Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 685 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

= +4-q-amve . vat + ‘i’ * + Pp dln,” ee fy rhs Sy io ~~ s ih f > ere it ‘ “9 Oy ‘9 yf ei ate : = iS a Schaar ae 16 discovered, and the thought of going back into the web at this juncture nearly paralyzed bim. Before he could make up his mind what to do, the man took a step toward him, and, though he recoiled, he was seized by the arm and held as by a vise of steel. ‘‘T know you!” said the man, stooping over Hugh and speaking in whispers which seemed to | tingle the blood at bis very finger-tips, ‘* You are the bird that got out of the cage awhile ago, and if you open your mouth for a single chirp, you'll wish you had never been born.” Poor Hugh was back in the web once more! The eyes that showered upon him a baleful light had no mercy in their depths, and before he could recover the use of his tongue he was being hurried over the pavement with the hand of the unknown at bis arm, the fingers seeming- ly sinking: to the bone. ** You'll keep your chirps back,” said the cap- tor, believing from what he saw that the boy prisoner was about to make an attempt to gain his liberty. ‘* The old cage wants you, and I’m sure that’s better than the fatea cry would bring about.” “You've no right to take me,” Hugh replied. ‘‘You are helping Burt Denman at bis game; but it won’t win.” “Tt won't, eh?” boarsely laughed the man. “Tf you only knew—” The sentence was never finished for, the next instant, there rung from Happy Hugh’s throata cry of— ; ‘Phelan! Phelan! Help! help!” To see near him at that moment the form of Phil Phelan, his old friend, was enough to draw this cry from Hugh, regardless of the conse- quences, and the instant Phelan responded by rushing to his rescue he was dashed beadlong to the gutter! Phelan, comprehending the situation in a flash, as it were, left Hugh to pick himself up and dashed after the Unknown. It was a short race, for the detective was as fleet as a deer, and inside of two minutes he bad his man, CHAPTER XX, CAUGHT. Mr. Burt DENMAN sat once more in the lux- urious private offive attached to the ** Eureka,” aud every now and then anxiously consulted his watch, Of course be was smoking, and an expression of mingled triumph and contentment was visible on his countenance, The hour was near nine, and the electric globe over the desk showered its light upon bis person, The truth is, Denman was waiting for Mr. Compton, the gentleman with whom, as we know, he had an appointment, though, if he had had the faintest clew to Compton’s identity, he might not have waited for him with so much eagerness. Nips bad finished his day’s work and gone home, and the Bureau was closed to the public. The private office was all that remained open, and the silken spider had possession of it, wait- ing, as he supposed, for a new fly. Nine o'clock came, and with it a signal which caused Denman to spring from his chair and go to the front door. A moment later he greeted Compton and in- vited him into the back office. ‘T trust ’m not late,” remarked Compton. ‘“ Punctual to the second. I like’ that,” an- swered Denman. In a little while the pair occupied two chairs in the cozy office, and the spider had handed Compton the cigars. Denman was sharp, but) there was something he had not noticed. This was the fact that, owing to Compton’s foot, he had not closed the outside door, If any one had asked him about this he would have said that he had heard the lock click when, in fact, the sound had been made by his visitor. The door being unlocked, there bad glided into the ‘‘ Eureka” a boyish figure which had the tread of a cat. It crossed the semi-darkened room to the coun- ter, behind which he slipped, and passing Nips’s stool, took a position at the door leading into the office. It was Happy Hugh, and he was playing the last cards in the game we bave followed in its varying fortunes, Phelan, as Compton, crossed bis legs in front of his chair, and waited for Hugh to get settled in his positicn, “T like to play with the mouse,” inwardly chuckled the detective, looking at