Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 657 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

Warbling William. : ; ' a me RR a IAS SALA SOLLNEET GINS MDGS UMHS ; “Surely, Mr. Ware, you must be mistaken. No, that isn’t what I want tosay. The circum- stances appear to indicate that Miss Fulton pil- fered the letter. I can hardly believethat. She has been here a number of times to obtain work and I never had occasion to suspect her. She must have carried it off accidentally in some clothing or dress material.” The Warbler had bis owr opinion as to that, but his facial expression showed only the great- est deference to the young lady’s expressed be- ** The presumption is great, Miss Malcolm,” hesi- tating slightly and pulling at his tawny mustache, “that the boy, Harry Cavendish,is a brother of the young gentleman who wrote that letter, Following that presumption brought me here. [ confess that a feeling stronger than curiosity led me to read the letter—a desire, in fact, to learn something concerning what we believe to be a great wrong.” While he was speaking, the young woman looked at him as if she would read his very thought, ‘** And you are seeking Lewis Cavendish? Try- ing to find what has become of him? Oh, Mr, are, can I trust you?” **As you would trust yourself!” he assured her, earnestly, ‘‘ Lewis Cavendish has mysteri- ously disappeared, and under circumstances in- dicating foul play. To find him if living, or to punish his murderers, if he is dead, is my sole purpose tn visiting this country.” er eyes lighted with hope, ‘* And you are a—a—?” “Yes, Miss Malcolm; J am a detective !” CHAPTER IV. MUTUAL CONFIDENCES. In admitting this the Warbler knew he risked much, He could not expect confessions from the young lady, however, withont himself first making advances in that line. A study of her character, as revealed in her appearance and actions, bad convinced him that in her keeping the secret would be safe. Her face was frank and open, and her clear blue eyes showed a pure and ingenuous mind. He felt that she was & woman who could be trusted; and who, if her confidence could be gained, would make a valu- able ally. ‘*IT suppose you know something of Lewis Cavendish’s history?” he questioned, in a tone of growing familiarity. **T know a little,” she conceded. ‘ But, it is only a little, If Lhad known mora it might have been better, for then I could have formed some intelligent plan to work upon, when he dis- appeared,” | ‘So, you have been making an attempt in the detective line?” with an encouraging smile, ** What I have done hardly deserves the name, I became acquainted with Mr, Cavendisb through John Leonard, with whom my father had _ busi- ness dealings. The acquaintance ripened into warm friendship.” The blush which accompanied this confessed more than the words, - ** Mr. Cavendish was thinking of buying some mining stock of Leonard, Suddenly he was miss- ing from the town, After a week had gone by, without any letter or explanation, I went to Leonard, and was told that Lewis—I mean Mr. Cavendish—had returned East, without purchas- ing tbe property or stating the cause of his sud- den departure, “Mr. Leonard was very uneasy during the whole of the interview. I knew he was not tell- ing the truth, and at once suspected foul play. But, I had no evidence on which to base a charge. Mr, Cavendish had told me his home was in Chicago, and I directed a letter to him there, but received no reply. I didn’t know the num- ber or the street, I wrote a second letter, using areturn envelope, and itcame back to me in about thirty days. “Failing to obtain any trace of Mr. Caven- * dish in this way, I commenced to watch Leonard. It was about this time that I was thrown in con- tact with Miss Fulton. As her room was near Leonard’s, I told her eras of my story, and she promised to inform me of anything ‘suspi- cious in his aetions, That is all I bave been able to do, and that has amounted to nothing.” The detective on dropping his disguise had dis- carded his air of oily affability. For a time af- ter the story was finished he sat with brows contracted and an expression of deep thought- fulness on his mobile face, ‘““There can be no doubt,” he said at last, that some crime has been committed by Leon- ard or his agents. It may not be murder. In fact, I hardly think it is; though I must admit circumstances point that way. : a6 eS) Tanne > 3 re . ath la ., - » i ¢ 7 '#. 