Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 574 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

14 ¥ Old Falcon’s Double. The return trip, being for the most part down- hill, was accomplished in comparatively short time. They got back to Mount Kisco before it was quite three o’clock. Here the required horse and buggy were pro- cured with but little delay, after Eleanor had left a liberal money deposit as security for their return, In less than an hour thereafter, she landed her man safely at her cousin’s farm-house gate, near Merrit’s Corners, an inconspicuous station on the New York and Northern Railroad, This farmer cousin of Eleanor’s was a prosaic, kind-hearted old bachelor named Matson, with whom she had ever been a great favorite, though of course he did not recognize her now, It was some time before he cou!d get over his astonishment after she had explained her dis- uise to him in private, besides enlightening him n such other respects as she deemed necessary, but he did so at last. * Well, Nelly if you don’t take the cake,” he exclaimed, ‘ I'd like to know what gal does or ean. Of course I'll manage the thing for you. But does old Ezra Sherwood know of your Sy aprons in this outlandish fashion?” ‘* He does not, asa matter of course, Cousin Luke,” she replied, with the decision of manner with which he was apparently familiar, ‘‘ And moreover, he is not to know until [ get ready to tell him. Don’t forget to bear that in mind, if you please,”’ ’ “"Nough said! Your Irishman can remain here, and do as he likes till you see fit to send - forhim, Inthe mean time, I’m as dumb as a ’ fish, and I'll see to it that the turnout is return- ed to Kisco at once, around by way of Pine’s Bridge, so that they’. think you abandoned it at that point.” Thanking him warmly, she next made the ad- vanced payment she had promised to Peter Kelly, besides further satisfying herself as to the genuineness of his repentance and dis- cretion. ; _ She then returned to the ay by the adjacent railroad, slipped back into the house without attracting attention to her disguise, and was ready for dinner in her own proper and lovely _ person before it was ready for her. ( **Anything happened?” had been her first _ «mquestion of Florine, while the change of costume _ Was in progress. _ “Nothing in particular, ma’mselle, Only a _ Jetter for you—I think from monsieur your papa.” “Give it me, and then try to get some of the _ dust and railroad smoke out of my hair.” The letter was from Newport, whither the colonel bad at last drifted in his summer pleasur- ing, but it was the reverse of cheerful. he letter concluded with the following para- se M . dear girl, you must feel, since that memor- rit able terview of ours, that I now trust in your su- rior nerve, strength and understanding implicit- ty, to avert the sword that Burley continues to sus- _ pend over my head, as by a single thread. But _ something really must be done, and mighty soon, _ to either placate or crush him. He has written me __ Beveral business letters since I have been away. In 3 ae one of these has he failed to cénvey an urgent ; t of his power over me, together with his dis- gatisfaction at your ambiguous slowness in respond- ing to his addresses, and your continued mysterious - connection with that Falconbridge chap. You see he has in his possession a twenty-year old letter of “nine, written to and generously returned to me thereafter by that gentleman against whom I had = , and who so nobly forgave me, and in which __ the whole confession of my wrong-doing is set forth _ without reservation. Why didInot burn it long ago? you will think, The devil only knows, for I ‘t. Without that miserable letter in his posses- sion, T could laugh at John Burley, and kick him from desk to street, for no one would believe his - unsupported word as against mine; but as it is he | has me at his mercy, and I am afraid he is growing ine et...) ng and desperate. Now, my dear girl, do iry tobe a little extra good to the rascal, at least for a while, until you are quite ready to declare your true hand. Don't make any bones about going out with __ him now and then; and if he should beg to give you ory inthe Fearnaught, give him a show. Any- ; to wheedle and lull him into a fancied state of _ self-satisfaction, so that he shall at least leave me peek may summer vacation in peace, I may take a run up to the city almost any ,day, to see how you are getting along.’ _ Eleanor pas down the letter with a feeling of _ pure pity for the writer’s ingenuous Fe as you might say, of pusillanimity and selfish- - Then she smiled, called for writing materials, n ree. before ber toilette was completed, enned the following brief lines in reply: aud, 66 ‘ eg. your apprehensions in (oto, Whatever may flatter himseif to the contrary, I have got _ dim ead, as one of your club sa goes. ___“* However, there may be tedious preliminaries at f the year, and a cat may still play with is season 0 e y when the latter is Sara __ Directly after dinner, Hugh Spender called . ooking completely fagged out, but triumphant. _ Successful!” was his only word at greeting, “TT, too!” rep nor, with sparkling eyes. And she tortberieh Mate with. & enentant cooks » Pass ere rgvattrse eateinpa te ; m a succinct account _ ; 7 Ji 77} “2 a ae 4 é * ‘This is absolutely amazing!” was the law- yer’s delighted comment. ‘‘Much as I have been congratulating myself on my own success, yours outdoes it ten to one.” ‘* Still, you found your man?’ ‘ec Yes.” ** W hereabouts?” ‘**In Atlantic City.” ‘*Tell me all about it!” said Nelly; and she settled herself down for the narration, CHAPTER XXII. BURLEY S PERTINACITY. SPENDER'S account of bis search for the miss- ing witness, John Kennedy, was svon told. Under the Newark hackman’s directions, which he bad been compelled to pay smartly for in advance, he bad first looked for his man in a hotel at Asbury Park, where he had last been heard of as a cook’s assistant, under the assumed name of Dillon. But it was only to find that the fellow had thrown up his employment several days before, and gone off, no one seemed to know whither. At last, however, one of the hotel chamber- maids, upon whom the itinerant seemed to bave made something of an impression, was brought to light, who confessed that Kennedy had told her he would seek a lighter job as waiter among the big hotels, mainly patronized by Philadel- pbians, at Atlantic City. It was further extracted from her that the man had grown morose and anxious, chiefly, as he had admitted to her, because of the sud- den and unaccountable failure of certain weekly remittances, upon which he had theretofore greatly depended, Reaching Atlantic City, Spender fortunately came upon a young detective of his acquaint- ance, With his assistance, he began a round of in- vestigation of the numerous hotels of the resort, which promised to be a long and tedious one, in- asmuch as the place was crowded with boarders and transient pleasure-seekers, the oo ees alone comprising a population of seve thou- sand, Fortune had somewhat favored him, however, andl in the fourth hotel visited, the Shoreside, he had at lastalighted upon his man. But Kennedy had not been ae so easily eee ay to terms as his brother-fugitive Peter elly. bile no less furious than the latter against Burley, for the nompayment of his weekly stipulation, he was in far less needy circum- stances than the former, inasmuch as he was do- ing capitally in his new situation, and that with- out regmet wages, with nothing but ‘‘tips” to depend on, oreover, notwithstanding that he was fa- miliar with poor Howland’s trial and conviction, he was altogether obtuse or indifferent as to his own culpability in accepting Burley’s bribe to keep off the witness stand. However, partly through fear as to the conse- quences, but chiefly in virtue of the twenty dol- lars per week until wanted, which Eleanor had authorized to guarantee him, he had at last been ate ae to terms, ‘* Are you sure you have the man securely?” ee Eleanor, when Spender had about fin- ished. ‘* Perfectly, my dear cousin,” was tke confi- dent reply. ‘“‘Jimpson, my young detective friend, was intending to remain at the resort for two months, with his wife and little girl, and he readily agreed to change his quarters at once to the Shoreside. He is as sharp as a ferret, and watchful as a bzt, and will scarcely have his eye off the fellow till wanted. I think it will be absolutely impossible for the fellow either to communicate with Burley or give us the slip, even if there wereany danger of his phi nary such a thing, now that he is so nicely fixed, which I do not for a moment apprehend.” ‘* And what can this Kennedy testify to?” ** Not quite so much as your captive can, per- haps, but quite enough in corroboration of his testimony. He was peeping through the half- ajar door, instead of over the partition, and con- sequently only saw a paper written upon with a fountain pen and passed to Howland by Burley, without knowing whether it was a bank-check or not.” ** That ought to be enough.” ‘* Well, I should say so! If you will permit me the use of a vulgar but very expressive slang word, my dear cousin, we are hunk—away up! Ah, that fountain pen! Though there was a somewhat despairing hiatus, our entire luck has hinged upon that discovery, that glorious find.” ‘* And that was Florine’s,” ** True. renee I have been wrong in sus- pecting the girl’s fidelity.” ‘** I feel sure of it.” ** Still, she bad many secret interviews with Burley, as I