earnestly at work, he could not be bothered with a cigarette -or anything else in the smoking line. So he thanked the prince and -declined until both should be outside. - -Everything which appeared to hold the door was out of the way at last, -and Chick felt that the moment for decisive action had come. - -“I’ll get a hold on this side with my knife,” he told Marcos. “When I -say ‘Shove!’ put all your weight against the door, and I’ll pull at the -same time. Understand that?” - -“Perfectly!” was the prince’s drawling reply. - -Chick drove the big blade of his knife diagonally into the wood, point -downward, until it held firmly. This gave him some power to pull, -although not so much as he would have liked. - -“I can’t help much,” he explained. “You’ll have to do most of it by -your weight. Now! Let her go!” - -Chick tugged at the handle of the knife, and, at the same instant, -Marcos charged against the door with one of his brawny shoulders. He -used all the weight and power he could throw into the effort. - -There was a cracking, followed quickly by a smash, and down came the -ponderous wooden door to the ground. - -Chick jumped out of the way just in time to avoid going down -underneath. He had been prepared for the sudden falling of the heavy -mass of wood, and had timed his movements exactly. - -As the door went down, Marcos walked through the opening and held out -his hand to Chick. The two men shook hands gravely. - -“Infernally dark in here!” observed Marcos. “But I don’t think it is -night yet.” - -“No,” returned Chick. “I wish it were. We should have a better chance -of getting away. What is your plan? I suppose you have one?” - -“Certainly!” answered Marcos, with his customary coolness. “There is a -ladder in the far corner of my cellar. At the top is a trapdoor. I have -tried to open it. I can make it crack and strain, but I haven’t quite -enough strength to push it up altogether.” - -“The two of us can do it, probably,” suggested Chick. - -“That’s my idea. Once we get through that trap, I don’t know what we -shall meet. We shall have to take chances on that. I’m going to start -for Joyalita to-night.” - -The calm confidence with which Prince Marcos said this delighted Chick. - -Perhaps Chick liked it all the more because the tones of Marcos were so -much like Nick Carter’s that in the deep gloom he had some difficulty -in assuring himself that it was not his chief who was talking. - -He could not help referring to it, however. - -“You and Mr. Carter are more alike than any two persons I have ever -seen in my life,” he blurted out. “Even your voices are the same.” - -“So they tell me,” was the careless reply. “But let’s get out of this. -I’ve got to get even with that scoundrelly cousin of mine, Miguel, and -I’ll never do it till I am clear of this bad-smelling place. Come on, -Chick!” - -“There is a trapdoor in the corner of my cellar, just as there is in -yours,” remarked Chick. “I guess that is the way they brought me in. -But they took away the ladder with them. If they hadn’t, we might have -gone that way, if this one of yours is too hard a proposition.” - -Chick lifted the heavy door from the floor, and, with difficulty, -extracted the blade of his jackknife. - -Marcos was already on the ladder in his own cellar. - -Chick found that his companion had rightly estimated the weakness of -the trapdoor. When they had both climbed the ladder, so that they could -put their hands against it together, they made it yield a little at the -very first effort. - -“Wait till I cut the wood away around the hinges,” suggested Chick. -“It’s pretty rotten, and it is there that it will give way, if -anywhere.” - -Two minutes sufficed for this work. The knife was very sharp, as well -as heavy, and Chick handled it deftly. - -“She’ll go now!” he declared confidently, as he returned the knife to -his pocket. “Now! Together!” - -Up went the trap, breaking away from the hinges. - -At the same instant, somebody pulled Marcos through the opening and -shut the trap down with a bang, knocking Chick off the ladder! - -He fell to the ground on his head, and lost consciousness. - -When he came to his senses, the cellar was darker than it had been -before, and he found himself tightly bound, hand and foot. - -There was a foul odor coming from somewhere, which seemed to tighten -his chest so that he could hardly breathe. - -“Ammonia!” gasped Chick, and became senseless again. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -AN OFFER OF LIBERTY. - - -When Nick Carter and Patsy began to row toward the back of the -warehouse, both were on the alert for any enemy who might be on the -watch. - -The famous detective knew by experience that the time to expect a -hostile surprise was the moment when everything seemed safe, and he was -not deceived by the apparent serenity around him. - -“Pull into the reeds, Patsy!” he whispered hurriedly. - -Patsy obeyed without asking why. He had not seen anything suspicious, -but he knew Nick Carter would not give an order without some good -reason. - -Once in the shelter of the thick, tall grass, however, Patsy looked at -his chief for an explanation. - -“There’s a boat at the back door, Patsy! I can see only the end of the -rudder. But that is enough to tell us that if we were around the corner -we should come upon the boat itself. You sit still. I’ll take the oars.” - -Patsy yielded the oars without a word. - -With extreme caution, Nick Carter pulled through the reeds, without -coming out, until he had a clear view of the back door. - -Larry Dugan, in the bow of a serviceable skiff--flat-bottomed and -solid, like Carter’s--was knocking at the heavy door with a blackjack. - -Pet Carlin was in the stern, and Foxey Irwin sat amidships, oars in his -hands. - -It was almost dark by this time, and, if the reeds which concealed Nick -Carter’s boat had not grown almost up to the warehouse, it would have -been impossible to make out the door at all. - -When Dugan had tapped twice with his lead-weighted, short club, it -swung open a little way, and a head protruded. - -“Hello, Dugan!” - -“Miguel!” muttered Nick Carter. “What’s the game, I wonder.” - -“All right, boss!” was Larry Dugan’s response. “We’re ready! Let me in!” - -“What do you want to come in for?” demanded Miguel. “Your man is ready -to pass out.” - -“That may be. But we’ve got other business beside taking this guy -away,” growled Dugan. “There’s some stuff of mine in this house that I -have to get.” - -“I’d forgotten that,” returned Miguel. “Come in, then.” - -“I’m coming!” grunted Dugan. - -He stepped out of the boat to the stone sill of the door, and, as he -disappeared, Foxey Irwin followed. - -It was just as Foxey went into the warehouse that another man in the -boat, who had been lying along the bottom, as if anxious to keep out of -sight, raised himself slightly, so that he could peer over the gunwale. - -“That makes four of ’em, chief,” remarked Patsy Garvan in a whisper. -“Well, I reckon we can get away with them, especially if we get Chick -going strong.” - -“Silence!” was all Nick Carter answered. - -He was trying to make out the features of this man. But it was not till -the fellow had straightened up and stepped into the doorway, where -the light of a lantern showed by this time, that Nick saw he was a -pale-faced, slick-haired personage, who seemed to be in mortal terror -of personal injury of some kind. - -“That fellow looks like a cur,” broke out the irrepressible Patsy. -“Gee! I’d like to land on him with my left. S’help me! I’d send in a -jolt right from my heels.” - -“Why? Do you know the man?” asked Nick, with a momentary hope that his -assistant might be able to give him some information he wanted. “Ever -seen him before?” - -“Nix! But I don’t like his face. His ears aren’t set on right, and -there’s too much bulge each side of his nose. I want to hand him one on -general principles, and if you say the word, I’ll----” - -“Keep quiet!” ordered Nick sternly. “There go the other two, and they -have left their boat tied up outside.” - -Patsy did not speak. But he wondered what was to be the next move. - -He did not have long to speculate, for Nick Carter rowed swiftly around -the warehouse until he was under the end of the chute by which he had -gained entrance before. - -“Make the boat fast and come after me, Patsy!” - -Patsy deftly hitched the painter rope around the bottom of the chute -and knotted it in such a way that there was no fear of its slipping. -Then he looked at his chief for further commands. - -“Good knot, Patsy!” commended Nick Carter, whose quick eyes took in all -details, even when he seemed to be occupied with something else. “Where -did you learn it?” - -“Went across to Liverpool on an old windjammer when I was a kid. I -was too small to go aloft, except in good weather, but you can bet I -learned a lot about bending ropes, and I can make ’most any knot that -was known in those days.” - -Patsy said this without anything suggesting bragging. He was merely -telling a commonplace truth, as he looked up at Nick Carter to see what -he was to do next. - -“Come up this chute, after me. Have your gun ready. I mean your pistol; -not your duck gun. Keep close to me, but don’t do anything till I give -the word. And, above all, don’t make a noise.” - -Patsy nodded his comprehension of all this, and crawled up the -long chute just behind Nick as softly as a kitten walking across a -short-cropped lawn. - -With his knife, it took the detective only about half a minute to -negotiate the bolted door. - -Once in the room where Nick Carter had been before, Nick took out his -flash lamp and threw its white glow all about the room. - -It was empty, and the heaps of moldy sawdust that he had observed the -first time were still undisturbed, showing that nobody had been moving -about since he had left the place. - -“Ah!” he muttered. “There’s the trapdoor in the corner. We’ll go down -there.” - -He pointed his flash at the corner, and Patsy understood, even though -he had not caught Nick’s whispered observations. - -Once in the room below, Nick Carter was able to look down the staircase -with the broken banister into the office he had been surveying when he -had his unfortunate tumble. - -“They are not here,” he remarked, in a low tone, to Patsy. “There is -some other office close by. I feel sure. Come on!” - -Once in the office where Nick, from the staircase above, had heard the -plotting of Solado and Miguel, he became very busy, searching every -corner and looking behind two other desks he found in the room. He -wanted to make sure no one else was there. - -Nick Carter knew the cunning of Solado as well as the vindictiveness -of Miguel, and it would not have surprised him had there been a sudden -attack from ambush. - -Even if they had killed him, and it had been brought home to them -afterward, they could plead self-defense, setting up the argument that -even a detective had no right to break into a warehouse that did not -belong to him. - -Besides, they would say, naturally, that they did not know he was a -detective. - -“But I’ll beat their game, or know the reason why,” he muttered. - -In one corner of the office was a square wooden partition, which the -detective believed concealed the door and staircase to the lower part -of the building. - -He opened the door of the partition with caution when he found that it -was unlocked. He found himself in a small vestibule, which became pitch -dark when the door swung back on a spring. - -Before turning off his flash--which precautionary measure he had taken -ere he let himself into this little lobby--he had seen that there was -another door opposite. - -Slowly he opened this door. As he did so, a blinding flash of light -came in his face. He was looking directly into a lamp with a reflector -on the wall of a room adjoining the office from which he had come. - -At the same time he was confused by a babel of voices. - -It was lucky for Nick Carter that the persons talking were all standing -or sitting with their backs toward him--except one. - -This one, whose eyes met his own at the moment he thrust part of his -head through the opening, was the person he wanted to get into touch -with. It was Prince Marcos. - -The other three were Solado, Miguel, and the small-eyed, slick-haired -individual who had been lying down in the skiff outside the warehouse -up to the time he entered. - -“I’ll give you this last chance, Marcos,” Miguel was saying, in harsh, -insulting tones. “If you will give me your word of honor to remain in -New York for two weeks longer, I will release you at once.” - -“I wouldn’t do it,” broke in the slick-haired man. “Keep him where you -can be sure of him.” - -Marcos shot a look of indignant anger at the slick-haired man that made -him seem to crumple up, as he said sternly: - -“Jason, if ever I get you back in Joyalita, you shall pay for this in -a way you deserve. I ought to have taken notice of the warning I had -before we left home that you were not to be trusted.” - -“That’s all right!” snarled Jason. “I was as much to be trusted as any -one, I suppose. There’s Prince Miguel! He’s your cousin, and he’s going -to take your place as head of the country when he gets back. Why don’t -you talk to him. He’s----” - -Jason might have said more, for he seemed to be getting more spiteful -as he proceeded. But Miguel suddenly jumped from his chair, and, with a -stifled oath, sent his fist crashing against Jason’s temple. - -The rascal fell to the floor without a groan. He did not move afterward. - -“Now, Marcos! What do you say?” asked Miguel coolly, as he took his -chair again, without even a glance at the prostrate Jason. - -“What do I say?” repeated Marcos. “What do I say? Why, I say that you -are a more contemptible scoundrel than that poor devil you have just -knocked down, and that I shall yet have the pleasure of putting you in -the government prison of Joyalita for treason and abduction.” - -“That’s enough!” sneered Miguel. “Go on, Solado!” - -Solado rapped with his knuckles on the table before him. - -As if he had touched a spring, Larry Dugan, Pet Carlin, and Foxey -Irwin dashed into the room from a doorway hidden from Nick Carter by a -screen, and pulled Marcos off his feet before he saw that anybody was -behind him. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -CAUGHT ON THE FLY. - - -The three toughs dragged Marcos across the floor and behind the screen -so quickly that he was gone before Miguel had time to rise from his -chair. - -Obviously his intention was to help the three gangsters, but they did -not need him, a fact that he recognized even as they disappeared. - -“That’s the end of that, Solado,” remarked Miguel carelessly. “Those -fellows will take him to their joint, as they call it, downtown, in -New York, and there he will stay till we have completed the treaty in -Joyalita----” - -“With you as the ruler, under the protection of our allies,” added -Solado, grinning. “That sounds good. But, if we are going to save -trouble immediately, we ought to use the yacht and get him out to sea -for a few weeks.” - -“I don’t see that he would be any safer at sea than shut up in some -secret den in New York, with these determined-looking gentry we have -hired to look after him.” - -“He would be safer at sea,” hissed Solado, “because accidents happen at -sea. Yachts sometimes get into trouble on the ocean and are never heard -of again.” - -“You’re a cold-blooded rascal, Solado!” - -“Not any more than yourself,” was the retort. “Only, when I undertake -anything, I like to make sure that it is done completely. I have some -stake in all this as well as yourself, remember.” - -“Exactly!” laughed Miguel. “You are still to be at the head of the -government--under me, and you want to be sure of your job. Well, I -don’t blame you. But, for the present, we’ll let Dugan take care of my -dear Cousin Marcos.” - -He got up and bent over Jason. - -“He won’t die!” he decided calmly, as he might have expressed judgment -on a half-drowned kitten. “That cuff on the side of his head will be a -useful warning to him not to be insolent another time. Come on, Solado! -Let’s go and see how they get Marcos away.” - -“Wait a moment!” objected Solado. “They can attend to him, without us. -Here are some letters that came for Marcos from Joyalita. We’d better -look them over and see what is to be done with them. There is a large -part of the population on Marcos’ side, you know, and we can’t take any -chances on rebellion, you know.” - -Nick Carter remained long enough to see the two plotters put their -heads together over a bundle of letters on the table. Then he withdrew, -closed the door softly, and rejoined Patsy. - -In two minutes more both were at the bottom of the chute, while Patsy -untied the boat. - -“I’m glad it is dark, Patsy!” whispered Nick Carter. “They are taking -Marcos away in that boat, and we have to stop them, if we can. If not, -we must trail them till we can get help to take them in.” - -“We don’t need help,” snapped Patsy Garvan. “There’s only three of -them, and if we have this Marcos to help us, there’ll be three on our -side. Why, I am almost ashamed to do it. It’s too easy! Are we to -shoot?” - -“If we can’t nail them any other way. Have you got handcuffs in your -pocket, Patsy?” - -“Two pairs! I figured we’d need them, even if you have a pair----” - -“Which I have,” interjected Nick. “I’ll row. Get into the bow, with -your gun in your hand. As soon as you get where you can make a grab at -their boat, cover the nearest man, and I’ll do the same with the next. -Then make a jump.” - -“I don’t get you,” admitted Patsy. “Aren’t we liable to tumble into the -water?” - -“Not if you do your work right. Their boat is tied up to the stone sill -of the door. All we have to do is to row up level with it, and I’ll get -hold of their gunwale. That will hold us steady, and you can throw your -gun on your man.” - -“But you’ll be sitting down, and----” - -“I can use a gun sitting down, as well as standing up,” remarked Nick -calmly. - -“They are bringing some stuff out of the warehouse,” whispered Patsy. -“Looks like sacks of coal or something.” - -“Silver, probably,” interrupted Nick. “Look out! They are all in the -boat except Dugan. You see that man they have sitting in the stern?” - -“Yes. Who is he?” - -“Marcos.” - -“Gee! The king-pin himself! All right! We’ll get him so slick, those -Jimmy toughs will think they are dancing the tango upside down on a -toboggan slide. Just watch me get the drop on that hard-faced guy in -the middle.” - -“That’s Foxey Irwin,” remarked Nick. - -“Don’t I know it?” was Patsy’s quick rejoinder. “I’m only afraid my -bullet may bounce off his face and fly into bits all over this part of -the meadows.” - -Nothing more was said now. Larry Dugan had been piling up sacks of loot -in the boat, and Nick Carter doubted not that his pockets were full of -jewelry and small articles of value generally. - -In the doorway stood Solado and Miguel, and Nick noticed that a small -boat, of the same general type as his own and the gangster’s, was -moored at the other side of the door. - -“That boat wasn’t there before,” observed Patsy, in a whisper. - -“They had it inside,” returned Nick. “Didn’t want to call attention to -their presence.” - -“They’re a smooth bunch! Shall we make the rush now?” - -“Yes. Be sure to cover your man. That will be Foxey. I’ll get Dugan.” - -“Pet Carlin is the most dangerous!” Patsy reminded him. - -“I depend on Marcos getting him,” was all Nick said to this. - -Like a flash, they shot their boat suddenly out of the tangle of -reeds, and so skillfully did Nick Carter guide the craft, that it -ran alongside the other as evenly as if there had been the utmost -deliberation. - -Instantly, excitement broke out in that quiet region, which up till -then had been perfectly silent except for the distant quacking of wild -ducks who had been skimming the water a mile or so away, the rushing of -the evening breeze through the swaying rushes, and the occasional toot -of a railroad locomotive taking home a load of commuters. - -Patsy swung his revolver over till its muzzle was exactly opposite -the right eye of Foxey Irwin, while Nick Carter pointed his automatic -steadily at Larry Dugan, with the quiet warning: - -“Don’t move, Dugan! Half an inch to one side or the other, and I touch -the trigger.” - -“Touch, eh?” sneered Dugan. “Why don’t you pull it while you are about -it--if you have the nerve to shoot at all.” - -“A touch is all that is needed with this gun, Dugan,” returned Nick. -“It’s the easiest trigger I ever put my finger on. And I wouldn’t -advise you to test my nerve about shooting.” - -Nick Carter would not have parleyed thus if he had not seen that -Marcos had sprung at the throat of Pet Carlin and snatched away that -innocent-looking person’s pistol just as it leaped from his side pocket. - -Carlin was known as a “killer,” and there is little doubt that he would -have tried to “get” Nick Carter at the instant that the detective -covered Dugan, if Marcos had not been too quick for him. - -Nick had perfect faith in this prince from Joyalita who looked so much -like himself. He had seen that Marcos never permitted himself to get -rattled, but was always in complete control of his nerves. - -So, when Marcos leaped at Carlin just as the other boat swung -alongside, anticipating, by a sliver of a second, the drawing of Pet’s -gun, it was no more than Nick Carter had felt sure would happen. - -“Put on the cuffs, Patsy!” whispered Nick to his assistant. “Get Foxey -first. Then take Dugan.” - -“What about the guys in the doorway?” asked Patsy, as he prepared to -obey orders. - -“I’ll look after them. They’ve got to show me where Chick is.” - -“That’s right! Look out, Foxey!” - -This last ejaculation had been caused by a sudden twitch on the -part of Foxey Irwin, as Patsy, having stepped from one boat to the -other, snapped a handcuff on Foxey’s right wrist before he knew what -threatened him. - -“I’ll croak you when I get out of this, Garvan,” hissed Foxey. - -“Maybe! But that will be in about seven years’ time, when you come down -from up the river, and there’s no telling what may happen before that,” -replied Patsy, undisturbed. - -At the same moment he caught Foxey Irwin’s left wrist and trapped it in -the other cuff. Patsy had been taught to put on handcuffs long ago, and -he could do the work so neatly that it looked like sleight-of-hand to -an unaccustomed eye. - -Meanwhile, Nick Carter had handcuffed Dugan on his left wrist, holding -the other steel bracelet in his own left hand, while his right kept the -automatic pointed at Dugan’s forehead. - -Then it was that the detective worked a little trick on Larry Dugan and -Foxey Irwin that he had found useful in dealing with other gentry of -their unscrupulous character. - -Suddenly pulling Foxey toward him, while giving Dugan a push, he passed -the chain of the loose handcuff around the connecting links on Foxey’s -hands, and instantly snapped the manacle on Dugan’s right wrist. - -The net result of the maneuver was that the two scoundrels were -handcuffed to each other, face to face, and about as helpless as a -horse in a balloon. - -“Lend me that extra pair of yours, Patsy!” called out Nick. - -Patsy gave him the other handcuffs, and they were snapped around Pet -Carlin’s wrists with disconcerting celerity, while Nick drew the young -gunman’s second pistol from an outside pocket and placed it in his own. - -“Better draw those cuffs tight, chief!” warned Patsy. “Pet has mighty -pretty hands. If he was a girl, he’d be wearing a finger ring for a -bracelet.” - -This advice was not called for, however. Nick Carter had taken -cognizance of the extreme slimness of Pet Carlin’s hand and wrist, and -had drawn the steel cuffs so small that they were quite safe. - -Hardly had the detective done all this than he made a leap for his own -boat again and pulled up to the door. - -Solado and Miguel were about to beat a retreat in their private skiff. - -“Stop!” shouted Nick Carter. - -He accentuated his demand by pointing his own pistol and Pet Carlin’s -at the heads of the two conspirators. - -They stopped. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -FROM ONE PERIL TO ANOTHER. - - -“Go into that house again!” commanded Nick. “I want to look through it. -And you’ll go with me.” - -“What for?” - -“You know what for,” thundered Nick. “You have my assistant in there, -Chickering Carter. I’m going to get him out. Come on!” he continued, -more fiercely than ever, as he waved his pistol. “Any hesitation, and I -swear I will shoot the pair of you. I ought to do so, anyhow, for your -treason to Prince Marcos.” - -“What have you to do with Prince Marcos?” snarled Miguel. “The -politics of Joyalita are no concern of yours.” - -“Breaking the law in New York or New Jersey is very much a concern of -mine. I have enough against you now to hold you. If any harm comes to -my man, you will be responsible.” - -He had jumped out of his boat to the stone sill of the door into the -warehouse, and was close to the two rascals. - -“Go in first, and I will follow!” - -He prodded his gun against the chest of Miguel, and there was a look in -the detective’s eye that would have told any one it was dangerous to -play with him. But Miguel did not give way. - -“I’m not going in there again,” he growled. - -“Yes, you will. I----” - -Nick Carter stopped. He had caught the steady thump of an engine, and -he remembered that he had heard the sound himself when a prisoner in -the cellar. - -It had stopped when he made his escape. But it had been set going again. - -The detective did not hesitate any longer. He pushed Miguel ahead of -him, at the same time pointing one of his pistols at Don Solado. - -“Show me the place! Show it to me, quick!” he shouted. “I know it is -the cellar. But how do you get down to it? Quick!” - -Only the knowledge that Chick was in deadly peril within a few yards of -him, and that if he took the time to find out for himself how to reach -his prison, it might be too late, prevented Nick Carter from shooting -Miguel dead on the spot. - -“I’ll show you!” volunteered Solado. - -“Fool!” mumbled Miguel, in too low a tone for Nick Carter to hear. - -“Where is the door?” demanded Nick. - -“Here! In this corner, behind these barrels!” answered Solado. “Here is -the key. It is barred outside, too.” - -Nick began to tear away the barrels, taking no notice of Solado or -Miguel. He had something more important to engage his attention just -then. - -The deadly fumes of ammonia were coming from the chinks of the cellar, -and, as he turned the key, kicked away the bar, and pulled the door -open, they came pouring out in a volume that staggered him for a moment. - -“Chick!” he called. - -There was no answer. - -Nick Carter turned the powerful gleam of his flash light into the -gloomy depths, and a low cry of horror broke from him. - -Lying on the floor, against the wall, his limbs contorted and his face -buried in his arms, as if he had resisted the deadly gas as long as he -could, was Chick. - -It was not necessary for Nick Carter to see the face to know who it -was. He would have recognized the general appearance of his beloved -first assistant even if he had not known him by his clothes. - -“Chick!” he repeated, in an agonized groan, as he pressed a -handkerchief over his nose and mouth. “Chick! Keep your mouth covered!” - -“Chief!” - -The response came in a far-away gasp, as if it were almost the last -effort the speaker was capable of making. - -It was enough for Nick Carter. - -Indeed, he had not waited for a reply. Even while he spoke to Chick he -had begun to descend the steep ladder in the corner of the cellar. - -With a bound he crossed the floor and picked up his assistant in his -arms. - -“Keep your mouth covered!” mumbled Nick Carter, through his -handkerchief. - -It was instinct that made Chick press his two hands over his mouth. - -Nick crawled along, keeping as low as he could to avoid at least some -of the strength of the poisonous ammonia. - -The engine thudded unseen in another compartment of the big cellar, -pumping more of the gas from the generator to the storage tank, whence -some demoniac villainy had arranged for it to escape. - -“This will be all for Solado and Miguel,” thought Nick, as he half -carried, half dragged, Chick across the floor. - -He had reached the bottom of the ladder, when a loud, derisive laugh -overhead came to his ears. Then, with a bang, the door closed! - -Instantly Nick dropped at full length, taking Chick with him. - -He wanted a moment to think, and it was essential that he should inhale -as little of the ammonia as possible while he decided what to do. - -The situation was a terrifying one. To a man less courageous than Nick -Carter, it might have appeared hopeless. - -“The window!” he muttered. “I know how I got out of the other cellar, -by Patsy helping me from the outside. This time I’ll have to get it -open by my own efforts.” - -He drew from his pocket the heavy jackknife without which he never went -out. Included in its tools was a miniature brace and bit. He fitted -this for use as he crawled toward the window. - -With his handkerchief tied over his mouth and nose, to keep out as much -of the gas he could, Nick got his brace and bit ready for action and -pulled himself to his feet. - -A few seconds of work bored a hole through the wood. It was old and -rotten, and the bit was keen and highly tempered. - -The hole was by the side of a nail, whose point Nick had discerned -coming through the wood. - -“Two more holes, at the other nails, and we’ll be through,” he -muttered. “If only I can hold out so long!” - -It was a narrow squeak. But when a man is fighting for his life, he’ll -keep on against odds, no matter what sort of contest he may have on his -hands. - -Just as Nick felt that he could not bear the awful pressure of the gas -on his lungs another instant, he pushed the boards out of the opening. - -As the ammonia poured out, a rush of fresh air came in. - -The detective drew it into his system with a joyful gratitude, such as -he had seldom felt in all his adventurous life. - -Only for a second did he stand there, however. Chick was lying on -the floor, and though, in that position, he had not been affected so -strongly by the poison as he would have been if standing up straight, -it had rendered him entirely unconscious. - -Taking up his assistant in his strong arms, Nick lifted him so that -his head rested on the stone ledge, where he got the full benefit of -the cool night air from the salty waters. - -“This is all right so far as it goes!” muttered the detective. “But I -don’t want to swim. I’d have to hold Chick up in the water, too. He is -all in for the present.” - -He stared out into the gloom, but nothing could he make out except the -dim sky line of the rushes and the banks of heavy clouds which obscured -the stars over in the east. - -It was a desolate scene. - -So far as he could discern, there were no boats in the neighborhood, -and for a moment he heard no sound of voices. - -Then he caught the sharp accents of Patsy, commanding Pet Carlin to -keep still. This was followed by a growling oath that might have been -the utterance either of Larry Dugan or Foxey Irwin. - -“Patsy has all he can attend to,” decided Nick. “He’s waiting for me to -come out. I’ll have to bring him around to this side. There is nothing -else for it, although some of those blackguards are liable to jump him -if he settles down to row.” - -Nick actually had his mouth open to call to his wide-awake second -assistant, when a crash that might have meant the blowing up of the -whole building stopped him. - -The sound began with a swish such as often precedes the boom of an -explosion of certain kinds of chemicals. - -It was followed immediately by a heaven-splitting cr-r-rack, and -then by the thunderous letting go of what might have been one of the -heaviest guns known to modern ordnance. - -Simultaneously, the big wooden warehouse rocked on its foundations, and -Chick fell from the window ledge back to the cellar. - -Down went Nick to the floor after him. He had only just got there, -and placed his hands on the clothing of his assistant, when another -explosion, even more terrifying than the first, sent the stone-wall -foundations scattering in all directions. - -Nick found himself hemmed in by heaps of splintered wood, while the -upper part of the building, caving in one side, formed an arch over him -that threatened to collapse at any moment. - -“Chick!” he cried. “Where are you?” - -There was no answer. He had not expected any. - -His assistant had slipped from his grasp at the second explosion, and -the general disturbance had separated them. In the heaps of débris it -was impossible for Nick to see him at once. - -“Heaven preserve us!” muttered the detective. “I’ve _got_ to find him!” - -Outside the building he could hear Patsy shouting to him, while the -oaths of the prisoners, as they commanded Patsy to get the boat farther -away from the destroyed warehouse, told plainly enough that his second -assistant had special troubles of his own. - -“Patsy!” cried Nick, at the top of his voice. “Stay where you are! I’ll -bring Chick!” - -He did not know whether his voice had carried to Patsy or not. Indeed, -he had no time to think about it, for suddenly, with a vicious roar, a -blue-and-yellow tongue of flame shot up from the middle of the great -heaps of timbers about him, and through the caved-in roof overhead. - -The warehouse was on fire! - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -ROUNDED UP. - - -“Chick!” shouted Nick Carter, in agony. “Where are you?” - -Again there was no answer. Nick Carter would have been surprised if -there had been. Well he knew that if Chick was to be rescued, it must -be without any help from the imperiled one himself. - -Fragments of blazing timbers were beginning to fall, and Nick saw that -if certain joists already on fire should burn through, down would come -the tons of flooring and roof upon his head. Nothing could save him. - -If he meant to get Chick out of this, he must do it quickly. - -“There he is--on the other side of that heap of burning wood,” he -muttered. “Merciful heavens! Some of it is resting on him. He may be -slowly roasting to death! I must get to him!” - -It was a perilous trip the detective had now. - -Mounds of rubbish had been built up by the explosions, and had caught -fire afterward. Nick had to climb over them. - -That the fire was incendiary there could be no doubt. Indeed, Nick -Carter had heard enough of the plots of the two rascals from Joyalita, -as well as of the Dugan gang, to know that the whole affair had been -planned. - -The only place where the plot had fallen down from the original -intention was in the escape of Marcos. - -He was to have been burned to death in this warehouse, and -the explosions, arranged so that they should end in a general -conflagration, were prepared for his destruction. - -The fact that Chick was in the building, too, was merely an incident. -It is not likely that the explosions would have been caused just for -him alone. Still, as he chanced to be in the way of them, why, so much -the better, in the opinion of the conspirators. - -Dugan and his gang had been seeking to get Nick Carter and his -principal assistant out of the way for years. - -Nick was not bothering about that now. He had just climbed to the top -of a blazing pile, and found Chick lying in a hollow on the other side. - -Suddenly the heated mass gave way beneath him! - -“I don’t care!” gasped Nick Carter, as he drew one foot out of a hole, -where it seemed as if the leather of his shoe must be burned through. -“I’ve got to get him out of this! I’d do it or--go with him!” - -This was no idle talk. He meant it. - -It will be remembered that Nick wore a pair of high wading boots, which -were of leather below and up to his knees, with rubber above, covering -his thighs. - -There is little doubt that these stout, high boots did a large part in -enabling him to reach Chick. They protected him to some extent, where -low shoes and trousers would surely have meant painful, if not fatal, -burns. - -He plowed through the awful smoking mass till he found himself standing -right over his unconscious assistant. - -“Now, Chick! If only you were a little like yourself, how easy it would -be!” muttered Nick. “But there is no use in wishing. I’ve got to take -him the best way I can.” - -Stooping over and getting a firm hold, he lifted the young man and -swung him over one shoulder. Then, without stopping to look one way or -the other, he began his journey back to the window. - -It took him five minutes to accomplish this feat, and more than once, -when a quantity of burning rubbish came tumbling about his ears, he -believed it was all up with him and his helpless burden. - -But in some almost miraculous way he got through, and resting Chick on -the stone coping at the window opening, looked around for a means of -escape. - -“Chief!” shouted Patsy, from his boat among the rushes. “Wait a moment! -I’ll be there!” - -“That’s what you won’t!” roared Larry Dugan, in impotent wrath. “You -ain’t going to run me into no such risks as that. If you want to put me -in jail, all right. But----” - -A large, open hand came rattling across the side of Dugan’s face and -shut off his eloquence. The owner of the hand--none other than Prince -Marcos--called out to Patsy to drive the boat close to the window. - -“We shan’t be burned,” he added. “Anyhow, we have to take that risk. We -can’t leave those two men there. Mr. Carter can swim, I know. But Chick -is done for, unless somebody helps him.” - -“Hello! Here’s luck!” suddenly exclaimed Patsy. “Gee! This is my good -night!” - -The skiff in which he and Nick Carter had come to the ice house was -floating about near him. A few quick pulls on the oars, and he was able -to reach the empty boat. - -“Here is my gun,” he said simply, to Marcos, as he handed him his -revolver. “If Larry Dugan or either of the others gets at all gay, just -put a lead pill into his coco. All you have to do is to get the end -of the barrel against the patient’s ear. Then pull this little dingus -underneath, and it will cure the nervousness right away.” - -Marcos laughed at Patsy’s prescription for the prisoners as he took the -revolver. - -“You hear what the doctor says, gentlemen!” he remarked, bringing the -muzzle of the pistol to bear on Larry Dugan’s sinister countenance. -“Don’t jump about too much, or I might pull the--er--dingus by -accident.” - -Patsy was up to the window where Nick Carter supported Chick in a very -few seconds. - -“Gee, chief! This joint looks as if it was going to fold in on itself -any minute. Listen to the fire spitting. And talk about a smell! They -must have forgot to clean off the kindling wood before they started -this one. In with him! All right, Chick! Don’t worry! It’s your Uncle -Patsy has you now! Say! This is a hot one, all right!” - -Chatting in this way to keep up his own spirits, as well as to make -Chick feel safe in case he should be coming to his senses, Patsy Garvan -helped Nick Carter lift Chick into the boat. - -“Pull, Patsy! Pull for your life!” shouted Nick, as Patsy got the pair -of oars well in hand. - -“Sure I’ll pull!” was the hearty response. “I can tumble without a -house falling on me!” - -Nick Carter could not aid his willing assistant at that instant. There -was only one pair of oars in the skiff, and Patsy had them. - -“Hello! Those walls are going to fall out!” - -Instinctively, Nick tried to shield Chick, lying in the bottom of the -boat, by bending over him, as part of the blazing ruins broke down -again. - -A flying board, all blue flames and scattering sparks, came charging -full tilt at the boat. - -It struck Nick Carter’s arm, and fell, seething, into the water. If it -had come straight in its original course, it must have plunged into the -unprotected, upturned face of Chick. - -“That was a close call,” observed Patsy, as he ran the skiff up against -the other one, where Marcos was keeping close watch on the prisoners. -“What shall I do now?” - -“Get in and row the gang to shore. I’ll take Chick in this skiff. He is -beginning to come around,” returned Nick. - -“Sure!” almost screamed Patsy, in an excess of delight. - -“Hello, Patsy!” said Chick feebly. - -“Gee! That’s a good sound!” ejaculated Patsy. “All right, chief! I’ll -be responsible for these three beauties. Now that I know Chick is all -to the good, I could handle two gangs of this size. Trust me!” - -Nick hurriedly rowed to the place where he had hired the boat, and, in -the comfortable home of the man who owned the place, soon had Chick on -his feet again--shaky, but otherwise all right. - -“I’ll leave you here to-night, if you like, Chick,” said Nick, after a -short conference with the boat owner. “He says he can take care of you -until morning. We have to ride on the street car, you know. There won’t -be one along for an hour, anyhow.” - -“By that time I’ll be fit as a fiddle,” declared Chick. “Let me go with -you.” - -“Say, chief!” asked Patsy, who was standing guard over the three -disgruntled gangsters, in company with Marcos. “What became of those -two other guys from Joyalita?” - -“I can tell you that,” put in Marcos gravely. “They have got away. -They had a motor car here, and when we were occupied in looking after -Dugan and his men, and trying to help Mr. Carter find Chick in that -warehouse, they took advantage of nobody watching them. That is all. So -long as they cannot prevent my reaching Joyalita, I am not particular -about going after them. The man Jason must have died in the fire.” - -“You shall start for Joyalita in the morning, if you like,” smiled Nick -Carter. “It looks as if we have beaten the whole plot against you.” - -“Thanks to you, Mr. Carter!” - -Prince Marcos held out his hand to the detective, while Dugan, still -handcuffed to Foxey Irwin, snorted in angry disgust. - -“By the way, I have your watch, the Seal of Gijon,” said Nick. “I have -never had an opportunity to give it to you till now.” - -He brought