Under His Thumb — page 192: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

UNDER HIS THUMB. 183 impossible undertaking to trace the shrewd being who had taken such hasty flight. : - Itin reality required time and patience. Yet Croly accomplished the task with such methodical accuracy that before the hour of nine that evening he had ‘spotted’? the exact place where Spider had taken refuge. ‘The spot was one of the most notoriously lawless in the city—a resort for thieves and house- breakers at all times; and often sought as a place of - refuge by criminals of the most desperate descrip- tion hiding from the police. Why such resorts as these are not entirely broken up by the authorities it 1s not easy to explain. That they do exist, however, is a fact which any person familiar with the byways of the great metropolis can attest. Croly realized that the most perilous part of his undertaking was before him. The case was one that required such delicate hand- ling that he dared not eall on the police for assist- ance. There was but one man in the city whom he would have trusted to aid him in this matter. That one was the Hindoo detective, his rival. Of course, he did not for an instant think of call- ing upon him for assistance. ‘I win alone, and against him, or Ido not win at all,’? Croly declared, in an undertone, as he ap- proached the dilapidated old rookery in which he be- lieved Spider to have sought refuge. This building, or rather cluster of buildings, were little better than a heap of brick and mortar seem- inely tottering on their foundations. They were separated near the middle by a covered court, which was dark and filthy beyond descrip- tion. entire length, and presently found himself in a square open court beyond. In the center of this space a large pole had been erected for the support Croly stealthily entered this court, cpanaee along its of several telephone and telegraph wires, for which - the crumbling bricks of the buildings had been found insecure. A hasty survey of the premises showed the detec- — Eomichbooks am