Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 396 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

20 - out without attracting the attention of any aa one else, and he suspected that Tyler had been attacked and settled first, and the po- liceman afterward, as he ran up to inter- $i fere. A few minutes had been apparently ‘ wasted; but the captain did not think so. “Good,” he said, ‘‘here come my men at aA last. We'll have a chance to go .to work. A minute or two will explain everything re! sufficiently to leave things in their hands, Then I will have work to do; and you can | help me, too, if you are willing to act blind- Spe ly. Oh, I begin to see the threads now; a and if I can follow them there will be trou- ble when I reach the end they lead to.” ¥ “Count on me. What can I do to aid a you?” ‘“ First, for General Rawle. I want you to go to his rooms at once. Make any pre- text you choose, but go, If you find him | there then advise him that you have heard | there were three assassins on his trail, and _ that he should beware of them and the Gilt bust: Edge Gang. If he is not there but should hs |, . a come in afterward not a word to him of what _ you have heard to-night. Either he is a deeper plotter than we have guessed, or he ay is being plotted against by men who mean, --— -one way or another, to bring him to grief. _ Go now. I will meet you or send you word to the hotel in an hour.” sam laine would have demurred ‘had he not - geen by the positive way Hardy spoke that _ he was very much in haste and very much in earnest. He would have liked well enough | —s-: to see young Tyler to some place where he gould receive attention and perhaps have a —_ ghance to tell what he knew; and he would have liked to follow on in the pursuit of the ' assassins, who, it seemed, were to be allowed to walk away at their leisure. Nevertheless, after just a momentary hesi- tation, he turned away. He was still loyal ‘to his old commander, and it struck him at that without being compelled to reveal any | __ of the secrets of the police captain who had made him in a sort of way, his confidant, he might be able to give the general such a hint as to enable him to guard himself from any hy possible misconstruction, and perhaps save - ‘him from the annoyance that would come i ee pe 7 doubly hard at such a time. As he went along he could not well keep from thinking that they were a bunglesome . set of people on the police force. The cool- ness with which Hardy had acted began to / look very much like stolidity. _--—s “'‘Tt’s_ the same old story over again,” he - muttered to himself. _ +**T don’t wonder that they have done nothing. Here was one dead man and anoth- er dying; and we stood there coldly discus- __. sing the probable chance of its being a clew, '_-whiie the murderers, that we knew had not had time to get a block away, were hunting their holes. One thing is sure. Either the old man or the three disguised females—if x: ; rat were females—can tell a great deal about | this night's work. I will follow Hardy’s lead to-night; but, if nothing comes of it, to-morrow I will see what I can do fighting the Thugs my own way. Meantime I don’t 4 at like the work he has given me any too well, Ps though I see there 7s a chance that it is a —~ -work of wisdom. } **But whether I relish it or not I shall do - it well. Perhaps some day, even if he knows _ the whole truth, Rawle will forgive me.” __» The major was a good deal more excited than he expected, but the rajid walk steadied his nerves. By this time he was well-known as a friend of the general, who came and went at all hours, and he felt no hesitation about asking for him. -_——-—-s **#fe’s not come in yet,”’ said Mr. Patter- gon, who happened to be in the office. “TI -' suppose he wanted a bit of fresh air, He -—-s- won’t be gone long, though; and if you wish BA to wait you might go up to his parlor until ‘he comes. Ican let you in. I suppose the rooms will seem dreadful lonesome, but then ' { don’t think you're troubled much with . nerves.” Tine It was a mere chance that caused the ee ee major to seize the opportunity thus proffered. -. . He went his way without darkening coun- sel by words without wisdom. Utterly un- - gonscious of using special care he silently inserted the key,in the lock, noiselessly en- tered the room, and quietly dropped into a convenient chair. He was not thinking just ‘— = 7 Pia a -s mS Py if 4 7 ' « ? 4 JT . As a4 The Piper Detective. —— then about Rawle—his mind was busy with remembrances of Regina. If he had chosen his position with a pur- pose he could not have done better. In the gloom of the room one not aware of his presence would have to be locking sharply to see him. When he heard a light step in the adjoining apartment he turned his face in that direction, and was tempted to make his presence known. It was a wonder that he did not, but something restrained him, In- stead, he waited and watched. The door was only slightly ajar; it opened completely, and he saw that Katie stood on the threshold, in an attitude of listening, with her eyes fixed upon the outer door. When she turned away Blaine’s suspicions were excited, though he would scarcely have been willing to admit as much. After a mo- mentary struggle he arose softly and sfole to- ward the door. : Katie stood looking about her in a puzzled way. In her hand she held 2 small bunch of keys, and her glance went from one piece of furniture to another, returning after each excursion to a battered looking trunk, the top of which seemed to have been but care- lessly let down, since, from under one cor- ner, a boot-strap protruded a little way. Finally, she spoke softly to herself: ‘* By all the rights of the game it should be there, yet I have examined it a dozen times and found nothing. I will try it once more. Time is precious, and this may be my last chance.” After that the major needed nothing more to keep him on the watch. Here was an un- derhanded game of some kind, and he in- tended to see what it meant. The young woman raised the lid and look- ed at the miscellaneous collection disclosed. ‘‘ Principally boots!” she muttered with an air of contempt, yet looking keenly at every part of the trunk, comparing the