Mr. Carter

“ Carter," said the physician, "what can I do for you this time?"
"I simply called to ask you to meet me [Pg 54] in room seventy-five at the Adams House at three o’clock."
"I shall be there, Mr. Carter."
Nick did not delay one moment, but hastened to his hotel.
Here he lay upon a lounge and gave himself up to a moment of reflection.
"What a sell they will all get!" he mused. "But it will be an agreeable one. The poor doctor will be sold because his misery will end almost before it had begun.
"And young Rogers!
"Ah! He is a weak subject, and no mistake. ”

“ How is Garland involved in my present trouble? Hang it, Carter, he is something more than involved in it. He is the trouble.”
Nick laughed, while Stella Barclay blushed profusely.
“Suppose you explain, senator, without any expletives,” Nick suggested.
“Yes, dad, dear, do,” pleaded Stella. “Tell Mr. Carter the whole business. Don’t mind me, I shall survive it.”
“It can be told in a nutshell, Carter,” said Senator Barclay familiarly. “Since you opened his eyes to the devilish treachery of that jade, Madame Irma Valaska, Garland has transferred his affection to my daughter. ”

“ Mr. Carter can swim, I know. But Chick is done for, unless somebody helps him.”
“Hello! Here’s luck!” suddenly exclaimed Patsy. “Gee! This is my good night!”
The skiff in which he and Nick Carter had come to the ice house was floating about near him. A few quick pulls on the oars, and he was able to reach the empty boat.
“Here is my gun,” he said simply, to Marcos, as he handed him his revolver. “If Larry Dugan or either of the others gets at all gay, just put a lead pill into his coco. All you have to do is to get the end of the barrel against the patient’s ear. ”

“ To describe Mercedes as beautiful is inadequate, for she was the standard of beauty.
And now, that we have outlined the chain of thought which flitted through the mind of Nick Carter as he descended the stairs to meet his early caller, we will return to the moment of their greeting.
“Good morning, Mr. Danton,” said Nick, as he entered the room. “You rose early this morning.”
“Yes. That is—fact is—I haven’t been to bed. Thank you. Yes; I will sit down. Are you Mr. Carter? Mr. Nick Carter? Pardon me for asking, but I wish to be sure. [Pg 10] ”
“Yes. I am Nick Carter.” ”

“ Carter shut the book.
"A great man," he said. "Genius, or insanity, who can say?"
There was silence.
Then Mr. Carter rose to his feet.
"I will give you a toast. The Joint Venture which has so amply justified itself by success!"
It was drunk with acclamation.
"There's something more we want to hear" continued Mr. Carter. He looked at the American Ambassador. "I speak for you also, I know. We'll ask Miss Jane Finn to tell us the story that only Miss Tuppence has heard so far—but before we do so we'll drink her health. ”

“ Adolph is a very stubborn man, Miss Carter.” He addressed this remark to Douglas who smiled at the young secretary. He was frowning heavily and his full lips were drawn into a hard red line. The count caught his eye and gave him a bantering look in return.
“Come on, Adolph, and show Mr. Carter your plans for the pigeon house!”
“They are not completed,” he answered sullenly.
“I am quite a pigeon fancier,” went on the [183] master of Weston. “They are charming birds to raise and one can make much money on squabs. We are going into pigeon raising quite seriously. ”

“ Why did you think so?”
“I will presently tell you,” said Carter. “The sender has in one respect made good. Mrs. Thurlow’s rope of pearls was stolen last evening.”
“Good heavens, is it possible?” Devoll’s brows rose again with a look of surprise. “In that case, Mr. Carter, you have only one course.”
“What is that?”
[208]
“That stated in this anonymous letter. No sane man would ignore such a warning. Leave Madison as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the sender may again make good and kill you. I would advise you to lose no time in returning to New York.” ”

“ 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!” ”

