Inspector Stark

“ Monsieur Jacquet welcomed his visitor upon learning the latter was a detective. The Frenchman’s wound was deep and ugly, but not fatal. Burt found him propped up with pillows, and he seated himself at the sufferer’s bedside.
“You know Monsieur Cook?” asked Pierre, after the detective had been introduced.
“Yes; I’ve known him some years.”
“Do you also know Kidd?”
Jacquet’s eyes blazed fiercely when he mentioned the man who had wronged him.
“I only know him by reputation,” replied Burt.
“He is a devil—a snake in the grass. They tell me I shall recover and be able to go out in a few days. ”

“ The giant smiled.
“I have followed men over the trackless desert. Why should I get lost in the city? I know enough English to make myself understood.”
“By what right did you follow me?” asked Zulima.
“I but obeyed Ajeeb,” replied the giant; “you disobeyed him.”
“How?”
“He ordered you to have this American visit you.”
“Well?”
“Instead of obeying the command you went to the man and told him he was in danger,” answered Ashah.
“Ajeeb had already threatened him,” retorted the princess.
“That is his right as our high priest. You would save the American.” ”

“ Burt readily found Stolburst’s new quarters. Upon the floor lay Ajeeb, with a smoking revolver in his hand. Blood flowed in a continuous stream from a little hole in his forehead, the edges of which were blackened with powder. He had bragged to Billy Barry that he should never die by violence, yet he had in the end inflicted death with his own hand. ”

“ Stolburst saw that Ajeeb had, by working on the girl’s fear of the heathen god, completely won her.
“Ajeeb means to kill me?”
“You know how to save yourself,” said Zulima coldly.
“But I cannot comply with his wishes,” answered Stolburst.
“Then you must die.”
The man laughed, but his laugh was hollow and forced.
“Ajeeb seems to forget,” he said, “that he is in a civilized country. Here there are hundreds and hundreds of men to protect me. What is he and that demon Ashah against so many?” ”

“ Before shooting himself Ajeeb had shot Stolburst. The bullet aimed at the latter’s heart had struck a rib and glanced off. Seeing escape impossible, Ajeeb determined to kill both his prisoner and himself.
Luckily for Stolburst, the villain’s plan had miscarried.
Burt cut the bonds that encircled the prisoner’s ankles and wrists. Stolburst was insensible, but he soon came around. When he saw the detective bending over him the unfortunate man’s features became illuminated with joy.
“At last!” he murmured.
“Yes; you won’t suffer any more.” ”

“ I am naturally very dull,” said Enoch.
“Did you not notice the intimacy that sprang up between my wife and Monsieur Kidd?”
“No; did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you not put a stop to it?” asked Cook.
“Aimee assured me I had no cause to be jealous.”
“Well,” said Cook, “I never thought Dick Kidd would run off with another’s wife. He certainly isn’t very beautiful.”
“He succeeded in making himself loved by that foolish woman.”
“Jacquet, old man,” said Enoch flippantly, “I feel sorry for you.” ”

“ Zulima paid no attention to the interruption.
“Better than any living creature,” she said, “I love the god of my fathers. To me devotion to the great Jobu means happiness in a future life. Now he is angry with my people.”
“Why?”
“Because the stranger was allowed to desecrate him. Do you not tremble?”
Zulima spoke in an impassioned manner throughout. Now she burst into tears.
[21]
“My dear,” said Stolburst, “Ajeeb accused me of stealing the famous green diamond that formed the idol’s eye.”
“Ajeeb is wise, and does not speak idle words.” ”

“ Barry and the high priest took possession of the latter’s library. It was Billy’s first visit since he had aided in entrapping Stolburst.
“Well, old man,” said the visitor, “how does your prisoner come on?”
“He has met with an accident.”
“An accident?” repeated Billy.
“Yes,” replied Ajeeb grimly, “he has lost one of his ears.”
Barry looked at his companion in astonishment. Although Ajeeb had so threatened, Billy did not believe he would torture Stolburst.
An ear gone! Barry repeated the phrase to himself. What a queer-looking object a person with one ear must be! ”

“ Now as to the man you know as Sam Henry, if he is the same party I take him to be, his correct name is Enoch Cook.”
“Do you think you can find him?” asked Stolburst.
“If he is in New York I can.”
“Both he and Kidd are very desperate men. I have seen their courage proven more than a score of times.”
“I never yet saw the man I feared,” remarked Burt, with quiet dignity. “As a boy Enoch Cook was a great boaster. How long was he in your employ?” ”

“ I duped Stolburst so that his capture became easy.”
“Well?”
“That makes me an accomplice, in the eyes of the law, to anything that may befall the man while he is in your power.”
“No outsider knows you helped to kidnap him,” said Ajeeb.
“Neither does any outsider know you had one of the poor devil’s ears cut off; but it will come to light some day.”
“Not unless I am betrayed.”
“You know very well that I will not betray you.”
“One sometimes does not know who to trust,” said the Abyssinian.
“Do you mean to imply that I might, under any circumstances, become an informer?” ”

“ Having seen Stolburst on the lecture platform, he knew his visitor to be none other than the explorer.
The latter interpreted the other’s inquiring glance.
“You think me bereft of sense?” he quietly asked.
“No,” said Burt; “but how can your life be possibly in danger while you are in a large community like this?”
“Nevertheless, it is. I have fought against savage tribes, and not more savage beasts. Several times have I barely escaped assassination by poison, knife, and other weapons; but never, in the jungles of Africa, was my life in more danger than at the present moment. ”

