Beadle's Dime Library No. 391 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

24 CHAPTER XXXIV, AN EASY VICTORY. ANDREWS laughed, sat down, took out his cigar-case, hel himself to a weed and prof- fered the case to Alcibiades just as if the other had approached in the friendliest manner pos- sible. ‘‘ Have a smoke, old fellow?” he asked. ‘* No, I didn’t come here for any fun,” young Grimgriskin snarled. ‘‘ And I want you to un- derstand that 1 don’t like the way things are going at all!” | * Don’t you? Well, now, that is Des) too bad,” and the host lit his cigar and proceeded to smoke with the air of a man at perfect peace with himself and all the world. Alcibiades was enraged; it was plain from the manner of the other that he cared but little for bis opinion, Yes, and I must say I think there has been _ really indecent haste in this business, and [ want -- you to understand that, as one of the principal members of the family, I most decidedly object . t, to the arrangement.” “A union between your sister and, myself * doesn’t meet your views, then?’ Andrews asked, puffing out great clouds of smoke. _ -** No, it does not; the whole thing is too sud- ” yi den “Dm a little too previous, eh?” ___ * Yes, that expresses the idea exactly.” “And this is your opinion?” “Tt is!” snarled young Grimgriskin, defiantly. “By the way, did your sister tell you about hi the destruction of the I. O, U.’s?” Andrews ask- ed, abruptly. 5 *Yes, she did,” responded Alcibiades, with _ the air of a man who has suffered a grievous Bd Tinie © That was a mighty smart trick of yours, too; I s’pose you think I ain’t up to it, but I am. I ll you when you tackle me you ain’t got a fool | 5 60 Syiden! with. Ive got the biggest kind of a ra: for all such games; I wasn’t born yester- _ day, and don’t you forget it!” "Qh, you think I have been playing a little bs e, eh?” and Andrews, as he pos the question, : id back in his chair and fairly laughed in the - face of the angry Alcibiades, as much as to say, “What are you going to do about it?” .* hh “Why, I know it,” young Grimgriskin cried. _ “Tt's as plain as the nose on your face! ~=+* ¥ou can fool Sidonia all right, for she’s a hose big fool like all women, but you can’t pull the wool over my eyes! You let go of my I. O. U.’s because you had | abigger thing. It was throwing a minnow to pa} Beatin whale. What’sa few thousand dollars 7 ae. when you were playing for an heiress with a _. couple of million?” “As you justly observe, what is it? Nothing at all, and I made the trick, too, old fellow; your I. O. U.’s I gave to the flames, but I have _ geeured your sister’s consent to marry me, and _ that_was richly worth the sacrifice.” “But you ain’t married to her yet!” the other - _ eried, exasperated by the coolness of his host. “Right again! Iam not married to her yet, '. butas I bave her word there isn’t much doubt that the ceremony will soon take place.” “Not if I can prevent it!” Alcibiades ex- Claimed, savagely. _ “What! are you against me? Why, I thought pro were a friend, and after my letting you off on the T. O.. U.’s, too!” cried Andrews, in a r way that plainly revealed even to the obtuse “son of oildom that the other was “ chaffing” _--—«- ** ¥on’ll have to do a deuced sight more than .that for me before you can count me in on your side!” Grimgriskin declared, so much enraged by the coolness < : oerhys 23 to lead him to +" expose 1 the game he desired to play. Bey "Ob, I inet buy your consent?” _ “ Well, I reckon I will have something to sa about the matter, and if you are wise you will ye square’ me.” “Now you are dipping into the vulgate, and to give you your answer in terms that you can- misunderstand, allow me to say I am not _ that kind of a hairpin!” Andrews replied. ** You may be able to bulldoze your mother and sister, but you cannot scare me for a cent,” and the contemptuous manner in which the host spoke showed how lightly he regarded the young | man’s threat. ——s **Oh, you want war, then, do you?” and Al- -_ @ibiades rose to his feet and glared at the other. War between you and a man like myself!” Andrews cried. ‘Go hang yourself to the first _ tree for a fool! If you dare to attempt to inter- fere with me, I'll crush you as though you were : only a worm in my path!” ‘You will?’ and the young man grew red with anger. He had not anticipated any such ; Wag Se of spirit on the part of his bost, whom a Foe hy ad set down in his own mind for a milksop. -- * T will, most decidedly.” ss * We will see!” cried Alcibiades, threatening- | © Jy, and he laid bis hand on the door-knob. ter. ** By the way before you depart, I want to know about t is check’ of yours!” exclaimed