Denman, who never dreamt that he was the fly in the web and no longer the cunning destroyer. ‘ > ‘ ~ = t'> A 4 a, >» - . + ' $9 : eH, i. Cres i. - 2a bee. . a, el : ¥ a ’ a ms Wr lt i pe ie al ew il i inal ‘“By the way,” suddenly said Phelan, “ I’ve lost an old friend since I saw you.” “That’s bad,” answered Spider Burt. ‘* Not by death, I hope?” ‘* By death. You may have heard of bim; he had a reputation which extended beyond his im- mediate neighborhood. He was a lawyer, and his name was Noah Natchett,” Denman gave a slight start, which did not es- cape the detective’s eye. ‘A queer old fellow,” continued Phelan, ‘shrewd iv the technicalities of his profession, and even called unscrupulous. I fancy that he knew too much for some people, and when he died—hbe was found dead in his office, by the way—some professional secrets were at rest, Did you know bim?” Denman shook his head. ‘‘No? 1 thought I heard him mention (you once,” ‘* Mention me?—Noah Nachett?” exclaimed the spider, losing some of his color. ‘* There are other Denmans in New York,” ‘* Any other Burt Denmans?” queried Phelan, reaching across the desk and pulling a Directory toward him. The sleek spider was now regarding him witha singular look, which the detective did not seem to notice, ‘* You must be the Denman he spoke of,” he resumed, glancing up at the spider, ‘* But, you ought to be proud of what he said of you.” ‘““Of what Noab Hatchett, the old law shark —I believe people called him so, begging your pardon—said of me?” +6 Yes,” ‘* Well, I’m curious to know.” ‘* We said that he considered you one of the sbrewdest rascals in the world.” If Phelan had not uttered these words with a grin on his face there is no telling how Denman would have taken them. Asit was the spider’s face became a puzzle, ‘* Did—he—say—that?” he asked, ‘* That and nothing else.” ‘* Was it intended for for a compliment?” “ Not exactly. The old fellow didn’t deal in compliments. Is it possible that he should speak thus of you and you never had dealings with him?” | ‘*T never had.” “Tt is the strangest thing in the world,” smiled Phelan. ‘“‘Old Noah was a queer character. He believed in death-tracery and such things.” ‘Tn death-tracery?’ echoed Denman, ‘' What is that?” ‘* Why that if a person is murdered, the hand receives the mind, as it were, and traces upon some convenient spot the name of the mur- derer.” ‘‘That’s new—new and nonsensical, Mr. Compton,” laughed Denman. ‘Do you believe that?’ ‘** Can’t say that I do, but there was something peculiar in old Noah’s case,” ** Well?” ‘¢ As I have said, he was found dead in his of- fice, but with the stub of an office pencil in his hand. That band lay upon a whitish spot in the floor, and his fingers had written there those words, as if to confirm his theory of death- tracery.” The spider sat death-white in his chair. His fingers closing suddenly had crushed the cigar between them and his eyes were fixed upon the cool detective in a speechless stare. ‘* Yes,” continued Phelan, in torturing tones, ‘“ beneath old Noah’s stiffened hand were those three words which had escaped every body’s eyes but my own.” ‘‘ But yours?” stammered Denman. “But mine! Those words, Mr, Denman, were: * Denman !—the paper !” The effect was electrical and térrible, Denman fell back in his chair with a gasp: of guilt, and Phelan, darting forward, caught his wrist. At that moment the office door opened and Happy Hugh bounded into the room. ‘It’s true, every word of it, and you know it!” cried the boy, at whom Denman was staring, as at a ghost, “You went to Old Noah’s for the paper which cost Joly his life; you got it, too, but you left the lawyer, as you thought, dead on the floor, You know me? I thought so! The next time you should make your webs more secure, or kill the flies when first caught. This gentleman is my friend Phelan, the detective, We did a good day’s work before we came here. We caught Sid Cuyler, my jailer; we’ve picked up old ’Hijah Axtell again, and I’ve bad the pleasure of hearing Nelly play some choice tunes on my Happy Hugh, the Boy-Musician Detective. flute. That’s pretty good for one day