Nicholas Carter

“ Your blue blood revolted against receiving a ballet girl as your daughter.”
“You forged my name for large amounts,” said the banker, rising to his feet; “had you not done so, I might have forgiven you.”
“Was I to starve while you rolled in plenty?” asked the son. “You publicly announced that I was no longer a son of yours. Look at your work and be proud of it, if you can”—he stretched forth his hands—“they are dyed in blood. The son of Hilton Field, banker, is a murderer and a thief. Tremble, old man, for it is you, not I, who will have to answer one day for me.” ”

“ The thought of this beautiful girl bestowing osculatory favors upon Tambourine Jack almost upset the detective’s gravity.
“I have not seen the fellow in several days,” said the detective, “and, indeed, I would like to see him, to discover how he learned of the imposture tried by the villains who carried your father off.”
“How could he have known of it, then?” the girl asked.
“He is one of the gang,” answered Nick. “Oh! if I could but get out.” ”

“ Skip caught Moses roughly by the arm. “They must have set no value upon their life.”
“Was it Tambourine Jack?” suggested Mackrell.
“No; not him.”
“Who, then?” shouted several of the ruffians.
“Speak, you old screw, speak!” said Skip, tightening his grasp upon the other’s arm.
“You will not strike me?”
“No.”
“It was Dell Ladley.”
“You lie, Jew, the girl is as true as steel; I don’t go much on giving secrets to women, but she is different to the rest.”
As he spoke, Skip Brodie raised his fist and would have felled Old Man Moses to the floor, had he not been prevented by his companions. ”

“ The pair of handcuffs that the detective drew from his pocket were neat ones, and the pistol that he brought to light with them was gold-mounted, but their beauty did not strike the broker.
“What do you mean?” he cried, aghast, as he retreated to the furthest end of the room.
“That you will accompany me to police headquarters,” said Nick Carter. “You won’t be lonesome; our friend, Mr. Furman, here, will go along.”
“Will he?” Sam cried, discharging a pistol full at the officer. ”

“ In a few years time he had become one of the richest men in America. He built a palace on Riverside Drive, one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York City, retired from active business, and lived in his magnificent home a life of solitary grandeur.
Of the few men who knew him as friends, Nick Carter was one, and although they saw each other infrequently, the feeling of mutual esteem increased with years. ”

“ Such was the intensity of her manner and her nervousness that the detective started.
“No,” he replied; “but why do you ask? The physician attending me would not send me anything wrong; he is one of the foremost in his profession.”
“Thank God you did not take it!” Mignon cried. “Your physician did not send you that. A few drops of it would cause your death in the most horrible agony. No antidote would save you.”
She held the phial between her eyes and the light, saying:
“There can be no doubt about it. It is corrosive sublimate.” ”

“ Nick did think for a moment, and his visitor eagerly watched his features the while, but he could see nothing there.
“I will accept your offer,” said the detective, hastily, “but when am I to receive this money?”
“You will be paid twenty thousand dollars to-day and the rest in thirty days’ time,” replied Mr. Furman, smiling at his success. “I knew you would come around, after a bit.”
“What man wouldn’t?” said Nick, with great earnestness. “Why, you offer me a fortune. But suppose some other detective finds the old banker, what then?”
“We have no fear of the others,” answered the visitor. ”

“ Nick Carter darted around to the other side of the bed, and drew from its hiding place the package Greer had concealed.
It contained two small files and a revolver.
Louise attempted to leave the hospital ward, but was prevented by the detective.
“I want you,” Nick said, as he caught her by the sleeve.
“Let me pass,” she cried, “I have done nothing.”
“No, not you!” he quietly remarked. “You did not stab me, and you did not attempt to obtain money by false pretenses from the banker’s daughter. You are an abused saint, you are.”
“I hate! I hate you!” she exclaimed, vehemently. ”

“ The poor girl grew black in the face; she tried to speak, but the sounds were lost in gurgles.
“Don’t kill her,” said one of the roughs who crowded the place.
“What is the matter?” cried Shea, Greer and Tambourine Jack, who came into the outer room, attracted by the noise.
“Matter enough. I have the traitress; she shall not escape me this time,” exclaimed the ruffian.
The dog Crackers seemed to be a natural defender of everybody in trouble. ”

“ All this was evidence of the most positive kind that Helen Doane was really the child of Mr. Field, and not, as he had firmly believed, an impostor. That this lady was Mrs. Field, the wife who had left her husband because of his jealousy, he had no doubt whatever.
But, was she not mistaken about Helen Doane?
Come what might, that letter brought by the girl to prove her kinship was a forgery! ”