out the precious diamond-incrusted watch and jeweled fob -which had been the subject of his close inspection, and about whose -secret spring he was still puzzled, and handed it to Marcos. - -As the prince took the watch, he pressed it to his lips. Then he put -it to his forehead, with a gesture of reverence. At the same time he -murmured a few words in a strange tongue, that Nick Carter did not -understand. - -Even when Marcos had hidden the watch in an inner pocket of his -waistcoat, he did not speak for a minute, at least. - -It seemed as if there were a sacred significance attached to the Seal -of Gijon which made it sacrilege to talk on outside matters for a short -period after handling the precious emblem. - -It was more than an hour before a street car came bowling along the -lonely road which ran through the meadows, and which might have been a -thousand miles from a city, judging by its desolate appearance, instead -of only a few miles from the metropolis itself. - -The conductor was a stolid individual, and when he saw that there were -three handcuffed men pushed into the car ahead of four other men--for -Chick had recovered sufficiently to go along with his friends--he only -wondered what the trio had been pinched for, and let it go at that. - -There were three heavy sacks lifted upon the back platform, and Patsy -stood out there with them, his hand close to the butt of a revolver in -his coat pocket. - -All the notice the conductor took of this was to grumble, sotto voce, -as conductors often do, in similar cases: - -“Why don’t youse guys hire an express wagon?” - -If the conductor had known that in those sacks was stolen property -aggregating in value not less than two hundred thousand dollars, he -might have shown a little more interest. - -It was early in the morning when Nick Carter turned over to the -officers at police headquarters his three prisoners, Larry Dugan, Foxey -Irwin, and Pet Carlin. He also handed in, and got a receipt for, the -three bags of loot that he had captured with the Dugan gang. - -Then he went home, with Chick and Patsy, to enjoy a good breakfast, -while Marcos, in a taxicab, hurried back to Crownledge, to relieve -the mind of his pretty cousin, Claudia Solado, and complete his -preparations to return at once to Joyalita. - -“And you owe it all to Mr. Carter,” remarked Claudia, as she presided -at the breakfast table, with Phillips in attendance. - -“Indeed I do,” declared Marcos enthusiastically. “If he would come to -Joyalita, I would make him prime minister.” - -The young girl laughed. She shook her head and said: - -“I am afraid there is no office in Joyalita important enough to lure -Nick Carter away from New York.” - -“No, I suppose not,” returned Marcos slowly. “But what a fine head of -the government he’d make. I’d like to see him dealing with a bunch of -conspirators like these of my Cousin Miguel’s.” - -“I believe he’d take them up in his two strong hands and bang their -heads together,” opined Claudia, with another merry laugh. - - -THE END. - -In “The Traitors of the Tropics; or, Nick Carter’s Royal Flush,” -which will appear in the next issue, No. 138, of the NICK CARTER -STORIES, you will find that the famous detective and his assistants -have still further and even more interesting adventures before Prince -Marcos defeats the conspirators and regains control of Joyalita. The -forthcoming issue will be out on May 1st. - - - - -Dared for Los Angeles. - -By ROLAND ASHFORD PHILLIPS. - -(This interesting story was commenced in No. 134 of NICK CARTER -STORIES. Back numbers can always be obtained from your news dealer or -the publishers.) - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE OLD WOUND. - - -Nash’s hesitation was but of a second’s duration. With an exclamation -of wrath and disappointment he thrust his gun back to his pocket, and -leaped forward. He reached the pipe line, vaulted it, and plunged -fearlessly in the general direction taken by the stranger. Once he -heard the sound of falling rocks. Encouraged, he doubled his speed, -only to trip upon an unseen root and sprawl heavily. The very forces -of nature seemed pitted against him, for no sooner had he regained his -feet than the half twilight died away, and the mountain slope became -wrapped in a confusing blanket of gloom. - -In another hour--perhaps before then--the moon would creep over the -distant coast range, and bathe the quiet world in silver; until then -all hope of pursuit was futile. He stumbled on, groping his way back to -the pipe line. Once there, he listened hopefully for some sign, some -slight noise that might guide him, but his anxious ears were unrewarded. - -When at last he returned to the high trail he found only his pony -awaiting him. Miss Breen had vanished as suddenly and as mysteriously -as had the man she warned. - -It was quite useless, he knew, to remain where he was. The chances of -following the stranger were becoming more and more hopeless. So he -climbed into the saddle, and allowed his pony to pick its way slowly -and carefully along the trail. - -What a puzzle this was, to be sure, he reasoned to himself. Undoubtedly -the man he had seen, who, thanks to the girl’s warning, had escaped, -was none other than the person instrumental in the previous night’s -adventure. The fact that he was carrying a sledge hammer gave added -proof to this suspicion, to say nothing of his fright at Nash’s abrupt -interruption. And yet, what had led Miss Breen to cry out just at the -moment when his capture seemed certain? What connection had she with -this slinking intruder? - -Mentally Nash recalled to mind the maps he had stumbled upon; those -cleverly executed and highly technical drawings. And how intensely -interested she had been in the construction work; what unusual -questions she had asked. - -In spite of this Nash could not bring himself to the point of -suspecting the girl of being an accomplice of the man who had -committed, or intended to commit, such dastardly outrages. Some of her -actions were puzzling, he admitted, and yet she seemed to be cast in -too fine a mold for such an association. - -Upon his return to his cabin, an hour later, Nash found Hooker awaiting -him. Hooker came regularly from Los Angeles twice or three times -a month, bringing letters and specifications from Sigsbee and the -construction board of engineers. - -“Hello, Nash,” he said. “You’re late to-night. I’ve been waiting since -five o’clock.” - -“I am a bit later than usual,” Nash admitted. “We’ve been troubled with -bursted water mains lately. Some vandal has been smashing them with a -sledge. I’ve been trying to get at the bottom of the mystery.” - -Then, as briefly as possible, he told Hooker of the previous night’s -accident. Of the recent affair he mentioned not a word. - -“Nasty business,” answered Hooker. “If it isn’t stopped it’s likely -to put you away behind on your contracts. So far, however, Sigsbee is -highly elated over your work, Nash. Don’t mind me telling you so, do -you? It might seem funny, coming from one in my position, eh? But I’m -as glad as the boss. He gave me the same opportunity--and I fell down. -Maybe it was the booze, and maybe again it wasn’t. Anyhow, I’m glad to -see you’re making good.” - -“What’s the occasion for to-night’s visit?” Nash asked. “Anything new?” - -Hooker brought out some folded papers, spreading them upon the table. -“These are the rest of the steel specifications,” he said, running his -fingers down the list of numbers. “You’ve followed the others, haven’t -you?” - -“To the hair’s breadth,” Nash replied. - -“Ordered the siphon steel?” - -“All of it. In fact, to-day I started construction of the big siphon -across Soledad Cañon.” - -“Good for you!” Hooker’s eyes brightened. “That’s speedy work, all -right, Nash. Sigsbee wants to see Camp Forty-seven get the first siphon -completed. It’ll carry a hundred-dollar bonus if you complete it before -the fifteenth.” - -“I’ll win it.” - -Hooker’s face glowed with admiration. “Nash, you’re a brick. I never -saw a fellow put so much enthusiasm into his work.” Then, after a -moment, he added: “Not having any trouble, are you?” - -“Trouble? None, except that water main being smashed. Why?” - -Hooker shrugged, and turned the subject with a laugh. “Oh, nothing in -particular, Nash. Only, you know, a man in your position is always -hated by some of the workers. I guess you can take care of yourself, -can’t you? You’re no weakling. And remember, this isn’t New York.” - -“What do you mean by that?” Nash asked, not liking the other’s tone. - -“Well, if you should--hurt a man out here--it wouldn’t be necessary to -disappear,” Hooker answered. “I believe that was the reason for your -departure from New York, wasn’t it?” - -Nash calmly ignored the insinuation, gathered up the papers Hooker had -brought, and fastened them with the others on his board. - -“Sigsbee send any further orders?” he asked, after he had finished. - -“That’s all, Nash. I came down from San Fernando in his car. The moon’s -up now, so I might as well be hitting the trail back. Like to take a -little spin?” - -“Not to-night, thank you,” Nash replied. “Got too much work to do.” - -Hooker frowned, and shrugged his shoulders. Before leaving the cabin he -turned, and said: “Don’t take things so serious, Nash. I didn’t mean -anything when I said you----” - -“Of course you didn’t,” Nash interrupted dryly. “Convey my best wishes -to Sigsbee, will you?” - -Hooker went out, slamming the door behind him. Long after the sound of -the chugging motor had died away on the still night air, Nash remained -bending over his desk, marshaling into order the confusing rows of -figures, transferring the totals from his memorandum book to the -ledger, and preparing, as he always did, for the work of the coming day. - -The subject touched upon by the old foreman brought back an instant -and bitter flood of memories; but he fought against them, crushed them -back, firm in his resolve not to allow the past to interfere with the -duties on hand. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -GETTING READY. - - -Early the next morning, while Nash was still at breakfast, a man came -running up with the information that a body had been found at the foot -of a high cliff, a short distance from where the siphon was being -constructed. - -“One of our men?” Nash questioned, concerned over the news, but -not surprised, as accidents, from one cause or another, among the -thousand-odd laborers were frequent. - -“I don’t think so,” was the reply. “I heard some of the others talking -about it. Guess he was known to some of them.” - -“I’ll be over right away,” Nash said. - -He had his pony brought around to the cabin, and in less than half an -hour was at the scene. Pushing his way through the crowd which had -gathered about the body, he suddenly caught his breath in astonishment. - -The dead man was the old subforeman, under whom he had worked that -first day--Macmillan! - -“Give me the details,” he demanded abruptly of the nearest subforeman. - -“The body was brought in about an hour ago,” the latter hurriedly -explained. “Some few of us older men recognized Macmillan right away. -One of the watchmen found him at the foot of the high cliff back there. -Must have been an accident; don’t you think so?” - -Nash followed the speaker’s finger. He saw the cliff mentioned; and, on -its edge, winding down to the valley, ran the black pipe line. Then, -like a flash of fire from a cloudless sky, the truth came to Nash. - -Macmillan had been the mysterious stranger of last night; the man with -the hammer; the man Miss Breen had warned! No doubt he had been the one -who had destroyed the pipe several nights previous. - -After the girl’s warning Macmillan had dashed away, probably lost his -bearings in the darkness, and by accident stepped off the cliff. - -Once he had examined the body carefully Nash was positive that -these suspicions were correct. As conclusive evidence, the white, -wide-brimmed sombrero with the silver ornaments on the band was brought -in by the same watchman who had discovered the body. - -“Found this hanging on a bush about ten feet from the top of the -cliff,” the watchman declared, answering Nash’s questions. “Guess the -fellow made a try at the bush himself--half of it is missing. Only the -hat stuck.” - -Nash finally gave directions for the removal of the body, and watched -as two Italians carried it to a wagon, preparatory to its being sent on -to camp. A few necessary requirements and forms had to be observed--the -notification of the county sheriff being the principal one; and after -that, Macmillan’s body, unless claimed by relatives, would share the -barren plot on the mountainside with the hundred-odd others who had met -death, by fair means or foul, in Camp Forty-seven. - -All the remainder of that day Macmillan’s death was on Nash’s mind. -It wasn’t so much the final tragedy that worried him, as the events -leading up to it. Revenge, doubtless, had been the motive. It was quite -natural, after his discharge and his words with Hooker, that the former -subforeman should seek revenge. Being interested in the construction of -the conduit, and realizing full well that the loss of water would prove -a serious blow, Macmillan had determined upon this damaging method. - -The one question which still tortured Nash’s brain was how Miss Breen -had become mixed up with such a man as Macmillan. And it stood to -reason that she must be, else why had she warned him last night? The -more he studied over the problem, the more entangled it became, so -finally he gave it up. - -In the two days which followed this tragedy Nash was so busily engaged -in the final preparations of his “coyote” that the affair, at least -for the present, was relegated to the background. This had not been -his first experience with leveling off a mountaintop, but it was one -presenting the greatest difficulties. Unusually hard rock had been -encountered from the very beginning, an extra force of men had been -engaged in the bore, and even then the work progressed slowly. It was -exactly a week later that the final “shot” was touched off, and the -last of the débris cleared from the tunnel. - -Two hundred cases of dynamite were placed in the big rock chamber, -together with a hundred bags of black powder. The wires were laid -about them, and carefully adjusted. Then both dynamite and powder were -covered with six feet of cement and broken stone. This was allowed to -harden for three days. - -On top of this new floor fifty cases of dynamite were placed. The -first explosion would come from below, ripping away the concrete and -shattering the walls. By leaving this air chamber, additional force -would be created. The first explosion would explode the dynamite on the -concrete floor. - -Nash spent most of his time at the “coyote,” overseeing the thousand -and one details which were necessary to the success of the undertaking. - -Finally the last bag of powder was in place, and the wires carefully -laid from the chamber, along the tunnel, out into daylight and across -the valley--fully a mile--to the top of another hill. Here, at the -given time, the batteries were to be adjusted, and the button pressed. - -If things happened as Nash had forecast, the top of the big -mountain--those rock-strewed, pine-covered acres which had smiled into -the California heavens for so many ages--would be shattered, torn into -a thousand pieces at the pressure of a finger on a harmless-looking -button. - -Nash was not to press the button himself! he conferred the honor upon -the subforeman who had taken charge of the bore. Nash intended being -nearer than the other men, and had already picked out his point of -observation. He wanted to be close enough to determine just how the -explosion acted. - -The day of the explosion arrived. Nash gave final orders. - -“We’ll make it eight o’clock to-night,” he said to the men in charge. -“The moon ought to be up by that time. I wouldn’t tell too many of the -men, because they might get curious, and venture too near. I don’t want -any accidents.” - -“The batteries are all tested out,” the subforeman responded. -“Everything’s in shipshape order. At eight sharp I press the button. -Will you be with us, Mr. Nash?” - -“Oh, I’ll be around somewhere near,” Nash answered. “But don’t wait for -me. I might creep in a few yards nearer the fun.” - -“Very well, sir. Eight, prompt, it’ll be.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. - - -At six o’clock Nash finished his supper, strapped a pair of powerful -field glasses over his shoulder, and set out in the direction of the -“coyote.” The sun was just dipping behind the highest mountain, bathing -the sky with gold and coral. The lower valleys were hung with purple -mists. - -Nash tramped on, breathing in the clean, damp air, which, now and then, -smelled of the distant Pacific. Saucy, bushy-tailed gophers darted here -and there, scolding loudly when disturbed; once an unseen California -mocking bird burst into a glorious, heart-quickening melody, its pure, -liquid notes pouring out so clearly that Nash halted, listening almost -greedily. He loved music, and it was one of the things he missed out -here in the mountains. And when the invisible singer had finished he -applauded softly. - -“Bravo!” he whispered. “Bravo!” - -He plodded on again deserting the trail of the shorter, though more -arduous, climb up the slope. - -Within half a mile of the “coyote” a feeling that he was being followed -came over him. Once or twice he halted, and looked back, certain that -he had heard the falling of a dislodged rock or the snap of a dead pine -branch. But each time his eyes went unrewarded. - -The higher he ascended the brighter became the glow from the lowering -sun, and the deeper became the shadows below him in the valley. The -mists were creeping up, foot by foot, their greedy fingers snuffing out -the gold in the air. - -Finally the mouth of the tunnel was reached. It was a small, -insignificant affair, that drift below the top of the mountain: a -hole hardly more than four feet square. One had to crawl on hands and -knees in order to reach the chamber where the dynamite and powder were -awaiting the tiny spark, which, swifter than the winking of an eye, -would rock the surrounding hills like an earthquake. - -Suddenly, from bending over the wires he had been examining, Nash stood -erect, whirling as he did so. - -Miss Breen was standing a short distance beyond him, her face strangely -white and drawn, her hands clenched at her sides. - -“Why, Miss Breen,” he began, “where have you been all this time? What -brings you away up here--at this hour?” - -“I--I----” She attempted to speak, and failed. Then she took a forward -step, and crumpled to the rocks. - -Nash leaped across and caught her. “You’re ill!” he exclaimed. “What -has happened?” - -She recovered instantly. “I’m--just a trifle weak, that is all,” she -answered, trying to laugh it all away. “My pony got away two hours -ago, and I’ve been roaming about--trying to find the trail back to the -ranch. I--I guess I’m lost.” - -“You’re found now,” he said, smiling into her colorless face. “How -lucky I happened to be in this part of the hills. Why, you might have -wandered around for hours--maybe all night.” - -The events of their previous meeting came back to him vividly, almost -bitterly. He felt that he must ask her certain questions, and that she -must answer them. Yet, now that they had met once more, he hesitated. -She was weakened by her afternoon’s adventure. It would be better, he -resolved, to wait for a more desirable opportunity. Or possibly she -might explain matters herself. - -“Isn’t this--your ‘coyote’?” she asked suddenly, looking around. - -“Yes. I was just making a final examination of the wires. It is to go -off at eight o’clock.” - -“To-night?” - -He nodded. She shrank back, as if death itself lurked in the yawning -tunnel mouth. - -“Oh, there’s no danger now,” he replied, laughing. “It is only a few -minutes after six. Why, I was just about to go inside to inspect the -big chamber. This is my first coyote on the Los Angeles aqueduct, and I -can’t afford to take any chances of a failure.” - -“Aren’t you afraid?” she asked. - -“Of what? The dynamite can’t go off unless the batteries are attached -to the wires and the button pressed. Besides, the greater part of the -stuff is buried under six feet of solid concrete.” - -She sank to a pile of rocks, and pulled back her sleeve. There was -blood on her white arm. “It’s been hurting dreadfully,” she said, -disclosing a ragged wound, caused, she admitted, by a stumble. “That’s -why I’ve been so faint.” - -“Why didn’t you let me know at first?” Nash broke in quickly. “Wait. -I’ll fix it in a jiffy.” - -He hurried down the slope to where a little spring bubbled out from its -mossy bed. In the crystal, snow-fed waters he dipped his handkerchief, -wrung it out, and returned. - -“Now just let me tie this around that cut, Miss Breen. This mountain -water has wonderful healing properties.” He accomplished his task while -the girl watched him in silence. “There,” he said, drawing down her -sleeve. “Isn’t that better?” - -“Oh, a great deal,” she answered. - -“Well, suppose you excuse me for ten or fifteen minutes, while I take a -farewell trip into the tunnel. You can rest here, and----” - -“Why can’t I go with you?” she interrupted. - -“Do you really want to go?” He looked down into her face with a -surprised frown. “It isn’t very clean--and it is very damp and cold. -Besides, you’ll have to crawl on your hands and knees for a hundred -yards.” - -His warning did not appear to frighten her. “Oh, I don’t care about -that,” she declared eagerly. “And I would like to see just how the -thing is arranged.” - -“Very well,” he agreed. “I’ve some candles in my pocket. I’ll light -one, and you follow close behind me. All ready?” - -“All ready,” she repeated, her eyes sparkling at the thought of the -adventure. - -He lighted a candle and started in the drift. She came right behind -him without the least hesitation. The tunnel was damp, and at places -they were forced to crawl through pools of water. Still, she did not -complain. - -“Nervy little woman, all right,” Nash muttered to himself. - -Finally they emerged into the chamber, and both stood erect. He held -the candle high above his head, so that she could see. The walls, hewn -roughly from solid rock, glistened with moisture; the floor was muddy. - -Miss Breen held her hands together and shivered. “Ugh! Are there any -bats in here?” she asked. - -“Hardly.” - -In the glow of the candle the girl’s face shone pale and tense. - -“The dynamite is under us,” Nash explained. “And over in the corner -are half a hundred boxes of the same stuff, that will produce a second -explosion.” - -She followed him while he made a careful survey of the whole chamber. -Everything seemed to be in excellent condition. - -“You’re not--not forgetting the time, are you?” she broke out suddenly. - -“I should say not!” He took out his watch, and held the candle lower. -“It’s just a quarter to seven. We’ve an hour and fifteen minutes yet -before the fireworks come off.” - -“Where are you going to watch it from?” - -“I’ve a little place picked out,” he answered, and laughed. “About half -a mile from here. Would you like a reserved seat?” - -She nodded readily. “Of course. Now that I’ve seen the mechanism of the -thing, I won’t be happy until I see the explosion.” - -“Good for you! I’m really as much excited over the affair as you are. -Ready to leave now?” - -“I guess so. Is there anything more to see?” - -“Not a thing. Wait while I light another candle. It’ll make it easier -for us to----” - -He stopped short, the match he had struck burning down to his fingers. -He scarcely felt the pain. A faint rumbling had come to his ears--the -sound of falling rock. - -“What was that?” Miss Breen asked sharply, nervously, her voice echoing -in the big, gloom-filled room. - -“Why--nothing much,” Nash replied reassuringly, although his heart had -started throbbing at a greater speed. “That is--I suppose it was merely -some loose earth falling in the tunnel. It often does that. But we’ll -soon see. Follow close now.” - -He lighted the second candle, handing the girl the first one. They came -to the beginning of the tunnel. Just as he had feared, some loose rock -had fallen down, blocking the entrance. - -“You take both candles, Miss Breen,” he commanded quietly. “I’ll have -to use my hands and open the drift.” He attempted to laugh at his -remark. “It’ll only take--take a second.” - -He jerked off his coat and dropped it to the muddy floor. Miss Breen -held both candles behind him as he began his attack upon the rock. At -first, it came away readily enough; then, of a sudden, larger, firmly -wedged chunks met his torn fingers. - -Frantically, hopefully he dug. The jagged edges of the granite ripped -his fingers and wrists. But the pain did not compare with the agony -that steadily increased within his brain. The sweat began to pour down -his white face; his breath came in choking gasps as he rolled rock -after rock behind him. - -He did not dare to turn and look into Miss Breen’s eyes. Nash had not -been an engineer these years for nothing; he knew, even from the very -first, just how hopeless his task would be--how many tons of rock -probably lay between him and the cool night air. And then, when he -finally came upon huge bowlders which a dozen men could not have moved, -he straightened, passed his torn, bleeding fingers across his damp -face, and turned slowly. - -Miss Breen, holding aloft the candles, met his gaze with wide, staring -eyes. Her face was devoid of all color. - -“I’ll--I’ll have to rest a minute,” he faltered. - -“What good will it do?” she asked. - -He thrust his head forward and looked deep into her eyes. - -“I guess--guess there’s no use in lying to you, Miss Breen,” he -declared, his voice echoing dully in the stillness of the big chamber. -“We’re caught in a trap. There is no escape.” - -He half expected she would scream, or faint dead away; but she did -neither. The candles she clutched trembled slightly--that was all. -Despite his own feelings, he marveled at her apparent self-control. - -“There are tons of rock across the tunnel,” he said quietly, after a -pause. - -“But--you knew it--all the time, didn’t you?” Her accusing voice was a -mere whisper. - -He nodded. “I knew it--from the first,” he repeated. - -“Why didn’t you tell me before?” - -“I--I dreaded even to think that----” He stopped, biting his lips. “I -wanted to keep it from you--as long as possible. I--I thought we might -have a chance.” - -They stood looking at one another, breathing audibly. He took the -candles from her cold, stiff fingers. She allowed her arm to drop -heavily to her side, as if it was destitute of life. - -“What--what time is it?” she wavered presently. - -He was a long time fumbling for his watch. Then he drew it out. Somehow -his throat felt very hot and painful as the crawling hands on the dial -met his eyes. - -“It’s--ten minutes after seven,” he said. - -“Ten minutes after seven.” She repeated the words huskily, and, to all -appearances, subconsciously. “Then--then we’ve fifty minutes before----” - -He took up the sentence she was unable to finish. “Fifty minutes before -the dynamite explodes.” - -Miss Breen sobbed, and, without the least warning, crumpled to the -floor. Nash spoke to her, chafed her icelike arms, bathed her forehead -with the dirty water from the floor; but she did not respond. - -And then, as if to mock his helplessness, the candles he had propped -against a rock toppled over, and, with a hiss, were extinguished by the -water into which they had fallen, leaving Nash to stare through the -utter, suffocating gloom. - - -TO BE CONTINUED. - - - - -A PET FOR THE CHILDREN. - -By MAX ADELER. - - -Judge Pitman, a short time ago, bought a pet lamb for his little -children to play with. It was a pretty good-sized lamb, and strong -and vigorous; but the judge said he preferred that kind because the -children would be less likely to hurt it. On the day that it came -home they turned it out into the front yard, where it strayed about, -nibbling the grass, while the judge tied up his geraniums. Mrs. Pitman -had the children in the house, and she was reading to them from a book -a description of the characteristics of lambs. The account said that: -“The lamb is one of the most playful and innocent of animals. So kind -and meek is it that its name has for centuries been the synonym of -gentleness and sweetness of disposition. It never injures any one, and -when it is attacked, it always suffers humbly and in silence. There is -something so beautiful about the gentle little animal, that----” - -Just at this point Mrs. Pitman was interrupted by the voice of the -judge coming from the front yard. It sounded as if he were in distress -of some kind. The whole family flew out upon the porch, and there they -saw that pet lamb, whose name was the synonym of gentleness, engaged in -butting the judge. It would butt him in the rear and knock him over, -and then it would butt him on the legs, and batter him on the ribs, -and plunge its head into his stomach, and jam its skull against his -chest. When he rose, it butted his shins, and when he stooped over to -rub them, it butted his head. Then it butted him generally wherever a -chance presented itself; and when it had doubled the judge all up under -the Norway maple, it butted down three rose bushes, butted a plaster -garden vase to fragments, butted two palings off of the fence, and -danced off down the street, butting at the tree boxes, the hitching -posts, and the northwest wind. - -Mr. Potter finally knocked it in the head with a club, and brought it -home to the judge, and, subsequently, when they had the hind leg for -dinner, the judge observed to Mrs. Pitman that, from the manner in -which that lamb cut, he should believe that it was born during the War -of 1812, and that it was, in fact, a terrific old ram. Then he said he -should go down to see the man who sold it to him for a lamb, and bang -him with a club. The Pitman children stick to kittens as regular pets. - - -A CAT THAT SAVED A MAN’S LIFE. - -In the great war between the Cavaliers and Roundheads, a brave officer -of King Charles’ army was taken prisoner and shut up in a dungeon. -His enemies were so angry with him that they ordered the jailer not -to give him any food, so that he might be starved to death. The first -day of his imprisonment a cat crept through the bars of his dungeon -window and made friends with him. Every day the cat came to see him, -and the poor prisoner, who was growing weaker and weaker from want of -food, welcomed his visitor. At last, when he felt that he could not -live another day, he saw the cat dragging something through the window. -Presently he felt pussy rubbing herself against his legs. He put down -his hand to stroke her and found something warm and soft lying on the -ground. It was a pigeon that the cat had caught and brought to him. In -some wonderful way she had discovered that he was being starved, and -had done what she could to help him. When his jailer came in he showed -him the bird, and begged him to cook it and let him eat it. The jailer -did this, for though he had been ordered not to give his prisoner any -food, he had not been told anything about cooking a bird that got to -him by other means. Every day the cat brought a pigeon to her friend’s -cell, and the jailer never refused to cook it. At last he was asked -whether his prisoner was not dead yet. In reply he told the story of -the cat’s devotion, and his masters’ hearts were so touched by it that -they ordered him to let the prisoner have plenty of food. After a long -imprisonment the man was released. You may be sure that he took care of -the cat to which he owed so much, and which left the prison with him. - - -STUDENT LIFE IN RUSSIA. - -Nowhere in the world is the student subject to such a strict, -searching, and rigorous discipline as is the student in a Russian -university. From his entrance into school the boy of ten or eleven -years of age has to go through a long and tedious process of training, -the nature of which tends more to fit him for army service than to fill -the professor’s chair. - -In the preparatory class the boy is taught the names of the royal -family in order, and the names of the entire dynasty in their rank and -order. These he must know by heart. - -Next comes the way to render honor and salute all military officers -should he meet them or speak about them. Here, also, he must learn by -heart the Russian national anthem: “God Save the Czar.” - -Next come marching, and the various military commands. An account is -kept of the physical developments of each boy, so that when he is -sixteen years old it can be seen by his physical progress if he is fit -for the army service. - -At this time the scholar receives a passport of “identification” and a -book containing the rules and regulations which are to govern his life -in the institution. - -The discipline the Russian student has to undergo may produce one of -two results. The student may be made obedient or abjectly slavish, -or the rules and laws by which he is governed may give him food for -reflection and create a natural aversion to the authorities. - -Here are some of the requirements: Each student must wear a military -uniform, with brass and nickel-plated buttons, which have to be -polished every day; each student must also clean his own shoes; -mustache and beard are not allowed; hair must be clipped close; -smoking and carrying a cane are forbidden, as well as the use of any -intoxicants whatsoever. - -While walking to and from school the student must carry on his back the -knapsack filled with books, weighing in all about twenty-five or thirty -pounds. This he must do in all kinds of weather. - -The student cannot attend any social or public gathering or -entertainment, neither can he go to the theater or concert hall. He -must not be on the streets after seven p. m. He must not read any -newspaper whatsoever, or any books but those written by Russian authors -and approved of by the censor. - -Any one observing the violation of any of these rules may demand the -student’s passport and return the same to the authorities, for which -the informer receives a reward, while the student is punished by being -locked up for twelve hours in a dark room. - -Secret societies or organizations among the students are not to be -dreamed of; neither are students permitted to gather in groups. Two may -converse or speak with one another, but three together are not allowed. - -A young Russian who says he attended one of these institutions is our -authority for the statement that there is always among the students -one spy in ten. The same person declares that when a spy makes an -unfavorable report, the student reported against suddenly disappears. - -If inquiry is made for the missing student, the inquirer will be told -that the young man was considered a dangerous subject to the community, -and was therefore removed out of harm’s way. The teachers, professors, -and directors of universities are appointed by a body selected for that -special purpose by the czar himself. - -Many parents, knowing the risks and the dangers their boys are subject -to while in a Russian university, educate them abroad. The young man -sent abroad for education is looked upon by the authorities as a -dangerous subject, full of liberal ideas and opinions concerning public -problems. - - -A BEAUTIFUL SWISS CUSTOM. - -The horn of the Alps is employed in the mountainous districts of -Switzerland, not solely to sound the cow call, but for another purpose -solemn and religious. - -As soon as the sun has disappeared in the valleys, and its last rays -are just glimmering on the snowy summits of the mountains, the herdsman -who dwells on the loftiest, takes his horn and trumpets forth “Praise -God, the Lord!” - -All the herdsmen in the neighborhood take their horns and repeat the -words. This often continues a quarter of an hour, while on all sides -the mountains echo the name of God. A solemn stillness follows, every -individual offers his secret prayer on his bended knees, and with -uncovered head. By this time it is quite dark. “Good night!” trumpets -forth the herdsman on the loftiest summit. “Good night!” is repeated on -all the mountains from the horns of the herdsmen and the clefts of the -rocks. - - -UNDESIRABLE ROOM. - -At first sight it would seem that it must be an unreasonable man who -would find fault with a house because it had one more room than was -mentioned in the advertisement; but first sight is not always the best -sight. - -A real-estate agent sent a customer to look at a five-roomed house, -that being just the size he professed to want. The house proved to -be sadly out of repair, and the prospective tenant went back to the -agent’s office. - -“I didn’t want a six-roomed house,” he said. - -“That isn’t a six-roomed house,” answered the agent. - -“Yes, it is.” - -“But I say it is not.” And the agent began counting. “There’s the -kitchen, dining room, reception room, and two bedrooms. That’s five, -isn’t it?” - -“Yes, but there’s the room for improvement, and that’s bigger than -any of the others,” said the facetious customer. “Can’t you show me -something else?” - - - - -THE NEWS OF ALL NATIONS. - - -Store Water in Highest Dam. - -Storage of water has begun at Arrow Rock Dam, the highest in the -world, in the Boise reclamation project, which will reclaim an area in -southeastern Idaho three times as great as the crop acreage of Rhode -Island. - - -Will Tango Way Into Navy. - -David Keller, aged twenty-one, applied for enlistment in the navy at -the Evansville, Ind., United States naval recruiting station, and was -rejected because of his weight. Recruiting Officer Muelchi told the -young man to go home and dance the tango a few weeks or until he had -reduced his weight, and then to come back and he would take him into -the navy. Muelchi says that tango dancing is the greatest flesh reducer -in the world, as he has tried it. Keller returned to his home in -Poseyville, and says he is going to dance the tango with every girl in -that town. - - -High Honor Won by French Airman. - -Official announcement is made that Adolphe Pegoud, the famous French -aviator, has received the military medal, the highest honor within the -gift of the government. - -The announcement says that Pegoud “on several occasions pursued enemy -aëroplanes, and on February 2d attacked at a great height and caused -the fall of a German machine. Soon afterward he attacked two other -aircraft, causing the first to fall and the second to land.” - -Pegoud first came into fame in 1913, while making experiments for -obtaining safety in the air, as the originator of the feat of flying -upside down in an aëroplane. A short time later he enhanced his -reputation for daring by performing for the first time the feat of -looping the loop. For his experiments Pegoud received the decoration of -the legion of honor. - -Several times since the outbreak of the war Pegoud has come into -notice. On August 20th he returned to Paris from the front to get a new -aëroplane, his old one having been riddled by bullets. He was mentioned -in dispatches for valor in November, and later, in January, was -reported to have destroyed a German explosive depot by dropping bombs -on it. - - -Old Police Horse Sold. - -Slator was discharged from the New York police force recently. With -eleven other horses, condemned by the department, he was auctioned off -in the arena of Van Tassel & Kearney. Slator is twenty-two years old, -and has behind him sixteen years of honorable service in the traffic -squad. - -“The gamest little horse that ever looked through a bridle,” the -auctioneer called him. He sold for $37.50. - -It was hard for Slator to understand yesterday’s proceedings. A little -brown horse whose memory holds only the recollection of hours of easy -pacing through the park bridle paths, with now and then a thrilling -dash after a runaway, or the more serious excitement of pushing back an -unruly crowd without stepping on its toes, has no place in his mind for -a scene like this. Slator was puzzled. - -In the first place, his boss was missing--the man who rode him and was -kind to him. Then the night had been spent in a Van Tassel & Kearney -stall. That was strange and uncomfortable after having slept on the -straw of the police stables since a time when most of the present force -were boys. - -Slator remembered his manners, though. When he was brought on to the -tanbark, he walked up to the auctioneer’s desk, his ears pricked -forward and his muzzle twitching a greeting. Then, when the man pushed -his head away, he submitted meekly to being dragged up and down the -arena by a shouting groom and suffered himself to be poked and handled -by various horsy men whom he did not know. - -It was years since he had felt a lash, but when they cut him across -the flanks to show off his action, he did not kick. Clearly this -was some new order of the department which had not been imparted to -him. Therefore it was incumbent upon a member of the force to behave -himself. Slator showed he was a gentleman. - -For many years the little horse was the mount of Patrolman--now -Lieutenant--Gumbricht. The price paid for him yesterday was perhaps an -eighth of his original value. And Slator is not “all in” yet by a good -deal. He is old, but he is wise, and a perfect saddle horse. That is -one reason why he did not bring a larger price. The men at the sale -were looking for work animals. - -Slator always looked down on the patrol-wagon horses as plebeians, yet -those sold yesterday brought twice his price. But arithmetic is one of -the few things which the little police mount does not know. That is one -worry which will be spared him in the future, at any rate. - - -Braves Five Thousand Volts in Pit of Fire. - -Patrolman John A. Swift, of Springfield, Mass., veteran of the British -army, hero