Quintus Oakes

“ We saw the man on this side run post haste for the Mansion. As he rushed up the steps, Oakes met him. "All right, boy! I saw the signals myself." Then to us he said: "Quintus Oakes the false is discovered. That was he; he came to warn us."
"Then Skinner has caught on, confound him," said Dowd, and we all silently assented.
Oakes paced the room slowly. "Boys, we have been unexpectedly checked. The enemy has a strong hand: there is trouble ahead."
"Yes, there is that," retorted the vigorous Hallen. "I must get away to headquarters, gentlemen!" ”

“ Dr. Moore turned to me. "See Maloney—see his face; he thinks himself a hero—he is too insane to appreciate the truth." But Skinner looked out upon [Pg 316] the crowd and paled; then glancing up, he caught the eyes of Quintus Oakes, and with a harrowing, beseeching expression, bent his gray head into his hands.
The populace in fury tried to stop the wagon; but now, at this instant, Oakes rose to the occasion, and the man showed the mettle and the humanity that was in him. ”

“ Skinner's comments were sarcastic and bitter, and, while not actually inciting to lawlessness, played upon the roused feelings of the towns-people by scathing allusions to Hallen's inefficiency, and by reiterating the story of the false Quintus Oakes.
Our friend Dowd, on the other hand, came forward with a moderate, well-worded article that swayed the minds of the more thoughtful. The reading of his words won us more friends. Who does not like to hear two sides of an argument, or to read cool words of wisdom from one whose career entitles him to respect? ”

“ Dr. Moore knew that men thinking constantly of the same thing, to the exclusion of all else, might develop similar delusions. The physician had seen many strange things, and was not a man to [Pg 52] be easily deceived. Could it be that Quintus Oakes was the victim of a mental process?
It was this very power which Moore possessed—of thinking along such lines—that made him, in Oakes's opinion, a particularly desirable addition to the party. Little, however, did the detective imagine that the trained mind of the physician would first weigh the possibilities of Oakes's own mental instability. ”

“ Oakes remained quiet. His body showed sprawled on the hill-side.
"Damnation!" cried Elliott. "Is Oakes dead? He does not answer with his revolver."
"No," cried Larkin. "I saw him move, and see—he is braced to prevent himself slipping down the hill. He knows he is a poor target, and is not anxious to move lest he slide into the pond. That grass is frosty and [Pg 302] very slippery."
Then came the delayed crack of Quintus's weapon, and Maloney sprang into the air as he ran. He now went slowly and painfully, lurching forward along the crest of the hill. ”

“ It was a long run to skirt either end of the pond, and to swing around the opposite shore, and thence up the sloping sides to Quintus's aid. We three remaining behind were anxious beyond expression. I leaned heavily on Elliott, and really prevented him from joining in the chase, where he would have been useless; the others were so much fleeter of foot.
"God—that man Oakes is alone with the murderer!" cried Larkin. "He is too good a man to lose his life in the fight that is coming. Look!"
We saw Maloney halt and face about. ”

“ Then Quintus Oakes spoke in tones of dulcet and ineffable sweetness, cooingly, charmingly. "It means that Chief Hallen pays for a round of the best you've got. In order to see a cross on a man's arm it becomes necessary first to catch the man—something like the bird's tail and the salt proposition."
"Mix 'em up quick!" shouted Hallen, advancing to the bar. "Hell—en—be damned! Get the two samples of Mona's police out into the air! Hell—en——!"
[Pg 253]
CHAPTER XX
A Man's Confession
The assault upon Maloney was now the talk of the town. ”

“ If they discover things, well and good; but if they don't, the people here won't stand it—they will resent what they call 'outside' work."
"Hallen must have gone in for business," said I.
Reilly grew confidential. "No, it ain't Hallen, they say. There's a lot of talk about some New York man coming up here to run things."
"Who?"
"Oh, they say that Quintus Oakes—you've heard of him, of course—is coming soon, and these are some of his men."
"Indeed!" And Moore and I exchanged glances.
"But, say," continued the porter, "that is confidential; only we fellows round here know it." ”

