Mr. Barnes

“ Mr. Barnes looked at Mr. Mitchel and winked one eye in a most suggestive manner, at which that gentleman burst out into hearty laughter, finally saying:
"We may as well admit that we are beaten, Goldie. Mr. Barnes has been too much for us."
"But I want to know how he has done it," persisted Mr. Goldie.
"I have no doubt that Mr. Barnes will gratify you. Indeed, I am as curious as you are to know by what means he has arrived at his quick solution of the problem which we set him."
"I will enlighten you as to detective methods with pleasure," said Mr. Barnes. ”

“ Barnes retired from active business life. He is vice-president of the Highland National Bank of Newburgh. Mr. Barnes has not sought prominence in public life, but rather has devoted himself to his business, in which he was eminently successful, and to the work of the church and Sunday-school with which he is connected. He has been twice married, his first wife being M. Theresa Pack, of New York, who died, leaving four children, three of whom are living. Anna, Minnie, and Arthur, his business successor. ”

“ Crosbie.”
“You need not ask him; here is the letter—I persuaded the old ass, Barnes, to give it to me—there, read it.”
“Upon my word,” said Arthur, laughing; “I do not wonder at my dismissal; I am only surprised that I was not complimented with the kick which you requested me to bestow upon Barnes.”
“To Mr. Barnes,—Sir, The bearer of this letter is a pert jackanapes, and is full of conceit. He boasts that he will rule you, and all the gentlemen in the neighborhood, with a rod of iron. He is going to make you pull down the old school-house, and oblige you to dress the boys in uniform. ”

“ Miss Eudora glanced up at her sisters, her mouth wore a frightened look.
Miss Emmerett clucked successfully to the horse, this time without opposition, and half glanced over her shoulder.
"Where?" inquired Eudosia, incredulously.
"In the village—last night. Dr. Hodgman's house was entered."
"I don't suppose they got much there," said Miss Eudosia.
"Oh, dear, and Mr. Berry's also. What shall we do?"
"We must get a man," said Miss Emmerett, firmly.
Now the Misses Kershaw were quite wealthy.
The old horse had turned through a gateway to the left of the road. ”

“ Medjora, and looking him in the eye.
"Ah! As I thought. A strong will, for a youngster. I must use strategy." This so softly that Barnes did not comprehend the sense of the words. Then the Doctor spoke in his most alluring manner:
"You are plucky, Mr. Barnes. This is a gruesome place, and I have brought you here under such peculiar circumstances that you might well be alarmed. But I see that you are not, and I admire you for your courage. It is his courage that has made man the master of all the animal world. ”

“ The proclamation began in the same way as did their own:
"To whom it may concern: Whereas——"
Then on went the little party down the road once more.
"And born without mark, we all see in the dark,
Like owls in a gooseberry tree,"
hummed Mr. Golatly, as they climbed a fence and went across the meadow.
"Hush! " said the ex-deputy, suddenly; "Don't you hear voices?" They listened. Sure enough. Some one was talking, and the sound came from up in the air, above their heads. Before them loomed the great shape of the iron tower.
"They are at work now," said Congreve, in an excited whisper. ”

“ Here was [230] another uncomfortable situation to add to the long list of which Barnes was either the direct or indirect cause. She looked at him with what he interpreted as an appeal.
“Perhaps that isn’t a very important matter anyway,” he suggested.
“Important,” snapped Aunt Philomela, “I should call it very important.”
“How?” inquired Barnes.
“Because my niece and Mr. Langdon are engaged,” she exploded.
[231] CHAPTER XIX
BARNES LEARNS A GREAT TRUTH
If Barnes had tried to paint Eleanor as she looked that moment, he certainly would have had to dip his brush in damson preserves. ”

“ Barnes. "But you told me I might call at any time, and——"
[Pg 48]
"No excuses necessary, except from me. But I must finish shaving, you know. A man can't talk with lather on one side of his face."
"Certainly not. Don't hurry, I can wait."
"Thank you. Take a seat. You will find that armchair by the bed comfortable. This is an odd hour to be making one's toilet but the fact is I was out late last night."
"At the club, I suppose," said Mr. Barnes, wishing to see if Mr. Mitchel would lie to him. ”

