Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1090 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

Jubilee Joe, the Chain-Lightning Detective, nihilate a person, and after he had gulped down a glass of whisky he turned to leave the place. ut Joe called him back. ‘** Lookee heer, Gibbsy, | wanter see ye a min- nit!” he said. ‘* Got some ’portant biz; an’ef ye kno’ when yer skin’s safe, you’ll come an’ set down,” ‘* What do you mean?” Gibbs demanded. ‘* Bizness!” Joe assured grimly, ‘‘Ef you don’t: wanter hear it you’ll wish ye hed, when ye git to Moya.” The villain uttered an oath and sat down. ** What do you mean?” he growled. ‘*[ mean that ye’r’ playin’ a big game, but yer’ goin’ ter fail; an’ your only show is ter do ther traitor act, ter save yerself. Ef ye don’t ye B0 ter jail along wi’? Tom Smith, Mark an’ sal! ‘* You don’t mean—” ‘*'You bet Ido! I’ve bin playin’ greasea-light- nin’ detective, an’ me an’ th’ Insurance Com- pany is dead on th’ racket. Ther hull game is up, an’ jail aire a-waitin’!” ‘You get out! You’re—” ‘*Dry up! WhatIsayistrue. ’Tain’t no use o’ yer tryin’ to squeeze out. That gal w’at got killed on Spruce warn’t no Laura Murray. Shi I'm fly! Tell you what, Gibbsy, yer only show is ter come over ter our side. ‘* By doin’ that. you’ll save ten years up th’ Penn k, Mebbe, too, it can be arranged so th’ company’ll pay ye, ef ye open yer mouth wide enuff. Gibbs looked thoughtful. ‘*Do you think so?” he demanded, after a mo- ment. ‘* Yes. You make a statement, givin’ th’ bull thing away, an’ I’ll fix it.” ** You! Bah!” ‘Yas; me!” ‘Tl have to see the money first.” ** Will you squeal if ye’r’ paid fer it?” ‘Yes; providing I am not got into touble. Tam doing it now on my own hook. Mark and I have had a growl, and I am_no fool!” ** Where did Smith take Allan?” Gibbs looked surprised. ‘* You young imp!” he ejaculated. you find out so much?” ‘‘Oh! I’m a hoss at thet kind o’ bizess! _ Ye hain’t answered me, though.” ‘*T know where he is.” Joe reflected. | ‘*'You stay here ’tal I come back,” he said. ‘*Tll see Ezra Bond, an’ make terms fer you. Don’t you leave here. Johnny, if this feller leaves yer place have him arrested.” | rea nodded. nF here, boy,” Gibbs suddenly exclaimed. ‘Tf I’m going to sell out this game, Pll go to old Bond and make my own bargain. I won’t have a boy like you wary business for me,” + On! er won't, hey?” . ‘* No, 1 won't, hey !’ ‘* Now, Gibbsy, seehere! You jest look plumb- center inter my organs ov sight fer ’bout a frac- tion of a second, an’ let’s know ef ye kin see enny green in there. D’ye suppose that I went through old ‘Mother’ Hickley’s crib last night *thout pickin’ up er few solid p’ints?” lt was Joe’s last card, butit proved his best. To his surprise Gibbs turned pale as death, and sunk down upon achair. It was quite evident that Joe’s shot had struck a secret tender spot. ‘*Tll wait,” he said, ‘but Pll put a bullet through you if you play me any tricks.” ‘* Never fear!” Joe replied, and left the saloon. In half an hour more he stood in Ezra Bond’s private office. ‘* Well?” the shai ig Te said, looking up, ‘what do you want ‘‘T’m heer ter ’stonish ye!” Joe replied. ‘‘ Ye alike ther policy ye issued on Andrew Allan?” ** Yes. ‘¢ Well, ye’r’ out yer twenty thousan’!” ‘What !” ‘¢' Ye ve bin tuk in an’ done fur. That Allan ain’t Allan at all, but one Tom Smith, an’ there’s been a big job put up ter cheat ye, [ve figger- ed it all ott, an’ hev got one o’ th’ gang to squeal on th’ hull game, pervidin’ he’s let off scot free, an’ paid fer what he tells. How much will ye give him ter expose th’ hull game?” Bond Jooked astonished. ‘¢ Can this be true?” he exclaimed. ‘* Bet yer sweet life it aire!” Jubilee answered. ‘“*T tried ter put yer onto ther racket wunst, but er didn’t ketch on, What did yer do with that it o’ paper I guv ye up at Mrs. Bradford’s?” ‘‘ Why, here it is in my vest pocket. I never thought of it again,” and tne vice-president of the company thrust his thumb and finger into his pocket. to bring the paper forth but no paper was there. ** How did a“ * | ro ¥, - : ca; ; a” aX «# i. - ’ 4 ’ i ¢ 2 ? ay - #¥ = =i +e aS r re". i eA, he th ae AS ‘*Yer don’t seem ter find it, I