Nicholas Carter

“ To be able to curve a ball is the ambition of every young player. If he happens to be the pitcher of his team, his desire is all the stronger. He wants to fool the other fellows when they come to the bat. He cannot be blamed for that. But while curve pitching is undoubtedly a great accomplishment, it must be remembered that in the old days of baseball many brilliant battles were won with the straight-arm delivery. It is not absolutely necessary, therefore, to curve a ball in order to win success. ”

“ Finally, however, Captain Dobbs, the surgeon—a bald, blunt-spoken old fellow—brought things to an issue.
“What’s the use of mincing matters?” he boomed, glancing defiantly around the circle. “Every man here believes that Grail’s at the bottom of this thing. Then why not get down to cases, instead of sitting around here like a pack of dummies?”
A little gasp, partly of relief, partly of surprise at such plain speaking, ran around the room, and everybody glanced involuntarily toward Major Appleby where he sat at the head of the table. ”

“ An abundance of wavy yellow hair appeared like a halo over her winsome countenance. A more artless and innocent-looking girl could not be imagined, and her deportment was in keeping with her looks.
Nick Carter questioned all three, but his inquiries were really only a blind, to dispel misgivings on the part of either of them, and neither Chick nor Patsy could fathom at what he was driving.
After several minutes, however, Nick turned to Minerva Grand and said pleasantly:
“I wish you would bring me a cup of hot water with a spoon in it. Have it quite hot.” ”

“ Nick earnestly protested, anxious to save the fine old plate from destruction, if possible.
“How better?” questioned Floyd curiously.
“By selling it back to Waldmere,” said Nick. “He would pay thrice the intrinsic value of the metal.”
“Think he would, eh?”
“I am sure of it.”
“That’s a good scheme, then, no doubt.”
“You had better adopt it and save the plate.”
“Mebbe I had, Carter, but I’ll do nothing of the kind. The risk is too great.”
“Don’t let that deter you,” Nick insisted. “A man as clever as you could safely make the deal and realize what the stuff is worth. You’d get by, all right.” ”

“ Carter,” bowed the chauffeur, taking the chair to which the detective waved him. “I will overlook nothing, sir.”
“To begin with, then, have you told any person about the intentions of your employer, or why you were going to Boston?”
“Not one word, sir,” said Gilbert. “I was for two years in the chorus with Miss Royal, now Lady Waldmere, and I have always felt a very sincere regard for her. I would cut out my tongue, or lose a hand, rather than harm her in any way.”
“I believe you,” said Nick. “Tell me, now, just what you did after arriving in Boston. Omit nothing of importance.” ”

“ They were old and of the lowest type, crowded in nondescript fashion into the foul territory they occupied, with a labyrinth of black alleys running hither and thither among them, and forming a maze through which crooks familiar with the surroundings could easily elude a pursuer, even though nearly as well acquainted with the miserable quarters.
“By Jove, she’s heading for the lair of her confederates,” thought Chick, after stealthily following her into the narrow street. “It may not be dead easy to trail her.” ”

“ It now is plain enough to me that he had this robbery in mind, and the job well in hand.”
“You mean?”
“It’s the melting pot, not for me, Chick, in reality, but for this priceless Waldmere plate—unless we can move quickly enough to prevent it.”
“By gracious, chief, that must be what he meant!” cried Patsy, with countenance lighting.
“But who is the man, Nick?” Chick demanded. “You have said nothing to me about meeting him.”
“I thought it hardly worth while,” Nick replied. “The threats of such rascals have no weight with me. The man was Stuart Floyd.” ”

“ After turning the first corner, however, stealthily followed by the detective, Minerva stopped short and took a voluminous veil from her pocket, which she carefully tied over her hat and hair, then drew it down until it completely hid her girlish face.
“That does settle it,” thought Chick, constantly watching her. “She’s off on some evil mission. Nick sized her up correctly, all right. She evidently has no fear of being followed, which will make it all the easier for me. By Jove, this seems like chasing a fairy. She can’t weigh more than ninety pounds.” ”

“ For, without displaying any interest in the labors of the two men, or in the contents of the car, Nick picked his way between several trains that were sidetracked in that part of the yard, apparently seeking some other car in which he had an interest. He was carefully disguised and felt sure that he was safe from ordinary recognition.
Nick had not long been thus engaged before he made a convincing discovery. Peering under the long rows of freight cars, he saw beyond that in which Gilbert and McLauren were working—the legs of a man. ”

