Nicholas Carter

“ In a few moments they caught sight of Clancy and his pals.
They were separating and making in different directions.
“Here’s where we divide,” said Nick. “Remember, we’ve got to have those men before they get across the line.”
“They’re ours!” said Chick.
“Easy!” added Patsy.
Patsy’s man was Cricket, and the way Patsy sprinted after him was a sight to see and remember.
Through the woods, pell-mell, raced the grafter and the detective, leaping over logs, plunging through bushes, and halting now and again to try a shot at each other. ”

“ The chief was not in evidence, but he was quickly summoned from home by telephone.
“By Jupiter!” he cried; “you’ve done it, Carter—done it, and with ground to spare.”
“A hundred feet of ground,” grinned Patsy.
“Are you sure they’re the right men?” asked the chief.
“That’s the only kind we capture,” said Chick.
“I believe you,” returned the chief, and shook hands heartily with the New York men and tendered his congratulations.
Cricket and Clancy were taken to their cells, and Spark was conveyed to the Memorial Hospital. ”

“ Among these are the stories of the adventures of Nick Carter and his clever assistants; of “Old Spicer,” the clever private detective, whose exploits are among the most remarkable ever performed by any detective. If you are in search of good, interesting matter, a decided change from that to which you have been accustomed, purchase a few of these titles. They will not only please and interest you, but will give you a clear insight into the methods of the various classes of criminals. ”

“ Seeing Patsy making in that direction, William sidetracked into a corn crib.
At any other time the ludicrous side of this situation would have appealed to Patsy, but just now he had his hands too full to consider it.
Cricket had run into the barn, and the detective sprang to the door through which he had vanished.
Just as Patsy reached the barn the bulldog, Tige, became a factor in the case.
The dog was not so easily scared as the farmer and the rest of the household, and didn’t care particularly who he tackled, just so long as he tackled somebody. ”

“ Nick had no desire to cut short his career on that lonely turnpike in northern Vermont, but still he realized that he would have to take chances, no matter what course he pursued.
In the distance he could see a plank bridge crossing a stream.
The edge of the bridge was guarded with a low wooden railing, and to run the Red Spider into the railing and off the bridge would not be a difficult task.
But that would be infinitely more dangerous than running the auto into a tree. ”

“ Nick gave vent to a hollow groan, sank to his knees, and covered his face with his hands.
“Look here, you!” growled the man with the gun. “You’re pretty well dressed for a man working this sort of graft.”
“I’ve seen better days,” sniffed Nick.
“Bother! Better days don’t count. It’s what you are to-day, not last week, or last year. What do you call yourself?” ”

“ Nick turned to John Lansing.
“Here is a key to those handcuffs,” he said. “Do not release him until nine o’clock.”
John Lansing was very pale and was trembling visibly.
It was evident that his nerves were greatly shaken at the disclosure he had heard.
“I will do as you say, Mr. Carter,” said he.
“Chick,” went on Nick, facing his assistant, “Patsy is in the hall. Take him that outfit and have him make ready. There’s sharp work ahead.” ”

“ At the same moment Nick Carter had breathed to his two aides:
“Get the cuffs on them as soon as we get within arm’s reach. I’ll take Ramsay. Chick, you’ll attend to the man in the brown derby. Patsy, take the third.” ”

“ Not only that, but if you were dead your money would be tied up in the probate court, and your uncle could not invest it.”
“I see. That had not occurred to me before. What a consummate villain that man Yasmar is!”
“If he is the fellow I am looking for,” said Nick, bluntly, “I may tell you there isn’t a more cunning scoundrel alive. But how did he manage to get the better of you on the Sound steamer? Put in all the details of the occurrence. They may help in working your case.” ”