“ If so he failed to make the desired impression upon Dora, for that young woman seemed fairly enraptured.
"A detective?" said she. "Are you really the great Mr. Barnes?"
"I am a detective, but scarcely a great one."
"Oh! but you are, you are! I read all about the wonderful way in which you caught that man Pettingill. And now tell me, are you going to catch the man who robbed the woman on the Boston train yesterday?"
"How do you know that it is a man?" asked Mr. Barnes amused at her impetuosity, and pleased at the turn taken by the conversation.
"Oh! it is not a woman. ”

“ As yet there was no woman in this case, save the corpse which he had just left. All this flashed through the detective's mind as he noted his surroundings in a few swift glances. Then he heard a voice from the next room say:
"Come in, Mr. Barnes: we must not stand upon ceremony with one another."
Mr. Barnes in answer to the invitation crossed into the adjoining room and noticed at once that the sleeping apartment was as luxurious as the parlor. Mr. Mitchel was standing in front of a mirror shaving himself, being robed in a silk morning wrapper. ”

“ Mitchel had said. Was this disappearance a new riddle for Mr. Barnes to solve? If so, of course, he would undertake it, as a sort of challenge which his professional pride could not reject. On the other hand, the cable dispatch and the missing coat-of-mail might portend ominously. The detective felt that Mr. Mitchel was somewhat in the position of the fabled boy who cried "Wolf" so often, that when at last the wolf really appeared, no assistance was sent to Urn. Only Mr. Barnes decided that he must chase the "wolf", whether it be real or imaginary. ”

“ Heaphy's room was a small one not far from Hart's in Edwards Hall. In a rash moment when visited by a sophomoric press gang, Mr. Heaphy had forcibly stated that he had come to college "for a purpose." As he always walked in quick, short steps, as if the purpose was only a few feet in advance and rapidly receding, the sobriquet had stuck to him.
"That was a pretty young lady," said Hart, interrupting Heaphy's opinions on the morning's lecture in chemistry,—"the tall one I mean."
"I don't get on very well with ladies," returned Heaphy. "I never know what to say to them. Do you envy people?" ”

“ Barnes held up the little pack of white cards. “I’ve got here the place cards for the party, which I gathered up from the table.” He began to read. “Mr. Winthrop—you’re not fifty. Miss Tellfair—I don’t need to ask. Doctor Parker—er—how about you?”
“Not guilty,” Parker said. “It’s not my birthday, and Mr. Drew wouldn’t have given me a party if it were.”
Barnes held up another card, and for a long moment gazed at the face of Carlotta Drew. He must have seen the lines and wrinkles that even the best of makeups could not completely hide. ”

“ The fun of the thing is that she claimed to be a 'private detective' and that this [Pg 236] venture was entirely her own idea. In fact, she is working for Mr. Gray. Is not that droll?" Mr. Mitchel threw back his head and laughed heartily. Mr. Barnes did not quite see the fun, and looked grim. ”

“ Then he attached the freshman paste-pot, and the party on top hauled them up. In the darkness the papers looked much alike, the only difference being that the sophomore effusion was printed in dark-green ink, instead of black.
"All O.K.," came the answer from the top of the tower.
"Say, you fellows, I-I-I'm going back to the college," stuttered Golatly, nudging Congreve, and taking up the bundle of papers from the ground. There were some observations from above, but Mr. Golatly vouchsafed no reply, and in the darkness the party stole back to the road. ”

“ "I never been to New York, but it must be a heavenly place for a vacation, if a feller c'n judge by what some of my present boarders have to say about it. It's a sort of play-actor's paradise, ain't it?"
"It is paradise to every actor who happens to be on the road, Mr. Jones," said Barnes, slipping his big pack from his shoulders and letting it slide to the floor. ”

“ Paulus, the ape, was watching the approach of the two figures, plucking suspiciously at his hairy chest, as the manager and Fitzpatrick appeared at the door behind him—the lanky one heaving himself into a worn alpaca coat.
"I say, Weedon," shouted Mr. Benton from afar, halting his companion, "call off that bally ape!—cawn'tsher, like a good chap? Took a nip out of my cawf larst week."
"Shouldn't be such a stranger," rejoined the manager, making a motion with his foot. ”

