Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 774 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

ows i~ _—- ‘7 r) ’ ta! ‘% tas “ 14 but I think it is possible you can be assisted in remembering. It is the furthest thing from my thoughts to try to intimidate you into a con- fession,” Captain Scudd looked at Cal in silence, and the detective added: ‘“‘Tf you will trust me, captain, I think I shall be able to get at the whole truth but you must consent to an experiment.” ‘‘ What experiment, sir?” ‘* Sit down, and I will explain.” The captain sat down, but seemed to hold him- self on guard, ‘‘ Now you remember, captain, that you have been troubled with spells of forgetfulness.” The old sailor grunted. ‘¢ That,” continued Cal, ‘‘ is why you are not able to tell what occurred the day Charley Thornton was killed. Now,I believe I know the exact cause of your forgetfulness,” ‘* What is it?” ‘*{ think it is hypnotism.” ‘* Hypnotism? Impossible, sir!” ‘‘Tt may seem so, but 1 fancy it not im- possible, I believe you were hypnotized at the time Charley Thornton was killed and that is vo you are unable to tell what took place.” he captain was inclined to turn up his nose at this, but Cal did his best to convince him of its possibility. ‘“*T trust you will not refuse to allow the ex- periment, for it is all for your good,” ‘‘But who could have hypnotized me at that time?” ‘‘ There is such a thing as self-hypnotism.” ‘* Bosh! All infernal nonsense!” **' You may think so, but until this experiment proves a failure you cannot be certain.” ‘‘These gentlemen have come here to witness this fool business, have they?” ‘*'T’he professor has come for the purpose of at- tempting to bring you under his influence.” The captain braced up stiffly, ‘‘T defy bim to! I havea will of my own, as you will discover. I am not a man to be easily controlled by others.” ‘*Tf you wish to combat me, sir,” smoothly observed the professor, ‘* you may be able to re- sist my power. Ido not dispute that. If I had once obtained control] of you, you would not be able to resist the second time, but as you are a new subject, you might make it difficult or im- possible for me to throw you into a hypnotic trance, If you are inclined togive me your as- sistance by surrendering yourself to the experi- ment and not attempting to combat me, 1 may be successful. ‘* Tf you were in a hypnotic trance when your nephew was killed, you will be able to tell what occurred then,” The captain reflected a little while, then said: “Well, go ahead. It can’t do any barm that I can sea, but I’m sure it won’t do any good.” Having received the captain’s consent, the professor seated him in a favorable position on the edge of his bed, requested bim to think about nothing in particular, and then set about the work of throwing him into a trance, The spectators looked on with bated breath, ‘Calbeing in fear lest the experiment prove a fail- ure, The professor continued to make bis passes for some time without producing any visible re- sult on the captain, but at length the old sailor’s eyes began to close. A look of satisfaction rest- ed on the hypnotizer’s face, ** Captain?” ‘* Ay, ay, sir!” ‘* Why have you closed your eyes?” ‘“‘T have not, sir; they are wide open,” ‘*You are mistaken; they are closed, Open ‘them!” Captain Scudd’s eyes opened, and the man sat there before them, apparently in his natural state. ‘* Captain, you can’t’get up if you try.” And he could not! He struggled to arise, but it was useless, The spectators looked at each other in aston- ishment, ' Cal whipped out his book and ‘was ready]to take down anything of importance that fell from Captain Scudd’s lips, ‘‘Now, sir,” said the professor, ‘‘ I want you to think of the thirteenth day of the present month, I want you to tell me what occurred on the afternoon of that day.” ‘*T was in my private room,” ** Any one with you?” ** My nephew lay on a couch,” ** Awake or sleeping?” ‘** He seemed to be sleeping.” **Go on, sir.” ** After a time my door was opened.” ** By whom?” / " ; a Ay bin cy st masa > » 3, Ks : : : , 7 { : ' ; 9 ig 4 i il, ty es) oe ee 4 eg | hit i ‘ A Ay 7 he: + Pe! a a ; é . “Ve , — 4 b py. 3 ip a atic hs eh sf t . nee 4 (> bi ’ Clear-Grit Cal. ‘* My wife,” ‘¢‘ The door was not locked?” ‘*Tt was not,” ‘* Did your wife enter the room?” ‘*She did. There was another person who en- tered. ‘* Another? Who?” ** Her brotber.” The detective caught his breath, The revela- tion was coming! ‘* What did they do?’ ‘“ My wife closed the door and locked it,” ** And then?” ** They spoke together in low tones, | did rot hear what they said.” ‘* What followed?” ‘*My wife’s brother came over and looked into my face. Then he asked her to prove some- thing. She told me to stand on my bead in the middle of the floor!” ‘** You did so?” dh EO” ‘*Then what?” ‘‘He said he was satisfied, but that the only way to keep the secret was to kill either me or my nephew. He was excited and so was she, She pleaded with him, I think he had been drinking. He broke from her and suddenly took a revolver from his pocket. Then he went close to where Charley lay sleeping, and—” Captain Scott paused and caught bis breath with a hoarse gasp. It was still as death in thatcell, Every man seemed listening with hushed heart and stilled breath to the wonderful revelation of the byp- notized man, ‘* What did he do?” “ He placed the muzzle of the weapon against Charley’s head and fired!” A deep breath that was almost a groan came from four pairs of lips. ‘< What followed?” asked the professor, quick- ly regaining his composure. ‘*He dropped the revolver and stepped back, Then they listened to see if the shot bad been heard. It had not, for sounds within that room are seldom beard outside,” ‘*‘ How did all this affect you?” ‘* Tt did not seem to affect me at all. I thought I was dreaming.” ‘* What did this man and woman then do?” ‘‘ They