“ It reminded me forcibly of the movement with the telephone receiver. I felt that, given the necessity and the occasion, his general action would be roused to quickness of the same kind—sure and instantaneous. He impressed me as a man with a tremendous reserve of strength and vitality.
When we left for the evening, Oakes shook my hand with a stout, firm grasp, the kind that means friendliness and inspires confidence. When outside, I asked of my companion what he privately thought of the affair at the Mark Mansion.
"There is something extraordinary there, surely," answered the physician. ”

“ Hallen has been giving us practice in acting."
The by-standers and the groups in the street were discussing the stranger with peculiar, suppressed excitement. Many of the smart ones claimed to have seen him before and to know all about him; already, "Quintus Oakes" rang familiarly from their lips.
We presently returned to the Mansion and related to our leader the facts we had learned from Reilly regarding "the woman's" appearances before the murder, the sudden ending of both the milkmen who [Pg 188] had seen her, and Reilly's own suspicions in the matter. ”

“ The real Oakes spent most of his time in the Mansion while we remained in town; but our little party came and went as it pleased. Our movements had ceased to attract that attention which Oakes found so undesirable. As he said, in the well-known phrase of the sleight-of-hand operators: "the more you look, the less you see." The eyes of Mona were focused on the false Oakes—the wrong hand; we [Pg 192] ourselves—the hand doing the trick—were over-looked. ”

“ Oakes looked at him: "Say, my man, how long have you been a porter? You don't speak like a man brought up in such work."
"I was not, sir. I used to be a merchant, years ago; burned out; no insurance; broke; went to work as a porter; nothing else to do. The old story, Mr. Clark; I am not the first one!" [Pg 71]
We knew Oakes was seeking some information, so we remained quiet.
"Sad enough," said he; "perhaps times will improve for you."
The porter, Reilly by name, smiled and looked at Oakes with that expression of hopeful despair we have all seen, we who rub the world in our continuous efforts. ”

“ We tipped Reilly a good fee and then turned in for the night in a most uncomfortable frame of mind. As Moore said: "things are coming up so rapidly here that we will all be twisted before long."
Our visit to the town had so far proved more valuable than we had hoped for, and we both wished that Oakes could have been with us. Several times in the night I awoke, and each time heard footsteps passing to and fro, and subdued voices in the corridor downstairs, and could but reflect how very different this was from the usual quietude of such a place. ”

“ Never before had six men melted from a close formation so rapidly, so silently, so earnestly.
Dr. Moore, Elliott and I reached the trees on the other side together, and lost our identity trying to find a place for our hunted bodies. We lay down in [Pg 268] a heap behind a burned tree-stump, and said "damn" together.
Somewhere around was the fiend of Mona, and somewhere were Oakes, Hallen and Dowd, but not with us—we could swear to this, for we were in a class by ourselves and we knew one another even in the darkness. ”

“ Then Oakes turned. He was somewhat nettled, I thought, at Hallen's manner, but his voice did not betray him. His words came clearly, even curtly; but as he revealed his comprehensive knowledge of the matter in plain, every-day language, Hallen's manner changed wonderfully. Never before had he had such an opportunity to see the education of the man before him. Now it came as an overwhelming surprise.
"A lunatic does not necessarily rave or carry the ordinary signs of rending passion," began Oakes as he turned a quiet face of acknowledgment toward Dr. Moore. ”

“ Oakes was thoughtful for quite a while.
"You have done more than I thought you could in so brief a time," said he at last. "Have you any theories regarding the identity of the woman?"
We had none to offer, and he began to smile ever so slightly. "Well, it seems to me your woman is a mistake—there was no woman. The assassin was a man in a black robe. He ran heavily, of course. You have drawn the murderer of Smith nearer to that of Mark. As regards the sudden deaths of the milkmen, probably both were killed; the examinations after death, conducted as these were, amount to nothing. ”

“ Oakes and I stepped out on the balcony, through the low-silled window, and looked across the river. I heard a rustle, I thought—a half-muffled tread; a swish, a peculiar noise—and Oakes jumped to the centre of the balcony.
"Look out! That's the noise," cried the detective.
We both glanced toward Moore, and saw a terrible sight. The strong man was unsteady on his feet, his knees were bent, and his head thrown forward. Great drops of perspiration were rolling off his pale face. He looked like a man about to fall. "Help, for God's sake, help!" ”