am quite certain.” ** So am I, though I have never let her know. But I am sure—I feel confident—that it has been in my interests, and to delude him,” “ d es ges dis- hope so.” But enough of this!” with an im gesture. ‘‘ Now, Hugh Spender, the use to which we are to put these materials, and how yy pay Ho 2 at aA! t Le er ssl sles esl ee eeeSeSSSSCe SC ** Let me think,” and the lawyer knitted his brows, ‘* Don’t forget,” she eagerly interposed, ** that but a dozen or more days remain of the month in which I promised—my husband his exonera- tion and freedom!” * Oh,” slowly, ‘“‘it can be managed in that time—lI think.” ‘*Tt must—it shall be!” * Yes, yes. You see, the judge before whom he was tried is now off on his vacation, and such of the courts as are not closed are now in the midst of their midsummer apathy and dullness. However, this is a Tuesday?” bs Yes.” ** Judge B—— is doubtless fishing among the Thousand Islands, bis usual summer haunt. [| shall communicate with him at once—to-night. It will bave to be by letter, inasmuch as the ex: ee a must be both thorough and urgent to etch him promptly.” ‘“‘Let it be by telegraph, then. You know I am regardless of the expense,” “Tt will cost two or three hundred dollars at least to telegraph the whole story.” ** What do care?” balf-furiously. ‘* Hugh Spender, how dare you to suggest an economy to me when even an added hour of Charles Howland’s incarceration is at stake.” ** Well, well,” rising, ‘‘ I sball attend to it im- mediately. The telegraph ought to bring him back by Friday.” ‘* Three whale days? anage! Is there no other judge on duty who would answer our pur- se ¢ ‘* Not equally as well.” She heaved a sigh, and then arose to see kim out with her accustomed energy. ‘*Good-night, then. Comeand see me, or send word, some time to-morrow. But wait! Shall “ye r yachting excursion with Burley on Thursday old?” ‘* By all means, should he have the gall to keep to it. Better keep him lulled and dangling till the last moment.” “* Good-night, Cousin Hugh.” The next morning Jobn Burley called, looking anxious and perturbed, notwitostanding his dis- simulating powers, which were exceptional, ‘Tam going to take the liberty of asking you a question, which you may possibly deem an impertinently intrusive one,” were his first words after the exchange of the customary com- monplaces, during which Eleanor was careful to dissimulate on ber own part, to the extent of appearing especially good-natured. She smiled, eas ‘« Well,” she replied, ‘‘ you can risk it, if you see fit, Mr. Burley.” ‘* How long since you last saw your detective acquaintance, Major Falconbridge?” ** Oh, I don’t mind indulging you with an an- swer there, Not for days; he is in fact no longer in the city.” ‘No longer in the city?” ‘* No; and, furthermore, I have reason to be- lieve that he will not see or communicate with me for several days to come.” He had never had any reason to doubt her veracity, especially in response to a direct ques- tion; nor could he do so now, with that nobly beautiful and truthful, but self-contained, face calmly looking into his, From the instant expression of relief that came into his: own countenance, she perceived that bis sole apprehension must have been as to her knowledge of his encounter with the detec- tive’s Double on the preceding day, and that he could not as yet have missed anything out of his oilskin-covered pocketbook, and this tended to increase her own self-satisfaction, ‘¢T—I merely asked out of an overpowin cfriosity,’ be stammered. ‘‘I do hope you wi rdon it, Miss—Eleanor!” with a_ pleading ook out of his passionate and really handsome eyes.” ne ‘It is not so much to pardon, Mr. Burley,” ignoring or without resenting the ‘* Miss Elea- nor” presumption, whereat he was immensely pleased. | “You are not forgeting our excursion for Thursday, I hope?” ‘I shouldn’t be likely to, being a capital sai- lor, and with not @ smell of salt-water as yet this season.” ‘¢ Oh, if the fine weather only holds, we shall have a splendid time! We ought to be able to half-way to New London and back for the ay’s jaunt, The Fearnaught is in just perfect condition, and excellently manned. With per- baps but one exception, I don’t believe there is sloop-yacht in any of the fleets that can beat er. ‘What is the exception?” ‘‘The Ganymede—and for sale too, I under- stand.” ‘* Well, I really hope we shall all have a fine time, Mr. Burley.” She said this so heartily that Burley, just then on the point of going, seized both her hands and kisséd them; and then hurried away with a bounding heart, after perceiving that she had not resented the freedom by more than a com- berenvely slight frowu—a joyfully encouraging omen, as om CO mn (@ 100 ‘Ss . » : ’ ' ’ 4 t Z . te he 4 pT ea -_ ; ; :