“ But Nick Carter quickly reassured her, and his cheery tones acted like a stimulant, as he called out:
“Don’t be afraid, and be ready! Leave your father to me! We must get out by the roof. There is no other way. The firemen are up there. They’ll soon break through with their axes. Don’t you hear them hammering on the trapdoor?”
“No,” she cried. “It isn’t the firemen. It’s Howard—Mr. Milmarsh! He can’t open that trap! Oh, can’t we help? Can’t we do something?” ”

“ Moreover, he was hugely flattered by Mrs. Carter's words and manner. In his heart he attached an extravagant importance to the accidents of pedigree. He was struggling to utter his appreciation of Mrs. Carter's proffered friendship, when there came a knock at the front door. It was Jim Hutchings, whom Mr. Hand had left outside to hold the horse.
"There's somebuddy a-goin' to set your barn afire," he whispered eagerly. "Come quiet, an' we'll ketch him in the act!"
"Fetch a pail of water, Ted," said Will, with prompt presence of mind, running upstairs for his gun. ”

“ Carter, in his modesty, most emphatically disclaims any such high motives, and avers that he took his now celebrated journey into the bush merely for his own business purposes, and nothing beyond. On this subject we prefer to hold our own opinions. Explorers of his rare type—the almost unknown type that does not advertise—carry with them a modesty that delights in belittling its own triumphs. But even Mr. Carter's modesty cannot explain away certain cold facts. The King of Okky till recently had a most black reputation for human sacrifice. ”

“ Rohan’s hands fell at the same moment. As quick as a flash, in the hundredth part of a second, he snapped handcuffs on the wrists of the recreant army officer. Then he arose, sweeping off his disguise and saying sternly:
“Let the plans lie there, Captain Dillon.”
“Oh, my God!” Dillon fell back with a terrible cry. “Nick Carter!”
“Yes. Let them lie. I had Mr. Garland get them for me from his department this morning. They are not the plans you stole and lost, but they have served my purpose. You are under arrest, Captain Dillon, as a traitor to your country and a conspirator with foreign spies.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ Carter, if you please, Morgan. I can’t permit familiarity from people in your profession, no matter how much I may happen to admire their skill.”
“All right, Mr. Carter. No offense,” and the bur [Pg 230] glar laughed. “I’m not broke. This rig I’ve got on is a disguise. I can look the hobo, and play the part, too, to beat the band, when it happens to be of advantage for me to do so. ”

“ It was an unusual proceeding, but you had ample justification for honoring the check, and you did what you could to get hold of Stone or his partner before doing so.”
A relieved look spread over the cashier’s face.
“I’m glad to hear you say that, Mr. Carter,” he declared gravely. “Both the president and vice president are out of town, and this thing is up to me. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that Mr. Stone oughtn’t to have been allowed to handle so much money if he’s in the state you say he is. We’re not alienists, and we would never have expected such a thing. ”

“ Nick inquired. “A hotel?”
“No. It is a private boarding house in Vermont Avenue, not far from the Thomas Circle.”
“It’s a first-class house, Carter,” put in Chief Welden.
“I have no family,” Garland added. “I’m quite alone in the world and likely to remain so—unless Verona Warren accepts me for her husband. It was my intention to lock the portfolio in a safe which I have in my room. I frequently have taken plans home for night study, Mr. Carter, so I thought nothing of doing so on this occasion. It was too late to put them in the vault in the department building.” ”

“ If dishonest, you’ll be unmasked and a million will be saved to these New York and Boston investors.’
“‘Who are you going to hire?’
“‘Nicholas Carter, if I can get him.’
“‘Carter!’ When I spoke your name, Mr. Carter, it leaped fiercely from Yasmar’s lips, and was followed by a muffled oath. ‘You’re going to get Nick Carter to dog me about New York?’
“‘If he’ll take the case.’
“‘Then you really think I’m dishonest?’
“‘I think you’re a confidence man, Yasmar; a swindler, a ——’
“Like lightning, his hand, which had been thrust into his pocket and stealthily withdrawn, shot toward my temple. ”

