Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 413 — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

. rem ——_ % - : - “Do you think I would harbor a suspicious ho) “person?” he cried, ‘‘I don’t make my house the } -abode of criminals! If I had known that Duke Dado was wanted for any crime, I would have handed him over to the authorities.” ‘*There, sir! I see that the effect of your medicine is wearing off,” said Captain Coldgrip im with asmile. ‘I won't detain you another mo- 3 ment. I will go back to the trail.” The front door of the mansion had hardly closed on the detective ere the millionaire began to write the following letter: ‘ “*THomAs Keenear, Pirale Detective :— < **My Dear Str:—You are wanted at my house im- . “mediately. Come with the utmost secrecy attain- if able, and do not delay a moment. Business of the dF utmost importance. USON FowLer,”’ __“T have to set a ferret to watch a ferret,” said 7 Fowler excitedly as he sealed the letter. ‘I’m 2 xeacg vafraid this Captain Coldgrip knows to much!” CHAPTER XXV, STRUCK FOR TEN MILLIONS, Oe _ THE message written by Ferg Fowler was de- _—s Aiivered to the person for whom it was intended, y. Thomas Keenear, or Tom Keen, as he was _ wicknamed, boasted of being the shrewdest . oe detective” in New York. 2 e was a stout, good-looking but not over- ve scrupulous fellow, and, whether the millionaire ’ banker knew it or not, he was jealous of Captain ‘Coldgrip. Mr. Tom Keen presented himself in Fowler’s library, the banker thought he had founda man who would do exactly what he ‘wanted done. Ke ““Of course you know a certain detective 1S “named Captain Coldgrip?’ began Fowler. Lege ‘*T know him.” eh The private detective spoke in a manner which = Yet Fowler know that, as faras Thomas Keenear i. “was concerned, there was no love between the f ‘two ferrets. a ‘“*T suspect,” resumed Fowler, ‘‘ I suspect, and from good reasons, too, that this man Coldgrip ie is playing a& game T don’t like.” Ss ‘Quite likely; these fellows do that some- _\. times.” _ _ *T have sent for you to get at the truth of my a, belief. I willtell you: I havebeen harassed by . acertain pack who want to bleed me. They _ - May attempt to foist upon me a certain roe | woman for whom they wil] ¢laim a good deal o Any wealth,” _ “Blackmail, eh?” ejaculated Mr. Keenear. « “Blackmail of the meanest nature!” was the Sie bri Sonat ‘“*[T want to know whether Captain Pn.) ..C ip, who has been in my employ, as | will frankly confess to you, knows where this gir] is, or has anything to do with her.” The private detective opened his eyes. *T want you to shadow him. It will be dia- snond cut diamond, I presume, but your reputa- ‘tien asa private dotective makes me think that me have not put this case into wrong hands,” RY hope not, sir,” said near. ‘Captain __-¢Coldgrip will be shadowed from the moment I a _-catch sight of him. Want to know about the girl, eh?” “Yes. If he is protecting any one, you are ‘to find out all you can about her, and I am to have the information immediately.” » of? Yes, air,” mA “*That looks like business,” said Ferg Fowler +tohimself when he had dismissed the man he ‘had pitted against the best detective in Goth- vam, ‘*I think Pve made no mistake in gettin -. ‘Thomas Keenear into my employ, @ wil _ \have some news from hii in a short time.” “ae Slowly the day went by, and the shadows of night Fe pam 3 about the ee city found Ferg Fowler seated anxiously in his accustomed ow my. ci *? place. an : On the desk before him were a number of pa- __ » pers which he had assorted into two piles, ~~ ‘The door of the library was locked, and he "was its only occupant. At last he is pon to burn some of the papers in pas jet before him. “Pil get ready for the worst, anyhow,” he -gaid. ‘*Great heavens! 1 never ex an -_,- outeome of this kind. Itisa good thing that I persuaded Nydia to take in the opera. She would wonder why I am burning so many pa- ies as and I would not like to tell her that the Dragon League is liable to make a dangerous J play if Captain Coldgrip has become suspicious + of me. yy —- He was in the act of burning a legal-looking “oy eens when he heard a soft rap on the -_ *T told Jason Biya, that I was not to be __. disturbed,” said Ferg Fowler, glancing madly - toward the door. The knocking was repeated. ys Suppressing an oath, the man got up and __ » erossed the room, 4 ‘‘ Jason?” he said—* is that you, Jason?” | a No, sir,” said a voice, undoubtedly a wom- AD'S, “By Jove! it can’t be Nydia,” exclaimed Fowler, and then, full of curiosity, he unlocked the door and opened it. | A most beautiful young woman