“ Dashing toward the Mansion gate, we both pulled up our horses as Oakes uttered a sudden exclamation. He rested one hand on the pommel of his saddle and pointed with the other at a man inside the Mansion gate. His back was toward us, and he had been raking the walk apparently.
"Look—notice!" and the voice of my companion grew sharp and significant; "look!"
The man was now reaching upward with one hand, the rake held within its grasp, and with a graceful, well-calculated swing he was deftly denuding a branch overhead of its dying leaves.
"Well, I see," I answered; "it's Maloney cleaning up." ”

“ The Chief showed his words were those of genuine interest and surprise.
"The insane man leads a dual life," continued Oakes, "perhaps for a long time. Such a man is not yet an inmate of an asylum. His case is unrecognized—he is a soul battling with madness until some awful tragedy occurs, like that of Mona, to reveal his greatest of all misfortunes—the loss of reason."
We were all silent when Oakes finished speaking. [Pg 285] Not a man there but now recognized and realized more fully what we had been fighting against. Then Hallen rose and looked at Oakes, then at all of us. ”

“ Suddenly like a flash the maniac turned, twisted, and next moment encircled Oakes's body with both his arms, and rolled toward the water with him.
"He is going to drown Oakes—see!"
The words came in a hurried gasp from Elliott, who was throwing off his coat and his shoes in a movement quick as the thought that had come to him.
"He's too good a man," he cried, and with a sudden rush Elliott was at the water's edge and into the pond—swimming with strong overhanded strokes, head low and sideways, toward the opposite shore.
Larkin and I could scarcely believe our eyes. ”

“ We ranged ourselves round the centre-table—we four who had come in the carriage, besides Elliott and Martin, who had brought Joe from New York. Oakes stood near a chair, away from the table and the group. After a moment the negro entered, ushered to the door by one of the men. We must have looked a formidable conclave to the poor fellow, for he halted just inside the door at sight of us all. He was a negro of that type seen in the North—strong, lithe, with a clear-cut face whose features showed [Pg 196] the admixture of white blood. ”

“ And then we set out all together on a wild drive to police headquarters.
Despite the lateness of the hour, the crowds were increasing. The square, with the hotel on one side and headquarters on the other, was the centre of a vicious body of men, pushing, struggling and forcing its way along, and pausing now and again to surge around headquarters. We could all see that Hallen was to have his hands full.
"I should like to see Skinner very much," remarked Oakes in a sarcastic vein.
"I should like to see his arms," said Moore; "they might be interesting." ”

“ I took an envelope and pencil from my pocket and wrote as Oakes deciphered the signals.
"A message from Mona," he cried. "Quick!"
Then he read the letters as they appeared:
"Discovered. Skinner has extra out. Pronounces me false; says Hallen has tricked the town. Beware of Skinner. Tell Hallen to look out. Am off for New York."
Then came a long wave over the head, and the horseman dashed back toward Lorona.
We detected another horseman at a little distance, who joined him; they rapidly disappeared together.
"Excellent!" exclaimed Oakes. "He has done his duty well." ”

“ Neither fugitive slackened his speed, but both rushed across the plains east by northeast into the face of the moon as it rose off the plateau of Mona.
"What is who?" gasped Moore.
"The which?" I answered, as a polar chill chased up my spine.
"Oh, the d——l!" soliloquized Elliott.
"See, the second man limps—he must be O'Brien; he is chasing the first one," whispered the doctor as we gazed into the night.
"And Oakes is cavorting after the bunch—I play him straight and place," spoke Elliott; "he is gaining." ”

“ We returned to River Road by the way we had come, arriving there as dawn was breaking and the sun beginning to throw his rays across the plateau before us. We found our horses and the man who had escorted us from Mona.
Oakes spoke to him: "Here, Bob, let Paul ride on your horse; he has had a smash. You walk. Both of you go to the Mansion and tell the others to find O'Brien, if possible. Paul will explain. Make no arrests, but don't let your man get away."
We vaulted into our saddles and galloped ahead. As we were returning to headquarters by way of the Corners I felt like a culprit ”