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diff --git a/old/67082-0.txt b/old/67082-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d8c3c77..0000000 --- a/old/67082-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6047 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Nick Carter Strikes Oil; Or Uncovering -More Than a Murder., by Nick Carter - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Nick Carter Strikes Oil; Or Uncovering More Than a Murder. - -Author: Nick Carter - -Editor: Chickering Carter - -Release Date: January 3, 2022 [eBook #67082] - -Language: English - -Produced by: David Edwards, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net -(Northern Illinois University Digital Library) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NICK CARTER STRIKES OIL; OR -UNCOVERING MORE THAN A MURDER. *** - - - [Illustration: - - 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, -1912, by_ STREET & SMITH. _O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith, Proprietors._ - -Statement of ownership, management, circulation, etc., of NICK CARTER -STORIES, published weekly, at New York City, required by the Act of -August 24, 1912.... Editor, W. E. Blackwell, 32 W. 75th Street, New York -City.... Managing editors, business managers, publishers and owners, -Street & Smith, 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York City.... Known -bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders, holding 1 per cent. -or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: -None.... Signed by George C. Smith, for Street & Smith.... Sworn to and -subscribed before me this 30th day of September, 1912, Chas. W. -Ostertag, Notary Public No. 31, New York County (my commission expires -March 30th, 1913). - - - TERMS TO NICK CARTER STORIES MAIL SUBSCRIBERS. - - (_Postage Free._) - - =Single Copies or Back Numbers, 5c. Each.= - - 3 months 65c. - 4 months 85c. - 6 months $1.25 - One year 2.50 - 2 copies one year 4.00 - 1 copy two years 4.00 - - =How to Send Money=--By post-office or express money order, - registered letter, bank check or draft, at our risk. At your own - risk if sent by currency, coin, or postage stamps in ordinary - letter. - - =Receipts=--Receipt of your remittance is acknowledged by proper - change of number on your label. If not correct you have not been - properly credited and should let us know at once. - -=No. 11.= NEW YORK, November 23, 1912. =Price Five Cents.= - - - - - NICK CARTER STRIKES OIL; - - Or UNCOVERING MORE THAN A MURDER. - - Edited by CHICKERING CARTER. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE CLERGYMAN. - - -“It ain’t right! It’s swindling, and you can’t make it anything else!” - -These words, uttered in a loud, angry voice, were followed by a fierce -oath, and the man to whom they were addressed raised his hand, and there -was a look of pain on his pale face. - -“I wish you wouldn’t swear,” he said gently. “Be calm, and tell me just -what you mean.” - -The first speaker looked ashamed of himself, and probably would have -answered in a quiet way if another man who was standing near had not put -in: - -“Don’t pay any attention to him, Mr. Judson. Let him rave. If he’s such -a fool that he can’t make money, it’s not your fault, and he has no -business to complain to you.” - -“But,” said Mr. Judson, “he makes a serious charge against----” - -The first speaker did not hear this, for he was angry almost beyond his -control, “mad clean through,” as the saying is in that part of the -country, Colorado, where the scene took place. - -He did not hear, because he broke in violently: - -“I’ve been swindled, robbed, do you hear? And you’re just as much to -blame as if you’d been the only one in the scheme. You wear the clothes -of a preacher, but, by----! you’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and you -deserve to be shot on the spot. If you want to keep that pious skin of -yours whole, you’d better not come around Hank Low’s way.” - -“But, Mr. Low, listen to me,” the clergyman begged. - -“Not a word, you black-coated devil! When I think of the way my wife and -kids have been cheated by a sneak thief of a minister, it puts murder in -my heart, it does! I won’t talk to you, for fear I’ll forgit and take -the law into my own hands. Geddap, Jenny.” - -The man’s old mare responded to the command and a lash of the whip, and -jogged away, dragging the rickety old wagon in which sat the angry Hank -Low alone. - -The clergyman turned, with a sigh, to his companion. - -“I’m afraid, Mr. Claymore,” he said, “that all is not as it should be in -this matter.” - -“Pooh!” returned Claymore easily; “you mustn’t mind the howling of such -a wild man. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He won’t hurt you.” - -“Oh! that isn’t what I fear. I don’t like to hear a man talk like that, -because it shows that he believes he has been wronged. There might be -some truth in it. If so, I should be the first to make it right.” - -“But there isn’t anything wrong. It was all a plain matter of business. -Hank Low had a lot of land that he couldn’t do anything with. We asked -him his price for it, we had a dicker with him, and he sold. What could -be simpler, or fairer, than that?” - -Instead of answering, the clergyman looked over the ground where they -were standing. It was a level, but rocky, spot between high hills. - -No house was in sight, but a half mile farther up the valley was Hank -Low’s cabin. - -Three miles in the other direction was the small village of Mason Creek, -and some miles beyond that the city of Denver. - -This spot where they stood had been part of Hank Low’s farm. - -He had had a hard struggle trying to make a living out of his land, and -had not succeeded very well, and there was a heavy mortgage to be -lifted, besides. - -One day a couple of men came to Mason Creek and spent a good deal of -time tramping about the country. - -One of them was William Claymore. - -After a few days of tramping about, Claymore offered to buy the most -useless part of Hank Low’s farm. - -He mentioned the name of Reverend Elijah Judson as a man who was -interested with him in some kind of a plan. - -Nothing very definite was said about it, but Low understood that the -clergyman meant to put up a private school for young ladies, and wanted -the land for that purpose. - -A deal was made by which Low was able to pay off his mortgage, but -nothing more. - -He would have been content with that if he had not discovered, when it -was too late, that the parties who bought his land had no idea of -putting up a school, or anything of that sort. - -It was at the time when the fact was just becoming known that oil could -be found in great quantities in the far western lands. - -Claymore and his companion, by making secret tests of the soil, had come -to the conclusion that this worthless end of Hank Low’s farm was the -best place in the State for oil wells. So they bought several acres for -next to nothing. - -It might be supposed that their next step would be to sink wells and -build a refinery, or a pipe line. But such things cost money, and -neither Claymore nor his partner had any left to speak of. - -They had to raise it, and in this task they had the assistance of the -Reverend Elijah Judson. - -The clergyman had not been in Colorado when Hank Low’s land was bought. -In fact, he did not half understand the scheme. - -He had not been a success as a preacher, but he had a little money, some -two or three thousand dollars, and Claymore had persuaded him that with -it he could make his fortune in oil. - -There was nothing dishonest in discovering oil and digging for it, for -if there had been, the clergyman would not have touched the scheme. - -Supposing that it was all right, he had put in his money, and had been -made the president of the company. - -His name was printed in large type on the letters sent out by Claymore, -and these letters were sent to people in the far East, who had been -members of Reverend Elijah Judson’s church. - -They were also sent to other places where his name was known, and they -told all about the wonderful discovery of oil. - -Friends of the clergyman were to be allowed to invest in the company, if -they wanted a sure thing. - -The letters did not state that the money was needed for digging the -wells or building a refinery. - -Oh, no! Persons who received the letters were given to understand that -this was their chance to get rich quickly. - -And the Reverend Elijah Judson’s name as president of the oil company -was enough to make everybody sure that it was all right. For, of course, -the clergyman would not go into any business that was not perfectly -straight and sure. - -That was quite the case--at least, the clergyman thought it was. He -meant well, and he really believed that the company was square, and that -there would be great profits in the business. - -There were many answers to the letters, and money came in rapidly. Not -many persons invested large amounts, but the sum total was considerable. - -All this operation of raising money for the work took several months. - -At last the clergyman went to Colorado to look over the plant and do his -share of the work. - -He was surprised to find that there wasn’t any plant. - -There was the land that had been bought; on it were a few small mounds -of loose dirt to show where borings had been made; and in Denver there -was the office of the company. Nothing more. - -Claymore explained that it took time to get the machinery for sinking -the wells, and Mr. Judson was satisfied. - -They went out to the land, and there happened to meet Hank Low, as he -was driving to the city with a small load of farm stuff for the market. - -By that time, of course, Low had learned just why his land had been -bought. - -The farmer honestly believed that he had been swindled, because nobody -had told him that the land he was selling was very valuable. - -“They might have let me in on the deal,” he grumbled. “The land was -mine. S’pose it had been gold they found. Wouldn’t it be swindling to -make me sell it dirt cheap just because I didn’t know what ’twas worth?” - -His neighbors told him he mustn’t expect any better treatment in a -business deal. - -“But,” he argued, “they sprung the preacher on me, made me believe there -was to be a school there. Ain’t that false pretenses? You bet ’tis! An’ -ef ever I git my hands on that preacher I’ll make him suffer!” - -He hadn’t had his hands on the Reverend Elijah Judson, but he had made -him suffer, just the same. - -“I hate to be called a swindler,” sighed the clergyman, as he stood -there with Claymore. - -“Mr. Judson,” responded Claymore, “business is business, and the man who -gets left in a trade is always sore. That’s all there is to it, and you -mustn’t think anything more about it.” - -“Well,” said Mr. Judson, “I’ll try to think it’s all right, but if I -should find that any wrong has been done I shall insist on making things -right with Low.” - -There was a sneering expression on Claymore’s face, but he said nothing, -and they returned to the city. - -Mr. Judson found new trouble there. He met one of his old church members -on the street, and shook hands with him. - -“I didn’t know you were in this part of the country, Mr. Folsom,” said -the clergyman. - -“I suppose not,” snapped Mr. Folsom, in reply, “and I presume you’d have -liked it better if I had stayed away.” - -“Why, what do you mean?” - -“I came out here to look into the oil company I put my money in. That’s -what I mean.” - -“Well----” - -“There isn’t any well! There ought to be several, but there isn’t one, -and, what’s more, there won’t be any, and, what’s more yet, you know -it.” - -“Why, brother Folsom----” - -“Don’t ‘brother’ me! You’ve lent your name to a swindle, and you ought -to be ashamed of yourself. I can stand my loss, thank fortune! and it -will teach me not to trust a minister again; but there are others, -widows and orphans, who have put their all into your infernal scheme, -and they can’t stand it. You’ve made them beggars, just to fatten -yourself.” - -The clergyman grew ghastly pale as he listened, and even Claymore, who -was still with him, looked troubled. - -“This is dreadful!” gasped Mr. Judson. “I’d die if I believed it to be -half true!” - -“Then you’d better die,” retorted Folsom. “That’s all I’ve got to say. -I’ve looked at that wonderful land the company bought, and there isn’t -enough oil in it to fill a lamp. Not a dollar that’s been put into it -will ever be got out again. But you’ll be fairly well off with the money -you’ve got from the widows and orphans--if you don’t get into jail for -swindling.” - -With this, Mr. Folsom strode away. - -“What does it mean?” asked Mr. Judson. - -“Sorehead, that’s all!” responded Claymore. “He doesn’t know what he’s -talking about----” - -“But he seems to, Mr. Claymore, if I find that there has been any -dishonest work in this business, I shall expose it all, understand that. -I shall die of the shame of it, but I will not commit suicide until I -have seen that the really guilty parties are punished.” - -“Come, Mr. Judson, don’t talk of suicide. That’s foolish. You’re not -used to business, that’s all.” - -“It is not all--ah! there’s Mr. Low’s wagon in front of that store. I am -going to speak to him.” - -Claymore objected, but the minister was stubborn, and they went into the -store. - -Low was there, and the clergyman asked him to call at the hotel to talk -over matters. - -“I want to know all the facts,” said Mr. Judson. - -“Waal,” answered Low slowly, “I’ve got some business to attend to, but -ef ye’re in at half past three I’ll be thar.” - -“I shall look for you at that hour.” - -It was then about noon, and while they were at dinner Claymore tried to -make the clergyman think that the business was all straight, but -evidently he did not succeed. - -“I shall go to my room and think quietly till Low comes,” said Mr. -Judson, when they got up from the table, “and I repeat that if all does -not seem to be honest and aboveboard I shall take measures to right the -wrongs that have been done.” - -“Go ahead, then,” grumbled Claymore. “I shall be at the office if you -want any information.” - -They parted, and did not meet again. - -Half past three came, and, prompt to the minute, Hank Low drove to the -hotel entrance and went in. - -Mr. Judson’s room was on the fourth floor, the clerk told him, and -called a boy to show the visitor up. - -“Never mind,” said Low, “I’ve been here before, and I know the way,” and -he went up alone. - -Within five minutes he came down the stairs again, an angry look upon -his face. - -He said nothing to anybody, but hastened to his wagon, got in, said -“Geddap, Jenny,” and drove away as rapidly as the old nag could take -him. - -As nearly as anybody could make out, it was just previous to Low’s -departure that two or three persons on a street that ran along one side -of the hotel were fearfully startled by the sight of a man falling from -an upper story window. - -He struck headfirst on the sidewalk, and was instantly killed. - -Men were at his side before his heart stopped beating, but no word came -from the unfortunate man’s lips. - -He was unknown to those who saw him die, but they knew from the cut of -his clothes that he was a clergyman. - -Information was taken to the hotel office at once, and the clerk went -out, and he immediately identified the body as that of a guest of the -house, Reverend Elijah Judson. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -WAITING FOR NICK CARTER. - - -In the first horror of this discovery nobody thought of murder. - -It was taken for granted that the unfortunate clergyman had been leaning -from his window and lost his balance. - -But it was not long, however, before men began to look at the thing in -another way. - -The minister’s body was left on the walk under guard of policemen until -an undertaker came to take it away. - -Up to that time no friend of the dead man had appeared. - -The clerk had been so shocked that he could not remember whom he had -seen with Mr. Judson. - -At last the clerk recalled that Judson had been with Claymore early in -the morning, and that the two had dined together in the hotel restaurant -at noon. - -Accordingly, a messenger was sent to the oil company’s office to inform -Claymore of what had happened. - -It was while the messenger was gone on this errand that a man went into -the hotel and laid his card on the clerk’s desk. - -“Send it up to Mr. Judson, please,” he said. - -“Mr. Judson!” gasped the clerk, looking first at the man and then at his -card. - -“Yes,” replied the caller, “Reverend Elijah Judson. He’s stopping here, -isn’t he?” - -“Yes--that is, he was, Mr. ----” The clerk looked at the card. “Mr. -Folsom,” he added, “but he’s--he’s gone.” - -“Gone! When?” - -“A short time ago--ah! you see, Mr. Folsom, he’s dead!” - -“Dead!” cried Folsom; “dead! Mr. Judson dead?” - -“Instantly killed, sir.” - -Mr. Folsom echoed these words as if he were in a dream. - -“What do you mean?” he whispered then; “how did it happen?” - -“Nobody knows, sir,” replied the clerk, “except that he pitched -headforemost out of his window. He struck the sidewalk; it was just -outside there----” - -The clerk’s explanation was not heard by Mr. Folsom. - -“Heavens above!” he gasped, pressing his hand to his brow; “he took me -in earnest, and committed suicide.” - -“Suicide!” - -It was the clerk who repeated the word, but he had not time to say more -when Claymore rushed breathlessly up. - -He had caught the last of Folsom’s remark. - -“What’s that you say of suicide?” he demanded excitedly. - -Folsom looked at him blankly. - -“I said,” he answered slowly, “that my old friend had committed suicide, -and I fear it was some hasty, angry words of mine that drove him to it.” - -Claymore looked sharply at the speaker, and recalled his face. - -That conversation on the street was not easy to forget, though Claymore -had taken no part in it. - -Evidently Folsom did not remember that he had ever seen Claymore before. - -He had spoken to the clergyman without noticing that a stranger stood -near. - -“I think you’re wrong,” said Claymore, still looking straight at Folsom. - -“I wish I could think so,” responded Folsom sadly; “but I spoke to -Judson very harshly. I thought I had reason to be angry, and I guess I -had, but I should not have spoken in that way. I came here just now to -beg his pardon. He said at the time that he should die, and I told him -he’d better. Heavens, to think that I should have hounded him to his -death!” - -Mr. Folsom was terribly distressed. - -The crowd that had gathered at the clerk’s desk listened breathlessly. - -“You may be entirely right,” said Claymore quietly, “but I think not. I -heard the conversation you refer to.” - -“You heard it?” - -“Yes; I was with Mr. Judson at the time.” - -“Ah! I didn’t see you. Then you heard his words?” - -“I did, and, as I say, you may be right, but I think differently.” - -“How can you?” asked Mr. Folsom eagerly; “if there’s a ray of hope for a -different explanation, in the name of Heaven speak up, man!” - -“Mr. Judson had a bitter enemy,” said Claymore. - -“An enemy! Do you know this?” - -“I heard a man threaten to kill him this morning.” - -For an instant Mr. Folsom was too astonished to speak, and stood with -his mouth open, staring at Claymore. - -Then he brought his fist down on the clerk’s desk with a bang, and -exclaimed: - -“Then, I’ll be responsible for tracking that enemy to the ends of the -earth, if necessary. I’ll telegraph for Nick Carter to come. He’s in -this part of the country, and I can get him here by evening, if not -sooner.” - -There was a murmur from the crowd. - -Everybody, unless it was Claymore, seemed to think that this would be -the best possible plan. - -After a moment, he asked: - -“Is Carter a friend of yours?” - -“I’m proud to say he is,” replied Folsom. “We’ve been friends since -boyhood, and he will do anything for me, I’m sure. I can’t rest as long -as there’s any shadow of doubt that I worried poor Judson to his death.” - -“The local police on such a plain case----” began Claymore, but Folsom -interrupted: - -“I said I’d take the responsibility, and I will. Let the local police do -all they can. It won’t do any harm to have Nick Carter also on the spot. -I’ll wire him at once.” - -He reached for a pad of telegraph blanks, and wrote a dispatch, which he -gave to the clerk with a request that it be sent to the office in a -hurry. - -A bell boy went off with it on the run. - -Then Folsom turned again to Claymore. - -“Who is this enemy of Judson’s you speak of?” he asked. - -A man who had been quietly listening to the conversation touched -Claymore on the shoulder. - -“Don’t answer that question just yet,” he said. - -At the same time he pulled aside the lapel of his coat. - -Claymore and Folsom both saw a badge pinned to his vest. - -“Come into the office a minute, both of you,” added the stranger. - -The two men followed him into the hotel manager’s private room, and the -door was closed. - -“My name is Kerr,” the stranger said then. “I am a detective, and belong -to the regular force here. I shall be very proud to work with Nick -Carter on this case, if he comes, but it is my duty to get ahead on it, -and clear it up before he arrives, if possible.” - -“Of course,” responded Claymore. - -Folsom nodded. - -“Now,” said Detective Kerr, “you may answer this gentleman’s question. -Who is the enemy you refer to?” - -“You mean that man I heard threaten Mr. Judson’s life?” asked Claymore -cautiously. - -“Yes.” - -“It was a farmer named Hank Low. He lives out beyond Mason Creek a few -miles.” - -Kerr made a note of the name. - -“What led to the threat?” he asked. - -“The men had high words about a business transaction, in which Low -thought he’d been badly used. As a matter of fact, Low was treated with -perfect fairness.” - -“But he was hot about it, eh?” - -“I should say so!” - -“Where was the threat made?” - -“Out there.” - -“Near Mason Creek?” - -“Yes; on the oil company’s land.” - -“Well, do you mean to say that this Hank Low followed Mr. Judson to the -city for the purpose of murdering him?” - -“No, I don’t mean to say anything of the kind.” - -“Then I don’t see how we can suspect Low. Mason Creek is some miles -away----” - -“Yes, but Low was on his way to the city when we saw him.” - -“Oh, that’s different! Now perhaps we are getting down to business. The -first question is, did anybody see him in town?” - -“I saw his wagon in front of a store,” said Claymore hesitatingly. - -“Why do you hesitate?” demanded the detective sharply. - -“Well, I just begin to feel that it’s a pretty serious thing to bring a -charge of murder against a man. You see, Low was hot, and he shot off -his mouth in a temper. I presume he didn’t mean what he said.” - -“It isn’t our business to think what he meant,” declared Kerr. “And -we’re not bringing any charge against him. If he’s innocent, he can -stand a little inquiry. So you’d better tell all you know frankly, and -not wait till you’re examined in court.” - -“Oh, I’ll be frank enough,” said Claymore. “I know that Mr. Judson asked -him to call here at half past three.” - -“You ought to have said that before.” - -Folsom, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, here -suggested that an investigation should be made to find whether this Hank -Low had been seen in the hotel. - -“I was just going to,” said Kerr. - -He opened the door and asked the clerk to step in. - -“Do you know anybody named Low?” asked Kerr, when the clerk was with -them. - -“Yes,” replied the clerk; “there’s a farmer named Hank Low, from Mason -Creek----” - -“That’s the man.” - -The clerk said nothing further, and Kerr asked: - -“When did you see him last?” - -“This afternoon,” was the reply. - -“Here?” - -“Yes--great heavens!” - -The clerk looked suddenly startled. - -“What’s the matter?” - -“Why, Hank Low called on Mr. Judson just before he died--or was it -afterward?” - -“That’s a mighty important point,” said Kerr gravely. “Isn’t there any -way by which you can fix the time?” - -The clerk thought a moment. - -“Yes,” he said; “I can fix it to the minute, but I can’t do it offhand.” - -“Why? How can you fix it, then?” - -“Just as Low came up to the desk a telegraph boy came with a message for -a guest. I had to sign the boy’s book.” - -“Yes. Well?” - -“I had to enter the time, you know, and I looked up at the clock as I -did so.” - -“Did you enter the exact minute?” - -“I did.” - -“What was it?” - -“That I can’t remember.” - -“The boy’s book will show?” - -“Sure.” - -“Then,” said Kerr, rising, “we’ll look up that boy, and also try to find -the exact minute at which Mr. Judson fell or was thrown from the -window.” - -The detective cautioned the others to say nothing about their -conversation; and went out to talk with the men who had seen Judson -fall. - -They agreed pretty nearly as to the time of the event. - -One said twenty-five minutes of four. - -The other thought it was two minutes later. - -When their watches were compared, it was found that one’s was two -minutes ahead of the other’s. - -The testimony of several other persons was taken on this matter, and it -was agreed that twenty-five or twenty-six minutes of four was the time -when Mr. Judson met his death. - -A bell boy was quietly questioned, also. - -He remembered seeing Hank Low leave the hotel office. - -“’Twas just after he had gone up alone,” the boy said. “I remember, -’cause the clerk was going to send me up with him, and he saved me a -trip upstairs by going alone.” - -This was important, and Kerr asked a number of other questions as to how -it happened that Low went up alone, and so forth. - -Next he found a man who remembered seeing Low drive rapidly away. - -This man did not know, when he was being questioned, that Low was -suspected of murder. - -“I says, ‘Hello, Hank,’ says I,” he told the detective, “and he said, -‘Hello,’ and got into his wagon. - -“‘How’s things at the farm?’ says I.” - -“‘Can’t stop to chin,’ says he, kind of mad, and he whipped up his -critter and went away. Never seen Hank in such a hurry.” - -All this was important, and Kerr made a note of the names of all -witnesses. - -“I’ll try to show Nick Carter,” he thought, “that I can work up a case.” - -He was just about to leave the hotel, when Folsom approached him with a -telegram in his hand. - -He gave it to Kerr, who read the one word it contained: - -“Coming.” - -It was signed “N. C.” - -“All right,” said Kerr; “when he gets here I shall probably have the -guilty man in the lockup. He doesn’t say when he will arrive.” - -“No,” responded Folsom; “but as this was sent from Pueblo, it shows that -he is on the way. I’ve looked up the trains, and should say that he’d be -here early in the evening.” - -“Well, I’m going down to the telegraph office to look up that -messenger’s book. If it gives the time I think it does, I shall start -for Mason Creek without waiting for Carter.” - -“I suppose that’s right,” said Folsom. - -Kerr was sure it was. - -He went to the telegraph office, but was disappointed to learn that the -boy who had the book he needed to see had been sent to a distant part of -the city, and could not be back before six o’clock at the earliest. - -Then Kerr was in doubt as to what he ought to do. - -“It would make me look like thirty cents,” he reflected, “if I should -arrest Hank Low and bring him to the city, only to find that the boy’s -book showed that he couldn’t have done the thing. - -“Suppose, for example, the book shows that the clerk signed it at twenty -minutes to four. - -“By that time Judson had been dead at least five minutes, and, of -course, Low couldn’t be guilty. - -“I think I’ll wait for the boy to get back. Carter may be here by that -time, and I’d rather take his judgment.” - -And Kerr left it that way. He went down to the railroad station at a -quarter to six with Folsom, hoping to meet the great detective on the -train due to arrive from Pueblo at that hour. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -A SUSPECT AND AN ALIBI. - - -They were not disappointed, for Nick Carter was on the train, and Patsy -was with him. - -They had recently been engaged in a case that took them to the western -part of British America. When that was finished Nick had taken in -Colorado on the way home, for the purpose of examining some mining -property that belonged to a friend, who had asked him to do so. - -It was while he was on this business that he had run across Folsom. - -Having finished his examination of the mines, and having no other -business pressing at the moment when he received Folsom’s telegram, he -had gone at once to a train and started for Denver. - -He greeted Folsom warmly when they met on the platform, and then he was -introduced to Kerr. - -“I’m glad to see you, Mr. Kerr,” said Nick. “I suppose there’s no -mystery about this case?” - -“Well, I don’t know,” replied Kerr; “I think not, but you may have a -different opinion.” - -“I thought it was all settled.” - -“Settled, Mr. Carter? What do you mean?” - -Nick smiled, and glanced at Folsom. - -“Usually,” he said, “my friends do not have a brass band to meet me when -I begin to work.” - -Folsom started, and looked uncomfortable. - -It was not until that minute that he remembered Nick Carter’s great -objection to working on a case when it was known that he was at work. - -“I beg your pardon, Nick,” said Folsom hastily; “I’ve been excited this -afternoon, or I would have sent for you secretly, but there’s no brass -band about it. Mr. Kerr is the only one who knows that you are here.” - -“It’s all right, Folsom; don’t worry,” responded Nick, “but I’ll bet the -cigars that more than Mr. Kerr know.” - -“You’d win,” said Kerr. “Mr. Folsom spoke of sending for you in the -presence of fifty men.” - -“That’s so!” exclaimed Folsom, looking very awkward. - -Nick laughed. - -“Let it go,” he said good-humoredly. “I don’t need to bother with the -case if I don’t want to. I presume Mr. Kerr has the hang of it, anyway. -So, unless there is real trouble, Patsy and I can take the night train -for the East.” - -“I hope you won’t, Mr. Carter,” said Kerr earnestly. “I do think that I -can put my hand on the murderer, but I’d like very much to get your -opinion, if not your assistance.” - -“All right. There’ll be time enough for that while we get dinner -somewhere. Can you take us to a quiet place?” - -“We were going to the hotel where the crime was committed. The Western -Union manager is going to send a boy there with a piece of evidence we -need, just as soon as the boy gets back from a long errand.” - -“Very well,” said Nick; “we’ll go to the hotel, but we won’t go -together, if you please. You and Folsom go back together, and if anybody -asks you about Nick Carter, give them any kind of a steer you choose, as -long as you make them understand that I’m not in town. Then engage a -private room for dinner----” - -“We have done that already, Mr. Carter.” - -“Good! What’s the number?” - -“Fourteen, second floor.” - -“Patsy and I will join you there in half an hour, unless there’s some -hurry.” - -“No,” said Kerr, a little doubtfully, “I don’t believe there’s any -hurry, for we can’t act till we get the messenger boy’s evidence.” - -“Yep,” returned Patsy, who had heard the talk about the forgotten -change. - -“So long, then.” - -Kerr and Folsom left Nick and Patsy inside the station, where they had -met. - -“You don’t really hope to conceal the fact that you’re in Denver, do -you, Nick?” asked Patsy. - -The great detective smiled. - -“When fifty men heard that I was sent for?” he returned quietly; “not -quite.” - -“Then why do you make such a fuss about it? Why not go along to the -hotel openly?” - -“Patsy,” said Nick, as he pretended to consult a pocket time-table, “if -the guilty man was one of that fifty, don’t you think it likely that he -would shadow Folsom and Kerr and follow them to the station to see if I -came?” - -“Gee, yes! I hadn’t thought of that.” - -“And, if he did so, of course he’s seen me.” - -“Sure.” - -“And he wouldn’t follow the others out, but would wait to see what -became of me.” - -“That’s it.” - -“Well, then----” - -“You needn’t say any more, Nick. I’m on. I’ve spotted every man who has -been in sight since we stepped off the train.” - -“About a dozen of them, eh?” - -“Fully that.” - -All through this talk each had been carefully looking around the -station, though no one there could have suspected that they were paying -attention to anything but themselves. - -In fact, Nick had been taking in the situation from the moment he met -Kerr and Folsom. - -“Let’s go into the waiting room,” he said, as he put away his -time-table, “and buy a cigar and a newspaper.” - -As they went across the large room they observed very carefully to see -if any man was watching their movements. - -The crime had happened too late in the afternoon for the regular -editions of the evening papers, but extras were now out, and a big pile -of them had just been brought to the news stand. - -Several men were at the counter buying the papers. - -Patsy went to the cigar case, and Nick asked for a paper. - -The boy behind the counter was very busy just then, and Nick had to wait -his turn, which didn’t trouble him any. - -“Mr. Claymore!” the boy called suddenly; “you forgot your change.” - -“Oh, did I?” said a man who had bought several papers and was hurrying -away. - -He came back and reached his hand across the counter. - -“Keep a nickel of it for your honesty,” he said. - -“Thankee, Mr. Claymore.” - -Nick bought his paper next, and Patsy joined him. - -They went slowly to a corner of the waiting room and sat down. - -“Well?” said Nick, as he unfolded the paper and began to read about the -death of Reverend Mr. Judson. - -“Well,” repeated Patsy, “there’s nobody hanging around now who was here -when we came.” - -“I thought so.” - -Nick read for a moment, and then remarked: - -“That’s an honest newsboy.” - -“The man he spoke to was on the platform when we arrived.” - -“Yep.” - -That was all they said about it. - -As a matter of fact, neither of them had the slightest suspicion of -Claymore, any more than they had of any of the dozen others who had -stayed in sight while Kerr and Folsom were there; but they remembered -his face and name, for that was a matter of habit with them. - -“Look it over,” said Nick, passing the paper to Patsy. - -While the young man read, Nick thought, and at last he said: - -“I think we’ll call at the undertaker’s.” - -The name of the undertaker who had taken charge of Judson’s body was -printed in the paper, and Nick inquired the way to his place from the -first policeman they met. - -There was a crowd of curious idlers at the door, and a man stood there, -who at first was not going to let the detectives in. - -“We want to see the body of the clergyman who----” Nick began. - -“I know you do!” interrupted the man crossly, “and so does everybody -else, but you can’t see?” - -“Can’t see, when I have eyes?” retorted Nick, with a queer smile, and he -pushed by the man into the building. - -The man was astonished, for he had not expected this stranger to defy -him, but there was something so commanding in Nick’s quiet way of doing -things that he had let both detectives pass before he knew it. - -Then he followed them into the office, blustering. - -“What do you mean?” he demanded. - -“It’s my business to be here,” said Nick coldly. “I am a detective, and -my name is Nicholas Carter.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed the undertaker, and his eyes bulged. He did not seem -able to take them off the famous man, of whom he had heard so much. -“Oh!” he added, after a pause. - -“If that makes a difference,” said Nick, “you may show us the body.” - -“Certainly; anything you want, Mr. Carter. Only too proud.” - -He led the way to a back room, and for a minute or two Nick and Patsy -stood there studying the still, cold form. - -“Can I do anything more for you?” asked the undertaker, as they turned -away. - -“No, thank you.” - -“I suppose you’ll see the clergyman’s friend, won’t you?” - -“Do you mean Mr. Folsom?” - -“Yes, sir. The hotel people, you see, Mr. Carter, told me to take charge -of the body, and I supposed it would be a kind of charity case, as, of -course, the hotel people had no interest in the unfortunate man. But if -Mr. Folsom was his friend, perhaps he’d like to order a better casket, -don’t you see. If----” - -“I’ll speak to Mr. Folsom about it.” - -“Thank you, sir. Perhaps you’d like to look at some of my caskets and -advise Mr. Folsom----” - -“I’ll leave that to him.” - -“Oh, very well, sir; but if you don’t mind speaking to him about the -matter. It would be too bad to bury a clergyman in an ordinary----” - -By this time Nick and Patsy were out of hearing. - -“Say!” said Patsy, in a tone of disgust, “that fellow had gall.” - -Nick was silent. - -“The idea of asking you to pick out a casket! Huh!” - -When they were about halfway to the hotel, Nick remarked: - -“It wasn’t suicide.” - -“No,” responded Patsy. “I could see that. The thing that killed him was -the breaking of the back of his skull on the sidewalk; but he had a -black-and-blue mark over the right eye. That wasn’t made by his fall.” - -“Certainly not. It was made by the blow that sent him reeling through -the window.” - -“That information will make your friend, Folsom, feel better, won’t it?” - -“I judge so, as his telegram told me that he feared suicide, and hoped -that it was murder. - -“But,” added Nick. “I don’t think I shall be in a hurry to ease Folsom’s -mind. We’ll wait till we have heard the whole story before letting him -know what we think. It may be handy to give out the report that we -believe it a case of suicide.” - -“I’m on,” said Patsy. - -They found Kerr and Folsom waiting for them in room fourteen, and they -sat down at once to dinner. - -While they were eating, Kerr told the whole story as far as he knew it. - -Naturally, he mentioned Claymore’s name as the witness to Hank Low’s -threats. - -“Who is this Claymore?” asked Nick, as he lighted a cigar at the end of -the meal. - -“He’s a Denver business man,” replied Kerr. “I have no acquaintance with -him. I believe he hasn’t been here more than a year or so.” - -“Less than a year, I guess,” said Folsom. - -“Why, do you know him?” asked Nick. - -“No,” replied Folsom, “except as I have talked with him this afternoon, -but I remember now that his name is on the letters sent out by the oil -company of which Judson was president. Claymore is the secretary of the -concern, I believe.” - -“But you hadn’t met him before?” - -“No; and I didn’t hear his name till late in the day, and even then I -didn’t connect him with the company, though I remember wondering a -little how he knew so much about poor Judson. You see, I was terribly -excited.” - -“No wonder.” - -“It worries me a great deal,” continued Folsom, “to think that my angry -words might have led Judson to suicide. He meant well, I am sure of -that, and he was deceived by the rascals as much as the rest of us.” - -“Hum!” murmured Nick; “seems to me that’s setting Claymore out in rather -a black light.” - -“Yes, it is. I hadn’t given it much thought, for my attention was taken -up with the death of Judson, but I have no doubt that Claymore is -crooked. A dishonest promoter, you know. One of these fellows who know -how to swindle and keep on the right side of the law. Don’t you think -so?” - -“Maybe.” - -Folsom looked as if he wished that Nick would say more, but the -detective was silent. - -Shortly after this a waiter came to the room to say that a telegraph -messenger wished to see Mr. Kerr. - -“Send him up at once!” exclaimed Kerr. - -The boy came in with his book. - -“Boss said you wanted to see it,” said he, laying it on the table, and -going out again at once. - -Kerr opened the book with great eagerness, and, after looking down the -columns of names and time marks until he came to the one he wanted, his -eyes glowed with delight, and he passed the book to Nick, with his -finger on a certain line where the hotel clerk’s name was written. - -“There!” he cried triumphantly; “see that?” - -Nick looked, and he saw the clerk’s name in one column, and against it, -in another column, the figures, “3:31.” - -“You see!” added Kerr, too excited to wait for Nick’s opinion, “Hank Low -did it!” - -“I see,” responded Nick slowly, “that Hank Low could have done it.” - -The reply disappointed Kerr, and he began to argue, but Nick interrupted -him. - -“Excuse me a moment, gentlemen,” he said. - -He rose, and looked at Patsy, who withdrew with Nick to a corner of the -room, and the two men whispered together a moment. - -Then Patsy went out, and Nick returned to the table. - -“Excuse me,” said Nick, again. “I don’t mean to interfere with your -handling of the case. Mr. Kerr----” - -“Oh, bless you!” exclaimed Kerr; “that’s what we all want. You do just -what you think best, Mr. Carter.” - -“Thank you. I was going to say that I had forgotten something, and sent -my assistant out to look after it. Now, as to this time mark, it is very -important. I can see that.” - -“Of course,” said Kerr, encouraged by the great detective’s tone. “The -testimony of the clerk cannot be doubted. Here is the sure testimony -that Hank Low started for Judson’s room four minutes before the man fell -from his window. It is known that Low left the hotel and drove away just -before word was brought in that the man had fallen out. See?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then do you think we ought to lose any time before arresting Low?” - -“Do you say that he lives some eight miles from here?” - -“Yes--about eight.” - -“If he’s running away, he’s got a pretty good start.” - -“All the more reason why we should get after him at once. I declared, I -wish I had run out there and hauled him in before you came.” - -“That might have been a good idea, but I don’t believe there’s any use -in hurrying now.” - -Neither Kerr nor Folsom could understand Nick’s delay. - -The fact was, he was waiting for Patsy, and he kept them talking for -several minutes, and then Patsy returned. - -“Speak out,” said Nick. “I want these gentlemen to hear what you have to -report.” - -“Well,” said Patsy, “Claymore was in his office all the time from one -o’clock to ten minutes of four, when a messenger came to tell him of -Judson’s death.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -NICK’S JOURNEY TO HANK LOW’S. - - -Kerr and Folsom stared at each other and at Nick. They were no fools, -and it was clear enough what Patsy’s errand meant. - -“Then,” said Folsom, in a low voice, “you suspected Claymore?” - -“Oh, no, not exactly,” Nick replied; “but I thought it would be just as -well to make it impossible to suspect him. That was all.” - -This remark did not convince either of the men. - -“You wouldn’t have gone to this trouble,” said Folsom, “if you hadn’t -believed that he had a motive for the crime.” - -“As to motive,” replied Nick, “I can only guess, but if Claymore is -crooked and Judson was straight, isn’t it possible that Judson -threatened an exposure, and that Claymore would try to prevent it?” - -Kerr nodded. - -“That’s all right,” he said; “but in the face of this evidence,” and he -tapped the messenger’s book. - -“It looks very bad for Hank Low,” admitted Nick. - -“You think that Claymore set Low up to it?” remarked Folsom. - -“Do I?” inquired Nick mildly. - -“Well,” responded Folsom, “what are we to think?” - -“Anything you please. I am willing to take hold of this case, but, as I -start under unusual difficulties, I want you to let me go at it in my -own way.” - -“Certainly, Mr. Carter,” said Kerr; “but I don’t see the difficulties -with all this evidence----” - -Nick raised his hand. - -“You have done first-rate work, Mr. Kerr,” he said. “The evidence is -sound, as far as it goes. But it don’t go quite far enough. The -difficulties I refer to are the fact that so many men know that I am -here, and that the only man who can say that Judson was murdered is -dead.” - -“I see,” said Kerr. - -Folsom turned pale. - -“You think, then,” he said hoarsely, “that it was not a case of murder -at all?” - -“I didn’t say so,” responded Nick; “but this I will say, for, as I am in -it now pretty deep, there’s no use in concealing my thoughts from you -two--but you mustn’t let it go any farther.” - -“Certainly not, Mr. Carter.” - -“Well, then, I don’t believe that Hank Low did it.” - -Both Kerr and Folsom stared, open-mouthed. - -“By thunder!” said Kerr slowly, “if any man but Nick Carter said -that----” - -He hesitated. - -“You’d say he was a fool,” remarked Nick. - -Kerr laughed uneasily. - -“I am afraid I should,” he admitted. - -“That’s all right,” said Nick; “you can think that of me just as well as -not, if you want to. Meantime, I’ll go out and get acquainted with Hank -Low.” - -“To-night?” - -“Now.” - -“Won’t you want help?” - -“Oh, no. If I don’t come back with him as a voluntary prisoner, Mr. -Kerr, I’ll help you arrest him in the morning, and give you all the -credit.” - -“Credit be hanged, Mr. Carter! I’m not a jealous idiot.” - -“Glad to hear you say so. You will lie low, then, till you hear from me -again?” - -“Yes, but if it was any other man----” - -“You’d lock him up as a dangerous lunatic. I know. If I’m mistaken, I’ll -own up frankly. Now, tell me the way to Mason Creek.” - -Kerr told him, and advised him where to get a horse. - -“It seems to me,” said Nick, “you’ve described a roundabout way.” - -“Yes, the road runs along a crooked valley and around the base of a big -hill. If it was daylight, I might tell you of a short cut over the hill, -but you wouldn’t be able to keep to the trail in the dark, to say -nothing of the fact that the woods on the hill are not safe just now.” - -“Not safe?” - -“No. There’s a scare about panthers out that way.” - -“Ah! I shall have to keep my revolver handy.” - -“It will be as well; but, of course, you’ll stick to the road?” - -“Yes, though you might tell me where the trail strikes off.” - -“It’s about four miles from here. You pass a perfectly bare ledge a -hundred yards long at your right, and then come to a stream. Instead of -crossing the bridge, you can follow up the stream. In the daytime it’s -plain enough, and not a bad ride for a good horse.” - -“All right.” - -Nick then gave some private instructions to Patsy, and left them. - -He went to the stable that Kerr had spoken of and hired a horse. - -It was about eight in the evening when he galloped away, and at that -hour it was quite dark. - -The road took him quickly out of the city, and he was soon in a wild -country where it would have been easy to imagine that there wasn’t a -town within a hundred miles. - -The sky was clear, but the moon had not yet risen. - -Nick did not ride hard, for he felt in no hurry, and it was somewhat -less than half an hour after he started when he noticed a long, high -ledge at his right. - -“Probably the place Kerr spoke of,” he thought. - -He was glancing up at it, when his horse suddenly leaped violently. - -At the same instant there was a flash and a report from the bushes at -the other side of the road. - -Nick’s hat flew from his head, and he felt a wave of heat cross his -brow, which had been singed by a rifle bullet. - -His hand caught his revolver, but before it was drawn another shot came, -and the horse staggered and fell dead without a struggle. - -Nick slipped off quickly, ran a few paces, and fell. Then he lay still -and watched. - -Not another sound came from the bushes across the road. - -“Confound them!” thought Nick, who was not scratched, except for the -slight mark on his forehead. “Why don’t they come out to make sure of -their business?” - -It was clearly a case of intended murder, for, if the unseen villains -had been robbers they would have crept forward to go through the pockets -of the supposed dead man. - -And, of course, it was plain that they knew whom they were firing at, -for nobody would have shot at a stranger like that. - -“This,” muttered Nick, “is what comes of starting on a case with a brass -band at the head of the procession.” - -He meant by this that he believed the attempt to kill him was connected -with the death of Judson. - -“It’s only too easy to see how it happened,” he thought. “Everybody knew -I was sent for, and there isn’t a doubt that my arrival was spotted. - -“Then it was easy to guess that I would go out to look up Hank Low, and, -as this is the only way to his place, they were sure of having a shot at -me.” - -Nick listened as he lay there, but could hear no sound of steps on the -other side of the road. - -The rushing of the stream a little beyond would have drowned ordinary -noises so that the would-be murderers could have got away without being -noticed. - -Apparently that was what they had done, for the detective neither heard -nor saw them. - -He could only guess whether they believed that their shots had done -their work. - -While he was waiting, the moon rose, and, as the sky was perfectly -clear, the landscape became almost as light as day. - -Nick at last got up cautiously and went to his horse. - -The animal had fallen at the side of the road, and so was out of the way -of any one passing. - -Nick took off the saddle and bridle and hid them in the bushes near by. - -“I’ll pay for the horse,” he thought, “but there’s no sense in giving -the saddle to the first thief who comes along.” - -He went back to the spot from which the shots had been fired, and lit up -the place with his pocket lantern. - -If the scoundrels had accidentally dropped anything that could serve as -a clew, the detective would have found it, but he could find nothing. - -He saw traces of footprints on the grass and leaves, but they were too -faint to be measured. - -Having satisfied himself on this matter, Nick started on foot to finish -his journey. - -When he came to the stream, he did not cross the bridge, but turned into -the trail that Kerr had told him about. - -The moon made the path perfectly plain at the start, and Nick took it -not only to save the long walk around the base of the hill, but to save -time. - -For some reasons, he would have liked to go straight back to Denver, for -there was no doubt in his mind that his would-be murderers had gone to -the city, and if he was there, he might run across them. - -But he believed it to be his first business to have a talk with Hank -Low, and so he went on. - -The trail followed along the bank of the stream for some distance, and -then crossed it on a bridge of fallen trees. After that, it was very -steep until it reached the summit of the hill. - -Although the trees were rather thick, the moonlight came in on the -eastern slope sufficiently to make the way clear. - -It was different when Nick began to descend upon the other side. That -slope was in shadow, for the moon was not high enough to light it, and -more than once he found it difficult to keep on the path. - -Once he thought he had lost it, and he was thinking that it would make -him feel rather foolish to get lost at night in these woods. - -“Better have kept to the road,” he muttered, standing still. - -There was a very steep descent just before him, and he could see hardly -anything, but he felt that the ground was dipping sharply. - -At the left there was a ridge of bare rock, and it seemed that the trail -led along the under side of it. - -“This must be right,” he argued to himself. “By daylight a horse would -get down here easily enough. It’s the right general direction, anyway, -and I’ll chance it.” - -Putting his hands on the bare rock at his left to steady himself, he -went slowly down. - -It was not a high ledge, and he had come, as he thought, about to the -bottom, when there was a slight noise behind and almost overhead that -startled him. - -His revolver was in his hand instantly. - -There was a blinding flash not ten feet in front of him, and a deafening -report. - -Swish! went a bullet past his face. - -Then there was a bloodcurdling scream in the air above, and the -detective fell flat under a heavy body. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE DETECTIVE MAKES AN ARREST. - - -Nick’s breath was knocked out of him, but he was not stunned. - -He knew partly what had happened. - -It was a wild beast that had borne him to the ground. - -Kerr’s remarks about the “panther scare” flashed upon his memory. - -Evidently this beast had sprung upon him from the top of the ledge. - -He could feel the great limbs quivering, and one of the claws scratched -his hand. - -All this happened in a second. - -In the next second, Nick had exerted all his giant strength, and rolled -the beast over. - -He got upon his knees and fired his revolver three times in rapid -succession at the huge carcass that he could feel but not see in front -of him. - -Then a rough, surprised voice interrupted him. - -“Good Lord! How many of ’em be ye, anyway?” - -“Only one, stranger,” replied Nick, getting to his feet. - -“Gosh! I thought it mought be a regiment, by the way ye fired. Got a -double-quick action repeater, ain’t ye?” - -Nick did not reply at once. - -The beast was still clawing the ground frantically, and he was not sure -that another dose of lead was not necessary. - -Then a little flame glowed in the darkness near by, for the man who had -spoken to him had struck a match. - -He held it first over the dying panther, for such it was, and then -remarked, in a satisfied tone: - -“Done for! Four times dead, I reckon.” - -Then he took a step forward and held the match close to Nick’s face. - -The men looked at each other in silence for a moment. - -Nick saw a surprised, honest-looking face--that of a hardy -backwoodsman--and he caught a glimpse of the rifle that the man held -loosely in the hollow of his arm. - -The backwoodsman saw a well-dressed tenderfoot, whose coat was torn by -the panther’s claw, whose face was grimed with dirt and smeared with -blood. - -“By golly, stranger,” said the backwoodsman, “you’re not jest fit to -enter a beauty show--not but what ye may be a slick-lookin’ chap when -yer face is washed.” - -The detective laughed heartily. - -“I reckon, pard,” he said, “that you saved my life.” - -“Reckon I did,” returned the other quietly; “but I come dum close to -killin’ you to do it.” - -“I felt your bullet hiss past my face.” - -“So? Should ha’ thought that mought have scared ye to death.” - -“Oh, no, I’m used to things like that.” - -“You don’t say!” - -“But I’m not used to enemies that spring on a man in the dark without -making any noise of warning. That’s what the panther did.” - -“Yes, he’d ha’ had ye, sure, ef I hadn’t been here to fire.” - -“It was good luck.” - -“Waal, I dunno about the luck of it. I was here on purpose. Been -a-lookin’ fer that critter.” - -“Indeed!” - -“Yes; the pesky varmint has been worryin’ the life out of us, and -to-night I jest made up my mind that I’d get him. I was pretty dum -certain he’d be on the trail somewhere, fer there’s enough as comes over -it, you know, to give the scent. I thought he’d be watchin’ fer prey, -but I didn’t have no idee that he’d git a chance at any. That’s whar I’m -s’prised., How come ye here, stranger?” - -“I’ll tell you in a minute,” Nick answered; “just explain to me first -how you managed to take that shot in time. I heard the beast springing -just as you fired.” - -“Why,” said the backwoodsman, “I was waitin’ here, hopin’ the scent of -me would bring the varmint along, and, of course, I wasn’t makin’ no -noise about it. - -“Then I heard steps--yourn, you know--and I was wondering about it as -you come down the steep part of the trail. - -“Ef you look up at the top of the ledge, thar, you’ll see that the -risin’ moon makes the top line quite clear. - -“Waal, I had my gun up, fer I didn’t know but what you might be an -enemy, when, all of a suddent, I saw a black mass on the clear edge of -the rock up thar. - -“I knowed what it was, and the thing jumped. - -“Thar wasn’t no time to think about it, for I knowed the critter had -spied you and was springin’ fer ye, and I had to fire then, or not at -all. So I blazed while the beast was in the air. - -“It was too late to save you from a knockdown, but the critter was dead -when he hit you. Them shots of yours was mighty slick ones, comin’ as -fast as they did, just as ef you was out practicin’ at a target, but -they was good powder and lead throwed away.” - -“I can spare the powder and lead,” Nick responded, “and at the time I -couldn’t believe that the panther had been hit in the heart. He was -making a furious struggle.” - -“Yes,” drawled the backwoodsman, “it takes them critters some time to -die. But how’d you come here?” - -“I was going along the road on horseback when my horse died suddenly.” - -“Died!” - -“Shot.” - -“Gosh!” - -“It was meant for me.” - -“Huh! Robbers?” - -“Perhaps. But they let me alone.” - -“Mebbe they knowed you was handy with a gun?” - -“I shouldn’t wonder. Anyhow, I had business out this way, so I came -along. I took the trail to save time.” - -“So! Business out here, you say.” - -“Yes. I’m looking for Hank Low’s place. I presume it’s not much farther, -is it?” - -“Hank Low’s! No, it ain’t much farther--’bout two gunshots.” - -There was surprise and suspicion in the man’s tone. - -“This trail will bring me there, I suppose?” said Nick. - -“’Twill if ye follow it far enough.” - -“Then I shall have to go on. I’m much obliged----” - -“Hold on, stranger! What’s yer business with Hank Low?” - -“I’ll tell that to Low.” - -“Then you can tell it to me.” - -“Why, are you----” - -“Yes, I am. My name’s Hank Low.” - -Nick had guessed as much. - -He held out his hand in the darkness and grasped that of the man who had -saved his life. - -Low returned the grasp rather feebly. - -“Mr. Low,” said Nick, “I am more obliged to you than ever.” - -“What do you want of me?” demanded Low, in a surly tone. - -“I want to talk to you about the land you sold some months ago.” - -“Do you belong to the company that bought it?” - -The question came quickly, and Low’s voice was harsh. - -There was no longer the good-natured tone in which he had spoken while -talking about the panther. - -“No,” replied Nick, “I haven’t anything to do with the company. I heard -you were swindled.” - -“That was it, stranger,” cried Low; “nothing short of it. People say I -was beat in a business deal, but I’m tellin’ ye it wasn’t a squar’ -deal.” - -“I’d like to know all about it.” - -“What’s yer name?” - -“Nicholas.” - -“Waal, Mr. Nicholas, come down to the house. I’ve got nothin’ to hold -back, and ef you’re interested, you can hear the whole story.” - -Low talked as they walked along through the woods. - -His voice continued to be harsh, as he told of the trick that had been -played upon him, but Nick saw that Claymore had kept well within the -law. - -“It wasn’t fair,” thought the detective; “but it was what would be -called a business deal, and Low was beaten. No wonder he feels sore, but -he can’t do anything about it.” - -Of course, Low mentioned the Reverend Elijah Judson in the course of his -story, and his voice became more angry when he did so. - -“I can’t understand an out-an’-out villain,” said he; “but it seems a -durned sight worse when a preacher takes to swindling, now, don’t it, -Mr. Nicholas?” - -“I should say so,” replied Nick, “if I was sure that the preacher had -known that the scheme was unfair.” - -“Know! How could he help it? Ain’t he president of the company?” - -“He was.” - -“Was? Ef he ain’t now, then thar’s been a mighty sudden change. Will ye -come into the house, Mr. Nicholas?” - -They had come to cleared land at the bottom of the hill, and Low’s house -was plainly seen in the moonlight a few rods away. - -None of the windows were lighted. - -“No,” said Nick; “your wife and children are asleep by this time, and we -might wake them up. We can talk out here just as well, can’t we?” - -“Sure.” - -They sat down on a log near a shallow brook that crossed the farm. - -The moon rays reflected from the water straight into Nick’s eyes, and -his attention was curiously attracted. - -“Must be handy having running water on your place,” he remarked. - -“Huh!” returned Low; “that’s whar you reckon wrong. I thought so when I -took this land, and I found out my mistake too late.” - -“What’s the matter?” - -“Durned ef I know. The cattle won’t drink it, and I don’t like the taste -myself. I’ve had to dig a well up on the hill, thar, and run the water -to my house and barn through pipes. That cost a good bit, but it was the -only way I could get water that would do.” - -They were silent for a moment. Then Low said: - -“I seen that cuss, Judson, to-day. He was up here with Claymore in the -early morning. I met ’em, and we had a jawin’ match. I spoke pretty hot, -I reckon, but I can’t help it when I think how I’ve been used. Thar’s my -wife and children, you see. I never have been able to give them the nice -things I’d like to. Ef they had let me in on the deal I mought ha’ got -money enough to dress my children right smart and send them to school in -the city.” - -“What should you say,” suggested Nick, “if you heard that the company -had got left in buying your land?” - -“Eh? Got left? What do you mean?” - -“Suppose that, after all, the land proves to be as worthless as you -thought?” - -“By Jove! ’twould serve ’em right.” - -“I guess that’s the case.” - -“Waal, I’m dum glad to hear it, but it don’t make me feel any better -toward those swindlers. I kind o’ thought the preacher chap wanted to -squar’ things, but I found I was mistaken.” - -“So? How was that?” - -“He met me again in the city, and asked me to call on him at the hotel. -Reckon he had some new, slick scheme up his sleeve.” - -“Did you call on him?” - -“Yep.” - -“Well?” - -“He wouldn’t see me.” - -“That’s odd.” - -“I thought so at the time. I told him I’d be there at half past three, -and he said he’d wait for me. I was there on time, and I went right up -to his room.” - -“What did he say?” - -“Say? He didn’t say nothin’. I didn’t see him. He wouldn’t let me in.” - -“Did he know you were there?” - -“Sure! I knocked, and heard somebody stirrin’ in the room. I’m sure of -that. So, when he didn’t say, ‘Come in,’ I knocked again. ‘It’s Hank -Low,’ says I, loud and sharp. ‘Ef you want to see me, speak up quick, -fer I ain’t got any time to waste on ye.’ - -“Thar wa’n’t no answer to that, so I sung out that he might go to the -devil, and I waltzed downstairs fast. - -“I was kind o’ ’fraid he might call me back, and I didn’t want to hear -him, for I was as mad as a hornet, and I was afraid that ef him and me -got together thar’d be trouble.” - -“Did you leave the hotel at once?” - -“Yep. Druv straight home, and didn’t see him then, nor since.” - -“Did you notice any excitement around the hotel as you drove away?” - -“Excitement? Reckon not. A feller I know spoke to me, but I was too dum -mad to answer him decent.” - -“But didn’t you notice anything else?” - -Low thought a moment. - -“Now I think of it,” he said, “I do remember seein’ two or three men -runnin’ down the street at the side of the hotel, but I was so dum mad -that I didn’t turn my head. The hull town mought ha’ been on fire fer -all I cared. I was thinkin’ of how I’d been cheated.” - -“I understand.” - -If Nick had had any doubt of this man’s innocence it was all gone now, -for Law was no actor; just a plain, honest farmer--bull-headed, -quick-tempered, and unreasonable, perhaps, but no murderer, and he -couldn’t have told his story of the afternoon in that straightforward -way, if he had been guilty. - -“Mr. Low,” said Nick, after a pause, “Judson is dead.” - -“Dead!” repeated the farmer, in a tone that showed the greatest -surprise. “How long since, Mr. Nicholas?” - -“He died while you were at the door to his room.” - -“You don’t mean it!” - -“He was murdered.” - -“Wha-a-at!” - -“Thrown from his window to the sidewalk.” - -“Good heavens! Then that was what those men were runnin’ for.” - -“Yes--they went to pick him up.” - -The farmer sat with his elbows on his knees, staring open-mouthed at -Nick. - -“That’s awful, ain’t it?” he whispered. - -“It is,” said Nick, “and there’s something else that is still more -awful.” - -He paused, but Low said nothing. - -“It is perfectly well known,” Nick added, “that you started up to -Judson’s room just before the deed.” - -Low became very attentive, but it was plain that the truth was not -dawning on him yet. - -“And that you came down again in a hurry,” added the detective, -“immediately afterward. It is also well known that you threatened Mr. -Judson----” - -This was enough, and the light burst upon the honest farmer suddenly. In -the moonlight his face was ghastly white, and his voice almost choked, -as he said: - -“Mr. Nicholas, you don’t mean to set thar an’ tell me thar’s folks as -say I done it?” - -“That is what they say,” returned Nick quietly. - -Low groaned, and buried his face in his hands. - -“My wife has often told me,” he sobbed, “that that sharp tongue of mine -would git me into trouble. I see! It all fits in like the handle into an -ax. My God! will anybody believe me?” - -“Listen,” said Nick. “There isn’t going to be as much trouble as you -think for. I may be able to help you. I am a detective, Mr. Low.” - -The farmer uncovered his face and looked frightened now. - -“I said my name was Nicholas,” the detective went on, “and that was the -truth, but only a part of it. My last name is Carter.” - -Low started. - -“From New York?” he gasped. - -“Yes.” - -The farmer shook from head to toes. He laid his trembling hands on -Nick’s arm, and began: - -“Mr. Carter, I’ve hearn tell of you that you’re keen and hard when it -comes to criminals, but you’re straight with innocent men. I swear----” - -“You don’t need to,” interrupted Nick; “you are as innocent as I am, and -I know it. I believed it when I started out to see you, but I am going -to arrest you for murder, nevertheless.” - -“Mr. Carter, I don’t understand! What will my poor wife say?” - -“You needn’t let her know. I want you to understand, though. Suspicion -has been put on you by an enemy of yours. Now, if I lock you up -overnight, it will make this enemy believe that I have finished my work. -See?” - -“You want to blind him?” - -“Yes. Then I can hunt for the real murderer in my own way.” - -“All right, Mr. Carter.” - -Low was perfectly quiet. He did not talk or act like the hot-tempered -man who had threatened Mr. Judson. - -“You can tell your wife,” said Nick, “that a man wants you to go to the -city on business about the land deal. Let her think that some good luck -has come your way. I don’t think you’ll have to disappoint her -afterward. Then hitch up your horse, and we’ll go back together.” - -Low agreed to this without argument. He went into the house and was gone -several minutes. Then he went to the barn and hitched up. A little -later, he and the detective were jogging over the road toward Denver. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S EVIDENCE. - - -Kerr was at police headquarters when Nick arrived with his prisoner, and -his eyes glowed triumphantly when he saw them come in. - -“You got him!” he exclaimed. - -“Yes,” said Nick, “he surrendered when I told him how strong the -evidence was against him.” - -“I wonder he hadn’t run away.” - -“Well, you see, he didn’t know that a messenger had come in with a -telegram just ahead of him.” - -Kerr chuckled. - -“This will be a great story for the newspaper fellows,” he said. -“They’ve been here all the evening till about half an hour ago. I told -them to come back later.” - -Nick looked thoughtful. - -He wondered if it would be necessary to give the honest farmer the shame -of having it printed that he had been arrested for murder? - -“I suppose the newspaper boys know that I am on the case,” said Nick. - -“Oh, yes--everybody knows it.” - -“But they don’t know that I went to Mason Creek?” - -“Well, I reckon they’ve guessed it. Newspaper reporters are good at -that, you know.” - -“Do they know that Low was under suspicion?” - -“Sure! They got that from the hotel clerk.” - -“Humph!” - -Nick was a little disgusted. - -When he handled a case in his own way, hotel clerks and others were not -allowed to tell what they knew, and he took pains that nobody should -know too much, anyway, until he got ready to tell them. - -“See here, Kerr,” he said earnestly, “I’d hold the reporters off for a -time, if I were in your place.” - -Kerr glanced at the clock, and saw it was not far from midnight. - -“They’ll be hungry for news pretty soon,” said he. - -“And perhaps I can give them a little more, and a better story, if they -wait a bit.” - -“Why----” - -“Low isn’t the only one.” - -“Ah!” - -“I want to consult with my assistant before telling about this arrest.” - -“You have a clew that you haven’t spoken of, then?” - -“Maybe. Just lock Low up without putting anything on the blotter for a -little while. Give me an hour to see what I can do.” - -“All right, Carter, if you say so. But what shall I tell the reporters?” - -“Nothing. I’ll be back inside an hour.” - -Nick whispered a few words to Low, telling him to keep his courage up -and his mouth shut, and went away. - -He had asked Kerr to wait an hour, without any idea as to what he should -or could do, for Nick felt that he had only got to the beginning of the -case. - -He was certain of Low’s innocence, though he might not be able to -convince a jury of it. - -It was necessary, then, to find the proof of Low’s innocence, as well as -proof that somebody else was guilty. - -Who that somebody else was he could not guess. - -He still thought of Claymore, in spite of the alibi that Patsy had found -to be sound. - -Claymore evidently had not committed the murder, but that he knew more -than he had told, Nick was certain. - -Could any evidence be gotten in an hour that would save Low from being -published in the papers as a suspected murderer? - -Low’s horse and wagon were at the door of the station. - -Nick got in and drove to the stable where he had hired a horse. - -There he explained what had happened to the horse, paid the damage, and -returned the saddle and bridle that he had picked up on the way back -with his prisoner. - -Then he went to the hotel in the hope of finding Patsy. - -He made the round of the rooms on the ground floor without finding him. - -As he was passing the desk, the clerk spoke to him. - -“Excuse me,” said he, “but aren’t you Mr. Carter?” - -“I am,” said Nick. - -“There’s a young man waiting here to see you. Your assistant told me to -point him out to you as soon as you came in.” - -“Where is he?” - -“That man sitting near the door with a parcel in his hands.” - -Nick went up to the young man. - -“Are you waiting for Mr. Carter?” he asked. - -“Yes,” replied the young man, rising. - -“I am he.” - -“Oh! well, sir, I understand you are working on the Judson matter. The -man who is supposed to have committed suicide.” - -“I have been looking into it a little.” - -“Well, sir, I’ve got something here to show you. I showed it to your -assistant, and he said it would interest you.” - -The young man went to undoing his parcel, and three or four idlers drew -near. - -“Wait,” said Nick. - -He led the young man to the desk and asked for a room. - -Shortly afterward, they were in a room alone, and Nick took the parcel. - -Unfolding the paper with which it was wrapped, he found a photograph. - -It was a clean-cut picture of Reverend Mr. Judson’s fall from the hotel -window. - -Nick looked earnestly at the picture. - -“How did you happen to get this?” he asked. - -“I am an amateur photographer,” was the reply. “I work in the office at -the top of the building just across the street from the hotel. Yesterday -I got hold of some new plates that a friend had advised me to use, but I -had no time to try them till this afternoon.” - -“And you tried them on this scene?” asked Nick quickly. - -“Without meaning to, yes. You see, I knew it would be Sunday before I -would have time to take any pictures that I cared about, but I wanted to -be sure that the plates were all right. - -“So, when there was a dull time in the office work, I got out my camera, -which I had with me, and went to the window. - -“There isn’t much of a view from here, but I thought I’d take a couple -of shots at the roofs, just to test the plates. - -“I had the camera all ready, when I accidentally touched the button. - -“That made me hot, for I had spoiled a plate. - -“So I pointed it carefully from the best view I could get from there, -and tried again. - -“Just as I pushed the button, I heard cries on the street, and, looking -down, saw a man lying on the sidewalk, and several others running toward -him. - -“Of course, I went down to see what was the matter. - -“Later I went back, and as soon as possible after supper, I developed my -second plate. - -“I didn’t bring that with me, for it wouldn’t interest you. But it came -out so good that I thought I might as well see what I had caught on the -first plate, when the thing went off before I knew. - -“That picture in your hand was what I caught.” - -He paused, but Nick said nothing, and the young man added: - -“I had heard your name mentioned in connection with the matter, and, as -people said it was a case of suicide, I thought I ought to show you what -I had caught.” - -Nick drew a long breath. - -“Well!” he said, “for once the brass band has been useful. I wanted to -work unknown, but the fact that I am known to be on the case has brought -me a piece of evidence that otherwise might never have been discovered.” - -Again he looked at the picture. - -“This lets Low out of it,” he murmured. - -Kerr’s theory was that Low had made a mad rush for the clergyman as soon -as he entered the room, pushed him from the window, and then hurried out -and down the stairs. - -The amateur’s photograph showed not only the unfortunate clergyman -falling headforemost toward the sidewalk, but above him the forms of two -men at the window. - -They were not looking out, but rather in the act of dodging back. - -These two were outlined very dimly, but the picture was clear enough to -show that there were two of them, and that their arms were half raised, -as would be natural if they had just thrown a body away from them. - -Unluckily, the faces were not at all distinct, and try as he would, and -Nick used his magnifying glass, he could not make them out to his -satisfaction. - -While he was still studying it, there came a knock at the door, and -Patsy hurried in. - -“What do you think of the picture, chief?” Patsy asked, with a show of -some excitement. - -“It’s a good piece of evidence,” responded Nick; “if only this young man -had had a little more luck! We could get along without the picture of -Judson, if we only had a clean-cut picture of the two murderers.” - -“That’s all right,” said Patsy confidently, “I know who they are.” - -Nick looked quickly at his assistant. - -Then he turned to the photographer. - -“Will you leave this with us?” he asked. “I shall see that you are well -paid for it.” - -“Oh! I don’t care for any pay,” replied the young man. “I shall be glad -if it helps you. Good night.” - -He left them, and Patsy made his report. - -“I laid for Claymore, as you told me,” he said, “and after chasing him -around town for a while, I found at last that he had gone to the office -of the oil company. He spent the whole evening there.” - -“Was his partner with him?” - -“No; but I learned his name.” - -“What was it?” - -“George Donnelson.” - -“All right. Go ahead.” - -“There was nothing for me to do but hang around. I was pretty sure that -any attempt to find out what Claymore was doing would make him -suspicious. So I didn’t go into the building even, but stayed outside on -the other side of the street. - -“It was a dull wait till a little while ago. - -“Then something happened. - -“A man came hurrying up the street and another man after him. I thought -I had seen them both before somewhere, from their motions, but I -couldn’t see their faces in the dark. I suppose I wouldn’t have bothered -to get a closer look, if they hadn’t stopped right in the entrance to -the building where Claymore has his office. - -“That interested me, and I crossed over. - -“One man was holding the other back. - -“’Tain’t safe to wait any longer,’ said the one who got there first. - -“‘And it ain’t half so safe to try to see him here,’ the other answered. -‘Don’t be a fool! You see, his windows are still lighted, and he’s busy. -When he gets through, he’ll come, as he said he would. Let him alone now -and come back.’ - -“They jawed a little more back and forth, and finally the second man got -the first one to go away. - -“I didn’t know then what they were talking about, and I don’t know now, -but I dropped Claymore for a time and followed those two men.” - -“Why?” asked Nick. - -“Because I knew them. One was Jack Hamilton, the leader of the gang we -had a tussle with in Helena, and the other was his right-hand man, Jack -Thompson.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -DADDY DREW’S DIVE. - - -Nick looked suddenly at the picture. - -“By Jove!” he muttered, “I believe I know them now.” - -“I haven’t a doubt of it,” said Patsy, “but you couldn’t swear to it to -the satisfaction of a jury.” - -“True, and the jurymen could look at the picture for themselves, and see -that the likenesses are not there. We’ve got to get more evidence than -this, Patsy. Nobody saw them do the deed. This picture almost tells the -story, but not quite. But go on. You must have more to tell.” - -“A little. I shadowed Hamilton and Thompson to a dive where you and I -have been before--Daddy Drew’s.” - -“Whew!” whistled Nick. “It means a fight with all the crooks in Denver, -if we go there.” - -“Well, that’s where they are, and they’re waiting for Claymore.” - -“All right. We’ll go there and get them, then we can decide if we’d -better arrest them. Is that all?” - -“Not quite. Knowing they were there to stay, I ran back to Claymore’s -office. He had just put out his lights and was leaving the building. - -“He went to police headquarters.” - -“Did you go in, too?” - -“In a disguise, yes. I saw that Claymore had a private talk with Kerr. -Then he went out again.” - -“How did he look?” - -“Rocky, but he was saying, ‘Very good,’ and ‘Quite right’ to Kerr.” - -“That means that Kerr told him,” said Nick. - -“Told him what?” asked Patsy. - -“What I have done. He shouldn’t have said a word, but I can understand -how he should make such a slip, for Claymore was the first to direct -suspicion at Hank Low. What became of Claymore?” - -“He went home. He lives in a boarding house----” - -“We must have him! Come on!” - -They left the hotel together hurriedly. - - * * * * * - -In a corner of Daddy Drew’s dive--the worst place in Denver--sat the two -men who had escaped from Nick Carter in Helena, when he was on another -case. - -They had liquor in front of them, but they drank little. - -Every time the door opened to admit a newcomer, they looked that way -eagerly. - -The place was pretty well filled, and all the scum of the city seemed to -drift in there, for it was known that once inside the doors a man need -not leave until morning. - -Daddy let his customers sleep on the floor, if they had nowhere else to -go. - -At last, closing hour came, and all the doors were locked, and the -curtains pulled tightly across the windows. - -Jack Thompson muttered an oath. - -“He’s going to bilk us,” he muttered. - -“Not him,” responded Hamilton. “Wait, I tell you. The night’s young yet. -He can’t afford to bilk us, don’t you see?” - -“No, I don’t. He might skip----” - -“But he’s not suspected! He’s got every reason to stay, for here is -where the money is. He’ll get around before the night is over.” - -“I hope he brings his wad with him.” - -“He will.” - -They were silent for a moment, and then Jack muttered: - -“I’d have liked it better if he’d paid us for the other job and not -asked us to tackle the detective.” - -“Pooh! what scares you so?” - -“Nick Carter. Ain’t that enough?” - -“Nick Carter’s dead.” - -“Do you believe it, Nat?” - -“I’m going to tell Claymore so.” - -Jack shuddered. - -“I see you don’t believe it,” he said; “but I hope Claymore comes along -and believes it. Then he’ll pay us, and we can skip before the cuss -comes to life.” - -Nat Hamilton smiled. - -“He won’t come to life if he’s dead,” he remarked coolly, “any more than -the preacher chap will.” - -“Ugh!” grunted Jack, and they were silent again. - -Not less than thirty men were in the place. - -They were fairly quiet, for they knew that loud noise might bring the -police down on the dive, and then their night’s shelter would be closed -up. - -But they were a tough lot, and every man of them would have joined in to -help anybody there if a policeman, or a dozen of them, had come in to -make an arrest. - -This was so well known that the police usually waited for their men to -come out before trying to arrest them. - -There hadn’t been a murder in Daddy Drew’s for a long time, and a tough -present on this night remarked to another that one was about due. - -A few minutes after twelve, there was a light knock at the door. - -The bartender who went to it and looked through a slide, came back to -Nat. - -“Feller out there askin’ for youse,” he said. - -Both men got up, but Nat pushed Jack back into his chair. - -“I’ll see who ’tis,” he said. - -He went to the door and looked through the slide. - -Claymore’s face appeared there as if it were a picture in a frame. - -“He’s all right,” said Nat to the bartender; “friend o’ mine. Let him -in.” - -The door was opened, and Nat’s friend came in. - -As he went to the back of the room silently with Nat, many curious -glances were cast at him. - -“Who is he?” asked one of another. - -And those who answered came pretty near to guessing the truth. - -“Some fellow,” said they, “who gets others to do his work for him.” - -Two or three knew Claymore by sight, and they were not surprised. - -“Well?” said the newcomer, when he sat down at the table in the corner, -and three heads were put close together. - -“We done it,” said Nat. - -“Sure?” - -“He’s dead as a nail.” - -There was a short pause. Then, in a low voice: - -“You lie, Nat.” - -Both the criminals started angrily, but they