Ralph Boston

“ Carter, and detectives,” said Nick Carter’s visitor. “By that I mean that only half of them are worthy of the name. Half of the remainder are mediocre, and only one in a hundred of the rest is really keen and clever. You, Mr. Carter, are the recognized man of last resort. When all others have failed, it is to you that the harrowed victim of crookdom turns for aid, as the only man in Christendom who can ferret out the truth and round up the guilty. That, sir, is why I am here.” ”

“ Slowly retracing his steps, however, Patsy lingered for several moments here and there, still hoping to discover his quarry.
A taxicab was approaching from Sixth Avenue. It stopped suddenly at a store on the same side as Patsy, and some thirty feet from where he then was standing.
A man sprang out, quickly followed by another—and Patsy then felt a thrill shoot up his spine.
“Holy smoke! that’s Chick in disguise, as sure as I’m knee-high to a grasshopper,” he said to himself, while he watched both men hurry into the store. ”

“ Chick replied. “For obvious reasons, however, I do not reveal them to crooks.”
“But how could you interpret a code message even if you saw the telegram?”
“Easily.”
“Impossible, unless——” Murdock turned sharply to Bart Bailey. “Has that code book been out of your hands?”
“Not on your life,” cried Bart emphatically. “This is all a bluff. He’s got you on a string. He don’t know half of what he asserts.” ”

“ Murdock’s eyes took on a more venomous gleam and glitter, his voice a more threatening ring.
“You know what’s it all about,” he said sternly. “If you stir foot or finger, you’ll get all that Finley has threatened. You are playing a tricky game and a dangerous one, for it cuts no ice with us. We know you, Carter, and are out to get you—as you’re out to get us!”
Chick coolly removed his disguise and tossed it upon the table. ”

“ Bart Bailey, for the detective had rightly identified him, suddenly recrossed the avenue, and, having glanced sharply around, he slunk into a basement doorway under the rise of stone steps leading up to the front door of the boarding house.
“Does he intend to enter, or will he wait for the girl?” Chick asked himself. “I’ll remain here until she comes, at all events. If he does not then show up, I’ll cross over and enter with her. I’ll give the rat no chance to harm her, let come what may.” ”

“ The only visible occupant of the place was a burly, powerful man of middle age, with reddish hair and features, and with his shirt sleeves rolled above the elbows of his brawny arms. He was clad in overalls and appeared to be engaged in drawing nails from a cover of one of the empty cases.
“Hello! Back again, Finley?” he exclaimed, in guttural tones, when the two men entered, at the same time bestowing an indifferent glance upon Chick.{29}
“Yes, Nolan, but only for the day,” Bart Bailey replied. “Is Murdock around?”
“He’s in the basement.” ”

“ When he reported for work, Owen was informed by Henderson, the superintendent of Branch X Y, that, beginning that morning, he was to cover a new territory. Instead of route forty-eight, he would henceforth, and until further notice, cover route sixteen.
Now, in post-office work it is a great advantage, naturally, to have the carriers familiar with the territory which they have to cover. It stands to reason that a postman cannot make as quick deliveries over strange ground as on a route in which he knows the names in the house letter boxes almost by heart. ”

“ A prison was even better than a desert island, as a means of putting the kibosh on a rival in love.
“I get you, boss!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “We’ll have to get busy and dope out a scheme for——”
“I’ve got one already, Jake,” broke in the district leader smilingly. “One that can’t fail to work successfully. All that you’ll have to do is to carry it out.”
For the next thirty minutes Jake Hines listened attentively while his chief explained in detail the plan which he had evolved. ”

“ Chick insisted.
“I’m going to New York in just half an hour,” Bart added. “I’ll not promise you the job, mind you, but I think I can fix you with a friend who wants a man for general work. I’ll take the chance, at all events, and will pay your fare, which can be returned to me out of your first week’s pay. How does that suit you?”
“I couldn’t be hit more to my liking, sir,” said Chick, with manifest gratitude. ”

