Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 432 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

| t3 ~ _ —$— ee where groups of lively promenaders moved to and fro, while merry laughter and jovial chat every where resounded. The mansion was a large and elegantly fur- nished one. had given the party which now filled the house with the beauty, splendor and gayety of the fashionable society of the metropolis, Yet something had happened that threw a shadow over the scene of pleasure. As yet the whisper of it was confined to that earnest group of men in the alcoved corner. fun went on without fear or thought of disaster. The tide of trouble was just rising. Its dark waters had not yet spread. The conference continued earnest and excited. The pale member of the group was Mr. Middle- ton himself. He seemed, indeed, as if over- whelmed with the weight of some misfortune, and stood like one paralyzed while his friends continued their eager conversation. ‘‘ What is to be done?’ demanded one of the group. ‘‘People are looking curiously in this direction. Shall we let the affair out?” ‘“No, no!” cried Mr. Middleton. ‘‘It must be kept secret! I depend on your honor, gentile- men, not to divulge it. I have reasons, deep reasons, for secrecy.” ‘*Then your face will sell it. Why, you are pale as a ghost. This spot is too publie for our talk. Is there no more private spot?” ; { | | i | It was the city residence of Silas | Middleton, a wealthy New York broker, who ; | est group in the alcove, and the broker’s scared Elsewhere the | The lights seemed to burn less brightly. The flowers had lost something of their brilliant hue. There was atendency to huddle together and converse in whispered accents. ‘Vhat was amiss nobody knew, yet numerous wild conjec- tures were in the air. It seemed asif the earn- pallor, had sent a thrill of alarm through the air of the mansion. In the smoking-room, at the rear extremity of the mansion, a group of young men had gathered, fashionably dressed, yet somewhat tast-looking young bloods, the most of them, They were in earnest chat over their cigars. ‘‘ What is it, Will?’ asked one of them, as a handsome youth rather hastily entered the room. ‘* You ought to know, nd we are all boiling over with curiosity. What is wrong?” ‘‘T know nothing about it,” answered Will, flinging himself testily intoachair. ‘I don’t believe there is anything wrong. Some fool has given a false alarm, as another fool will yell fire if he seesa spark, And there are always plenty of fools to spread an alarm.” ‘*¢ Including us, I suppose.” ‘‘Oh, present company is always excepted,” rejoined Will. ‘‘ Of course we are the wise men of the party. What have you heard? They are fluttering out there like chickens that have seen the shadow of a hawk, but you might as well try to get cream from skim milk as to learn anything from them.” ‘“Do you mean to say you haven’t really ‘“You are right,” exclaimed the broker, hur- |} heard?’ cried one of the group, ‘‘ Why, they riedly. ‘*Come with me. CanI trust to youfor | say that Mrs, Middleton, who you know is in secrecy, gentlemen?” ‘‘ Yes, yes, certainly,” wasthe general reply. He led the way from the salon to a private apartment in the upper portion of the house, Here the conversation continued for some half- hour, at the end of which time a person who had been sent for, in all haste, entered, and was at once shown to the room of conference. He was a quiet-looking personage, of medium hight, and rather broad in the shoulders. His closely-shaved countenance showed well-cut fea- tures and an unbrowned complexion, with dark eyes and hair. Quiet as he looked he was evi- dently alert and intelligent, while his eyes were full of fire and spirit. ‘‘Ciood-evening, gentlemen. I believe I am wanted here. Here is my card,” he said, his keen eyes roving from face to face of the some- what stolid but business-like men before him, He handed the card to Mr. Middleton, whom he seemed to recognize at a glance as the lead- ing personae. ** John Logan, of Pinkerton’s Agency,” read the broker; *‘ Invincible Logan. { have heard of you, sir, and am thankful that you are de tailed. Something has happened. Something very serious. Take a seat, sir. Will you tell him the story, Mr. Elkins! I am hardly in trim for talking yet.” The person appealed to, a small-framed, brisk