guess.” ** You are right, my boy. Do you know where it is?” and he eyed Joe sharply. ‘*Guess I'd orter! I seen Tom Smith take it outen yer pocket!” ‘** Go ahead, my boy; tell me all.” Joe rattled on, and gave him a hurried account of how he had found out that there was so gi- | pons ascheme afoot to defraud the company. ond called in the president and repeated to him what Joe had related. ‘* My boy,” said the president, surveying Joe keenly, ‘‘if this be true you shall be richly re- warded. As for the person whom you mention, if he gives us the full details of the plot, so that we are able to save ourselves and secure the of- fenders, he shall have his liberty and a thousand dollars!” ‘“‘Tt’s a bargain! Shall I bring him here?” ‘*’Yes, and at once.” Jubilee hastened away in a jubilant mood. ae returned to Flynn’s and found Gibbs still there. When he made known the insurance company’s offer Gibbs arose. ‘* That settles it!” he decided. ‘‘ A thousand dollars in hand is better than twenty in the bush! Ill make a clean go of it. I will confess all,” En route to the office he explained about the real Laura Murray. Fearing Mark and Smith’s scheme might fail he and ‘* Mother” Hickley had gotten up a scheme of their own. He had wit- nessed the accident to the unknown girl by the Spruce street car, and perceiving that the unfor- tunate girl’s garments were almost like those worn by Laura Murray, he and the old hag had accordingly plotted to remove Laura from the den to another place of safety and represent to Mark and Smith that it was. she who had been killed by the street-car. When they arrived at the insurance office he made a clean breast of the whole plot. About a year before, the chief conspirator— Tom Smith, alias a dozen other names—it was hard to say which was his right one—had been employed in an insurance office in New York, where Andrew Allan, of Lancaster, had taken out a policy for $20,000 payable to Laura Mur- ray. Ww hen he learned that Allan had afterward gone to sea, he formed a scheme to get possession of the money pending on the man’s fife A con- sort of his, Mark, by name, chanced to know considerable about Allan and Laura Murray, beirig an Englishman, and he and Smith entered the plot as partners, later adding Gibbs. As Allan was to return from sea in ’76, and would, as a natural consequence, visit the Cen- tennial, Smith took out another insurance in Philadelphia, as Andrew Allan; making it pay- able to Sally Mark, who was to play the part of Laura Murray. When the real Andrew Allan should arrive in Philadelphia, he was to be decoyed and killed, and his face and person so mutilated as to render him unrecognizable, except by the name on his arm, which ‘‘ Captain ” Mark knew he wore, Then Sally Mark was to draw the money on his life, and there was to be a ‘‘divvy” and a ‘* clear-out.’ Mark had done much of the"plotting. Know- ing that Mrs. Bradford had been a friend of the Allan and Murray families in days gone by, he had a letter sent from England to reach her, from a pseudo-lawyer, suggesting that che try and bring the real Laura and Allan together, and lead them to marry, in order that the py 2 lish estate might he settled, giving Laura’s ad- dress as Pittsburg. Mark was the only one of the rascais who knew anything about the English estate, and never a word said he to his accomplices about it until Sally made the discovery, when she told Smith and Gibbs hersel!. Mark thought that Sally was in love with Smith, and his plan was to let them marry and then ‘*bleed” them unmercifully for ‘* hush- money. He could have Jet his daughter into the secret, tis true; but thinking her devoted to Smith, he at not know what the result might be to him- self. It was a quarrel over this second ‘‘boodle” that had caused the rupture between the ‘ Cap- tain ” and Gibbs. It was by Mark’s maneuvering that Laura had started for Philadelphia; it was by Mark’s maneuvering that « pseudo-Lancaster lady re- commended her to Mrs. Bradford. When Laura arrived in Philadelphia, she was decoyed by Gibbs to ‘‘ Mother ” Hickley’s where it had been arranged to substitute y Mark, and have her visit Mrs. Bradford, as shown. Sally Mark had been in Pittsburg for a few \ 15 