Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 532 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

Les i ata SOD bes ta al ———— 6 Jack Javert, the Independent Detective. ** Do you know him, Monte?” was the sudden question. ‘** No, captain.” ‘* Are you sure you have never seen him be- fore?” ** When?” ‘* Six months ago.” | ‘*Do you know the number?” 46 666. ” ** And Monte and Xerxes?” ‘‘ 1 know nothing about their quarters.” ‘** One is sure of nothing nowadays.” Javert watched the girl glide away until she ‘That is your belief; but we are sure of com- disappeared, then he ran up-stairs, locked up the | ing out ahead in our game. Doesn’t this prove documents so unexpectedly placed in his hands, it? A spy comes to the window. He 1s looking and left the building. ' into our nest when I touch the electric button, ‘ Don’t fret, Juliette,” he exclaimed, thinking | and snap! he tumbles back, bis work done where of Miss Jansen, whose sworn employee he was; it bad just commenced! Nothing sure, eb, **all this will bring me back to your thief and | Monte? Look at our victim.” we'll get back to the trail of the serpent-headed | The speaker again bent over the body on the ring in good time,” | sofa, and his deft hands began to go through Half an hour later a figure very like Detective | the detective’s pockets. Javert’s appeared in a certain + aah of the There was, of course, no resistance to these city. It moved leisurely up a rather quiet street | proceedings, and the slightest signs of life were looking more than casually at the house on the all that were noticeable about the stricken man. right. as : The search brought to light several cards and Here it is— 666,” said the manatlast. ‘‘ The | a memorandum, which the searcher held up place seems to be empty. Captain Cinnabar | with a smile of triumph to his companion. may have left long ago, but we will see,” ‘‘ This proves all we want!” said he, separat- avert noticed that the shutters of the house, | ing one of the cards and handing it to Monte. a narrow, old-fashioned frame, were closely The pard started at the inscription on the bit drawn, but this did not deter him, Approach- ' of Bristol board, and then looked at the victim ing closer, he gained the window to the left of | of the shock. the door. | ‘* He is Jack Javert, the best young sleuth in _ Beyond the slats of the shutters he saw a | Gotham!” he exclaimed, ‘‘I’ve heard of him light. . ; | more than once since we came here, but this is Inhabited, eh?” he exclaimed, “I think my first sight of him. By Jove! Captain Cinna- that, with Mariette’s aid, I have picked up an | bar, our trap could not have caugbt a more im- important link of the chain, Let me find Cap- | portant victim,” tain Cinnabar and his pards and [ll solve the ‘It is a splendid catch, Monte. It excels mystery I have in hand.” | some we used to have in the mountains; but we At the same time bis hands touched the win- | don’t catch men here as we did there,” dow sill, ; ‘* What shall we do with him?’ asked Monte, It was rounding and as sleek as polished brass. | disturbing the silence which followed the last ** What means this?” Poe through the shad- | remark. ower’s mind at the touch, ; | ‘‘Wait a moment. I want to goslow now. The next instant, to his horror, he found out. | The enemy is not dead though he hasn’t the Without warning an electric bolt seemed to | siightest conception of his whereabouts, We pass through his arms into his body, He tried | must not rush to conclusions with a person like to shout, but the effort died on his lips, and, ail Javert the detactive, alive, and in our hands. at once he staggered back from the house, and | Wedo not know who put him onto us; but he dropped like one dead in the gutter! came and found us here,” ' Captain Cinnabar went back to the table from CHAPTER VII. which he watched the man on the sofa while he Fe THE RETURN TO LIFE. wrestled with the problem which bad come up. = Go out and look at the victim,” All at once he sprung up and took from a Did you catch somebody?” close cupboard across the room a very handsome ‘** Go and see.” b electric battery. These words passed between ‘the two men, “Cen you carry him again, Monte?” he asked who, at the time, occupied a room just beyond ; , the waiting man as he tucked the box under his the window from which young Javert, the de- , arm. tective, had staggered Jike a person mortally Monte, who was as well built as Captain Cin- struck by an electric current. nabar, placed his arms under the detective and The man who gave