of a dozen fires and accidents, proved his mettle when he -dashed through a crowd of 150 persons, descended into a blazing manhole -charged with five thousand volts, and saved the life of Benjamin W. -Martin, cable repairman, who had been left to his fate. - -The blaze was the result of a short circuit of the big city power -mains. Martin, deserted by his helpers, lay at the bottom of the -manhole while the crowd watched. Patrolman Swift went through the -choking smoke and took down a rope. His first attempt was unsuccessful, -and he was hauled up unconscious. Peeling off his officer’s coat, he -went down again, making Martin’s body fast to the rope. Both were drawn -up unconscious. - -“It was easier for me to get him than to stand there and hear him -croakin’ in that hot place,” said Swift. - - -Luke’s Peck at Girl’s Hose Starts Uproar in Subway. - -Arthur Mullens, of New York City, works in paper and publishing -houses, and all he finds he reads. If he had not read on a proof sheet -yesterday that cruelty to animals was the unpardonable sin, he would -not have enlarged the hole in the sack he carried, thereby freeing the -eagle eyes and more eaglish beak of Luke, a rooster, and--but to start -at the beginning. - -Mullens was called from his home, at 460 Pearl Street, by a friend to -deliver Luke, a prize rooster and a great fighter in his day, to an -acquaintance in 112th Street. Luke was put into a thick paper bag, the -neck of which was securely tied. Mullens swung him by his side as he -walked to the subway. - -On the train he read a speech that an assemblyman had delivered to a -sleeping audience about an antivivisection bill. So he tenderly tore a -tiny aperture in one side of the bag to give Luke the benefit of all -the spare air there might be in a Broadway express. - -A young woman sitting next to Mullens snatched at her knee, and then -screamed like a siren whistle. Mullens woke with a frightened start, -but was too late. Luke had withdrawn his head for an instant at the -girl’s yelp of terror. Then he swelled his fighter’s neck, and lo! -there was no bag. Luke was free. - -The rooster started for authority, like true rebels, but the guard -ducked. Luke next became bellicosely neutral; he did not care whose -eyes he scratched. Men, women, children, oaths, prayers, and Mullens’ -endearing calls got all mixed up. - -The train reached Ninety-sixth Street--Luke’s first peck at the young -woman’s hose had been near Seventy-second Street--before Mullens got -back his ruffled charge. Mob rule seemed imminent, but the guard -magnanimously permitted Luke to ride on to the Cathedral Parkway -station. There Mullens, chastened, his humanitarianism gone, departed -with the then sullen bird. - -“I’ve been a hard-working man all my days,” he said, “but never have I -had to do anything so hard as chaperon this sanguinary rooster.” - - -“Electric” Towel is Latest. - -The new municipal building at Washington, D. C., is equipped with -“electro towels,” devised by its superintendent, J. M. Ward. The -electro towel is simply an electric hand dryer. It looks like -a rectangular box with the front face knocked out and set on a -pedestal which brings it about waist-high. The box is large enough to -accommodate an ordinary pair of hands. There is an electric-heating -device in the stand and a blower which forces the air through ducts -into the box on top, where the hands are held while drying. A lever, -operated by the foot, turns the current of hot air into it and sets the -blower at work. - -Superintendent Ward contends that as the lever is operated by the foot -and the hands are merely extended into the box through the open front -they come into contact with no part of the device, and so the operation -is perfectly sanitary. It takes thirty seconds to dry hands in this way. - - -Pass Utah Prohibition Bill. - -The Wootten State-wide prohibition bill for Utah passed the House by a -vote of forty to five. It passed the Senate two weeks ago. - - -Only “Cowgirl” in Oklahoma. - -Little Miss Mary Miller, daughter of the late S. W. Miller, prominent -stockman of Hominy, Okla., was, three years ago, the cashier in a small -restaurant; later of the Hominy National Bank, and was delving into -books and accounts and participating in the younger social functions. -Now she lives on her ranch near here and is acknowledged to be the only -real “cowgirl” in Oklahoma. - -Upon the death of her father she assumed charge of the ranch that she -had established some years ago. She superintends every department and -carries out her own ideas in its operation. She has stocked the ranch -with pure-bred cattle, and her success in this line was demonstrated -last fall when she topped the Kansas City market with the first -shipment of cake-fed cattle. She is an active member of the Texas -Cattle Raisers’ Association. - - -Idaho is Made Dry After January 1, 1916. - -Governor Alexander, of Boise, Idaho, this week signed the prohibition -bill, which makes the manufacture or sale of intoxicating drinks -in Idaho unlawful after January 1, 1916. Idaho thus becomes the -seventeenth State to bar the traffic in alcoholic beverages. - - -Colorado Law Completed. - -The legislature of Colorado has completed the law to enforce the -State-wide constitutional prohibition amendment, effective January 1, -1916. Senate and House adopted the report of the conference committee, -and the measure now goes to the governor. - - -Kiddie With a Mighty Punch. - -When he was startled from sleep and found a big burglar beating his -mother, Isidore Weinstein, six years old, of Cleveland, Ohio, drew -back a bare foot and drove it hard into the robber’s face. The robber -apparently believing that he had been struck by a man’s fist, took to -his heels. - -Mrs. Edith Weinstein and her son live alone in rooms adjoining her -candy store. She was awakened long after midnight by a man’s hands at -her throat. The burglar had entered by forcing a bedroom window. Mrs. -Weinstein screamed. Then the burglar beat her with his fist until she -was nearly unconscious. - -Isidore’s bare foot saved the day. Mrs. Weinstein is sure the burglar -mistook Isidore’s kick for the blow of a man’s fist. If he had known -her protector was only a six-year-old boy, there would have been a -different story, she is confident. - - -A Triple Sport Alliance. - -A triple understanding in all branches of sport by Yale, Harvard, and -Princeton is at hand. The signing of a formal agreement by the three -for a series of nine games to settle the triple baseball championship -and the continued conferences of the captains of the three elevens of -the universities are surface indications of the movement that has been -quietly in progress for several years, furthered by Yale, for at least -a general understanding between the three in all branches of the sport. - -In track athletics and rowing the triple entente is not in operation. -Yale meets both her rivals on the track and would be glad for them -to meet each other, but Harvard and Princeton have no arrangement -for such contests. Princeton has not yet come into the Yale-Harvard -annual rowing regatta on the Thames, but may do so at any time. Yale -meets Princeton and Harvard both on the water annually, but there is -no movement on the part of Princeton to arrange a dual-crew race with -Harvard. Officials of the Princeton navy and athletic association have -assured Yale rowing men that the Tigers were likely before long to come -into the Yale-Harvard annual races at New London. - -When the results of the series of informal football conferences between -Yale, Harvard, and Princeton are announced, it is expected that -progress toward a much more complete understanding of gridiron matters -of mutual interest will be shown. The informal talks of Captains -Wilson, of Yale; Mahan, of Harvard, and Glick, of Princeton, will be -projected into the business of the general athletic committees of the -three universities during the remainder of the school year. - -The agreement for a definite series of nine baseball games has -completed another project, suggested by Yale, similar to that proposed -by Coach Frank Quinby, of the Eli baseball team, last year, which -has resulted in a formal agreement of the three universities for the -coaches of their baseball nines to remain off the player’s benches -during a game for the purpose of proving the contests to be a genuine -battle of the undergraduate players and captains. - -The agreement for playing nine definite games, without regard to -the results of the individual series between any two of the three -university teams, is regarded as the most radical step that has -been taken in college sport in the East this year. Yale, Harvard, -and Princeton call their games, played against one another, their -“championship” matches. There will be a genuine “champion” chosen this -year for the first time among the three rivals, for the percentage -leader in the series of nine games played will be the holder of a clean -title to championship honors. - -For years Yale, Harvard, and Princeton have played baseball without -a decision as to championship honors. Last year, for instance, Yale -defeated Harvard; Harvard easily beat Princeton, yet Princeton -neatly trimmed Yale, leaving honors easy all around. Although each -of the three old rivals may win three of the scheduled games of the -series this year and a championship may be again impossible, chances -are against any such outcome of the advent of the new triangular -arrangement, the baseball triple entente of Yale, Harvard, and -Princeton. - - -Convicts Ask for “Dry” Law. - -A petition signed by more than one thousand inmates of the Eastern -Penitentiary at Philadelphia, asking the legislature to give favorable -consideration to any legislation looking to curtailment of the sale of -liquor has been presented to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. - - -Explains the Vacant Chair. - -Miss Edith Davis, of Grand Rapids, Mich., has just received an -invitation to a pedro party which was held on the evening of October -31, 1892. The letter was postmarked October 18, 1892. It is supposed -that the letter was mislaid in the local post office. - - -Aërial Mail Service Coming. - -During the last year the post-office department gave permission to -eight applicants for experimental aërial mail service, and in the -estimate of expenses for 1916 an item of $50,000 has been inserted -for departmental experiments in this line. It is hoped to make use of -the aëroplane to advantage in the mountainous region, where, in many -instances, towns only a short distance from each other in the air -line, are hundreds of miles by the only available surface routes. It -is also anticipated that many of the interruptions to the service now -experienced by reason of weather conditions will be overcome by making -use of air machines. - - -Recommend New Flag. - -The municipal art commission of New York City has discovered that -Greater New York has been going along for nearly twenty years without -an official flag, and has taken steps to remedy the defect. It has -recommended to the board of estimate and the board of aldermen the -adoption of a flag to take the place of the mayor’s flag now used on -State occasions as the emblem of the city. - -The design for the new flag was selected by a committee consisting -of John B. Pine, Francis C. Jones, R. T. H. Halsey, and I. N. Phelps -Stokes, of the Art Commission Associates, an organization of former -members of the commission. They had been at work on the selection for a -year. - -The design recommended by this committee and by the commission in turn -to the city’s legislative authorities provides for a flag consisting -of three perpendicular bars of orange, white, and blue, the blue to -be nearest to the flagstaff, with the seal of the city in blue on the -middle bar of white. The colors are to correspond as nearly as possible -to those of the flag of the United Netherlands in use in 1626. - -The commission also recommends the adoption of a model of the city seal -submitted by the flag committee. This seal corresponds to the present -city seal in all essential details, but it is executed somewhat more -faithfully than the majority of the present seals after the pattern -of the original city seal. The commission recommends that in order -that there may be no further confusion in the use of the city seal in -decorations or otherwise, a cast of the new pattern be made in bronze -and kept in the safe in the mayor’s office, to be copied whenever -necessary. - -At present the flag used as the city flag is the one officially adopted -for the mayor. It has a solid white ground, with the seal of the city -in blue. - - -Big Increase in Prison Ranks. - -A marked increase in the population of the various State prisons, -reformatories, penitentiaries, county jails, and New York City -institutions reporting to the State commission of prisons for the year -ended September 30, 1914, is shown in statistics collected by the -commission. The total prison population on that date was 16,678, an -increase of 1,817 over the preceding year. The increase for the year -1913 over 1912 was seventy. Ten years ago the prison population was -12,793, showing an increase in a decade of 3,885. A marked increase is -also shown in the number of actual commitments. The number jumped from -101,611, in 1913, to 118,027, in 1914. - -The number in custody in the four State prisons, including the State -prison for women, at Auburn, was 4,955, an increase of 235. There was, -however, a decrease in the number of inmates of the women’s prison from -116 to 103. The number of prisoners in the State prisons at the close -of the fiscal year was 1,503 more than it was ten years ago. - -The population of the three reformatories for males--the New York State -Reformatory, at Elmira; the Eastern New York Reformatory, at Napanoch, -and the New York City Reformatory at Hart’s Island--increased -fifty-one, from 2,026 to 2,077. This is an increase during ten years of -421. The New York City Reformatory statistics date from 1906. - -A decrease of fifty-five is shown in the combined population of the New -York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford and the Western House of -Refuge for Women at Albion. The population in 1913 was 708, and this -year it had decreased to 663. The population of these two institutions -increased 241 in ten years. - -The greatest increase in population is shown in the five -penitentiaries. These institutions in 1913 had 2,488 inmates; this year -the number was 2,965, an increase of 477. The increase since 1905, when -the Kings County Penitentiary was in existence, has been 736. - -The number of inmates in the county jails, and in the workhouses, city, -and district prisons and the House of Detention in New York City was -6,028, an increase of 809 over the preceding year, and 1,261 more than -the number in custody ten years ago. - -The number of actual commitments to the various prisons, reformatories, -penitentiaries, county jails, workhouses, et cetera, during the last -fiscal year was 118,027, an increase of 16,416 over 1913 and an -increase over 1905 of 16,981. - -The number of women in custody at the close of the year was 1,930, an -increase of 138 as compared with the preceding year. - - -New Invention of Color Print. - -John Lewisohn, engineer, chemist, business man, and artist, has been -exhibiting a series of color prints from photographic negatives at the -Municipal Galleries in the Washington Irving Building, of New York. Mr. -Lewisohn has an office at 88 Fifth Avenue, but it was in the Municipal -Galleries that he gave out an account of his work in this field. - -“I don’t call myself an artist,” he began, with a deprecating smile. -He did not need to. There were the pictures. The subjects ran all -the way from the brown derby hat of commerce to the red, red rose of -the poets. And the unique feature of the work was the paper--plain -everyday blue-print paper, despised by many amateurs and beloved to -the housewife who can make prints of her baby out the kitchen window -while she is ironing and wash them in the sink--and that’s all. That -isn’t quite all of Mr. Lewisohn’s process, but it begins that way. It -proceeds by a series of color washes. The process is patented, but -there is nothing complicated about it. Simply reverse the laundry -method--instead of washing color off, wash it on. - -“This isn’t real color photography,” admitted Mr. Lewisohn frankly. -“That has not come yet. Some people say it never will.” - -Most of the color photographs taken so far end in the glass negative, -and even that has its weak points. The ideal is a negative that will -give a print in the actual colors of nature. In most of the so-called -photographic color prints there is more or less failure in the blending -of tones. There are no such crude greens or muddy pinks in these -prints. The delicate shadings of flower petals are perfectly rendered. -A gas flame burns up so brightly one could almost read by it. - -“I took a picture of the eclipse of the sun once,” remarked Mr. -Lewisohn. He turns his camera on everything in earth or sky--a box of -matches, a bronze statuette, sunset clouds. - -“Every man ought to have a hobby,” he said. “This is mine--just now. -Some time I’ll change it. I studied engineering over in Europe. -Electricity is wonderfully interesting.” - -When he was asked if the ordinary snapshot artist could hope to use his -process, Mr. Lewisohn said that undoubtedly he could. No commercial -use has been made of it, but that will come in time. The work so far -has been carried forward because it interested the inventor. He has -been experimenting for years, and his process has been commented on -favorably by European authorities. He has written something about it -for the 1915 “American Annual of Photography.” - - -To Absorb Stray Shocks. - -As a result of the death of Edward Ligouri from electric shock, the New -Haven Railroad has installed an aërial safety device on its overhead -high-tension electric system to take up any stray electric current. - -Ligouri was fatally shocked while boarding an electric train at the -Glenbrook station on the New Canaan branch. - -Coroner Phelan rendered a verdict that death was due to electricity -diverted from its fixed pathway by the unfastening of copper-rail bond -wires. - - -Bowery Minstrel Dies. - -The Minstrel of the Bowery, in New York, is dead! - -The sweetest singer that ever entertained the men of the fifteen-cent -lodging houses and the five-cent eating places died with the echo of -his own singing, and just as he heard a dozen men burst into applause -in the saloon at 28 Bowery. And the Bowery is sad. The Bowery is -puzzled, too, for their minstrel was a man of mystery, an English -remittance man, and now his identity will never be revealed. - -“John Sullivan, forty years old, an actor, no home, dropped dead from -heart disease” is the way the police slip tells the story. Back of -that simple statement is the shadow of fourteen years’ exile from home -and kin, of as many years spent in cheering the unlovely hours of the -outcasts that drift to the Bowery as a magnet to the steel. - -When “John Sullivan” came to the Bowery fourteen years ago, his manner -and voice puzzled all those he met, and it was whispered about that he -was the son of an English earl. He drank, and drank steadily, but that -magnificent voice of his and the ability of those long fingers to wield -ivory piano keys so eloquently that their message reached the heart of -every man who heard him, soon made him known and greatly admired. He -wandered from saloon to saloon, from lunch stand to lunch stand during -those years, pausing in each to sing and play--and to take a drink or -two. - -From England occasionally came letters, and then John Sullivan would -abandon his singing for a time and invite all his friends to drink at -his expense. When his prosperity ended, he would return to the singing. - -In the pockets of the dead man there were a laundry check, a memorandum -book that was unmarked, and--prayer beads, to which were affixed a -cross. Nothing was there to reveal his identity. No money was there to -pay burial expenses. - -The body was removed to the morgue from the back room in the saloon, -where he sang his last song, but later on, when news of his death -spread up and down the Bowery, there was talk of saving the singer from -a pauper’s grave. It was not long before a subscription list was made -up, and nickels and dimes began pouring in. - - -Save Thirty-nine After Four Days in Mine. - -Thirty-nine coal miners, alive and well, after being entombed for four -days and four nights, were found in the Number Three Mine of the New -River & Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Company, on Quinnimont Mountain, -near Layland, W. Va., where an explosion trapped 182 miners. - -Five of the rescued miners were able to walk out of the shaft -unassisted. - -News of the finding alive of these men after ninety bodies had been -recovered and all hope abandoned, spread like wildfire through the -mining camps, and hundreds flocked to the scene. - -Weakened by hunger, the five men who made their way out of the mine -told rescuers that they believed many more men were living in a remote -chamber. A crew equipped with oxygen helmets pushed its way toward that -point, and found thirty-four more. - - -Won’t Censor Mails to United States. - -Home Secretary McKenna in the English Parliament refused to indorse -a proposal to censor American mails. He said no reason existed for -such action, and it would impose a tremendous burden upon the staff of -censors. - -The suggestion came from a member who complained that Germany was -sending to New York pamphlets designed to injure the cause of the -Allies. The home secretary said he was positive that these pamphlets -would have no effect on American opinion. - - -Shanty De Luxe. - -What is to be probably the finest “shanty” ever erected in the -United States is being put up by Frederick L. Cranford, Inc., subway -contractor, at the southwest corner of City Hall Park, close to -Broadway, New York City. It is to have a height of three stories, the -first to form a sort of arcade to allow free passage for pedestrians -along the Mail Street sidewalk. The building will cover the entire -width of the broad sidewalk for a distance of seventy-five feet. - -Shanties of some sort are always erected by contractors on subway work, -and if this one had had to go up in some other place, it would have no -doubt resembled a real shanty on stilts by the time it was finished. -In this case, however, the public service commission required the -contractor to build an extra nice-looking structure, because of the -fact that it is located on the edge of the park and in front of City -Hall. The plans had to be approved by Park Commissioner Ward before the -work could be begun. - -“The shanty will be divided into two separate buildings,” said -a representative of the company to-day. “One side will serve as -headquarters for our field force, and the other as quarters for the -men engaged in tunnel work on the subway. The labor law requires, -you know, that where men are engaged in tunnel work rest quarters -must be provided for them. There will be wash rooms and lunch rooms, -with lockers, where the men may change their clothes on going to and -leaving work. The whole structure will cost from five to six thousand -dollars. The building will be painted an attractive color.” - -The pretentious shanty will serve only the tunnel men and the field -engineering force of the section of the new Interborough subway running -under the post office. This section begins at West Broadway and runs -through Park Place, under the post office, and through Beekman Street, -to William Street. This section will connect the new Seventh Avenue -subway with the tunnel under the East River to Clark Street, Brooklyn. -The contract price for this section is $1,571,363.50. It is the section -that was held up so long because of the opposition of Secretary of the -Treasury McAdoo to granting an easement for digging under the post -office. - - -152,000,000 Bushels of Wheat. - -The bureau of crop estimates, in Washington, says that the amount of -wheat on farms March 1st was about 152,903,000 bushels, or 17.2 per -cent of the 1914 crop, against 151,809,000 bushels, or 19.9 per cent of -the 1913 crop on farms March 1, 1914, and 156,483,000 bushels, or 21.4 -per cent of the 1912 crop on farms March 1, 1913. About 60.7 per cent -of the crop will be shipped out of the counties where grown, against -53.9 per cent of the 1913 crop, and 61.6 per cent of the 1912 crop so -shipped. - -The amount of corn on farms March 1st was about 910,894,000 bushels, or -34.1 per cent of the 1914 crop, as against 866,392,000 bushels, or 35.4 -per cent of the 1913 crop on farms March 1, 1914, and 1,289,655,000 -bushels, or 43.3 per cent of the 1912 crop on farms March 1, 1913. -About 18.6 per cent of the crop will be shipped out of the counties -where grown. The percentage of the crop merchantable is about 84.5 per -cent. - -The amount of oats on farms on March 1st was about 359,369,000 bushels, -or 33.2 per cent of the 1914 crop, against 419,476,000 bushels, or 37.4 -per cent of the 1913 crop. About 29.4 per cent of the crop will be -shipped out of the counties where grown. - -The amount of barley on farms on March 1st was about 42,899,000 -bushels, or 22 per cent of the 1914 crop, against 44,126,000 bushels, -or 24.8 per cent of the 1913 crop on farms on March 1, 1914. About 45.1 -per cent will be shipped out of the counties where grown. - - -Aviator and His Prisoner Fought 3,000 Feet in Air. - -For the first time in history a prisoner of war has been transported -by aëroplane. Warsaw dispatches carried the news to the Russian war -office, in Petrograd, with the recommendation that Terenti Paschaloff, -Russian aviator, be awarded a medal for unprecedented daring. - -Reconnoitering with his mechanician, Paschaloff was forced to descend -inside the enemy’s lines in southwest Poland because of engine -trouble. An Austrian patrol surprised him while he was making repairs. -Paschaloff turned his machine gun upon the enemy, killing five. - -The sixth member of the patrol was captured by the mechanician. -Paschaloff removed his belt, forced the Austrian to seat himself on -the frame of the biplane, and tied his hands around one of the wire -uprights. Then he started to return to the Russian lines. - -Crossing the Austrian lines, the aviator was subjected to heavy rifle -fire. The prisoner managed to loosen his bonds and attempted to tear -the levers from Paschaloff’s grasp and dash the machine to earth. -Paschaloff turned the levers over to his mechanician. Three thousand -feet aboveground, with gusts of wind tilting the biplane perilously, -Austrian and Russian grappled behind the pilot’s seat. - -Paschaloff seized a wrench and dealt his opponent a heavy blow on the -head, stunning him. The Austrian was again strapped to the machine and -brought safely into the Russian camp. - - -Girl, Blind for Twenty-one Years, Sees Wonders of Big City. - -Miss Maud Emerson Lincoln, of Marblehead, Mass., whose sight recently -came to her in a sudden manner after she had been almost totally blind -from her birth, recently saw Boston for the first time. - -She came from her home in the old Judge Nathan Bowen place on Market -Square, Marblehead, to the city with her mother, Mrs. William F. -Lincoln, and her eyes were to be given a thorough examination by Doctor -Henry Hawkins at his office, 397 Marlboro Street. Doctor Hawkins has -never seen the young woman, but he has records of her case which he -received from Doctor Francis I. Proctor. The records are not complete, -and Doctor Hawkins said he did not wish to express a medical opinion on -the case until he had seen the young woman. - -Doctor Hawkins is assistant ophthalmologist at the Perkins Institute, -but Miss Lincoln has not been a student there for the past six years. - -At the time Doctor Proctor was ophthalmological surgeon at the -institute, he got some of the records of the case, which he handed over -to Doctor Hawkins. - -Miss Lincoln said that she was feeling fine, and as the nervous -condition which followed the coming of sight has practically passed -away, she is eager to begin life anew. She wants to do so many things, -she does not know where to begin, but most of all, her parents say, she -wants to learn, and if Doctor Hawkins thinks it advisable, she will -probably take up studies at once. - -Heavily veiled, she attended Sunday school yesterday at the First -Baptist Church, in Marblehead, where she is a member of Mrs. Gertrude -Dennis’ class. She spent the rest of the day at home and retired early, -to be ready for her trip to Boston to-day. - -“I rather dread to go,” said Miss Lincoln. “There will be so many -people, and so many things to look at, I think I shall be afraid. But -if I can get rid of that feeling of fear, I know I shall enjoy it.” - -Miss Lincoln saw her own picture for the first time in the papers -to-day, and was delighted with it. - -Practically blind from her birth, twenty-one years she now sees -clearly. In an instant one afternoon, as she was about household -duties, this seeming miracle came. With a snap the covering was rent -from the right eye as she was putting dishes in the china closet. - -Two days later, in the evening, as she sat with her parents, the other -eye was uncovered, and sight was given to it. - -“I went to the closet to put up some dishes,” she said. “Of course, -there was no light in the closet and it all looked dark to me. The top -of my head did not feel good. It hurt. It was as heavy as--as a load of -bricks. That’s just the way it felt. I reached up with the dishes. Then -suddenly something snapped in my right eye. That is the only way I can -describe it--like that.” - -And she snapped her fingers. - -“Then,” she said, “everything seemed all light to me and brightness. I -did not know what to make of it. I could not realize what had happened. -I looked around the room. I ran and looked out the window. And I could -see.” - -“She went out with me the other evening, heavily veiled,” said Mrs. -Lincoln. “We passed a boy leading a man. I said nothing, thinking I -would not call her attention to it. - -“‘Mother,’ she said, ‘was that boy leading the man?’ - -“‘Yes,’ I replied. - -“‘Oh, the man is blind?’ she asked again. And I told her he was. She -paused a moment, then said: ‘What a pity.’” - -Miss Lincoln is tall, slender, and fair-haired. Her eyes are blue, like -those of her parents. She had on a gown of deep red, with little black -bows on it, and she talked entertainingly and always she laughs with -joy at her “miracle.” - -“Maud was born on April twenty-second, eighteen-ninety-four,” said Mrs. -Lincoln. - -“She was twenty-one this month. She was born blind. We did not realize -at once that she could not and might never see. Her eyes had the -appearance of eyes which have cataract. There seemed to be a thin, -white, opaque substance over the pupils. - -“No one seemed to know what the matter was. But she grew up blind. When -she was nine years old we sent her to the Perkins Institute for the -Blind, and she was there nine years and received an education. Then we -took her home, and she has lived here since, helping me as she could. -When she was examined by Doctor P. I. Perkins at the Perkins Institute, -six years ago, he told her never to have anything done to her eyes, -never to put anything in them, that some day she would see--and he was -right.” - - -Brave Third Rail to Save Women. - -Fifteen terrified women and thirty-five men who had been shaken when -an elevated train jumped the tracks on the Brooklyn Bridge were forced -to climb over the third rail, two feet of open space, through which -they might have dropped 120 feet to the East River, an iron latticework -three feet high, and another two-foot open space to safety early -to-day. Policemen aided them, but had one made a misstep, death would -have been inevitable. - -Three cars were in the New York train, which was in charge of Motorman -Scott and Conductor Nicholas Castanz. The train went off the track -almost in the center of the bridge. The rear trucks of the middle -car were the first to jump, and as they bumped and jerked along the -ties, the fifty passengers were thrown into a condition neighboring -on hysteria. The motorman applied the brakes, and all were jostled -severely before the train came to a stop. - -A wait of half an hour, with the cold river gleaming below, brought -Policeman Beatty to the scene. He summoned other patrolmen. - -The rescue work began with Beatty standing with one foot on the -covering of the third rail and the other against the latticework. -Directly beneath him was the opening that showed the waiting river. One -by one the women were swung across from the conductor to him, and from -him to other policemen. Then the men came. Traffic was tied up for two -hours. - - - - -[Illustration: Tobacco Habit _BANISHED in 48 to 72 Hours_ - - -Immediate Results - -Trying to quit the tobacco habit unaided is a losing fight against -heavy odds, and means a serious shock to your nervous system. So don’t -try it! Make the tobacco habit quit you. It will quit you if you will -just take Tobacco Redeemer according to directions. - -It doesn’t make a particle of difference whether you’ve been a user of -tobacco for a single month or for 50 years, or how much you use, or -in what form you use it. Whether you smoke cigars, cigarettes, pipe, -chew plug or fine cut or use snuff =Tobacco Redeemer= will positively -remove all craving for tobacco in any form in from 48 to 72 hours. -Your tobacco craving will begin to decrease after the very first -dose--there’s no long waiting for results. - -=Tobacco Redeemer= is absolutely harmless and contains no habit-forming -drugs of any kind--the most marvelously quick and thoroughly reliable -remedy for the tobacco habit the world has ever known. - - -Not a Substitute - -=Tobacco Redeemer= is in no sense a substitute for tobacco, but is a -radical, efficient treatment. After finishing the treatment you have -absolutely no desire to use tobacco again or to continue the use of the -remedy. It quiets the nerves, and will make you feel better in every -way. If you really want to quit the tobacco habit--get rid of it so -completely that when you see others using it, it will not awaken the -slightest desire in you--you should at once begin a course of =Tobacco -Redeemer= treatment for the habit. - - -Results Absolutely Guaranteed - -A single trial will convince the most skeptical. Our legal, binding, -money-back guarantee goes with each full treatment. If =Tobacco -Redeemer= fails to banish the tobacco habit when taken according to the -plain and easy directions, your money will be cheerfully refunded upon -demand. - - -Let Us Send You Convincing Proof - -If you’re a slave of the tobacco habit and want to find a sure, quick -way of quitting “for keeps” you owe it to yourself and to your family -to mail the coupon below or send your name and address on a postal and -receive our free booklet on the deadly effect of tobacco on the human -system, and positive proof that =Tobacco Redeemer= will quickly free -you from the habit. - - - Newell Pharmacal Company - Dept. 335, St. Louis, Mo. - - -TOBACCO REDEEMER - - _Mail Coupon NOW - for FREE Booklet_ - - - NEWELL PHARMACAL Co., - Dept. 335, St. Louis, Mo. - -Please send, without obligating me in any way, your free booklet -regarding the tobacco habit and proof that =Tobacco Redeemer= will -positively free me from the tobacco habit. - - Name ......................................... - Street and No. ............................... - Town ................... State ............... -] - - - - -Transcriber’s Note - - -Text in _italics_ is indicated by underscores, and text in =bold= -is indicated by equals signs. - -This book is in the public domain in the country of publication. - -Clear printer’s errors and typos have been silently corrected; -otherwise, the text is as far as possible presented as printed. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEAL OF GIJON *** - -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:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Seal of Gijon</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0;'>Or, Nick Carter’S Ice-House Fight</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: December 21, 2021 [eBook #66986]</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, Thomas Frost 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 SEAL OF GIJON ***</div> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="cover" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <p class="nobreak"> - <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="ph1large center"><b>NICK CARTER<br/> -STORIES</b></p> - -<hr class="full" style="margin-bottom:0em"/> - -<p class="center"> <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.<br/> - -Copyright, 1915, by</i> -<span class="smcap">Street & Smith</span>. <i>O. G. Smith and G. C. -Smith, Proprietors.</i></p> - - -<table style="width:100%" class="tb"> -<tr> -<td class="tb tdc" style="width:50%"> - <b>Terms to NICK CARTER STORIES Mail Subscribers.</b><br/> - (<i>Postage Free.</i>)<br/> - <b>Single Copies or Back Numbers, 5c. Each.</b> - <table> - <tr> - <td>3 months</td> - <td>65c.</td> - <td></td> - <td>One year</td> - <td>$2.50</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>4 months</td> - <td>85c.</td> - <td></td> - <td>2 copies one year</td> - <td>4.00</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>6 months</td> - <td>$1.25</td> - <td></td> - <td>1 copy two years</td> - <td>4.00</td> - </tr> - </table> -</td> -<td class="tb" style="width:50%"> -<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.<br/> - -<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. -</td></tr></table> - - -<table style="width:100%" class="tdc tlarge"><tr> -<td style="width:33.3%"><b>No. 137.</b></td> -<td style="width:33.3%">NEW YORK, April 24, 1915.</td> -<td style="width:33.3%"><b>Price Five Cents.</b></td> -</tr></table> - -<hr class="full p0"/> - -<h1>THE SEAL OF GIJON;<br/> - -<span><b>Or, NICK CARTER’S ICE-HOUSE FIGHT.</b></span></h1> - -<p class="center plarge1 p2"><b>Edited by CHICKERING CARTER.</b></p> - -<hr class="full"/> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>Contents</h2> -</div> - -<p class="center"> -<a href="#Seal_of_Gijon">The Seal of Gijon</a><br /> - -<a href="#Dared_for_Los_Angeles">Dared for Los Angeles</a><br/> - -<a href="#A_PET_FOR_THE_CHILDREN">A Pet for the Children</a><br/> - -<a href="#A_Cat_That_Saved">A Cat That Saved a Man's Life</a><br/> - -<a href="#Student_Life_In_Russia">Student Life in Russia</a><br/> - -<a href="#A_Beautiful_Swiss_Custom">A Beautiful Swiss Custom</a><br/> - -<a href="#Undesirable_Room">Undesirable Room</a><br/> - -<a href="#THE_NEWS_OF_ALL_NATIONS">The News of All Nations</a><br/> - -<a href="#Advert">Advertisement: Tobacco Redeemer</a><br/> - -</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="Seal_of_Gijon">CHAPTER I.<br/> -<span class="ph5">SLIPPED AWAY.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>“Look out! You’ll run us down!”</p> - -<p>The response was a growling oath, as the heavy launch -came on, full speed, straight across the river.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter, sitting at the wheel of another craft of -the same type, saw the danger, even before his assistant -shouted this warning.</p> - -<p>“Keep quiet, Chick!” he ordered, in his calm tones. “I’ll -make it!”</p> - -<p>The famous detective had handled motor boats before, -and he knew he could dodge the erratic craft cutting -across his bows, unless the other man changed his course -at the crucial moment.</p> - -<p>They were abreast of Yonkers, and at that point the -lordly Hudson is swift, as well as wide.</p> - -<p>The launch coming across the river had suddenly appeared -from the shadow of the Palisades, apparently bound -straight for the busy city on the opposite shore.</p> - -<p>In it were three men.</p> - -<p>The one at the wheel, who appeared to be in general -command, had a square, bulldog sort of face, with heavy -jaw, outstanding ears, and other features that make more -for physical determination than beauty.</p> - -<p>Another man, who scowled at Nick Carter and Chick -with an evil intentness that made the latter long to jump -on him and have it out there and then, sat in the stern -and whispered something in the ear of the engineer.</p> - -<p>This second man was lean of face and evidently long -of body. He had deep-set, unwinking eyes, and a square -face at the bottom which suggested that he was at enmity -with most of his kind.</p> - -<p>With it all, there was a restless cunning in the far-buried -eyes which made him even more unpleasant to contemplate -than the man to whom he was whispering.</p> - -<p>As if to counterbalance to some extent the preponderance -of brutal humanity in the launch, the third passenger -was a rather small, slight young man, who looked -hardly old enough to vote. His face was pale and his -eyes had a gentle, appealing expression, almost like that -of a very innocent, unsophisticated girl.</p> - -<p>Appearances are deceitful very often. So let it be stated -at once that this gentle young fellow, barely out of his -teens, and whose voice was as mild as his looks, was none -other than Pet Carlin, one of the cruelest, most unscrupulous -gangsters in New York City.</p> - -<p>Carlin’s name was supposed to be Peter. That had been -shortened by his associates to “Pete.” Afterward the -final “e” had been clipped off, because of his inoffensive -appearance and manner, and he was known as “Pet.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter shut off his power, and manipulated the -wheel carefully, as he saw that the man in the other boat -was recklessly driving straight toward him.