“ He looked at Nick in surprise, and then cast a quick look at the bed.
“Well, you’ll pass,” he said, as the truth dawned on him.
“What’s new?” asked the detective.
“I called to report on that telephone matter.”
“Good! The man you sent out must have been a live one to get back with a report as soon as this.”
“I attended to it myself.”
“Much obliged, chief. Did you experience any difficulty?”
“None at all. At central they told me that the call for Nicholas, at the Central House, came from a pay station in a drug store. ”

“ The second door was treated in exactly the same manner as the first, and within an hour from the time the night watchman had left the bank to succor the distressed individual on the sidewalk the funds of the People’s National lay at the mercy of the “yeggmen.”
From his pockets Spark brought out a number of canvas bags.
While these bags were being filled a shout came from the rear of the bank, followed by two revolver shots—the two reports echoing out almost as one.
“The devil!” exclaimed Clancy.
“It’s Five Points,” breathed Spark, in a sharp undertone. ”

“ Nick jumped from his assistant’s shoulders. “It comes between the joints of those roof stones. If we had tow, and could calk up every crack in the roof, we might save ourselves. But that’s out of the question.”
“What a devilish contrivance!” exclaimed Chick.
“It’s devilish enough to do for us if we can’t find our way out of this hole.”
“You might look for a trap in the roof.”
“As soon as you’re able to bear my weight again, I’ll try.”
“Try now, old man. Every second is worth its weight in gold.”
Nick tried to mount Chick’s shoulders, but Chick was too far gone and could not hold him up. ”

“ Mr. John Lansing he found to be a young man hardly more than out of his teens.{9}
His face was pale and on his left temple there was a large patch of court-plaster.
“My younger assistant has told me something of your startling adventure,” said Nick, “and I am especially interested in the matter, for I suspect that your assailant is a man who escaped me in the West.”
“You mean Yasmar?”
“Yes, or rather Ramsay, to give him his right name. Since coming East he has seen fit to spell his name backward—the thinnest kind of an alias conceivable. But please let me have your story from the beginning.” ”

“ Nick drew back to the library table and picked up a book that lay there.
“You told Yasmar—or Ramsay, to give him his real name—that John Lansing was going to Boston to talk with Cooper and Bingham in the attempt to dissuade them from making that investment in the Royal Ophir mine.
“He took the same boat that Lansing boarded.
“At midnight, out in the Sound, they had a talk, angry words were passed, Ramsay struck Lansing on the head in a moment of passion and flung him into the sea——”
“It’s a lie!” cried Montgomery, hoarsely.{96}
“It’s the truth!”
“Are you man or devil?” whispered Montgomery. ”

“ It was some distance off and racing at a speed which caused it to lurch dangerously from side to side.
“A stern chase is usually a long one, but I don’t think this will be,” muttered Nick. “We’re gaining at every jump.”
“And they don’t know yet that we’re after them,” chuckled Patsy.
“They know now,” said Chick. “One of them, on the rear seat, is turning around. There! He’s trying a shot.”
The report of a revolver echoed out, but the range was too great for effective shooting with small arms. ”

“ The president paused.
“It is immaterial to you whom I suspect, Mr. Hepner,” said Nick, coolly, “so long as I run down the thieves.”
“Of course, of course! But you’re far afield, Mr. Nicholas, if that is the point you are driving at.”
“Which is your opinion,” commented Nick. “What makes you think that Mr. Leonard Martin and his party are liable to be in Latimer for a few days?”
“Because their chauffeur is sick and the Red Spider cannot proceed without a man to run it.”
“The auto is named the Red Spider?”
“Yes.”
“Where is Mr. Martin staying?”
“At the Central House.” ”

“ The man we want is a fellow called Ramsay.”
“And Ramsay spelled backward is Yasmar,” added Patsy.
“By Jove, you’re right! I never thought of that.”
“No,” retorted Patsy; “it’s a good thing you have a man of brains on your staff.”
“Let that pass,” said Nick, smiling. “Any old way, this is bully information. The report was true, then, and Ramsay and his pal have really come East and are at their tricks again.”
“Don’t know about the pal, but I think we have come up with Ramsay all right. The man he attacked is waiting for you at the office.” ”