the command stood be- | lifted him with ease, tween a tableand the wall with one of his hands ‘* Which way?” be asked, looking at his mas- resting on the latter, and near a dark spot not much larger than a silver half-dime, He was a handsome fellow, with an admirable hysique, and animated, dark eyes, and a pro- usion of raven hair. As he stood there, in the light, a smile of tri- umpb on his dark face, he looked lika some prince of the plains transported to New York. His eyes were still fastened on the window before him, and when the person to whom he had spoken had left the room, he dropped into a chair at the table, ‘*The moment the spy touched the conductor on the sill I knew I had him,” he said to him- self. ‘‘ I know how to clear the way as I go along, and I am not going to let the spies of Gotham beat the men of the West, Monte will find some victim out there, but whom? [I shall know, in a moment, for Iam sure the bolt did not fail me. It never does.” He did not have to wait long, for a report from the outside, The door at one side of the room opened, and the face of the man sent out appeared. ‘*There’s a body in the gutter,’ was the re- r. ‘* Follow me.” Captain Cinnabar led off, followed by Monte and kis burden. Beyond the door the men descended a flight of steps which terminated on a stone floor and in a room that resembled a circular dungeon. Directly opposite the steps, and on the bare stones, Monte deposited his load, and Captain Cinnabar leaned forward with the box. ** Blindfold him, Monte. In a little while the eyes of the victim were entirely covered by a tight black bandage, after which performance Captain Cinnabar com- manded his helper to depart, The dark-lantern, which Cinnabar had hung op a hook by the door, illumined the narrow room to a certain distance above the floor. Be- yond this all was dark, When he found himself alone with the detec- tive, Captain Cinnabar took a mask from his pocket and carefully adjusted it, then he opened the battery and set it going. In a second he bad applied a small oval- shaped object to Javert’s wrist, and, as the bat- tery whirred, he turned his attention to the sleuth’s face. ‘“‘[’'m bringing him back!” cried he as he caught sight of the twitching li of a return to consciousness, ‘* As hair from the dog’s back is said to be good for the bite, Vl make electricity part the lips of its victim. At any time I can silence him forever. I want to know who put him on the trail, and in whose employ he is just now. lalready know whose ai holds him; but that is not enough.” he effects of the battery became more and more apparent, and Captain Cinnabar removed the electric conductor at last and leaning over his victim called out: ** Jackson Javert!” In an instant the detective’s head turned to one side, and the whole power of the man seemed to be bent on listening. Captain Cinnabar repeated the name with emphasis. ** Who calls me?” asked Jack. A smile of delight stole over Cinnabar’s sallow rt, ‘*Ts the coast clear?” ‘tT saw no one.” ‘“* Bring the victim iu.” The face at the door disappeared, and the man in the room took certain papers from the table and tossed them into an ovening which the touching of a button had revealed in the wall. Then he took up a cigar and waited for the body of his victim. Presently the door opened again, and Monte came staggering in with the limp form of a man in his arms, By Jove! you have him, sure enough!” cried the Wild West-looking personage, gazing eager- ly forward, with eyes distended with curiosity and satisfaction. ‘*I did not have full power on, therefore the man may not be dead, Monte.” ** 1 dcn’t think he is, sir,” “Ha! put him on the sofa yonder and let us see, Monte carried his burden across the room and placed it as designated. Already the hand- somes man was bea ling over it, and the assist- aot stood by, watcuia,s both alternately. “You are rigt, Monte; there is life bere!” suddenly said tue chief of the twain. *' The shock sent him into the gutter, did it? Full force would have thrown him half-way across the street.” Monte said nothing, but watched the uncon- scious occupant of the sofa. “* ace. | ** A friend of course, Jack,” he answered with assume, ‘* Where am I and why is it so dark?” “Tt isdark because your eyes are bandaged for your own good, and you are not in the gutter where you were found,” : ‘* Aha! the gutter!” cried Jack” ‘‘ My whole ED SD h ' | |p | ! | | cool familiarity which he knew so well how to . wd <i Pi —~ 2 es . 