</p> - -<p>There was only a narrow margin for the two launches -to pass each other, but it would have been done successfully -had not the stranger deliberately turned his wheel -just as Nick Carter was gliding past in safety by the most -skillful management of his helm.</p> - -<p>“Larry!” exclaimed Pet, in a startled tone.</p> - -<p>He was staring hard at the two passengers in Nick Carter’s -boat—two men who wore handcuffs on their wrists—and -a quick look of recognition had passed back to him.</p> - -<p>“What?” growled the man at the wheel, Larry Dugan. -“What’s biting yer, Pet?”</p> - -<p>“Look!”</p> - -<p>All three of the men in the launch gazed at the two -handcuffed men, and all three expressed their astonishment -in low grunts.</p> - -<p>“Get ’em!” whispered the man behind the steersman—he -of the deep-set, cunning eyes. “We’ve got to do it!”</p> - -<p>It was just as this was said that the collision came.</p> - -<p>The launch coming across the river headed straight for -the middle of the other. Only because Nick Carter swung<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> -his wheel around, thus receiving a glancing blow, instead -of one head-on, was his boat saved from being cut in -two.</p> - -<p>As it was, the two launches hung motionless for a moment, -as two men might before they fell after receiving -a mortal blow.</p> - -<p>Then, as Nick gave another quick turn to his wheel, -and at the same time opened the throttle, he slid past the -other launch and was free, in the open water.</p> - -<p>It was only for a moment, however.</p> - -<p>The detective had seen, at the first glance, that the -launch occupied by the three forbidding-looking men was -superior to his own in the case with which it could be -manipulated.</p> - -<p>It was narrower in the beam, and the engine was more -powerful. Besides, it answered to its helm more smoothly -and promptly than his own.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, as Nick Carter, in that short instant, managed -to get a full view of the faces of the men, he recognized -them all. Also, he saw that they knew his two -handcuffed passengers.</p> - -<p>Further proof of this came at once, when, as Nick -swung his launch clear, the man at the wheel of the other -boat, with a snarl, twisted his wheel and again brought -the two launches against each other, parallel, with a -crash.</p> - -<p>“Look out, Chick! Hold the gunwale of that other -boat!” shouted Nick Carter. “Don’t let them get away!”</p> - -<p>“I should say not!” was Chick’s response. “Don’t you -see who they are?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I do!” shouted back Nick Carter. “That -fellow at the wheel is Larry Dugan.”</p> - -<p>The detective had seen that three of the worst ruffians -in New York—men who could be hired to beat, or -even kill, a man, for pay—were in the launch, and he -could not keep a horrible suspicion out of his mind which -implicated Don Solado and Prince Miguel, his two handcuffed -prisoners.</p> - -<p>It was Nick Carter’s determination now to catch the -three thugs. He had little doubt that they had been -hired by Solado and Miguel to make away with a man -they wanted to keep out of sight, for a time at least.</p> - -<p>The man’s name was Prince Marcos.</p> - -<p>In this supposition he was right. But he did not give -the rascals credit for quite so much audacity as they -possessed.</p> - -<p>As Nick reached over the sides of the two launches -which were rubbing against each other, and grabbed the -man nearest to him, who happened to be Pet Carlin, there -was a loud shout from Chick.</p> - -<p>“Look out, chief! They’re getting our men!”</p> - -<p>The launches sprang violently apart, and Nick was -obliged to let go of Pet to save himself from going overboard.</p> - -<p>With his throttle wide open, sending the boat along at -full speed, Nick swung around in pursuit of the other -craft.</p> - -<p>He had special reason to do this now, for, as Chick -had warned him, the trio of ruffians had actually snatched -away Don Solado and Prince Miguel, his handcuffed -prisoners, under his very nose.</p> - -<p>Only the fact that Nick had been hampered by his position -at the wheel and the levers of the engine had enabled -the rascals to be successful.</p> - -<p>It was impossible for the detectives to move quickly—even -if it had been safe to leave the launch to its own -devices. He was obliged to keep his hand on the steering -wheel, and to see that the engine was not running wild.</p> - -<p>Larry Dugan, Foxey, and Pet all understood this, and -they had taken instant advantage of the odds in their -favor.</p> - -<p>Pulling the two prisoners from one boat to the other, -they had allowed them to lie down in the bottom, while -Dugan, with a skill equal to Nick Carter’s own, had sent -his launch full speed toward the wharves and tangle of -shipping that one always sees on the water front of -Yonkers.</p> - -<p>It was the multitude of craft of all kinds hiding the -wharves that gave the three thugs their advantage.</p> - -<p>Larry Dugan was unusually skillful in handling the -launch, and he had a long start of Nick Carter before -the latter could get his launch around, headed for shore.</p> - -<p>It was broad daylight, but there was a bone-racking fog -on the river, and it hid the escaping boat even as it plunged -in among the anchored shipping and big lumber barges -that stretched for a quarter of a mile, at least.</p> - -<p>“They can’t be far away,” said Nick, as he pushed his -launch along. “Keep a bright lookout, Chick!”</p> - -<p>“All right!”</p> - -<p>But the rascals knew this part of the river and the -peculiarities of the water front of Yonkers as well as did -Nick Carter, and they got clear away.</p> - -<p>The fog helped them materially. They might never have -dodged the pursuing boat otherwise.</p> - -<p>The detective also knew Yonkers. But, because he did -know it, he was quite aware that it would not be so very -difficult for Larry Dugan to elude him, especially with the -fog to help.</p> - -<p>“They’ve beaten us, chief!” grumbled Chick, a quarter -of an hour later. “They’ve gone along inside this line of -barges and shot out at the end. While we have been -poking about here, they’ve headed down the river.”</p> - -<p>“I think you’re right, Chick,” conceded Nick. “They’d -hardly go up the river, of course. Well, we’ll go down, -too. We’ve lost our prisoners, but I don’t care so much -for that if they don’t get hold of Prince Marcos.”</p> - -<p>“What is all this about Prince Marcos?” asked Chick. -“I don’t think I have ever got the story straight, in spite -of all I’ve heard.”</p> - -<p>“It can be told in a few words,” answered Nick. “Prince -Marcos is the hereditary ruler of Joyalita, a small monarchy -near the Caribbean Sea. He is a decent fellow, from -all I’ve seen of him.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I understand that,” was Chick’s quiet comment.</p> - -<p>“Well, there is a party of grafters in Joyalita who -would like the country, such as it is, to be annexed to -another one adjoining. That would probably throw Prince -Marcos out, and his Cousin Miguel who has just got away -from us on that boat, would be made provisional ruler.”</p> - -<p>“I see. Miguel would get Marcos’ job. But what is -this about Marcos wanting to get home by the eighteenth?”</p> - -<p>“If he gets to Joyalita on or before that date, he will -be able to use his power to prevent the annexation.”</p> - -<p>“By a casting vote?” asked Chick.</p> - -<p>“No. As head of the country and government, he won’t -have to vote. His word controls the situation.”</p> - -<p>“What they call a royal prerogative in Europe, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“And this other citizen in the handcuffs, Don Solado—where -does he come in?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> - -<p>“He is prime minister, and he is on the side of Miguel.”</p> - -<p>“It’s all clear enough to me now,” remarked Chick. -“Don Solado and Miguel are trying to hold Marcos here -till it will be too late for him to stop this big grafting -annexation?”</p> - -<p>“Exactly! We shall have to work like Trojans now to -enable Marcos to win. I’ve pledged myself to do it, however, -and we shall have to manage it, somehow,” was Nick -Carter’s steady conclusion, as he turned the launch downstream. -“We have Larry Dugan and his crowd against -us, as well as Solado and Miguel. That will make it -harder. But we can beat the gang if we stick to it.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll stick to it, all right!” responded Chick, with that -determined note in his voice which his chief knew meant -business.</p> - -<p>“That’s what I like to hear, Chick. It won’t be an easy -task, but we have simply got to get Prince Marcos to -Joyalita by the eighteenth of this month.”</p> - -<p>“You bet!” added Chick.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br/> -<span class="ph5">SECRET FOES AT WORK.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>In spite of the sharp lookout maintained by Nick Carter -and his assistant for the launch with the five rascals -in it all the way down to that upper part of Manhattan -Island where New York City has reached only to give -certain favored persons semirural homes, they saw nothing -of the evil-faced Larry Dugan and his companions.</p> - -<p>“There’s Crownledge,” pointed out Chick, as they came -opposite the handsome house, in its own grounds, which -Marcos and his mother had taken for a temporary residence.</p> - -<p>The launch ran up to the landing, and Nick Carter, -leaving his assistant to take care of the boat, went into -the house.</p> - -<p>He was met at the door by Claudia Solado, Marcos’ -cousin. The girl was delighted to see the detective.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Carter, I am so glad you have come,” she said, as -she put her soft hand into his. “Marcos wants to start -for Joyalita at once, and, really, he is not well enough. -After all he passed through in escaping from Prince Miguel -and my uncle, and being so nearly drowned, he is weak -and feverish. I am sure that if he will stay in the house -until to-morrow morning, he will be so much better that -there will be no danger.”</p> - -<p>“You have not seen Don Solado, your uncle, or Prince -Miguel, near Crownledge this morning, have you?” he -asked.</p> - -<p>“No. The last I saw of them was when you saved -Marcos from drowning and allowed those two men to capture -you to save him.”</p> - -<p>“That didn’t hurt me much, you see,” laughed Nick -Carter. “They seemed to think they could hold me on that -hired yacht of theirs up the river. But I got the better -of them. If I had not, probably I should not be here -now.”</p> - -<p>“Where are they?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. But so long as they are not bothering -Marcos, I don’t think we need care. Where is the -prince?”</p> - -<p>“In the library.”</p> - -<p>“May I see him?”</p> - -<p>“Of course. He is anxious for you to go in. He saw -you through the window, coming up from the river.”</p> - -<p>Marcos was a well-built, robust young man at ordinary -times. But he did not look robust just now. His face -was pale and his movements lacked their usual resiliency.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding all this, his resemblance to Nick Carter -was startling. The features were alike, and even the -poise of the head, the set of the shoulders, and the general -attitude, were identical.</p> - -<p>“This is a pleasure, Mr. Carter!”</p> - -<p>As Prince Marcos said this, the girl actually looked -closely at her cousin to make sure that he was speaking, -and not the detective.</p> - -<p>“Glad to see you are all right, sir,” returned Carter. -“You’ll pardon my not calling you ‘your highness,’ will -you not? In the first place, I do not think it would be -wise for you to use your title while in New York, and -then again I must confess it is much easier to me to -speak as if you were an ordinary American or Englishman.”</p> - -<p>“Quite right, my dear Carter!” returned Marcos heartily. -“I wish you would address me as plain Mr. Joyal. That -will suggest my country to me, and the name does not -smell of royalty, does it?”</p> - -<p>He asked this with a naïveté that pleased the detective. -There was no nonsense about Marcos.</p> - -<p>“Very well, Mr. Joyal. That shall be your name hereafter. -Where is your valet?”</p> - -<p>“He is here. In the adjoining room. Phillips!”</p> - -<p>As he called this name, Phillips came in, a tall, quiet-mannered -young man in a plain business suit. He did not -look like a valet. It was part of his latest instructions -from his employer that he should not appear to be what -he was. Marcos had wisely come to the conclusion -that there must not be any suggestion of royalty about -him or his entourage if he meant to get back in safety to -his own realm within the time limit.</p> - -<p>“You were hurt by those men who stole Prince Marcos—I -mean, Mr. Joyal—from Crownledge, the night before last, -were you not?” asked Nick Carter.</p> - -<p>“Yes. But I am quite well now,” answered Phillips composedly.</p> - -<p>“I am glad to hear it. Mr. Joyal may need your help. -He will be starting for Joyalita to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Very good, sir.”</p> - -<p>Phillips would have said “Very good!” if he had been -told that he was to be led to execution that night, or if -it had been decided to make him Prince of Joyalita. Which -is by way of saying that he was a perfectly trained man-servant -of the European type. Impassiveness was his -trade-mark.</p> - -<p>He withdrew now, without another word.</p> - -<p>“My mother is at Newport, visiting friends, and desires -to stay there for a month,” remarked Marcos. “After -that she will spend another month or two in this country. -I am glad of it.”</p> - -<p>“So am I,” said Nick Carter quietly. “It is better for -the party that goes to Joyalita to be as small and unobtrusive -as possible.”</p> - -<p>“Is it necessary to wait until to-night before Marcos -goes?” asked Claudia. “Don’t you think it will be dangerous -for him to remain in New York all day?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think so. But there would be some likelihood -of the enemy spying out our doings in the daylight. We -must get away without any brass-band accompaniment.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know where my Uncle Solado is now?” asked -the girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span></p> - -<p>“I do not,” replied the detective.</p> - -<p>This was the absolute truth. He did not know. He -could have told how Solado and Miguel had been dragged -away by Larry Dugan and his two fellow ruffians and -carried off in a power launch. But that would only have -led to more questioning, which he did not want.</p> - -<p>“What time should we start?” asked Marcos.</p> - -<p>“Not before nine o’clock,” replied the detective decidedly. -“It will be quite dark by that time, and we shall have -a chance to slip away without being noticed.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose that is the better plan,” assented Marcos. -“It will seem like a long day, however.”</p> - -<p>“All the better,” rejoined Nick. “You need a rest. -These four hours may do you a world of good.”</p> - -<p>“You will not remain with me, I suppose?”</p> - -<p>“I want to go down to my home to look after my mail -and so on. But I will come back early in the afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“You have not had breakfast yet, have you?”</p> - -<p>“I shall breakfast at home, with my assistant. And, by -the way, he is waiting for me down by the river. Before -I go, there is one thing I want to speak about. The -other night, at the ball in the Hotel Supremacy, there came -into my possession, in a curious way, a valuable jewel-incrusted -watch, on which was the letter ‘M’ in diamonds, -and——”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Carter!” interrupted Marcos eagerly. “Have you -that watch still? Can you get it?”</p> - -<p>“The watch is in my safe. I intend to bring it to -you to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Can you? Can you?” cried Marcos excitedly. “That -watch means so much to me. It is more than a mere -timekeeper or ornament. It is bound up in the destinies -of the ruling house of Joyalita. I cannot tell you how -important it is. The watch, with the fob attached, is -known as the Seal of Gijon.”</p> - -<p>“The watch shall be restored to you when I come back -this afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“You found it, you say?”</p> - -<p>“At the Hotel Supremacy. It is claimed by Prince -Miguel, your cousin,” returned Nick Carter. “Mrs. van -Raikes, who gave the ball at the hotel that night, enlisted -my services to find the watch. I had it then, but I did -not say so. I was sure that there was a significance attached -to it which required that it should not be lightly -passed along without my being sure that it did not get -into improper hands.”</p> - -<p>“As a matter of fact, Mr. Carter, I may as well tell -you that that watch is the insignia of the ruler of Joyalita. -It has the character of the great seal used in most -monarchies. I did not take it to the Hotel Supremacy -that night. In fact, I never have been in the hotel at any -time. It could have been taken there only by my cousin, -Prince Miguel.”</p> - -<p>“How did he get it?”</p> - -<p>“It disappeared from my desk, where I had it in a secret -drawer.”</p> - -<p>“Who knew of that secret drawer besides yourself?”</p> - -<p>“No one that I know of.”</p> - -<p>“Phillips?”</p> - -<p>“Phillips is above suspicion,” returned Marcos coldly.</p> - -<p>“No doubt. But did he know of the secret drawer?” -persisted Nick.</p> - -<p>“He did not. I am sure of it.”</p> - -<p>“What other servants have had access to your room?”</p> - -<p>“Only the maid who attended to the room, and she -never was long enough there to get at the drawer. Phillips -always makes it a point to go in and out of my apartment -at short intervals when any one is there doing work -of any kind.”</p> - -<p>“Hum!” was all Nick Carter replied to this. Adding: -“Don’t speak of what I have told you to anybody.”</p> - -<p>He went away, giving the assurance that he would return -in the afternoon, and, after telling Chick to come -home as soon as he had returned the boat to the man -from whom it had been hired, Joe Travers, he hustled -downtown as fast as a subway express could take him.</p> - -<p>After breakfast and a change of clothing, Nick Carter’s -first action was to look in his safe to make sure that -the jewel watch was safe.</p> - -<p>He took it out and looked at it. When he had examined -it for a few moments, he saw that there was a -spring, evidently intended to be secret, hidden beneath -the catch that opened the outer case.</p> - -<p>“I should like to know what that spring controls,” he -muttered, as he looked at the watch under a strong light -on his large library table. “But it is not my secret. If it -has any bearing on the attack of Solado and Miguel upon -Marcos, or if it was the principal inducement to Miguel to -steal the article, I may learn something about it later. -At all events, if there is anything more to interfere with -the departure of Marcos from New York, I will keep this -secret spring in mind.”</p> - -<p>The detective was accustomed to take clews wherever -he found them, and it was his experience that trifles like -this spring in the valuable watch often led to discoveries -very much worth while.</p> - -<p>He was still musing over the watch when his telephone -bell rang.</p> - -<p>Something seemed to tell him that there was a communication -of importance trembling on the wire, and he -responded with a sharp “Hello!”</p> - -<p>“This is Claudia,” was the response. “That you, Mr. -Carter?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. What is it, Miss Solado?”</p> - -<p>“Your assistant, Mr. Chickering Carter——”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes?” cried the detective, as the girl paused.</p> - -<p>“He has gone!”</p> - -<p>“Gone? Where?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell you everything on the telephone,” rejoined -the girl. “But if you will hurry up to Crownledge, you -will know what to do.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll come right away,” answered Nick. “But I wish -you’d tell me where my assistant was when he disappeared.”</p> - -<p>“There was a scuffle in the house, and when Phillips -and Jason went to see what it was all about, Mr. Chickering -had gone. Please hurry!”</p> - -<p>“I’ll come at once, of course—be with you in about -twenty minutes. But one more question. Who is Jason?”</p> - -<p>“Phillips’ assistant. The ‘second man,’ as they call him. -He is a chauffeur in Joyalita, but has not acted in that -capacity in New York.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Marcos’—I mean Mr. Joyal’s—servant, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Under Phillips.”</p> - -<p>“I understand,” replied Nick. “Good-by! I’ll soon be -with you.”</p> - -<p>“You will find me waiting for you,” was the girl’s -agitated answer.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br/> -<span class="ph5">NICK CARTER TASTES SALT.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>When Nick Carter dashed up to the front entrance of -Crownledge in his own big touring car, with Danny Maloney -at the wheel, he found Claudia Solado on the porch, -looking for him.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mr. Carter! I’m so glad you have come. He’s -gone!”</p> - -<p>“Who? My assistant?”</p> - -<p>“Marcos, my cousin.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean? That there have been two disappearances?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Did they go together?”</p> - -<p>“We don’t know.”</p> - -<p>“Where was Marcos when he vanished?”</p> - -<p>“The last seen of him was when he went into his -bedroom to lie down for a nap. He is not strong, and -Phillips advised him to take a sleep. He thought that -a good idea, and Phillips went with him. My cousin -leaned on his arm, and I noticed how pale and weak he -seemed as he left the library, where he had been sitting.”</p> - -<p>“What does Phillips say about the disappearance? How -long did he stay in the bedroom?”</p> - -<p>“Only while my cousin lay down on the outside of the -bed, with a quilt over him. Phillips put the quilt on, -saw that he was comfortable, and that the electric-bell -button, hanging loosely to a wire, was within reach of -his hand on the pillow, so that he could call any one -he might want without getting up. He told Jason to -look in now and then, without disturbing my cousin.”</p> - -<p>“Who is this Jason? Was he born in Joyalita?”</p> - -<p>“No. I think he came from New York about a year -ago,” replied the girl. “I am not sure. You know, English -is the tongue generally spoken in Joyalita, although -there is some little Spanish. Jason speaks English, but I -fancy I detect a certain twang that you hear from many -people in New York, especially those who were born -there.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll have Jason into the library and hear what he has -to say,” announced Nick, as he went into that room with -Claudia.</p> - -<p>“Jason has gone!”</p> - -<p>It was the cool voice of Phillips. He had heard the -conversation between Claudia and the detective, and had -followed them into the library.</p> - -<p>“Where’s he gone?” demanded Nick Carter.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, sir. I might say, if you please, that I -have not been quite satisfied with Jason since we have -been here,” ventured Phillips.</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“He has twice, to my knowledge, been away all night, -without any one knowing it but me. He seemed very -tired when he returned on both occasions. He told me -he had been sitting up with a friend of his who was -sick, and who lived downtown somewhere.”</p> - -<p>“Did you prove that to be untrue?” asked the detective.</p> - -<p>“No, sir. But I took the liberty of examining his trunk -one day when I had sent him on an errand that would keep -him away for two hours. In the trunk I found two -valuable watch movements——”</p> - -<p>“Watch movements?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. The cases were not there. Just the movements. -I was a watchmaker once, and I know the value -of such things, although they are not easily disposed of, -except to a watchmaker who might happen to want -them.”</p> - -<p>“I understand,” interrupted Nick. “What else did you -find in his trunk? Anything suspicious?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. There were two chisels, a pointed crowbar, or -‘jimmy,’ a pair of fine steel pliers, and an automatic -revolver.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder whether they are in his trunk now?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. I have looked in it, and there is nothing but -the ordinary clothing, and not much of that.”</p> - -<p>“He is in his regular livery, is he?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. He never wears that when he goes out on his -private business. Even the trousers he changes, although -there is nothing distinctive about them except a blue stripe -down the outside of each leg, which would hardly be seen -at night, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“How did you open the trunk? Wasn’t it locked?”</p> - -<p>“No. And that is where I look upon Jason as a man -of particular cunning,” replied Phillips. “He must have -found out that I had been examining his belongings—or -suspected it. So he had shut down the trunk, without -locking it, and put some of his clothes on top. That -would enable him to see if I disturbed anything.”</p> - -<p>“Not if you put them back the same way,” suggested -Nick. “You could do that, couldn’t you?”</p> - -<p>“I tried. But Jason is a cunning rascal, I’m afraid, -and he would be pretty sure to see that some one had -been at his trunk.”</p> - -<p>“If you think he is dishonest, why do you keep him -here? Mr. Joyal—the prince—would allow you to discharge -him if you thought it well to do so, wouldn’t -he?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. But I want to keep Jason till I can catch -him in the act. Then I may find out several things that -are distressing me. Mr.—er—Joyal has missed some -valuable property, and we think Jason is the man who -took it.”</p> - -<p>“What kind of property?”</p> - -<p>Phillips looked from side to side, as if to make sure -no one should overhear. Then he whispered:</p> - -<p>“The Seal of Gijon is gone.”</p> - -<p>“I have heard of it,” answered the detective. “It is a -jeweled watch, with a diamond-mounted fob.”</p> - -<p>“That’s it, sir,” nodded Phillips. “The prince—I mean, -Mr. Joyal—lost it several days ago. He is very anxious -about it.”</p> - -<p>“Does he suspect Jason?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. There would have been no use in telling -him that Jason was acting peculiarly until I had proof.”</p> - -<p>“What theory have you of the disappearance of Mr. -Joyal?” asked the detective, changing the subject abruptly.</p> - -<p>“None at all, sir. I can’t account for it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you keep a close watch around Crownledge. I -may be back here this evening.”</p> - -<p>“I hope you will find Mr. Joyal.”</p> - -<p>“I will try,” returned Nick, as he went out of the -room, with Claudia by his side.</p> - -<p>They walked to the front porch together. When Nick -Carter had thrown a glance around, to make sure they were -not followed, and that no one could overhear, he said to -the girl, in a low tone:</p> - -<p>“I wish you would stay at Crownledge for the remainder -of the day, if you can. Keep a watchful eye on everything. -It may be that Marcos has gone out for something<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> -that he thinks he should attend to promptly in his -own person, and that my assistant has gone with him as -a sort of bodyguard.”</p> - -<p>Claudia shook her head incredulously.</p> - -<p>“I can hardly think that. My cousin would most likely -have told me or Phillips, or both of us, if he had intended -to be away even for half an hour. Besides, he -was lying down when last seen by Phillips.”</p> - -<p>“Well, at all events, if you can stay here for the remainder -of the day, it may help us materially. I still -intend to leave here to-night with Marcos for Joyalita, if -possible. If not, we will go not later than to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know where Marcos is, then?”</p> - -<p>“I know where he may be,” answered Nick. “I am -going to see.”</p> - -<p>His touring car was still at the front steps. With a -smiling farewell and lifting of his hat to the girl, the detective -took his place in the car and directed Maloney to -take him home.</p> - -<p>When Nick Carter told Claudia that he knew where Marcos -might be, he was not speaking without reason. Nor -was his guess so wild as to be almost uncertainty.</p> - -<p>True, as he had come to his conclusion by a process -of induction only. But it was a process that had served -him well at every stage of his career, and he had the -faith in it that is based on proven tests.</p> - -<p>When he reached the porch of Crownledge with Claudia -Solado, and glanced around him, his eye lighted on a trifle -which his quick brain told him might not be such a trifle, -after all.</p> - -<p>Without the girl observing him, he stopped suddenly -and picked up a small cake of mud and grass that evidently -had dropped from somebody’s shoe. From the -shape of it, Nick knew that it had been wedged into the -instep of a rather large shoe which must have belonged -to a man.</p> - -<p>The mass of soil, with half a dozen clipped-off blades -of grass embedded in it, had filled all the space in the -instep between the heel and the beginning of the sole.</p> - -<p>When the detective picked it up, he held it carefully -in the fingers of his left hand, so that it should preserve -its shape until he was ready to examine it at his leisure. -He held his hand at his side, and the girl took no notice -of it.</p> - -<p>Until the car reached Madison Avenue, and he had told -Danny Maloney, the chauffeur, that he might want him -again at night, but that he need not stay any longer then, -Nick Carter contented himself with surveying his prize -casually as it lay flat on the palm of his hand.</p> - -<p>No sooner was he locked in his library, however, than -he closed the blinds, and, having lighted a cigar, turned -his strong incandescent light down upon his table.</p> - -<p>On a sheet of white paper he laid the mass of mud and -grass.</p> - -<p>It was nearly dry. Therefore, it was possible to handle -it without its losing its shape.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think I can be mistaken,” muttered Nick. “I -think I know this wiry grass too well, and this sandy mud -is of a kind that is not found in many places hereabouts. -However, I’ll look at it through my glass.”</p> - -<p>He took a very strong magnifying glass from his table -drawer and studied the mixture for nearly half a minute.</p> - -<p>As he put the glass down, a satisfied smile flickered -across his strong face.</p> - -<p>“There is just one more test,” he muttered. “Although -I believe it is superfluous. However, here goes.”</p> - -<p>He put the tuft of grass to his tongue.</p> - -<p>“I knew it,” was his soft exclamation. “Salt! It could -not be anything else.”</p> - -<p>He pressed a push button at the side of his table, and -then unfastened the door of the room. As he returned -to his seat, he puffed contentedly at his cigar, still regarding -the mud and tuft of grass on the white paper.</p> - -<p>“Want me, chief?”</p> - -<p>A young fellow, with the bright, alert expression on -his rather thin features that tells of an active brain, stood -in the doorway.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Patsy! Close the door and come over here.”</p> - -<p>The young man obeyed, and Nick Carter pointed to the -stuff on the paper on his table.</p> - -<p>“What’s that, Patsy?”</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan—for it was the trusted young assistant -of that name who had come in—bent closely over the -paper and studied the grass for a moment.</p> - -<p>“I should say it is salt meadow grass,” he answered.</p> - -<p>“Why do you think so?”</p> - -<p>“It is coarse, and there is a color to it you don’t see in -any other kind. If you’ll let me taste it, I can tell -you.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter laughed and drew several whiffs of smoke -from his cigar before he spoke again.</p> - -<p>“That’s just what I did, Patsy,” he said, at last. “Put -your tongue to it and let me know what you think.”</p> - -<p>Patsy lifted the paper and put out his tongue.</p> - -<p>“I should say so,” was his remark, as he replaced the -paper and its contents on the table. “Gee! You couldn’t -fool me on that. Where did you get it?”</p> - -<p>“Never mind about that, Patsy. Where do you suppose -this grass and mud came from?”</p> - -<p>“Hackensack meadows, of course! Have you been over -there?”</p> - -<p>“No. But the man from whose shoe this came must have -been. Look here Patsy! Chick has been taken away -against his will——”</p> - -<p>“What?” blurted out Patsy Garvan. “Chick? Say! Let -me——”</p> - -<p>“And one of the men who took him dropped this mud -and grass from his shoe.”</p> - -<p>“He did? Say, chief! We’re going after Chick right -away, ain’t we?”</p> - -<p>Patsy was on his feet, his fists clenched, and anger -blazing all over his face.</p> - -<p>He had a regard for Chick only second to that he felt -for Nick Carter himself. The thought of his chum being -held anywhere made him frantic.</p> - -<p>“Keep cool, Patsy! We’ll go, of course! But we’ll have -to be careful.”</p> - -<p>“How do you mean careful?”</p> - -<p>“This is the open season for duck hunting, and there -are any number of ducks over there, in the meadows.”</p> - -<p>“Sure! But I don’t quite get you? What do I care -for the darned ducks?”</p> - -<p>“Put on that leather coat you have,” directed Nick calmly. -“And your high boots, as well as your big corduroy cap. -Get your double-barreled gun and that string of wooden decoy -ducks we used down on the Chesapeake two years ago. -You have them, haven’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p> - -<p>“Very well. Don’t be more than ten minutes. Then -come down to the library again. I’m going to put on my -duck-hunting rig, too.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br/> -<span class="ph5">THE ICE HOUSE IN THE SWAMP.</span></h3> -</div> - -<p>It was hardly ten minutes later when Patsy came again -into the library. But, rapid as he had been in his movements, -he had not been able to beat his chief.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter was already in the room, dressed in about -the same kind of clothes as he had told his assistant -to put on. That is, he wore a heavy leather coat, with -pockets of various sizes all over it, a cap that hid most -of his face, and rubber boots which came up to his -hips.</p> - -<p>He carried a handsome repeating shotgun—light, but -deadly, in the hands of a sure shot like the detective.</p> - -<p>Glancing at himself in a mirror, Nick was satisfied that -he would not be easily recognized. To make sure, he put -on a heavy beard and mustache, with the result that he did -not look any more like the real Nick Carter, than he did -like Mrs. Pankhurst.</p> - -<p>“Keep your cap well down, Patsy,” he directed. “Your -face is not well known to these people we are going -after. But some of them may have seen you.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the plan of campaign?” asked Patsy, as they -crossed in a ferryboat to Hoboken.</p> - -<p>“That will develop as we go on,” replied Nick. “Here’s -a street car that will take us across the meadows—or as -far as we want to go.”</p> - -<p>The Hackensack meadows cover a very wide expanse -in New Jersey, a little way back from the bay and Hudson -River. They are called “meadows.” Really, they are -marshes over most of their extent, and duck shooting -and fishing are the uses most people make of them.</p> - -<p>There are solid spreads of ground here and there, and -several lines of railroad cross and recross them.</p> - -<p>As a rule, however, the meadows are decidedly sloppy, -and as the water that floods them comes from the sea, -everything is salt about them. The grass cut from these -meadows is used mainly for bedding for cattle. As fodder -it is useless.</p> - -<p>It was at a dreary, desolate spot in the middle of the -marshes that Nick Carter got off the car, with Patsy -Garvan, and waited in the road as the car went spinning -away farther into the back country.</p> - -<p>“We’ll get a boat here, Patsy,” said Nick.</p> - -<p>This was soon arranged. There was a boathouse close -by, and from it any one could hire a flat-bottomed rowboat, -warranted not to capsize easily, in which the occupant -could penetrate the high grass, and thus lie in wait -for ducks as long as suited him.</p> - -<p>He could fish, too, if he liked. There is a great deal -of fish in the waters of the meadows, and it is a favorite -resort for anglers, as well as duck hunters.</p> - -<p>It was a dull day, and there was a heavy fog. But that -was not enough to discourage an enthusiastic duck hunter, -as Nick remarked to the boat owner before they started.</p> - -<p>He did not tell that smiling individual that fog was -just what he wanted, although, if he had, he would have -been telling the exact truth.</p> - -<p>“Do you see that barn over there, Patsy?” he asked, -when they were well among the reeds and rushes. “It’s -a big one, over to the right.”</p> - -<p>“An ice house, isn’t it?” was Patsy’s response.</p> - -<p>“It was at one time, but it hasn’t been used for that -purpose lately. Do you see some smoke coming from the -chimney at this end?”</p> - -<p>“By jing! I do! Is there somebody living in there!”</p> - -<p>“I should say so, if there is a fire in the place. If I am -not much mistaken, we shall find certain gentlemen in -that building who know me. They may know you, too. -That I am not so sure about.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean that you think Chick is in there?” asked -Patsy, who had been turning things over in his mind. -“Is that the idea?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know about that. But I do think there may -be somebody in the place that I want to find. Of course, I -want to find Chick. But I do not fear that he is in trouble. -The person I am after is called Prince Marcos——”</p> - -<p>“What? Is it that Marcos case we’re on?” broke in -Patsy. “I thought he’d gone back to his own country, -wherever it is. You said so a few days ago. At least, -you said he was going.”</p> - -<p>“That was a week ago,” Nick Carter reminded him. -“Before I had anything to do with the case. Now I -know better. He is in New York, somewhere, and I have -to find him.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I knew a little more about the case,” grumbled -Patsy. “That would make it easier for me to work.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know that it would make it any easier,” was -Nick Carter’s dry rejoinder. “You know that all I require -of you as a rule is to obey orders—unless you are on a -case by yourself.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” rejoined Patsy, with a sly grin. “But I’ve -heard you say that no rule should be so iron bound that -it cannot be twisted when the occasion calls for it. All -I would like to know, if you see fit to tell me, is what we -are after.”</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan was not sure in what way his chief would -receive this rebellious protest. He was relieved, therefore, -when he saw Nick smile.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you that much,” conceded the detective: “There -is a man called Miguel and another named Solado who -are trying to prevent Prince Marcos getting back to his -own country by the eighteenth. I believe they are holding -Marcos in this old ice house.”</p> - -<p>“And what about Chick?” asked Patsy.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think he is in this place, too?”</p> - -<p>“He may be. We are going to find out.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the talk,” responded Patsy. “Let’s hurry! How -are you going to get in? Knock at the front door?”</p> - -<p>“Hardly!” said Nick. “You see that window at the top -of the building? It is a door, in fact, boarded up.”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“And you see the chute from it to the water? That is -where they used to draw up the ice when it was brought -here in boats. They did not get ice from these salt -meadows, of course. But there are fresh-water streams -not far away, and the ice was brought from them -and stored here, handy to send to Jersey City and -Hoboken.”</p> - -<p>“Well?” asked Patsy.</p> - -<p>“I am going up that chute.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll be seen, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Not likely. In the first place, there is a heavy fog, and, -secondly, the windows in the living portion of the building -are on the other side.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span></p> - -<p>“You seem to know a great deal about this old ice -house,” observed Patsy.</p> - -<p>“I do. This is not the first time I’ve looked it over. I -should have made an investigation here soon, even if -there had been no Prince Marcos case.”</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan would have liked to ask why. But he -felt that he had catechized his chief about as much as was -safe. So he held back his curiosity and prepared to obey -orders.</p> - -<p>“Row the boat right up to that chute, Patsy.”</p> - -<p>“All right! But it doesn’t reach down to the water.”</p> - -<p>“I see that. It does not matter. I can reach the bottom -of it when I stand up in the boat.”