“ The ruffians examined their leader and found that he was dead.
“Shoot that fellow,” suggested one, pointing to Dick Denton.
“Yes, kill him,” added another, who was about to do so.
“Let him stay where he is; we’ll burn the house,” cried a third.
This was agreed to by the fellow’s companion demons.
They dragged several straw mattresses outside, and, closing the door, set fire to them.
The hut was old and as dry as a chip.
With fearful rapidity the fire grew until in a few minutes Sam’s cabin was wrapped in a shroud of flame. ”

“ The little fellow led the way into the wood where Dick Denton and Skip Brodie had lost sight of Sam Cole.
At first the bloodhound was puzzled and seemed to have several false scents before, with a deep bay, he rushed away through a part of the forest thickly grown with brush.
It was with difficulty that Nick Carter and his friend made their way through the undergrowth.
The dog was lost sight of, but they were guided by his cries.
Suddenly they ceased and Nick knew the hound had reached the end of the trail.
At a clearing on the side of a steep hill they came face to face with a gigantic negro. ”

“ He begged, prayed and cursed by turns, but his appeals had no effect.
“Send me to prison for my other crimes,” the rascal cried, beseechingly, “but do not make the charge of murder against me. It is horrible to die.”
“No more so to you than to your victims,” said the detective. “No, I will bring you to the gallows.”
When he left the Tombs, whither he had taken Greer, Nick visited a friend of his, who had a saloon in Center Street, and from him borrowed a bloodhound that had been brought from Cuba, where it had been used in hunting down runaway slaves. ”

“ He came forward, with a smile, to meet Nick Carter, explaining heartily:
“Glad to see you, Carter. It is all of two months since I have set eyes on you.”
“So am I glad to see you! Yet I would not be here if it were not that business made it necessary.”
“Business, eh?”
“Yes.”
“You are the greatest fellow to have your hands full of business I ever saw. Well, what is it this time?”
“I’ve got something here that I want you to look at.”
“Let’s see it.”
Nick took out the paper that was spotted with blood.
This he quietly handed to the professor, saying:
“Take a look at that through the microscope.” ”

“ Darting an angry look at the “nagur,” the cook retired to her domain.
“You have a visitor,” said the colored man; “her name is Louise Calhoun; she used to be your younger sister’s music teacher.”
Miss Field was greatly astonished.
“Who are you? You are not what you seem,” said Mignon. “You do not talk like a negro.”
“Nick Carter!”
The beautiful girl clapped her hands for joy.
“You bring me news of father!” she exclaimed. “But why do you come here like a negro minstrel?”
The detective laughed. ”

“ Are all strangers who come to New York treated like this?”
“Well, no.”
The detective removed his wig and whiskers, saying:
“I guess you will remember seeing me before?”
“Nick Carter!” involuntarily exclaimed Greer.
“Or his ghost,” added Nick. “You thought I was dead.”
Elmer saw that it would be absurd to deny his identity any longer, and he removed the beard that disguised his features.
“I suppose I am good for twenty years?” he said, making a sickly attempt to smile.
“Not quite,” replied Nick; “they hang murderers in this State.”
“Murder!” ejaculated the prisoner. “I do not understand.” ”

“ There were some things you did not explain quite as clearly as I would have them.”
“What do you mean? are you a madman?” said the broker, quaking with fear. “Leave this room or I will call for help and have you put out.”
“No, you won’t, and, besides, three men, or two and a girl, ought to be able to handle me,” said the officer, pulling off his whiskers; “I guess Elmer Greer will tell me where the missing banker is.”
[32]
“Great heavens, we are lost!” cried Greer; “it is Nick Carter!” ”

“ Fill me out a check for fifty thousand on your broker; we can have a final settlement when you get out.”
“Fifty thousand!” muttered Smith; “you are quite reasonable in your demands. Very reasonable, indeed.”
“I am not going to wait here all day,” said the visitor, angrily.
“You can go when you choose.”
“But the money?”
“You will get none from me, neither you nor the other rascal,” cried Smith. “My lawyer tells me the money is mine, and I shall keep it; not one penny shall either of you have. I offered you ten thousand dollars; I take them back.” ”

“ The detective paused on the point of saying something to Barnes.
“I guess it will be as well not to say anything, for nine chances out of ten he would give the thing away in his manner, and defeat the object I have in view. It will be as well to let him go on for a couple of days longer thinking of her as a good, true, pure woman, instead of being in all probability the wife of one of the worst scoundrels now unhung,” Nick soliloquized.
The name of Demas Lorton meant something more to the detective than it did to Barnes. ”

