Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 419 — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

23 —— sexs sine onan li attery. At the end of the ten minutes he gave utter- | tives, so there wasn’t any necessity for any pre-| the man never said a word to any of the other 7 ance to an exclamation of satisfaction, and then, | liminary work, but he could take up the case inquirers about the accident, and so the solution \ rising, resumed his onward career. | where the others hed ended—at the railway sta- of the mystery did not come to them. oy ‘‘In my suspicion that I might be foliowed,” | tion at Long Branch, the last place where the | ‘ But in the interval which elapsed between he remarked as hestrode along, communing with | girl was seen. the first search and my appearance on the :a himself after the fashion of many deep thinkers, | ‘‘I see, I see,” observed the superintendent. | field of action the station-agent had been turn- i ‘*T did not take into consideration the fact that | ‘‘ You are right at it as usual, old business from ing the matter over in his mind. ft the chances were fully a bundred to one that | the word go. |“ Probably, anxious to be sure that he badn’t . there wasn’t a spy handy who could be intrusted | ‘* Well, what success?” | made any mistake in the affair, for the depot- { with the job on the spu. of the moment. | __** The best in the world,” answered the astute master seems a straight-forward sort of man, et ** And now that I have turned into this cow- | bloodhound in the calm and quiet way so char- | he asked himself the question, ‘how do I know i ; poe it would require an Indian tracker to fol- | acteristic of the man. | that it was on this particular day that the lady owme.” — ‘* The deuce you say!” went to New York? t All traces of the Irish brogue had disappear- **] have found the gir].” ‘Then the accident immediately rose in his ed, so it was plain that the man had been playing ** Phenix, you area trump!” | mind and he said to himself, *Oh, yes, 1 am a part. ‘‘T am glad to find you possess so good an | sure of it, for it was the day before the accident | ifteen minutes of brisk walking brought him | opinion of me,” responded the man-hunter with | happened.’” into a narrow country road, and in a sheltered | a bow. | * You have hit it, I guess.” E nook just off the road, amid a little cluster of ‘* You don’t really mean to say that you have | ‘“ Acting on the idea that the railroad acci- ~ trees, a well-dressed gentleman sat ina buggy, to , actually found this Lesbia Mardol, whose mys- | dent was responsible for the girl’s: disappear- | which was attached a fine-looking horse. | terious disappearance has puzzled the best men | ance, I went to work on that theory. Almost any of the men-about-town—theloung- | on the force?” ‘*I got the newspapers which gave en ac- ers of New York, would have been alle to, ‘That is my statement.” count of. the accident, but po Lesbia Mardol tell who the gentleman was, for he was one of | The chief consulted his watch. was among the killed, wounded cr missing, bor the men of note at the metropolis—no other than | ** Why, you haven’t been gone an hour!” | any unknown girl answering to ber description, the superintendent of police in person. | -‘*'The fate of a nation has been decided in less| ‘The newspaper chaps, enterprising as they And it is extremely probable that it would | time.” ' are, don’t always get the full particuiars,” tha have made the eyes of any of the metropolitan Atter explaining to the superintendent the | superintendent remarked. | friends of the worthy officer open in wonder if | business which had brought him into the neigh- | ‘‘ They did not in this case, for Lesbia Mardol Yr they could have witnessed the extremely friendly | borhood, the chief naturally inquired as to how | was en the train and slightly injured in the ‘ way in which the ‘‘ great gun” of the New York | he was getting on, whereupon the detective re- | accident. Police Department greeted the miserable-look- | plied: | ‘*In the neighborhood of Little Silver resides ing, old tramp. ‘Tf you are not in a hurry, and have nothing | a wealthy maiden lacy, Miss Martha Brandon Of course the intelligent reader, ever on the | particular to engage your attention this aftcr- | by name. watch to penetrate the tricks of the author, has | noon, drive down the road for an hour, then re- * As near as I can leara, she was driving in the : guessed the mystery long ere this. . turn and wait forme; I may have some news | vicinity at the time of the accident, happened a The supposed tramp was a detective in dis- | for you.” | to see the girl when she was rescued from the ise, This was rather an ‘‘ambiguous giving out,” | wreck, and taking a sudden fancy, had her ccon- Such was the truth, and the detective was no | buf the