“ Patsy Garvan, while Chick was engaged as described, was working out another string of the bow by which Nick Carter was hoping not only to save the Waldmere plate from the melting pot, but also to round up the crooks who had stolen it.
Patsy’s first move was to perfect a disguise that would have caused his own wife not only to turn him down, but even to have fired him out of the house, if he had dared venture into it. ”

“ Nick continued. “He was, in reality, the chief of the gang. He is the same man who followed Frank Gilbert to Boston, and who so artfully had the three cases put near the door of the freight car, and afterward succeeded in getting a forged copy of the bill of lading. He is a keen and clever rascal. He is all the mustard in the pot, that fellow.” ”

“ Floyd repeated, again turning to Vera Vantoon.
“Sure, I’ve seen her,” Vera nodded.
“Were you expected?”
“That’s what. I can always bank on Angel Face.”
“Angel Face!” thought Nick, with a quick thrill of satisfaction. “She refers to Minerva Grand, as sure as I’m a foot high. Things are looking up. It’s money to marbles that Chick shadowed the girl, then dropped her to follow this woman. He would not have forgotten her and her past relations with Stuart Floyd. He cannot be far from here. There’ll be something doing presently that will give these rascals the surprise of their lives.” ”

“ Minerva had started off again, with the detective after her.
Ten minutes brought her to a subway station, where she took a downtown train.
Alighting at Forty-second Street, she walked briskly away and soon brought up opposite a restaurant and concert hall having a somewhat unenviable reputation. There she paused in a doorway to gaze over at the lighted windows.
“She’s looking for some one, or waiting for some one to show up,” thought Chick, after briefly watching her. “I may get a line on the party before her, by Jove, in case he already has arrived. She cannot see from over there.” ”

“ It had become obvious to Chick that the girl had been a tool in the hands of this woman, and that he would learn nothing more by playing the eavesdropper then and there, Vera Vantoon confiding nothing to her companion, who evidently was entirely ignorant of the identity of the latter’s confederates.
“They will separate after leaving here,” he said to himself. “The girl will probably go straight home. There would be nothing for me in remaining on her track. I’ll drop her and get after the woman.” ”

“ THE STOLEN PLATE.
It was eleven o’clock when Nick Carter arrived with Chick and Patsy at the Waldmere residence that morning. The butler admitted them, while Lord Waldmere and his wife came hurrying through the broad, handsomely furnished hall to meet them.
“Come into the library,” said Lord Waldmere, after their greeting. “By Jove, I’m deucedly glad you could come so quickly. I’m in a terrible state. I’m the victim of a beastly job, as you American detectives call them. ’Pon my word, Carter, I don’t know whether I’m afoot or horseback. ”

“ Nick went on. “But Floyd is much too keen and cautious to have figured openly in this robbery with such a girl as Minerva Grand. There is a go-between, either a girl friend, or a lover. That’s who we must find and get after.”
“By Jove, I guess you are right,” Chick said, more gravely.
“Sure thing!” put in Patsy.
“We will take that chance,” Nick replied. “It is nearly a safe gamble, too, that Floyd, after holding up McLauren as a pretended detective, waited only for Bug Bannon to show up before he would release the truckman.” ”

“ THE GLINT IN THE DARKNESS.
Colonel Vedant and his adjutant, Captain Ormsby Grail, hurried down to the Dolliver Foundry, one of the large industrial plants along Brantford’s bustling seven miles of water front, in response to an urgent message from Otto Schilder, manager of the plant. It was ten o’clock at night, but as the Dolliver people were turning out some castings for a wireless telegraph mast of new design, to be erected at Fort Denton, and required frequent consultations with the commandant, there seemed nothing especially strange in the request. ”

“ After he had returned from seeing the party off in their automobile, however, and had closed his desk for the night, he lingered a moment in the office before taking his departure.
“I wonder,” he muttered thoughtfully, “if that man Grail is stringing me, or am I stringing him?”
Meanwhile, as the motor car swiftly left the factory chimneys and slumlike streets of the river front behind, and climbed the hilly streets back toward the fort, Major Appleby turned toward the adjutant, who sat beside him in the tonneau. ”

“ Aware of this, the natives go to the parts of the forest frequented by the monkeys, and set on the ground calabashes full of the enticing liquor. As soon as the monkey sees and tastes it, he utters loud cries of joy that soon attract his comrades. ”

“ THE CLEW THAT FAILED.
“There’s no need to keep you any longer, Miss Griffin,” Schilder said to the stenographer, as Grail came back toward him. “And—er—Miss Griffin, I guess it would be just as well if you didn’t mention this occurrence to any one on the outside. We want no unnecessary notoriety, eh, captain?” ”