gritted their teeth and -looked at the man, who added: - -“He’s just as alive as I am. Less than an hour ago he brought Hank Low -in on a charge of murder.” - -“Then,” exclaimed Jack; “it’s all right, ain’t it?” - -“No, it isn’t all right. Carter believes that Low is innocent, and he -has arrested him for a bluff. He knows that you did it.” - -Jack turned ghastly pale. - -Nat looked as if he didn’t believe it. - -“He can’t have any evidence against us,” said he. - -“He’ll get it. You know Nick Carter.” - -“But how can he get it? Nobody saw us.” - -“Somebody must have seen you enter the hotel.” - -“No,” said Nat positively; “I swear, Claymore, we got in without being -seen.” - -“You haven’t told me how you managed that.” - -“No, for you sent us down the road on the chance of a pot shot at the -detective. I’ll tell you. There’s an office building next to the hotel, -you know, with an alley between.” - -“Yes.” - -“We went in there and found an empty room. It was easy enough to pick -the lock and get in. Then we found that a short board would reach from -the window to an open window in the hotel. Jack went out and swiped a -board from the place where they’re putting up a new building. At -twenty-five minutes past three we put the board out, crawled across, and -got to the preacher’s room without meeting anybody.” - -“And left the board there?” - -“Not on your life!” replied Nat. “We took the board in and hid it in a -closet until we had tumbled the preacher out of the window. Then we -slipped back, returned to the office building by the same way, and so -went down to the street.” - -“And left the board----” - -“Of course! We weren’t going to lug it around in daylight. What harm -could it do in an empty room?” - -“Oh, no harm, of course,” very sarcastically. “Nobody would find it, and -wonder about it; oh, no!” - -“What do you mean, Claymore?” - -“I mean this: Nick Carter has that infernally sharp Patsy along with -him. I believe you know Patsy.” - -“Yes, darn him!” - -“So I say; but while Nick went out to get Low, Patsy was nosing around -town. He probably found that board; he probably saw you two fellows, and -knew you; then he put two and two together, and the long and short of it -is that Carter is after you.” - -“We’ll be hanged sure!” groaned Jack. - -“There’s only one way out of it, boys.” - -“Well?” - -“Carter will come here to a dead certainty. He knows the town, and knows -that this is the place where you would most likely hang out. He’ll come -here.” - -“Then he’ll get a warm time of it,” said Nat. - -“If you think so, stay. But you know the Carters. If you want a chance -to escape, take it now. There’s a train for San Francisco runs through -here in half an hour. You can catch it.” - -“Come on,” said Jack, rising. - -“Hold on a bit,” said Nat. “Who pays the freight? We haven’t had our -money yet.” - -“I’ve got it, but I’ll be hanged myself if I pay you in here. Get out on -the street. I’ll go with you part way to the station, and settle with -you.” - -“Don’t wait,” urged Jack. - -“That’s good advice. Carter may break in here any minute, or he may -sneak in in disguise. That’s his most likely way, and then you’ll be -nabbed before you know it.” - -Nat was rather pale now. - -“I’ll give him a fight for it, if he comes,” he muttered, but he got up, -and the three went out. - -“Will you settle now?” asked Nat, when the three were out on the street. - -“Don’t be in such a hurry,” was the sharp reply. “Your only safety is to -get away from this place. Walk along toward the railroad. I’ll be close -at your heels until I think it’s safe to stop and settle.” - -Nat hesitated. - -“Don’t you dare to do us dirt!” he hissed savagely. - -“I’ll settle with you both before you get to the station. Get a move on! -Carter may be here the next second.” - -The crooks started away, looking back frequently to see that Claymore -was following. - -He kept about half a block behind them. - -Nobody but themselves seemed to be on the streets. - -There was a drunken man staggering along some distance ahead, but he -didn’t count. - -He, too, disappeared around a corner before the crooks came to it. - -When they were about to pass that corner a quiet voice behind them said: - -“This will do. We’ll settle here.” - -“All right,” responded Nat. - -Both men halted, and, turning about, found themselves looking into the -muzzles of two revolvers. - -The face back of the hands that held the weapons was not that of their -employer, Claymore, but that of their deadly enemy, Nick Carter. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -HANK LOW’S LUCK. - - -Claymore was not in his boarding house when Nick and Patsy arrived -there. - -He had come in and gone out shortly afterward. - -Where he had gone, or in what direction, nobody could say. - -Possibly to Daddy Drew’s to meet the desperadoes he had hired to commit -murder; but Nick didn’t believe it. - -“That long work in his office this evening means something else,” said -Nick. “He’s got another plot up his sleeve. I’ll go to Daddy Drew’s and -get those men.” - -Accordingly, he had turned his face into a copy of Claymore’s and had -been admitted easily. - -Nat had said he would put up a stiff fight if he should meet Carter, and -he kept his word. - -Probably he reckoned that the detective would wish to take him alive, -for he did not surrender when he saw the revolver pointed at his heart. - -Instead, he made a quick rush at Nick, trying to knock up both his arms. - -The detective was quite ready for that. - -It was true that he wished to take the men alive, and he did not fire, -for he had hoped they would be scared into quiet surrender. - -When the attack came he dropped both weapons to the sidewalk. - -Letting drive with his fists, he caught Nat on the chest, and knocked -the wind out of him. - -But the crook did not fall. He staggered against Jack, who at first was -going to give up. - -Seeing that the weapons had been dropped, Jack joined in and made a -desperate effort for freedom. - -He caught his partner and kept him from falling, and then both sailed -into the detective. - -“Why!” said Nick, with a laugh, “come on, if that’s what you want.” - -His arms shot out like flashes of lightning, and every blow landed, but -the crooks kept too close for him to give them settlers. - -And, after a moment, Jack retreated and drew his revolver. - -That was a moment of peril for Nick, as he was busy just then with Nat. - -And Nat, seeing the chance, pretended to be knocked down, so as to give -Jack a chance to shoot. - -Up came the ruffian’s revolver, but before he could aim, around the -corner rushed the drunken man whom they had seen. - -This man threw his arms about Jack’s neck, and bore him silently to the -ground. - -“Put the bracelets on him, Patsy,” called Nick. - -“They’re on,” replied the “drunken man” calmly. - -Nick had leaped upon Nat, and in a second had him ironed. - -“This is the way I settle,” he said, as he stood up. - -The prisoners cursed furiously, but if that did them any good nobody -knew it. - -Nick picked up his revolvers, and then he and Patsy marched the -prisoners to headquarters. - -Kerr was still there, and he was surrounded by eager reporters. - -“Here are the murderers,” said Nick. “Low is innocent.” - -He produced the amateur’s photograph, and told the story as briefly as -possible. - -“The chief villain is yet to be caught,” he concluded. “I think we shall -find the clew to him in his office.” - -There was a great deal of excitement at headquarters, and many questions -were asked. - -Nick told the reporters to make it plain that Low’s arrest had been a -fake. - -“When it’s all settled,” he said, “I’ll give you the details, or you can -get them from Kerr, who deserves a great deal of credit for the way he -picked up evidence. I’ve got work ahead between now and morning.” - -Low was released, of course, and he went with Nick, Patsy, and Kerr to -Claymore’s office. - -Everything seemed to be in order there, but Nick picked the lock of -Claymore’s desk, and found a lot of papers there, on which the man had -been at work during the long evening. - -There were maps of the country around Mason Creek, some printed, some -roughly drawn with a pencil. - -There was also the deed which Low had given to the oil company when he -sold a piece of his land. - -Using his magnifying glass, Nick saw that some changes had been made in -the deed. - -Words and figures had been carefully scratched out and others inked in. - -“I had an idea this was what he was up to,” said Nick. “We shall find -Claymore out at Low’s farm.” - -The four men set out for Mason Creek soon after. - -Nick went in Low’s wagon, and Patsy and Kerr in one they hired. - -When they came to the beginning of the trail, Nick got down and told the -others to drive slowly on. - -“I’ll take the short cut,” said he. “You keep on by the road, and if he -escapes me he’ll run into your hands.” - -As it was late in the spring, light came early, and the day was -beginning to break when Nick passed the dead body of the panther. - -As he approached nearer Low’s house, he moved cautiously. - -Coming to the edge of the cleared land, he saw a man busy with a shovel -at a little distance. - -It was Claymore. - -He was digging a hole for the purpose of setting a boundary post in it. - -The post had been taken up from a spot some distance farther down the -stream that crossed the farm. - -Claymore’s scheme was to change the boundaries of the land bought by the -oil company so that they should include twice as much as had been -bought. - -That was why the deed had been changed, and it explained the maps in -Claymore’s desk. - -Nick watched the rascal for a few minutes, and then walked toward him. - -“Why don’t you put the post up where it will take in Hank Low’s house -and barn?” he asked. - -Claymore turned at the sound, and caught up a revolver that was lying on -the ground beside him. - -He fired hastily, and the bullet went wild. - -Nick had him covered. - -“Try again,” said the detective, “if you think you can do your own -murdering.” - -As he spoke, he was advancing upon Claymore, who gave one desperate look -around, and saw the two wagons coming up the road. - -Then he dropped his weapon, sat down on the ground, and put his hands to -his face. - -“You haven’t as much nerve as I thought you had,” remarked Nick. - -He put handcuffs on the prisoner, and waited for the others to come up. - -“I can tell you all about it,” said Nick, then. “This man Claymore found -that he had bought land where the oil was scarce. He was so anxious to -get the land cheap that he didn’t dare to prospect thoroughly. If he had -done his work well, he would have seen that the place for oil wells is -farther up the stream and nearer Low’s house. - -“He found that out after a while, and then schemed to get possession of -the rest of the farm without paying for it. - -“Seeing that Judson would expose the crooked work of the company, he had -him murdered by a couple of desperadoes who drifted into Denver just in -time for the job. - -“Then he did some forgery work on the deed to make it show that he had -bought a good many acres more than he really had, and to back up the -deed he had to come out here and change the boundary posts. - -“His best chance for doing that was while Low was locked up. That was -why he didn’t go to meet his confederates early at Daddy Drew’s. - -“His confederates have told me all about the murder of Judson, so that -they are sure to be hanged, and one of them, Jack Thompson, is ready to -confess and tell just how Claymore hired them to do the deed. - -“Between Jack’s confession and what I heard them say, we have got a -complete case. - -“If I was in Hank Low’s place, I’d give up farming on land where the -water is covered with oil, and dig wells. - -“I noticed the appearance of the water in the stream when I was talking -with Low earlier in the night, and I knew that the place to dig for oil -is near his house.” - -It was soon proved that Nick was entirely right, for the upper part of -Low’s farm was rich in oil. - -The farmer acted more than honestly about it. - -With the help of Folsom, who was greatly pleased to learn that the -clergyman had not committed suicide, Low got the names and addresses of -all who had put money into the scheme of which Judson had been -president. And in the end nobody who had invested with the clergyman -lost anything. - -No attempt was made to get back the part of the farm that was sold, for -the land wasn’t worth the trouble. - -Jack Thompson confessed, but that did not save him from severe -punishment. He was put in prison for life, and Claymore and Hamilton -were hanged. - -“I can’t help wishing,” said Nick, “that Claymore’s partner, Donnelson, -had been around. I would have liked to send him up, too, but perhaps I -shall come across him later.” - - - THE END. - - * * * * * - -“Nick Carter’s Hunt for a Treasure; or, a Fight for Life with a -Mysterious Foe,” is the title of the next story that will appear in this -weekly. Nick Carter’s hope that he will soon come across Donnelson again -is fulfilled, for he meets him in the mysterious case which is described -in this story, and in which the ingenuity of Carter is taxed to its -utmost. There is a blind man in this story, and he proves to be a puzzle -to the great detective for some time. He will puzzle you, too. The story -is No. 12, and it will be out November 30th. - -[Illustration] - - -WHAT IS A DAY? - -Nine persons out of ten--yes, 999 out of every 1,000--if asked how long -it takes the earth to turn once on its axis would answer twenty-four -hours. And to the question: How many times does it turn on its axis in -the course of the year? the answer would be 365¼ times. Both answers are -wrong. - -It requires but twenty-three hours and fifty-six minutes for the earth -to make 366¼ turns during the year. The error springs from a wrong idea -of what is meant by a day. - -The day is not, as is commonly supposed, the time required by the earth -to make one turn on its axis, but the interval between two successive -passages of the sun across the meridian--that is to say, the time which -elapses after the sun is seen exactly south in its diurnal course -through the heavens before it is again seen in that position. - -Now, in consequence of the earth’s revolution in its orbit, or path, -round the sun, the sun has the appearance of moving very slowly in the -heavens in a direction from east to west. At noon to-morrow the sun -will be a short distance to the east of the point in the heavens at -which it is seen at noon to-day, so that when the earth has made one -complete turn it will still have to turn four minutes longer before the -sun can again be seen exactly south. - -[Illustration] - - - - -THE MAN AND THE HOUR; - -Or, Sheridan Keene’s Clever Artifice. - -By ALDEN F. BRADSHAW. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE DEATH OF JACOB MOORE. - -“Chief Inspector Watts, I want you to do me a favor.” - -Chief Watts met the request with a rather encouraging smile. - -“I have not forgotten, Mr. French, that I am considerably your debtor in -that line,” he genially rejoined, with some significance. - -“Well, it is not on that account, Chief Watts, that I appeal to you at -just this time. I never charge up favors against my friends. But I am -confronted just now by a case which, while I am still ignorant of the -immediate particulars, I fear will require exceedingly shrewd and -delicate handling.” - -The expression on the face of the chief inspector changed slightly. - -“Is it a criminal case, Mr. French?” he asked quietly. - -“It is a case of murder, Chief Watts, or so, at least, it is here -stated,” replied Mr. Hamilton French, one of the brightest of Boston’s -legal lights and a noted criminal lawyer. “Here is a telegram I received -less than ten minutes ago.” - -“Read it, please.” - -“It reads: ‘Jacob Moore was murdered last night. Come at once.’ It is -signed by Moore’s nephew, a man named Richard Thorpe, who has lived with -Moore off and on since his boyhood.” - -“Who is this Moore? Is he an acquaintance of yours?” - -“Oh, yes. I have been Moore’s legal adviser for something like twenty -years, and am so well informed of his family affairs that this crime, if -Moore has actually been murdered, at once suggests to me possibilities -and complications of a decidedly serious nature.” - -“And what is the service you desire of me?” asked Chief Watts gravely. - -The eminent lawyer, a man close upon sixty years, hurriedly consulted -his watch. It was then about nine o’clock, a clear, cold morning in -November, with the mercury out of doors well below freezing. - -The scene of this interview was the private office of Chief Inspector -Watts, in the headquarters building, in Pemberton Square. - -“I will tell you why I have called upon you, Chief Watts,” replied the -lawyer. “In the light of facts already in my possession, I anticipate -serious trouble from this case, if it proves to be of a nature -reported.” - -“Trouble in getting at the truth?” - -“Precisely.” - -“I see.” - -“Now, I want the help of a detective--a man of brains and energy, one -who is capable of noting those obscure bits of evidence which escape the -investigations of most men, and who, having discovered them, can -analyze them and deduce the most probable conclusion.” - -“You want a rather clever man,” laughed Chief Watts, in his agreeable -way. - -“I want a very clever man,” returned the lawyer pointedly. “As a matter -of fact, Chief Watts, you are the man whose aid I would have liked to -secure; but I am aware that your duties here make that impossible. -Furthermore, this Moore lives out Lynn way, which is beyond the -customary circle of your work.” - -“So it is, Mr. French.” - -“Can’t you loan me just such a man as I have described, however--one to -whom I can impart some of the inside facts of this case, and who will -quietly investigate it for my special benefit. I apprehend some little -bother from the regular force of constables and police, who persistently -cling to their own methods and views; and I want the help of a man who -will pull in the harness with me, to some extent at least, and whose -features are not very generally known.” - -“You want him to do this work on the quiet, I take it.” - -“Precisely.” - -“Have you visited the scene of the murder?” - -“No, not since the crime was committed, Chief Watts,” replied the -lawyer. “This message was the first intimation I had of it. I at once -wired Thorpe that I would come out to the Moore place this morning, and -asked him to stay active investigations until I arrived. I then came -directly here to make the request stated.” - -“Which leads me to infer that you already suspect some person of the -crime, assuming one to have been committed,” said Chief Watts, looking -up with a curious light in his eyes. - -“Well, I will admit----” - -“One moment, please. That’s neither here nor there. I do not wish to -anticipate the work of any of my men.” - -“Have you such a one as I described?” asked the lawyer, with manifest -eagerness. - -“A better one than you described, Mr. French,” nodded the chief, with an -expressive upward glance at the face of the attorney; “for he is a young -man who has qualities and abilities to which mere words cannot do -justice. Moreover, if it is your wish, I will give him such assistance -as may come in my way.” - -“It will be appreciated, I assure you.” - -“What is involved in this case, more than placing the crime where it -belongs?” - -“A considerable fortune.” - -“The Moore estate?” - -“Precisely.” - -“When are you going down there?” - -“The sooner the better. If you will grant the favor I have asked, I -would like to take the next train.” - -“Do so, by all means,” said Chief Watts, rising. “Garratt, send Sheridan -Keene in here.” - -“Is he the officer to whom you referred?” asked the lawyer. - -“Yes, he is.” - -“I think I have heard the name before.” - -“You will hear it many times again, if he decides to continue the work -he has begun. He is a young man of extraordinary----” - -But the sound of a firm step in the corridor, followed by the opening of -the office door, led Chief Watts to suppress his complimentary -utterances, and to turn, instead, to the person who entered--a tall, -athletic young man, of about twenty-five years, with an erect and supple -figure and noticeably refined and forceful face. - -“Detective Keene, this is Mr. Hamilton French, the lawyer,” said the -chief gravely. “He is a personal friend--one I would be glad to -effectively serve, if it is possible. I wish you to undertake some -special detective work at his solicitation.” - -A curious smile rose about the lips of Sheridan Keene, and he took the -hand which Lawyer French extended. - -“After the preface of Chief Watts,” he said, with dry pleasantry, “I -hardly need assure you, Mr. French, that I shall do the best I can for -you. What is the nature of this work, sir?” - -“One moment, gentlemen,” interposed Chief Watts. “You have just about -time to hit the half past nine train. The sooner you reach the immediate -scene of this tragedy, the better. I would suggest, Mr. French, that you -start at once and give Detective Keene any points you may desire during -the journey.” - -“My idea exactly!” exclaimed the lawyer. “Are you ready to go with me at -once, Detective Keene?” - -“I am always ready when duty calls,” said Keene, laughing. Yet his -response was true to the very letter. - -“Good!” cried the lawyer heartily. “Come, then! I have a coupé at the -door.” - -Keene turned back, with only one swift glance at the expressive eyes of -the chief inspector; then hastened through the corridor and overtook the -attorney at the outer door. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -ON THE TRAIN. - -Detective Keene and the attorney caught their train by a narrow margin -only, and secured a seat somewhat aloof from the few other passengers in -the smoking car. This partial seclusion evidently suited the lawyer, who -appeared seriously disturbed by the news of his client’s tragic death, -and anxious to give Keene what information he could that would aid him -in locating the criminal. - -But the young detective checked him almost at the beginning. - -“It is only a short run down there,” said the lawyer. “I will give you -all the points I can in the time allowed, that on your arrival you will -be better equipped to look the evidence over. I think----” - -“First, allow me just a word, Mr. French, if you will pardon the -interruption,” said Keene, turning his clear, grave eyes on the face of -the attorney. “Whatever you may think, there is one thing I do not wish -you to tell me.” - -“What is that, Mr. Keene?” - -“You already suspect some person of this crime, and I prefer not to know -whom.” - -“Well, well! You detectives are discerning fellows!” Mr. French -exclaimed, smiling faintly. “Chief Watts drew the same inference, though -from what I cannot imagine.” - -“That you engage the help of a special officer before you have verified -your telegram, even, is to me a sufficient indication of your -suspicion,” Keene explained. - -“Quite logical, too.” - -“You also fear that some innocent person may be to some extent -complicated.” - -“That is true, also.” - -“The person,” continued Keene, with a curious twinkle in his eyes, “is a -young lady--one of whom you are very fond, and who regards you as a very -dear friend. She is young, and, I should say, was quite recently -married; but her husband is not a clever man, nor one of much ability, -and is most likely----” - -“Hold, hold! You will next be telling me what sort of a woman my -grandmother was!” cried the attorney, who, in truth, was amazed at the -acumen of the young detective. “How on earth did you guess these facts?” - -“They are facts, then?” - -“Precisely.” - -“I do not guess them,” Keene laughed lightly. “They are apparent through -a very simple process of deduction.” - -“Will you tell me how?” - -“Certainly! That the person you suspect may be guilty, is not the same -person you fear may be implicated, is at once suggested by your haste in -procuring the aid of a special detective. If the guilty one were likely -to be involved, you would have at first examined the case more calmly.” - -“That is true enough,” laughed the attorney. “But why do you infer my -interest to be in a lady?” - -“If it were a man, you would be less anxious to relieve him of what you -fear may be a distressing situation. Men can face such things more -easily than women,” added Keene significantly. “Moreover, that you take -this very active interest indicates both that you are fond of her and -that you know that she will expect you to do it, which indicates, in -turn, that she relies upon you. This suggests inexperience, hence she -probably is young. So serious a crime as murder very rarely involves a -young single girl, however; hence she very likely has been recently -married. But her husband is not a clever man, capable of handling so -serious a situation, or you would have left this matter to him rather -than plunging into it so hurriedly.” - -“Dear me! You should have been a lawyer. I cannot but admire----” - -“Ah, but we waste time, Mr. French,” said Keene, quietly checking the -lawyer’s expressions of approval. “What I wish to avoid, sir, are the -very suspicions by which you are actuated, and under which you are -laboring. I do not want to know whom you suspect, nor why. These things -only tend to draw a detective from the straight line of true detective -work. I want only the bare facts, from which, and from my own -observations of the evidence in the case, I may make unbiased -deductions. This is the only reliable method of detective work. With a -half dozen visionary motives suggested to him, a detective becomes a -weather vane. Who is this man Moore, sir?” - -“He has been a client of mine for many years--more than twenty, I should -say. He is a man of some considerable means, with an old country house -out here a dozen miles or so.” - -“A married man?” - -“He is a widower. He buried his wife a dozen or fifteen years ago. At -one time he was some interested in farming, having no other business; -but he gave that up also after his wife’s death, and, by degrees, the -last dozen years has grown into a rather sour and crabbed old man.” - -“A man of years, then?” - -“Yes; Jacob Moore is about seventy years old.” - -“Any children?” - -“Only one of his own--a girl named Mabel, now in the twenties, and who -was married about a year ago to a man named Jeffrey. Besides this girl, -Moore also has reared the son of a deceased sister. He is now a man of -twenty-five and the Richard Thorpe who wired me the news of his uncle’s -death.” - -“Does Thorpe live with his uncle?” - -“A portion of the time, though for the most part in Boston, where he is -in the brokerage business.” - -“Does the daughter live at home?” - -“No, not for a year or more,” replied the lawyer. “And I now come to -those painful circumstances which lead me to----” - -“Never mind by what you are led,” interposed Keene, smiling faintly. -“Give me the bare facts.” - -“They are these,” nodded the lawyer gravely. “Two years ago, Jacob Moore -took it into his head that it would be well if his daughter were married -to Thorpe, and the couple settled in the old home. Now, bear in mind -that Jacob Moore was not a man to be easily turned from a project which -he seriously favored. His proposition proved acceptable to his nephew, -but not to his daughter. She flatly declared that she’d not even think -of it.” - -“Whatever it may have been like,” replied the lawyer, “the girl proved -inflexible. The family broil, however, brought out the fact that she was -in love with another, a man named Jeffrey, who is a carpenter by trade, -and is said to be an honest and reliable fellow. I have seen him but -once. If he is as good a man as he looks, I don’t blame the girl for her -choice.” - -“Did Mr. Moore give his consent to the girl’s marriage to Jeffrey?” -asked Keene carelessly. - -“Quite the contrary,” said the lawyer, with significance. “He threatened -to disown the girl if she married him, which, with a will quite as -strong as that of the old man himself, she speedily did. As a result, -there has been a total estrangement of the two ever since.” - -“Has the girl always been so headstrong?” - -“She has always been dutiful, as I have observed her, and, to my way of -thinking, was so in this matter. Her final determination resulted not -only from a genuine love for Jeffrey, but also from the fact that he had -recently buried his mother, by whose death he was left alone in the -world. He had, however, a comfortable house, with several acres of -arable land. To make a long story short, Mabel Moore, despite her -father’s bitter opposition, married Jeffrey and went to live with him.” - -“This was about a year ago?” - -“Just about,” nodded the lawyer. “Since then Moore has been more morose -and crabbed than ever. He has refused to recognize either his daughter -or her husband, and even young Thorpe has scarce been able to endure -him. As his solicitor, I have occasionally been out to see him, and was -always glad to return. A more surly and perverse old codger could not be -imagined.” - -“Has he made a will?” inquired Keene. - -“Yes.” - -“Disinheriting his daughter?” - -“Yes.” - -“Who is his residuary legatee?” - -“His nephew.” - -“Does Thorpe know of this will?” - -“I think not,” replied Mr. French. “In fact, I am quite sure of it, for -the will is in my possession, and Moore was not a man to have disclosed -his intentions.” - -“Who witnessed the document?” - -“Two of my clerks, and it was drafted and executed in my office. I am -very sure that the existence of this will is not known to Thorpe nor to -Mabel Jeffrey.” - -“What’s the value of the estate?” - -“Something like fifty thousand dollars.” - -“Who has been living with Moore?” - -“His housekeeper is a middle-aged English woman named Haynie, who has -been in his employ since his wife died. He keeps one man, also, who -works about the farm and stable. These, with Thorpe, are the only -members of his household.” - -“Thorpe has not been there much, you say?” - -“Only at intervals. I think he has not found the old man congenial, and -his persistent absence, which has rather offended Moore, further -convinces me that Thorpe knows nothing about the will in his favor.” - -“That is a very reasonable inference,” admitted the detective, “and, -possibly, does away with a motive. Is Thorpe a man of good character?” - -“Yes, and is very generally liked. At the time of Mabel’s marriage he -made great efforts to induce her father’s forgiveness; but, Heaven -preserve him! One might as well have pleaded to a stone wall. Jacob -Moore was as harsh and inflexible as--ah! here is the station! Thorpe -will probably send the carriage for us.” - -The train was slowing down. The lawyer arose while speaking and began to -put on his overcoat. Sheridan Keene restrained him in the aisle for a -moment, and said inquiringly: - -“So far as you know, then, these are the bare facts?” - -“Yes,” said the lawyer quickly. “Do you make anything of them?” - -“Nothing at all, sir. It is too early in the game. One word more!” - -“Well?” - -“Introduce me here as a clerk from your office, not as a detective!” - -“I understand.” - -“And take no notice of what I may say and do.” - -“Rely on my discretion!” nodded Mr. French approvingly, as they -approached the door of the car. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -CONSTABLE BRAGG. - - -It had turned ten o’clock. Though the sun was now well up and the sky -cloudless, the air continued biting cold and the ground was frozen hard. - -It was a branch station at which the two men alighted, and only a single -carriage stood at the narrow platform. - -More than a mile away, across a dismal sweep of moorland and marshes, -could be seen the blue waters of the broad Atlantic, broken by the grim, -dark rocks of the peninsula of Nahant. Somewhat nearer was the desolate, -gray turnpike making east to the cities of Lynn and Salem. It was the -highway of old colonial days, and still was nearly as dreary and void of -dwellings as of yore. - -In the immediate neighborhood, even, the houses were few and far -between, and the surrounding country was rough and hilly, interspersed -with farms and wide stretches of woodland. - -As the lawyer alighted from the train a short, thickset man approached -him. His grim face was not prepossessing, and he was clad in a rough, -gray suit, with his pants tucked in at the top of a pair of heavy -cowhide boots, which were soiled with mud. - -“Be you Mr. French?” he asked bluntly, peering sharply at the lawyer -from under his bushy brows. - -“Yes,” was the reply. “Who are you?” - -“I’m Darbage, sir--Joe Darbage;” and now the fellow touched his woolen -cap. “I’m the stablehand up to the house, yonder, and Mr. Thorpe sent me -down here to get you. He said you might come by this train. Bad -business, this, sir!” - -“I see,” nodded the lawyer, who had not recognized the fellow as Moore’s -groom and gardener. “Will there be room for my clerk, also?” - -“Aye, sir, I reckon so. Tumble in, and I’ll squat in the middle.” - -With no observable interest in the bumpkin, who did not quite impress -him as a thoroughbred countryman, Sheridan Keene followed the lawyer -into the wagon and suffered Mr. Darbage to squeeze his broad hips -between them. - -“I’d ’a’ come with the carryall if I’d knowed there were two o’ you,” he -explained, with a side glance at the face of the detective. “Get up! -G’lang!” - -“I brought a clerk, thinking I might need him,” said Mr. French, as the -vehicle rattled over the rough road. - -“I reckon there’ll be room enough, now the old man’s gone,” returned -Darbage irreverently. “There wa’n’t room for no extras, though, when he -was alive.” - -“Then old Jacob is really dead, is he?” - -“Aye, sir, as dead as he’ll ever be in this world. Can’t say what he’ll -come to in the next.” - -“Well, this world is the one we have most to do with while in it,” said -the lawyer, with some austerity. “What are the particulars? I have only -Mr. Thorpe’s telegram saying Jacob had been murdered.” - -Darbage looked up without a change of countenance. - -“Aye, sir, he was murdered, right enough,” said he, in his grim fashion. -“Ma’am Haynie found him dead in bed this morning, with two knife slits -atween his ribs, and most of his blood run out of his body, which wasn’t -much, at that.” - -“Is it known when the crime was committed?” - -“I reckon not, sir, though I’m not sartin. Jim Bragg, the constable, is -up there nosing round and looking as wise as an owl; but I can’t say -what he’s l’arned. They don’t tell me much.” - -“Is Mr. Thorpe at the house?” - -“Aye, sir; he’s been down here nigh a week.” - -“Isn’t that quite a long visit for him?” - -“The ole man ain’t been over well, so Mr. Thorpe stayed on his account.” - -“And Mabel?” - -“Mr. Thorpe sent her word this morning, and she came right up. Fust time -she’d been in the house since the ole man kicked her out. I reckon -there’s the coroner driving in, sir. I heerd ’em say they’d sent for -him.” - -The ride from the station had been of brief duration, and they now came -in view of a large country house, situated somewhat off the road. A -glance at the place indicated the character of its late owner. The -dwelling, once a mansion, was now out of repair; and the surrounding -acres of woodland and meadows had run rank as they pleased. - -A large stable was at the rear and at one side of the house, and the -faded old gray mare, behind which Jacob Moore had been wont to ride, -ambled up the driveway between the elms as if eager to reach her stall. - -But grim Mr. Darbage drew her down at the side door of the house, which -was immediately opened by a young woman in dark attire, whose pale, -pretty face and red eyes at once suggested to Keene her identity. - -“Oh, Mr. French!” she exclaimed, approaching with much emotion to greet -him; “I am so glad you have come! My poor father has met with----” - -But the kind old lawyer took her in his arms, and silenced her with a -more loving kiss than the father mentioned had ever given her in all her -worthy and gentle girlhood. He led her in, and took her alone to the -library; while Sheridan Keene, already at work on the case in his quiet -way, followed them as far as the broad hall. - -Though things wore the aspect of years of service, the large house was -comfortably furnished, and the general cleanliness and order suggested -the care of a capable housekeeper. - -The sound of voices from a room off one side of the hall now reached the -detective’s ears, and in an affair of this kind Sheridan Keene did not -stand upon ceremony. He at once approached the room, the door of which -stood partly open. - -It was a large, square bedroom, with two windows. A broad fireplace was -at one end, but the half-burned logs were cold and dead, and the air was -very chilly. A bed occupied the opposite end of the room, and there, -upon its bloodstained linen, stiff and cold in death, lay the figure of -a thin-faced, gray-haired old man, whose face in death, even, still -carried an expression of that severity and hardness which had marked all -the latter years of his life. - -Three men were standing near the bed, and one, evidently a physician, -was examining the body. - -“The man has been dead many hours, not less than twelve, I should say,” -he observed, as Sheridan Keene stepped softly into the room. “It is a -shocking crime!” - -“Can anything be done?” asked a tall, broad-shouldered young man at his -elbow. - -The physician shook his head. - -“Not for him,” he replied. “You had better do nothing here, Mr. Thorpe, -until after the arrival of the coroner.” - -Sheridan Keene looked the latter over. He was a well-built man of -twenty-five, this nephew of the deceased. He had a frank and rather -attractive face, with dark eyes and hair, and was the style of a man -most women would have fancied, despite Mabel Moore’s evident aversion to -marrying him. His features were pale now, and his manner gravely -composed. - -“I have already sent for the coroner, doctor,” he replied. - -“Let everything remain as it is, then, until he comes.” - -“He should be here now.” - -“It is a case, I think,” added the physician, “which will require -capable investigation. Would it not be well to send into Boston for a -competent detective?” - -“I have sent for Lawyer French, my uncle’s solicitor,” replied Thorpe, -“and I shall place matters entirely in his hands on his arrival. I think -that would be my uncle’s own wish if he were alive, instead of lying -there, the victim of perfidious cowardice and foul play; and I shall be -governed accordingly. I think I had better---- Beg pardon, sir! Who are -you?” - -He had turned slightly, and now observed Sheridan Keene standing just -within the threshold. - -The detective approached with a grave bow, and without a glance at the -gruesome figure on the bed. - -“My name is Keene, and I am Mr. French’s clerk,” he explained politely. -“I have just arrived with the attorney.” - -“Oh, yes. Excuse me!” cried Thorpe, quickly offering his hand. “Where is -Mr. French?” - -“He is in the library with Mrs. Jeffrey!” - -“I must see him at once!” - -“Oh, by the way,” and Thorpe quickly turned back, “this is Doctor Carr, -our local physician, Mr. Keene, and this is Mr. Bragg, the constable. -They will give you any information you may desire, and I shall now -request Mr. French to take entire charge of this dreadful affair. He -will know all about the law bearing upon it, of which I know nothing. -You will excuse me, won’t you?” - -The detective bowed and gravely acknowledged the introduction to the two -men remaining, while Richard Thorpe hurried from the room to seek the -attorney. - -Sheridan Keene sized up at a glance the two men left in his company. - -The physician was an ordinary old gentleman, and presented nothing of -interest. Not so, however, the other. - -Jim Bragg was a burly man, with coal-black eyes and a bushy beard. He -was a capital fellow for battering down a door and entering a dive of -lawless ruffians, where indomitable courage was an absolute requisite; -for such an occasion, you would have to go far to find Jim Bragg’s -better. But the ferreting out of a cunning, well-wrought piece of -knavery was utterly beyond Mr. Bragg’s ability. - -But Mr. Bragg did not think so. All he wanted, or had ever wanted, as he -said, was an opportunity. And it now had happened, like a long-awaited -dream, when the news of Jacob Moore’s murder was published that morning; -and, as he left his own home and hastened across the meadows toward the -immediate scene of the tragedy, his mind, stimulated by the occasion, -was filled with vague visions of startling stories in the city dailies, -with the name of Detective Bragg in scare-head letters and thrilling -depiction of the marvelous deeds of this new Vidocq, to say nothing of -renown handed down to posterity, and the probable demand for his -immediate services in Pemberton Square. - -This was the man to whom Sheridan Keene now turned, with a glance that -at once took in the constable’s chief characteristics. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -DETECTIVE KEENE MAKES AN IMPRESSION. - - -Richard Thorpe’s immediate cordiality toward Keene, when informed of his -relations with the attorney, did not escape the notice of the burly -constable, whose conduct presently indicated that he not only regarded -Thorpe very favorably, but was also inclined to extend this sentiment -even to the latter’s friends. He winked affably to Keene, as Thorpe -hastened from the room, then turned to growl in the face of the innocent -physician: - -“Send to town for a detective, eh? Carr, you infernal sawbones, don’t -you think I’m equal to getting at the bottom o’ this affair?” - -“Why, yes, Mr. Bragg,” stammered the startled physician; “but I made the -suggestion only----” - -“It was a cursed innuendo, no matter what ’twas made for!” protested the -doughty constable. “Looking arter crime and criminals is my bread and -butter, Doctor Carr, the which I’ll not let you nor any other bonesetter -whip from ’tween my teeth. Now, you look arter your end o’ this case, -and don’t trouble mine, or the trouble’ll not end there. Send to town -for a detective! The blamed old meddler!” - -“Some folks don’t know a clever man when they see one,” said Keene, in -tones disparaging the perturbed little physician, who had beaten a hasty -retreat from the room, and from the ire of the bustling, black-bearded -constable. - -“Too true for a joke, Mr. Keene!” cried Bragg, with an emphatic -headshake. “Some men are blind, and some are jealous; but I never saw a -sawbones who wa’n’t a blamed fool.” - -“It’s owing to their business,” assented Keene, with an object. - -“So ’tis, sir! For cleverness, give me a lawyer, or a detective, or a -politician, or even a gospel sharp! But a sawbones----” and the -disgruntled Bragg spat his disgust into the fireplace; “a sawbones ain’t -nothing! Nothing at all!” - -“Not even worthy of contempt, eh?” smiled Keene. “You are the constable, -I believe Mr. Thorpe said.” - -“Aye, sir, I am!” Mr. Bragg readily allowed. “Mr. Thorpe put it dead -right, as he always does.” - -“He appears to be a nice, gentlemanly fellow,” observed Keene, in a -friendly way. - -“More’n that, sir, he is!” declared the garrulous constable, with -emphasis. “A cleaner, nicer man than Dick Thorpe never stood in leather. -He hasn’t a foe in these ’ere parts. Even that old man, stiff and stark -there, was his friend--and whoever could win old Jacob Moore’s favor, -sir, could win any man’s! I know, ’cause I know ’em all, root and -branch. You’re a lawyer, ain’t you?” - -“Yes, Constable Bragg,” affably nodded Keene, careful to give this -pretentious officer all the distinction possible. “Our Mr. French has -always been Moore’s legal adviser, and we shall now execute his -estate--and possibly his assassins.” - -“Cleverly put--very!” chuckled Mr. Bragg, clapping the detective on the -shoulder. “And, seeing’s your interest runs with mine, I’ll not mind -helping you, when I can.” - -“Then you’ll not object to my looking over the evidence with you, merely -as an assistant?” - -“Sure not!” - -“I’ll keep mum, understand! Of course, I don’t expect to see all you’ll -see, for detective work is not in my line; but what little I get may -help Mr. French in conducting the case. And, say!” - -“Well, sir?” - -Keene slipped his hand through the constable’s brawny arm and drew him -closer, to add confidentially: - -“If you can make a hit in ferreting out the truth here, there’d be a big -opening elsewhere for a man of your measure.” - -“D’ye think so?” was the eager inquiry. - -“I know so! Furthermore, since you’re inclined to do me a turn, I’d like -to reciprocate some day. Our law firm, you know, stands ace high with -Chief Watts, of the Boston inspectors; and if it comes right, we can -make a strong pull for you at headquarters.” - -“And you’ll do it?” - -“With pleasure!” - -“Put it there!” said Mr. Bragg, thrusting out his huge hand. “As for -this case, what I get, you get. But that’s between us, mind you!” - -“My word upon it, I’ll do nothing to get in your way.” - -“That’s good enough for me, sir!” - -Thus Sheridan made an impression, and paved the way to securing -information from the one man who, his own detective instinct told him, -would know more of the superficial features of this tragedy than all the -rest of the community combined. - -“Was this Moore’s desk?” he now carelessly asked, turning to a piece of -furniture near one of the windows. - -“Yes, sir, ’twas.” - -“It is much disturbed. Was he in the habit of keeping money in it?” - -“I reckon not. But some one went through it last night, that’s plain. -Most likely a search for papers.” - -“Possibly a will.” - -“My idea exactly. Say, you’re tolerably clever yourself! Well, I’ll -gamble I can name who did it.” - -“I hope so. If you can, it will be one feather in your cap.” - -“I’ll have many in it afore this case is ended. Come down this way, and -I’ll show you something more. But this is between us, mind you!” - -“If you doubt me, keep it to yourself.” - -“Oh, no; I’ll trust you! I can read a man’s face, and don’t you forget -it.” - -At the heels of the burly constable, who was that common type of man -whose eagerness to serve himself makes him the cat’s-paw of his -superiors, Sheridan Keene followed through the dim hall and down a back -stairway, and entered a basement laundry. From the single window a part -of one pane was missing, making the room easy of access from without; -and upon the plank floor, extending from the window toward the entry -door, were several marks of muddy boots. - -“D’ye see that, and them?” triumphantly demanded Mr. Bragg, pointing -first to the window and then the floor. “It came cold late last night, -and the ground was soft in the early evening. The sawbones says Moore -was killed before midnight. The party who entered that window, and stole -out here and upstairs, was the party who searched the desk and most -likely did the rest of the job. It was done in the evening.” - -“By Jove! I believe you’ve struck the trail, constable!” said Keene -admiringly. - -“I know I’ve struck it!” declared Mr. Bragg, with a twitch of his bushy -beard. “Now come outside here!” - -He led the way through the entry and out of a narrow back door, and -thence around to one side of the house. The soil of a flower bed under -the windows of Moore’s chamber was then frozen hard. But in several -places among the dead plants and vines were the clearly defined -footprints of a man’s heavy boots; deeper here and there, as if he had -at times stood on tiptoe to reach the height of the window and peer into -the room. - -“What d’ye say to that?” demanded Mr. Bragg. - -“I’ll say nothing till you see fit to do so!” said Keene significantly. - -“Good for you!” nodded the constable approvingly. “Now, let’s return by -the front door.” - -“Wait a moment, constable,” said Sheridan Keene. “I’d like a little more -light on this affair, if you don’t mind. Who discovered the crime?” - -Mr. Bragg demurred for a moment, but visions of an appointment under -Chief Watts led him to respond to the request. He had lost sight of the -provisions under which the promise of influence had been made. - -“The housekeeper, Mrs. Haynie,” he replied. - -“At what hour; do you know?” - -“Nigh half past eight.” - -“Did she give the alarm?” - -“She ran to one of the neighbors, a piece up the road, here, scared half -out of her wits. One of ’em came down here at once, and one went to tell -Thorpe at the turnpike tavern, half a mile away. Dick mounted his horse -and struck around to my house to notify me, in which he showed his good -sense; and we came up here together. Then he sent the telegram to Mr. -French, and word to Mabel Jeffrey.” - -“Then Mr. Thorpe was not at home here last night?” - -“No, he wasn’t,” said Mr. Bragg glibly. “He was at the road house all -night. Leastwise, he was with Mabel part of the evening, waiting to see -her husband. He’s been trying, you see, to fix up things between them -and the old man. But Bob Jeffrey didn’t show up till midnight. Dick had -dropped into the road house for a drink, and joined in a game of cards.” - -“Has this been a habit of Thorpe?” - -“Playing cards there? Oh, yes, regular thing. Genial fellow, Dick--and -everybody likes him. It came cold soon after midnight, and his mare, -being under cover, he didn’t like to expose her. She’d been sick for a -week back, and that was her first time out. So he stayed at the tavern -until morning.” - -“I see,” nodded Keene. “Then Mrs. Haynie and the stableman were here -alone all night?” - -“That’s about the size of it. Darbage was at the tavern, and he stayed -there until daybreak, when he came up here and slept in the stable, for -fear the old man would hear him enter the house. He was some slued, I -reckon; but, Lord save us! Moore was past hearing long afore that. Joe -Darbage might just as well have tumbled into his own bed.” - -“Do you know who last saw Mr. Moore alive, constable?” inquired Keene, -who had received, with a series of little nods, the information thus far -imparted. - -“Mrs. Haynie was the last who saw him.” - -“Do you know at what time?” - -“About nine o’clock last night.” - -“Was he up?” - -“No, he was in bed. She went in to look to his fire, and to see if he -was all right.” - -“That was after Thorpe and the stableman went to the road house, was -it?” - -“Long after! Thorpe left here about seven o’clock, and Joe went a little -later. Lord, sir, nobody will ever think of suspecting either of them! -But there’s a sartin man who don’t stand so well here, and some things -p’ints strong agin’ him,” Mr. Bragg added, in lower tones. “Now, this is -all atween us, mind you.” - -“You can depend upon me, constable,” said Keene assuringly. “This -information will not go farther than to Mr. French. It will be of great -help to him in the case, and we’ll not forget it. What man do you mean?” - -“Young Bob Jeffrey,” whispered Mr. Bragg, with mysterious significance. - -“You mean Mabel’s husband?” - -“Sure thing! Since their marriage he has been dead nuts agin’ the old -man, and talks pretty rough agin’ him. More’n that, sir, he’s been -drinking more’n is good for him, and using his tongue too freely. I -reckon he’ll have a hard time telling where he was till midnight last -night.” - -“What sort of a man is this Jeffrey?” - -“Well, sir, he’s a hot-headed---- Say, there’s the coroner, now! I’ll -have to quit you right here, sir, for I’ve a word for him alone.” - -“Many thanks for this, however, Constable Bragg,” said Keene, extending -his hand. - -“That’s all right, lawyer!” exclaimed Mr. Bragg, with a growl of -friendly appreciation. “But all this is atween us, mind you.” - -“I will not forget it.” - -“And I reckon I can let you into something more a little later. Leave it -to me.” - -And the burly constable wiped the frozen moisture from his bushy black -mustache and beard, and hustled around the corner of the house. - - -TO BE CONTINUED. - - - - -THE GREAT SALT BEND. - - -Passengers on the train of the Ohio River division of the Baltimore & -Ohio Railroad are always interested in the towns of Hartford, New Haven, -and Mason City, on the West Virginia side, and Syracuse and Pomeroy on -the Ohio side of the river because of the unusual industry that is -carried on. - -A strange odor comes through the open windows of the coach during the -warm summer days as the train passes along through the yards on the -outskirts of the town. For more than one hundred and fifty years this -bend on the Ohio River, known to steamboat men as “Salt Bend,” or “Great -Salt Bend,” has been the center of a large salt industry. - -The river bench, or highland, along the river, is dotted with numerous -queer-looking buildings surmounted with what looks like a huge wooden -chimney. At the bottom of each chimney, or tower, says the -_Manufacturers Record_, there is a salt well. The wells in a number of -instances are pumped with gas engines, and gas engines are also used in -some cases to pump water out of the mines. - -The several salt works are near the wells and generally at the mouth of -a coal mine which runs into the hills just back of the towns on both -sides of the river. - -The ability to secure a cheap fuel from coal mines so near has preserved -the industry against foreign and domestic competition. - -The tall piles of fagots or hoop poles used in making hoops for barrels -are everywhere in evidence, and one wonders why they do not use iron -hoops on the barrels, until they notice the havoc the salt water plays -with metal of any kind. The pipes used to convey the liquid are in some -cases made of hollow logs of poplar and other woods. - -The art of barrel making, or coopering, as it is called, is practiced -here in all the old-time splendor, and if the scene were transplanted to -any European country and located along some of the tourist lanes of -travel it would be a mecca for the sight-seers. The queer old -processes, the old-fashioned tools and methods, the smoke rising from -the smudge fire in the barrels would attract scores of travelers to the -scene of the Old World. - -The strata containing the salt solution lies about twelve hundred feet -under the surface, and the water rises to within six hundred feet of the -surface, after the well is drilled in. The well as generally drilled is -termed a six-inch well, and is cased with iron casing to about eight -hundred feet below the surface, where the surface water is packed off -with a packer such as is used in oil wells. - -The salt water is pumped from the well into a cistern, which is -generally elevated on the side of