outside with the inside in a way that showed that if there was any hidden drawer or tray she did not intend it to escape her. Nothing of the kind was even suggested and she had already turned away, when an- other idea appeared to strike her. She sunk down once more by the trunk and began carefully to inspect its contents. If she looked like a thief Preston Blaine felt like a spy, and was strongly tempted to end the matter right then. Luckily he did not. He waited; and so grew more and more interested in the proceedings. ‘‘She is evidently after something that she believes is hidden,” he thought to him- self,” and very cleverly she is going about the work of finding it. Who but a woman would think of examining the insoles of a batch of old shoes. Ah!” He almost spoke aloud; and if he had done so it is quite likely she would not have heard him, so engrossed was she. ‘* At last!’ she exclaimed, rising to her feet and holding in her hand a closely folded paper. ‘‘ Now, General Rawle, we will see who wins.” Then she gave a little cry of dismay, Major Blaine’s hand dropped on her shoulder, with no gentle gripe. Oy CHAPTER XXIII, BEYOND BELIEF. Tae major had stolen up quietly, and when he placed his hand upen the detected pilferer he believed his work was done. He took little pride in his task, but he could not do less than his duty; and he was totally un- prepared for what followed. The low cry threw him off his guard. For a moment he fancied that he had obtained an easy victory. Yet before his mouth was fairly open to speak the woman had wheeled; and by this time the paper had vanished. In its place her hand clasped a revolver, that looked Pres- ton Blaine straight in the face. ‘** Be quiet, sir!” the woman said, with an angry stamp of her foot. ‘*? would not harm you for a fortune, but if you crazily interfere | must hold my own, even if you have to die. I scarcely need tell you that [ have right on my side as well as a5 ee laine was taken by surprise; but he did not altogether lose his self-possession, and in a moment he was as cool as the coolest. _ “IT dislike very much to be harsh with a woman, but the circumstances admit of no 1 - ‘ . s . uv ' a“ “°r tT } «3 ' * iF | ‘ y! - “PA: f ’ oth, Jy yok w . = © ——-S llSSSsssssssseesesseh-seeeeee>s- force. recognized the fact before this. , choice. I find you rummaging through the property of my friend, and about to make off with some paper or other that is probably of great value. Certainly I can do nothing else than stop you. If you have any explanation I am willing to hear it, but I would advise you to accept the situation peaceably, for ycu must be aware thatany attempt to use such a weapon as that would only result in calling aid to me at once. Give me your weapon and consider yourself my prisoner until you can explain to my satisfaction what I have seen.” He was stretching out his hand in a mat- ter-of-fact way, as though he really expected a surrender to follow his sober advice. With some women he might have won, while with any his utter fearlessness must have had its effect. The result with Miss Katie was that she gave a quick step backward, so as to be beyond his reach, and then gave a short, hard laugh. ‘Thank you, Major Preston Blaine, for the opinion you have of me, but really I am not of that kind. You can neither trick me nor scare me; and if you attempt to drive me you will find that I can hold my own against Things are not always what they seem, and I am surprised that you have not Really, ' young man, you are not as shrewd as you think,” Preston Blaine did not look very shrewd just then. He was too astounded for any- thing—if he had dropped senseless to the floor it would have been no wonder. Any way his lips closed, his eyes opened to their widest extent, while his whole frame quivered with nervous excitement. ‘Ah! you see, do you? And you haven’t a word tosay. It’s not every man that has the opportunity to speak face to face with a young and charming ghost, and it seems to me if | were in your place I would improve the occasion.” The mockery in her voice brought him to his senses. “Who are you?” he asked, harshly. ‘Somewhere or somehow there has been a ghastly jest; what is the meaning of it? Kither you are another woman trying to mas- querade as Regina Rawle, or you are Regina Rawle in disguise.” ‘* You have hit the truth at last, have you? Well, perhaps you will admit now that I have some right here after all. Rest assured I am only looking after my own, and armed as lam now I have nothing further to con- ceal. When the truth comes out, you and the rest of the world will be more than sur- prised.” ‘*] am more than surprised now. What is the meaning of this terrible masquerade? What inducement could there be for you to sham death and have your name in the head- lines of every paper? How have you becn able to deceive your father; the authorities; your friends?” “Thank you, I did not deceive them; they deceived themselves. A woman was found dead in my bed, and they jumped to the conclusion that it must be I. Yow never looked at the corpse; and if you had, I don’t suppose that you would have known the dif- ference.” ‘But, meantime, where have you been? And your father—he has been almost heart- broken over the terrible tragedy.” ‘‘Hush! you can see no further into a millstone than the rest of the world. The man you call General Rawle is worse than you. He would scarcely be apt to know the difference, since he shut his eyes when he looked at the dear departed, and he @ neither General Rawle nor my father. There’s some excuse for the others being taken in by the miserable fraud; but for you, an old-time friend and companion of the genuine gene- ral, it looks to me as though there was none at all.” ‘* Not General Rawle!” The major was sufficiently interested now, though this last statement was so flatly against the evidence of his own senses that he was slow to accept it. ‘*Pardon me. As you say, I ought to know—do know—my old commander when I see him., Unvail your mystery fairly. Un- less | can understand it better I certainly will not believe. Who wasit that was killed in your place?” ‘**Give me your promise first; I must know } EOmic » bo. Mt od le ed . ities S IOOKS. ca bs ‘GA Ce ie ;