“ In the world of the white man, women are looked up to and not downtrodden, as in our unhappy country.”
Ajeeb laughed ironically.
“You are not of age, and even the laws of this country will restore you to my possession,” he said.
Zulima shuddered. She had been taught to look up to this man and made to believe that his wisdom surpassed even that of the head sheik of Gondar.
“I would die rather than go back,” the girl said.
“You mean,” said Ajeeb, and his face became distorted with rage, “that you would die rather than leave this American.”
“Look what Mr. Stolburst has done for me, uncle.” ”

“ Can such things be in America?” exclaimed Henry Stolburst.
It is strange, but true, that this man was actually tortured [106] as described in the heart of New York City. Thousands daily passed the house in which he was a prisoner, but no cry of his could reach them. He might as well be in the depth of Africa as in that cellar, as far as making himself heard outside was concerned.
“Deth,” said the explorer, after a pause, “do you like to see me suffer?”
“I have seen men killed.”
“Why does not Ajeeb kill me?”
“He has his reasons.”
“How can I give him that accursed diamond when I haven’t got it?” ”

“ It was to recover the green diamond that Mr. Stolburst engaged me.”
“Suppose you were to succeed?”
“I have his promise that the gem shall be returned to its proper custodians.”
“You speak false.”
Burt reddened.
“Madame,” he said, “I am unaccustomed to having my veracity doubted, more especially by a lady.”
“It is given to me the power to read men’s minds. Again I declare you speak false. My false friend would never give up the diamond.” ”

“ The man has great learning, and bears a high name among the people here and in Europe.”
“What’s his name?”
“Henry Stolburst.”
“The African explorer?”
“The same.”
“Ajeeb, my friend,” said Barry, “I think you have undertaken to crack a very hard nut.”
“No,” smiled the Abyssinian. “I shall not fail in this matter.”
“Does Stolburst suspect your purpose?”
“I told him all about it.”
“That was foolish; he has probably told some one else of your threat.”
“What harm? His body will never be found, and who can prove murder against me, or my chosen instruments?” ”

“ After his crime in Elizabeth Street Mike did not return to his saloon until the next day. Consequently Enoch knew nothing about the tragedy.
“Now, my fellow,” said the detective, “you won’t slip through my fingers so easily this time as you did before. Perhaps it will interest you to know that Pierre Jacquet is dying.”
Cook became deathly pale, and he felt his spine grow weak. The Frenchman’s death would make him a murderer.
It was hard enough to be compelled to serve a long term in prison, but the gallows—— The thought of that grim instrument of death almost froze the blood in his veins. ”

“ Poor little Aimee, if she had not such a nimble tongue she would be alive. The silly creature believed we could have been legally married in this country.”
“I think possession of that green diamond is unlucky,” remarked Enoch seriously.
The other laughed.
“I’ll bet,” said Kidd, “that if I asked you to take charge of it you would not refuse.”
“No; but I’d sell it as soon as possible,” returned Enoch.
“How much do you suppose it is worth?”
“That does not signify; we can never get anything like its real worth.”
“We should be able to get fifty thousand dollars or more.” ”

“ Suppose we take a trip to Philadelphia?”
“New York is good enough for me.”
“What do you intend to do here?”
“Spy out some crib, and then crack it,” replied Cook.
“The police here are too fly for my taste. If we go into business here, we’ll soon find ourselves wearing stripes.”
“I’m going to try and find the diamond.”
“But you have no clew to work upon.”
“I’ll discover one—leave me alone for that,” said Enoch confidently.
“By the way,” said Kidd, “have you heard anything about your friend Pierre Jacquet?”
“Your friend, you mean,” laughed Cook. “I believe he is not expected to live.” ”

“ Now I do not think the gentleman’s offense is so great as Ajeeb makes it out.”
“Have you any idea where your uncle has taken refuge?”
“Not the slightest. He is a man of infinite resources.”
“So he seems to be.”
“In Gondar, no one knows where he resides,” said Zulima.
“Why is that?”
“I know not.”
“He fears assassination, perhaps?”
The girl smiled.
“None there would dare attempt injury to the high priest, even by order of the king.”
“You don’t mean to say that Ajeeb is a bigger man than King John?”
“Of course not; but the king would not dare injure him.” ”

“ The man is too miserly to have a servant. Cook, did you ever see this fellow before?”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
“I only know he used to travel with Bull Blair’s gang.”
“Bull Blair, eh?”
The man was one of the most hardened ruffians in New York. Riley looked daggers at Enoch.
“What was done with the ‘fence’s’ body?” asked Burt.
“I don’t know that he is dead,” replied the prisoner.
“Murder has certainly been done in this house. I’m sure of that.”
“You may be right, mister, but I know nothing about it.” ”

“ Cook looked glum. He had no thought of resisting the detective.
Enoch knew that if he made a dash for liberty, Burt would shoot him down. He very meekly allowed Burt to slip handcuffs on his wrists.
“I hope for your sake,” said the detective, “that this man may recover. Bad as you are, I should not like to have you die on the gallows.” ”

“ Burt Cromwell received this with loathing. How could so beautiful a being have so black a heart?
Zulima did not mean what she said just then. She really felt sorry for Stolburst’s hapless condition. More than once she had implored her uncle to set him free. She might as well have appealed to a stone. Ajeeb knew no pity.
Zulima now took a keen delight in appearing as a monster in feeling to the detective. ”

“ I’ve heard Ajeeb say Henry Stolburst stole a great diamond from a temple near Gondar,” said Barry.
“Have you ever been in Abyssinia?” inquired Burt.
“No, and I don’t want to go there.”
“What have you against the country?”
“It is not the country, but the people who live there.”
[193]
“What about them?”
“They are rather too hot for my blood, that’s all,” replied Barry. “A man’s life is not worth much with them chaps.” ”