“ The quick opening of a door, the heavy tread of men’s feet, mingled with a harsh, commanding voice, which he instantly recognized to be that of Gaston Goulard—these were the sounds that suddenly fell upon Patsy’s ears.
“Open that panel door, Bolton, and give us more light,” Goulard was crying. “Lug him up here, Nelson, and be quick about it. Lend him a hand, Bart. We’ll hide the infernal dick in the engine room till we can dispose of him. Work lively. ”

“ Carter, we are up against a most extraordinary game of systematic and persistent robbery. Day after day, and frequently during the night, articles of material value disappear most mysteriously from all parts of the store. We don’t know where they go, nor how the thefts are committed. We have not the slightest clew to the identity of the robbers. ”

“ It told him that Bart Bailey had been warned that a detective was following him; that he must watch out for him and lure him to New York, if possible, and to some place designated only as a cobweb. The communication bore no signature whatever.
Chick Carter smiled a bit grimly, now knocking the particles of dust from the sheet and returning it to his pocket. The circumstances, nevertheless, puzzled him somewhat.
“Who the dickens could have learned of my doings and warned this rascal?” he said to himself. “Not Helen Bailey, surely, nor the boarding-house landlady. ”

“ Hines, happening to be down at Coney Island with a party of friends, met Dallas Worthington on Surf Avenue, walking arm in arm with Owen Sheridan. The manner in which the girl was looking up into her escort’s face caused Hines to utter an exclamation of jealous rage. For the young politician’s infatuation for Dallas had proved to be more than a passing fancy. ”

“ Nick pointedly added. “Secrecy is imperative to successful work in a case of this kind.”
“I agree with you,” said Chick, with a nod of approval.
“It sure does look like inside work,” said Patsy. “But how do they get out with the goods? The headquarters men are not lunkheads, nor are the store detectives blind. How do the crooks get out with such quantities of merchandise?”
“We must find the answer to that question,” Nick replied. “Other detectives, in their efforts to discover the crooks themselves, may have neglected to look sharply enough for it. ”

“ Both at once ceased working when he entered, and Chick saw that he was instantly suspected. He saw, too, that Bailey shot a swift, significant glance at Meyers, plainly directing him not to interfere.
“Is the boss around?” Chick inquired, as he approached them.
Bart Bailey nodded, hooking his thumbs through the armholes of his vest, while he replied inquiringly:
“I am the boss, my man. What do you want?”
“I’m looking for a job, sir,” said Chick, respectfully touching his cap with his forefinger. ”

“ Smithers, like Greene, was a member of the Samuel J. Coggswell Association, and a crony of Jake Hines. He was a tall, sharp-featured young man, of about Owen’s age, taciturn and very shrewd.
Owen felt sure that these men were all in the plot to tamper with the mails. As he didn’t want to see them disgraced and sent to prison, he decided to give them due warning. Of course, they indignantly denied that any such proposition had been made to them by Boss Coggswell, or that they knew anything about a scheme to hold up anybody’s mail on route forty-eight. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Leaving Barton still at work at the desk, Meyers hurried to the front part of the store, where, through some lace draperies that were displayed in one of the windows, he began to peer cautiously into Broad Street, evidently searching the wide thoroughfare in each direction.
“By gracious, I must be right,” Chick muttered. “Bart Bailey has been tipped by some one, as sure as death and taxes. The other rat is looking to see whether the store is being watched. You’re looking in the wrong direction, old man. By Jove, I would give a trifle for a copy of that transcription.” ”

“ Chick inquired, glancing at the counter and shelves.
“Don’t buy them,” said Nolan tersely. “We make most of them. We’ve got a workroom in the basement.”
“I might——”
What Chick would have said was cut short by a shout from below, a command from Bart Bailey.
“Bring Donovan down here, Nolan,” he cried. “Murdock wants to talk with him.”
“All right,” Nolan shouted; then, to Chick: “I’ll turn the key in the door. Some one might steal in and swipe something.” ”