superintendent, knowing his man, for- | veyed to her home in her carriage, and, | pre- z less a man than our hero, bold Joe Phenix. bore to question him, feeling sure that.in his | sume, that was the reason why the girl escaped e For such a quiet, sedate, and oftentimes satur- | own good time he would speak, So he was pre- | the notice of the reporters. y nine person, the detective was very fond of a | pared to hear that Phenix hal succeeded in ‘‘In Miss Brandon’s house she has remained j joke once in a while, and as he had successfully | “‘ lifting the trail,” as a westerner would say, | ever since. “4 ‘‘ fooled” the superintendent while disguised as | but the announcement that he bad actually suc- | “Isn’t it rather strange that the girl should a the Southern planter, so now on this occasion | ceeded in finding the girl was an astonishing bit | remain with this lady, instead of coming to New sale happening just after he had assumed his | of information, | | York?’ ba. tramp’s disguise—to encounter the superintend- ‘Phenix, you are at the top of the heap, and | ‘No, not under the circumstances,” the de- ; ent driving leisurely along the road—the chief | no mistake!” the chief exclaimed. _ tective replied. Boa had a country seat in the neighborhood—it oc- ‘** Well, I always try to do my best.” ‘You must remember that the girl was not curred to the detective that it would be a fine ** And you have actually found the girl?’ received in a particularly agreeable manner BS: chance to test the completeness of his new trans- ‘* Yes; not the least doubt about it.” upon her arrival in the New World. () a formation. ; ‘Give me the particulars.? | “*In fact, only by the merest accident in the 9 So, as the superintendant of police came driv- ‘* If you remember, chief, all traces of the girl | world did she escape from a watery grave when tis ing slowly along the road—the chief hed been were lost after she took the train at the Long | she was abducted from the ceck of the steamer S exercising his ‘* trotter,” and having pushed him | Branch railway station, so at that point 1 com- | by this fellow who appeared like a Frenchman. : at the top of his speed for a couple of miles, tak- | menced my inquiries, going in my own proper | ‘* Then, too, remember, there was a nyystery * ing advantage of a bit of road as smooth and | person, you understand. | about her coming to this country.” ‘S0 level as a race-track, be was now giving him “The ground baving been all covered by your | ‘ Yes, very true.” a ™ breathing time—Phenix, confident in the com- | men it was an easy matter for me to go abead., | “She did not know to whom she was ccming ‘i | - pletness of his disguise, accosted bim, and with ** The station agent was eager and anxious to | nor the object of the journey. : (a the mixture of servility and impudence common | tell all he knew in regard to the matter, for the | ‘‘ Yes; and after such a reception as she re- se to the men of the class he was representing, asked | subject was still fresh in his memory. ceived, it was natural thatshe shculd feel a little | ‘ for alms. ‘ ‘* He was positive in regard to the fact that a | timid.” oe The superintendent who rather enjoyed a joke, | lady, answering to the descrintion of Lesbia | ‘‘ Most assuredly!” assented the chief. ie roceeded to ‘‘ chaff” the supposed tramp, but | Mardol, took the train for New York on a cer- | ‘Of course, she bas explained all these cir- <n henix sustained his character to the life, and | tain day. | cumstances to Miss Brandon, and, undoubtedly, +3 finally became so impudent that the worthy ‘* He sold her a ticket for the city and from | that lady has advised her to remain in her man- "a chief of the New York police got angry, and | his window saw her board the train; and then | sion for the present—possibly hasoffered tohave seizing his horsewhip, threatened to jump from | he added a bit of information, by way of show- | her lawyers look into the matter, and see why Ww the buggy and give the other a thrashing which the gir] has been bronght to this country. i would be sure to teach the lesson that it is al- ways better for a man to keep a civil tongue in his head. And then, with a laugh, the detective re- vealed himself. The superintendent, astounded, admitted that he was completely caught, and promised to “ set up the wine” as a penalty, on the first conveni- ent opportunity. ; ' ing me that he could not possibly be mistaken | about the matter, which at once gave me a clew to the girl’s mysterious disappearance, ‘*** T should not be so certain about the date,’ he said, ‘ but for the fact that it is fixed in my mind by the circumstance that the day on which I saw her was the day before the one on which | the big accident occurred on our line when the | up train for New York went into the ‘ draw’ on the Little Silver Bridge.’ ‘“‘In this disguise I visited the Brandon place, in order to see how the land lay.” ‘** And you discovered the girl?” ‘*] did; she was onthe piazza with Miss Bran- don, and as she fitted the description to a hair, there isn’t the least doubtin regard to her iden- tity. ‘Then, too, in the character of a traveling book-agent, I had previously pumped the ser- - - i | Then the detective informed the chief in regard ‘** You heard of that smash-up of course.’ vants, and from them learned of the presenceof to the business which had brought him into the ‘* Now, superintendent, the moment he said | & girl in the house named Lesbia Mardcl, who neighborhood. that, a reasonable explanation of the mystery , kad been injured in the Little Silver smash-up,. _ It was the Lesbia Mardol case. occurred to me.” P ‘There was a chance, of course, that it Assy In addition to the young man, James Blount, ‘Of course, I see!” exclaimed the officer, un- | might be some other girl by the same name— ee, ; whom the retired merchant, Redmond Lamar- | able to refrain from speaking, for his acute | such things as that do heppen cence in a while, j t dale, had employed to discover the whereabouts | mind saw the clew at once. you know, strange as it may appear.” +. ) of the missing girl, he had also invoked the aid; The fellow had made a mistake about the ‘Oh, yes, thatis not uncommon,” the other — * of the police autLorities, offering a rich reward | date.” assented. he < for any intelligence of the absent one, begging, ‘* Exactly.” ‘* But this girl is the cne, and no mistake,and however, that the matter should be kept strictly “Not a doubt of it! Instead of taking the | now comes the strangest partofmystory. ‘ -, ’ private. : : train the day before, it was on the day the acci- ‘*In searching for the girl have discovered _ 3 The superintendent, anxious to oblige such an | dent occurred, and she took the train that went | the man I want.” i ee ' eminent citizen, put some of his best men on the | intothedraw. — - Then seeing the question written onthe face ae hunt, but they succeeded no better than the “The conclusion I came to, of course. She | of the superintendent, he continued: ee gf amateur detective, Blount. , was on the train—was one of the victims—and ‘“‘T mean the author of these m ons. (ai Lesbia Mardol unquestionably was in Long | that accounted for her mysterious disappear- | crimes, whose bloody deeds have thrilled New . Branch on a certain day, and took the train | ance.” ! York to its very center.” ¥ + | there to go to New York, but disappeared in ‘Not this Vampire Bat fellow?’ cried thesu- some mysterious manner on the way, for, as far CHAPTER XXXVIL perintendent, excitedly, ye as could be discovered, she never reached the HOT ON THE SCENT, “That is the man I mean,” responded Joe city. At the Long Branch railroad station all trace of the girl ended, and not one of the eager searchers-after-knowledge, was able to strike it again. Completely baffled, the detectives made their report to Headquarters, and then, in this emer- gency, the superintendent thought of Phenix. THE superintendent rubbed his hands glee- together. full ‘*Upon my word, Phenix, you are a r bloodhound and no mistake!” he exclaimed. ‘*But I must say—without attempting of course to detract from your merits, or from the > manner in which you have worked up this case— that it seems to me to be an extremely simple | Phenix, as cool as an iceberg. | ‘Well, Phenix pas of detectives. If you are correct and ave treed your game—and being well aware of your caution, I feel certain that you wouldn’t make the anvouncement if you didn’t know | what you were talking about—it will be an as- tonishing feather in your cap.” er hoo SS Be =~ © , upon my word, you are the i‘ a. * ee af -” se }- es Our hero was summvuned and asked if he one, and the wonder is that it should have so’ ‘I have spotted my man, chief; lhav’n’t the 1} would undertake the case, and he, always ready completely puzzled my best men, for they all least doubt aboutthat, but I hav’n’t gothimdead to oblige the superintendent, who had done him gave up beat, Phenix, and admitted that the , to gh yet. ie 4 many a favor during the years when he was in job was too much for them, before I called | ‘*T am well acquainted with the fellow,for I iF the detective service of the city, readily con- | upon vou for your assistance.” had a terrible tussle with him the other ight J | sented. ‘Well, it was one of those seemingly small when he was got up lkea foreigner, ath he) AG He was put in possession of all the peameigence 'Taatters, which sometimes amount to so much,’’ scoundrel came within an ace of finishing the _ which hed been gained by the searching detec- the detective remarked. ‘‘The chances are that career upon this earth of yours truly.” pk ea, : ‘ Comicbooks.com —-