don’t yo think?” There was no answer by lip; but eyes spoke, ‘* Open the safe!” said Phelan in commanding voice, ‘* My safe?” se Yes,” ** I shall not!” ‘Then, we'll have an expert here within twenty minutes,” Denman looked at his captors and growled, ‘*"‘You can’t convict me!” he declared, sul- lenly. ‘“Can’t, eh?” laughed Happy Hugh. “ We'll go back and trace your career from the begin- ning of the game. You wanted Nelly Axtell’s fortune. You knew all about the Scottish will, You thought that, as the girl’s husband, you would be able to play the game out, and she will tell how she has been your prisoner ever since you and Joly Jenkins tock her from the Jersey farm, and hid her here in New York. We will show how her father came on to hunt for her—how a body supposed to be his was found in the river. We think that Joly killed that man believing bim to be Nelly’s father, and that was the club you held over Joly’s head. Come, Mr. Denman, don’t say that we can’t convict anybody. ’Hijah Axtell, is Mortimer Axtell, who was married in Dumfries, Scotland, and whose marriage old Noah, then @ parish clerk, recorded in the church registry. That’s why Noah kept the leaf when Joly took it to him. He knew his work and knew, too, how a er it was in the eyes of the law. You stole that leaf twice, Burt Denman—once from the parish church and again, within the last few hours, from the office of Noah Natchett. The last theft was accompanied by murder, The dead hand wrote your name on the office floor! [I guess I haven’t been idle since my escape. Your web couldn’t hold the fly. Do you want a tune?” Happy Hugh had taken his flute from his pocket, and stood looking at Denman with an undisguised twinkle of victory in his eye. ‘T'll play the *‘Rogue’s March’ as you take him off, Phelan,” continued the boy ferret, ‘“Oho! what a web your last one was, Mr, Spider!” That night Burt Denman occupied a cell in a station-house and the next morning the ** Eure- ka "did not open, Nips bad heard what bad taken place, and did not show up for business, Happy Hugh, the young detective, had fin- ished bis trail, for long lost Nelly Axtell was in her grandfather’s arms, and gays Somers, who had aided Phelan and Hugh in their search for her, had received the old man’s hand. Time came when Burt Denman was brought to trial, and then the whole story of Nelly’s ab- duction and its results came out, and when the jury brought ina verdict of guilty, those who heard it knew that the death of Noah Natchett was to be avenged, to say nothing of the other deeds of the Spider of ‘* Eureka.” Old Mr. Axtell insisted on paying to Happy Hugh the five thousand dollars originally offer- ed for Nelly, but the; boy detective was loth to accent. Phelan, however, came to the rescue, and the sum changed hands; and on the day which wit- nessed Nelly’s marriage to Somers, Happy Hugh received a mysterious package which, when opened, was found to contain a flute of solid silver, from which, in cozier quarters than he used to occupy, the boy shadower often coaxes some excellent music. THE END. Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. 378 Dendwood Dick, Jr’s., Discovery o, Found a Fortune, By Edward L, Wheeler. : 9 The Sen Shadower; or, The Freebooters Legacy. By Co], Prentiss Ingrabam. . : Dauntless Dan, the Freelance; or, Old Kit Bandy in Arcadia. By Ol] Coom a, The Pitcher Detective’s Toughest Tussel; or, Double Curve Dan’s Dead Ball. By George ©. Jenks. Wtld Vulcan, the Lone-Ranger ider, By W m. G. Patten, Saltpeter Sol, the New York Navigator; or, The Unseen By Jo Pierce, Dick, Jr.’« Dazzle; or, The Nemesia of By Edward L. be gon Happy Hugh, the Boy Musician Detective; or, Breaking the En veks Spider's Web. By T.-C. Harbaugh. Orlando, the Ocean Free Flag; or, The Tarnished Name. By Colonel Prentisa Ingraham. Broadway Billy i» Clover; or, The Ruction at Lake Tulare. By J. C, Cowdrick. A New Iasue Every Tuesday. The Half- Dime Library |» for aste by all newsdealers, fiv® cents per copy, or sent by mall on receipt of arx centa each, BEADLE AND ADAMS, Publisher 98 William Street, New York. Enemy. Deadwood Nutmeg Bonanza.