“ Doctor Nolan declared, a bit brusquely.{6} “No test was necessary. I can tell when a man is dead, Mr. Carter, without resorting to tests.”
“Mein gracious!” Fink exclaimed, starting with a sort of ludicrous commiseration at the detective. “Vat an idea! Not tead—vy, vy, Mr. Carter, dot is der vorst I ever heard. I know der man vas tead.”
Nick did not resent these positive assertions of both the physician and the undertaker. ”

“ Dillon quietly exclaimed, squinting at Nick over the table. “I’m very glad you warned me, or I certainly would have done so.”
“I foresaw it, captain,” smiled Nick. “You have not changed much in the several years since we met. You hold your own like an old war horse. I am pleased to meet you again.”
“That feeling is reciprocated, Mr. Carter, I assure you,” Captain Dillon said quietly. “How long have you been in Washington?”
“Not long,” said Nick. “I am here on important business. I cannot tell when I may leave. That depends.” ”

“ They told me if I would write to them they would have a carriage and a farm wagon here,” wailed Douglas.
“Why not walk?” suggested Mr. Carter. “A quarter of a mile is nothing.”
“Oh, do let’s walk!” exclaimed Lucy. “We [18] can just leave the luggage here and get someone to come back for it.”
“All of you can walk,” came faintly from Mrs. Carter. “Just leave me here alone. I don’t fancy anything much will happen to me.” ”

“ Scarce ten minutes had passed when Nick returned and rejoined Mrs. Darling in the library. He then obtained from her a description of Floyd and Sheldon, the only two persons then seeming to invite suspicion, and he also asked to see a photograph of her husband.
“I know of only one in existence, Mr. Carter,” she replied. “That was taken the year after our marriage. It is still a very good likeness of him. It is in our album. I will get it for you.” ”

“ Count de Lestis seemed to have much business that took him away from Weston. Sometimes [191] he was gone for several weeks at a time, but when he returned he would drop in at Valhalla as though he had not been away at all. He was always a welcome visitor. Mrs. Carter greeted him as a long lost friend. He seemed to be the incarnation of the social world to the poor little lady, destined to spend her days out of her element. Mr. Carter had almost forgiven him the pigeon house, but not quite.
“There is something lacking, somehow, in a man who would do such a thing,” he had declared to Helen. ”

“ Carter, don’t suppose for a moment that either of my companions at that time know anything about this matter. They are incapable of such treachery as that. Put it out of your head, sir, if you have any{9} such suspicion. I know positively that Verona Warren and Miss Barclay are above——”
“Pardon me,” Nick interrupted a bit dryly. “What you know about them, Mr. Garland, is not material. I am not seeking to cast suspicion upon any one, least of all, your two lady friends. I want only to trace your movements as precisely as possible from the moment you left Annapolis. ”

“ He has induced King Kallee to abandon human sacrifice now and for always.
"As will be seen by the two interviews which appear in our news columns, the information on these points did not come from Mr. Carter himself. Mr. Carter is that man so rare to find in these pushing days, a man who does not care one jot for anything the press can do towards his own self-advancement, a man, moreover, who does not mind saying so in strong, rude Anglo-Saxon. ”

“ Mr. Carter,” he called to that gentleman who was critically examining some electric wiring recently put in ready for the Delco batteries which were on the way, “I want now some plans for bird houses if such trivial work is not beneath you. I want bird houses for every kind of feathered songster that [181] can be attracted and persuaded to live at Weston.”
“How wonderful!” cried Helen and Douglas in chorus. Douglas had been engaged in conversation by the secretary, who was limbering up in an amazing manner. ”

“ But I believe it is Adil, the young fellow my boy engaged as a sort of body servant. He says all white men in India have a servant of that kind.”
Nick Carter’s grip tightened on his rifle.
“Keep cool, Mr. Arnold! We’ll save him!” he promised, in low, tense tones. “But we must be cautious.”
“It is Adil!” came from Arnold. “I feel sure of it. Every move tells me so. I’ve half a mind to shoot that black scarecrow who is doing it all. I can do it without much trouble. Those snakes are doing just as he tells them. That big one is going to strike Adil before he gets through.” ”