Beadle's Dime Library No. 415 — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

? i a ee ee Ft % oz _— <=; <= re eal ¢ ——= /~ et aa mal > os ‘ . a —a > oes - ~- oF ' 2 ee : < ” oy * vd “et * am —-__ 4 * ee * “ Sy i ot me” & ° * - “~, .,; = 28 \ ay vu Hot Heart, the Detective Spy. \ ’ te 9 some crime ’aunted you?” riest.” elch?” ‘* Suppose ** Be jabers! that’s a matter fer a “It hought to be confessed, Mr. ‘** Ave course it had, Mr. Jigson.” Joseph sighed dismally. ‘* Have yez a crime on your mind?” . “Mr. Welch, don't hask me; don’t hask me, sir. **Oi can’t imagine what crime you've done,” “Don’t try to,” said Joseph, hurriedly. “*Has a friend to me, Mr. Welch, don’t try. Forget that I spoke hof it. Pity ha ’eart- broken man, sir, and forget hall I ’ave said. Let it be buried ha fathom deep.” Mr. Jigson showed such perturbation of spirit that Tim readily promised, and during the few ‘minutes that the coachman remained no more was said aboutifi But when again alone Tim remembered and wondered at his fellow-serv- ant’s manner. What troubled him? What rime had he committed? The coachman won- dered moreand more, but suddenly started and grew agitated himself. ‘* By tbe powers! can it be that he is the chap that stole that lost thingumjig from dhe house? He might have done it—but Oi won’t think 1t ave Mr. Jigson. He’san honest mon—but no; he intimated dhat be had commi'ted a crime. By me life! Oi bel’ave he’s dhe thafe!” Just then Philip Warburton dropped into the stable for a moment, and Tim forgot his suspi- ion for the time. Philip did not remain long; he had come hoping to see Leona, and when he «did see her in the garden he went to join her. The half-formed suspicion in his mind that Leona believed that he had stolen the yellow ‘parchment needed to be put to rest, and he was resolved to speak plainly. She received him with such grave kindness ‘that he found it difficult to mention the matter. Perhaps she did not suspect him. If so, would it not cause her to suspect if be approached the ‘subject? This was a momentous question, and he decided to delay awhile; so they talked about ‘minor matters, and Leona was so much like her- self that he grew encouraged. Still, there was the memory of her strange words on a former ami and he resolved to have the matter set- ise Is there any new light on the robbery, Miss _Erwin?” he asked, with assumed carelessness, She shot a quick, peculiar glance toward his face. ‘* Not that I am aware of,” she answered. ‘*Has nothing been learned as to how the thief entered the house last time, provided it was ‘the same one?” ‘* Nothing at all.” ‘*IT do not see how the robbery was effected in ‘silence. Professor Hazlitt sleeps in the room mext to Mr. Paul Nettleton, does he not?” “i Yes. ” ** And the commodore in the west chamber?” ott Yes ” “While you and Miss Nettleton are at the ‘orth?’ ** Exactly.” ** Does the detective pow have a room alone?” ae Yes.” ‘** Allow me to ask which one?” “The northeast chamber.” ‘“Then the house is surrounded, as I may ex- press it, and all these rooms were occupied when _ the parchment was stoien, except Neat’s, How could a robber move about unheard?” ‘You forget that it may have occurred inthe evening, before any one retired,” ‘* True,” Philip admitted. He had been trying to advance an argument ‘to prove that no one outside the house could have committed the robbery, so it must have ‘been done by some member of the household; but his argument had fallen flat, and be was so discouraged by the failure that he did not make another attempt to have his suspicions solved. They parted without an understanding, and Oy. ‘ whatever Leona might then have thought of the interview, coming events were destined to make her remember the peculiar questions Philip had just asked, and remember them vividly, too. ff Mr. Neat made any progress during the aft rnoon toward solving any of his mysteries, _ nobody else suspected it. He looked sour, as well as melancholy, and seemed brooding over some deep trouble. Paul again hunted up the Bush-Wolf, and they went in search of Red Jaguar; but even the half-breed’s skill was not _ . sufficient to unearth the wily chief, He wanted to keep out of sight, and he did so admirably. All that Detective Neat had upon bis mind -was not sufficient to keep him awake that night; he fell asleep quickly, and was for severa) bours ‘unconscious of all that was transpiring arcund m. When he awoke, his first feeling was one of illness. ead ached; a disagreeable taste ~was in his mouth; and somehow, the air seemed As he did so, he stood like one turned to stone. And no wonder; what he saw was strange and startling. He had gone to bed in the neatest, most order- ly room imaginable; he awoke tofind it in utter confusion, The carpet was