a hill near the plant, and is carried -in copper and wooden pipes by gravity to the salt surface. Where wood -log pipes are used the sight is a very unusual one, as they are laid on -top of the ground, and run in every direction from plant to wells. - -The salt furnace is one of the most interesting sights around the works, -and consists of a series of iron pans, about forty in number, each pan -being about three feet wide and ten feet long. These pans rest on a -stone wall over a fire pit, and are covered over with a wooden-box -chamber about one hundred and twenty feet long and three and a half feet -high. This covering is called a steam chest, and, like the lid on a -kettle, helps raise the temperature of a solution to a higher point than -could be obtained in an open vessel. - -After the proper boiling has been given to a quantity of the salt -solution, it is drawn off into a wood vat, called a mud settler, and, -although the solution seemed perfectly clear while entering the heating -pans over the furnace, a considerable residue is found at the bottom of -the mud settler. This residue contains a large proportion of oxide of -iron. - -From the mud settler the hot solution passes to two vats called drawn -settlers, where the solution is still further clarified and treated. The -solution then passes to the first graining vat, which is a long wooden -box lined with tile, where the salt begins to form in flakes on the -surface, and falls to the bottom of the vat, where it is picked up by -power scrapers or shovels. - -The best salt is formed in this first grainer, although different grades -of salt are extracted from the solution in five other grainers, and they -are used for the feeding of cattle and the making of brine solutions. - - -SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION. - -There is undoubted evidence that hay and cotton, when damp, will -occasionally take fire without any external source of ignition. Cotton -impregnated with oil, when collected in large quantities, is especially -liable to take fire spontaneously. Numerous cases are recorded where an -accumulation of cotton waste, used in wiping oily machinery, lamps, et -cetera, has more than once caused fires and led to unfounded charges of -incendiarism. Whether or not such organic substances as damp grain or -seeds ever undergo spontaneous combustion is a question that -has never been satisfactorily proven, although three French -scientists--Chevallier, Ollivier, and Devergie--are authority for the -supposition that the burning of a barn investigated by them was caused -by the spontaneous combustion of damp oats stored in it. There have been -many instances of the spontaneous ignition of coal containing iron -pyrites when moistened with water. This is particularly noticeable in -coal mined in Yorkshire and some varieties found in South Wales. -Phosphorus in a dry state is probably the most quickly ignited substance -known. It has been seen to take fire, when touched, in a room in which -the temperature was under seventy degrees Fahrenheit. Doctor Taylor, a -writer on the principles and practice of medical jurisprudence, is -authority for the statement that ordinary phosphorus (blue head) matches -have taken fire spontaneously, as a result of exposure to the sun’s rays -for the purpose of drying. - - -PLANT BURGLARS--READ RIGHT THROUGH BEFORE SUSPECTING YOUR TULIP BED. - -Big animals kill and eat smaller ones, and they in their turn feed on -others smaller still, down to the very lowest and tiniest creatures -known. This every one knows. What is not so easily realized is that a -similar savage struggle for existence is always going on in the -vegetable as well as the animal world. Certain plants feed on others, -robbing them of their sap and juices, and eventually killing their prey -as surely as does the lion when he buries his sharp teeth in an -antelope’s neck. - -This organized robbery is most plain to the eye in a tropical forest; -but even here in our islands no one can go for a country walk without -seeing plenty of instances. The mistletoe, for instance. A great -dull-green bunch grows flourishing profusely on the bare limb of some -half-starved apple tree. If you cut them off the apple bough, you will -find the roots of the parasite have sunk deep into its substance, and -are drinking up the juices which the roots of the apple tree have -secreted far down in the earth below. - -It is curious to note how the mistletoe has fitted itself for this -thieving existence. Its berries are full of a gluey sap. This, when they -fall, makes them stick in the crannies of the bark of such rough-coated -trees as the apple, the poplar, and, more rarely, the oak, and there -each grows and begins anew to starve and strangle its host. In the -ground a mistletoe seed cannot live, and soon rots away. - -The “dodders,” “greater” and “common,” may be easily identified by any -one with a little botanical knowledge. The former lives on thistles; the -latter sucks the juices of heath and thyme. - -Broom rape is another tiny burglar, fixing itself on the roots of broom -and furze, and so gaining a living. The family of broom rape comprises -no less than five different varieties, all of which are incorrigible -sneak thieves, and have now descended so low they can exist in no other -way. One lives and grows upon the roots of clover, another fastens on -ivy roots and fattens on food intended for the tendrils far above. - -Ivy itself is classed by many as a burglarious plant. Indeed, its loving -embraces, if not checked, are apt to strangle the tree it grows on. But, -on the other hand, it is not fair to put it in the same category with -the plants already mentioned, for ivy only asks from a tree support, not -food, and the harm it does is due to its tight embraces depriving its -upholder of air and light. - -But it is to hot countries you must go to see plant crime flourishing -unchecked, particularly the forests of Central America. An especially -cruel sinner is one well known to us by name, the India-rubber tree. Its -favorite plan seems to be to start growing on the very crown of some -forest giant, such as a wild fig or a Guianese ceiba tree. There it -pushes out its great, evergreen, leathery leaves, and digs its roots -down into the fast-rotting substance of its host’s trunk. Soon its long, -creeping rootlets descend along the outside bark of the supporting tree, -and finally reach the ground. Soon nothing is left between them but a -rotting shell. The murder is accomplished, and the garroter has usurped -the place of its victim. - -That queer air plant known as Spanish moss kills many a fine forest tree -with its solemn, gray tendrils. Like ivy, it robs its host of light and -air and ends by slowly smothering its victim. - -Occasionally plants not burglars by nature are forced to assume that -rôle. A young mountain ash may not infrequently be seen springing from -the crown of an ancient oak or other tree. The seed has been dropped -there by a bird and taken root. - -Ferns, too, often grow in great profusion on the long, horizontal boughs -of oaks over rivers and ponds. Their weight, and the moss they encourage -among their roots, end by rotting their support. - -More rarely a tree may actually be watched stealing its own juices. -Willows, when old, are apt to become hollow, and they rot till nothing -but a shell of bark is left. If this is cut, delicate rootlets will -descend from the upper portion of the cut and suck nourishment from the -decaying remains of the tree itself. - - -TERRIBLE FATES POSSIBLE. - -Astronomers tell us that the day must come when this earth will, like -the moon, wheel through the heavens a dead and barren ball of -matter--airless, waterless, lifeless. But long, long before that time -man will be extinct, will have disappeared so utterly that not so much -as the bleached skeleton of a human being will be visible on all the -millions of square miles of the surface of this planet. - -Unless by some huge and universal cataclysm the whole race is swept at -once into eternity, it is but reasonable to suppose that man, like any -other race of animals, will disappear slowly, and that eventually there -will be but a single human being left--some old, old man, grayheaded and -bearded, and left to wander alone in a solitude that may be imagined, -but not described. - -How will he die, this last relic of the teeming millions that once -transformed the face of the globe and ruled undisputed masters of every -other living thing? There are many fates that may befall him. He may go -mad with the horror of loneliness, and himself end his own miserable -existence. He may be eaten by the vast reptiles or giant insects which -will then probably infest the solitudes. - -But his fate may be far weirder and more dreadful. Scientists say that -as we burn the coal and timber we are still so richly supplied with, we -let loose into the atmosphere an ever-increasing volume of carbonic acid -gas. Much of this is taken up by plants, but not all. It must increase -and eventually poison the breathable air, filling the valleys and -mounting slowly to the hilltops, where the last remnants of animal life -are striving for existence. The last man will climb higher and higher, -but eventually the suffocating invisible flood will reach and drown him. - -Again, it is said that the earth, as it gets older, is cracking like dry -mud. These cracks will increase until at last they will let the waters -of the oceans and rivers sink into the fiery center of the globe. Then -will occur an explosion so terrible as may startle the inhabitants of -neighboring worlds. The last man in this case will probably be some -arctic explorer or Eskimo, whom the vast plains of ice around him will -save from instant death and leave to grill a few moments till the ice -continents are swallowed by red-hot gases and steam. - -Supposing these earth cracks develop more slowly, they may suck away the -water without devastating explosions. Then the last man’s fate will be -the worst describable. He will die of thirst. The scene of his death -will probably be the great valley in the bed of the Atlantic Ocean, off -the Brazilian coast, halfway between Rio Janeiro and the Cape, where now -six miles of green water lie between the steamer’s keel and the abysmal -slime beneath. There, hopelessly digging in the everdrying mud, he must -perish, and leave his bones to parch on a waterless planet. - -The antarctic polar ice cap has been growing thicker and heavier for -uncounted ages. The distance from the south pole to the edge of this ice -cap is 1,400 miles. The ice rises steadily from the edge to the center. -At that center it cannot be less than twelve miles in thickness--twice -as thick as Mount Everest is high. Southern latitudes are growing -warmer, and this ice cap is known to be cracking. Suppose it splits. -Imagine the gigantic mass of water and ice that will come sweeping up -north over the oceans and continents of the earth! Where, then, will the -last man breathe his final gasp? High up in the snows of some great -range he will perish miserably of cold and starvation, looking down on a -huge shallow sea, beneath whose tossing waters will lie the whole of the -races of the world. - -Or, last, and perhaps dreariest fate of all, the human race may outlive -other mammals and last until the sun, as some day it must, grows dull -and cold, and vegetation dies from the chilled earth. The miserable -remnant of earth’s people must then slowly die out after ages of an -existence to which that of the Eskimo of to-day is a paradise. - - -HOW CANTILEVER BRIDGES ARE CONSTRUCTED. - -A cantilever bridge consists of two inverted trussed beams, each -balanced on a pier, one part extending over the river and the other to -the shore, where it is firmly anchored in solid, heavy masonry. The ends -extending over the river toward each other from the opposite piers are -joined by a short truss in such a manner as to permit expansion and -contraction consequent on changes of temperature, and yet be proof -against vertical or lateral pressure. Such a bridge, it is said, -sustains scarcely any strain in the center of the span. Each half of the -entire bridge is self-balanced on its pier; and when a long, heavy train -is on it, the part of the train on one side of the pier is balanced as -on a “teeter” by the part on the other side of the pier--in front or -behind. The bridge across the Niagara River was the first of the -cantilever kind ever constructed, and the one over the Hudson River was -erected upon substantially the same principle, the cantilever being -utilized as nearly as possible. In building the bridge it was important -to obstruct the Hudson as little as possible, much opposition having -been raised against it by those interested in the navigation of the -river. Therefore a combination of anchorage trusses and cantilever -spans was adopted. The river is crossed in five spans, with four piers -in the channel. On each of the two piers nearest the shore, four sets of -steel rollers carry the ends of the anchorage trusses and of the -cantilevers of the east and west spans. The bridge is made of steel. The -cantilever principle is again introduced in the famous Forth Bridge. At -a distance of six hundred and eighty feet from the ends of either -approach viaduct are the north and south cantilever piers, with their -great arms stretching out to and joining with the girder approaches. In -the opposite direction the cantilever arms extend for six hundred and -eighty feet toward Inchgarvie, and come within three hundred and fifty -feet each of meeting the arms of the cantilever built on that island. -This cantilever pier is founded in the bottom of the shallow water close -to the west of the islet. The gaps of three hundred and fifty feet -between the extremities of the cantilever arms and of the ends of their -neighbors to the north and south are filled in by connecting or central -girders of the hogback lattice pattern. The total length of each of the -north and south cantilevers is one thousand five hundred and five feet, -while that of the central one, owing to its having a longer foundation -base, is one thousand six hundred and twenty feet. The two main spans -measure each one thousand seven hundred and ten feet, with a clear -headway above high water, for five hundred feet in the center of the -span, of one hundred and fifty feet, while the half cantilever spans to -the approach viaducts north and south are each of six hundred and eighty -feet. The measurement from the extremity of one approach viaduct to the -extremity of the other gives the distance taken up by the three double -cantilevers and their connecting girders as five thousand three hundred -and twenty feet, or just over a mile. - - -TRADE IN TRIFLES. - -It takes about a billion and a half of eggs every year to supply the -demand in Great Britain and Ireland, besides all the eggs that are -produced there. Forty per cent of the eggs consumed in the United -Kingdom are brought from twenty different foreign lands, including -several of the British colonies. - -Germany comes next to Great Britain as the largest consumer of eggs in -Europe. Her imports are a little over a billion and a half a year, and -she is obliged to pay £3,000,000 a year for the eggs she buys from other -countries. - -Japan is now using a great many eggs, though few are produced in the -country. As they are very much cheaper in China, the eggs Japan uses are -almost all imported from that country. - -Russia is the largest exporter of eggs. The number sent from that -country in 1896 was 1,475,000,000, of which 289,000,000 were shipped to -the United Kingdom. - -The manufacture of matches in Germany has become so important an -industry that the factories are now using every year about 5,500,000 -cubic feet of aspen wood, of which about three-fifths is imported from -Russia. - -Bavaria alone has twenty-six lead-pencil factories, which employ from -9,000 to 10,000 workmen, and produce on an average 4,320,000 lead -pencils and crayons every week. It is a curious fact that the use of -German lead pencils in all the public offices and schools of France is -forbidden by law. - - -THE NEWS OF ALL NATIONS. - -A Great Cotton Year in England. - -Statistics issued from Manchester, England, by the International Cotton -Federation, show that during the year ended August 31, 13,957,000 bales -of American cotton were used, compared with 11,559,000 bales in the -previous year. - -The spinners spun more cotton than in any year since the great boom of -1907. - -Of Egyptian cotton 701,985 bales were used, considerably more than in -either of the two preceding years. - - -Famous Animal Trainer Dies. - -Frank C. Bostock, the well-known animal trainer and menagerie -proprietor, died recently in London. Bostock was perhaps the best-known -keeper and trainer of wild animals and exhibitor in Europe and America. -As proprietor of an animal show at Dreamland he furnished New York with -many a thrill. Mr. Bostock was born in England fifty years ago, and was -for many years a circus man on a small scale. He brought his animals to -this country many years ago and here began his successful career. It was -he who first introduced to the public the boxing kangaroo. - -The old Huber Museum in Fourteenth Street was the scene of his first -success, and it was here that he exhibited Rama Sami, the wild man, who, -besides being a wild man, was an English cobbler. It was really the -adventures of Wallace, the “man-eating lion,” that heralded the name of -Bostock from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Wallace, a lion of reputed -gentle disposition, was turned loose in a stable in a side street in -company with a broken-down horse. - -By skillful handling the old lion’s roars were sounded at frequent -intervals and so grew the story that “the untamed” Wallace was loose -raising Cain and defying capture. The public soon knew that the horse -had been killed. It is a matter of dispute to this day whether Wallace -or a keeper killed the animal. The story of the affair appeared in the -newspapers, and for several days accounts of the latest doings of -Wallace were in as much demand as the news of the world. Then Wallace -was “captured,” and became a drawing card at the museum. So grew, too, -the fame of Bostock. - -Bostock was an animal trainer of courage. He had more than one narrow -escape from death. On April 12, 1901, while exhibiting in Indianapolis, -he was attacked by Rajah, a Bengal tiger, and was so badly injured that -it was feared he would not recover. In 1905 he was attacked by a lion -while exhibiting in Paris and had another close call. Bostock was best -known of late years because of his show at Coney Island. - - -An Airship Like a Hotel. - -The German navy’s first Zeppelin airship made a trial flight recently -over Lake Constance at Friedrichshafen. - -The airship, with its 510 horse-power engines, is said to be capable of -keeping in the air for two days and a half without a landing. Her -equipment, in addition to wireless telegraphy, a searchlight, and -machine guns, includes a kitchen, sleeping bunks for the officers, and -hammocks for the crew. - -After her trials the airship will take up her permanent station near -Hamburg. - - -Columbia Sophomores’ Curious Idea of Sport. - -Two hundred heroic figures, the sophomores of Columbia, swept into the -One Hundred and Sixteenth Street station of the Broadway subway, in New -York, recently, so full of college spirit that they didn’t stop to pay -their fares. They took possession of the first two cars of the first -uptown express and removed all the lights from the ceiling. It was lots -of fun after that to throw bulbs out at each passing station and see the -various patrons of the road skip nervously to one side with the -resultant crashes. - -All this was a spiritual preparation for the annual sophomore smoker at -Columbia Oval, on Gun Hill Road. They reached the appointed place by -shifting at One Hundred and Eighty-first Street to Jerome Avenue. Some -took a surface car on the avenue and did as much damage to it as they -conveniently could on the way uptown. Others walked and contented -themselves by stealing all the red lanterns marking paving danger points -on the thoroughfares. These an unappreciative and insolent policeman, -who probably wouldn’t known an Alma Mater from a blackjack, forced the -amazed and indignant collegians to return. - -The sophomores had brought with them for the smoker some twenty docile -freshmen, whom they shampooed with molasses and old eggs and subjected -to other convulsingly amusing indignities. But, after all, the evening -was spoiled. Tradition says that about 9:30 the freshman class should -rush the smoker and do its best to rescue the captive classmates. This -is tremendously fine sport, but the sophisticated members of 1916 just -yawned and stayed down at the university. - - -Buys Island for Bird Refuge. - -Federal ornithologists and biologists have expressed great satisfaction -over the announcement that Mrs. Russell Sage had bought Marsh Island, in -Louisiana, for a bird refuge. - -The island is the winter refuge of the blue goose, one of the rarest -water fowl in the world. The setting apart of Marsh Island under -conditions that will prevent the killing of this bird while it is -wintering in the South, is considered by Doctor T. S. Palmer, of the -bureau of biological survey of the department of agriculture, who is -intimately identified with the management of the existing Federal -reservations for the protection of wild fowl, as being of great value to -natural science. - -Doctor Palmer has not been informed as to the plans of Mrs. Sage -respecting control of the Marsh Island reservation. She may turn it over -to the Federal government or to the State of Louisiana, or place it -under the control of the National Audubon Society for the protection of -robins and other migratory birds. If the island is a monument of -scientific interest, it may be accepted by the Federal government under -the terms of the national monuments act, passed during the term of -Colonel Roosevelt as president, and, on his recommendation. Otherwise it -would require a special act of Congress to accept the island from Mrs. -Sage. - -There is now pending on the calendar of the United States Senate a bill -introduced by Senator Perkins, of California, providing for the -establishment of Federal bird reserves. The enactments of this bill -would vest the secretary of agriculture with authority to accept Marsh -Island from Mrs. Sage, should she elect to turn it over to the Federal -government. - - -$10,000 Straus Memorial for Harvard. - -A gift of $10,000 as a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Isador Straus, who were -lost in the _Titanic_ disaster, is announced at Harvard University. The -income of the fund is to be used for lectures on commercial practice in -the graduate school of business administration. - - -Brave Man Faces Death from Rabies. - -Notified that he was suffering from rabies in an advanced stage and that -his death was a matter of hours, John Muter, of Haledon, N. J., spent -the time until his death calmly in settling his worldly affairs and -preparing for the end. - -When he returned to his home after having been told that science could -do nothing for him, he summoned his wife and four children, together -with the Reverend Warren P. Coon, pastor of the Methodist Church, in -Haledon, which Mr. Muter, a wealthy man, had founded years ago. - -“My journey here is ended,” he said calmly. “I can live but a few hours. -I have no fear of death and I am ready.” - -At his request the entire family knelt while Mr. Coon prayed. It was -almost daylight before the minister left the stricken group. - -Mr. Muter then dictated his will dividing his large estate among the -members of his family and went to his bed. That night he became violent -and later sank into a stupor, from which he never rallied. - -Mr. Muter, who was almost 69 years of age, was bitten by a stray dog -while sitting on the porch at his home last June. He had the wound -cauterized and thought no more of it. - - -Social Institute for Young Men and Women. - -The two sisters of the late John Arbuckle have announced their intention -to build a social institute for young men and women in connection with -the Plymouth Church as a memorial to Henry Ward Beecher and as a gift to -the church and the people of Brooklyn. The women are Mrs. Catherine A. -Jamison and Miss Christine Arbuckle, equal heirs to the coffee -merchant’s estate of $30,000,000. The gift is in furtherance of wishes -expressed by Mr. Arbuckle before his death, but not mentioned in his -will. The memorial will cost about $100,000. - -Mr. Arbuckle is said to have conceived the idea after hearing a sermon -by Reverend Doctor Newell Dwight Hillis, pastor of Plymouth Church, on -the social needs of the hundreds of young men and women who live in -boarding houses. Mr. Arbuckle, in declining a short time before his -death to give the Young Women’s Christian Association $400,000, said he -did not believe in keeping young men and women apart. - - -Indian Tribes Claim Chicago Lake Front. - -Lawyers representing the Pottowatomie, Chippewa, and Ottawa Indian -tribes have filed suit in the United States district court for recovery -of the Chicago lake front from the Chicago River to Forty-seventh Street -on the South Side, or cash damages of $50,000,000. - -The Illinois Central Railroad Company, the Michigan Central Railroad -Company, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co., and the board of -South Park commissioners were named as defendants. - -The names of 2,785 Indians residing in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin -are given in the petition of the plaintiffs, who base their claims to -the land on old treaties with the Federal government. - - -This Big College Man a Needle Expert. - -Andrew J. Onderdonk, junior, a third-year student in the Harvard law -school, a giant in stature, and the possessor of a voice that puts to -shame a tugboat’s siren, arrived in New York recently from Europe with a -trunk filled with lace handkerchiefs, which he had made himself. - -Instead of playing shuffleboard, deck quoits, and other boisterous -shipboard games, “Fancywork Andy,” as the girl passengers called him, -kept busy with his needle from the time the steamer left Antwerp until -it reached Quarantine. - -So expert has Fancywork Andy become with the needle and thread that the -girls on board said he made a stitch for every revolution of the liner’s -propellers. Nothing could persuade him to leave his needlework, and the -only way his fellow passengers could get him to knock off work for a few -minutes was to steal his thread. - -“I have hundreds of handkerchiefs I made while abroad,” said Fancywork -Andy. “They make such pretty presents for girl friends. I do all kinds -of fancywork, although I prefer filet work best. I don’t see why any man -should be ashamed of embroidering. It is just as artistic as painting a -water color.” - - -Hazers Expelled from New York University. - -Drastic steps to stamp out hazing at the University of North Carolina -were taken as the result of the faculty investigation of the death of -William Rand, the Smithfield freshman who recently was killed while -being hazed