talked together in whispers. I did not hear all they said, but I did hear my wife say it must be made to seem that I killed Charley. Then she unlocked my desk and took out my re- volver. They talked some more, and seemed to arrive at a decision.” ‘* And then—what?” ‘‘ They left the revolver with which Charley was shot where it had fallen on the floor. But they took my revolver when they went out of the room.” ‘‘ What did you do after they were gone?” ** Nothing.” ** Are you sure?” ‘*T locked the door; that is all.” ‘You locked the door behind them?” “Yes, sir.” ‘*Then you did what?” ‘* Nothing but sit in my chair,” ‘* How long did you sit there?” ** Till I heard some one knocking.” ‘**'W bat happened then?” ‘**T do not Sow? ‘* You cannot remember?” ‘6 No,”’ The professor turned to his companions, ‘* It was at that moment that be came out of his trance,” he explained, ‘‘ He has told us all.” A short time later Captain Scudd was iv his natural state of mind, - ‘ Well,” he said, ‘‘ how did your great scheme work?” ‘** Completely, captain!” cried Cal, triumphant- ly, ‘‘I now know who fired that shot, and I will have you out of here mighty soon.” I believe CHAPTER XVIII. THE WHOLE TRUTH. ‘‘THE deuce is to pay! One of Tired Moore's pals has shot Silky Hall, and the sport has got it for good. He is in Jerry Riley’s dive on the Bowery. Come lively, if you want to squeeze him before he croaks. : SHARK.” Such was the startling message thrust into Cal Carter’s band as be was leaving the jail, He lost no time in getting toJerry Riley’s, but he arrived too late. ; Silky Hall was dead! Cal’s dismay was great. ‘**Too bad!” he exclaimed. ‘‘ Now I must de- pend on that woman fiend. From her lips I must learn the truth,” P » ; cs “4. "PF A 2 ‘ Phy { | > : ‘ per J) Orda WAS leg ay SAT ee ee be ee UP a »4 - » ne ; , _ “Tf you learn anything from her, you will have to move lively,” declared Shark, ‘*I be- lieve Hall succeeded in sending her word he was cooked,” ‘*Then you are right, She must be nipped before she tries to skip.” Cal was not a man to waste time. With Shark and two policemen he appeared at the door of Captain Scudd’s house ashort time later. They were admitted and informed that Mrs. Scudd' was in her room, Cal asked if any one bad called to ses her and was told there had, _ Making sure she could not get out without be- ing seen, Cal sent up his card. The servant soon returned, stating no reply could be obtained, Then Cal and a policeman went up to the door. The policeman held a warrant for Mrs, Scudd’s arrest, They rapped on the door and called to the woman, but there came no reply. Ollie Field appeared and stated that Mrs, Scudd had re- turned after seeing the man who called, and was in a condition of excitement that was fright- ful to witness. She drove Ollie from the room, locking herself in, Seeing there was no other way of obtaining immediate entrance, the policeman burst open the door, The woman plotter was within the room, but she lay dead on her dainty bed, an empty vial grasped in the fingers that were not yet cold, She was also beyond the reach of the law. In life she had beer beautiful—death had not robbed her of ber beauty. Ona little table stood an open bottle of ink, into which a pen was thrust, On a sheet of paper close by was the written confession of the dead woman. It was all Cal Carter desired! It told the story of the murder as it was told by the en- tranced captain, and it also told one thing sus- pected by no one. Silky Hall was not her brother! He was her rightful husband ! At first Charley Thornton had believed Hall the woman’s brother, but on the day of the mur- der, in some manner, he had learned the truth. Then he swore be would expose the whole business, and that threat brought about his death. Hall found the young man could not be silenced, and so he saw ruin staring him in the face, He had induced a friend to get some drugged liquor into Charley. Meantime, Hall had made all haste to com- municate with his wife, who was plucking the man who believed himself ber husband, The gambler had hastened to the woman and told her of their peril, She was appalled, but she saw a way,to avertjit for a time, She 'had practiced hypnotism on Captain Scudd till she was able to bring him under ber influence even though she was not with him, Then the wretched man and woman saw a carriage draw up at the steps and Charley Thornton leave it for the house, Not an instant was to be lost, The sorceress set about bringing Captain Scudd under her influence. She succeeded, and then, unseen by any one, Hall and his wife ce- scended to the captain’s room, Then took place exactly what Captain Scudd revealed in his cell, The woman had tried to have Charley Thorn- ton’s life spared, for she was really fascinated by the rather gay youth, but her husband knew mercy meant exposure and exposure meant dis- aster, so he was relentless. Thus was the mystery of Charley Thornton’s death cleared up to the satisfaction of the most skeptical. pisdiestoks Only a word more, The reader must imagine the effect of this rev- elation on Captain Scudd, It did not cause the death of the old salt, as Dr. Andros feared it would; but it crushed bim so he was never after like his former self, He never completed the wonderful invention, on which be bad labored so long, for hée bad no further ambition, he captain needed the companionship of some one, and Ollie filled ber brother’s place in such a way that he would not let her leave him when she became Mrs, Val Sedman. So Val made his home there, and when the captain died, Ollie inherited all his property, Of course Clear-Grit Cal was liberally reward- ed, and the story of bis discernment and the ex- periment by which the truth was discovered be- fore the death of the adventuress was told by all the papers. It was simply one of his many shrewd bits of detective work, THE END, | / | aa | — ——