torn up all around the edges; the bureau had been overhauled and | displaced; his clothes lay on the floor, with pockets turned inside out; and the whole aspect of the place was one to suggest the heavy hand of en earthquake, or something of the kind. Detective Neat was dumfound: d, but was not the man to remain leng at fault. He had wit- nessed another scene nearly like this; it was almost a repetition of the state of Professor Haz- litt’s room that memorable afternoon, In a moment Neat knew what meant the head- ache, the taste in his mouth, and the strange odor in his room, He had been drugged, and his | room subjected to the same search which bad ; All had been put quietly, secretly, noiselessly | under the influence of the unknown s0 Without | been visited upon Hazlitt’s. Then the detective became a lion. waiting to don any additional clothing he seized the lamp in one hand and his revolver in the other, and strode from the room, Nobody was in the hall; the house was dark and silent. He entered Paul’s chamber, There he was met by the strange odor, but this was not the most startling feature, On the floor lay Paul Nettleton, bound, gagged and blindfolded exactly as Hazlitt had been on a for- mer occasion, and the room was in exactly the same state of confusion. Neat dropped on his knees and liberated the bound man, but Paul was unconscious. The drug bad not released its hold upon him, The detective opened the window, and hurried to Hazlitt’s room. Like the other two, it was in utter disorder; the strange odor was there, and in bed lay the professor, unconscious and breath- ~ heavily. fter opening his window, the detective went to his own room, partially dressed, and then started for Loyola’s room. He was resolved to see the Indian woman without delay, and see if she had escaped what he now believed to be a general upheaval. Every room through which he passed was in the same condition—every carpet was torn up, and all other things flung about in dire confu- sion, Neat used no ceremony at Loyola’s door, but promptly entered. Herethe now familiar scene met his gaze—disorder reigned supreme. And Loyola lay motionless in bed. as she sham- ming, or not? Thesame odor was strongly in the room, but it might be a blind. He shook the Indian woman, but she did not stir; her condition seemed exactly like that of Paul and Hazlitt. The detective was a keen ob- server and good judge, and he exerted all his skill to judge this part of the case correctly. He was forced to the belief that Loyola was - genuinely drugged and unconscious as any of them. Only one more step remained to be taken: he must visit the commodore’s room. He went, and found the old scene again repeated, After that there was no questioning one fact. Some person, or persons, desiring to find a cer- tain article, had entered the house, drugged ev- ery inmate thereof, and searched every room in such a thorough way that scarcely a pin would have escaped their search. And why had all this been done? There was but one answer in Detective Neat’s mind: To secure the yellow parchment ! Wonders upon wonders accumulated, and then, if never before, Neat understood how much the parchment was valued by some one. By whom? Ah! there came in the mystery. Al- ready once stolen, the strange thing, asserted by Paul to be of the mere riddle class, was so ar- dently desired by other persons that a whole house had been figuratively overturned. While he was thinking thus, Paul and Hazlitt both appeared; the fresh air had revived them ‘*In the fiend’s name!” cried Paul, ‘‘ what does this wholesale confusion mean?” * It is,” retorted Neat, sarcastically, ‘‘ an il- lustration of how riddles and conundrums will turn men’s brains, An entire household is under a spell, and all because of a worthless scrap of parchment—a riddle!” ‘Phe Indians have been here again!” declar- ed Paul. Neat caught him rudely by the arm. ‘* Always the Indians!” he cried. ‘* Fool, In- dians do not aspire to solve childish charades and rebuses. ill you now explain the nature of the yellow parchment?” CHAPTER XXXV. SEEKING LIGHT, BEerore Paul could answer the commodore a _ search, and every Her room, too, was overhauled; she, too, had been drugged, but had recovered unaided. _ She went to care for Leona, who was found just coming to her senses, and when Loyola came around she was given similar work with Mrs. Drake. Due investigation had now been made, and it was known positively that every room in the house had been subjected to the same thorough rson drugged. But who had done it? Nobody could tell. Since the yellow parchment was stolen Paul had not cared whether the doors and windows were fastened or not, and as several of the latter were open, there was nothing to prevent intrusion of outside parties