</p> - -<p>Watched by the wondering Patsy, Nick Carter waited till -the flat-bottomed boat had run directly under the end of -the chute. Then he caught the chute and tested its strength -as well as he could while standing in the wabbly little -craft.</p> - -<p>The chute was supported by strong iron rods that extended -from the wooden wall, keeping it at the proper -angle, so that it was easy to slide the blocks of ice upward -by means of a block and tackle.</p> - -<p>As Nick Carter had said, the building was capacious -enough to accommodate many tons of ice, and it had -been used as a storehouse for a long time.</p> - -<p>Of later years, when facilities for handling ice were -better, and when large corporations controlled the industry, -there was no room for this small concern to continue -in business.</p> - -<p>So they had sold out, and the storehouse had been -empty for years until within the past few months.</p> - -<p>So, when a tenant offered himself, the owner of the -building—who had almost forgotten that it was in existence—was -only too glad to accept a nominal rental.</p> - -<p>Who the tenant was Nick Carter had found out within -the last twenty-four hours, and for that reason when -he discovered the cake of mud, with salt grass embedded -in it, he had not much doubt that he would be able to -find Prince Marcos if he followed this clew.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do?” asked Patsy.</p> - -<p>“That will depend on what I find when I get to the top -of the chute. Keep the boat well hidden in the rushes -as soon as I am out of it.”</p> - -<p>Patsy nodded. Then he gave his chief a hoist to help -him into the bottom of the chute, and watched admiringly -to see Nick Carter making his way up the treacherous -runway, partly on the tips of his toes and partly on hands -and knees.</p> - -<p>At the top was a closed door. The fastening was not -difficult, and as Patsy backed his boat into a thicket of -long grass, he saw Nick Carter open the door and go in.</p> - -<p>For ten minutes Patsy watched the door, but no one came -out, and there was no sound from within.</p> - -<p>“I’ll wait here a little while. Then I’ll go in after -him,” declared Patsy to himself.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br/> -<span class="ph5">COLD-BLOODED PLOTTING.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>When Nick Carter entered the building he found himself -in a large, half-dark warehouse that had formerly -held many tons of ice.</p> - -<p>A great quantity of moldy sawdust was scattered about, -and the thick boards of the flooring were broken in many -places.</p> - -<p>In one corner of the great room was a small trapdoor. -Nick lifted it and found that a straight ladder -led to another warehouse, not so lofty as the one above. -Evidently it had been used to store ice, too.</p> - -<p>The detective could not understand why there should be -this separate storeroom until he had examined a long -tank at one end, and found that it was an ammonia generator, -with an engine underneath.</p> - -<p>“They used to make artificial ice here, I see,” muttered -Nick Carter.</p> - -<p>He walked very softly across the floor, because he was -convinced that in the room below there were persons who -would come after him quickly if they were aware of his -presence.</p> - -<p>In a corner of this second room was a sort of vestibule, -with two doors.</p> - -<p>It was easy to open these doors, for neither was -locked.</p> - -<p>The detective found himself at the top of a long flight -of stairs which turned sharply not far from the bottom.</p> - -<p>From where he stood he could look down into what -appeared to be an office, furnished with a roll-top desk -and a chair.</p> - -<p>There was other furniture, no doubt. But the desk -and chair were all Nick could see, except the old linoleum -with which the floor was covered.</p> - -<p>Low voices came to him—so low that if his ears had -not been sharper than those of most people, he would -not have been able to make out what was being said.</p> - -<p>As it was, he not only caught the words, but also he -recognized the voices as those of Don Solado and Prince -Miguel.</p> - -<p>Solado was speaking when Nick Carter first heard any -of the conversation, and what he said was of personal -interest to the detective.</p> - -<p>“Now we know who that man is who pretended to be -Marcos,” were Solado’s words, bitten off with a spitefulness -that told how viciously in earnest he was, “the thing -to do is to get him out of the way.”</p> - -<p>“Permanently?” asked Miguel, in a languid tone.</p> - -<p>“Permanently,” came the quick assent. “We can’t afford -to have an interfering individual like him disturbing us -when we are planning for the welfare of our beloved -country, Joyalita.”</p> - -<p>“Solado!” interrupted Miguel.</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“You would oblige me if you were not quite so much -of a humbug.”</p> - -<p>“Your highness?” spluttered Solado, his tone indicating -that he was much scandalized.</p> - -<p>“You know what I mean, Solado,” was the imperturbable -response. “Don’t be so confoundedly diplomatic. Call a -spade a spade, and don’t try to fool either yourself or -me.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, you do. This talk about working for the welfare -of our beloved country is all very well when you -are speaking for the benefit of strangers, and I have no -objection to your giving it to Marcos, himself. But it -only wastes precious time when you and I are alone -together.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter listened with more intentness than ever. -He had learned, at the very beginning, that there was a -plot to kill him—or to get him out of the way for a -long time. He did not quite know what was meant by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> -“permanently,” although he could guess. But he had -found out now that Marcos was somewhere close at hand—doubtless -in the power of these two traitorous rascals.</p> - -<p>“What I was going to say,” went on Solado, “is that -there is a strong reason for getting this American detective -out of the way. He is taking too active a part in -this matter. I do not feel that we have Marcos safe even -now until we have pared the claws of Carter.”</p> - -<p>“You’re right to a certain extent, Solado,” was the -response. “It would be well to stop this detective if we -could. But I suggest that our first business is to take -Marcos away, so that there will be no danger of his getting -back to Joyalita by the eighteenth.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t he safe enough here?” asked Solado.</p> - -<p>“He would be safer out at sea. Then we should not -have to fear the detective, even though we were not able -to dispose of him—permanently, as you so humanely put -it,” returned Miguel, with a grin.</p> - -<p>“The blackguards!” muttered Nick Carter, over their -heads.</p> - -<p>“You forget that assistant of his,” came from Solado, in -response to Miguel’s suggestion. “What are we to do -with him?”</p> - -<p>“I thought it was settled what was to be done with him,” -answered Miguel, in a more earnest tone than he yet had -used. “There is a lot of ammonia stored in the lower -part of this building, isn’t there?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but——”</p> - -<p>“There is no ‘but’ about it,” broke in the other man -impatiently. “If you only had a little more red blood in -you, Solado, instead of being always afraid to do what -common sense dictates, we should have had Marcos safe -long ago, and we shouldn’t be bothered with this detective -and his man, as we are. Are you going to forget -that he had handcuffs on us, and that, if it hadn’t been -for Dugan and his men, we might have been in that prison -over in New York now?”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t forgotten anything,” hissed Solado. “There -will be an international inquiry into that outrage when we -get back to Joyalita. The heir presumptive to the throne -and the prime minister can’t be treated as felons without -making trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Bah!”</p> - -<p>“I mean what I say!” shouted Solado, who seemed to -lose control of himself as he thought of the indignity -that had been put upon him. “We are guests of a -civilized country—men of substance and wealth. We were -torn away from our private yacht and treated like criminals, -just because this man, Nicholas Carter, seems to be -in the way of Prince Marcos.”</p> - -<p>“A good way to put it,” sneered Miguel. “And I have -no objection to your taking up the matter with the United -States government when once we are safely in our own -country. At present, it would be well to take the law into -our own hands.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>Miguel leaned a little closer to his fellow conspirator, -so that the light of the kerosene lamp fell full upon the -hard, evil features of the pair. Nick Carter instinctively -bent over the crazy banister to listen.</p> - -<p>“I mean just this, Solado: If this place should accidentally -catch fire, there is ammonia enough stored in the -basement to make a smoke that would soon settle the business -of any one who had to inhale it——”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“Where is that fellow?”</p> - -<p>“Who? The assistant? He’s down there somewhere. -So is Marcos.”</p> - -<p>“They’re not together?”</p> - -<p>“Of course not. Dugan put them in separate cellars. -There are four cellars and they have been used as storage -places for different materials ever since the building was -no longer used as an ice house.”</p> - -<p>“You have allowed Marcos to have cigarettes?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. He smokes most of the time. That’s his chief -amusement—except when I go down to see him. Then he -changes his occupation by abusing me.”</p> - -<p>“Very well. Where are Dugan and his men?”</p> - -<p>“They are coming to-night to help me get Marcos away. -It isn’t safe to leave him here. The house stands by itself, -and we don’t know who might come to see what we are -doing.”</p> - -<p>“Dugan has it leased at present, hasn’t he?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. He has some portable property he did not want to -keep in New York, so he took this place for a year, under -the name of Morrison. And there is a lot of stuff in one -of the four cellars belonging to him. He will take that -to-night, when we move Marcos. His men will be with -him, and he will do everything at once.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you intend to put Marcos?”</p> - -<p>“Dugan has a place where he will be safe—in New York. -It is a tenement somewhere. He would not give me the -address, but he will take us all there.”</p> - -<p>“I think the yacht would be the best plan. Let it go -away, down the coast somewhere. Then perhaps we could -lose Marcos in Mexico. You know there is a lot of -promiscuous shooting in that region at present. It would -need only a bare hint to make some of those officious -Mexicans take a man as a spy and shoot him before he -could explain.”</p> - -<p>Miguel was a savage-looking fellow at best. When he -made this deliberately cold-blooded proposition he looked -positively fiendish.</p> - -<p>“Very well,” returned Solado. “I’m willing. But we will -leave the other fellow in the cellar.”</p> - -<p>“You mean Carter’s man?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>For a few seconds the two plotters looked directly into -each other’s eyes. Then, slowly, each reached a hand across -the table, and the two shook hands upon it.</p> - -<p>“The scoundrels!” muttered Nick Carter. “I’m glad I -got here in time. Actually they are going to kill Chick -right in this building. They can’t mean anything else. -Well, I’ll——”</p> - -<p>He turned quickly, determined to get out, go down the -chute, and, with Patsy, make his way to the basement in -another way.</p> - -<p>It would not be difficult to effect an entrance, for all -the doors were of old and weather-rotted wood, and he -could break through any of them, he was sure.</p> - -<p>When once he had Chick and Marcos outside in safety, -he would go after Solado and Miguel. He was resolved, -too, that they would not get away this time.</p> - -<p>Later, he would lay a trap for Dugan and his gang, and -thus clean up the whole job in a neat and expeditious way, -and without the expenditure of very much labor.</p> - -<p>Probably Nick Carter would have carried out his plans -exactly as he had planned them, but for an unforeseen -accident.</p> - -<p>As he turned to go away from the place where he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> -been standing on the stairs, listening to the edifying conversation -below, he chanced to lean rather hard against -the banister.</p> - -<p>With a loud crack, it gave way. The detective, losing -his balance, turned a complete somersault to the room -below, landing on his head and shoulders on the table.</p> - -<p>The table collapsed under his weight; the lamp smashed—fortunately, -going out, instead of blowing up—and Nick -Carter, stunned, and for the moment helpless, felt himself -rudely grasped by somebody and tumbled in a heap down -a steep flight of stairs.</p> - -<p>When he reached the bottom he was quite unconscious.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br/> -<span class="ph5">HOW PATSY BROKE IN.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>The blow on the head, suffered by the detective when -he fell to the table, had been a severe one, and, aggravated -by another tumble when the table crumpled up beneath him, -it had inflicted worse injuries than might have been thought -by any one who had seen the catastrophe.</p> - -<p>It was hours before Nick Carter came to himself. When -he did, he was in pitch-darkness, and he realized, from the -peculiar, damp smell, that he was in a cellar.</p> - -<p>Also, he caught a pungent odor, which he recognized, -and which reminded him of the conversation he had heard -just before he plunged through the broken banister.</p> - -<p>“Ammonia, as sure as I am here,” he muttered. “I’ll -have to move quickly, for it seems to me as if the stuff has -been disturbed lately. If it has, probably it means——”</p> - -<p>The thump of an engine made him pause.</p> - -<p>“The fiends! They are generating the ammonia gas, -and, of course, they will set it free by opening some of the -valves, and then——”</p> - -<p>The smell of ammonia waxed stronger, and his breath -began to come with difficulty.</p> - -<p>He fumbled along the rough stone wall, damp with the -ooze of the marsh, until he came to an iron tank, from -which the fumes were emerging so strongly that he reeled -away, half suffocated.</p> - -<p>“This won’t do. They’ll get me like a stray dog in a -gas chamber if I don’t find my way out.”</p> - -<p>The thumping of the engine continued, and his sense of -direction told him that it was against the wall in which -was a heavy door.</p> - -<p>“There is a pump and it works underneath the tank in -some way,” muttered Nick. “I can’t get at it on this side. -The only chance would be to get to the other room, and -the door is too heavy to be broken down in a hurry. I -have no tools, and——”</p> - -<p>“Gee! That’s a bum smell!”</p> - -<p>It was Patsy Garvan’s voice, almost at his ear.</p> - -<p>“Patsy!” he cried.</p> - -<p>“Chief! Where are you?”</p> - -<p>“In the cellar. Get in, quickly!”</p> - -<p>“Hold on a moment!” came back the answer. “This is -all fast water out here. I’m in the boat. Wait till I find -the window.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter understood now that the front of the building -was in the water and high grass, while at the back it -looked upon a rushing stream.</p> - -<p>He made a short survey of his quarters.</p> - -<p>“I see some boards that look as if they are nailed on at -one place on the wall. I can’t reach them, but I dare say -you can kick them open. Try, at all events,” he directed.</p> - -<p>“All right! Gee! This is a stunt for an orphan boy. -It has me going, I’m telling you. Holy mackerel! If this -boat would only behave a little. It’s swinging around like -a skidding auto. I wish I’d put the chains on! Wow! -There she goes!”</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan was uttering all these ejaculations in low -tones, but they were none the less earnest on that account.</p> - -<p>He had waited for what he considered a long enough -time, and then had just been preparing to go up the chute, -when he heard the crash as Nick Carter went through the -banisters.</p> - -<p>“Gee! Something’s broke loose!” exclaimed Patsy then. -“Me for the high grass!”</p> - -<p>He had dropped back into the boat and shot away into -the tangle of rushes.</p> - -<p>Nobody had appeared at the front of the building, and -he could not see the back. So he kept in hiding for half -an hour or so, and then ventured up the chute once more.</p> - -<p>This time he crawled to the very top. But the rascals -within had investigated to find out how Nick had got in, -and when they found the door at the top of the chute a -little way open, they had carefully bolted it within.</p> - -<p>It required only this bolted door to assure Patsy that -some trick had been played on his beloved chief, and he -cautiously made his way around the large wooden building.</p> - -<p>He noted that there was a strong stone wall foundation, -and when he saw that there were three square openings, -each secured by heavy boards within, he understood that a -large and water-tight cellar was part of the equipment of -the warehouse.</p> - -<p>When he heard Nick Carter tell him to kick in the -boards at one of the windows it was perfectly clear to him -what he was to do.</p> - -<p>Holding his boat firmly at the boarded window where -he had first caught the fumes of ammonia, and which had -called forth his ejaculation, he warned Nick by saying -cautiously:</p> - -<p>“Chief!”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“Look out! I’m going to stave in this board with the -end of the boat. It may hurt you if you get in the way.”</p> - -<p>“The boat is below the level of the window, isn’t it?” -asked Nick.</p> - -<p>“Just a little,” was Patsy’s reply. “If it wasn’t, the water -would pour into the cellar.”</p> - -<p>“Then, how are you going to get the end of the boat -against the boards, Patsy?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tilt the end, and bring it up against the window with -the bow for a battering-ram. Get me?”</p> - -<p>Nick smiled in the darkness at the ingenuity of his -assistant, but he merely told Patsy to go ahead, without -any more comment.</p> - -<p>There was a pause, as Patsy rowed his boat a few yards -from the wall.</p> - -<p>He had quite worked out in his own mind how he meant -to force his way.</p> - -<p>The boat was heavy and flat-bottomed. Any extra weight -at one end would always cause the other to stand up clear -of the water.</p> - -<p>The wall of stone that formed the foundation of the -big wooden building was only a few inches above the level -of the still water.</p> - -<p>It was safe to have it thus, because there were no tides, -no disturbances of the surface at any time, or, at least, -very few.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span></p> - -<p>The tall reeds and grass made such a protection that the -water was practically stagnant most of the time.</p> - -<p>Patsy made his way to the stern, and also carried there -the oars, a can of bait, a landing net, boat hook, and -other things in the boat, as well as the two guns belonging -to himself and Nick Carter.</p> - -<p>“I’ll weight it down all I can,” he said to himself.</p> - -<p>The bow of the boat shot up in the air so that it would -easily clear the top of the stone foundation. It was pointing -directly at the boards Patsy was prepared to attack.</p> - -<p>The water was not deep at this point—in fact, at one -time, there had been ground, more or less solid, above the -surface—so Patsy dug the end of an oar into the bottom -and, with a hard shove, sent the boat full tilt against the -boards.</p> - -<p>There was a crash as the end of the boat tore its way -through. At the same time the fumes of ammonia gushed -forth so fiercely that they tainted all the outside atmosphere.</p> - -<p>Patsy was hurled flat upon his back, and the oar broke -in two and floated slowly away.</p> - -<p>The bow of the boat remained on the edge of the stone -wall, poking a little way into the cellar.</p> - -<p>“Chief!” cried Patsy. “Are you there?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I am,” was the reply. “Can’t you get that -boat out of the way, so that I can crawl out?”</p> - -<p>“Sure! Just hold your mules a minute! She’s in pretty -tight—as the butcher said to the pound of sausage meat—but -I can pry her out, I guess. In fact, I have to. Gee! -She went in for keeps, but her little cousin, Patsy, wants -her outside!”</p> - -<p>Chattering thus, hardly knowing what he said, Patsy -stood in the bow and shoved against the wall with all his -strength.</p> - -<p>The result was what he might have expected, although, -perhaps, he had not thought of it. The boat slipped away -from him, and he found himself clinging to the stone wall, -his head in the cellar—where the fumes of ammonia made -him cough—and a large expanse of empty water under his -legs and feet.</p> - -<p>“Holy Samuel!” he gasped. “Here’s more of it!”</p> - -<p>He got to one side of the ledge, so that Nick Carter had -room to crawl out, and looked in dismay at the boat slowly -drifting away.</p> - -<p>“There’s only one thing to be done, Patsy!” observed -Nick.</p> - -<p>“I know it. But I ain’t going to get wetter than I’m -obliged,” was Patsy’s prompt response. “I’ll leave my -duds behind me.”</p> - -<p>The opening of the window had allowed so much of the -ammonia to escape that it was possible to remain on the -ledge without suffering very much. So Patsy dropped inside -the cellar, with his face to the air, and divested himself -of his garments.</p> - -<p>“I’ll bring the boat back in a jiffy!” he announced. “Stay -here till I get back, chief!”</p> - -<p>With much cheerfulness, Patsy let himself down into the -water, and swam over to the boat. Then he climbed in and -rowed back to the window.</p> - -<p>While Nick Carter got in, his good-tempered young -assistant retrieved his clothing, and in a few minutes was -dressed again.</p> - -<p>“That’s better than getting everything soaked with -water!” observed Patsy. “It didn’t take long, and it wasn’t -any worse than going in swimming with the boys the way -I used to do.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad I’m out of that place, Patsy!” said Nick Carter, -with a smile of gratitude. “But we’ve still got to get -after Chick and Prince Marcos.”</p> - -<p>“You bet!” agreed Patsy earnestly. “Think they are in -this place somewhere?”</p> - -<p>“You haven’t seen anybody come out, have you?”</p> - -<p>“No. I’ll take my solemn oatmeal nobody came out while -you were inside. I’ve been going around this shanty -steadily.”</p> - -<p>“Then the gang must be inside still,” declared Nick -Carter. “My belief is that they have some other office -room beside the one I saw them in, and that they are -there now.”</p> - -<p>Patsy looked at his chief with a puzzled expression. -Nick Carter had not told him anything about his adventures -in the warehouse, and he did not understand in the least -how Nick had come into the cellar.</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan could guess, though. He was as skillful at -putting two and two together and getting at the result, as -anybody in Nick Carter’s circle of acquaintance—and that -is saying a great deal.</p> - -<p>“How many are there in the gang?” asked Patsy.</p> - -<p>“Only two, that I know of for certain. But I am inclined -to think there must be some more. Larry Dugan——”</p> - -<p>“What?” broke in Patsy. “Is that murdering skunk -in it?”</p> - -<p>“I believe so,” returned Nick seriously. “But I don’t -believe he is in this house at present.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t? Why?”</p> - -<p>“Because I heard the people inside say that he was -coming at dark, to take Marcos away.”</p> - -<p>Patsy turned quickly to his chief, his face twitching with -anxiety.</p> - -<p>“And Chick? He’s the boy I’m interested in. Dear -old Chick!”</p> - -<p>“That’s right. We have to look after Chick,” was Nick -Carter’s response.</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan involuntarily pulled back his coat cuffs, as -if getting ready for action.</p> - -<p>“Let’s get busy!” he said. “If Chick’s in this place, we’re -going to have him out. And if Larry Dugan and his crowd -are coming to-night, we have no time to lose. It’s getting -dark now.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll row around to that back door, Patsy,” was the -quiet way Nick Carter issued his order.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br/> -<span class="ph5">CHICK’S FELLOW PRISONER.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>We must go back to the early morning, at Crownledge, -to find out how Marcos and Chick had been kidnapped in -the very midst of their friends.</p> - -<p>The only thing Chick knew was that, when he had taken -the power boat back to its owner, Joe Travers, he was -coming up through the grounds of the big residence, and -suddenly found himself overpowered by several men whom -he could not see.</p> - -<p>A sandbag knocked him nearly senseless, and then a bag -was pulled over his head and he was carried some little -distance, until he felt himself in a boat, rocking rather -violently.</p> - -<p>He soon recovered entire consciousness, but found his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> -arms bound so tightly outside the sack that he could not -move.</p> - -<p>There was rather a long trip on the boat, which, from -its sound and motion, he soon knew to be a power launch, -and then he was made to step ashore and walk up a hill.</p> - -<p>A ride in a motor car, followed by a short trip in a -rowboat, was Chick’s experience. He was thrown into -some chamber, the dampness of which penetrated the sack -and his other clothing, and sent a chill through him. -Before he was left alone the ropes were taken from his -arms.</p> - -<p>He heard a door slam while struggling to get the sack off -his head and shoulders.</p> - -<p>When he did release himself, he did not find that he -could see much better, although some chinks of light -showed here and there and convinced him that he was in -a cellar.</p> - -<p>It must be remembered that Chick had not seen the -outside world during any part of his captivity. The sack -was a thick one. Moreover, he had been in a horizontal -position in both boats.</p> - -<p>Even in the automobile he had been compelled to lie in -the bottom, with his shoulders resting against the seat.</p> - -<p>The fact that he had a great deal of room in the car told -him that it was a large one. But that was not much to -go by. There are many makes of large cars which seem -to be identical when one has no chance to look them over.</p> - -<p>Chick noticed that this one rode very easily. Hence he -had reason to suppose it was of an expensive type. Aside -from that, he could not have distinguished it from any of -half a dozen high-priced motor cars with which he was -familiar.</p> - -<p>“Well, this is cheerful!” thought Chick, as he moved -about his cellar and discovered that there was nothing in -it but a heap of sawdust and a very moldy smell. “Sawdust, -eh? That looks as if it might be an ice house. Let -me put on my considering cap, and see whether I can -figure this thing out. I ought to be able to do that, even -if I have been sandbagged.”</p> - -<p>He let his thoughts travel back to the moment when he -was stricken down in the grounds of Crownledge, and then, -bit by bit, put the evidence together until he had pieced it -out to the present time.</p> - -<p>“Let me see!” he murmured. “We had a short ride on a -rather rough sea to begin with. There were the short, -choppy waves of the Hudson, and they got a little longer -after a while. Then they shortened up again. Good!”</p> - -<p>He did not speak for a few moments, as he digested this, -and sought for an explanation.</p> - -<p>“I have it! They took me down the river a little. Then -they crossed. The choppy waves are at the sides of the -river, and the long ones in the middle. That’s how I know -they took me across. Yes, by George! There’s another -thing! We got in the way of a ferryboat and might have -been run down. I’d forgotten that.”</p> - -<p>How Chick became aware of that incident, with a bag -tied over his head and shoulders, lying in the bottom of the -boat, can be logically explained.</p> - -<p>He had heard the screeching of the ferryboat’s siren, -responded to by the toot of the power boat. Then there -had been a great deal of hoarse language—profane, probably—followed -by a jolting of the motor boat as it was -swung around so sharply that it might have upset, followed -by comparative quiet and the steady coughing of the motor -as they went along.</p> - -<p>“If we hadn’t been in the middle of the river we should -not have been likely to get in the way of a ferry,” was -the way Chick figured it out. “Well, that means that we -came over to Hoboken, or somewhere along the Jersey -side of the river, where a small boat could land. Of -course! I get it now! It’s all an open book!”</p> - -<p>He slapped one hand on his knee and actually grinned. -He was in a bad fix, and he knew it. But the thought that -he had unraveled a problem, perhaps as well as it could -have been done by Nick Carter himself, gave him such -satisfaction that, for the moment, he cared for nothing else.</p> - -<p>“I was yanked out of the boat and put in a motor car,” he -continued half audibly. “Very well! Before I got into -the automobile I had to climb up a hill. That makes it all -the more binding. I know the roads at the top of the hill, -and I would bet a hundred dollars that I’m in the Hackensack -meadows somewhere.”</p> - -<p>A few minutes more of cogitation, and Chick had decided -in what part of the meadows he was.</p> - -<p>“I know a big ice house about halfway between Hoboken -and Carlstadt,” he muttered. “It’s out in the marshes, but -you can see it from the road. Of course! That’s it! -I was taken in a boat from the motor car. They rowed -me along some of the creeks between the grass swamps, -maybe through some of them. Anyhow, I can guess where -I am. Now, let me see about getting out.”</p> - -<p>Chick uttered this last sentence with perfect coolness -and confidence. He had no fear of being kept a prisoner -for long, especially with his hands and feet free.</p> - -<p>That Prince Marcos had been kidnapped at the same time -as himself he had no idea.</p> - -<p>It had seemed to Chick that his own capture was the -logical result of the activity of Nick Carter and himself -in helping Marcos to escape the clutches of Solado and -Miguel.</p> - -<p>The cunning rascals would know that so long as these -two clear-sighted, quick-acting detectives were at large, -they could not expect to carry out their purpose of holding -Prince Marcos away from his own country until they had -carried out their treacherous purpose of practically giving -it away to another government.</p> - -<p>“They’re pretty shrewd citizens, I reckon,” muttered -Chick, as he surveyed his prison. “But they seem to have -slipped a cog this time when they left me here without any -guard or ropes about me. I’ll take the liberty of opening -one of those shutters and going out when the time comes.”</p> - -<p>Chick did not try to do it at once. It was still daylight, -and he knew he would have small chance of escape, even -if he got out of the building, unless he had some means of -leaving the meadows.</p> - -<p>“As soon as I am outside, they’ll see me, of course,” -was his reflection. “They could bring me down with a -bullet, or they could drop a big stone or chunk of iron on -my head, and I’d be all in. I’ll have to wait till dark. -The only thing against it is that they’ll probably have some -scheme cooked up before that to put me out.”</p> - -<p>Chick rubbed his chin musingly. He had had experience -enough with the seamy side of humanity to be aware that -rascals of the type of Solado and Miguel were not likely -to leave a prisoner loosely guarded unless they contemplated -a coup to his disadvantage when he should attempt -to escape.</p> - -<p>It was at this stage of his reflections that he caught the -muffled sound of voices. They seemed to come from a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> -corner of his cellar that was a little darker than any other -part—if that could be possible.</p> - -<p>He stepped softly to the corner and listened. At the -same time he detected a dull light close to the wall, which -he found came from a place where the stone partition had -slightly crumbled away.</p> - -<p>The irregular opening thus made was too close to the -other wall for him to look through, but it permitted the -sound of voices to reach him.</p> - -<p>He heard only a few words, but they were illuminating. -So Chick pressed his face to the wall, as near as he could -get to the hole, to hear more.</p> - -<p>All he got as a reward was the sound of a door closing -with a bang.</p> - -<p>The words that had come to him were in the tones of -Miguel, and they were uttered with a savage vindictiveness -that made Chick wish he could have been in the adjoining -cellar to ram them down the speaker’s throat.</p> - -<p>“You’ll stay here till you give in—or rot!” was what -Miguel told the prisoner, whoever he might be.</p> - -<p>When the door slammed there was silence, and then it -came to Chick that possibly the prisoner might be none -other than his beloved chief.</p> - -<p>There was no sound reason why it should be Nick -Carter who had just been threatened. On the other hand, -it might be he, for, if it was considered worth while to -take Chick prisoner, was it not probable that Nick had -been taken at the same time?</p> - -<p>“I’ll have to take a chance,” muttered Chick. “I must -find out who is in that other room.”</p> - -<p>He squeezed his head into the angle of the wall, in the -vain endeavor to bring his eyes level with the opening. -Then, in strained accents, he called out:</p> - -<p>“Who is in that cellar?”</p> - -<p>“Hello!” was the response. “Who is that?”</p> - -<p>Chick’s sense of hearing was keen, and at once he knew -it was Marcos answering him.</p> - -<p>“Is it Prince Marcos?” he called out cautiously. “Say -‘Yes’ if it is. I am a friend of his.”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“I thought so. That was Prince Miguel talking to you -just now, was it not?”</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” was the noncommittal rejoinder. “I -don’t know you—do I?”</p> - -<p>“You ought to. I am Chickering Carter. My boss is -Nicholas Carter. We are both trying to help you get back -to Joyalita.”</p> - -<p>“Of course!” replied Marcos heartily. “I beg your pardon -for not knowing your voice at first. Have you got a -knife?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Chick rather wonderingly. “What can -I do with that?”</p> - -<p>“Use it, when any one comes down to you,” was the -reply. “They’re going to have an interview with you soon, -according to what I was just told. You will have to do -what they tell you, or——”</p> - -<p>There was a pause, and Chick waited for several seconds -before he burst out eagerly:</p> - -<p>“Well, go on. I have to do as I am told, or—what?”</p> - -<p>“You’ll have to fight your way out, and I have always -thought a knife was the best kind of weapon to use for -that purpose,” replied Marcos coolly.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br/> -<span class="ph5">A WATCHFUL ENEMY.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>“How have they got you?” asked Chick, after a short -silence. “Could we not make a break to get out together?”</p> - -<p>“If we could get this door down between us, we might,” -answered Marcos. “It doesn’t look so very strong. But I -can’t find any lock. Are there bolts on your side?”</p> - -<p>“No. I can’t find anything that feels like a fastening,” -replied Chick. “Wait a moment! Here’s something. I -see! The door is nailed shut. There are four or five -spikes hammered in around the door. If I had a good -stout clawhammer——”</p> - -<p>“Sorry I can’t help you,” came from Marcos, together -with the faint odor of a cigarette. “I don’t usually carry -a clawhammer as part of my equipment. Unfortunately, -I haven’t anything that might take its place—not even a -knife.”</p> - -<p>The word “knife” gave Chick an idea. He had a jackknife, -in the handle of which were many useful tools. There was -no regular nail puller, but one of the implements in the -handle was a small pair of highly tempered steel pliers, -with serrated edges. They could be used for pulling nails -of ordinary size.</p> - -<p>The nails holding the door were very large and heavy. -Indeed, they were, as Chick had called them, spikes, rather -than nails.</p> - -<p>“I’ll try what I can do,” announced Chick, through the -hole in the wall. “I’ve got a pair of pincers that may do -the work, because the wood is so rotten. But I’m not sure.”</p> - -<p>“If I can help at all, by kicking the door, or throwing -my weight against it, you can command me,” observed -Marcos. “We have to get out of this place to-night somehow. -I am so confident that your chief, Carter, will do it, -if we don’t release ourselves, that actually I am not particularly -worried.”</p> - -<p>“You are the real goods,” exclaimed Chick admiringly. -“I’m going to help you, and I believe we’ll make it. If we -don’t, then you can bet on Nick Carter. Here goes for the -spikes!”</p> - -<p>It took a long time for Chick to get out the first spike, -but he conquered the second one much quicker.</p> - -<p>He had to use the biggest blade of his knife to cut away -the wood around the spikes, as well as the steel pliers. But -he persisted, and victory came in each case.</p> - -<p>With all his energy, it was two hours before Chick had -drawn out the last of the heavy spikes.</p> - -<p>Then he could not move the door. There were slats of -wood nailed in on both sides.</p> - -<p>That meant another hour.</p> - -<p>He had been encouraged through his work by Marcos, -who smoked cigarettes incessantly, and occasionally begged -Chick to accept one through the hole in the wall.</p> - -<p>But Chick was not much of a smoker at any time. Just -now, when he was earnestly at work, he could not be -bothered with a cigarette or anything else in the smoking -line. So he thanked the prince and declined until both -should be outside.</p> - -<p>Everything which appeared to hold the door was out of -the way at last, and Chick felt that the moment for decisive -action had come.</p> - -<p>“I’ll get a hold on this side with my knife,” he told -Marcos. “When I say ‘Shove!’ put all your weight against -the door, and I’ll pull at the same time. Understand that?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly!” was the prince’s drawling reply.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span></p> - -<p>Chick drove the big blade of his knife diagonally into the -wood, point downward, until it held firmly. This gave him -some power to pull, although not so much as he would have -liked.</p> - -<p>“I can’t help much,” he explained. “You’ll have to do -most of it by your weight. Now! Let her go!”</p> - -<p>Chick tugged at the handle of the knife, and, at the -same instant, Marcos charged against the door with one -of his brawny shoulders. He used all the weight and power -he could throw into the effort.</p> - -<p>There was a cracking, followed quickly by a smash, and -down came the ponderous wooden door to the ground.</p> - -<p>Chick jumped out of the way just in time to avoid going -down underneath. He had been prepared for the sudden -falling of the heavy mass of wood, and had timed his -movements exactly.</p> - -<p>As the door went down, Marcos walked through the -opening and held out his hand to Chick. The two men -shook hands gravely.</p> - -<p>“Infernally dark in here!” observed Marcos. “But I -don’t think it is night yet.”</p> - -<p>“No,” returned Chick. “I wish it were. We should have -a better chance of getting away. What is your plan? I -suppose you have one?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly!” answered Marcos, with his customary coolness. -“There is a ladder in the far corner of my cellar. -At the top is a trapdoor. I have tried to open it. I can -make it crack and strain, but I haven’t quite enough -strength to push it up altogether.”</p> - -<p>“The two of us can do it, probably,” suggested Chick.</p> - -<p>“That’s my idea. Once we get through that trap, I don’t -know what we shall meet. We shall have to take chances -on that. I’m going to start for Joyalita to-night.”</p> - -<p>The calm confidence with which Prince Marcos said this -delighted Chick.</p> - -<p>Perhaps Chick liked it all the more because the tones of -Marcos were so much like Nick Carter’s that in the deep -gloom he had some difficulty in assuring himself that it was -not his chief who was talking.</p> - -<p>He could not help referring to it, however.</p> - -<p>“You and Mr. Carter are more alike than any two -persons I have ever seen in my life,” he blurted out. “Even -your voices are the same.”</p> - -<p>“So they tell me,” was the careless reply. “But let’s get -out of this. I’ve got to get even with that scoundrelly -cousin of mine, Miguel, and I’ll never do it till I am clear -of this bad-smelling place. Come on, Chick!”</p> - -<p>“There is a trapdoor in the corner of my cellar, just as -there is in yours,” remarked Chick. “I guess that is the -way they brought me in. But they took away the ladder -with them. If they hadn’t, we might have gone that way, -if this one of yours is too hard a proposition.”</p> - -<p>Chick lifted the heavy door from the floor, and, with -difficulty, extracted the blade of his jackknife.