Beadle's Dime Library No. 391 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

10 Kate Scott, the Decoy Detective. ee any use of ae the money in anybody else’s | and put out of the way, in the silent watches of way,” the Spider Captain replied. ‘‘ But I will attend to that. I have other work on hand for you, and it must be attended to this very night.” ‘ All right; we’re on deck!” Four Kings ex- claimed. ‘* This girl must be got at and silenced. She knows too much now to be allowed to live. Be- fore morning dawns she must join the ma- jority and cross the dark river that sweeps all around the world.” CHAPTER XIII. CRACKING THE CRIB, Tue Spider Captain was no common rascal; the successful manner in which he had defied all the efforts of the authorities to capture him and to break up the criminal league which he had formed, was ample proof of that. He was well served, too, for he had a regular army of spies, and kept a far closer watch on the authorities than the chief of police with all the detectives under his command was able to do on him, Some of the private detectives of the city too ss "were in his pay. There are many honest and honorable men in this new line of business, a product of our ad- vanced civilization, and then, too, some of them are as big rascals as can be easily found. — Men without the least skill in the business which they pretend to follow, but possessed of an uncommon amount of ability to extract money from gullible clients without rendering any service for the aforesaid. tet he Spider Captain had contrived to let these ' gentlemen—whose sole idea of the detective business was to get all the money they could anes for as little work as possible erstand that any information of value would be liberally re- ty warded. | And to the firm of private detectives most intimately connected with the Spider Captain Kate Scott had applied for assistance, when she had entered upon her persistent search. The chief of this desperate criminal band was > always careful to cover up his tracks as com- 4 letely as possible, and not to a single soul had ; e confided the fact that he had masqueraded . as a rich New York blood up in the Catskill -_ yegion under the name of Henry Tappan Js ut when the girl had entered upon her search * with such ardor, the detectives thought it wise | to send word to the Spider Captain in regard to | the matter. The outlaw leader was not known personally to the detectives, and, in fact, few of his band were ever honored with a sight of his face, for 3 by thus ag in the background he rendered es * identification ifficult, and put it out of the power of any of his tools to betray him to the authorities, - _-[n all such secret bands it is the traitorous _ informer who is most to be dreaded, as the his- | tory of the world amply proves. oA") The detectives had an idea that the outlaw | chief might know something of this Henry - appan, for they felt sure, from the account given by the girl, that he was some New York crook in disguise. ee} If Tappan was one of the Spider Captain’s |. band, he would be glad to know that there was Pi an maqeiey afoot in regard to him, and if he - was not, the Spider Captain, if he knew theman, might i, put the detectives on the scent. | ‘The eader of the secret band professed igno- rance in the matter, but was careful to learn all © the particulars of the affair, and from that time -* he caused a watch to be placed upon the girl. rane He did not trouble himself much about the matter in the beginning, because ‘he did not be- lieve it would amount to anything. ‘What chance was there fora single weak girl, ’ alone and friendless, to damage a man like him- self so securely intrenched, _ ‘But as days Jengthened into weeks, and weeks ' _ into months, and still she persevered, he awoke to the consciousness that if she succeeded by any accident in hitting upon a clew she would be apt to cause him considerable trouble. am Then, too, he had taken pains to make him- self acquainted with the girl, and had become ay interested in her, _ » + $§he was altogether different from her sister, essing a dash and vivacity that was charm- ing, and the idea came into his mind that she i could be made to prove almost invaluable to - ¢ him in his criminal career if he could succeed in bending her to his will. . The reader knows how signally the outlaw chief failed in his attempt. 