“ The girl at the switchboard held her breath. The detective waiting in the business office saw her. The girl at the switchboard was Helen Bailey. The waiting detective was Nick Carter.
No man was ever more quick than he to rightly interpret a facial expression. The partition through which he saw her was of glass, or a portion of it, dividing the general manager’s office in the central telephone exchange from the room in which the great switchboards were stationed. ”

“ A handbill pinned to the door of the post office or store is the only program. It announces, in Spanish, that a company of artists, unsurpassed for excellence, will be honored to entertain the people at greatly reduced prices—fifteen cents for children and twenty-five cents for adults, whereas in large cities, like Ensenada, the company wouldn’t attempt to do the same thing for less than a dollar admission. ”

“ He will hate her more than before, the knavish rat, and may go even so far as to attempt violence. By keeping an eye on her, therefore, we not only may protect her, but also pick up Bart Bailey himself. Then, if he still is in league with the department-store thieves, we perhaps may trail him to the lair of the entire gang.”
“By Jove, that’s no wild-and-weird fancy,” Chick now declared, with some enthusiasm. “That realty looks good to me, Nick.” ”

“ She states that he has always treated her respectfully. I would not care to trust Goulard with such a girl, nevertheless, much farther than I could throw him.”
“Nor I, chief, as far as that goes,” said Patsy. “I don’t half like his looks.”
“There may be a more serious cause for his being haired up, as you term it,” Nick added.
“You refer to the robberies?”
“Exactly.”
“You think he may be the man behind the gun?”
“I begin to think so,” said Nick. “It is quite possible that he is engaged in a big scheme to defraud his own partner. ”

“ He sat down, as directed, replying respectfully:
“Thank you, sir. I’ll answer any questions you ask.”
“Very good,” said Murdock. “Finley tells me you are out of work and came from Chicago.”
“I did, sir.”
“What were you doing there?”
“I worked in a hardware store.”
“Are you handy with tools?”
“Quite so,” Chick nodded, wondering how the situation would turn. “I have worked as a carpenter at times, though I never learned the trade.”
“You don’t look like a man accustomed to hard work,” said Murdock, smiling through his heavy beard. ”

“ Most men would have shrunk from the risks involved, but not Chick Carter. He now hastened to find a second-hand clothing store, where he clad himself in a somewhat seedy suit and a woolen cap, directing that his own discarded garments should be sent to his New York address.
Ten minutes later, wearing an entirely different facial disguise and having a rather sinister appearance, Chick returned to Broad Street and entered Meyers’ store. ”

“ Sammis testily; “I don’t eat chowder, and I don’t attend outings; consequently I don’t want any tickets.”
“Oh, yes, you do,” retorted Hines, his tone almost bullying. “You don’t have to go, yourself, if you don’t want to. You can buy the tickets and give ’em away to your friends. Boss Coggswell expects you to take at least five, Mr. Sammis. That’s the number all the other real-estate men in the district are takin’.”
“I don’t care what others are doing, and I don’t care what Mr. Coggswell expects,” snapped Sammis. “I must ask you to get out of here at once, young man. ”

“ Americans are not properly protected in Mexico, thinks Jo Conners, of Phoenix, Ariz. Conners believes that when a peaceful American in a foreign country is deprived of his wooden leg, the act should be construed as a declaration of war. Through the American State department he has applied for the return of a wooden leg, a steel foot, and four hundred dollars in gold, which were taken from him while he was a prisoner of the Carranza forces in Guaymas. ”

“ The following day Carrier Owen Sheridan was placed under arrest by two United States post-office inspectors.
“We want you, Sheridan,” they said, accosting him in the doorway of Branch X Y, as he came back from his noon-delivery tour.
“Want me? What for?” he demanded, in great astonishment.
“For robbing the mails. No use throwing any bluff; we’ve got you dead to rights.”
“I suppose this has to do with that watch which was missing from the registered package yesterday,” said Owen calmly. “But why suspect me in particular? The package passed through many hands while in the post office.” ”