by sophomores. - -Four students accused of forcing Rand to dance on a barrel, when he fell -and cut his throat on a broken bottle, were expelled. Two other students -who witnessed the hazing also were expelled for aiding and abetting the -principals. - -Ten members of the student body who were known to have engaged in hazing -either during the present year or last year, were suspended from the -institution for one year. - - -New York Taxes Increase. - -When the city tax books were opened in New York to the public it was -shown that real and personal property assessable for 1913 totals in -value slightly more than $7,640,000,000, a net increase of nearly -$200,000,000 over figures for the present year. - -Andrew Carnegie, with an assessment of $10,000,000, leads the personal -list. The estate of John D. Rockefeller, John Jacob Astor, and Joseph -Pulitzer are assessed at $5,000,000 each, Cornelius Vanderbilt -$8,000,000, Mrs. Russell Sage $2,510,000, and Isidor Straus $2,000,000. - -Real estate owned by J. P. Morgan is assessed at $1,875,000, Charles M. -Schwab $1,700,000, Mary Payne Whitney $1,225,000. The Grand Central -Station is assessed at $15,000,000, the Equitable Life Building at -$11,000,000; the Metropolitan Life Building at $12,415,000, and the -Mutual Life at $10,000,000. - - -Youngest Postmistress. - -Miss Elinor Stark Campbell, who took charge of the post office recently -at North Reading, Mass., in its new quarters in the Flint Memorial -Building, is probably the youngest woman in the country holding a -commission as postmistress, being but 23 years of age. Miss Campbell, -who was born at Reading, is the daughter of Henry W. Campbell. She -received her education in the public schools and the high school at -Lowell from which she graduated in 1905, afterward taking a course at a -commercial school in Lawrence. - -Since graduating from school, she has been connected with the local -public library. She succeeds the late Sumner French, who had held the -office fop 26 years, until his death last June. She is a lineal -descendant of General John Stark. - - -Few Left-hand Pitchers in Minor League. - -After several weeks spent in observing the work of young players in the -minor leagues throughout the country, Arthur Irwin, the veteran scout, -of the New York Americans, has come to the conclusion that the -left-handed pitcher is dying out. - -“I’ve combed the bushes this year as never before,” said Irwin, on his -return to New York, “and never did I see such a scarcity of southpaws. -They are not to be had. - -“My experience is the same as the experience of other scouts with whom I -have talked. I cannot account for it, except on the theory that -left-handed persons are getting rare in all walks of life. - -“In my travels this season I saw very few left-handed pitchers--fewer -than I ever saw in all my years in baseball. I’ll venture the prediction -that next season there will be fewer new southpaws in the big leagues -than in any season in twenty-five years.” - - -Italy Wants Porter Charlton for Lake Como Crime. - -The long wait of Porter Charlton behind the bars of a New Jersey prison -for the final word as to whether he must return to Italy to answer for -the murder of his wife at Lake Como, two years ago, is drawing to an -end. The supreme court will take up Charlton’s case. - -Charlton’s appeal is the most-noted murder case before the court. -Diplomatic officials of Italy and the United States have become involved -in the matter. The decision of the court will be looked to as a guide in -diplomatic intercourse. - -The twenty-three-year-old prisoner, through his father, Judge Paul -Charlton, of Porto Rico, will challenge the right of the American -government to surrender him to the Italian authorities. This right is -claimed on account of the peculiar circumstances under which Charlton -was arrested. - -Immediately after Mrs. Charlton’s body was found in a trunk in Lake Como -the search for her husband began. He was arrested at the request of the -wife’s brother, Captain H. H. Scott, of the United States army, as he -stepped from a steamer at Hoboken, N. J. He had committed no crime in -America, but confessed to having murdered his wife who, he said, had -refused to obey his order to be quiet one night on their wedding trip. - -Under the treaty between the United States and Italy, Italy has -repeatedly declined to grant requests of the United States that Italians -who committed crimes in this country and escaped to Italy be returned. -Italy has responded that she would punish them. - -When the Italian government requested the United States to surrender -Charlton, Secretary Knox granted the request. To prevent his removal, -Charlton’s father brought habeas-corpus proceedings before the New -Jersey courts, claiming there was no authority for his arrest, and -challenged the right of the American government to turn his son over to -the Italian officers. The New Jersey courts held against Charlton, who -appealed to the supreme court of the United States. - - -Heir to $50,000,000 Born. - -The birth of a son to Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt at -Betchworth, Surrey, England, was recently announced. - -The Vanderbilt infant will rank with the richest children in the world, -and in all likelihood will become as famous as the celebrated McLean -baby, of Washington. It will be heir to not less than $50,000,000, and -probably more. - -Mrs. Vanderbilt made herself a favorite not only in the first social -circles in this country, but in England as well. While as Margaret -Emerson she was one of the most popular of Baltimore girls. She was -first married to Doctor Smith Hollings McKim, of Baltimore. Her wedding -to Mr. Vanderbilt occurred last December, after she had been divorced -from Doctor McKim the preceding summer. She is noted for her beauty, and -is not thirty years old. - - -Parcels-post Stamps Are Novel in Design. - -Arrangements have been made by Postmaster General Hitchcock for -engraving and manufacture of a series of 12 stamps, unique in size and -novel in design, for exclusive use in forwarding packages by the new -parcels post. Under the law enacted recently by Congress, ordinary -stamps cannot be used for this purpose. - -The special parcels-post stamps will be larger than the ordinary stamps -and will be so distinctive in color and design as to avert confusion -with other stamps. - -The new issue will be in three series of designs. The first will -illustrate modern methods of transporting mail, one stamp showing the -mail car on a railway train; another an ocean mail steamship; a third an -automobile used in the postal service, and a fourth the dispatch of mail -by aeroplane. - -The second series will show at work in their several environments the -four classes of postal employees--post-office clerks, railway mail -clerks, city letter carriers, and rural delivery carriers. The third -series will represent four industrial scenes, showing the principal -sources of the products that probably will be transported extensively by -parcels post. - -The stamps will be ready for distribution December 1, that the 60,000 -post offices may be supplied with them before the law becomes effective -January 1. - - -Had 96 Shot Wounds in His Body. - -With 96 shot wounds in his body, received when a companion mistook his -foot for a squirrel, William Rodenstein, 18 years old, of New -Comerstown, Ohio, is expected to live. With Jacob Beiter, Rodenstein had -gone hunting and stretched out at the foot of a tree. His companion -wandered off and on returning saw something moving near the tree and -shot. - -Charges from both barrels entered Rodenstein’s side. Beiter carried the -injured boy a mile to a farmhouse. - - -Relics of Spanish Armada Found. - -Recently a remarkable collection of relics has been recovered in the -course of the hunt for the Spanish treasures, supposed to be at the -bottom of the sea at Tobermory. From the Armada wreck the treasure -hunters have secured among other things large quantities of African oak, -cannon balls of stone and iron, broken pottery and wine flagons, -encrusted cutlasses, daggers, swords and muskets, lead, copper, and -pieces of eight. Metal plate, showing the same embossments as specimens -found last May, have been discovered in comparative abundance. Among the -more peculiar finds were several feet of copper-wire cable, a graduated -brass bar, supposed to be a tangent used for sighting purposes on a big -gun, a hollow shell containing a remarkably light and soft metal, three -exquisitely shaped teeth firmly fixed in a man’s jawbone, and the almost -complete skeleton of a boy of about 14 years of age. - - -Language of Lower Animals. - -Professor R. J. Anderson, of University College, Galway, who dealt with -the so-called speech in lower animals at the meeting of the zoological -section at the British Association, at Dundee, says the “early training -of dogs, horses, and other animals go far to obliterate any tendency to -marked development of original lines of thought.” It is to be doubted, -he says, whether any great advance could be made in the development of a -“dog language.” - - -Shoots Self During Nightmare. - -Sudden fear caused by a nightmare came near proving fatal to Michael -Matthews, 22 years of age, at Madison, Wis., when he shot himself in the -temple with a revolver. - -When taken to a hospital Matthews related the story of a dream in which -he was captured by a gang of ruffians who were making preparation to -torture him. - -Quickly taking a revolver he pulled the trigger and emerged from his -dream. The revolver had been under his pillow. - - -Korean Plotters Get Heavy Sentences. - -Heavy sentences were imposed on many of the 123 Korean prisoners charged -with conspiring against the life of Governor General Count Terauchi, of -Korea. - -Baron Yun Chi Ho, formerly a cabinet minister, and several others of the -more prominent among the accused, were sent to prison for ten years, -while various terms of punishment were inflicted on all the other -prisoners, except nine, who were released. - -The introduction into the Korean conspiracy trial of the names of -several American missionaries, prominent among them Bishop Merriman C. -Harris, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, attracted worldwide attention -to the case. The trial began on June 28, and some of the prisoners, -nearly all of whom were Christian converts, made confessions implicating -the missionaries, which they afterward withdrew, as they declared they -had made them under torture. - -The Japanese government and the Korean officials disavowed at all times -suspicion of any complicity on the part of the missionaries in the plot. -They also declared they had viewed the missionaries’ labors in Korea -with favor. - - -Oppose Capital Punishment in Austria. - -Opposition to capital punishment is gaining ground steadily throughout -Austria. The advocates of absolution of the death penalty include -several of the most powerful writers and speakers in the empire, and -they are making the most of the fact that, while the congress of jurists -voted 470 to 424 in favor of the retention of “legal murder” (as they -are pleased to express it) this was really a moral victory for their -cause. It most unquestionably was. Before the vote in congress it was -not thought that more than a third of the jurists would support the -resolution assailing the wisdom and legality of death sentences. -Concerted action is to be taken to force the imperial government to -adopt the issue and submit it to Parliament as an administration -measure. - - -Statistics Show 31,517 Books Published in Russia in 1911. - -According to a report just issued by the central statistical committee, -in Russia, the number of books, pamphlets, brochures, and periodicals -published last year was 31,517, and they were printed in thirty-three -different languages and dialects. The Russian publications naturally -head the list with 25,526. Then follow Polish, 1,664; Yiddish and -Hebrew, 965; German, 920; Lettish, 608; Esthonian, 519; Tartar, 372; -Armenian, 266; Little Russian, 242; Grusinian (Georgian), 169; French, -143; English, 23; the rest were in various dialects. - -The _Moskovsky Listok_, commenting upon this report, observes that -formerly Russian culture in the Baltic provinces was opposed solely to -German culture, but now, apparently, it is the literary culture of the -Letts and the Ests that predominates in that region. - - -Large Crops Vindicate Colorado Dry Farmers. - -The farmers from the Central States, who have visited Logan County, -Colo., this year, or passed across its broad acres in automobiles or on -the trains, have opened their eyes with wonder at the beautiful fields -of grain of every description, sugar beets, alfalfa and wild hay, -vegetables, and other products of the soil. They have seen excellent -crops growing, not only in the valleys, but on the broad plains of this -country that a few years ago were the haunts of the Indians, buffaloes, -and the coyotes. - -No doubt many of them a few years ago were solicited by land men to -invest in some of these fertile acres at from $1.25 to $3 an acre, but -thinking that the real-estate men were working some wildcat scheme on -them, they turned the proposition down. But those who have had the -opportunity to view the fields in Logan County this year have no doubt -wished a hundred times over that they had taken advantage of the -investments offered them, for they could have reaped a harvest in one -season that would pay for the land twenty times at the price offered -them. - -The Sterling district alone this year planted 28,000 acres of sugar -beets that will produce as many tons to the acre as any beet crop that -has ever been harvested in the State. The farmers of Logan County are -just completing the harvesting of 41,000 acres of wheat and hundreds of -acres of rye, millet, barley, and flax, thousands of acres of alfalfa -and wild hay, to say nothing of the corn, potatoes, melons, pumpkins, -and every other kind of farm products that the Eastern farmer values so -highly. - -It is estimated by reliable authorities, basing their estimations on the -yield of fields already threshed, that the wheat production in Logan -County this year will average twenty bushels to the acre. This will give -Logan County farmers more than 800,000 bushels of wheat. The beet crop -this year will produce 400,000 tons of beets which will bring better -than $5 a ton. - -The alfalfa crop is larger this year than ever before, two cuttings -having already been harvested, and the third cutting is almost ready. - -Hundreds of Eastern people, who visited the Logan County Fair, which has -just closed, were astonished at the exhibition in the Agriculture -Building. It is safe to say that every one of those who viewed the grand -display will be a booster for Logan County. They will tell that they saw -cabbage raised in Logan County that measured 48 inches in circumference -and corn that is equal to any they ever saw raised in the Missouri -Valley or any of the corn States. They will also tell that they saw -potatoes that would make Eugene Grubb, the expert in the Grand Valley, -go into ecstasies. They also will tell that they saw pumpkins, -watermelons, and other garden and field vegetables that would be a -credit to a tropical country. - -While Logan County does not make claims of being a fruit country, the -visitors will describe to their friends a splendid showing of apples, -crabapples, plums, and berries. And even the sunflowers that they saw -are over 14 feet high. - - -Arkansas Has 10,175 School-teachers. - -State Superintendent George B. Cook, of Arkansas, gave out a statement -showing the condition of Arkansas schools, from which the following -extracts are taken: - -Number of teachers--white, 8,227; colored, 1,948. Total, 10,175. -Increase over last year, 341. - -Average length of term, 117.9 days; increase over last year, 4 days. - -Number of schoolhouses erected in the year, 282; total value, -$1,014,100; average value, $3,596. Total number of schoolhouses in the -State, 6,338; total value, $10,131,828. - -Total receipts from all sources, $5,275,653.37. Total expenditures, -$3,387,349.08. - - -Would Compel Girls to Join German Army. - -Professor Doctor Witzel, of Dusseldorf, advocates compulsory military -service for German girls. An army of nurses should, in his opinion, -follow each army of male combatants, not only to care for the wounded, -but to attend to everything connected with food and clothing. Every -healthy German girl, says the professor, should look on training for -this object as a patriotic duty, and the knowledge acquired will be -useful in the home if it is not utilized in the battlefield. - - -Prisoner Blows Up Police Auto. - -Exploding with a match the fumes of gasoline rising from an open tank, a -prisoner on the way to jail blew up an automobile patrol in the downtown -section of Los Angeles, Cal., recently. The vehicle was destroyed, and -one prisoner was fatally burned and two others, with Patrolman Louis -Canto, seriously injured. - -Canto, with his clothing aflame, started in pursuit of the man who -started the fire, and another prisoner, who, unhurt, were speeding down -the street, but was stopped by onlookers, who stripped the flaming -clothing from his body while the fugitives escaped. - -The patrol was being driven back to central station, after a round-up of -prisoners, and gasoline fumes were released when the fuel tank was -opened for refilling. - - -Three Killed in Clan Fight. - -Two families living near each other at Moschino, Italy, named Dalia and -Fortino, after years of litigation over a patch of ground, decided to -settle the trouble with revolvers in the market place. The townspeople, -on hearing of this, fled, but not before a woman had been shot dead. The -revolver battle lasted some time, and eventually two of the Dalias were -killed and two of the Fortinos are dying. The police arrested the other -relatives. - - -Graft Sister’s Skin on Burned Boy. - -The surgeons at Bellevue Hospital, New York, had had four-year-old -Winfred Schulhoff under their care ever since he was burned on August 23 -in a bonfire in the back yard of his home at 1,085 Washington Avenue, -the Bronx, and had come to the conclusion that only skin grafted from -the body of some healthy person would save the little boy, when they -were startled by his twelve-year-old sister, Alice, walking into the -hospital and volunteering as much of her skin as they wanted. - -Five square inches were grafted from her back to his unhealed thighs. At -the end of the operation, Doctor Cramp, assistant visiting surgeon, -pronounced it successful, and predicted that the children would be able -to go home in a few days. - - -Training a Pleasure, Says Veteran Coach. - -Training, instead of being a great act of self-denial, is in reality a -pleasure, according to Coach Joseph H. Thompson, of the University of -Pittsburgh football team, who brought out this fact in an address -delivered by him before the Men’s Brotherhood, of the Eighth United -Presbyterian Church, Perrysville Avenue, Northside, Pittsburgh. “The -value of training as an element of success,” was the subject assigned to -the famous coach, who said in part: - -“A man is trained to be a physician, a painter, a veterinary -surgeon--why then should he not be trained to develop his own faculties? -Many persons make the mistake of believing that training is a great -self-denial, but on the contrary, it is not. It is in reality the -highest element of pleasure in which a man can possibly participate. - -“What is more pleasing than to be able to walk erect, to look your -fellow men straight in their faces, to feel so good you cannot avoid -getting up on your toes and stepping out at a lively gait, your face -radiant, eyes glistening and so full of life and hope and joy, that all -mankind is made happy by coming in contact with you? This is what -training does, and surely such things are certain elements of success. - -“The cigarette is the greatest curse the young man of the country has to -contend with to-day. If he wishes to excel in anything, he must -eliminate this habit. The cigarette is as deadly to success as the most -deadly poison is to the body. To train is to regulate the body and all -its functions. One must sleep regularly, eat regularly, and, in fact, -eliminate all things that would in any way interfere with regularity. - -“When a man enters his home with a radiant face and a beaming -countenance, he is always sure of a welcome. That which is pleasing to -your own wives and families is also pleasing to your fellow man. The -greatest factor in a man’s happiness is regularity. Regularity is -training. Training under proper conditions is the one factor, in my -opinion, which will produce absolute and genuine happiness.” - - -Revolution Has Drained the Treasury of San Domingo. - -The resources of the Dominican government are so drained by the cost of -fighting the revolutionists that it is unable to pay the salaries of the -officials or current expenses and the public debt is increasing, -according to advices received in New York. Intervention from outside is -looked for in many quarters. The opinion is frequently expressed that if -a provisional government should be appointed and elections held under -the efficient control of a third party, the republic would be placed in -a position which would lead to prosperity. - - -Instrument to Detect Hurricanes. - -The “barocyclometer,” an instrument so sensitive as to detect a -hurricane 500 miles away, thus enabling ships equipped with it to steer -clear of storms, is to be installed by the navy department in all of the -naval stations on the Atlantic coast, and perhaps on the ships of the -Atlantic Fleet. - -This instrument is the invention of the Reverend José Algue, director of -the Philippines weather bureau. While in Washington recently, Father -Algue conferred with Captain Joseph L. Jayne, superintendent of the -United States naval observatory, relative to the recharting of the -Atlantic Ocean for the use of the barocyclometer. This instrument has -been in use in the Philippines and China naval stations and on the ships -of the Asiatic Fleet for many years. - - -“Dead” Animals Made to Live. - -Doctor Samuel F. Meltzer, of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical -Research, in the course of recent experiments to discover a successful -method of artificial respiration, restored to life two animals which he -had caused to be put to death, and which were dead in the common -acceptance of the term. Both recovered entirely. He believes the method -to be equally applicable to man, and urges that it be tried in all cases -of death; for it is quite possible, he asserts, that in cases of death -from acute illness the actual cause might be only of a temporary -nature. - -This laboratory worker, whose reputation is international, is known to -scientists as an extremely conservative man. His positive statements, -therefore, regarding the result of his latest discovery have created a -stir in scientific circles. - -It is certain that Doctor Meltzer has devised a method of artificial -respiration tenfold more efficient than the older ones, and it is -expected that it will be the means of saving countless lives. - -Briefly the method consists of the introduction of a catheter into the -pharynx, pulling out of the tongue, forcing the back part of the tongue -against the roof of the mouth by pressure applied far back under the -chin, putting a weight on the abdomen to keep air from being forced into -the stomach, connecting the catheter with a bellows, and pumping air -into the lungs. With very little instruction the layman can learn these -methods as readily as the physician. - -“The method was studied and found effcient on four species of animals. -But its real usefulness will be established only after standing the test -in its application to human beings, and the final judgment will have to -come from the physicians and not from the experimenter in the -laboratory.” - -The majority of Doctor Meltzer’s experiments were carried on with -animals in which respiration had been paralyzed by means of a poison -named curare. - - -Indians Poison Mexican Wells. - -Death by poison is a new menace added by rebellious Indians operating -about the city of Oaxaca, Mexico, whose residents fear to take a drink -of water. Chemists are making tests for traces of cyanide of potassium -in the city’s water supply. - -A group of rebels are declared to have entered the Natividad mining -camp, in the Ixtlan district, and to have secured 200 pounds of the -poison. - -The rebels said they would first use the cyanide to poison the springs -at San Felipe, from which much of the water used in the city of Oaxaca -is piped. A small band of rebels was discovered in the neighborhood of -the springs and driven off by federal troops. The rebel loss is given at -11 killed. - - -A Good Use for Grasshoppers. - -Perry Wharton, a Gray County, Mo., ranchman, is buying up turkeys -wherever he can find them. - -“I want to feed them grasshoppers,” explained Mr. Wharton. “There isn’t -any better turkey feed, and there’s plenty of it going to waste.” - -Mr. Wharton explained that there are an unusual number of the big -yellow-legged grasshoppers this year. They are not the kind that eat up -crops, but nevertheless they are a nuisance, and do some damage. - -“My plan is to pasture out several thousand turkeys and let them feed on -the hoppers,” said he. “It will fatten them up in good shape and they -will be ready for the Thanksgiving market, at very little expense, and -at the same time be ridding the country of a pest.” - - -Slim Build Lets this Convict Escape. - -Stiney Bogden, of Shenandoah, Pa., owes to his slim build and a rope of -stockings his liberty, which he gained some time between midnight and 5 -o’clock in the morning, by squeezing through the small aperture which -served as a window in his cell in the Schuylkill County prison. He then -dropped to the ground twelve feet, scaled the lightning rod to the top -of the jail building, and with the stocking rope lowered himself to the -street on the other side of the jail wall. The window was so small that -it was not thought necessary to provide it with bars. Bogden was serving -a two-year sentence for receiving stolen goods, and had served about six -months of his time. Thus far no clew to his whereabouts has been -obtained. - - -Former Dive Keeper Tells of Wrath to Come. - -“New York to-day is worse than Sodom and Gomorrah and God’s wrath will -fall upon it as it did upon them and smite it into nothingness.” - -William McGlory, formerly “king of dive keepers,” and known as the -“wickedest man” now reformed, is author of this statement and prophecy. -He declared “the police are not what they use to be, and that he is now -afraid to venture out upon the streets at night.” - - -Indians Buy Baby Carriages. - -Blanket Osage Indians, who have a liking for automobiles and other -features of modern civilization, have taken another step forward. The -Osage women are abandoning the ancient aboriginal custom of carrying -their infant offspring strapped to a board on their backs. Recently a -great many of them have purchased the fanciest “gocarts” they could buy, -and now it is no uncommon sight