“ The detective turned quietly, and softly ejaculated:
“Ah!”
“Certainly. In the face of such evidence as this letter of Mr. Field’s she must remain here. I will attend to it and see that she is introduced to the servants as their new mistress.”
“Well, as you please about that,” returned Nick, “it is none of my business.”
The girl interposed:
“Mr. Barnes, I do not wish to remain here. The money is nothing to me; I have so long taken care of myself that I should be positively unhappy, I believe, if I should make the attempt of playing lady.” ”

“ Greer laughed and said:
“We won’t meet in a hurry. Do anything you like with Hilton Field; kill him if you choose, I don’t care. If Smith had not been a fool and literally given himself to Nick Carter, all hands would be rolling in wealth. ”

“ Nick identified it at a glance.
It was Elmer Greer!
“So,” thought Nick, “this is his end. It’s funny! I never knew a criminal who led a happy life. From the first fall, jail and the hangman’s noose haunt their waking and their sleeping hours. If they don’t die in jail or the poorhouse, they meet a fate similar to this of [217] Greer’s. It’s incomprehensible to me why men should ever take up a life of such misery and unhappiness!”
And the great detective shook his head. ”

“ When they reached the city, Tambourine Jack put his female companion into a street car and rejoined the detective.
“Did you get the slip of paper I dropped?” Jack asked.
“No, where did you drop it?”
[81]
“Just as we got on the cars,” he said; “it only had the name Wilbur on it.”
“I didn’t see it,” Nick remarked. “So that chap with you was the banker’s son?”
“That’s the sprig,” replied Tambourine. “Don’t look much like a thief, does he? He made quite a time when Skip took the old fellow away. I thought there would be bloodshed, but Wilbur weakened. ”

“ It never surfeits a fellow.”
“Come to the point at once,” said Nick, who seriously contemplated throwing his visitor downstairs. “What do you want? I have no time to listen to your impertinence.”
“Do you want to make a cool hundred thousand dollars?” asked Mr. Furman.
“No,” was the reply; “I certainly could not make it honestly.”
“That is a matter of choice, whether what I propose is honest or not,” said the visitor. “I should say it was not dishonest.”
“What is it that you propose?” asked the detective.
“That you will give up the search for Hilton Field.” ”

“ Sam Cole angrily asked, approaching the pair with a large, wooden stake in his hand.
“Yes,” replied Nick Carter, drawing his pistol; “it was.”
Sam saw the weapon glitter in the moonlight and advanced no further.
“He had like to kill me,” the negro said, “and I was obliged to kill him; I am sorry, gentlemen.”
“Look out for him,” whispered Tambourine, “he is a bad one.”
“Are you Sam Cole?”
The detective drew near the fellow as he spoke.
“That’s what they call me hereabouts,” was the answer. “Is there anything I can do for you?” ”

“ It was all that Nick could do at this time to prevent gritting his teeth so that they would hear. It fairly made his blood run cold to hear that man talk so coolly of the foul wrong that it was intended should, through him, befall a young and innocent girl. ”

“ Leaving the house for the second time that day and going downtown, his ears were assailed by the cries of the newsboys, who were selling extra editions based on the strange crime—murder or abduction.
He went to the last place of residence given him by the girl.
Ringing the bell, he inquired for the landlady.
It was a cheap but respectable boarding house, suited to the means of a girl who was compelled to make her living standing behind the counter of a large dry-goods store. ”

“ When thoroughly satisfied that there were none, the detective smiled grimly, and said:
“This proves the letter absolutely to be a forgery. It is in the writing of Mr. Field, or at least his penmanship has been so cleverly imitated as to deceive the best experts, so far as the strokes are concerned, but the villain who is so deft with the pen did not know that Mr. Field never used anything save a quill. ”

“ There is no more brilliant page in American history than the winning of the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling lives, so rife with adventure and brave deeds, as the old scouts and plainsmen. Foremost among these stands the imposing figure of Buffalo Bill.
All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They were written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill—Colonel Prentiss Ingraham. ”

“ The answer fully explained the last thing that was a mystery to the detective.
After the two men and the woman had been taken away, Nick turned to Mr. Field.
“Permit me to congratulate you. I thought you had fallen into our old friend Greer’s hands.”
Mr. Field extended his hand and caught Nick’s in a grateful clasp, while he asked:
“Who called you in, Mr. Carter?”
“Mr. Barnes.”
“My blessings on him! He’s a manly, noble fellow!” ”