Beadle's Dime Library No. 628 — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

21 If Bridle Bill had remained in New York he surely would have been caugbt, for there were Joe Phenix’s Combine. I have told you!” the ruffian declared, in a| It might be possible that he was the English dogged and defiant manner. | crook, the Dandy Charmer. **T see that it would be only a waste of time to bother with you,” Joe Phenix remarked, again rising to his feet, He was just the kind of man whom sucha title would fit. The man was a rascal in the detective’s opin- ‘‘ A little wholesome fasting in the dark will | ion, and he felt just as sure of this fact as though be apt to induce you to change your mind, If | he had the proofs at hand to confirm the state- it does not, you will be able to boast that you | ment, are the first crook who has ever been able to stand the test. ‘“‘ Hunger and thirst are both strong argu- ments, and few men are able to hold out against them. ' ‘You may be able to stand it for a day or two if you are an extra good man, but it wiil not do you any good, for in theend you will have to give in. ‘*T am confident about this matter, you know, because I have had ugly and determined fellows in this hole before,” the detective coutinued in his calm, judicial way. ‘* Men who swear that they would rather stay here until they rotted than give in, and when they made the declaration they meant it, too, but the ‘** The stoutest one of the lot only stood it for three days, and then he was glad to give in.” The expression upon the face of the ruffian showed how deep was the impression that the words of the detective made upon him. ** Blamed if you hadn’t ought to be killed for playing a rig like this on a man!” be declared, in impotent anger, ‘The end justifies the means,” the detective retorted! ‘“‘And with men of your aap it would not be possible to get the truth from them if some game of this kind was not worked, ‘*You will come to your milk all in good time,” the bloodhound continued. ‘‘And I would be willing to bet that before you have been here for four and twenty bours you will come to the conclusion that it is better to betray your employer than to hunger and thirst!” While the detective had been speaking the ruffian had been meditating over the situation, That his captor meant what he said was evi- dent, and despite ail his bravado Bridle Bill shrunk from the test, ‘*S’pose 1 tried to give you some p’ints, w’ot will you do for me?’ he demanded, ‘*Oh, come now! you are not situated so as to make conditions,” Joe Phenix retorted. *‘ You tell your story and on tbat will depend my action m a great measure, but I am not going to make any promises before I get the par- ticulars.” | And then, as the ruffian did not see any other chance for him, he made a full con- fession, revealing how he had n hired to*put the detective out of the way by the English crook whom he only knew as the Dandy Charmer.” ‘*And yeu don’t know his right name?’ Joe Phenix asked. ‘*No, that is all I ever heard him called,” Then Bridle Bill explained how he was to com- rmunicate with the crook. : It did not take the detective long to think out a plan, and Bridle Bill, now thoroughly sub- dued, was only too eager to do what the detec- tive uired, . _,. 1 think the Dandy would murder me though if he knew I had put up a job like this on him!” the ruffian exclaimed. ** Don’t worry! Till have the bracelets on him before long!” the detective replied. CHAPTER XXIV, HOT ON THE TRAIL, BErnG in possession of the fact that it was an English crook named the Dandy Charmer, who can plotted his death, gave Joe Phenix some- thing to work upon. But who was the Dandy Charmer? hie wasa point upon which light was need- The detective had never heard of any such man. It was evident that he was a stranger in the country or else Joe Phenix would have cer- tainly beard of him, for he had as large an ac- quaintance among crooks as any detective in the country. The reason for the attack was perfectly ap- parent. : The parties who were working the scheme by means of which they hoped to get hold of a good- ly share of the dead money-king’s wealth bad made the discovery that he—the detective—had been retained on the case, and fearing he would succeed in blocking their game they had re- solved to have him put out of the way. This was exactly what Joe Phenix had ex- pected, and in order to induce the scoundrels to make such a move was why he had confided to the Englishman the suspicions which he had formed concerning the matter, His ruse had been successful, The schemers had immediately taken the alarm and set to work to strike a deadly blow at the bloodhound who had been cute