man of business, at once began an eager narra- tion, to which the Invincible listened quietly and gravely. The story was a very wordy one, but the de- tective let it go on with but few interruptions, exce>t to put in a question here and there. At its conclusion he asked Mr. Middleton some questions, in a quiet, matter-of-fact tone of voice. He then rose and turned to the group. ‘‘It is best that this matter should be kept perfectly quiet,” he remarked. ‘‘ Will you gen- tlemen mingle with the guests as if nothing had happened? An alarm might ruin everything. Mr. Middleton had better remain here. Huis face will betray him. Mr. Elkins, will you show me the spot? But first, I wish to take a quiet walk through the rooms and look at the guests. And, Mr. Middleton, will you please have inquiry made if any of your guests have left the house within the last hour? I should like a list of the names of all such persons. Will you accompany me, Mr. Elkins?” The conference broke up with these words. Mr. Middleton remained in the room, in com- pany with one of his older friends, The others escended to the room below, the detective in company with Mr. Elkins. The ready and quick-witted officer had made some hasty changes in his apparel, had replaced his dark necktie with one of more fashionable color, and, though soberly dressed, seemed quite capable of carrying himself off as one of the in- wited guests. But, while all this was going on above, all was not at rest below. A whisper had got afloat in the rooms somehow, it was hard to tell how. Tho unknown disaster had cast itsshadow wn the gay throng. Ohio, has fallen dead of heart disease. A tele- gram has just come in with the news,” ‘“ Who told you that?” interrupted a second. ‘‘That’s some frightened woman’s story. The fact is, your uncle has been robbed. He had a very large sum of money in his private safe, and it has vanished within the last hour.” ‘** Nonsense! It’s nothing of the kind!” ex- claimed a third, ‘* There’s no real secret about the matter. He has a heavy dealin wheat, and the bottom of the market has dropped out, through the failure of a house in Chicago. It’s enough to make a man turn pale. A sweep of a million, they say.” “Who set that yarn afloat?” demanded a fourth, pushing hastily forward. ‘‘I have just heard the true story. Mr. Middleton’s bark, the Neversink, with a valuable cargo of silks from France, has struck an iceberg and gone down. A Cunarder is just in, and brings the only man left alive of the crew.” Will had remained seated, looking somewhat distractedly from one to another of the speak- ers, as they pushed forward excitedly with their stories, A‘ satirical smile curled his lips as the last one finished. ‘‘Who else knows anything?’ he queried, with a quizzical look round the group. ‘‘ As my uncle has no ship called the Neversink, and don’t import silks, that yarn won’t pass. What else has happened? What do you know about it, George?’ The person he spoke to was a stout, full-faced young man, who wore a long, dark mustache, and whose countenance showed traces of dissi- pation. He had sat listening to the conversa- tion with a cynical look on his face. ** Everything,” was the answer. ‘‘ But every- thing just now means nothing. I think it is about time to build a dam across the sluiceway of lies. If the thing goes on at the present rate they’ll have your uncle dead and buried, and a forty-ton rock on his coffin. It is your duty to pat a stop toit,my boy. Tell the people what as really happened, before they fill New York with floating hes.” ‘Nothing has happened,” answered Will, coolly. ‘‘ I have been trying to trace this fright to its source, and all that is known is that Mr, Middleton grew pale, and left the room with some of his friends, I asked one of them, and it seems it is nothing but one of the fits of ver- tigo to which he is subject. The imagination of —r long-tongued gossips has done all the rest. ‘* Then, for mercy’s sake, stop them!” spoke a brisk voice near by. ‘The whole party will break up in disorder, and no end of wild non- i get afloat, unless this thing is check ed. The speaker was Mr, Elkins, who had entered the room in company with the detective while this conversation was in progress, The latter personage had walked quietly to the table, helped himself to a cigar, and sat smoking, apparently without paying the slight- est attention to the talk that was going on around him, His eyes seemed fixed on the ceil- Invincible Logan, the Pinkerton Ferret. ing, and one would have said that he cid not see a person present. ‘** Much obliged, Mr. Elkins,” said Will. ‘* That is good advice. 