stood before ‘him—tall, exquisitely molded, and with radiant | black eyes—in short, a perfect beauty. | f . . *. —s be A, Tw _ - é ° mR tit —_—-—-— -—- The millionaire’s look in an instant became a | ‘horns. The Dragon League shall not down me stare, ‘**'You will pardon me, but I could not keep away any longer,” the woman said, ‘‘I am here on business of the utmost importance,” and as Fowler held the door open she crossed the threshold and swept into the library. An indescribable thrill passed over Fowler’s frame. He turned and looked strangely at the woman. ‘*May I ask you to be seated, Mr. Fowler?” she said turning the witchery of her eyes upon him, ‘‘ You shall know in a minute that I have a right to be heard.” Ferguson Fowler shut the door and went back to the chair at his desk. He tried to appear like his old self, but it was impossible. There was a spell about him that kept all color from his face, and made his heart beat fiercely. ‘*In God’s name,” he thought, ‘‘ who is this woman?” For a moment his visitor seemed to notice the ashes of the papers he had lately burned, and there appeared the semblance of a smile at the corners of her finely chiseled mouth, ‘* Well, what can I do for you?” asked the millionaire, ‘*A good deal perbaps,” was the answer. ‘* Ferguson Fowler, I am under the painful ne- cessity of announcing that [ am Frances Percy!” The studied coolness of this startling statement almost drove the banker from his chair. What! this woman the person held over his head by the Dragon League? or, was she the one known to the Raven? . Ferg Fowler tried to calm himself in a little ime. ‘*Frances Percy, eh?” he said. ‘“‘I don’t be- lieve I fully understand you.” ‘*T am Frances Percy, the only child of Major Percy of Oak Meadows, England. You knew my father; you were appointed my guardian by the will he left behind. I know that it is the pular belief that I died in Manchester whither was conveyed by my nurse, Mary May Cable, but I am alive and before you with incontesta- ble proofs of my identity. I am here for the property left me by my father.” ‘*Ho! 1 seo!” exclaimed Ferg Fowler with a sneer that made the woman’s eyes brighten. ‘Your coming here is a part of the game against me. It is a good play—bold and rather brilliant, but it won’t succeed, Proofs, eh? I'd like to se@ proofs that you are the child who died in Manchester some years ago.” | - Jove! she is a beauty! with a hand of this kind. This woman hasn’t a drop of Percy blood in her veins. She hasn’t a single line of the major’s physiognomy. But, Just the woman to y herself with the pastille demon.” “I want you to think of the fight before you,” the self-styled Frances Percy said, *“*T have thought,” was the quick response. ‘**T will spend my millions—” “Your millions? When did they lLecome yours?” interrupted the banker’s visitor. ‘* When I made them!” he cried. ‘* Ah! when was that? Was it the night Ma- jor Percy died in bis private upartmen: at Oak feedows! Was it when you rode froi the mansion to London and crept into bed at the Albemarle on the fringe of daylight? Let me ask you if those millions were made at either of these periods of your life history. Do ycu want me to go further?” ‘*Oh, I expect you to show a well-woven web of deception,” ejaculated Fowler. ‘‘ [t's a deep ame, you know; it emanated from the brilliant frais of Elegant Ahab, whose apt pupil I see youare. Why, I'll set the police on you!” This was what Ferg Fowler called ‘‘ taking the bull by the horns, and he thought it a crush- ing play. ‘That is right! Set the police at the heels of the child of the man who would be alive to-day, perhaps, but for your infemous greed for gold. Call me impostor—deceiver—fraud—what you please, Ferg Fowler, but I am ready to prove that my hands are not stained with the blood of a noble Englishman!” The millionaire banker recoiled; the woman was on her feet, and with flashing eyes and out- stretched hand she bold I confronted him. “Fraud, am I? the ally of some person called Elegant Ahab, eh?” she went on. ‘‘ Who and what are you? Do you want your crime parad- ed before New York? Do you force meto prove that Major Percy did not commit suicide? In God’s name, Ferguson Fowler, must I stand up in the courts and fight my father’s murderer for my own?” The millionaire grew livid and then white. He saw the woman step toward the door transformed into a real fury. Her last words rung through the house like a trump of doom to the white-faced man, “Very well! let it come!” she said. ‘If you want to lose all I shall goahead. If you want to 0 back to Oak Meadows, back you shall go!” Fowler made