“ Mr. Kit-ze, he continued to assure them, would return. He felt certain of it. They would leave word for him and proceed to the next town, since this one was so objectionable with its foul smells and its rather rough-looking population. The first step then, was to hire a man to help him pole, as he felt certain he, Mr. Chefoo, could direct the movements of the sampan up to the next village. There were no rapids of any considerable danger in the way.
"All right, Mr. Chefoo," said Mr. Reid. "Go ahead and hire your man, but be sure he is one on whom we can rely." ”

“ The elder Ross placed his hand on Conyngham’s shoulder.
“You are the man we have been looking for,” he said in a whisper, “the very man.”
40 “Hold, gentlemen,” whispered Mr. Hodge, softly, “what we have spoken of here this evening we will consider buried in the catacombs of our memory, and it would be better,” he suggested, “if we should meet Captain Conyngham elsewhere to be as strangers to him. Is it so understood?” ”

“ But just as we started some one came in, and I think took the upper berth of Number Ten."
"Mr. Barnes began to think that he would have exceedingly difficult work to detect this man in crime, were he really to commit one, in spite of the fact that he knew so much in advance. The conversation continued:
[Pg 12]
"Thus, you see, there are two ways by which my object may become known, a serious matter if unguarded against. As, however, I recognize the possibilities in advance, there will be no difficulty whatever, and the knowledge will be of no value to any detective, even though he be your Mr. ”

“ There are moments when sudden excitement leads us into a line of action our cooler moments would by no means approve, when quick emotions bring impulses that are followed without a pause for reasoning. Such a time had now come to Helen. Mr. Kit-ze was being robbed. She could see that plainly. The thief was the old mutang, and the object of her theft, it almost instantly flashed into Helen's mind, was the red miriok. In truth, even as the intuition came to her, she saw the hideous little image in the woman's hand. ”

“ The encore was not printed, but Hart caught the words:
"Through the four long years of college,
'Midst the scenes we loved so well,
Where the mystic charm to knowledge
We vainly seek to spell."
"Mystic charm to knowledge" touched a chord in Mr. Hart's bosom. What would he not give to have the advantages that these young men evidently seemed to appreciate. A desire to learn more about it all came to his mind. But the Glee Club had left the stage, and the men with the banjos were coming on. They each dragged forward a chair from the back of the scenery and seated themselves. ”

“ Over the tall sides the greasy green of the water could just be seen moving by. The masts and funnels disappeared irregularly overhead. The fog clung to everything; it rimed the rugs and capes of the passengers who feared the close air of the 'tween-decks and lay recumbent in the steamer-chairs, and it clung in little pearls to Miss Marcia Dorn's curly front hair, that seemed to curl all the tighter for the wetting.
With Mr. Victor Masterson at her side, she was walking up and down the hurricane-deck. ”

“ Fortunately, Dorothy was not hard to arouse when once she had been touched. Like some even heavy sleepers whom a vigorous call cannot awaken, the touch was like magic. In a second or so she was fully awake, and gazing at Helen in deep wonder but alert.
"It is the red miriok!" said Helen to Dorothy again in a whisper. "The old mutang has come and stolen it from Mr. Kit-ze. He does not know it, and there is no time to arouse him and the others. We must recover it. If we are quick we can overtake her before she gets away. ”

“ It was the morning of the 15th of July, and in the cabin of the Revenge Mr. Carmichael sat opposite Captain Conyngham, who watched him with a smile of dry amusement as he wrote. Carmichael was smiling also. He had a trick of apparently spelling the letters he was writing with his tongue wriggling at the corner of his mouth. As soon as he had finished he turned, and waving the paper in the air to dry it, chuckled.
“There, Captain Conyngham, are your sailing orders. Of course, to a man of your intelligence, there is no use of being more than explicit. ”

“ The Boarder was moved to comment.
“Woman’s intuition is a strange thing,” he said.
“I bet on mine,” she assured him, “and I don’t have to walk home much, as you might say. And when it told me the Wop’s number—which was 00—I was sure that the right record was playin’. I tried to make Danny listen to it, but he was goin’ to sleep in his chair and wanted peace. So we let the thing drop.
“One mornin’ not long after that our telephone rung, and some party ast for Mr. Doyle.
“‘You’re in the wrong pew,’ I says.
“‘Ain’t this the R party?’ says the feller talkin’, and his voice sounded familiar. ”