</p> - -<p>Marcos was already on the ladder in his own cellar.</p> - -<p>Chick found that his companion had rightly estimated -the weakness of the trapdoor. When they had both climbed -the ladder, so that they could put their hands against it -together, they made it yield a little at the very first effort.</p> - -<p>“Wait till I cut the wood away around the hinges,” -suggested Chick. “It’s pretty rotten, and it is there that it -will give way, if anywhere.”</p> - -<p>Two minutes sufficed for this work. The knife was very -sharp, as well as heavy, and Chick handled it deftly.</p> - -<p>“She’ll go now!” he declared confidently, as he returned -the knife to his pocket. “Now! Together!”</p> - -<p>Up went the trap, breaking away from the hinges.</p> - -<p>At the same instant, somebody pulled Marcos through -the opening and shut the trap down with a bang, knocking -Chick off the ladder!</p> - -<p>He fell to the ground on his head, and lost consciousness.</p> - -<p>When he came to his senses, the cellar was darker than -it had been before, and he found himself tightly bound, -hand and foot.</p> - -<p>There was a foul odor coming from somewhere, which -seemed to tighten his chest so that he could hardly breathe.</p> - -<p>“Ammonia!” gasped Chick, and became senseless again.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br/> -<span class="ph5">AN OFFER OF LIBERTY.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>When Nick Carter and Patsy began to row toward the -back of the warehouse, both were on the alert for any -enemy who might be on the watch.</p> - -<p>The famous detective knew by experience that the time -to expect a hostile surprise was the moment when everything -seemed safe, and he was not deceived by the apparent -serenity around him.</p> - -<p>“Pull into the reeds, Patsy!” he whispered hurriedly.</p> - -<p>Patsy obeyed without asking why. He had not seen -anything suspicious, but he knew Nick Carter would not -give an order without some good reason.</p> - -<p>Once in the shelter of the thick, tall grass, however, Patsy -looked at his chief for an explanation.</p> - -<p>“There’s a boat at the back door, Patsy! I can see only -the end of the rudder. But that is enough to tell us that -if we were around the corner we should come upon the -boat itself. You sit still. I’ll take the oars.”</p> - -<p>Patsy yielded the oars without a word.</p> - -<p>With extreme caution, Nick Carter pulled through the -reeds, without coming out, until he had a clear view of the -back door.</p> - -<p>Larry Dugan, in the bow of a serviceable skiff—flat-bottomed -and solid, like Carter’s—was knocking at the -heavy door with a blackjack.</p> - -<p>Pet Carlin was in the stern, and Foxey Irwin sat amidships, -oars in his hands.</p> - -<p>It was almost dark by this time, and, if the reeds which -concealed Nick Carter’s boat had not grown almost up to -the warehouse, it would have been impossible to make out -the door at all.</p> - -<p>When Dugan had tapped twice with his lead-weighted, -short club, it swung open a little way, and a head protruded.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Dugan!”</p> - -<p>“Miguel!” muttered Nick Carter. “What’s the game, -I wonder.”</p> - -<p>“All right, boss!” was Larry Dugan’s response. “We’re -ready! Let me in!”</p> - -<p>“What do you want to come in for?” demanded Miguel. -“Your man is ready to pass out.”</p> - -<p>“That may be. But we’ve got other business beside -taking this guy away,” growled Dugan. “There’s some stuff -of mine in this house that I have to get.”</p> - -<p>“I’d forgotten that,” returned Miguel. “Come in, then.”</p> - -<p>“I’m coming!” grunted Dugan.</p> - -<p>He stepped out of the boat to the stone sill of the door, -and, as he disappeared, Foxey Irwin followed.</p> - -<p>It was just as Foxey went into the warehouse that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> -another man in the boat, who had been lying along the -bottom, as if anxious to keep out of sight, raised himself -slightly, so that he could peer over the gunwale.</p> - -<p>“That makes four of ’em, chief,” remarked Patsy Garvan -in a whisper. “Well, I reckon we can get away with them, -especially if we get Chick going strong.”</p> - -<p>“Silence!” was all Nick Carter answered.</p> - -<p>He was trying to make out the features of this man. -But it was not till the fellow had straightened up and -stepped into the doorway, where the light of a lantern -showed by this time, that Nick saw he was a pale-faced, -slick-haired personage, who seemed to be in mortal terror -of personal injury of some kind.</p> - -<p>“That fellow looks like a cur,” broke out the irrepressible -Patsy. “Gee! I’d like to land on him with my left. S’help -me! I’d send in a jolt right from my heels.”</p> - -<p>“Why? Do you know the man?” asked Nick, with a -momentary hope that his assistant might be able to give -him some information he wanted. “Ever seen him before?”</p> - -<p>“Nix! But I don’t like his face. His ears aren’t set on -right, and there’s too much bulge each side of his nose. -I want to hand him one on general principles, and if you -say the word, I’ll——”</p> - -<p>“Keep quiet!” ordered Nick sternly. “There go the other -two, and they have left their boat tied up outside.”</p> - -<p>Patsy did not speak. But he wondered what was to be -the next move.</p> - -<p>He did not have long to speculate, for Nick Carter rowed -swiftly around the warehouse until he was under the end -of the chute by which he had gained entrance before.</p> - -<p>“Make the boat fast and come after me, Patsy!”</p> - -<p>Patsy deftly hitched the painter rope around the bottom -of the chute and knotted it in such a way that there was -no fear of its slipping. Then he looked at his chief for -further commands.</p> - -<p>“Good knot, Patsy!” commended Nick Carter, whose -quick eyes took in all details, even when he seemed to be -occupied with something else. “Where did you learn it?”</p> - -<p>“Went across to Liverpool on an old windjammer when -I was a kid. I was too small to go aloft, except in good -weather, but you can bet I learned a lot about bending -ropes, and I can make ’most any knot that was known in -those days.”</p> - -<p>Patsy said this without anything suggesting bragging. -He was merely telling a commonplace truth, as he looked -up at Nick Carter to see what he was to do next.</p> - -<p>“Come up this chute, after me. Have your gun ready. -I mean your pistol; not your duck gun. Keep close to me, -but don’t do anything till I give the word. And, above all, -don’t make a noise.”</p> - -<p>Patsy nodded his comprehension of all this, and crawled -up the long chute just behind Nick as softly as a kitten -walking across a short-cropped lawn.</p> - -<p>With his knife, it took the detective only about half a -minute to negotiate the bolted door.</p> - -<p>Once in the room where Nick Carter had been before, -Nick took out his flash lamp and threw its white glow all -about the room.</p> - -<p>It was empty, and the heaps of moldy sawdust that he -had observed the first time were still undisturbed, showing -that nobody had been moving about since he had left -the place.</p> - -<p>“Ah!” he muttered. “There’s the trapdoor in the corner. -We’ll go down there.”</p> - -<p>He pointed his flash at the corner, and Patsy understood, -even though he had not caught Nick’s whispered observations.</p> - -<p>Once in the room below, Nick Carter was able to look -down the staircase with the broken banister into the office -he had been surveying when he had his unfortunate -tumble.</p> - -<p>“They are not here,” he remarked, in a low tone, to -Patsy. “There is some other office close by. I feel sure. -Come on!”</p> - -<p>Once in the office where Nick, from the staircase above, -had heard the plotting of Solado and Miguel, he became -very busy, searching every corner and looking behind two -other desks he found in the room. He wanted to make -sure no one else was there.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter knew the cunning of Solado as well as the -vindictiveness of Miguel, and it would not have surprised -him had there been a sudden attack from ambush.</p> - -<p>Even if they had killed him, and it had been brought -home to them afterward, they could plead self-defense, -setting up the argument that even a detective had no right -to break into a warehouse that did not belong to him.</p> - -<p>Besides, they would say, naturally, that they did not -know he was a detective.</p> - -<p>“But I’ll beat their game, or know the reason why,” he -muttered.</p> - -<p>In one corner of the office was a square wooden partition, -which the detective believed concealed the door and -staircase to the lower part of the building.</p> - -<p>He opened the door of the partition with caution when -he found that it was unlocked. He found himself in a -small vestibule, which became pitch dark when the door -swung back on a spring.</p> - -<p>Before turning off his flash—which precautionary measure -he had taken ere he let himself into this little lobby—he -had seen that there was another door opposite.</p> - -<p>Slowly he opened this door. As he did so, a blinding -flash of light came in his face. He was looking directly -into a lamp with a reflector on the wall of a room -adjoining the office from which he had come.</p> - -<p>At the same time he was confused by a babel of -voices.</p> - -<p>It was lucky for Nick Carter that the persons talking -were all standing or sitting with their backs toward him—except -one.</p> - -<p>This one, whose eyes met his own at the moment he -thrust part of his head through the opening, was the -person he wanted to get into touch with. It was Prince -Marcos.</p> - -<p>The other three were Solado, Miguel, and the small-eyed, -slick-haired individual who had been lying down -in the skiff outside the warehouse up to the time he -entered.</p> - -<p>“I’ll give you this last chance, Marcos,” Miguel was saying, -in harsh, insulting tones. “If you will give me your -word of honor to remain in New York for two weeks -longer, I will release you at once.”</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t do it,” broke in the slick-haired man. -“Keep him where you can be sure of him.”</p> - -<p>Marcos shot a look of indignant anger at the slick-haired -man that made him seem to crumple up, as he -said sternly:</p> - -<p>“Jason, if ever I get you back in Joyalita, you shall -pay for this in a way you deserve. I ought to have -taken notice of the warning I had before we left -home that you were not to be trusted.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> - -<p>“That’s all right!” snarled Jason. “I was as much to -be trusted as any one, I suppose. There’s Prince Miguel! -He’s your cousin, and he’s going to take your place as -head of the country when he gets back. Why don’t you -talk to him. He’s——”</p> - -<p>Jason might have said more, for he seemed to be getting -more spiteful as he proceeded. But Miguel suddenly -jumped from his chair, and, with a stifled oath, sent his -fist crashing against Jason’s temple.</p> - -<p>The rascal fell to the floor without a groan. He did -not move afterward.</p> - -<p>“Now, Marcos! What do you say?” asked Miguel -coolly, as he took his chair again, without even a glance -at the prostrate Jason.</p> - -<p>“What do I say?” repeated Marcos. “What do I say? -Why, I say that you are a more contemptible scoundrel -than that poor devil you have just knocked down, and -that I shall yet have the pleasure of putting you in the -government prison of Joyalita for treason and abduction.”</p> - -<p>“That’s enough!” sneered Miguel. “Go on, Solado!”</p> - -<p>Solado rapped with his knuckles on the table before -him.</p> - -<p>As if he had touched a spring, Larry Dugan, Pet Carlin, -and Foxey Irwin dashed into the room from a doorway -hidden from Nick Carter by a screen, and pulled -Marcos off his feet before he saw that anybody was -behind him.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.<br/> -<span class="ph5">CAUGHT ON THE FLY.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>The three toughs dragged Marcos across the floor and -behind the screen so quickly that he was gone before -Miguel had time to rise from his chair.</p> - -<p>Obviously his intention was to help the three gangsters, -but they did not need him, a fact that he recognized even -as they disappeared.</p> - -<p>“That’s the end of that, Solado,” remarked Miguel carelessly. -“Those fellows will take him to their joint, as -they call it, downtown, in New York, and there he will -stay till we have completed the treaty in Joyalita——”</p> - -<p>“With you as the ruler, under the protection of our -allies,” added Solado, grinning. “That sounds good. But, -if we are going to save trouble immediately, we ought -to use the yacht and get him out to sea for a few -weeks.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see that he would be any safer at sea than -shut up in some secret den in New York, with these determined-looking -gentry we have hired to look after -him.”</p> - -<p>“He would be safer at sea,” hissed Solado, “because -accidents happen at sea. Yachts sometimes get into -trouble on the ocean and are never heard of again.”</p> - -<p>“You’re a cold-blooded rascal, Solado!”</p> - -<p>“Not any more than yourself,” was the retort. “Only, -when I undertake anything, I like to make sure that it is -done completely. I have some stake in all this as well -as yourself, remember.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly!” laughed Miguel. “You are still to be at the -head of the government—under me, and you want to be -sure of your job. Well, I don’t blame you. But, for -the present, we’ll let Dugan take care of my dear Cousin -Marcos.”</p> - -<p>He got up and bent over Jason.</p> - -<p>“He won’t die!” he decided calmly, as he might have -expressed judgment on a half-drowned kitten. “That -cuff on the side of his head will be a useful warning to -him not to be insolent another time. Come on, Solado! -Let’s go and see how they get Marcos away.”</p> - -<p>“Wait a moment!” objected Solado. “They can attend -to him, without us. Here are some letters that came for -Marcos from Joyalita. We’d better look them over and -see what is to be done with them. There is a large part -of the population on Marcos’ side, you know, and we -can’t take any chances on rebellion, you know.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter remained long enough to see the two plotters -put their heads together over a bundle of letters -on the table. Then he withdrew, closed the door softly, -and rejoined Patsy.</p> - -<p>In two minutes more both were at the bottom of the -chute, while Patsy untied the boat.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad it is dark, Patsy!” whispered Nick Carter. -“They are taking Marcos away in that boat, and we have -to stop them, if we can. If not, we must trail them till -we can get help to take them in.”</p> - -<p>“We don’t need help,” snapped Patsy Garvan. “There’s -only three of them, and if we have this Marcos to help -us, there’ll be three on our side. Why, I am almost -ashamed to do it. It’s too easy! Are we to shoot?”</p> - -<p>“If we can’t nail them any other way. Have you got -handcuffs in your pocket, Patsy?”</p> - -<p>“Two pairs! I figured we’d need them, even if you have -a pair——”</p> - -<p>“Which I have,” interjected Nick. “I’ll row. Get into -the bow, with your gun in your hand. As soon as you -get where you can make a grab at their boat, cover the -nearest man, and I’ll do the same with the next. Then -make a jump.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t get you,” admitted Patsy. “Aren’t we liable -to tumble into the water?”</p> - -<p>“Not if you do your work right. Their boat is tied -up to the stone sill of the door. All we have to do is -to row up level with it, and I’ll get hold of their gunwale. -That will hold us steady, and you can throw your -gun on your man.”</p> - -<p>“But you’ll be sitting down, and——”</p> - -<p>“I can use a gun sitting down, as well as standing up,” -remarked Nick calmly.</p> - -<p>“They are bringing some stuff out of the warehouse,” -whispered Patsy. “Looks like sacks of coal or something.”</p> - -<p>“Silver, probably,” interrupted Nick. “Look out! They -are all in the boat except Dugan. You see that man they -have sitting in the stern?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Who is he?”</p> - -<p>“Marcos.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! The king-pin himself! All right! We’ll get -him so slick, those Jimmy toughs will think they are dancing -the tango upside down on a toboggan slide. Just -watch me get the drop on that hard-faced guy in the -middle.”</p> - -<p>“That’s Foxey Irwin,” remarked Nick.</p> - -<p>“Don’t I know it?” was Patsy’s quick rejoinder. “I’m -only afraid my bullet may bounce off his face and fly -into bits all over this part of the meadows.”</p> - -<p>Nothing more was said now. Larry Dugan had been -piling up sacks of loot in the boat, and Nick Carter -doubted not that his pockets were full of jewelry and -small articles of value generally.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span></p> - -<p>In the doorway stood Solado and Miguel, and Nick -noticed that a small boat, of the same general type as -his own and the gangster’s, was moored at the other -side of the door.</p> - -<p>“That boat wasn’t there before,” observed Patsy, in a -whisper.</p> - -<p>“They had it inside,” returned Nick. “Didn’t want to -call attention to their presence.”</p> - -<p>“They’re a smooth bunch! Shall we make the rush -now?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Be sure to cover your man. That will be -Foxey. I’ll get Dugan.”</p> - -<p>“Pet Carlin is the most dangerous!” Patsy reminded -him.</p> - -<p>“I depend on Marcos getting him,” was all Nick said to -this.</p> - -<p>Like a flash, they shot their boat suddenly out of the -tangle of reeds, and so skillfully did Nick Carter guide -the craft, that it ran alongside the other as evenly as if -there had been the utmost deliberation.</p> - -<p>Instantly, excitement broke out in that quiet region, -which up till then had been perfectly silent except for the -distant quacking of wild ducks who had been skimming -the water a mile or so away, the rushing of the evening -breeze through the swaying rushes, and the occasional -toot of a railroad locomotive taking home a load of -commuters.</p> - -<p>Patsy swung his revolver over till its muzzle was exactly -opposite the right eye of Foxey Irwin, while Nick -Carter pointed his automatic steadily at Larry Dugan, -with the quiet warning:</p> - -<p>“Don’t move, Dugan! Half an inch to one side or -the other, and I touch the trigger.”</p> - -<p>“Touch, eh?” sneered Dugan. “Why don’t you pull it -while you are about it—if you have the nerve to shoot -at all.”</p> - -<p>“A touch is all that is needed with this gun, Dugan,” -returned Nick. “It’s the easiest trigger I ever put my -finger on. And I wouldn’t advise you to test my nerve -about shooting.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter would not have parleyed thus if he had -not seen that Marcos had sprung at the throat of Pet -Carlin and snatched away that innocent-looking person’s -pistol just as it leaped from his side pocket.</p> - -<p>Carlin was known as a “killer,” and there is little doubt -that he would have tried to “get” Nick Carter at the -instant that the detective covered Dugan, if Marcos had -not been too quick for him.</p> - -<p>Nick had perfect faith in this prince from Joyalita who -looked so much like himself. He had seen that Marcos -never permitted himself to get rattled, but was always in -complete control of his nerves.</p> - -<p>So, when Marcos leaped at Carlin just as the other boat -swung alongside, anticipating, by a sliver of a second, -the drawing of Pet’s gun, it was no more than Nick Carter -had felt sure would happen.</p> - -<p>“Put on the cuffs, Patsy!” whispered Nick to his assistant. -“Get Foxey first. Then take Dugan.”</p> - -<p>“What about the guys in the doorway?” asked Patsy, -as he prepared to obey orders.</p> - -<p>“I’ll look after them. They’ve got to show me where -Chick is.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right! Look out, Foxey!”</p> - -<p>This last ejaculation had been caused by a sudden -twitch on the part of Foxey Irwin, as Patsy, having -stepped from one boat to the other, snapped a handcuff -on Foxey’s right wrist before he knew what threatened -him.</p> - -<p>“I’ll croak you when I get out of this, Garvan,” hissed -Foxey.</p> - -<p>“Maybe! But that will be in about seven years’ time, -when you come down from up the river, and there’s no -telling what may happen before that,” replied Patsy, undisturbed.</p> - -<p>At the same moment he caught Foxey Irwin’s left -wrist and trapped it in the other cuff. Patsy had been -taught to put on handcuffs long ago, and he could -do the work so neatly that it looked like sleight-of-hand -to an unaccustomed eye.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Nick Carter had handcuffed Dugan on his -left wrist, holding the other steel bracelet in his own left -hand, while his right kept the automatic pointed at Dugan’s -forehead.</p> - -<p>Then it was that the detective worked a little trick on -Larry Dugan and Foxey Irwin that he had found useful -in dealing with other gentry of their unscrupulous -character.</p> - -<p>Suddenly pulling Foxey toward him, while giving Dugan -a push, he passed the chain of the loose handcuff around -the connecting links on Foxey’s hands, and instantly -snapped the manacle on Dugan’s right wrist.</p> - -<p>The net result of the maneuver was that the two scoundrels -were handcuffed to each other, face to face, and -about as helpless as a horse in a balloon.</p> - -<p>“Lend me that extra pair of yours, Patsy!” called out -Nick.</p> - -<p>Patsy gave him the other handcuffs, and they were -snapped around Pet Carlin’s wrists with disconcerting -celerity, while Nick drew the young gunman’s second pistol -from an outside pocket and placed it in his own.</p> - -<p>“Better draw those cuffs tight, chief!” warned Patsy. -“Pet has mighty pretty hands. If he was a girl, he’d be -wearing a finger ring for a bracelet.”</p> - -<p>This advice was not called for, however. Nick Carter -had taken cognizance of the extreme slimness of Pet -Carlin’s hand and wrist, and had drawn the steel cuffs -so small that they were quite safe.</p> - -<p>Hardly had the detective done all this than he made -a leap for his own boat again and pulled up to the door.</p> - -<p>Solado and Miguel were about to beat a retreat in their -private skiff.</p> - -<p>“Stop!” shouted Nick Carter.</p> - -<p>He accentuated his demand by pointing his own pistol -and Pet Carlin’s at the heads of the two conspirators.</p> - -<p>They stopped.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.<br/> -<span class="ph5">FROM ONE PERIL TO ANOTHER.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>“Go into that house again!” commanded Nick. “I -want to look through it. And you’ll go with me.”</p> - -<p>“What for?”</p> - -<p>“You know what for,” thundered Nick. “You have -my assistant in there, Chickering Carter. I’m going to -get him out. Come on!” he continued, more fiercely than -ever, as he waved his pistol. “Any hesitation, and I -swear I will shoot the pair of you. I ought to do so, anyhow, -for your treason to Prince Marcos.”</p> - -<p>“What have you to do with Prince Marcos?” snarled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> -Miguel. “The politics of Joyalita are no concern of -yours.”</p> - -<p>“Breaking the law in New York or New Jersey is -very much a concern of mine. I have enough against -you now to hold you. If any harm comes to my man, -you will be responsible.”</p> - -<p>He had jumped out of his boat to the stone sill of -the door into the warehouse, and was close to the two -rascals.</p> - -<p>“Go in first, and I will follow!”</p> - -<p>He prodded his gun against the chest of Miguel, and -there was a look in the detective’s eye that would have -told any one it was dangerous to play with him. But -Miguel did not give way.</p> - -<p>“I’m not going in there again,” he growled.</p> - -<p>“Yes, you will. I——”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter stopped. He had caught the steady thump -of an engine, and he remembered that he had heard the -sound himself when a prisoner in the cellar.</p> - -<p>It had stopped when he made his escape. But it had -been set going again.</p> - -<p>The detective did not hesitate any longer. He pushed -Miguel ahead of him, at the same time pointing one of -his pistols at Don Solado.</p> - -<p>“Show me the place! Show it to me, quick!” he -shouted. “I know it is the cellar. But how do you get -down to it? Quick!”</p> - -<p>Only the knowledge that Chick was in deadly peril -within a few yards of him, and that if he took the time -to find out for himself how to reach his prison, it might -be too late, prevented Nick Carter from shooting Miguel -dead on the spot.</p> - -<p>“I’ll show you!” volunteered Solado.</p> - -<p>“Fool!” mumbled Miguel, in too low a tone for Nick -Carter to hear.</p> - -<p>“Where is the door?” demanded Nick.</p> - -<p>“Here! In this corner, behind these barrels!” answered -Solado. “Here is the key. It is barred outside, too.”</p> - -<p>Nick began to tear away the barrels, taking no notice -of Solado or Miguel. He had something more important -to engage his attention just then.</p> - -<p>The deadly fumes of ammonia were coming from the -chinks of the cellar, and, as he turned the key, kicked -away the bar, and pulled the door open, they came pouring -out in a volume that staggered him for a moment.</p> - -<p>“Chick!” he called.</p> - -<p>There was no answer.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter turned the powerful gleam of his flash -light into the gloomy depths, and a low cry of horror -broke from him.</p> - -<p>Lying on the floor, against the wall, his limbs contorted -and his face buried in his arms, as if he had resisted -the deadly gas as long as he could, was Chick.</p> - -<p>It was not necessary for Nick Carter to see the face -to know who it was. He would have recognized the -general appearance of his beloved first assistant even -if he had not known him by his clothes.</p> - -<p>“Chick!” he repeated, in an agonized groan, as he -pressed a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. “Chick! -Keep your mouth covered!”</p> - -<p>“Chief!”</p> - -<p>The response came in a far-away gasp, as if it were -almost the last effort the speaker was capable of -making.</p> - -<p>It was enough for Nick Carter.</p> - -<p>Indeed, he had not waited for a reply. Even while -he spoke to Chick he had begun to descend the steep -ladder in the corner of the cellar.</p> - -<p>With a bound he crossed the floor and picked up his -assistant in his arms.</p> - -<p>“Keep your mouth covered!” mumbled Nick Carter, -through his handkerchief.</p> - -<p>It was instinct that made Chick press his two hands -over his mouth.</p> - -<p>Nick crawled along, keeping as low as he could to -avoid at least some of the strength of the poisonous -ammonia.</p> - -<p>The engine thudded unseen in another compartment of -the big cellar, pumping more of the gas from the generator -to the storage tank, whence some demoniac villainy -had arranged for it to escape.</p> - -<p>“This will be all for Solado and Miguel,” thought Nick, -as he half carried, half dragged, Chick across the floor.</p> - -<p>He had reached the bottom of the ladder, when a -loud, derisive laugh overhead came to his ears. Then, -with a bang, the door closed!</p> - -<p>Instantly Nick dropped at full length, taking Chick -with him.</p> - -<p>He wanted a moment to think, and it was essential that -he should inhale as little of the ammonia as possible -while he decided what to do.</p> - -<p>The situation was a terrifying one. To a man less -courageous than Nick Carter, it might have appeared -hopeless.</p> - -<p>“The window!” he muttered. “I know how I got out -of the other cellar, by Patsy helping me from the outside. -This time I’ll have to get it open by my own -efforts.”</p> - -<p>He drew from his pocket the heavy jackknife without -which he never went out. Included in its tools was a -miniature brace and bit. He fitted this for use as he -crawled toward the window.</p> - -<p>With his handkerchief tied over his mouth and nose, -to keep out as much of the gas he could, Nick got his -brace and bit ready for action and pulled himself to -his feet.</p> - -<p>A few seconds of work bored a hole through the -wood. It was old and rotten, and the bit was keen and -highly tempered.</p> - -<p>The hole was by the side of a nail, whose point Nick -had discerned coming through the wood.</p> - -<p>“Two more holes, at the other nails, and we’ll be -through,” he muttered. “If only I can hold out so -long!”</p> - -<p>It was a narrow squeak. But when a man is fighting -for his life, he’ll keep on against odds, no matter what -sort of contest he may have on his hands.</p> - -<p>Just as Nick felt that he could not bear the awful -pressure of the gas on his lungs another instant, he pushed -the boards out of the opening.</p> - -<p>As the ammonia poured out, a rush of fresh air came in.</p> - -<p>The detective drew it into his system with a joyful -gratitude, such as he had seldom felt in all his adventurous -life.</p> - -<p>Only for a second did he stand there, however. Chick -was lying on the floor, and though, in that position, he -had not been affected so strongly by the poison as he -would have been if standing up straight, it had rendered -him entirely unconscious.</p> - -<p>Taking up his assistant in his strong arms, Nick lifted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> -him so that his head rested on the stone ledge, where he -got the full benefit of the cool night air from the salty -waters.</p> - -<p>“This is all right so far as it goes!” muttered the detective. -“But I don’t want to swim. I’d have to hold -Chick up in the water, too. He is all in for the -present.”</p> - -<p>He stared out into the gloom, but nothing could he -make out except the dim sky line of the rushes and the -banks of heavy clouds which obscured the stars over in -the east.</p> - -<p>It was a desolate scene.</p> - -<p>So far as he could discern, there were no boats in -the neighborhood, and for a moment he heard no sound -of voices.</p> - -<p>Then he caught the sharp accents of Patsy, commanding -Pet Carlin to keep still. This was followed by a growling -oath that might have been the utterance either of -Larry Dugan or Foxey Irwin.</p> - -<p>“Patsy has all he can attend to,” decided Nick. “He’s -waiting for me to come out. I’ll have to bring him -around to this side. There is nothing else for it, although -some of those blackguards are liable to jump him -if he settles down to row.”</p> - -<p>Nick actually had his mouth open to call to his wide-awake -second assistant, when a crash that might have -meant the blowing up of the whole building stopped -him.</p> - -<p>The sound began with a swish such as often precedes -the boom of an explosion of certain kinds of chemicals.</p> - -<p>It was followed immediately by a heaven-splitting -cr-r-rack, and then by the thunderous letting go of what -might have been one of the heaviest guns known to -modern ordnance.</p> - -<p>Simultaneously, the big wooden warehouse rocked on -its foundations, and Chick fell from the window ledge -back to the cellar.</p> - -<p>Down went Nick to the floor after him. He had only -just got there, and placed his hands on the clothing of -his assistant, when another explosion, even more terrifying -than the first, sent the stone-wall foundations scattering -in all directions.</p> - -<p>Nick found himself hemmed in by heaps of splintered -wood, while the upper part of the building, caving in one -side, formed an arch over him that threatened to collapse -at any moment.</p> - -<p>“Chick!” he cried. “Where are you?”</p> - -<p>There was no answer. He had not expected any.</p> - -<p>His assistant had slipped from his grasp at the second -explosion, and the general disturbance had separated them. -In the heaps of débris it was impossible for Nick to see -him at once.</p> - -<p>“Heaven preserve us!” muttered the detective. “I’ve <i>got</i> -to find him!”</p> - -<p>Outside the building he could hear Patsy shouting to -him, while the oaths of the prisoners, as they commanded -Patsy to get the boat farther away from the destroyed -warehouse, told plainly enough that his second assistant -had special troubles of his own.</p> - -<p>“Patsy!” cried Nick, at the top of his voice. “Stay -where you are! I’ll bring Chick!”</p> - -<p>He did not know whether his voice had carried to Patsy -or not. Indeed, he had no time to think about it, for -suddenly, with a vicious roar, a blue-and-yellow tongue -of flame shot up from the middle of the great heaps of -timbers about him, and through the caved-in roof overhead.</p> - -<p>The warehouse was on fire!</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br/> -<span class="ph5">ROUNDED UP.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>“Chick!” shouted Nick Carter, in agony. “Where are -you?”</p> - -<p>Again there was no answer. Nick Carter would have -been surprised if there had been. Well he knew that if -Chick was to be rescued, it must be without any help -from the imperiled one himself.</p> - -<p>Fragments of blazing timbers were beginning to fall, -and Nick saw that if certain joists already on fire should -burn through, down would come the tons of flooring and -roof upon his head. Nothing could save him.</p> - -<p>If he meant to get Chick out of this, he must do it -quickly.</p> - -<p>“There he is—on the other side of that heap of burning -wood,” he muttered. “Merciful heavens! Some of -it is resting on him. He may be slowly roasting to death! -I must get to him!”</p> - -<p>It was a perilous trip the detective had now.</p> - -<p>Mounds of rubbish had been built up by the explosions, -and had caught fire afterward. Nick had to climb over -them.</p> - -<p>That the fire was incendiary there could be no doubt. -Indeed, Nick Carter had heard enough of the plots of -the two rascals from Joyalita, as well as of the Dugan -gang, to know that the whole affair had been planned.</p> - -<p>The only place where the plot had fallen down from -the original intention was in the escape of Marcos.</p> - -<p>He was to have been burned to death in this warehouse, -and the explosions, arranged so that they should -end in a general conflagration, were prepared for his -destruction.</p> - -<p>The fact that Chick was in the building, too, was -merely an incident. It is not likely that the explosions -would have been caused just for him alone. Still, as -he chanced to be in the way of them, why, so much the -better, in the opinion of the conspirators.</p> - -<p>Dugan and his gang had been seeking to get Nick Carter -and his principal assistant out of the way for years.</p> - -<p>Nick was not bothering about that now. He had just -climbed to the top of a blazing pile, and found Chick -lying in a hollow on the other side.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the heated mass gave way beneath him!</p> - -<p>“I don’t care!” gasped Nick Carter, as he drew one -foot out of a hole, where it seemed as if the leather of -his shoe must be burned through. “I’ve got to get him -out of this! I’d do it or—go with him!”</p> - -<p>This was no idle talk. He meant it.</p> - -<p>It will be remembered that Nick wore a pair of high -wading boots, which were of leather below and up to his -knees, with rubber above, covering his thighs.</p> - -<p>There is little doubt that these stout, high boots did -a large part in enabling him to reach Chick. They protected -him to some extent, where low shoes and trousers -would surely have meant painful, if not fatal, burns.</p> - -<p>He plowed through the awful smoking mass till he -found himself standing right over his unconscious assistant.</p> - -<p>“Now, Chick! If only you were a little like yourself, -how easy it would be!” muttered Nick. “But there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> -is no use in wishing. I’ve got to take him the best way -I can.”</p> - -<p>Stooping over and getting a firm hold, he lifted the -young man and swung him over one shoulder. Then, -without stopping to look one way or the other, he began -his journey back to the window.</p> - -<p>It took him five minutes to accomplish this feat, and -more than once, when a quantity of burning rubbish came -tumbling about his ears, he believed it was all up with -him and his helpless burden.</p> - -<p>But in some almost miraculous way he got through, -and resting Chick on the stone coping at the window -opening, looked around for a means of escape.</p> - -<p>“Chief!” shouted Patsy, from his boat among the -rushes. “Wait a moment! I’ll be there!”</p> - -<p>“That’s what you won’t!” roared Larry Dugan, in impotent -wrath. “You ain’t going to run me into no such -risks as that. If you want to put me in jail, all right. -But——”</p> - -<p>A large, open hand came rattling across the side of -Dugan’s face and shut off his eloquence. The owner of -the hand—none other than Prince Marcos—called out to -Patsy to drive the boat close to the window.</p> - -<p>“We shan’t be burned,” he added. “Anyhow, we have -to take that risk. We can’t leave those two men there. -Mr. Carter can swim, I know. But Chick is done for, unless -somebody helps him.”</p> - -<p>“Hello! Here’s luck!” suddenly exclaimed Patsy. -“Gee! This is my good night!”</p> - -<p>The skiff in which he and Nick Carter had come to -the ice house was floating about near him. A few quick -pulls on the oars, and he was able to reach the empty -boat.</p> - -<p>“Here is my gun,” he said simply, to Marcos, as he -handed him his revolver. “If Larry Dugan or either of -the others gets at all gay, just put a lead pill into his -coco. All you have to do is to get the end of the barrel -against the patient’s ear. Then pull this little dingus -underneath, and it will cure the nervousness right away.”</p> - -<p>Marcos laughed at Patsy’s prescription for the prisoners -as he took the revolver.</p> - -<p>“You hear what the doctor says, gentlemen!” he remarked, -bringing the muzzle of the pistol to bear on -Larry Dugan’s sinister countenance. “Don’t jump about -too much, or I might pull the—er—dingus by accident.”</p> - -<p>Patsy was up to the window where Nick Carter supported -Chick in a very few seconds.</p> - -<p>“Gee, chief! This joint looks as if it was going to -fold in on itself any minute. Listen to the fire spitting. -And talk about a smell! They must have forgot to clean -off the kindling wood before they started this one. In -with him! All right, Chick! Don’t worry! It’s your -Uncle Patsy has you now! Say! This is a hot one, -all right!”</p> - -<p>Chatting in this way to keep up his own spirits, as -well as to make Chick feel safe in case he should be coming -to his senses, Patsy Garvan helped Nick Carter lift -Chick into the boat.</p> - -<p>“Pull, Patsy! Pull for your life!” shouted Nick, as -Patsy got the pair of oars well in hand.</p> - -<p>“Sure I’ll pull!” was the hearty response. “I can -tumble without a house falling on me!”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter could not aid his willing assistant at that -instant. There was only one pair of oars in the skiff, -and Patsy had them.</p> - -<p>“Hello! Those walls are going to fall out!”</p> - -<p>Instinctively, Nick tried to shield Chick, lying in the -bottom of the boat, by bending over him, as part of -the blazing ruins broke down again.</p> - -<p>A flying board, all blue flames and scattering sparks, -came charging full tilt at the boat.</p> - -<p>It struck Nick Carter’s arm, and fell, seething, into the -water. If it had come straight in its original course, it -must have plunged into the unprotected, upturned face of -Chick.</p> - -<p>“That was a close call,” observed Patsy, as he ran the -skiff up against the other one, where Marcos was keeping -close watch on the prisoners. “What shall I do now?”</p> - -<p>“Get in and row the gang to shore. I’ll take Chick in -this skiff. He is beginning to come around,” returned -Nick.</p> - -<p>“Sure!” almost screamed Patsy, in an excess of delight.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Patsy!” said Chick feebly.</p> - -<p>“Gee! That’s a good sound!” ejaculated Patsy. “All -right, chief! I’ll be responsible for these three beauties. -Now that I know Chick is all to the good, I could handle -two gangs of this size. Trust me!”</p> - -<p>Nick hurriedly rowed to the place where he had hired -the boat, and, in the comfortable home of the man who -owned the place, soon had Chick on his feet again—shaky, -but otherwise all right.</p> - -<p>“I’ll leave you here to-night, if you like, Chick,” said -Nick, after a short conference with the boat owner. “He -says he can take care of you until morning. We have -to ride on the street car, you know. There won’t be -one along for an hour, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“By that time I’ll be fit as a fiddle,” declared Chick. -“Let me go with you.”</p> - -<p>“Say, chief!” asked Patsy, who was standing guard over -the three disgruntled gangsters, in company with Marcos. -“What became of those two other guys from Joyalita?”</p> - -<p>“I can tell you that,” put in Marcos gravely. “They -have got away. They had a motor car here, and when -we were occupied in looking after Dugan and his men, -and trying to help Mr. Carter find Chick in that warehouse, -they took advantage of nobody watching them. -That is all. So long as they cannot prevent my reaching -Joyalita, I am not particular about going after them. The -man Jason must have died in the fire.”</p> - -<p>“You shall start for Joyalita in the morning, if you -like,” smiled Nick Carter. “It looks as if we have beaten -the whole plot against you.”</p> - -<p>“Thanks to you, Mr. Carter!”</p> - -<p>Prince Marcos held out his hand to the detective, while -Dugan, still handcuffed to Foxey Irwin, snorted in angry -disgust.