“ In that case, Patsy, you may have a chance to bag the men who slipped through my hands.”
“Nothing would please me better,” was Patsy’s retort, and Nick laughed at the boy’s eagerness.
“I bet Patsy will strike the fellows before you can say Jack Robinson,” put in Chick, with a grin.
“You win your bet,” said Patsy, coolly. “I think I can put you on the trail of at least one of the men you want. The other fellow will have to stand till I look around a little.” ”

“ And that’s what he was doing when Chick and Patsy bore down on him—smoking and enlightening the natives.
A few hurried words of explanation were exchanged by the detectives.
“Are all the grips belonging to the prisoners still in the Red Spider?” asked Nick.
“There are three here,” said Chick; “they’re big ones, and heavy as lead.”
“It was the heft that kept the grafters from lugging the grips along when they made their break for the timber,” put in Patsy.
“Open one of the satchels, Chick,” said Nick, “and see what’s inside. ”

“ Association with professional criminals, either in prison or ‘on the road,’ has taught him a knowledge of high explosives—how to extract nitroglycerin from dynamite, and how to use nitro in blowing open safes, and so on. The methods of the ‘yeggs,’ as compared with the old-time, skilled cracksman, are simple and labor-saving.”
“That is quite interesting. It has been a mystery to all of us how our safe was blown open. Will you explain, Mr. Nicholas?”
Nick complied, very briefly, and then, after a little more questioning, arose to go. ”

“ Carter, the last this man Yasmar saw of me was off the Long Island coast at midnight Monday, when he threw me overboard; and that brings me to the matter about which I wanted your help. You are the only man living who can help me; the question is will you do it?”
“Tell me your whole story first and then I will answer you.”
“I will be as brief as I can,” said Lansing.
“My parents are dead, and my sister Louise and I live with our uncle, Horace Montgomery, on West Forty-fourth Street.
“Mr. Montgomery is our guardian, and is the trustee of certain funds which were left to us. ”

“ The word leaped from the lips of both Nick and Chick.
It was Patsy’s turn to grin now.
“When you boys stop jollying,” he said, “we will get down to business.”
“See here, Patsy, you’ve got news,” cried Nick. “Out with it.”
“Well, the truth is I have just come from an interview with a man who is trying to get back his senses after a cold plunge in the Sound. The cold plunge was{7} not of his own choosing. He was thrown in at midnight, and the man who flung him in was a Westerner. Now are you interested?”
“But there are more Westerners than one in the world,” objected Nick. ”

“ Burton told the ruse by which he had been lured out upon the sidewalk.
He could give only a general and indefinite description of the man in the frock coat and silk hat, and could give no description whatever of the man’s companion.
Like the other watchman, Burton had been knocked insensible very early in the game.
“They are old hands,” thought Nick, as he went away from the watchman’s house. “Too bad that I am twenty-four hours late in reaching the scene. It is a serious handicap.” ”

“ The youngster looked at Nick with admiring eyes, and the latter brought out a half-dollar, which he had in his pocket, and which had somehow escaped Clancy’s search and the consequent bath in the river.
“Do you want to earn this, my lad?” Nick asked.
“Can a duck swim?” the boy chirped.
“Then get on that horse and ride up the road. You won’t have to go far before you find a couple of automobiles——”
“What’s them?”
“You’ll know when you see them—you won’t make any mistake. If there is any one with the machines say that I want them brought here. Understand?” ”

“ While speaking, Chick was tying a handkerchief tightly around the injured forearm, using his right hand and his teeth.
“Your man seems to have got touched up pretty bad,” went on Patsy.
“He has only himself to blame, if he has. He thought he could get away from me by using that wagon, but I guess he thinks differently now.”
Chick stepped up to Spark, and bent over him.
“Where are you hurt?” he asked.
“My right leg,” groaned the robber; “it’s broken!” ”