enough to ‘get on” to their game. he Englishman who called himself George Rochester was at the bottom of the matter un- doubtedly, | | did not understand how terrible the | ’ pangs of hunger and thirst are to bear. It was possible though, of course, that he was not the crook, but had employed the Dandy Charmer to put the detective out of the way. One point Joe Phenix felt pretty certain of, | and that was the Englishniun was the master- spirit of the conspiracy, an extra shrewd and able rascal, and one whom it would be difficult to trap, so the detective made up his mind to proceed with uncommon caution, He felt that he was engaged in a struggle in which he could not affanl te throw away a single chance. ~~ Success had crowned his first effort. He bad induced the conspirators to strike at him and had not only succeeded in parrying the blow but in capturing the ruffian who made the at- tack. He was in possession of the name of the man who had hired tbe bully, but the detective was shrewd enough to see that he had not obtained anything but a slight clew, for the Dandy Charmer had apparently anticipated that some- thing might go wrong and taken measures so that it would not be ap easy matter for any one to get at bim. He had arranged with Bridle Bill for the ruf- fian to leave a note with the barkeeper of the saloon, where the interview between the two had taken place, when the latter wanted to communicate with bim, The note was to be directed to D, Charmer. He had spoken to the barkeeper in regard to to the matter, and that worthy, used to affairs of the kind, said it would be all right. The game that the detective had resolved to play was a simple one, @ was going to make the corspirators be- lieve that the ruffian had succeeded in his talk— that is, he, Joe Phenix, had been waylaid and badly hurt, so much so that it was doubtful if he would recover from his injuries, If he bad thought be would be able to trust the English ruffian be could have arranged an excellent game, but Jong experience had satis- fied him that no dependence whatever could be placed in any such man as he was, When such a fellow was caught ina tight place, he would be certain to promise all sorts of things to enable him to get out of the scrape, but the moment he was free the chances were a hundred to one that be would do his best to ds- feat the plans of the man who trusted him. Having ascertained that the Dandy Charmer was not familiar with the bandwriting of the ruffian, Joe Phenix saw that it would be an easy matter for him to write in the Englishman’s name, and in order to make sure that Bridle Bill would not betray the secret, he had him shipped on board of a steamer bound for Eng- land the next day. The ruffian was ee to go, for he had had enough of America he said. The morning newspapers contained an ac- count of the attack on Joe Phenix, and all the articles represented the detective as having been seriously injured by an unknown ‘ Doctor Mairstone was the physician called to attend to the sufferer and he gave his opinion that there was grave doubt as to whether Joe Phenix would ever recover from his wounds, And 80 careful was the acute Joe Phenix about this matter that he did not even allow the regular detectives, who came to see him in order to learn the particulars of the assault, to now the trutb. Joe Phenix received the bloodhounds in bed, his head all swathed in bandages, conversed with them in a faint tone of voice and sent them away with the impression that he was a very sick man indeed. The superintendent of police, who was a per- eonal friend of the great detective, instructed his subordinates to spare no pains to capture the miscreant who had committed the assault. _Joe Phenix had given a pretty good descrip- tion of Bridle Bill, His story of the affair was that his assailant would ondoabiet have killed him had not his assistant, Ton estern, hap- pened to come up the street the opposite direction just at the moment of the attack, Primed with this story all tbe detectives sought their ‘‘ stool-pigeons,” as the men and women of unsavory reputation are termed who act as spies, and set on foot inquiries in regard to Bridle BiJl, so that by noon of the day which succeeded the night on which Joe Phenix was attacked, about all the crooks in the city, and their hangers-on, not only knew all the particu- lars of the assault, but were posted in regard to the man who was “ wanted.” A number of the crooks and _ stool-pigeons knew the Englishman, and diligent search was made for him, for all the detectives resented the attack made on Phenix, and they strained every nerve to catch the offender. Their reasoning was that the crocks must be