2M hh2 zi tS =. * sh * “ 7 ws . body seems full of electric needles, but I am able to think again. That infernal sill was charged with death.” i Cinnabar grinned. ‘* What window sill?” ‘‘The one I touched,” was the reply. ‘© And where was it?” Detective Jack seemed to catch himself before he spoke again. **Do you know who I am?” he asked. ‘“Yes, we know you!” repeated Cinnabar. ‘* Yes; you are Javert, the Independent Detec- tive. Itseems that youran against some ob- struction for which you were not quite pre- pared.” ‘So I did.” ‘* You were on one of your trails,” ‘*T was,” and then the lips still ashen and al- most bloodless, met firmly once more, ‘‘ Help me up and take the rag from my eyes. I don’t care whose orders it is that it shall stay there. You call yourself my friend. Am Lin the hos- pital? Or have I fallen into the hands of the man who caught me?” Javert tried to rise while he talked, but the hana of Captain Cinnabar pushed him back. ‘‘In a moment,” said he, ‘* You shall have your way if you will only keep quiet ten sec- onds,” ‘* Make them short ones,” retorted Jack, set- tling back again. Ciunabar picked up his little box and the lan- tern, and drew toward the door, whose knob he touched by putting one hand bebind bim. ‘‘He is a thoroughbred,” he muttered, look- ing at the young man. ‘“‘ Javert has gone as far as [can drag him out. I need not waste time with him; butI will take good care that he does not resume the trail he was on when we caught him. Maybe he was after the person who struck Raymont down. Vl attend to that myste myself, if it needs attention. Good-by, Jac Javert, You pass this mght and from where you are pow, forever from your trails and tri- umpbs, The grip of Captain Cinnabar never relaxes, It is the same nierciless clutch in New York that it was in Camp Satan and elsewhere. Farewell, my trapped shadow!” The door opened and closed, and the light and the man were gone. In a second Javert was on his feet. ‘*A door sbut!” he exclaimed, tearing the bandage from his eyes, and then, when he found himself in in Stygian darkness, he finished with: ‘¢In the name of Heaven, where am I?” CHAPTER VIII. PYGMY AND CINNABAR, THE next day, with more haste than was, per- haps, necessary, the remains of Ruff Raymont were taken to the cemetery and left in charge of the sexton. Notwithstanding the wealth he was known to possess, but few people followed the hearse, If Javert had been at liberty he would have been found with or near the funeral cortege, but he was not there, anc those present did not have eyes as sharp as the detective’s. The papers, always eager to get at the sensa- tional, bad, in some inexplicable manner, failed to dwell at length on Raymont’s death. Nora insisted that ber father had been subject to fainting apa and refused to place the mat- ter in the hands of the police. The girl had given the mystery to young Javert, and was content to let it rest in his hands alone. She did not want, she told Mariette, the maid, a dozen jealous detectives fighting for success over her father’s grave. She had confidence in Javert and believed that his acumen would solve the puzzle and pu her on the road to vengeance. ° It had already become an open secret between Nora and Mariette that the vailed caller—the wearer of the serpent-beaded ring—was respon- sible ror Raymont’s death, but the two girls sand other signs | could not discover why she was bis enemy. It was after the funeral and the lamps of Gotbam were once more lighting the dark laces, Mariette was the sole occupant of the house, for Nora, eager to know what Javert bad done, had gone down to the little up-stairs fice for news, She found it closed and tbe door locked. There was asense of deep failure about the place and as Nora turned away she felt for the first time since the tragedy that the clew to the mystery might always remain undiscovered, ‘“T will walk a part of the way home,” she decided when upon the sidewalk again, ‘‘ I can think as well while walking as in the car, Be- sides, Iwill not be stared at so mnch on the side- walk, and that is a good deal to me, just now.” Nora did not see the pair of eves that were al- ready fixed upon her, If she bad looked sbe might not have found them, but they were near just the same, and she was under a surveillance which would have frichtened her. Starting off briskly she turned the first corner and in a few moments reached Union uare, twas striking eight in the March air when she left the sidewalk to cut across the Park. She was sure no one knew her, and a thought (ECoypayiicel eveve) <S - —>- a Se ee ee 3 eet | com ~