“ They are not overdrawn tales of bloodshed. They rather show the working of one of the finest minds ever conceived by a writer. The name of Nick Carter is familiar all over the world, for the stories of his adventures may be read in twenty languages. No other stories have withstood the severe test of time so well as those contained in the Nick Carter Stories. It proves conclusively that they are the best. ”

“ A sheet of our letter paper would be no very difficult thing to get hold of, and when you come to look into the matter I think you’ll find that the original note was written at post headquarters.”
“At post headquarters! What do you mean by that?” demanded Grail.
“My dear captain,” Schilder answered, “hasn’t it struck you yet that the most likely person in the world to write that note to Colonel Vedant was—Colonel Vedant himself? Between ourselves, now—you are better acquainted with conditions than I—isn’t there something which might have induced the old fellow to drop quietly out of sight?” ”

“ In the earth floor near one of the walls were numerous rectangular holes, molds for receiving the melted metal, and from some of which the silver ingots already had been pulled with an iron hook, to make room for more of the costly fluid.
The room was almost as hot as an oven, and perspiration stood in great drops on the faces of the three men then at work there—Floyd, Bagley, and Gorman.
Nick Carter had been sternly watching them for some time. He had found that he had solved more than the mystery of the stolen Waldmere plate. ”

“ I might telephone to Mrs. Waldmere from the next house, or—ah, there comes a light on the top floor. It may be in the girl’s room.”
The sun had set and dusk was deepening to darkness. The light that had caught Chick’s eye caused him to linger and watch. A moment later he saw Minerva draw down the curtain, and he knew he had not waited vainly.
“She may have been waiting for evening,” he said to himself. “She would know, at least, that there is less risk than in daylight. Or she may have an appointment for the evening, as Nick suspects.” ”

“ Begin your work by pitching a straight ball. You cannot gain control in a better way. As you are young in pitching experience, so also are your opponents young in their knowledge of batting. If you watch them closely you will perceive very quickly that nearly every one of them swings his bat at about the same height every time. For instance, you will notice that the first batter will swing his bat just in front of his waistband. In order to fool him, pitch the ball a little higher or a little lower than that point. ”

“ Nick replied. “I am sure of her.”
“Which one, chief?”
“Minerva Grand.”
“Gee whiz! That doll-faced girl! She don’t look capable of stealing a feather from a peacock’s tail.”
“That’s too true for a joke, Patsy,” said Chick, a bit dryly. “Are you really sure of it, Nick?”
“Dead sure, Chick, and then some.”
“By Jove, it seems almost incredible.”
“Let me explain,” said Nick. “I found on the highly polished face of one of the small interior drawers in Waldmere’s desk numerous dainty finger prints.” ”

“ Chick pointed toward the roof.
“There’s a skylight,” he said quietly.
“Must be,” Patsy tersely agreed. “But how can we get up there?”
“It’s not more than eighteen feet to the edge of the roof. I climbed over several planks back here that are that long.”
“Gee whiz!” exclaimed Patsy, elated. “I’ve got you. We can lean one of the planks against the rear wall and get up there by means of it.” ”

“ The curtains were partly drawn, and Chick would not have discovered her save for the angle afforded by the mirror.
“By gracious! there’s the connecting link,” he said to himself. “This does settle it. Vera Vantoon, eh? That jade who figured with Stuart Floyd in the looting of the loan company. She was hand and glove with Floyd at that time, and it’s long odds that their intimacy has not ended. This is the person for whom Minerva Grand is looking. She’s the connecting link, all right. By Jove, I must contrive to overhear what passes between them.” ”

“ Noiselessly they crept to the skylight and gazed down through the trapdoor on the red-glowing scene below.
“Thundering guns!” whispered Patsy, staring. “The rats are there, all right. They are melting a lot of silver plate.”
“Part of the Waldmere plate.”
“Surest thing you know.”
They could not see Nick, owing to the location of the trap in the upper floor, but while listening intently—they heard him addressed by Floyd and his name mentioned.
“Holy smoke!” Patsy then whispered. “They’ve got the chief.”
“I heard,” Chick nodded, feeling over the skylight. ”

“ But if the river, as it often does, should first throw up a bar out in the channel and then gradually fill up the space between that and your land until finally the current changed and left the island thus formed joined to your land, you would have no claim to any land thus formed. It would belong to the county, and could be surveyed and sold to the highest bidder, and the money it brought would go to the school fund.
The Missouri River is a malicious stream, and if it ever comes to judgment, will have a lot to answer for. ”

“ Many who have visited the Pawnee Bill and Buffalo Bill Wild-West Shows wonder what has become of all the likely looking cowboys whose daring feats ahorse and with the lasso excited wonder and admiration. ”