</p> - -<p>“By the way, I have your watch, the Seal of Gijon,” -said Nick. “I have never had an opportunity to give it -to you till now.”</p> - -<p>He brought out the precious diamond-incrusted watch -and jeweled fob which had been the subject of his close -inspection, and about whose secret spring he was still -puzzled, and handed it to Marcos.</p> - -<p>As the prince took the watch, he pressed it to his -lips. Then he put it to his forehead, with a gesture of -reverence. At the same time he murmured a few words<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> -in a strange tongue, that Nick Carter did not understand.</p> - -<p>Even when Marcos had hidden the watch in an inner -pocket of his waistcoat, he did not speak for a minute, -at least.</p> - -<p>It seemed as if there were a sacred significance attached -to the Seal of Gijon which made it sacrilege to -talk on outside matters for a short period after handling -the precious emblem.</p> - -<p>It was more than an hour before a street car came -bowling along the lonely road which ran through the -meadows, and which might have been a thousand miles -from a city, judging by its desolate appearance, instead of -only a few miles from the metropolis itself.</p> - -<p>The conductor was a stolid individual, and when he saw -that there were three handcuffed men pushed into the -car ahead of four other men—for Chick had recovered -sufficiently to go along with his friends—he only wondered -what the trio had been pinched for, and let it go -at that.</p> - -<p>There were three heavy sacks lifted upon the back platform, -and Patsy stood out there with them, his hand -close to the butt of a revolver in his coat pocket.</p> - -<p>All the notice the conductor took of this was to grumble, -sotto voce, as conductors often do, in similar cases:</p> - -<p>“Why don’t youse guys hire an express wagon?”</p> - -<p>If the conductor had known that in those sacks was -stolen property aggregating in value not less than two -hundred thousand dollars, he might have shown a little -more interest.</p> - -<p>It was early in the morning when Nick Carter turned -over to the officers at police headquarters his three prisoners, -Larry Dugan, Foxey Irwin, and Pet Carlin. He -also handed in, and got a receipt for, the three bags of -loot that he had captured with the Dugan gang.</p> - -<p>Then he went home, with Chick and Patsy, to enjoy -a good breakfast, while Marcos, in a taxicab, hurried -back to Crownledge, to relieve the mind of his pretty -cousin, Claudia Solado, and complete his preparations -to return at once to Joyalita.</p> - -<p>“And you owe it all to Mr. Carter,” remarked Claudia, -as she presided at the breakfast table, with Phillips in -attendance.</p> - -<p>“Indeed I do,” declared Marcos enthusiastically. “If -he would come to Joyalita, I would make him prime -minister.”</p> - -<p>The young girl laughed. She shook her head and said:</p> - -<p>“I am afraid there is no office in Joyalita important -enough to lure Nick Carter away from New York.”</p> - -<p>“No, I suppose not,” returned Marcos slowly. “But -what a fine head of the government he’d make. I’d like -to see him dealing with a bunch of conspirators like these -of my Cousin Miguel’s.”</p> - -<p>“I believe he’d take them up in his two strong hands -and bang their heads together,” opined Claudia, with another -merry laugh.</p> - - -<p class="center">THE END.</p> - -<p class="p2">In “The Traitors of the Tropics; or, Nick Carter’s Royal -Flush,” which will appear in the next issue, No. 138, of -the <span class="smcap">Nick Carter Stories</span>, you will find that the famous -detective and his assistants have still further and even -more interesting adventures before Prince Marcos defeats -the conspirators and regains control of Joyalita. The -forthcoming issue will be out on May 1st.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Dared_for_Los_Angeles">Dared for Los Angeles.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="center plarge3">By ROLAND ASHFORD PHILLIPS.</p> - -<p>(This interesting story was commenced in No. 134 of <span class="smcap">Nick Carter -Stories</span>. Back numbers can always be obtained from your news -dealer or the publishers.)</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.<br/> -<span class="ph5">THE OLD WOUND.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>Nash’s hesitation was but of a second’s duration. With -an exclamation of wrath and disappointment he thrust -his gun back to his pocket, and leaped forward. He -reached the pipe line, vaulted it, and plunged fearlessly -in the general direction taken by the stranger. Once -he heard the sound of falling rocks. Encouraged, he -doubled his speed, only to trip upon an unseen root and -sprawl heavily. The very forces of nature seemed pitted -against him, for no sooner had he regained his feet -than the half twilight died away, and the mountain slope -became wrapped in a confusing blanket of gloom.</p> - -<p>In another hour—perhaps before then—the moon would -creep over the distant coast range, and bathe the quiet -world in silver; until then all hope of pursuit was futile. -He stumbled on, groping his way back to the pipe line. -Once there, he listened hopefully for some sign, some -slight noise that might guide him, but his anxious ears -were unrewarded.</p> - -<p>When at last he returned to the high trail he found -only his pony awaiting him. Miss Breen had vanished -as suddenly and as mysteriously as had the man she -warned.</p> - -<p>It was quite useless, he knew, to remain where he -was. The chances of following the stranger were becoming -more and more hopeless. So he climbed into -the saddle, and allowed his pony to pick its way slowly -and carefully along the trail.</p> - -<p>What a puzzle this was, to be sure, he reasoned to -himself. Undoubtedly the man he had seen, who, thanks -to the girl’s warning, had escaped, was none other than -the person instrumental in the previous night’s adventure. -The fact that he was carrying a sledge hammer gave -added proof to this suspicion, to say nothing of his fright -at Nash’s abrupt interruption. And yet, what had led -Miss Breen to cry out just at the moment when his -capture seemed certain? What connection had she with -this slinking intruder?</p> - -<p>Mentally Nash recalled to mind the maps he had stumbled -upon; those cleverly executed and highly technical -drawings. And how intensely interested she had been -in the construction work; what unusual questions she had -asked.</p> - -<p>In spite of this Nash could not bring himself to the -point of suspecting the girl of being an accomplice of -the man who had committed, or intended to commit, such -dastardly outrages. Some of her actions were puzzling, -he admitted, and yet she seemed to be cast in too fine -a mold for such an association.</p> - -<p>Upon his return to his cabin, an hour later, Nash found -Hooker awaiting him. Hooker came regularly from Los -Angeles twice or three times a month, bringing letters and -specifications from Sigsbee and the construction board -of engineers.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Nash,” he said. “You’re late to-night. I’ve been -waiting since five o’clock.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p> - -<p>“I am a bit later than usual,” Nash admitted. “We’ve -been troubled with bursted water mains lately. Some -vandal has been smashing them with a sledge. I’ve been -trying to get at the bottom of the mystery.”</p> - -<p>Then, as briefly as possible, he told Hooker of the -previous night’s accident. Of the recent affair he mentioned -not a word.</p> - -<p>“Nasty business,” answered Hooker. “If it isn’t stopped -it’s likely to put you away behind on your contracts. -So far, however, Sigsbee is highly elated over your work, -Nash. Don’t mind me telling you so, do you? It might -seem funny, coming from one in my position, eh? But -I’m as glad as the boss. He gave me the same opportunity—and -I fell down. Maybe it was the booze, and -maybe again it wasn’t. Anyhow, I’m glad to see you’re -making good.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the occasion for to-night’s visit?” Nash asked. -“Anything new?”</p> - -<p>Hooker brought out some folded papers, spreading them -upon the table. “These are the rest of the steel specifications,” -he said, running his fingers down the list of -numbers. “You’ve followed the others, haven’t you?”</p> - -<p>“To the hair’s breadth,” Nash replied.</p> - -<p>“Ordered the siphon steel?”</p> - -<p>“All of it. In fact, to-day I started construction of -the big siphon across Soledad Cañon.”</p> - -<p>“Good for you!” Hooker’s eyes brightened. “That’s -speedy work, all right, Nash. Sigsbee wants to see Camp -Forty-seven get the first siphon completed. It’ll carry a -hundred-dollar bonus if you complete it before the fifteenth.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll win it.”</p> - -<p>Hooker’s face glowed with admiration. “Nash, you’re -a brick. I never saw a fellow put so much enthusiasm -into his work.” Then, after a moment, he added: “Not -having any trouble, are you?”</p> - -<p>“Trouble? None, except that water main being smashed. -Why?”</p> - -<p>Hooker shrugged, and turned the subject with a laugh. -“Oh, nothing in particular, Nash. Only, you know, a -man in your position is always hated by some of the -workers. I guess you can take care of yourself, can’t -you? You’re no weakling. And remember, this isn’t -New York.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by that?” Nash asked, not liking -the other’s tone.</p> - -<p>“Well, if you should—hurt a man out here—it wouldn’t -be necessary to disappear,” Hooker answered. “I believe -that was the reason for your departure from New York, -wasn’t it?”</p> - -<p>Nash calmly ignored the insinuation, gathered up the -papers Hooker had brought, and fastened them with the -others on his board.</p> - -<p>“Sigsbee send any further orders?” he asked, after he -had finished.</p> - -<p>“That’s all, Nash. I came down from San Fernando -in his car. The moon’s up now, so I might as well be -hitting the trail back. Like to take a little spin?”</p> - -<p>“Not to-night, thank you,” Nash replied. “Got too -much work to do.”</p> - -<p>Hooker frowned, and shrugged his shoulders. Before -leaving the cabin he turned, and said: “Don’t take things -so serious, Nash. I didn’t mean anything when I said -you——”</p> - -<p>“Of course you didn’t,” Nash interrupted dryly. “Convey -my best wishes to Sigsbee, will you?”</p> - -<p>Hooker went out, slamming the door behind him. Long -after the sound of the chugging motor had died away on -the still night air, Nash remained bending over his desk, -marshaling into order the confusing rows of figures, -transferring the totals from his memorandum book to the -ledger, and preparing, as he always did, for the work of -the coming day.</p> - -<p>The subject touched upon by the old foreman brought -back an instant and bitter flood of memories; but he -fought against them, crushed them back, firm in his resolve -not to allow the past to interfere with the duties -on hand.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.<br/> -<span class="ph5">GETTING READY.</span></h3> -</div> - - -<p>Early the next morning, while Nash was still at breakfast, -a man came running up with the information that -a body had been found at the foot of a high cliff, a -short distance from where the siphon was being constructed.</p> - -<p>“One of our men?” Nash questioned, concerned over -the news, but not surprised, as accidents, from one cause -or another, among the thousand-odd laborers were frequent.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think so,” was the reply. “I heard some of -the others talking about it. Guess he was known to some -of them.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be over right away,” Nash said.</p> - -<p>He had his pony brought around to the cabin, and in -less than half an hour was at the scene. Pushing his -way through the crowd which had gathered about the -body, he suddenly caught his breath in astonishment.</p> - -<p>The dead man was the old subforeman, under whom -he had worked that first day—Macmillan!</p> - -<p>“Give me the details,” he demanded abruptly of the -nearest subforeman.</p> - -<p>“The body was brought in about an hour ago,” the -latter hurriedly explained. “Some few of us older men -recognized Macmillan right away. One of the watchmen -found him at the foot of the high cliff back there. Must -have been an accident; don’t you think so?”</p> - -<p>Nash followed the speaker’s finger. He saw the cliff -mentioned; and, on its edge, winding down to the valley, -ran the black pipe line. Then, like a flash of fire from -a cloudless sky, the truth came to Nash.</p> - -<p>Macmillan had been the mysterious stranger of last -night; the man with the hammer; the man Miss Breen -had warned! No doubt he had been the one who had -destroyed the pipe several nights previous.</p> - -<p>After the girl’s warning Macmillan had dashed away, -probably lost his bearings in the darkness, and by accident -stepped off the cliff.</p> - -<p>Once he had examined the body carefully Nash was -positive that these suspicions were correct. As conclusive -evidence, the white, wide-brimmed sombrero with the -silver ornaments on the band was brought in by the same -watchman who had discovered the body.</p> - -<p>“Found this hanging on a bush about ten feet from the -top of the cliff,” the watchman declared, answering Nash’s -questions. “Guess the fellow made a try at the bush -himself—half of it is missing. Only the hat stuck.”</p> - -<p>Nash finally gave directions for the removal of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> -body, and watched as two Italians carried it to a wagon, -preparatory to its being sent on to camp. A few necessary -requirements and forms had to be observed—the notification -of the county sheriff being the principal one; and -after that, Macmillan’s body, unless claimed by relatives, -would share the barren plot on the mountainside with -the hundred-odd others who had met death, by fair -means or foul, in Camp Forty-seven.</p> - -<p>All the remainder of that day Macmillan’s death was -on Nash’s mind. It wasn’t so much the final tragedy -that worried him, as the events leading up to it. Revenge, -doubtless, had been the motive. It was quite -natural, after his discharge and his words with Hooker, -that the former subforeman should seek revenge. Being -interested in the construction of the conduit, and realizing -full well that the loss of water would prove a serious -blow, Macmillan had determined upon this damaging -method.</p> - -<p>The one question which still tortured Nash’s brain was -how Miss Breen had become mixed up with such a man -as Macmillan. And it stood to reason that she must be, -else why had she warned him last night? The more he -studied over the problem, the more entangled it became, -so finally he gave it up.</p> - -<p>In the two days which followed this tragedy Nash -was so busily engaged in the final preparations of his -“coyote” that the affair, at least for the present, was -relegated to the background. This had not been his first -experience with leveling off a mountaintop, but it was -one presenting the greatest difficulties. Unusually hard -rock had been encountered from the very beginning, an -extra force of men had been engaged in the bore, and -even then the work progressed slowly. It was exactly a -week later that the final “shot” was touched off, and the -last of the débris cleared from the tunnel.</p> - -<p>Two hundred cases of dynamite were placed in the big -rock chamber, together with a hundred bags of black -powder. The wires were laid about them, and carefully -adjusted. Then both dynamite and powder were covered -with six feet of cement and broken stone. This was -allowed to harden for three days.</p> - -<p>On top of this new floor fifty cases of dynamite were -placed. The first explosion would come from below, -ripping away the concrete and shattering the walls. By -leaving this air chamber, additional force would be created. -The first explosion would explode the dynamite -on the concrete floor.</p> - -<p>Nash spent most of his time at the “coyote,” overseeing -the thousand and one details which were necessary to -the success of the undertaking.</p> - -<p>Finally the last bag of powder was in place, and the -wires carefully laid from the chamber, along the tunnel, -out into daylight and across the valley—fully a mile—to -the top of another hill. Here, at the given time, the -batteries were to be adjusted, and the button pressed.</p> - -<p>If things happened as Nash had forecast, the top of -the big mountain—those rock-strewed, pine-covered acres -which had smiled into the California heavens for so many -ages—would be shattered, torn into a thousand pieces at -the pressure of a finger on a harmless-looking button.</p> - -<p>Nash was not to press the button himself! he conferred -the honor upon the subforeman who had taken charge -of the bore. Nash intended being nearer than the other -men, and had already picked out his point of observation. -He wanted to be close enough to determine just how -the explosion acted.</p> - -<p>The day of the explosion arrived. Nash gave final -orders.</p> - -<p>“We’ll make it eight o’clock to-night,” he said to the -men in charge. “The moon ought to be up by that time. -I wouldn’t tell too many of the men, because they might -get curious, and venture too near. I don’t want any -accidents.”</p> - -<p>“The batteries are all tested out,” the subforeman responded. -“Everything’s in shipshape order. At eight sharp -I press the button. Will you be with us, Mr. Nash?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ll be around somewhere near,” Nash answered. -“But don’t wait for me. I might creep in a few yards -nearer the fun.”</p> - -<p>“Very well, sir. Eight, prompt, it’ll be.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.<br/> -<span class="ph5">AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.</span></h3> -</div> - -<p>At six o’clock Nash finished his supper, strapped a pair -of powerful field glasses over his shoulder, and set out -in the direction of the “coyote.” The sun was just dipping -behind the highest mountain, bathing the sky with -gold and coral. The lower valleys were hung with purple -mists.</p> - -<p>Nash tramped on, breathing in the clean, damp air, -which, now and then, smelled of the distant Pacific. -Saucy, bushy-tailed gophers darted here and there, scolding -loudly when disturbed; once an unseen California -mocking bird burst into a glorious, heart-quickening melody, -its pure, liquid notes pouring out so clearly that -Nash halted, listening almost greedily. He loved music, -and it was one of the things he missed out here in the -mountains. And when the invisible singer had finished -he applauded softly.</p> - -<p>“Bravo!” he whispered. “Bravo!”</p> - -<p>He plodded on again deserting the trail of the shorter, -though more arduous, climb up the slope.</p> - -<p>Within half a mile of the “coyote” a feeling that he -was being followed came over him. Once or twice he -halted, and looked back, certain that he had heard the -falling of a dislodged rock or the snap of a dead pine -branch. But each time his eyes went unrewarded.</p> - -<p>The higher he ascended the brighter became the glow -from the lowering sun, and the deeper became the shadows -below him in the valley. The mists were creeping up, -foot by foot, their greedy fingers snuffing out the gold -in the air.</p> - -<p>Finally the mouth of the tunnel was reached. It was -a small, insignificant affair, that drift below the top of -the mountain: a hole hardly more than four feet square. -One had to crawl on hands and knees in order to reach -the chamber where the dynamite and powder were awaiting -the tiny spark, which, swifter than the winking of -an eye, would rock the surrounding hills like an earthquake.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, from bending over the wires he had been -examining, Nash stood erect, whirling as he did so.</p> - -<p>Miss Breen was standing a short distance beyond him, -her face strangely white and drawn, her hands clenched -at her sides.</p> - -<p>“Why, Miss Breen,” he began, “where have you been -all this time? What brings you away up here—at this -hour?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span></p> - -<p>“I—I——” She attempted to speak, and failed. Then -she took a forward step, and crumpled to the rocks.</p> - -<p>Nash leaped across and caught her. “You’re ill!” he -exclaimed. “What has happened?”</p> - -<p>She recovered instantly. “I’m—just a trifle weak, that -is all,” she answered, trying to laugh it all away. “My -pony got away two hours ago, and I’ve been roaming -about—trying to find the trail back to the ranch. I—I -guess I’m lost.”</p> - -<p>“You’re found now,” he said, smiling into her colorless -face. “How lucky I happened to be in this part of the -hills. Why, you might have wandered around for hours—maybe -all night.”</p> - -<p>The events of their previous meeting came back to -him vividly, almost bitterly. He felt that he must ask -her certain questions, and that she must answer them. -Yet, now that they had met once more, he hesitated. -She was weakened by her afternoon’s adventure. It -would be better, he resolved, to wait for a more desirable -opportunity. Or possibly she might explain matters herself.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t this—your ‘coyote’?” she asked suddenly, looking -around.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I was just making a final examination of the -wires. It is to go off at eight o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“To-night?”</p> - -<p>He nodded. She shrank back, as if death itself lurked -in the yawning tunnel mouth.</p> - -<p>“Oh, there’s no danger now,” he replied, laughing. “It -is only a few minutes after six. Why, I was just about -to go inside to inspect the big chamber. This is my first -coyote on the Los Angeles aqueduct, and I can’t afford -to take any chances of a failure.”</p> - -<p>“Aren’t you afraid?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Of what? The dynamite can’t go off unless the batteries -are attached to the wires and the button pressed. -Besides, the greater part of the stuff is buried under six -feet of solid concrete.”</p> - -<p>She sank to a pile of rocks, and pulled back her sleeve. -There was blood on her white arm. “It’s been hurting -dreadfully,” she said, disclosing a ragged wound, caused, -she admitted, by a stumble. “That’s why I’ve been so -faint.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you let me know at first?” Nash broke in -quickly. “Wait. I’ll fix it in a jiffy.”</p> - -<p>He hurried down the slope to where a little spring -bubbled out from its mossy bed. In the crystal, snow-fed -waters he dipped his handkerchief, wrung it out, and -returned.</p> - -<p>“Now just let me tie this around that cut, Miss Breen. -This mountain water has wonderful healing properties.” -He accomplished his task while the girl watched him in -silence. “There,” he said, drawing down her sleeve. “Isn’t -that better?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, a great deal,” she answered.</p> - -<p>“Well, suppose you excuse me for ten or fifteen minutes, -while I take a farewell trip into the tunnel. You -can rest here, and——”</p> - -<p>“Why can’t I go with you?” she interrupted.</p> - -<p>“Do you really want to go?” He looked down into her -face with a surprised frown. “It isn’t very clean—and -it is very damp and cold. Besides, you’ll have to crawl on -your hands and knees for a hundred yards.”</p> - -<p>His warning did not appear to frighten her. “Oh, I -don’t care about that,” she declared eagerly. “And I would -like to see just how the thing is arranged.”</p> - -<p>“Very well,” he agreed. “I’ve some candles in my pocket. -I’ll light one, and you follow close behind me. All ready?”</p> - -<p>“All ready,” she repeated, her eyes sparkling at the -thought of the adventure.</p> - -<p>He lighted a candle and started in the drift. She came -right behind him without the least hesitation. The tunnel -was damp, and at places they were forced to crawl -through pools of water. Still, she did not complain.</p> - -<p>“Nervy little woman, all right,” Nash muttered to himself.</p> - -<p>Finally they emerged into the chamber, and both stood -erect. He held the candle high above his head, so that -she could see. The walls, hewn roughly from solid rock, -glistened with moisture; the floor was muddy.</p> - -<p>Miss Breen held her hands together and shivered. “Ugh! -Are there any bats in here?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Hardly.”</p> - -<p>In the glow of the candle the girl’s face shone pale and -tense.</p> - -<p>“The dynamite is under us,” Nash explained. “And over -in the corner are half a hundred boxes of the same stuff, -that will produce a second explosion.”</p> - -<p>She followed him while he made a careful survey of -the whole chamber. Everything seemed to be in excellent -condition.</p> - -<p>“You’re not—not forgetting the time, are you?” she -broke out suddenly.</p> - -<p>“I should say not!” He took out his watch, and held -the candle lower. “It’s just a quarter to seven. We’ve -an hour and fifteen minutes yet before the fireworks -come off.”</p> - -<p>“Where are you going to watch it from?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve a little place picked out,” he answered, and laughed. -“About half a mile from here. Would you like a reserved -seat?”</p> - -<p>She nodded readily. “Of course. Now that I’ve seen -the mechanism of the thing, I won’t be happy until I see -the explosion.”</p> - -<p>“Good for you! I’m really as much excited over the -affair as you are. Ready to leave now?”</p> - -<p>“I guess so. Is there anything more to see?”</p> - -<p>“Not a thing. Wait while I light another candle. It’ll -make it easier for us to——”</p> - -<p>He stopped short, the match he had struck burning -down to his fingers. He scarcely felt the pain. A faint -rumbling had come to his ears—the sound of falling rock.</p> - -<p>“What was that?” Miss Breen asked sharply, nervously, -her voice echoing in the big, gloom-filled room.</p> - -<p>“Why—nothing much,” Nash replied reassuringly, although -his heart had started throbbing at a greater speed. -“That is—I suppose it was merely some loose earth falling -in the tunnel. It often does that. But we’ll soon see. -Follow close now.”</p> - -<p>He lighted the second candle, handing the girl the -first one. They came to the beginning of the tunnel. Just -as he had feared, some loose rock had fallen down, blocking -the entrance.</p> - -<p>“You take both candles, Miss Breen,” he commanded -quietly. “I’ll have to use my hands and open the drift.” -He attempted to laugh at his remark. “It’ll only take—take -a second.”</p> - -<p>He jerked off his coat and dropped it to the muddy floor. -Miss Breen held both candles behind him as he began<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> -his attack upon the rock. At first, it came away readily -enough; then, of a sudden, larger, firmly wedged chunks -met his torn fingers.</p> - -<p>Frantically, hopefully he dug. The jagged edges of the -granite ripped his fingers and wrists. But the pain did -not compare with the agony that steadily increased within -his brain. The sweat began to pour down his white face; -his breath came in choking gasps as he rolled rock after -rock behind him.</p> - -<p>He did not dare to turn and look into Miss Breen’s -eyes. Nash had not been an engineer these years for -nothing; he knew, even from the very first, just how -hopeless his task would be—how many tons of rock probably -lay between him and the cool night air. And then, -when he finally came upon huge bowlders which a dozen -men could not have moved, he straightened, passed his -torn, bleeding fingers across his damp face, and turned -slowly.</p> - -<p>Miss Breen, holding aloft the candles, met his gaze with -wide, staring eyes. Her face was devoid of all color.</p> - -<p>“I’ll—I’ll have to rest a minute,” he faltered.</p> - -<p>“What good will it do?” she asked.</p> - -<p>He thrust his head forward and looked deep into her -eyes.</p> - -<p>“I guess—guess there’s no use in lying to you, Miss -Breen,” he declared, his voice echoing dully in the stillness -of the big chamber. “We’re caught in a trap. There -is no escape.”</p> - -<p>He half expected she would scream, or faint dead away; -but she did neither. The candles she clutched trembled -slightly—that was all. Despite his own feelings, he marveled -at her apparent self-control.</p> - -<p>“There are tons of rock across the tunnel,” he said -quietly, after a pause.</p> - -<p>“But—you knew it—all the time, didn’t you?” Her -accusing voice was a mere whisper.</p> - -<p>He nodded. “I knew it—from the first,” he repeated.</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you tell me before?”</p> - -<p>“I—I dreaded even to think that——” He stopped, biting -his lips. “I wanted to keep it from you—as long as -possible. I—I thought we might have a chance.”</p> - -<p>They stood looking at one another, breathing audibly. -He took the candles from her cold, stiff fingers. She allowed -her arm to drop heavily to her side, as if it was -destitute of life.</p> - -<p>“What—what time is it?” she wavered presently.</p> - -<p>He was a long time fumbling for his watch. Then he -drew it out. Somehow his throat felt very hot and painful -as the crawling hands on the dial met his eyes.</p> - -<p>“It’s—ten minutes after seven,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Ten minutes after seven.” She repeated the words -huskily, and, to all appearances, subconsciously. “Then—then -we’ve fifty minutes before——”</p> - -<p>He took up the sentence she was unable to finish. -“Fifty minutes before the dynamite explodes.”</p> - -<p>Miss Breen sobbed, and, without the least warning, -crumpled to the floor. Nash spoke to her, chafed her -icelike arms, bathed her forehead with the dirty water -from the floor; but she did not respond.</p> - -<p>And then, as if to mock his helplessness, the candles -he had propped against a rock toppled over, and, with a -hiss, were extinguished by the water into which they -had fallen, leaving Nash to stare through the utter, suffocating -gloom.</p> - - -<p class="center">TO BE CONTINUED.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_PET_FOR_THE_CHILDREN">A PET FOR THE CHILDREN.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="center plarge3">By MAX ADELER.</p> - - -<p>Judge Pitman, a short time ago, bought a pet lamb for -his little children to play with. It was a pretty good-sized -lamb, and strong and vigorous; but the judge said -he preferred that kind because the children would be -less likely to hurt it. On the day that it came home -they turned it out into the front yard, where it strayed -about, nibbling the grass, while the judge tied up his -geraniums. Mrs. Pitman had the children in the house, -and she was reading to them from a book a description -of the characteristics of lambs. The account said -that: “The lamb is one of the most playful and innocent -of animals. So kind and meek is it that its name has for -centuries been the synonym of gentleness and sweetness -of disposition. It never injures any one, and when it -is attacked, it always suffers humbly and in silence. -There is something so beautiful about the gentle little -animal, that——”</p> - -<p>Just at this point Mrs. Pitman was interrupted by the -voice of the judge coming from the front yard. It -sounded as if he were in distress of some kind. The -whole family flew out upon the porch, and there they -saw that pet lamb, whose name was the synonym of -gentleness, engaged in butting the judge. It would butt -him in the rear and knock him over, and then it would -butt him on the legs, and batter him on the ribs, and -plunge its head into his stomach, and jam its skull against -his chest. When he rose, it butted his shins, and when -he stooped over to rub them, it butted his head. Then it -butted him generally wherever a chance presented itself; -and when it had doubled the judge all up under the -Norway maple, it butted down three rose bushes, butted -a plaster garden vase to fragments, butted two palings -off of the fence, and danced off down the street, butting -at the tree boxes, the hitching posts, and the northwest -wind.</p> - -<p>Mr. Potter finally knocked it in the head with a club, -and brought it home to the judge, and, subsequently, -when they had the hind leg for dinner, the judge observed -to Mrs. Pitman that, from the manner in which -that lamb cut, he should believe that it was born during -the War of 1812, and that it was, in fact, a terrific old -ram. Then he said he should go down to see the man -who sold it to him for a lamb, and bang him with a -club. The Pitman children stick to kittens as regular -pets.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h2 id="A_Cat_That_Saved">A CAT THAT SAVED A MAN’S LIFE.</h2> - -<p>In the great war between the Cavaliers and Roundheads, -a brave officer of King Charles’ army was taken -prisoner and shut up in a dungeon. His enemies were -so angry with him that they ordered the jailer not to -give him any food, so that he might be starved to death. -The first day of his imprisonment a cat crept through -the bars of his dungeon window and made friends with -him. Every day the cat came to see him, and the -poor prisoner, who was growing weaker and weaker -from want of food, welcomed his visitor. At last, when -he felt that he could not live another day, he saw the -cat dragging something through the window. Presently -he felt pussy rubbing herself against his legs. He put -down his hand to stroke her and found something warm -and soft lying on the ground. It was a pigeon that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> -cat had caught and brought to him. In some wonderful -way she had discovered that he was being starved, and -had done what she could to help him. When his jailer -came in he showed him the bird, and begged him to -cook it and let him eat it. The jailer did this, for -though he had been ordered not to give his prisoner any -food, he had not been told anything about cooking a -bird that got to him by other means. Every day the cat -brought a pigeon to her friend’s cell, and the jailer never -refused to cook it. At last he was asked whether his -prisoner was not dead yet. In reply he told the story -of the cat’s devotion, and his masters’ hearts were so -touched by it that they ordered him to let the prisoner -have plenty of food. After a long imprisonment the man -was released. You may be sure that he took care of the -cat to which he owed so much, and which left the prison -with him.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h2 id="Student_Life_In_Russia">STUDENT LIFE IN RUSSIA.</h2> - -<p>Nowhere in the world is the student subject to such -a strict, searching, and rigorous discipline as is the -student in a Russian university. From his entrance into -school the boy of ten or eleven years of age has to go -through a long and tedious process of training, the nature -of which tends more to fit him for army service than -to fill the professor’s chair.</p> - -<p>In the preparatory class the boy is taught the names -of the royal family in order, and the names of the entire -dynasty in their rank and order. These he must know -by heart.</p> - -<p>Next comes the way to render honor and salute all -military officers should he meet them or speak about -them. Here, also, he must learn by heart the Russian -national anthem: “God Save the Czar.”</p> - -<p>Next come marching, and the various military commands. -An account is kept of the physical developments -of each boy, so that when he is sixteen years old it can -be seen by his physical progress if he is fit for the army -service.</p> - -<p>At this time the scholar receives a passport of “identification” -and a book containing the rules and regulations -which are to govern his life in the institution.</p> - -<p>The discipline the Russian student has to undergo may -produce one of two results. The student may be made -obedient or abjectly slavish, or the rules and laws by -which he is governed may give him food for reflection -and create a natural aversion to the authorities.</p> - -<p>Here are some of the requirements: Each student -must wear a military uniform, with brass and nickel-plated -buttons, which have to be polished every day; -each student must also clean his own shoes; mustache and -beard are not allowed; hair must be clipped close; smoking -and carrying a cane are forbidden, as well as the -use of any intoxicants whatsoever.</p> - -<p>While walking to and from school the student must -carry on his back the knapsack filled with books, weighing -in all about twenty-five or thirty pounds. This he -must do in all kinds of weather.</p> - -<p>The student cannot attend any social or public gathering -or entertainment, neither can he go to the theater -or concert hall. He must not be on the streets after -seven p. m. He must not read any newspaper whatsoever, -or any books but those written by Russian authors -and approved of by the censor.</p> - -<p>Any one observing the violation of any of these rules -may demand the student’s passport and return the same -to the authorities, for which the informer receives a -reward, while the student is punished by being locked up -for twelve hours in a dark room.</p> - -<p>Secret societies or organizations among the students -are not to be dreamed of; neither are students permitted -to gather in groups. Two may converse or speak with -one another, but three together are not allowed.</p> - -<p>A young Russian who says he attended one of these -institutions is our authority for the statement that there -is always among the students one spy in ten. The same -person declares that when a spy makes an unfavorable -report, the student reported against suddenly disappears.</p> - -<p>If inquiry is made for the missing student, the inquirer -will be told that the young man was considered -a dangerous subject to the community, and was therefore -removed out of harm’s way. The teachers, professors, -and directors of universities are appointed by a body -selected for that special purpose by the czar himself.</p> - -<p>Many parents, knowing the risks and the dangers their -boys are subject to while in a Russian university, educate -them abroad. The young man sent abroad for education -is looked upon by the authorities as a dangerous subject, -full of liberal ideas and opinions concerning public -problems.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h2 id="A_Beautiful_Swiss_Custom">A BEAUTIFUL SWISS CUSTOM.</h2> - -<p>The horn of the Alps is employed in the mountainous -districts of Switzerland, not solely to sound the cow -call, but for another purpose solemn and religious.</p> - -<p>As soon as the sun has disappeared in the valleys, and -its last rays are just glimmering on the snowy summits -of the mountains, the herdsman who dwells on the -loftiest, takes his horn and trumpets forth “Praise God, -the Lord!”</p> - -<p>All the herdsmen in the neighborhood take their horns -and repeat the words. This often continues a quarter -of an hour, while on all sides the mountains echo the -name of God. A solemn stillness follows, every individual -offers his secret prayer on his bended knees, and -with uncovered head. By this time it is quite dark. -“Good night!” trumpets forth the herdsman on the loftiest -summit. “Good night!” is repeated on all the mountains -from the horns of the herdsmen and the clefts of the -rocks.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h2 id="Undesirable_Room">UNDESIRABLE ROOM.</h2> - -<p>At first sight it would seem that it must be an unreasonable -man who would find fault with a house because it -had one more room than was mentioned in the advertisement; -but first sight is not always the best sight.</p> - -<p>A real-estate agent sent a customer to look at a five-roomed -house, that being just the size he professed to -want. The house proved to be sadly out of repair, and -the prospective tenant went back to the agent’s office.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t want a six-roomed house,” he said.</p> - -<p>“That isn’t a six-roomed house,” answered the agent.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is.”</p> - -<p>“But I say it is not.” And the agent began counting. -“There’s the kitchen, dining room, reception room, and -two bedrooms. That’s five, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but there’s the room for improvement, and that’s -bigger than any of the others,” said the facetious customer. -“Can’t you show me something else?”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_NEWS_OF_ALL_NATIONS">THE NEWS OF ALL NATIONS.</h2> -</div> - - -<h3>Store Water in Highest Dam.</h3> - -<p>Storage of water has begun at Arrow Rock Dam, the -highest in the world, in the Boise reclamation project, -which will reclaim an area in southeastern Idaho three -times as great as the crop acreage of Rhode Island.</p> - - -<h3>Will Tango Way Into Navy.</h3> - -<p>David Keller, aged twenty-one, applied for enlistment -in the navy at the Evansville, Ind., United States naval -recruiting station, and was rejected because of his weight. -Recruiting Officer Muelchi told the young man to go -home and dance the tango a few weeks or until he had -reduced his weight, and then to come back and he would -take him into the navy. Muelchi says that tango dancing -is the greatest flesh reducer in the world, as he has -tried it. Keller returned to his home in Poseyville, and -says he is going to dance the tango with every girl in -that town.</p> - - -<h3>High Honor Won by French Airman.</h3> - -<p>Official announcement is made that Adolphe Pegoud, the -famous French aviator, has received the military medal, -the highest honor within the gift of the government.