an effort to leave the chair but ‘*The child did not die. The nurse, plung- | failed. ing into dissipation, deserted it, and left it ‘““What do you want?’ he gasped. ‘ You to its fate. In the first place, I have the ring | want money, but how much? Name your that encircled my finger when 1 disappeare rice.” from Oak Meadows a short time after my A smile appeared on the woman’s face, She father’s death. I have it with me now—a little | took a step forward. old ring with a miniature dragon’s head on it. n the next place, the strange crest of my house is tattooed on my left arm as you shall see.” As she finished the banker’s visitor threw back the rich cloak she wore and showed a cut in her sleeve. ‘* Look for yourself,” she went on opening the dress as she leaned forward. ‘* Behold the tattoo that establishes my identity beyond question.” Ferg Fowler could not have kept back if death had been the penalty for leaning forward. He saw in the soft gaslight the roseate flesh of the woman's arm, and upon it a tattooed dragon very well done! The millionaire’s eyes seamed to dilate while he gazed; they became riveted upon the work before him. If he had looked up he would have seen two brilliant eyes fixed upon him—eyes tbat burned with triumph deep and long played for. ‘*That will do,” he said, leaning back in his chair. ‘“‘Ilam to believe that you are Frances Percy because you have a certain ring and a tattoo on your arm?” ‘What further proof do you want?” “Tt isn’t enough, I have proof that the child did die in Manchester, I have nothing to do with the dissipation of the nurse, I don’t call you Frances Percy. I never can.” “Then who am I?” asked the woman. The question seemed to come through clinched teeth Ferg Fowler had thought rapidly. A woman of her beauty and shrewdness could not have been educated toa game of this kind by the Raven. No, she must be the one held over him by Mortimer Nogg, or, as he had recently learned, Elegant Ahab. **'Whoare you?” hesaid ina moment. ‘‘ Why, you are the Queen of the Dragon League—the woman mentioned by the devil who came here with the deadly pastilles.” “Oh, that is a counter charge!” laughed the visitor, showing two rows of pearly teeth. “TI am Frances Percy! If you want me to play my game out, Ferguson Fowler, I will do it to your cost. If you want the past raked up it shall be done. 1 have not been an unknown heir all this time for nothing. If I am an impostor, as you boldly assert, the contest to come will show it. If you are ready for it, I am.” **T am readv!” said Fowler, with spirit, and he went on under his breath: ‘* By Jove! I’m going to take the bull by the | ee ggg gg gg A mmm me | | ‘*] want ten nee !” she — = a age 7 Ferg Fowler seemed to gasp for breath. n, Ten millions? You’d better take my blood !” he cried, and fell in a swoon at the womar.’s feet! CHAPTER XXVI. CORNERED IN A CAB, ONE of the most surprised denizens of New York was our friend Robert Randolph, alias the Raven, when he awakened from the drunkcn stupor and found himself being carried rapidly down a broad street. He was the only occupant of the cab, and this discovery tended to recall his experience at tLe cafe with Duke Dado. ‘Jehosaphat! this isn’t Hudson street!” ex- claimed the ven. “What kind of a game has the dwarf played against me? Let me sce where Iam. Hello, there, you son of Jehu!” He had opened the door of the vehicle, anc was shouting at the driver. ‘‘ Where are you takirg me to?” he demanded. ‘‘Grand Central Depot, sir—almost therc now.” ‘‘Grand Central thunder!” grated the sport. ‘‘ Who ordered you to take me thither?” ‘¢ You, sir.” ‘1? The devil, no!” ‘‘ Your friend said the orders came from you, anyhow.” ay ust asI thought! Iam the victim of some deep game. Drive me as fast as you can to Number — Hudson. Where did the little imp et out?” eee At West and Varick.” ‘Great Cesar! Only a square from Hudson! I wish your horses had wings. Take me back in the shortest time possible,” and then he closed the door and sunk back among the cushions with a volley of oaths and clinched hands. Minutes seemed hours to the Raven as the ed horses responded as well as they could to e Jehu’s whip. ‘“* Why didn’t I see through it all? It’s a won- der I wasn’t robbed, but I find all my valuables still in my possession. Ill be surprised if I find the city diamond where I left her. I made a fool of myself at the cafe, that’s what I did. If I had the throat of the dwarfed imp in my fin- gers, by Jupiter! I'd choke him to death!” At last the cab rolled into Hudson street, and Eboo . 4 rf oi <eom an ’ a it a’ ¥ a E: £ it ¢ eb, « 4 ag | ( | 4 i } a_i ‘ rs