rd vf on ua L? 7 a _Andrews abruptly. >. * Check!” responded the other, amazed. “Yes, that one for ten thousand dollars made by your father to your order and you tome. When can I look for the money?” Alcibiades stared, and his legs began to trem- ble. Could it be possible that he was in a trap? ‘* Why—why, the check is burned. Sidonia told me she saw it destroyed,” he stammered, his voice trembling and uncertain, ‘* Nothing of the kind; she mistook some one Kate Scott, the Decoy Detective. indorsed by the affair. Listen while I unfold the particu- a of the I. O. U.’s for it, if she said so,” Andrews | replied, pitilessly. That check has been out of my hands for | three days. I was short of money, and I raised a loan upon it from a Jew friend. I told him not to attempt to cash it, but to hold the paper and I would redeem it.” Alcibiades staggered against the door, and but for its support most certainly would have fallen. ‘* What's the matter with you? Are you go- ing to faint, man? That check is all right, isn’t it? Nothing crooked about it, eh? for if there is, Heaven help you! for this Jew is like a wild beast when any one attempts to trick him. ‘If there is anything wrong about the check and he finds it out, he’ll put you in the State Prison as sure as you're a living man!” A hollow es came from Alcibiades’s lips, and he sunk down upon his knees. ‘‘For Heaven’s sake, spare me!” he stam- mered, with thickened utterance, ‘*Spare you, old fellow? why, I wouldn't hurt a hair of your head for the world!” Andrews cried, in the most jovial manner. ‘* Ar’n’t you going to be my brother-in-law, and do you think I would do anythmg to cause you any trouble?” The miserable young man tottered slowly to bis feet. He fully understood now the nature of the trap into which he had fallen. “Of course I know that you are my friend,” he said, with whitened lips. ‘‘I know you Mi a do anything to hurt me for Sidonia’s sake.” ‘* Certainly not!” ‘‘ Wor Heaven’s sake, though, get that check back in your own hands as soon as you can.” ‘Oh, don’t be alarmed about that. The Jew is the soul of discretion, and he will not attempt to use the check until I tell him that it is impos- sible for me to take it back.” ‘* Get it back, though—get it back!” pleaded Alcibiades, groveling like a whipped cur. ‘*That will be all right, don’t you worry, and Alcibiades, I think you are wrong to oppose m union with your sister, for within four-and- twenty hours after I am married to Sidonia, I will place that check in core hands.” re h, will you, though?” cried the other, ea- ger sé 1 will, as sure as I stand here, so do all you can to hurry the match forward.” ‘You can depend upon me. [ll do my level ip A cried Alcibiades, a weight lifted from: his mind. ‘Did you tell Sidonia that you did not think a union between us would be advisable?” ‘* Yeh—yes,” was the reluctant reply. ‘‘ Better tell her now, as soon as you can, that you have changed your mind, and you think it is a good thing,” Andrews observed. ‘* Oh, you can depend upon me!” ‘*Go ahead then, and don’t worry about the asin If you keep faith with me you are all right. Somewhat relieved in his mind by this assur- ance young Grimgriskin retreated from the apartment and seeking his sister told her that after a talk with Andrews, he had come to the conclusion that she couldn’t pick out a better man. Alcibiades was a thorough cur, and having once felt the lash of his master’s whip was not anxious to provoke a second chastisement, Hardly had the door closed behind ae Fi man when he left Andrews, before Mr. Michae Jones made his appearance from the secret pas- an sie ‘Well, you settled him, captain, all right,” the secretary observed, with a chuckle. “Oh, yes, he was inclined to be ugly, but when he found that I had the ring in his nose he weakened,” Andrews replied, grimly. ‘Tt seems to me that the outlook is mighty good,” Jones remarked, “Yes, everything is altogether lovely. Ihave secured the heiress, and the moment she is mine with her two millions I think I can bid good-by to this life of adventure with all its desperate risks.” ‘“-You bet!” the secretary exclaimed, decid- edly. The moment that stroke is made you mustn’t be fool enough to take any more chances.” ‘“Oh, trust me to carry sail cautiously. I think the best thing we can do, Mike, is to go abroad, a wedding-trip for me, you know, and we'll stay away for five or six years until all danger is past.” ‘* But this girl, Kate Scott—this spy, right in your house? What is to be done with her?” the other asked, his voice growing low and his face dark, ‘*Soon I will settle her. I have arranged a plan so that she will disappear and the