4 ‘' ¥. Get / ; eee cee Pee S . i ay re we ew smrae “a ‘ rR tes i ne ~~ eee Les } ‘ BD UA s a t “> 4 fale s% x ae% a rr urs i / ' y ‘4 . xs 3 dh ie oe ors A = : “wy wt ee Sener =e : he 47 1 J in hf be Pa r 4 ’ AA *) wy ite lid: Ws - : . war, § af, ‘\. AL pati Gat y she Way tb id. } ‘** As you have so kindly told me all you know about the mysterious affair, and as our inter- ests seem to be identical, I cannot be less frank, Three or four months ago Lewis Cavendish left his home in Chicago with a man wuom I now know to be John Leonard, of this place. For several weeks letters were received regularly by Cavendish’s relatives, whose names are Upton. Then they suddenly and strangely ceased, ‘The young man had but recently reached his majority and come into the inheritance of a considerable fortune. About that time he made the acquaintance of Leonard, who, from what I can learn, represented himself as a Western Se engaged largely in mining and specu- ating, 2 Cavendish did not reside with his relatives, but had taken rooms down town; and here Leonard frequently visited him, Hence it hap- pened that none of the relatives ever saw Leon- ard, except Cavendish’s younger brother, Harry, who was in the habit of calling at his brother’s rooms on his way from school. Even he did not know Leonard’s name. For some reason, however, he did not like the looks of the stranger, and so was drawn to observe him more closely than he otherwise might bave done, **“One evening Lewis Cavendish told his bro- ther toinform the folks, meaning the Uptons, that he was going West to look at some mining roperty which he thought of purchasing, eonard was in the room when he made the statement; and Harry now remembers, though he thought little of it at the time, that he made somes remurk which suddenly changed the drift of the conversation. But for that Lewis might have revealed his point of destination, and thus saved us much worry and work,” He ceased for a moment and looked earnestly at Miss Malcolm; then questioned: ‘‘ Has Leonard been in the habit of wearing a full beard?” Tbe query was evidently a surprising one, ** Never, since I have known him.” ** And that has been how long?” “Two years at the least!” ‘**T suspected as much, While in Chicago, ac- cordiag to Harry’s statement, be wore a full beard. I taks it he wasn’t away from here long enough to have grown it?” She replied in the negative, ‘Tam getting ahead of my story, however,” and hesmiled faintly. ‘‘ The suspicion suddenly recurred to me and I could not forbear putting it into words, I will return to itin a little while, Now, with your permission, we will go back to Chicago, ** When the long silence of young Cavendish began to create suspicion, I was consulted. I talked with Harry, and was convinced there was something seriously wrong, The letters received by the Uptons were all postmarked ‘ Cheyenne,’ and appeared to have been written from that place, showed that the name of the town had been re- moved with acids from the headings of the letters and Cheyenne substituted, ‘*The Cheyenne postmark was of course genu- ine, and it was the only clew we had. It was evident to my mind that Cavendish had fallen into the haads of a sharper, who was taking every means to conceal his steps; and that he had, in some way, induced the young man to allow him to mail the letters, and that instead of mailing them at the place where they were written he had conveyed or forwarded them to Cheyenne, ‘There were other circumstances tending to show foul play. Young Cavendish started West with a considerable sum of money and a draft for fifty thousand dollars. It was easy to discover that the draft had been cashed in Cheyenne by Cavendish himself. His was the only indorse- ment on it, and it had been left with the Chey- enne Bank until they could assure themselves of the genuineness of his signature. ‘** With these few clews I started from Chica- go for the West, taking the boy, Harry, with me, This was necessary,for he was the only member of the family who had seen the man with whom his brother had departed, “On reaching Cheyenne I visited the bank where the draft had been cashed. The large amount called for by the draft had fixed in the minds of the bank officials the circumstances under which it had been paid. Their books, of course, showed the record of the transaction, but that would have been of little benefit to me if their memories had failed them. “Their statements made it certain that Lewis Cavendish had come to the