1 will take it. There are no | greater geese than a party of fashionable peorle, ee ee —_— to whom gossip is as sweet as hcney to a bear. T’ll see what I can do.” He left the room as he ceased. ‘* That is at the bottom of it all,” remarked Mr. Elkins, quietly. ‘‘A mere vertigo. Mr, Mid- dleton will be all right again in an hour. Shall we seek the dancing-room, Mr, Logan?” ‘Please let me finish my cigar first,” pleaded the detective. ‘‘It’s too good to desert half- smoked. But don’t let me detain you.” He leaned lazily back in his chair, and sent clouds of smoke to the ceiling, while his eyes in- dolently swept the round of the faces in the room. ‘*Oh, Taminno haste. Smoking or dancing, it is all one to me.” The conversation between the young men went one, the detective, whom they evidently regarded as one of the guests, putting in a word now and then. But his eyes were busier than his tongue. He was secretly reading the char- acters of the persons around him. “There, I have had full enjoyment of that weed, Mr. Elkins,” he said laughingly, as he flung away the remnant of his cigar. ‘Now I am in your hands, to play the martyr in any way you will.” ** All right,” answered Mr. Elkins, in his brisk fashion. ‘‘ Let us stroll on, then.” ‘* Anything?” ho asked, with a keen lock at the detective, when they had left the room, The latter shook his head. ‘*No professicnals, at least. Scme of those young men live a fast life, Mr. Elkins. They are burning the candle at both ends. Can you give me their names, addresses and vocations?” “Oh, yes. I will write them out for you. Now shall we go to—” ‘Yes, yes,” came the quick interruption, ‘** But isn’t that man looking for you?” Mr. Elkins turned in the direction indicated. A servant stood there, holding a slip of paper in his hand. He had been seeking to attract Mr. Elkins’s attention. ‘Do you wish to see me?” | ‘““Mr. Middleton sends you this, sir,” answered the servant respectfully, presenting the slip. Mr, Elkins glanced quickly over it, and then passed it over to the detective. ‘Tt is the list you asked for,” he said. ‘*Three persons have left the house, You will find their names here. Now shall we go on?” ‘Certainly. This can wait.” He folded the slip of paper, and deposited it carefully in his vest pocket, while he followed Mr. Elkins, whose face wore a look of import- ance and excitement that showed no reflection in the cool and steady countenance of the ex- perienced officer, | We will not follow them in their quest, but re- main with the party. Will Emory had hastily passed from group to group, circulating his theory of the trouble. When the gathering broke up, an hour or two later, most of the people were satisfied that they had been Larned. without cause. Yet some of them steadily ignored the vertigo theory, They were sure that something serious had happened, which had been concealed for good reasons. CHAPTER II. A COUNT AT THE CLUB. THE great Middleton party had ceased to be the talk of New York society, yet the mystery which had attended it had not quite gone out of people’s minds. There weremany whowere sure that the vertigo story was a blind, and that something serious‘had occurred. Half a dozen parson had the secret, and a secret that is held by a half-dozen is bcund to creep out. Enough of it got abroad to keep up the belief in a concealed mystery. Mr. Middleton’s demeanor added to this. He continued depressed and silent, asif full of un- comfortable thoughts. Some beavy weight seemed to rest on his mind. ‘*Are you really sick, uncle Silas?’ asked Will, who resided with:him. “Or has some thing mysterious happened, as everybody is say- ing? , ey think I will go see the doctor this morn- ing,” answered the broker. ‘“‘I am not well, Will, that’s a fact. You had best take my place at the office this morning, as I will not be down till late. It will be a new experience for you.” ‘Why, I have my desk at the office, uncle.” *¢ Which you see very little of, you wild rascal ae set a terrible example to your fellow clerks, / | | Se —_ ~ , J books.co m :