7 But thanks to the watch he had caused to be __. placed upon her, he knew exactly where to find \ the fugitive. His first idea when he discovered that the girl threatened to prove dangerous was to have er put out of the way, for the Spider Captain was a man who thought no more of taking a ‘human life, if he could profit thereby, than of | killing a worthless dog.8 | ~~ And so he had caused a careful examination to be made of the premises where she resided, in order to ascertain if she could be “ got at” * bam, - - F a ae é J tg * + “ety ¥ ° ES as ae / ri 4 Si 4 th the night when slumber chained the senses of the great city’s denizens. So, when he had come to the conclusion that the girl must die, the method by which the deed could be accomplished had already been decided upon. Four Kings and Stingy Bill had been the men selected by the outlaw leader to watch the girl, and they had made all preparation to murder her when the Spider Certain had suddenly changed his mind and concluded to alter mur- der into abduction, therefore they were pre- pared to carry out the original idea. ‘The girl knows too much now to be allowed to live,” the Spider Captain declared. ‘‘She has a clew which if diligently followed up, will be certain to lead to our detection. ‘* It is her life or ours, boys, and I don’t know how you feel about it, but as far as I am con- cerned, I prefer to let her take the jump into eternity rather than try the leap myself.’ ‘*That’s me, every time!” Four Kings ex- claimed, emphatically, ‘** You bet, it’s me, too!” added Stingy Bill. **Go ahead on the old programme, then,” the leader commanded, ‘‘ She’s a plucky little imp and will not have any difficulty in finding her way home, but you ought to be able to get there about as soon as she can, for the girl has a long distance to cover. ‘*Make a sure thing of the job—don’t half do it, you know, for that would be a deuced sight worse than to let the matter alone.” ‘* Don’t be alarmed about that, captain,” Four Kingsreplied. ‘* We’ll do the work up in first-class style.” ‘*Oh, yes; we ain’t no slouches!” Stingy Bill protested. ‘* Away with you then, for there’s no time to belost. The girl will be pretty well played- out after the adventures she has encountered to- night and ought to sleep like a top.” ‘No doubt about that. We ought to do the job with a mighty little trouble, for we laid out the hull business and know exactly where to go and what to do,” Four Kings observed. ‘** You kin. bet all your wealth on that!” Stin- gy Bill exclaimed. ‘' The thing is jest as fine as silk, and we kin send her kiting into the other world afore she’ll have time to open her mouth and give a single peep.” ‘*Be careful you know, don’t leave any tell- tale traces,” the outlaw leader cautioned. ‘‘ Let it be one of those mysterious, bloody deeds which puzzle the police and shock the public.” ** Ob, it will be all right; we can get into her room from the roof of the piazza. here’s only a common catch on the window and we can easily open it with a knife,” ‘At it at once then, for there isn’t any time to be lost!” commanded the chief. The two set out, after providing themselves with the proper tools. This business was no new thing for either one of them, for there were no more experienced ‘‘cracksmen” to be found in all the country than Four Kings and Stingy Bill, as the police records amply testified. As luck would have it the two rufflans arrived at the house in Fourth avenue, the ‘ crib” which they intended to ‘‘crack,” at the very moment that the girl, their destined victim, came up the street. The ruffians were upon the opposite sidewalk, as they desired to inspect the house fully upon all sides before proceeding to business, and they recognized the girl the moment she came up the avenue, ‘‘ We'll have to wait for a couple of hours so as to give her time to get asleep,” Four Kings observed. Bill immediately expressed his discontent at this prospect, but the other reproved him by asking if he expected ‘“ to get the earth every time just for wishing?” Satisfied from the darkness that reigned within the house that all the inmates were buried in slumber with the exception of the belated girl, the two turned into the side-street and proceeded along it until they came to the end of the high board fence which protected the yard of the corner house. It was an easy matter for the two to scale the fence and descend into the yard on the other side, after being careful to ascertain that there wasn’t any one near enough to observe the movement. Once they were inside of the first yard it was not a difficult matter for the cracksmen to pro- gress from yard to yard until they reached the one which appertained to the house wherein the girl resided. At the back of this yard was a woodshed. It was not locked, and there was a small window in it that commanded a view of the casement of Kate’s pacha The gleam of a light within showed that the girl was there, for her shadow appeared every now and then on the curtain. The