</p> - -<p>The announcement says that Pegoud “on several occasions -pursued enemy aëroplanes, and on February 2d attacked -at a great height and caused the fall of a German -machine. Soon afterward he attacked two other aircraft, -causing the first to fall and the second to land.”</p> - -<p>Pegoud first came into fame in 1913, while making experiments -for obtaining safety in the air, as the originator -of the feat of flying upside down in an aëroplane. A -short time later he enhanced his reputation for daring -by performing for the first time the feat of looping the -loop. For his experiments Pegoud received the decoration -of the legion of honor.</p> - -<p>Several times since the outbreak of the war Pegoud -has come into notice. On August 20th he returned to -Paris from the front to get a new aëroplane, his old one -having been riddled by bullets. He was mentioned in -dispatches for valor in November, and later, in January, -was reported to have destroyed a German explosive depot -by dropping bombs on it.</p> - - -<h3>Old Police Horse Sold.</h3> - -<p>Slator was discharged from the New York police -force recently. With eleven other horses, condemned by -the department, he was auctioned off in the arena of Van -Tassel & Kearney. Slator is twenty-two years old, and has -behind him sixteen years of honorable service in the traffic -squad.</p> - -<p>“The gamest little horse that ever looked through a -bridle,” the auctioneer called him. He sold for $37.50.</p> - -<p>It was hard for Slator to understand yesterday’s proceedings. -A little brown horse whose memory holds only -the recollection of hours of easy pacing through the park -bridle paths, with now and then a thrilling dash after a -runaway, or the more serious excitement of pushing back -an unruly crowd without stepping on its toes, has no -place in his mind for a scene like this. Slator was -puzzled.</p> - -<p>In the first place, his boss was missing—the man who -rode him and was kind to him. Then the night had -been spent in a Van Tassel & Kearney stall. That was -strange and uncomfortable after having slept on the straw -of the police stables since a time when most of the -present force were boys.</p> - -<p>Slator remembered his manners, though. When he was -brought on to the tanbark, he walked up to the auctioneer’s -desk, his ears pricked forward and his muzzle twitching -a greeting. Then, when the man pushed his head away, -he submitted meekly to being dragged up and down the -arena by a shouting groom and suffered himself to be -poked and handled by various horsy men whom he did not -know.</p> - -<p>It was years since he had felt a lash, but when they cut -him across the flanks to show off his action, he did not -kick. Clearly this was some new order of the department -which had not been imparted to him. Therefore it was incumbent -upon a member of the force to behave himself. -Slator showed he was a gentleman.</p> - -<p>For many years the little horse was the mount of Patrolman—now -Lieutenant—Gumbricht. The price paid for him -yesterday was perhaps an eighth of his original value. And -Slator is not “all in” yet by a good deal. He is old, but -he is wise, and a perfect saddle horse. That is one reason -why he did not bring a larger price. The men at -the sale were looking for work animals.</p> - -<p>Slator always looked down on the patrol-wagon horses -as plebeians, yet those sold yesterday brought twice his -price. But arithmetic is one of the few things which the -little police mount does not know. That is one worry -which will be spared him in the future, at any rate.</p> - - -<h3>Braves Five Thousand Volts in Pit of Fire.</h3> - -<p>Patrolman John A. Swift, of Springfield, Mass., veteran -of the British army, hero of a dozen fires and accidents, -proved his mettle when he dashed through a crowd of -150 persons, descended into a blazing manhole charged with -five thousand volts, and saved the life of Benjamin W. -Martin, cable repairman, who had been left to his fate.</p> - -<p>The blaze was the result of a short circuit of the -big city power mains. Martin, deserted by his helpers, -lay at the bottom of the manhole while the crowd watched. -Patrolman Swift went through the choking smoke and -took down a rope. His first attempt was unsuccessful, -and he was hauled up unconscious. Peeling off his officer’s -coat, he went down again, making Martin’s body -fast to the rope. Both were drawn up unconscious.</p> - -<p>“It was easier for me to get him than to stand there -and hear him croakin’ in that hot place,” said Swift.</p> - - -<h3>Luke’s Peck at Girl’s Hose Starts Uproar in Subway.</h3> - -<p>Arthur Mullens, of New York City, works in paper -and publishing houses, and all he finds he reads. If he had -not read on a proof sheet yesterday that cruelty to animals -was the unpardonable sin, he would not have enlarged -the hole in the sack he carried, thereby freeing the -eagle eyes and more eaglish beak of Luke, a rooster, and—but -to start at the beginning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span></p> - -<p>Mullens was called from his home, at 460 Pearl Street, -by a friend to deliver Luke, a prize rooster and a great -fighter in his day, to an acquaintance in 112th Street. -Luke was put into a thick paper bag, the neck of which -was securely tied. Mullens swung him by his side as he -walked to the subway.</p> - -<p>On the train he read a speech that an assemblyman had -delivered to a sleeping audience about an antivivisection -bill. So he tenderly tore a tiny aperture in one side of -the bag to give Luke the benefit of all the spare air there -might be in a Broadway express.</p> - -<p>A young woman sitting next to Mullens snatched at -her knee, and then screamed like a siren whistle. Mullens -woke with a frightened start, but was too late. Luke -had withdrawn his head for an instant at the girl’s yelp -of terror. Then he swelled his fighter’s neck, and lo! -there was no bag. Luke was free.</p> - -<p>The rooster started for authority, like true rebels, but -the guard ducked. Luke next became bellicosely neutral; -he did not care whose eyes he scratched. Men, women, -children, oaths, prayers, and Mullens’ endearing calls got -all mixed up.</p> - -<p>The train reached Ninety-sixth Street—Luke’s first peck -at the young woman’s hose had been near Seventy-second -Street—before Mullens got back his ruffled charge. Mob -rule seemed imminent, but the guard magnanimously permitted -Luke to ride on to the Cathedral Parkway station. -There Mullens, chastened, his humanitarianism gone, departed -with the then sullen bird.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been a hard-working man all my days,” he said, -“but never have I had to do anything so hard as chaperon -this sanguinary rooster.”</p> - - -<h3>“Electric” Towel is Latest.</h3> - -<p>The new municipal building at Washington, D. C., is -equipped with “electro towels,” devised by its superintendent, -J. M. Ward. The electro towel is simply an -electric hand dryer. It looks like a rectangular box with -the front face knocked out and set on a pedestal which -brings it about waist-high. The box is large enough to -accommodate an ordinary pair of hands. There is an -electric-heating device in the stand and a blower which -forces the air through ducts into the box on top, where -the hands are held while drying. A lever, operated by -the foot, turns the current of hot air into it and sets -the blower at work.</p> - -<p>Superintendent Ward contends that as the lever is -operated by the foot and the hands are merely extended -into the box through the open front they come into contact -with no part of the device, and so the operation is -perfectly sanitary. It takes thirty seconds to dry hands in -this way.</p> - - -<h3>Pass Utah Prohibition Bill.</h3> - -<p>The Wootten State-wide prohibition bill for Utah passed -the House by a vote of forty to five. It passed the Senate -two weeks ago.</p> - - -<h3>Only “Cowgirl” in Oklahoma.</h3> - -<p>Little Miss Mary Miller, daughter of the late S. W. -Miller, prominent stockman of Hominy, Okla., was, three -years ago, the cashier in a small restaurant; later of the -Hominy National Bank, and was delving into books and -accounts and participating in the younger social functions. -Now she lives on her ranch near here and is acknowledged -to be the only real “cowgirl” in Oklahoma.</p> - -<p>Upon the death of her father she assumed charge of -the ranch that she had established some years ago. She -superintends every department and carries out her own -ideas in its operation. She has stocked the ranch with -pure-bred cattle, and her success in this line was demonstrated -last fall when she topped the Kansas City market -with the first shipment of cake-fed cattle. She is an active -member of the Texas Cattle Raisers’ Association.</p> - - -<h3>Idaho is Made Dry After January 1, 1916.</h3> - -<p>Governor Alexander, of Boise, Idaho, this week signed -the prohibition bill, which makes the manufacture or sale -of intoxicating drinks in Idaho unlawful after January 1, -1916. Idaho thus becomes the seventeenth State to bar -the traffic in alcoholic beverages.</p> - - -<h3>Colorado Law Completed.</h3> - -<p>The legislature of Colorado has completed the law to -enforce the State-wide constitutional prohibition amendment, -effective January 1, 1916. Senate and House adopted -the report of the conference committee, and the measure -now goes to the governor.</p> - - -<h3>Kiddie With a Mighty Punch.</h3> - -<p>When he was startled from sleep and found a big -burglar beating his mother, Isidore Weinstein, six years -old, of Cleveland, Ohio, drew back a bare foot and drove -it hard into the robber’s face. The robber apparently -believing that he had been struck by a man’s fist, took -to his heels.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Edith Weinstein and her son live alone in rooms -adjoining her candy store. She was awakened long after -midnight by a man’s hands at her throat. The burglar had -entered by forcing a bedroom window. Mrs. Weinstein -screamed. Then the burglar beat her with his fist until -she was nearly unconscious.</p> - -<p>Isidore’s bare foot saved the day. Mrs. Weinstein is -sure the burglar mistook Isidore’s kick for the blow of a -man’s fist. If he had known her protector was only a six-year-old -boy, there would have been a different story, she -is confident.</p> - - -<h3>A Triple Sport Alliance.</h3> - -<p>A triple understanding in all branches of sport by Yale, -Harvard, and Princeton is at hand. The signing of a -formal agreement by the three for a series of nine games -to settle the triple baseball championship and the continued -conferences of the captains of the three elevens -of the universities are surface indications of the movement -that has been quietly in progress for several years, furthered -by Yale, for at least a general understanding between -the three in all branches of the sport.</p> - -<p>In track athletics and rowing the triple entente is not -in operation. Yale meets both her rivals on the track -and would be glad for them to meet each other, but Harvard -and Princeton have no arrangement for such contests. -Princeton has not yet come into the Yale-Harvard -annual rowing regatta on the Thames, but may do so -at any time. Yale meets Princeton and Harvard both -on the water annually, but there is no movement on the -part of Princeton to arrange a dual-crew race with Harvard. -Officials of the Princeton navy and athletic association -have assured Yale rowing men that the Tigers -were likely before long to come into the Yale-Harvard -annual races at New London.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span></p> - -<p>When the results of the series of informal football conferences -between Yale, Harvard, and Princeton are announced, -it is expected that progress toward a much more -complete understanding of gridiron matters of mutual interest -will be shown. The informal talks of Captains -Wilson, of Yale; Mahan, of Harvard, and Glick, of Princeton, -will be projected into the business of the general -athletic committees of the three universities during the -remainder of the school year.</p> - -<p>The agreement for a definite series of nine baseball -games has completed another project, suggested by Yale, -similar to that proposed by Coach Frank Quinby, of the -Eli baseball team, last year, which has resulted in a formal -agreement of the three universities for the coaches of -their baseball nines to remain off the player’s benches -during a game for the purpose of proving the contests -to be a genuine battle of the undergraduate players and -captains.</p> - -<p>The agreement for playing nine definite games, without -regard to the results of the individual series between -any two of the three university teams, is regarded as the -most radical step that has been taken in college sport in -the East this year. Yale, Harvard, and Princeton call -their games, played against one another, their “championship” -matches. There will be a genuine “champion” -chosen this year for the first time among the three rivals, -for the percentage leader in the series of nine games -played will be the holder of a clean title to championship -honors.</p> - -<p>For years Yale, Harvard, and Princeton have played -baseball without a decision as to championship honors. -Last year, for instance, Yale defeated Harvard; Harvard -easily beat Princeton, yet Princeton neatly trimmed Yale, -leaving honors easy all around. Although each of the -three old rivals may win three of the scheduled games of -the series this year and a championship may be again impossible, -chances are against any such outcome of the -advent of the new triangular arrangement, the baseball -triple entente of Yale, Harvard, and Princeton.</p> - - -<h3>Convicts Ask for “Dry” Law.</h3> - -<p>A petition signed by more than one thousand inmates -of the Eastern Penitentiary at Philadelphia, asking the -legislature to give favorable consideration to any legislation -looking to curtailment of the sale of liquor has been -presented to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.</p> - - -<h3>Explains the Vacant Chair.</h3> - -<p>Miss Edith Davis, of Grand Rapids, Mich., has just -received an invitation to a pedro party which was held on -the evening of October 31, 1892. The letter was postmarked -October 18, 1892. It is supposed that the letter -was mislaid in the local post office.</p> - - -<h3>Aërial Mail Service Coming.</h3> - -<p>During the last year the post-office department gave permission -to eight applicants for experimental aërial mail -service, and in the estimate of expenses for 1916 an item -of $50,000 has been inserted for departmental experiments -in this line. It is hoped to make use of the aëroplane to -advantage in the mountainous region, where, in many instances, -towns only a short distance from each other in -the air line, are hundreds of miles by the only available -surface routes. It is also anticipated that many of the -interruptions to the service now experienced by reason -of weather conditions will be overcome by making use of -air machines.</p> - - -<h3>Recommend New Flag.</h3> - -<p>The municipal art commission of New York City has -discovered that Greater New York has been going along -for nearly twenty years without an official flag, and has -taken steps to remedy the defect. It has recommended -to the board of estimate and the board of aldermen the -adoption of a flag to take the place of the mayor’s flag -now used on State occasions as the emblem of the -city.</p> - -<p>The design for the new flag was selected by a committee -consisting of John B. Pine, Francis C. Jones, R. T. H. -Halsey, and I. N. Phelps Stokes, of the Art Commission -Associates, an organization of former members of the -commission. They had been at work on the selection for -a year.</p> - -<p>The design recommended by this committee and by -the commission in turn to the city’s legislative authorities -provides for a flag consisting of three perpendicular bars -of orange, white, and blue, the blue to be nearest to the -flagstaff, with the seal of the city in blue on the middle -bar of white. The colors are to correspond as nearly -as possible to those of the flag of the United Netherlands -in use in 1626.</p> - -<p>The commission also recommends the adoption of a -model of the city seal submitted by the flag committee. -This seal corresponds to the present city seal in all essential -details, but it is executed somewhat more faithfully -than the majority of the present seals after the pattern -of the original city seal. The commission recommends -that in order that there may be no further confusion -in the use of the city seal in decorations or otherwise, -a cast of the new pattern be made in bronze and -kept in the safe in the mayor’s office, to be copied whenever -necessary.</p> - -<p>At present the flag used as the city flag is the one -officially adopted for the mayor. It has a solid white -ground, with the seal of the city in blue.</p> - - -<h3>Big Increase in Prison Ranks.</h3> - -<p>A marked increase in the population of the various -State prisons, reformatories, penitentiaries, county jails, -and New York City institutions reporting to the State -commission of prisons for the year ended September 30, -1914, is shown in statistics collected by the commission. -The total prison population on that date was 16,678, an -increase of 1,817 over the preceding year. The increase -for the year 1913 over 1912 was seventy. Ten years ago -the prison population was 12,793, showing an increase in -a decade of 3,885. A marked increase is also shown in -the number of actual commitments. The number jumped -from 101,611, in 1913, to 118,027, in 1914.</p> - -<p>The number in custody in the four State prisons, including -the State prison for women, at Auburn, was -4,955, an increase of 235. There was, however, a decrease -in the number of inmates of the women’s prison from -116 to 103. The number of prisoners in the State prisons -at the close of the fiscal year was 1,503 more than it was -ten years ago.</p> - -<p>The population of the three reformatories for males—the -New York State Reformatory, at Elmira; the Eastern -New York Reformatory, at Napanoch, and the New York<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> -City Reformatory at Hart’s Island—increased fifty-one, -from 2,026 to 2,077. This is an increase during ten years -of 421. The New York City Reformatory statistics date -from 1906.</p> - -<p>A decrease of fifty-five is shown in the combined population -of the New York State Reformatory for Women -at Bedford and the Western House of Refuge for Women -at Albion. The population in 1913 was 708, and this year -it had decreased to 663. The population of these two institutions -increased 241 in ten years.</p> - -<p>The greatest increase in population is shown in the five -penitentiaries. These institutions in 1913 had 2,488 inmates; -this year the number was 2,965, an increase of 477. -The increase since 1905, when the Kings County Penitentiary -was in existence, has been 736.</p> - -<p>The number of inmates in the county jails, and in the -workhouses, city, and district prisons and the House of -Detention in New York City was 6,028, an increase of 809 -over the preceding year, and 1,261 more than the number -in custody ten years ago.</p> - -<p>The number of actual commitments to the various -prisons, reformatories, penitentiaries, county jails, workhouses, -et cetera, during the last fiscal year was 118,027, -an increase of 16,416 over 1913 and an increase over 1905 -of 16,981.</p> - -<p>The number of women in custody at the close of -the year was 1,930, an increase of 138 as compared with -the preceding year.</p> - - -<h3>New Invention of Color Print.</h3> - -<p>John Lewisohn, engineer, chemist, business man, and -artist, has been exhibiting a series of color prints from -photographic negatives at the Municipal Galleries in the -Washington Irving Building, of New York. Mr. Lewisohn -has an office at 88 Fifth Avenue, but it was in the Municipal -Galleries that he gave out an account of his work -in this field.</p> - -<p>“I don’t call myself an artist,” he began, with a deprecating -smile. He did not need to. There were the -pictures. The subjects ran all the way from the brown -derby hat of commerce to the red, red rose of the poets. -And the unique feature of the work was the paper—plain -everyday blue-print paper, despised by many amateurs -and beloved to the housewife who can make prints -of her baby out the kitchen window while she is ironing -and wash them in the sink—and that’s all. That isn’t -quite all of Mr. Lewisohn’s process, but it begins that -way. It proceeds by a series of color washes. The process -is patented, but there is nothing complicated about it. -Simply reverse the laundry method—instead of washing -color off, wash it on.</p> - -<p>“This isn’t real color photography,” admitted Mr. -Lewisohn frankly. “That has not come yet. Some people -say it never will.”</p> - -<p>Most of the color photographs taken so far end in -the glass negative, and even that has its weak points. The -ideal is a negative that will give a print in the actual -colors of nature. In most of the so-called photographic -color prints there is more or less failure in the blending -of tones. There are no such crude greens or muddy -pinks in these prints. The delicate shadings of flower -petals are perfectly rendered. A gas flame burns up so -brightly one could almost read by it.</p> - -<p>“I took a picture of the eclipse of the sun once,” remarked -Mr. Lewisohn. He turns his camera on everything -in earth or sky—a box of matches, a bronze statuette, -sunset clouds.</p> - -<p>“Every man ought to have a hobby,” he said. “This -is mine—just now. Some time I’ll change it. I studied -engineering over in Europe. Electricity is wonderfully -interesting.”</p> - -<p>When he was asked if the ordinary snapshot artist -could hope to use his process, Mr. Lewisohn said that -undoubtedly he could. No commercial use has been -made of it, but that will come in time. The work so -far has been carried forward because it interested the -inventor. He has been experimenting for years, and his -process has been commented on favorably by European -authorities. He has written something about it for the -1915 “American Annual of Photography.”</p> - - -<h3>To Absorb Stray Shocks.</h3> - -<p>As a result of the death of Edward Ligouri from electric -shock, the New Haven Railroad has installed an aërial -safety device on its overhead high-tension electric system -to take up any stray electric current.</p> - -<p>Ligouri was fatally shocked while boarding an electric -train at the Glenbrook station on the New Canaan branch.</p> - -<p>Coroner Phelan rendered a verdict that death was due -to electricity diverted from its fixed pathway by the unfastening -of copper-rail bond wires.</p> - - -<h3>Bowery Minstrel Dies.</h3> - -<p>The Minstrel of the Bowery, in New York, is dead!</p> - -<p>The sweetest singer that ever entertained the men of -the fifteen-cent lodging houses and the five-cent eating -places died with the echo of his own singing, and just as -he heard a dozen men burst into applause in the saloon -at 28 Bowery. And the Bowery is sad. The Bowery -is puzzled, too, for their minstrel was a man of mystery, -an English remittance man, and now his identity will -never be revealed.</p> - -<p>“John Sullivan, forty years old, an actor, no home, -dropped dead from heart disease” is the way the police -slip tells the story. Back of that simple statement is -the shadow of fourteen years’ exile from home and kin, -of as many years spent in cheering the unlovely hours of -the outcasts that drift to the Bowery as a magnet to -the steel.</p> - -<p>When “John Sullivan” came to the Bowery fourteen -years ago, his manner and voice puzzled all those he met, -and it was whispered about that he was the son of an -English earl. He drank, and drank steadily, but that magnificent -voice of his and the ability of those long fingers -to wield ivory piano keys so eloquently that their message -reached the heart of every man who heard him, soon -made him known and greatly admired. He wandered from -saloon to saloon, from lunch stand to lunch stand during -those years, pausing in each to sing and play—and -to take a drink or two.</p> - -<p>From England occasionally came letters, and then John -Sullivan would abandon his singing for a time and invite -all his friends to drink at his expense. When his -prosperity ended, he would return to the singing.</p> - -<p>In the pockets of the dead man there were a laundry -check, a memorandum book that was unmarked, and—prayer -beads, to which were affixed a cross. Nothing -was there to reveal his identity. No money was there -to pay burial expenses.</p> - -<p>The body was removed to the morgue from the back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span> -room in the saloon, where he sang his last song, but -later on, when news of his death spread up and down -the Bowery, there was talk of saving the singer from a -pauper’s grave. It was not long before a subscription list -was made up, and nickels and dimes began pouring in.</p> - - -<h3>Save Thirty-nine After Four Days in Mine.</h3> - -<p>Thirty-nine coal miners, alive and well, after being -entombed for four days and four nights, were found in -the Number Three Mine of the New River & Pocahontas -Consolidated Coal Company, on Quinnimont Mountain, -near Layland, W. Va., where an explosion trapped 182 -miners.</p> - -<p>Five of the rescued miners were able to walk out of -the shaft unassisted.</p> - -<p>News of the finding alive of these men after ninety -bodies had been recovered and all hope abandoned, spread -like wildfire through the mining camps, and hundreds -flocked to the scene.</p> - -<p>Weakened by hunger, the five men who made their -way out of the mine told rescuers that they believed many -more men were living in a remote chamber. A crew -equipped with oxygen helmets pushed its way toward -that point, and found thirty-four more.</p> - - -<h3>Won’t Censor Mails to United States.</h3> - -<p>Home Secretary McKenna in the English Parliament -refused to indorse a proposal to censor American mails. -He said no reason existed for such action, and it would -impose a tremendous burden upon the staff of censors.</p> - -<p>The suggestion came from a member who complained -that Germany was sending to New York pamphlets designed -to injure the cause of the Allies. The home secretary -said he was positive that these pamphlets would -have no effect on American opinion.</p> - - -<h3>Shanty De Luxe.</h3> - -<p>What is to be probably the finest “shanty” ever erected -in the United States is being put up by Frederick L. Cranford, -Inc., subway contractor, at the southwest corner -of City Hall Park, close to Broadway, New York -City. It is to have a height of three stories, the first -to form a sort of arcade to allow free passage for -pedestrians along the Mail Street sidewalk. The building -will cover the entire width of the broad sidewalk for -a distance of seventy-five feet.</p> - -<p>Shanties of some sort are always erected by contractors -on subway work, and if this one had had to go up in -some other place, it would have no doubt resembled -a real shanty on stilts by the time it was finished. In -this case, however, the public service commission required -the contractor to build an extra nice-looking structure, -because of the fact that it is located on the edge of -the park and in front of City Hall. The plans had to be -approved by Park Commissioner Ward before the work -could be begun.</p> - -<p>“The shanty will be divided into two separate buildings,” -said a representative of the company to-day. “One -side will serve as headquarters for our field force, and -the other as quarters for the men engaged in tunnel -work on the subway. The labor law requires, you know, -that where men are engaged in tunnel work rest quarters -must be provided for them. There will be wash -rooms and lunch rooms, with lockers, where the men -may change their clothes on going to and leaving work. -The whole structure will cost from five to six thousand -dollars. The building will be painted an attractive color.”</p> - -<p>The pretentious shanty will serve only the tunnel men -and the field engineering force of the section of the new -Interborough subway running under the post office. This -section begins at West Broadway and runs through Park -Place, under the post office, and through Beekman Street, -to William Street. This section will connect the new -Seventh Avenue subway with the tunnel under the East -River to Clark Street, Brooklyn. The contract price for -this section is $1,571,363.50. It is the section that was -held up so long because of the opposition of Secretary of -the Treasury McAdoo to granting an easement for digging -under the post office.</p> - - -<h3>152,000,000 Bushels of Wheat.</h3> - -<p>The bureau of crop estimates, in Washington, says that -the amount of wheat on farms March 1st was about 152,903,000 -bushels, or 17.2 per cent of the 1914 crop, against -151,809,000 bushels, or 19.9 per cent of the 1913 crop on -farms March 1, 1914, and 156,483,000 bushels, or 21.4 per -cent of the 1912 crop on farms March 1, 1913. About -60.7 per cent of the crop will be shipped out of the -counties where grown, against 53.9 per cent of the 1913 -crop, and 61.6 per cent of the 1912 crop so shipped.</p> - -<p>The amount of corn on farms March 1st was about -910,894,000 bushels, or 34.1 per cent of the 1914 crop, as -against 866,392,000 bushels, or 35.4 per cent of the 1913 -crop on farms March 1, 1914, and 1,289,655,000 bushels, or -43.3 per cent of the 1912 crop on farms March 1, 1913. -About 18.6 per cent of the crop will be shipped out of -the counties where grown. The percentage of the -crop merchantable is about 84.5 per cent.</p> - -<p>The amount of oats on farms on March 1st was about -359,369,000 bushels, or 33.2 per cent of the 1914 crop, -against 419,476,000 bushels, or 37.4 per cent of the 1913 -crop. About 29.4 per cent of the crop will be shipped -out of the counties where grown.</p> - -<p>The amount of barley on farms on March 1st was about -42,899,000 bushels, or 22 per cent of the 1914 crop, against -44,126,000 bushels, or 24.8 per cent of the 1913 crop -on farms on March 1, 1914. About 45.1 per cent will be -shipped out of the counties where grown.</p> - - -<h3>Aviator and His Prisoner Fought 3,000 Feet in Air.</h3> - -<p>For the first time in history a prisoner of war has been -transported by aëroplane. Warsaw dispatches carried the -news to the Russian war office, in Petrograd, with the -recommendation that Terenti Paschaloff, Russian aviator, -be awarded a medal for unprecedented daring.</p> - -<p>Reconnoitering with his mechanician, Paschaloff was -forced to descend inside the enemy’s lines in southwest -Poland because of engine trouble. An Austrian patrol -surprised him while he was making repairs. Paschaloff -turned his machine gun upon the enemy, killing five.</p> - -<p>The sixth member of the patrol was captured by the -mechanician. Paschaloff removed his belt, forced the -Austrian to seat himself on the frame of the biplane, and -tied his hands around one of the wire uprights. Then -he started to return to the Russian lines.</p> - -<p>Crossing the Austrian lines, the aviator was subjected -to heavy rifle fire. The prisoner managed to loosen his -bonds and attempted to tear the levers from Paschaloff’s -grasp and dash the machine to earth. Paschaloff turned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> -the levers over to his mechanician. Three thousand feet -aboveground, with gusts of wind tilting the biplane perilously, -Austrian and Russian grappled behind the pilot’s -seat.</p> - -<p>Paschaloff seized a wrench and dealt his opponent a -heavy blow on the head, stunning him. The Austrian was -again strapped to the machine and brought safely into -the Russian camp.</p> - - -<h3>Girl, Blind for Twenty-one Years, Sees Wonders of Big City.</h3> - -<p>Miss Maud Emerson Lincoln, of Marblehead, Mass., -whose sight recently came to her in a sudden manner -after she had been almost totally blind from her birth, -recently saw Boston for the first time.</p> - -<p>She came from her home in the old Judge Nathan -Bowen place on Market Square, Marblehead, to the city -with her mother, Mrs. William F. Lincoln, and her eyes -were to be given a thorough examination by Doctor Henry -Hawkins at his office, 397 Marlboro Street. Doctor -Hawkins has never seen the young woman, but he has -records of her case which he received from Doctor Francis -I. Proctor. The records are not complete, and Doctor -Hawkins said he did not wish to express a medical -opinion on the case until he had seen the young woman.</p> - -<p>Doctor Hawkins is assistant ophthalmologist at the Perkins -Institute, but Miss Lincoln has not been a student -there for the past six years.</p> - -<p>At the time Doctor Proctor was ophthalmological surgeon -at the institute, he got some of the records of the -case, which he handed over to Doctor Hawkins.</p> - -<p>Miss Lincoln said that she was feeling fine, and as -the nervous condition which followed the coming of -sight has practically passed away, she is eager to begin -life anew. She wants to do so many things, she does not -know where to begin, but most of all, her parents say, she -wants to learn, and if Doctor Hawkins thinks it advisable, -she will probably take up studies at once.</p> - -<p>Heavily veiled, she attended Sunday school yesterday -at the First Baptist Church, in Marblehead, where she is -a member of Mrs. Gertrude Dennis’ class. She spent the -rest of the day at home and retired early, to be ready for -her trip to Boston to-day.</p> - -<p>“I rather dread to go,” said Miss Lincoln. “There will -be so many people, and so many things to look at, I -think I shall be afraid. But if I can get rid of that -feeling of fear, I know I shall enjoy it.”</p> - -<p>Miss Lincoln saw her own picture for the first time -in the papers to-day, and was delighted with it.</p> - -<p>Practically blind from her birth, twenty-one years -she now sees clearly. In an instant one afternoon, as -she was about household duties, this seeming miracle -came. With a snap the covering was rent from the right -eye as she was putting dishes in the china closet.</p> - -<p>Two days later, in the evening, as she sat with her -parents, the other eye was uncovered, and sight was given -to it.</p> - -<p>“I went to the closet to put up some dishes,” she said. -“Of course, there was no light in the closet and it all -looked dark to me. The top of my head did not feel -good. It hurt. It was as heavy as—as a load of bricks. -That’s just the way it felt. I reached up with the dishes. -Then suddenly something snapped in my right eye. That -is the only way I can describe it—like that.”</p> - -<p>And she snapped her fingers.</p> - -<p>“Then,” she said, “everything seemed all light to me -and brightness. I did not know what to make of it. I -could not realize what had happened. I looked around -the room. I ran and looked out the window. And I -could see.”</p> - -<p>“She went out with me the other evening, heavily -veiled,” said Mrs. Lincoln. “We passed a boy leading -a man. I said nothing, thinking I would not call her -attention to it.</p> - -<p>“‘Mother,’ she said, ‘was that boy leading the man?’</p> - -<p>“‘Yes,’ I replied.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, the man is blind?’ she asked again. And I told -her he was. She paused a moment, then said: ‘What a -pity.’”</p> - -<p>Miss Lincoln is tall, slender, and fair-haired. Her eyes -are blue, like those of her parents. She had on a gown -of deep red, with little black bows on it, and she talked -entertainingly and always she laughs with joy at her -“miracle.”</p> - -<p>“Maud was born on April twenty-second, eighteen-ninety-four,” -said Mrs. Lincoln.</p> - -<p>“She was twenty-one this month. She was born -blind. We did not realize at once that she could not -and might never see. Her eyes had the appearance of -eyes which have cataract. There seemed to be a thin, -white, opaque substance over the pupils.</p> - -<p>“No one seemed to know what the matter was. But she -grew up blind. When she was nine years old we sent her -to the Perkins Institute for the Blind, and she was there -nine years and received an education. Then we took -her home, and she has lived here since, helping me as she -could. When she was examined by Doctor P. I. Perkins at -the Perkins Institute, six years ago, he told her never -to have anything done to her eyes, never to put anything -in them, that some day she would see—and he was -right.”</p> - - -<h3>Brave Third Rail to Save Women.</h3> - -<p>Fifteen terrified women and thirty-five men who had -been shaken when an elevated train jumped the tracks -on the Brooklyn Bridge were forced to climb over the -third rail, two feet of open space, through which they -might have dropped 120 feet to the East River, an iron -latticework three feet high, and another two-foot open -space to safety early to-day. Policemen aided them, but -had one made a misstep, death would have been inevitable.</p> - -<p>Three cars were in the New York train, which was in -charge of Motorman Scott and Conductor Nicholas Castanz. -The train went off the track almost in the center -of the bridge. The rear trucks of the middle car were -the first to jump, and as they bumped and jerked along -the ties, the fifty passengers were thrown into a condition -neighboring on hysteria. The motorman applied the -brakes, and all were jostled severely before the train came -to a stop.</p> - -<p>A wait of half an hour, with the cold river gleaming -below, brought Policeman Beatty to the scene. He summoned -other patrolmen.</p> - -<p>The rescue work began with Beatty standing with one -foot on the covering of the third rail and the other -against the latticework. Directly beneath him was the -opening that showed the waiting river. One by one the -women were swung across from the conductor to him, -and from him to other policemen. Then the men came. -Traffic was tied up for two hours.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="ad" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <p class="nobreak" id="Advert"> - <img class="w100" src="images/ad.jpg" alt="" /> - </p> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="right ph2"><b>Tobacco Habit<br/> -<i>BANISHED</i><br/> -<i>in 48 to 72<br/> -Hours</i></b></p></div> - -<p class="plarge1"><b>Immediate Results</b></p> - -<p>Trying to quit the tobacco habit unaided is a losing fight against -heavy odds, and means a serious shock to your nervous system. So don’t -try it! Make the tobacco habit quit you. It will quit you if you will -just take Tobacco Redeemer according to directions.</p> - -<p>It doesn’t make a particle of difference whether you’ve been a user of tobacco for a single month or -for 50 years, or how much you use, or in what form you use it. Whether -you smoke cigars, cigarettes, pipe, chew plug or fine cut or use snuff -<b>Tobacco Redeemer</b> will positively remove all craving for tobacco in any -form in from 48 to 72 hours. Your tobacco craving will begin to decrease -after the very first dose—there’s no long waiting for results.</p> - -<p><b>Tobacco Redeemer</b> is absolutely harmless and contains no habit-forming -drugs of any kind—the most marvelously quick and thoroughly -reliable remedy for the tobacco habit the world has ever known.</p> - - -<p class="plarge1"><b>Not a Substitute</b></p> - -<p><b>Tobacco Redeemer</b> is in no sense a substitute for tobacco, but -is a radical, efficient treatment. After finishing the treatment you -have absolutely no desire to use tobacco again or to continue the -use of the remedy. It quiets the nerves, and will make you feel -better in every way. If you really want to quit the tobacco habit—get -rid of it so completely that when you see others using it, it -will not awaken the slightest desire in you—you should at once -begin a course of <b>Tobacco Redeemer</b> treatment for the habit.</p> - - -<p class="plarge1"><b>Results Absolutely Guaranteed</b></p> - -<p>A single trial will convince the most skeptical. -Our legal, binding, money-back guarantee goes with -each full treatment. If <b>Tobacco Redeemer</b> fails -to banish the tobacco habit when taken according to -the plain and easy directions, your money will be -cheerfully refunded upon demand.</p> - - -<p class="plarge1"><b>Let Us Send You Convincing Proof</b></p> - -<p>If you’re a slave of the tobacco habit and -want to find a sure, quick way of quitting “for -keeps” you owe it to yourself and to your family -to mail the coupon below or send your name and -address on a postal and receive our free booklet -on the deadly effect of tobacco on the human -system, and positive proof that <b>Tobacco Redeemer</b> -will quickly free you from the habit.</p> - - -<p> -<b>Newell Pharmacal Company<br /> -Dept. 335, St. Louis, Mo.</b> -</p> - -<hr class="full"/> - -<p class="right"> -<i>Mail Coupon NOW<br /> -for FREE Booklet</i> -</p> - - -<p class="right"> -<b>NEWELL PHARMACAL Co.,<br /> -Dept. 335, St. Louis, Mo.</b> -</p> - -<p class="right">Please send, without obligating me in any way, your free -booklet regarding the tobacco habit and proof that <b>Tobacco -Redeemer</b> will positively free me from the tobacco habit.</p> - -<p class="right" style="margin-bottom:4em"> -Name ............................................<br /> -Street and No. ...............................<br /> -Town ................... State ................<br /> -</p> - - -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="center"><b>Transcriber’s Note</b></p> - -<p>This book is in the public domain in the country of publication.</p> - -<p>Clear printer’s errors and typos have been silently corrected.</p> - -<p>The table of contents was created by the transcriber; there was -no table of contents in the printed book.</p> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEAL OF GIJON ***</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. 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