in Tulsa, Okla., or other towns -frequented by the Osages to see an Osage mother, garbed in a gaudy -blanket herself, pushing a baby buggy in which reposes a little papoose -who seems as contented as when strapped to the mother’s back. - -It is said the Poncas, Otoes, and other blanket Indians are gradually -coming to this custom. - - -Unsuspected Bank Clerk Pleads Guilty of Robbery. - -William H. Bell, the 19-year-old bank clerk, who recently confessed to -stealing the package of $55,000 from the First National Bank, at -Pensacola, Fla., was arraigned before a United States commissioner and -entered a plea of guilty. - -Bell declared he had no accomplices in taking the money from the bank, -or in returning it to the back door of the bank where it was found by -the negro janitor. His bond was fixed at $5,000. - -In his confession, Bell declared he yielded in a moment of weakness in -taking the money, but, after he had it, he did not know what to do with -it. He said he desired to have sentence levied for his crime as quickly -as possible. - -Bell was not under suspicion up to the time he presented himself to the -bank president and confessed to the crime. - - -Gaynor Stands Up for the Hatpin. - -Mayor Gaynor is not in sympathy with the crusade to suppress the wearing -of hatpins with unprotected ends. Several attempts to pass an antihatpin -ordinance in the board of aldermen have been made recently, and the -mayor expresses his opinion on the subject in a letter to one of the -advocates of the ordinance: - -“I must confess,” he writes, “I never saw any one hurt by a lady’s -hatpin, but since you say so, and since the prefect of the Rhone -department, in France, as you say, has issued an edict against ladies’ -hatpins, I suppose they must do much slaughter. But is it altogether -seemly for a man to get his face so close to a lady’s hatpin as to get -scratched? Shouldn’t such a fellow get scratched?” - - -Cripples Play Exciting Ball Game. - -A large crowd of sympathetic friends and school comrades watched the -ball game on the old league grounds on Huntington Avenue, Boston, -recently, between the nines of the Massachusetts Hospital School, of -Canton, and the Industrial School for Crippled and Deformed Children, -which resulted in a victory for the Industrials by 19 to 14. - -Nearly all the young players on both sides were handicapped by some form -or another of bodily injury, and the running had to be done in many -cases by substitutes, but neither their good spirits nor skill seemed to -be affected greatly. The Canton school was outplayed in the early part -of the game, but picked up toward the end, and the ninth ended in a -blaze of glory with two home runs in succession, one of which was -knocked by Noel Metras, who is pitcher for his team, and has had both -legs amputated below the knee. - - -Killed 3,750,000 Flies. - -A. E. Chapman, the municipal fly catcher, at Redlands, Cal., has filed -his first report, showing that in the period between September 1 and -September 24 he killed approximately 3,750,000 flies. He has emptied -fifty gallons of flies from too traps scattered through the business -portion of Redlands. Chapman estimates that there are 75,000 flies to a -gallon. - - -Factories in Canada Behind on Orders. - -General Manager Leonard, of the Canadian Pacific Railway, stated before -the railway commission in Ottawa, that the company found itself in a -serious position, in that it could not find car manufacturers to take -its money for cars required for its new equipment. - -“All the car shops in the country are behind in filling orders,” he -said, “and the present shortage of rolling stock is largely due to -inability of makers to keep up with orders. Our directors recently -authorized an expenditure of $19,000,000 for cars, but we are unable to -find any one to take all that money.” - -The Canadian Pacific has been obliged to place orders for more than half -of the 14,500 freight cars required with United States manufacturers. -The other big Canadian roads reporting to the commissioners made similar -statements. - - -Danish Swindler Makes Fortune by Clever Coup. - -By spreading the report that the Danish copper cent coins of the 1910 -issue contained gold, a clever swindler has amassed a small fortune in -Denmark. Before spreading the rumor the swindler acquired a large -collection of the 1910 issue of coppers. Then it became noised about -that through a mistake in the mint gold had been mixed with the copper. - -The price of the cent pieces began to go up, some selling for as much as -a dollar each. With the market at the highest, the collector distributed -his cents judiciously among the clamorous bidders and escaped before it -became generally known that the coins were worth only their face value. - - -Chained to Post in Public for Refusing to Pay Fines. - -After being allowed to rest Sunday in the city jail, Ike McCammic and -Benny Donner, two of the oldest residents of Wellsburg, W. Va., were -fastened to ball and chain and by staples to two telephone poles in -front of city hall. - -They refuse to work out small fines imposed by the mayor, and the mayor -is determined to exhibit them to the public every day during which other -prisoners are cleaning the streets until 30 days have elapsed, and as -the mayor does his duty with emphasis, it is expected the prisoners will -be at their posts daily until their fines are met. The men are permitted -to whittle. - - -For Not Cashing Vouchers Woman May Lose Savings. - -A government regulation may make the bulk of the savings of 80-year-old -Mrs. Kate Coombs so much wastepaper. The aged woman for thirty years has -hoarded the monthly $10 voucher she received for her care of machine -covers in the bureau of printing and engraving. To-day her trunk -contains 360 of the warrants calling for $3,600 from the treasury. But a -treasury law provides that such vouchers must be cashed within two years -of the date of issue. - -An investigation of the vouchers will be made and they may be paid out -of the “outstanding liabilities fund.” - - -Illinois Central Railroad Has Decrease in Business. - -Claude R. Prince, contracting freight agent of the Illinois Central -Railroad, has received the annual report of the system for the year -ending June 30, 1912. - -This report shows a decrease in revenue, due to labor troubles, the -report says, and bad weather conditions in the South and West. -Summarizing, the report says: - -The business during the year shows a material decrease as compared with -the previous year, the latter being the largest in the history of your -company. The principal reasons for the decrease were a strike of the -shopmen, which began on September 30, 1911, on all of the different -lines of your company and continued as a disturbing factor for several -months; an unusually severe winter, which seriously affected the -movement of traffic, but caused a large increase in operating expenses. - -The total operating revenues for the current year were $58,727,272.17, -which, compared with $62,088,736.52 for the preceding year, shows a -decrease of $3,361,464.35, or 5.41 per cent. - -Freight transportation revenue decreased $3,622,219.29, or 8.73 per -cent. The tons of revenue freight carried decreased from 27,966,035 tons -to 26,339,149 tons. - -Revenue from the transportation of passengers increased from -$13,168,862.89 to $13,337,562.40, or 1.28 per cent. There was an -increase in passenger traffic on the northern and southern line, while -the western lines show a slight decrease. - - -The Recent Distribution of Immigrants. - -The census taken April 15, 1910, enumerated in the United States -13,345,545 white persons of foreign birth, of whom almost exactly -5,000,000 were new arrivals who had reached this country between January -1, 1901, and the taking of the census. A statement just issued by -Director Durand, of the bureau of the census department of commerce and -labor, and based on a tabulation prepared by Mr. William C. Hunt, chief -statistician for population, gives the distribution among the States of -these recent additions to the population of the United States. The -figures are preliminary and subject to revision. They represent results -of the inquiry made of all foreign-born residents concerning the year of -their immigration to this country. For some 10 per cent of all -foreign-born whites the enumerators failed to ascertain the year of -immigration, but in the figures here given these unknown cases are -distributed in the same proportions as were ascertained where the facts -were available. - -Of these recent arrivals coming after January 1, 1901, there were -2,155,772, or 43.1 per cent, in the middle Atlantic States (New York, -Pennsylvania, and New Jersey); 1,012,417, or 20.2 per cent in the east -north central division (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and -Wisconsin); and 684,473, or 13.7 per cent, in the New England States. -These three divisions, comprising the States lying north of the Ohio and -east of the Mississippi, contained 3,852,662, or 77.1 per cent of the -immigrants who had come to this country since the year 1900. There were -only 1,147,436, or 22.9 per cent located in the sections of the country -south of the Ohio and west of the Mississippi. - -The older immigrants who came to this country prior to 1901 are more -widely dispersed. Of these earlier immigrants the middle Atlantic -division contained in 1910 2,670,407, or 32 per cent, as compared with -43.1 per cent of the recent arrivals. The east north central division -had 2,054,803, or 24.6 per cent of the earlier immigrants, but only 20.2 -per cent of the more recent ones. New England with 1,129,913, or 13.5 -per cent of the older immigrants, has about the same share in the older -as in the newer immigration. The whole region north of the Ohio and east -of the Mississippi, which contained 5,855,123 persons who came to this -country before 1901, or 70.2 per cent of the entire number, has, as -previously stated, 77.1 per cent of the newcomers. - -The new arrivals formed 37.5 per cent of the whole number of the -foreign-born whites. In the middle Atlantic division the newcomers -represent 44.7 per cent of the total foreign-born white population, in -the South Atlantic division 40.9 per cent, and in the mountain division -40.3 per cent. On the other hand, in the west north central division the -newcomers are only 24.9 per cent of all the foreign-born white, and in -the east south central division the proportion is 24.3 per cent. - -Among the middle Atlantic States the proportion of the newcomers is -greatest in Pennsylvania (48 per cent), but in each of the other States -of this division their proportion is greater than in the country at -large. In West Virginia the newcomers represent 68.2 per cent of the -foreign-born white, the largest proportion found in any State, but this -is the only State in the South Atlantic division with a noticeably large -proportion of recent immigrants. Without West Virginia the division as a -whole would show a smaller proportion of newcomers than the country -generally. States in which the recent arrivals form more than the -foreign-born white are, besides West Virginia, Arizona with 54.9 per -cent, and Wyoming with 51.7 per cent. States where the proportion does -not reach 50 per cent, but exceeds 40 per cent, are New Mexico 49.2, -Pennsylvania 48, Florida 44.1, New York 43.5, New Jersey 42.4, Montana -42.1, Nevada 41.8, Connecticut 41.5, and Ohio 40.4. On the other hand, -there are a number of States where the foreign-born have received -comparatively few accessions by the immigration of recent years, and -where the older immigrants represent at least three-fourths of all the -foreign-born. These are: Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska, -South Dakota, and Wisconsin. - -The proportion of newcomers among the foreign whites in 1910 (37.5 per -cent) is much larger than was the case ten years before. The census of -1900 enumerated 10,341,276 foreign-born persons, of whom 2,609,173, or -25.2 per cent, had arrived in the United States after 1890. The reason -for this larger proportion of newcomers in 1910 lies in the greater -immigration of the decade which preceded the last census enumeration. - -During the period from January 1, 1910 to April 1, 1911, the bureau of -immigration recorded the arrival in the United States of 8,248,890 -immigrants. Of these, 5,000,098, or 60.6 per cent, were accounted for as -present in the United States at the census enumeration of April 15, -1910. In the period preceding the census of 1900 from January 1, 1891, -to June 1, 1900, the number of immigrants reported was 3,421,184, of -whom 2,609,173, or 76.3 per cent, were counted by the census enumeration -of June 1, 1900. The comparisons of the two periods indicates that the -immigration to the United States contains a larger proportion than -formerly of persons who go back instead of remaining here permanently. - - -Delegate Gives Banker a Shock. - -Officials of the Commercial Bank, at Chicago, were given a severe shock -for a few seconds recently when a delegate of the International Chamber -of Commerce started to stroll away with $200,000, which had been shown -to him to illustrate our currency. - -John Hammar, delegate from Sweden, went into the bank to cash a draft -for £25. The officials showed him every courtesy, and one went to the -vault, bringing out a package of $5,000 and $10,000 notes, the total -worth being $200,000. - -Mr. Hammar, without looking at the bills, and failing to understand the -explanation, took the notes, and, stuffing them into his pocket, bowed -and started to walk out, thinking he had received the money for his -draft. - -The officials called after him, but, believing they merely wished him to -count his money, he smiled by way of expressing his entire confidence, -and continued on his way out. After a time the situation was explained, -and an understanding reached. - - -Pardoned Banker Back to Wall Street Game. - -Charles W. Morse, ex-banker, who was released from the Federal prison at -Atlanta because he was supposed to be dangerously ill, appeared in the -office of the Morse Securities Company, in the Wall Exchange Building, -New York, recently, ready to work at the task of upbuilding his -fortunes. Morse was not inclined to talk about himself or his business -activities. He only smiled when asked if he intended to start a -steamship line between New York and Boston, using the Cape Cod Canal. -The ex-banker looks well, and is apparently fit to play the Wall Street -game once more. - - -Methodist Ministers Must Not Joke. - -A minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church must not yield to a -tendency to tell questionable jokes, and he must not permit others to -tell them in his presence, even if he has to use force to prevent their -being told, according to Bishop William F. McDowell, who addressed the -Rock River conference, at Evanston, Ill. - -Laziness and lack of attention to personal appearance also were scored -by Bishop McDowell. - - -Carried Out to Sea While Being Baptized. - -While being baptized by immersion in the Atlantic Ocean at the foot of -Remington Street, Arverne, L. I., Lucy Clary, a negress, was carried out -to sea on a big wave which separated her from the Reverend J. W. Dudley, -pastor of the Shiloh Colored Baptist Church, Arverne, who was conducting -the baptismal services. - -After being rescued, she declined to go further with the ceremonies -there, and they were continued at the church. - - -A Blind Stenographer. - -A certain Monsieur Lejeune, who has been totally blind from birth, has -just given an exhibition of his skill in writing shorthand, reaching a -speed of 100 words a minute at the Grand Palais, Paris, France. Last -August he was actually expert enough to obtain a medal for shorthand in -a competition held at Orleans, where he also received a diploma for -correct and rapid typewriting. The machine he uses for stenography is -also exhibited at the Grand Palais in the exhibition that is being held -of toys and mechanical contrivances, and its inventor has received the -prize from the jury of the “Concours Lepine.” Lejeune learned to -manipulate the machine at his present speed in less than five months. - - -Brave Newsboy Offered Fifteen Artificial Legs. - -William Rugh, the Gary, Ind., newsboy, who gave his crooked leg to save -the life of Ethel Smith, will have all the artificial legs a crippled -centipede could require. He has had the offer of fifteen artificial -limbs. In addition, nearly $1,000 has already been raised for him, -contributions coming from Ohio, Texas, New York, and the coast States. - - -Three New Rescue Stations for English Miners. - -Three new mine-rescue stations are to be established in the English -counties of Durham and Northumberland similar to the one already in -existence. This is in accordance with the mines rescue and aid act, -passed by Parliament in 1910. - -At each station there will be kept ready for use, not less than 15 sets -of portable breathing apparatus, 20 electric hand lamps, four sets of -oxygen-reviving apparatus, an ambulance box or boxes provided by the -ambulance association, or similar boxes, together with antiseptic -solution and fresh drinking water; also cages of birds and mice for -testing for carbon monoxide. The necessary motor vehicles and fire -engine will likewise be provided. - - - - -The Nick Carter Weekly - -_ISSUED EVERY SATURDAY_ _BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS_ - - -When it comes to detective stories worth while, the NICK CARTER WEEKLY -contains the only ones that should be considered. They are not overdrawn -tales of bloodshed. They rather show the workings of one of the finest -minds ever conceived by a writer. - -The name of Nick Carter is familiar all over the world and the stories -of his adventures are read eagerly by millions, in twenty different -languages. No other stories have withstood the severe test of time so -well as those contained in the NICK CARTER WEEKLY. It proves -conclusively that they are best. - -We give herewith a list of all the back numbers in print. You can have -your news-dealer order them or they will be sent direct by the -publishers to any address upon receipt of the price in money or -postage-stamps. - -516--The Mechanical Giant. -517--Doris, the Unknown. -519--Madge Morley’s Ghost. -520--An Automobile Mystery. -521--The Mysterious Stranger. -522--The White Arm of a Woman. -523--The Man in the Doorway. -524--The Plot of the Baron. -525--The Passenger on the Night Local. -526--A Double Mystery. -527--Clarice, the Countess. -531--A Blackmailer’s Paradise. -532--Gipsy Madge, the Blackmailer. -533--Facing an Unseen Terror. -534--Idayah, the Woman of Mystery. -537--Zanabayah, the Terrible. -538--The Seven-headed Monster. -539--The Woman of the Mask. -540--The Masked Woman’s Daring Plot. -543--Black Madge’s Vengeance. -544--A Tragedy of the Footlights. -545--The Mayard Woman’s Double. -546--Three Against Fifteen. -547--A Mystery of Two Passengers. -549--The House of Secrets. -550--The Lost Bank President. -551--Ralph Bolton’s Double Plot. -552--The Dare-devil Crook. -553--A Mystery from the Klondyke. -554--Returned from the Grave. -555--The Mystery Man of 7-Up Ranch. -556--A Bad Man of Montana. -557--The Man from Arizona. -558--Kid Curry’s Last Stand. -559--A Beautiful Anarchist. -560--The Nihilist’s Second Move. -561--The Brotherhood of Free Russia. -562--A White House Mystery. -563--The Great Spy System. -564--The Last of Mustushimi. -566--A Mystery in India Ink. -567--The Plot of the Stantons. -568--The Criminal Trust. -569--The Syndicate of Crooks. -570--The Order of the Python. -571--Tried for His Life. -572--A Bargain With a Thief. -573--Peters, the Shrewd Crook. -574--The Mystery of the Empty Grave. -575--The Yellow Beryl. -576--The Dead Man on the Roof. -577--A Double-barreled Puzzle. -578--An Automobile Duel. -579--Jasper Ryan’s Counter Move. -580--An International Conspiracy. -581--Plotters Against a Nation. -582--Mignon Duprez, the Female Spy. -583--A Mystery of High Society. -584--A Million Dollars Reward. -585--The Signal of Seven Shots. -586--The “Shadow.” -587--A Dead Man’s Secret. -588--A Victim of Magic. -589--A Plot Within a Palace. -590--The Countess Zeta’s Defense. -591--The Princess’ Last Effort. -592--The Two Lost Crittendens. -593--Miguel, the Avenger. -594--Eulalia, the Bandit Queen. -595--The Crystal Mystery. -596--A Battle of Wit and Skill. -597--Vanderdyken, the Millionaire. -598--Patsy’s Vacation Problem. -599--The King’s Prisoner. -600--A Woman to the Rescue. -601--Nick Carter in Japan. -602--Talika, the Geisha Girl. -603--By Order of the Emperor. -604--The Convict’s Secret. -605--The Man in the Dark. -606--An Anarchist Plot. -607--The Mysterious Mr. Peters. -608--A Woman at Bay. -609--The Balloon Tragedy. -610--Nick Carter’s Strangest Case. -611--The Stolen Treasure. -612--The Island of Fire. -613--The Senator’s Plot. -614--The Madness of Morgan. -615--A Million-dollar Hold-up. -616--Nick Carter’s Submarine Clue. -617--Under the Flag of Chance. -618--The Case Against Judge Bernard. -619--Down to the Grave. -620--The Fatal Javelin. -621--The Ghost of Nick Carter. -622--A Strange Coincidence. -623--Pauline--A Mystery. -624--A Woman of Plots. -625--A Millionaire Swindler. -626--The Money Schemers. -627--On the Trail of the Moon. -628--The House of Mystery. -629--The Disappearance of Monsieur Gereaux. -630--An Heiress to Millions. -631--The Man in the Biograph. -632--The Time-lock Puzzle. -633--The Moving Picture Mystery. -634--The Tiger-tamer. -635--A Strange Bargain. -636--The Haunted Circus. -637--The Secret of a Private Room. -638--A Mental Mystery. -639--The Sealed Envelope. -640--The Message in Blue. -641--A Dream of Empire. -642--The Detective’s Disappearance. -643--The Midnight Marauders. -644--The Child of the Jungle. -645--Nick Carter’s Satanic Enemy. -646--Three Times Stolen. -647--The Great Diamond Syndicate. -648--The House of the Yellow Door. -649--The Triangle Clue. -650--The Hollingsworth Puzzle. -651--The Affair of the Missing Bonds. -652--The Green Box Clue. -653--The Taxi-cab Mystery. -654--The Mystery of a Hotel Room. -655--The Tragedy of the Well. -656--The Black Hand. -657--The Black Hand Nemesis. -658--A Masterly Trick. -659--A Dangerous Man. -660--Castor, the Poisoner. -661--The Castor Riddle. -662--A Tragedy of the Bowery. -663--Four Scraps of Paper. -664--The Secret of the Mine. -665--The Dead Man in the Car. -666--Nick Carter’s Master Struggle. -667--The Air-shaft Spectre. -668--The Broken Latch. -669--Nick Carter’s Sudden Peril. -670--The Man with the Missing Thumb. -671--Feltman, the “Fence.” -672--A Night with Nick Carter. -673--In the Nick of Time. -674--The Dictator’s Treasure. -675--Pieces of Eight. -676--Behind the Mask. -677--The Green Patch. -678--The Drab Thread. -679--The Live-wire Clue. -680--The Vampires of the Tenement. -681--The Policy King Baffled. -682--The Madman’s Gig. -683--A Life at Stake. -684--Trailing a Secret Thread. -685--The Crimson Flash. -686--A Puzzle of Identities. -687--The Westervelt Option. -688--The Vanishing Heiress. -689--The Birth of a Mystery. -690--A Clue from the Past. -691--The Red Triangle. -692--Doctor Quartz Again. -693--The Famous Case of Doctor Quartz. -694--The Chemical Clue. -695--The Prison Cipher. -696--A Pupil of Doctor Quartz. -697--The Midnight Visitor. -698--The Master Crook’s Match. -699--The Man Who Vanished. -700--The Garnet Gauntlet. -701--The Silver Hair Mystery. -702--The Cloak of Guilt. -703--A Battle for a Million. -704--Written in Red. -705--The Collodion Stain. -707--Rogues of the Air. -709--The Bolt from the Blue. -710--The Stockbridge Affair. -711--A Secret from the Past. -712--Playing the Last Hand. -713--A Slick Article. -714--The Taxicab Riddle. -715--The Knife Thrower. -716--The Ghost of Bare-faced Jimmy. -717--The Master Rogue’s Alibi. -718--The Diplomatic Spy. -719--The Dead Letter. -720--The Allerton Millions. -721--A Play for Place. -722--The House of Whispers. -723--The Blue Room Mystery. -727--The Great Pool Room Syndicate. -728--The Mummy’s Head. -729--The Statue Clue. -730--The Torn Card. -731--Under Desperation’s Spur. -732--The Connecting Link. -733--The Abduction Syndicate. -734--The Silent Witness. -736--The Toils of a Siren. -737--The Mark of a Circle. -738--A Plot Within a Plot. -739--The Dead Accomplice. -740--A Mysterious Robber. -741--The Green Scarab. -742--The Strangest Case on Record. -743--A Shot in the Dark. -744--The Seven Schemers. -745--The Hidden Crime. -746--The Secret Entrance. -747--The Cavern Mystery. -748--The Disappearing Fortune. -749--A Voice from the Past. -752--The Spider’s Web. -753--The Man With a Crutch. -754--The Rajah’s Regalia. -755--Saved from Death. -756--The Man Inside. -757--Out for Vengeance. -758--The Poisons of Exili. -759--The Antique Vial. -760--The House of Slumber. -761--A Double Identity. -762--“The Mocker’s” Stratagem. -763--The Man that Came Back. -764--The Tracks in the Snow. -765--The Babbington Case. -766--Masters of Millions. -767--The Blue Stain. -768--The Lost Clew. -769--The Midnight Message. -770--The Turn of a Card. -771--A Message in the Dust. -772--A Royal Flush. -773--The Metal Casket Mystery. -774--The Great Buddha Beryl. -775--The Vanishing Heiress. -776--The Unfinished Letter. -777--A Difficult Trail. -778--A Six-word Puzzle. -779--Dr. Quartz. -780--Dr. Quartz’s Oath. -781--The Fate of Dr. Quartz. -782--A Woman’s Stratagem. -783--The Cliff Castle Affair. -784--A Prisoner of the Tomb. -785--A Resourceful Foe. -786--The Heir of Dr. Quartz. -787--Dr. Quartz, the Second. -788--Dr. Quartz II. at Bay. -789--The Great Hotel Tragedies. -790--Zanoni, the Witch. -791--A Vengeful Sorceress. -792--The Prison Demon. -793--Doctor Quartz on Earth Again. -794--Doctor Quartz’s Last Play. -795--Zanoni, the Transfigured. -796--The Lure of Gold. -797--The Man With a Chest. -798--A Shadowed Life. -799--The Secret Agent. -800--A Plot for a Crown. -801--The Red Button. -802--Up Against It. -803--The Gold Certificate. -804--Jack Wise’s Hurry Call. -805--Nick Carter’s Ocean Chase. -806--Nick Carter and the Broken Dagger. -807--Nick Carter’s Advertisement. -808--The Kregoff Necklace. -809--The Footprints on the Rug. -810--The Copper Cylinder. -811--Nick Carter and the Nihilists. -812--Nick Carter and the Convict Gang. -813--Nick Carter and the Guilty Governor. -814--The Triangled Coin. -815--Ninety-nine--and One. -816--Coin Number 77. -817--In the Canadian Wilds. -818--The Niagara Smugglers. -819--The Man Hunt. - - -New Nick Carter Stories - -1--The Man from Nowhere. -2--The Face at the Window. -3--A Fight for a Million. -4--Nick Carter’s Land Office. -5--Nick Carter and the Professor. -6--Nick Carter as a Mill Hand. -7--A Single Clew. -8--The Currie Outfit. - - -=Price, Five Cents per Copy.= If you want any back numbers of our weeklies -and cannot procure them from your news dealer, they can be obtained -direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as money. - - -STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, 79-89 SEVENTH AVE., NEW YORK CITY - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NICK CARTER STRIKES OIL; OR -UNCOVERING MORE THAN A MURDER. *** - -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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