weeks, and it was there Mrs. Bradford had written to her—or, as she supposed, the real Laura Murray—inviting her to visit Philadel- phia. Thus Sally fell into her place easily enough. Through the London accomplice, who pre- tended to be a lawyer, Mrs. Bradford was ad- vised what time the real Andrew Allan would arrive in New York, and she had written to him, summoning him immediately to Philadel- hia. / " Of course Smith was on hand in New York to intercept that letter; and, armed with it, his position was secure, It was on his return to Philadelphia that he accosted our hero and asked the way to the in- surance compapy’s Office, desiring to play his part perfectly in all its minor details. When the true Allan reached New York, he was met by the telegram sent bY Mark in Mrs. Bradford’s name, and started for Philadelphia as directed' Mark joined that train at Trenton, found his man, and took a seat beside him. The drinking- gone in the car eben tales disappeared, and ark kindly offered Allan the use of a private cup which he carried in his valise, and thus drugged him. The drug took effect at once, and being, as he supposed, detected, Mark got off at the next station and waited for another train. It was purposed to hold the real Laura pris- oner till the insurance money Was secured, and then to set her at liberty. | This, and much more that is known to the ‘reader, Gibbs explained, He also told all inregard to his and ‘‘ Mother’” Hickley’s plot, that when the bogus Laura Mur- ray should try to get the insurance money, the Gibbs and fipkinyecavere to expose the whole game and produce the real Laura, in hopes the company would liberally reward them. The real Andrew Allan, he said, was confined at‘* Mother” Hickley’s, whither Smith had taken him in the cab, and where Smith and Mark, no doubt, would try to make ’way with him, Laura Murray, the real, was imprisoed at the house of one of ‘‘ Mother ” Hickley’s friends. But little more remains to be told, The insurance company at once procured warrants, and sent detectives to arrest Mark, Smith, Sally and others; and, gnided, by the gamin, theysecured them with but little trouble. Andrew Allan and Laura Murray were res- cued, and taken at once to the home of Mrs. Bradford. Ezra Bond was present, of course, as was the now victorious and irrepressible Joe, who, of course, was the hero of the hour, To him be- longed the honor of breaking up one of the greatest conspiracies that ever came to light_in the Quaker City Considering the magnitude ot tne scneme, and the cool and cunning villains he had to deal with, it was one of the quickest pieces of detec- tive work on record; it having occupied but scant thirty-six hours in the wor ing eh Tom Smith and Sally Mark made a desperate fight to prove they were the persons they pre- tended to be, in order to secure the vast English estate, but they failed. The name and birth- date on Andrew Allan’s arm were sufficient to | ‘knock Smith out of time.” They and ‘‘Captain” Mark received severe sentences. Gibbs got off, with his thousand dollars; but ‘a short time later he was arrested for another offense, and sent to ‘‘ Moya” for a long term. Patsy O'Neill, therascally groggery proprietor, soon found himself in the same institution. Johnny Flynn, the saloon keeper, ‘“not so rascally,” now rules and reigns in a ‘‘hEnglish hAle ‘Ouse ” in a far better part of the city, and is doing well. +‘ Mother” Hickley was found dead in her house, about a year after the close of the great exposition. for our good people: Andvew Allan and Laura Murray were mar- ried, of course; and so was the widow Bradtord to Ezra Bond, her old lover! Jubilee Joe, the Chain-Lightning Detective, as he was thereatter christened by all his street chums, never reported what his reward was, but evidently it was not a small one, for he gave up his boot-black calling, and, under the advice of his friends, spent the next five vears at oneof the very best schools in the State. At present, ovey the door of a neat little office n the lower part of Chestnut street, is the ig ; Y JOSEPH BINDLEY, SPECIAL AND PRIVATE DETECTIVE, THE END. No he " ‘ cbooks.com - Yat € arr ~ . ~, es | em i y | «) . oe '* «a - ‘hy we _