bank with a stranger; that he had deposited the draft, in lieu of identi- fication, and had returned for the money within a week or ten days, | : . . ’ _f" ‘an, ad 1 Ve aN : 4 +* ( ™ 3 hag! - Ui lh ; ot / A close examination of them, kowever,: ¥ # ue te aa ty * % % * > et , on : " kd : \¢ 48 + ‘* Here the trail ended. I quickly ascertained he was not in the town, and then began plan- ring a way to discover his whereabouts, If we could only find the stranger with whom he had left Chicago we would then have a point from which to work, “After. much thought I hit upona plan. It» was extremely simple, but the best we could do. I am considered a fair singer, and can perform afew ordinary tricks of sleight-of-hand, The boy had attained some little dexterity at a gymnasium; so we started out as itinerant showmen. “By strolling in this guise from town to town, aud from camp to camp, we hoped to dis- cover the mysterious stranger, or come upon some trace of the missing young man. Show- men do not often visit these out-of-the-way, mountain places; hence we were reasonably sure our efforts in that line, feeble though they’ were, would draw together all classes and con- ditions of men. ‘** For nearly a month we wandered about ip this vagrant way. Then we struck Rocket Range and Harry discovered our man in the audience. You know the rest, cr most of it, ‘**The man proved to be John,;Leonard. He did not wholly answer to Harry’s description of the stranger he had seen in Chicago, That man had a full beard, while Leonard wears only a mustache, The boy insists, however, that Leon- ard is the man, ‘The beard worn in Chicago was doubtless a falseone. My theory is that before he reached this place he removed it; and explained the change to young Cavendish by saying he had visited a barber-shop and had been shaved,” Miss Malcolm had listened with deep interest: to the detective’s story. ‘* Have you any further plans?” she asked, Penn undeveloped ones, and liable to be changed at any moment. In:a case of this kind it is difficult to form plans ahead. We have to be guided by circumstances, ‘*There is one thing, though,” and he looked at her closely, ‘‘Miss Fulton is no friend of yours, whatever she professes, I have seen enough to convince me that she is leagued with Leonard, and is altogether a wicked and dan- gerous woman,” Miss Malcolm seemed pained by this frank statement, ‘* Understanding my connection with the case you will pardon me, | know, for what may ap- pear to you a harsh judgment. We, Harry and I, have been shadowing Miss Fulton, and our discoveries prove my assertions,” | ‘** And you would advise me to have nothing more to do with her?” - “Hardly that, She would suspect something. I only want to put you on your guard against her, {[ am sure her visits here have been in Leonard’s interest.” ‘‘And I told ber almost everything!” Miss Malcolm interjected, ‘‘ Surely she cannot be so base as you think!” ‘We will let time determine that; but, as you value the life and well-being of Lewis Cay- endish, do not breathe a word to her of what we have discussed this evening. I am certain Leonard would know it within an hour, and my best efforts would thus be thwarted. “A little while ago you spoke of plans, A art of them, at least, will be the shadowing of iss Fulton. In this you can assist. Watch her words and actions when she calls on you, and try to ascertain her real motive in makin the calls, You can speak to her in a genera way of John Leonard and Mr, Cavendish, By so doing you may lead her into some slip of the tongue that will reveal matters of import- ance. ‘‘ Above all, however, be watchful of your own statements and admissions, Remember that while you are trying to sound ber sha is probably attempting the same thing with you,” He looked at the little clock that ticked en- ergetically on the mantel, 46 I see the commencement of my performance at Tan- ner’s, I must keep my engagements, for the good of our cause, if not for the sake of the salary. I will try to call on you or advise you of the progress of affairs. If you learn any- thing of importance send for me at once.” He bow slipping by obscure by-paths back to the royster- ing and the garish lights at Tanner's. CHAPTER V. _A WOULD-BE SUITOR, ON hing the saloon he’ found that Harry had a valuable bit of information to impart. “T have been watching Miss Fulton « y +. ale a t ts e j a ry must be going. It is about time for himself out, and, a little later, was — ee