keenest sleuth-hound will not be able to connect us with — tt sss — SE CC? - = -_ eae 5 oe i 4 > ow a rd * ” 4 lars.” ; And then the two men put their heads to- gether. CHAPTER XXXV. THE SPY. It was a bold move on the part of the acute detective to penetrate right into the heart of the enemy’s stronghold, but it was a maneuver just suited to such a man as Joe Phenix. The moment that his attention was directed to the master of Blithewood he determined to learn all he could in regard to him. And there was no doubt that by securing a Begs in the household of the suspected man e could gain more information regarding him and his doings than he could have picked up in a month any other way, ; ‘*T must have been born under a lucky star,” the detective remarked as he settled himself down to play the spy upon the mansion. ‘For if Lhad not been I would never have been fortunate enough to secure this chance. Now then, if there is any thing wrong about this. Mr. Bernard Andrews, theodds are about a thousand to one that I will be able to smoke it. out. ‘‘Let the man be ever so much on his guard he will not be apt to suspect that there is a spy right in his own domains,” he stable was about a hundred yards from the house and the blind goddess, Dame Fortune, always prompt to smile on the bold soul who seeks her favors in a manful way, had so willed it that the window in the stable loft commanded a view of the private business apartment of the master of Blithewood. There were screens to the lower part of the windows and curtains to the upper, but as the curtains were well rolled up,and the screens were only a couple of feet hgb, there was a gap fully two feat wide between the screens and the curtains, so that by the aid of the powerful glass Joe Phenix was able to see into the room and note all that occurred therein, That Bernard Andrews, the master of Blithe- wood, was a man with a wonderful head the reader has probably discovered long ere this. But as i a without saying that there isn’t. any such thing in this world as a perfect man, so there is a limit to the shrewdness and wisdom of all humans. Andrews had arranged his sanctum so thet while he could command a view of all that transpired without, no one on the outside could psy, the spy upon those within, at is, his intention bad been to arrange the matter in such a way, but, with all his shrewd- ness, he had never taken the distant stable into his calculations, The idea that a spy might post himself in the stable loft, and with the aid of a powerful glass crt a be upon his movements never entered is head. All great men are prone to neglect some little detail of this kind, seemingly insignificant, but upon which, really, the fate of a nation may depend. And this beedlessness on the part of the mas- ter of Bhithewood was fated to cost him dear, apparently unimportant as it was—but we will not anticipate events. Stern Phenix could not suppress a dry chuckle as he adjusted his glass and perceived that— thanks to the favorable position he occupied— he could command a view of the entire apart- ment. The master of the mansion was seated in the room when Joe Phenix began his watch, smok- ing a cigar, and glancing every now and tuen at a newspaper which he held in his hand. It was one of the New York afternoon jour- nals, which had just arrived, It was the “money article” which interested Andrews. There had been a ‘field day” in Wall street. The ‘‘ bears” had attacked in force, and the ‘** bulls” had been routed all along the line. Stocks had dropped from five to ten points, and many a man who had confidently looked upon himself as being worth a good round sum when he awoke that morning, was suddenly brought face to face with the unwelcome fact that he was a beggar before the noonday sun had reached its meridian, Many of them never before realized how much. truth there was in the old saying: ‘* Riches bath wings.” The flurry lasted until about one o’clock, and then all the weak holders—men who bad invested all they could raise, and were unable to respond to the incessant cry of the excited brokers for more margin—being weeded out, end their stocks transferred to the possession of the wily schemers who had engineered the raid, the trick- sters went in to realize on their profits, and at the same time give a “‘ twist” to the uncautious speculators, men of small capital, who, encour- aged by the belief that ‘‘ the bottom had dropped out of the market,” ventured to sell ‘ what. they didn’t own,” in the hope of turning an honest penny by a still further decline. The market was “‘ milked” in the most scien- tific manner, to use the jargon of the “ street.” j , IOO S <colm (E » « ‘