taught that it was a dangerous thing to at- tack a bloodhound of the law. plenty of the stool-pigeons who knew him and would not have hesitated to put the detectives on his track. The first act of his play having come to a suc- cessful conclusion—the deceiving of the world in regard to his condition—Joe Phenix went ahead on the second. Now he was to play the role of an English thief, a supposed pal of Bridle Bill. Tbe change that the detective made in his personal appearance was wonderful, He put on a short-haired, brown-black wig, the hair of which manifested a desire to twist itself iotoa kinky curl; the wig was constructed so as to cover up two-thirds of the broad, high forehead of the detective, and was so skillfully made that it would have bothered the most ex- pert hair “‘ artist” to have detected that it was not natural. Then the bloodhound arrayed himself in a rough suit, the coat and vest of which were cut- so peculiarly in the neck that it made him look round-shouldered, and also gave him the ap- pearance of being bullJ-necked, as the saying is. Finally the detective applied a dye to his skin which gave him a regular olive hue, and made him fit the name which he bad assumed, Gypsy Jack, His disguise was so complete that his nearest and dearest friend, or bis most bitter and un- 5 egcie enemy, would never have recognized im, The detective was always a careful man, but on this occasion, realizing that he was after bigger game than usual, he was taking unusual precautions, After assuming his disguise he wrote a letter, taking pains to pen it in a cramped hand, such as aman like Bridle Bill might be supposed to write. The letter ran as follows: “Old pal, D.C. Ihave done the trick, but there has been such a row that lam going to keep shady until the thing blows over. I send this by a pal of mine whom I can trust, Gypsy Jack. You can pay the mopuses over to him, so no more from yourn to command, 'B. B.” The detective waited until the shades of dark- ness covered in the metropolis, and then he went to a saloon in Murderer’s Row, got a drink at, the bar, and watched an opportunity when no- one was within hearing to give the letter to the bartender, ** Mebbe the party will come in and get the letter to-night,” he said. ‘*I don’t know the bloke myself, for lam acting for a friend who is under the weather just now and wants me to. attend to this little matter for him, so if the party asks for Baker, jest say that he ain’t able. to come himself and has sent me—Gypsy Jack, that’s my name—in bis place,” ‘“All right,” responded the bartender, who. was used to all sorts of crooked work of this. kind and took it as a matter of course, Then the detective took a seat to wait for de- velopments, He bad little idea though that the crook who- rejoiced in the name of the Dandy Charmer would come for the letter himself, although he- had conveyed that idea to the bartender, “Tf heis the first-class man that [ take him to be ke will not take any chances, although everything appears to be all right,” the detec- tive mused, ‘ He willsend for his letter and. not come in person,” CHAPTER XXV, A SET-BACK, Jor PHENIX confidently e ted that some- one would come for the letter that night, because. it would be natural for Bridle Bill to try and get» his nee as soon as possible, as he had per- formed his part of the agreement, and the Dandy Charmer, understanding this, would undoubt- — expect to hear from the ruftian. be bartender had placed the letter on the shelf elaborately ornamented with bottles and glasses, behind the bar—had stuck it in between two bottles at the end of the shelf nearest the door. The disguised detective had taken a seat so that he had a good view of the letter, for he. knew the bartender to be a slippery customer, and although the man did not act as if his sus- picions bad been excited in anyway—in fact, he. did not appear to take the slightest interest in the matter either one way or the other, yet it. was the detective’s creed that a man in of business must be constantly on the watch for ‘treachery and double-dealing. It was almost half-past eight when Joe Phenix arrived in the saloon and for over an hour noth- ‘Phe detective whiled away the time by drink- ing a couple of glasses of beer, ate a sandwich an d read an old newspaper which happened to be- : on the table, Quite a number of crooks and stool-pigeons- came in besides regular and transient customers who were not on the cross,” and three detec- tive’s sauntered into the saloon while the dis- ised bloodhound kept his vigil, and though e crooks, the stool- pigeons, and the detectives. cast curious glances at the olive-skinned stran- Eomilecbooks line | vo x * 4a — a