if they had used a ladder to reach the second-story windows—the open ones, With one exception none of the drugged per- sons had known of the presence of their enemies, rific, and had slept quietly through the ransacking which followed—all except Paul. He had been awakened by the efforts to stu- fy him, and had bad a struggle with the un- nown, They were unknown, for though he fought to the best of his ability, he had neither seen their faces ror gained a clew to their iden- tity. He had been bound, and then drugged like all the rest by means of a saturated sponge held close to his nostrils, — Neat lost little time before going outside to in- vestigate. First of all he looked for marks of a ladder at some particular window, or footprints. He found nothing of the kind. He then looked up Welch and Jigson. He found them in bed, Jook- ing innocent enough. They kad not been drug- ged, nor would they admit having heard any- ng. Neat returned to the house. His next move was to learn how the chamber doors had been unlocked—for every member of the household insisted that his, or her, door had been locked and the key left inside. The housekeeper’s keys were found where she always kept them; in her chamber; but if the had been used, how were they first obtained? Here was a mystery Neat could not solve, The detective found himself very much at fault. He believed that the work hrd been done by the same parties who had visited Hazlitt’s chamber on a previous occasion. There was lit- tle room to doubtit. But who were they? Paul’s belief that it was the work of the In- dians was staggered by Loyola’s condition, but Neat was not so easily downcast. Loyola, he reasoned—though he said nothing aloud—might have done it all, and then taken the drug in some form herself. He questioned her adroitly. If she was acting a part, he bad never seen one better acted. Her answers and her manner were strongly calculat- ed to impress one with a belief in her innocence. Moreover, Paul asserted that there had been at least two assailants. Hazlitt had said the same” on the previous occasion. Neat had eyes for everything and everybody, and he noticed that one of the household acted in a very peculiar manner, Leona Erwin had nothing to say except when addressed directly, and then her replies were such as to give the impression that she was con- cealing something. Pale and nervous, she stood and listened without advancing an idea of her own. If she had been a servant Mr. Neat would have marked her as a party to the robbery; but the position she occupied in the family placed her where he could hardly suspect her. t the same time, ho believed she was concealing some- thing. And he was right. Now that this terrible thing had occurred, Leona remembered the conversation she had bad only a few hours hefore with Philip War- burton. She remembered how particularly he had inquired where each member of the family slept, popes the detective. Whatcould bave been his object? She believed there was but one way of answering the question. e was one of the mystericus robbers. It was this that made bcr so nervous and un- happy, and she felt as though a dark cloud bad fallen over her li*e, never to leave again. By Neat’s advice they finally returned to bed. He felt sure the unknown perscns would not come again. After such a search they must be convinced that the yellow parchment was not in the house, anc that was all they wanted. The family retired, but there was little sleep in the house the remainder of the night. Who could sleep after what had cecurred? Itshowed the power and boldness of the unknown foe, and only the detective felt sure they would not come again. He was positive the danger wes past. Jewels, money and silver plate had been left unmo- lested. They were not wanted. The robbers had learned that the coveted article was not there, and they would look elsewhere next if they looked again. But the events of the night, the drugging of 80 many persons and the upheaval of the house, had been given his house his first thought was showed the vast importance which the mysteri- of Barbara, but her appearance quickly allayed | ous yellow parchment must possess in the e* 9s his fears. of the equally mysterious seekers for it, . - Jaden with an unusual and disagreeable odor. ‘Next came a desire for water and fresh air, He --- rose, and going to the window, found it entirely ~~ .elosed. He could almost have sworn that he by a’ had left it partially open, but it seemed not. ” ie Sar struck a match to see to pour the er | cCoOmicbooks,com = + » parents looking supremely astonished, and the ast question was not then pressed. When the ex-mariner knew what a wholesale visitation un : ay - <% < 7. © : 7 -- — ‘i-_ . — oe er . - 6.260 me - : . - -» - . - : = = — =