ruffians took refuge in the woodshed and there made themselves as comfortable as pos- sible. In twenty .minutes the light was extin- guished. ** Now then, we'll give her about an hour to et sound asleep and then we’ll do the job,” Four ings observed to his companion. . . For a full hour the two waited, and then, sat- isfied that all was favorable for the attempt, they procveded to the accomplishment of their murderous design. Their plan had been well digested, and they knew exactly what todo, It was an easy mat- ter to climb to the roof of the piazza. The catch of the casement yielded to the knife of Stingy Bill, and Four Kings cautiously raised the window-sash. CHAPTER XIV. ONE RUFFIAN CAGED. THE two were extremely skillful at this sort of business, and the delicate operation was per- formed in such an adroit manner that it would have been a light sleeper indeed who could have been distur by the slight noise. But Stingy Bill was careless enough to strike his foot against one of the flower-pots on the roof and it rolled into the yard beneath. The noise was a slight one, though—hardly enough to awaken a sleeper well wrapped in the embrace of Morpheus. ‘“You’re a clumsy brute!” growled. ‘*T couldn’t help it; don’t make no difference, anyhow, I guess.” *“‘T)l try the window, and if she is awake, she’ll howl, and then we'll gt The sash being raised, the two paused and listened before they attempted to enter the room. They listened intently, but not a sound could they hear. It was plain that the inmate of the room had not been disturbed, for, if she had been, most certainly she would either have made a noise by stirring in the bed, or by calling out in alarm, ‘It’s all right,” Stingy Bill muttered. ‘‘ She’s sleeping like a top, and we kin do the job with- out any trouble.’ It was a noiseless and easy death that the ruf- fians destined for the girl. | She was to be chloroformed as she slept, and then a strong dose of prussic acid poured down her throat while in the insensible state, unable to help herself. The vial which contained the poison was to be placed in the girl’s hand, so it might be found there when the body was discovered; thus the murder might be made to appear like an act of self-destruction. The Spider Captain had planned the opera- tion in this adroit manner in order to avert sus- picion, The girl being found dead in her apartment the door securely locked, the window fastened —this was arranged by means of a fine copper wire attached to the catch, and operated from the outside—an empty bottle which had con- tained poison in her hand, it would be a shrewd brain indeed to suspect foul play. ‘* Oh, yes, she’s safe enough, and we shall be able to settle her hash without giving her time to give a single squeak.” he curtain was down—it was hung on a ring roller that worked without a cord—and Four Kings drew it up, cautiously, and as he did so Stingy Bill put his leg over the window- seat and thrust half of his body into the room. It wasa rather dark night, the moon not be- ing visible, yet there was light enough to enable one to detect large objects at a short distance away, but when the two ruffians peered into the room, for a moment they could not distin- ish the girl, although there wasn’t any Anat in their minds that she was lying on the bed. ‘*Go ahead, Bill, everything is all serene,” said Four Kings in a whisper to his companion, but no sooner had the words left his lips than the two were treated to a surprise that com- pletely astounded them. There wasa flash of flame, which for a mo- ment illuminated the apartment, followed by a sharp report. _ Imagine the disgust and anger which filled the breasts of the two midnight marauders when by the aid of the powder’s flash they discovered the girl, whom they fondly believed to be sleeping the sleep of the righteous, sitting bolt upright in the bed, with a revolver in her hand and a de- termined look upon her face, just as if she felt confident of her ability to cope with all the scoundrels in the world. And to add insult to injury, Stingy Bill, too, felt sure that the revolver with which she threatened their lives was the very one which had been stolen from him in the cellar. It was of a rather peculiar pattern, end Stingy Bill was certain that he could not be mistaken. The first shot fired by the girl went wide of the mark, passing high over the heads of the two men. ‘*Out with your pistol—kill her!” Four Kings cried, infuriated at the failure of the carefully planned attack. The two men were desperate. The orders of the Spider Captain had been to kill the girl at all hazards. Had not such been the case—if the two were Four Kings GOMGEDOOKS Cc (@) f ds 5 fe » . .