Nick Carter Weekly (no. 222) (1901 03 30)

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Issued weekly Subscription price $2.50 per year. Entered as second class matter at the N. Y. “’yst Mice sy SE RMST & Bee. Price 5 Cents. ‘*‘MOVE, AND I FIRE!’* SANG OUT TOM’S VOICE, CLEAR AND MENACING AS*A PISTOL SHOT.

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= 4 y a 4 Old Book Stors @ld Books borght, soid end ezez bared, NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Brilered according to Act of Congress in the year 1901 by es Smith, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. Entered as second class Matter ai the New York, N. ¥,, Post Office. Subscription price, $2.50 per year. M 2 NEW XOBK.< Issued weekly. Ne. 222, Srreet & SuiTH, Publishers. March 20, 190). K Mer. 238 William 8t., N. Y. 5 Cents E ‘NICK CARTERS NEWSBOY FRIEND ; The Great Seckoval Mistery. SF CHAPTER I. “BRIGHT AS A DOLLAR.”’ AS : & ‘*The other foot, sir!’’ _ . Nick Carter put up ‘‘his other foot.”’ 3 The great detective had broken a stroll _ through the City-Hall Park of New York _\ by seating himself in a bootblack’s chair. s His surroundings—the temples of law, ‘order and justice, the frequent flitting ' =. therefrom of uniformed policemen and e uninformed detectives—were suggestive of a whole train of past experience with the criminal classes, _ The result was that Nick had fallen in- reverie that had brought up a vivid orama of cases of counterfeiting, for- ie = ry a fraud in which he had acted a ). *principal part in hunting down the per- petrators, and he was scarcely conscious .of where he was until the brisk, chatter- \} sing bootblack at his feet tapped his pol- _ jshed shoe sharply. } Nick put up his other foot, and then identally he fixed his ‘‘other eye’’— speculative, studious, ever-observant ness eye of his—on the active, brush- ?or ‘the ren ects he noticed him than casually oo rtat By the Author of ‘‘NICK CARTER."® had made a remark that interested him. ‘*Have I gone to shining for a living ?”’ the bootblack was demanding of two urchins who stood watching him—‘‘have I given up literature and taken to leather? No, I haven’t.”’ “It lodks like it, Tom,’’ remarked one of the spectators. “Does it? Well, this is only a shift. Had a chance to rent the chair, wanted to make up a deficiency in the treasury un- til the evening papers come out, and took this for the day.”’ . “*Vou don’t loaf often——’’ ‘Loaf! Who said anything about loaf- ing? That isn’t in me. No, dropped a day and two nights, and I’m making up for lost time. Little blind Billy has to be taken care of, and a miss of one day means short rations, you know.”’ “Where was you?” asked one of the juvenile bystanders, ‘‘Picnic?”’ “Not I. Tell you where I was—sleuth- ing.’ Soe » “(Don’t know what ‘sleuthing’ means?’’ railed ‘om Dawson, scornfully. ‘‘Say!_ have you stopped reading? Look here; day before yesterday a fellow passed a lead ecient weet aie: a Sara Sess = * : :

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2 i big, thieving loafer. ~ dollar back now and a piece of my mind. fee to disclose a lump big as an egg. _ that?’’ exhibiting a whole row of skinned wp and stormed. till I had a perfect description of that He’s got his lead I got inquiring around It took me forty-eight hours to run him ae _ down, but—I got there!’’ Nick Carter’s eye gave. a pleased twin- _kle. He could recognize a spark of genius even under the blackest grime. He be- stowed a silent commending glance upon the plucky little amateur man-hunter at his feet. ‘*How did you do it, Tom ?”” inquired his two chums in a breath. “See that?’ inquired Tom, holding up one arm and showing half the coat sleeve gone. ‘‘And that?’ tilting his cap so as ‘*And left-hand knuckles. ‘‘Mementoes.”’ ‘Of following your man?”? “Exactly. I got him, I lost him, I tackled him, he slipped me. One place he was leaving a store. My coat caught ina "hinge and left part of itthere. Tumbled _ intoa newly-dug drain and nigh banged. my senses out just as I was overhauling ' him. At last. I cornered him. Had to hang sixty feet above nothing on an old broken shutter to swing into his room = and say, ‘Mister, you’ll give me back a silver dollar for a lead one, of I’ll give you into charge!’ ”’ -**And he did ?”’ = “Did he! My knuckles were just _ smarting enough where I’d knocked them along the bricks to. fire me up to pitching. tad him and making him. I wasn’t id, ” “Tom, you never was afraid of any- 2" ing. ” 3 3 - ‘*Not where Pm right,’’ : as ors _ ‘Tom’s task was completed, and he te aes d the aesomd polished boot to tell The I: latter did not arise, awave?: The boy’s story had interested him. Not that it was remarkable, but the determination, the erik a the stick-at-it principle re- vealed had caught the detective’s fancy. - Qn a small Tom Dawson was oe ee ee ona we one, and first _ place. B Ss 2 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. : dollar isto oa Say, I was mad. I just got ‘‘How much?’ inquired Nick, feeling in his pocket. Just then a, passing newsboy halted with a noisy hail to Tom and a stare all around. “It’s usually five cents,’’ vouchsafed Tom, ‘‘but that’s a dime job if ever there was one. You see, I’m out for all I can make to-day——”’ “Well, do we call it a dime then?” smiled Nick. ‘*Yes—no—say! it’s nothing to you— not a red cent.”’ “Rh y? Nick looked askance at Tom. A little by-play had escaped even his shrewd no- tice. The boy who had just come up had whispered a quick word in Tom’s ear. **Know who you're shining ?”’ ‘No,’ said Tom. ‘*Nick Carter.”’ : ‘“What!’’ guiped Tom, under his breath, and with a stare of awe. “Nothing to me?’’ spoke Nick. is that??? Tom took off his cap, looking excited rather than embarrased.. Then he said, with the dignity of some naval com- mander welcoming a royal notability aboard ship. *T’l} just tell you, Mr. Carter. In the it’s an honor to shine 4 famous man like you and brings custom in the next place, I’ve heard of you—oh, I don’t mean in the paper and that. Everybody knows of what you’ve done in a detective way. It’s from little Billy.” “Ah, indeed ?’” spoke Nick, curiously. ““How “Yes sir,’’ pursued Tom, all aquiver — with emotion. ‘‘Do you remember about a month ago jumping in front of a car and grabbing up a little blind fellow just under the wheels ?”’ *fTt seems to me Idid hurry a youngster out of the way so the car could go on,” replied Nick, carelessly. “Oh, yes, you did! You saved his life, and I’ve been hungering to tell you what we thought of it ever since,’’ cried im- — pulsive Tom, two grateful tears starting F to his eyes like radiant jewels. - you ? in that chair!’ “Charge hy, it’s an ames to have you Be t . ae ey \ LE ay JAW) vile ee Ea) aed uhh

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 3 expression of his face, but it glowed mo- -mentarily and he could not help it. The great detective had stood in court, _ the victor in some wonderful contents of _. law against crime, the cynosure of hun- dreds of eyes, and had preserved his coun- tenance as if it were a mask. He had listened to the ardent praise of judge and jurist time and again, without moving a muscle to indicate @at he was affected. —— Never, however, had he felt more pleased than by the mute, honest admira- tion of the four grimed faces regarding him devoutly, as if he was some modern Napoleon. “You tell little Blind Billy so, ‘and give him this for me.’”’ Nick extended a bank-note and started to leave the chair, —— **No, you don’t!’ disscirted Tom, _ strenuously, putting his hands behind _him—‘‘don’t you go to spoil our—our _ pleasure with offering pay for anything we can do for you.”’ Well, I declare!’ muttered Nick. _“Here’s diamonds in the rough worth _ polishing. Thank you, Tom. I shall find away to see little Billy again in a few days.” : Nick started off, swallowing a trouble- some lump in his throat. He was deeply ouched, and did not try to hide the fact from himself. He employed one of those deft back- rd glances of histo take in unsuspected coterie of four, standing like statues, rentially gazing after him. Then with — and with a sharp gies sey Do a good deed—he them. Obey one of those mys- impulses that gave to Nick Car- erg : od eine tg and al, that h ; his way fe with a ‘whole de of bright a aaiar: be him ‘than. President of pat States,"> he- heard Tom gpa) a8 WE Sse Hie “*That’s all right,’’ he said, lightly. mortal straight up to his wondering, 7 much do you make a day selling papers ?”’ “It varies, Mr. Carter.”’ “Well, what is the average?” “Seventy-five cents, maybe.’? ““What would you say to two dollars?’’. ‘Regular ??? **For a month at least.’” ‘*What doing ?”? ‘‘Oh—in my line. a. Tom looked positively scared. Ifa major general had suddenly put a col- onel’s epaulettes on his shoulders he could not have been more stunned. “‘Say!’’ he gasped, ‘‘you’re joking?” **Will you take the contract?’ ‘Won't J! y>) Tom’s eyes lit up as if there had sud- denly been opened to him a vista of splen- did acts leading up to a glorious career. Then he actually turned pale, as if over- whelmed at trying to realize that it was all true. ‘Come there at four o’clock this after- noon,’’ spoke Nick, tendering a card bearing his address. He departed for good this time. Tom sank to the chair he had vacated, a “misty maze over al] about him. “Boys,” he said, attempting a weakly smile, as they say in the play, ‘leave me to my thoughts,’ ”’ And, as plain but ambitious Tom Daw- son sat dreaming great dreams, building wonderful air castles, recalling everything he had ever heard, read or imagined about the detective career, the news spread like wildfire through the ranks of New York’s brightest, most thrifty throng —the never tiring newsboys: Tom Daw- son had been taken under Nick Carter’s wing, and was going to be a detective! CHAPTER I. A QUEER STORY. ’ Tom was at the door of Nick Carter’ 3 house on the tap of the bell. f Never perhaps had a more. fluttering an unfortunate clerk, applying for work, out at elbows and trying to convey an im-. pression of better days, threadbare attire more passed its threshold, and never did ee up his iligently as ee te

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_ and homeless, and having secured board and lodging for his charge in safer and _ surer quarters, Tom- had sewed up his ragged sleeve, had mended his tattered -eap, had brushed and sponged, had _ serubbed face and hands, and polished his _ gaping shoes till all three shone, Nick’s approving glance told that he noticed this characteristic of neatness in his new protege. In two minutes he had Tom completely at his ease. “*Don’t look scared, Tom,’’ he advised indulgently. “This is business. square and simple—so much work for so much money.”’ 3 This practical statement, however, did not one whit take the glamour of an- ___ ticipated detective experience out of _ Yom’s ardent mind. And don’t look worried,’’ continued — Nick. ‘‘I’ve picked you out for work you are just qualified to do, and which you will do well just for that reason.’’ “Thank you,’’ murmured the gratified : ‘Tom. “You are young, but you have ina way seen more of life than the majority of men double your age,’’ pursued Nick. _ TJ would trust to your guess on a man’s face, I would rely on your. covering ground quick and thorough in case of a surgency, I would bank on your native psa caution and energy every inst that of some of the so- ‘pr essional students of humanity _ who skim the surface and never guess * whet lies beneath.”’ Saat tt Lots does. ” _ **Correct, and your knowledge of the pe shady ways of shady men is going to prove an invaluable guide to you. ‘Tom, ing to put you on a case.”’ If Nick had told Tom he was going to it him on the directory board of a bank, ‘om could no have looked prouder, eitaes | 5 will t take amonth of your time, and I shall give you in advance half your onth’s salary. With that, get your little Lg hoaw 3 safely bestowed somewhere. ’’ ne =anat appa hes prompted , quickly. wi ‘On what I told you? You have con- rable ris —— : _ particular interest to the affair, is “tha un this man is a king.’ NICK CARTER WEFKLY. can work unhampered. a plain, simple duty.’ **Ves, sir,’’ fluttered Tom. **One oraer, which is the Alpha and. the Omega, the beginning and the end, the start and the finish, the essence of shadowing and the incentive to nabbing the game in sight.”’ **What’s that, sir?’’ “¢ ‘Watth that man!’ ”’ Nick was enunciating a broad principle of detective science only, but he spoke with such impressiveness that Tom stared around in a startled way. ‘‘T don’t see any man——’’ he began. ‘*Oh, he isn’t here; I am simply sink- ing a few necessary facts into your mind. The man in reality I shall show you later.’’ **And I am to watch him ?”” **You.are to follow him.”’ ‘Wherever he goes?”’ ‘‘From morning till night you are to be his shadow, his second self.’ - SSP dl tey-to:"” “*More than that, you must watch those with whom he comes in contact—any who seem to suspiciously follow him. In fact, at stated intervals I waut you to be prepared to report to me, hour by hour and step by step, what this man does to the smallest detail.’’ Tom looked eager, pressed, “Do you think you can do that ?’’ asked Nick. ““T will do it!” declan Tom, posi- tively. : ‘*Very well. Now, listen closely.’’ 3 Nick paused fora moment, as if he was mentally arranging a seriesof facts which _ he wished to make very plain to his young pupil. Ta These facts he proceeded to arrange with a simplicity and clearness that a child could take in. aM “The man you are to watch,’’ he be- = — gan, ‘‘is not a criminal.’’ = “Oh!” murmured Tom, and he Joke a trifle disappointed. ae ‘*He is, rather, a victim. It isa pecu- liar case. What lies under it donot — know, he does not know. What gives — I shall give you interested, im- 30.2 mee be es Toes, incredulous!

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 6 ‘A king.”’ ‘SA real, genuine——’’ “Monarch, ruler, whatever you care to call him,’’ asserted Nick. ‘‘There isa little island off the coast of South Amer- ica called Norona. » This man, Sandoval, is its king ’’ Tom looked as if a thought he was getting into great company. He made no further comment, however, but listened intently. _“Abouta year ago Sandoval went to Rio Janeiro. There he fell in love with an actress named Maude Rankin. They _ were married. In six months time they . learned that they had made a mistake. -. They were totally uncongenial. They _ separated. The wife returned to her par- ents’ home in Rochester, New York, sick of her bargain. This wastwo months ago.’” Did her husband—did the king go _ with her?’’ - “Hedid. He was a gentleman, weak in some things, but still a man with a fine _ sense of honor. He took her to her par- _ ents. They had a pleasant understanding. . He placed ten thousand dollars in bank = er for ees and bade her good-by forever, leaving her to get a divorce’ when she oe liked. eat 4 “It's like a play,” murmured the rapt Tom. _ *Ryven her brother, seemed to consider that Sandoval had = acted nobly. He showed him around gis _ Rochester, aud for a week Sandoval says ihe was in a revel of excitement—cards and wine from morning till night. He ‘says that week is a perfect blank to him. Delos Rankin, brother-in-law, Rankin, putting him on the train and sending him to New York.”’ te pi ei aaa or anything ?”’ quer- ke Except for the effects of » he had apparently been treated fairly and friendly by. all hands “concerned. — : “Sandoval on up his: quarters at a ‘retired hotel here. Ina day or two he got oe kingd ie tess 7 ac acs saree had ace, a was a dvised not . sart homeward he last thing he remembers is his - stare at Tom. _ “Everything could be arranged all right, he was told, if he would be patient. Now comes the queer part of the story.”’ **It’s pretty queer even so far,’’ declared Tom. ‘**Well,”? pussued Nick, ‘‘Sandoval has © a distant relative in New York, a dealer in fine fruits. He came to me with the case to-day. He told me all I have told you. He also told me something addition- al. A week ago Sandoval came honie to his hotel as usual, a trifle under the influ- ence of liquor, and with two wounds from bullets in his chest.’’ “Well!” “They were not dangerous. Ques- tioned, he stupidly declared that he had been under the influence of liquor the night previous, and could not remember how he was wounded—thonght somebody fired at him on the street. ‘‘Last night he came home in a similar condition. He was stabbed twice in the neck, and one of the cuts missed a vital cord by just an inch.”’ ‘*How singular!"’ ‘““His relative hints at stiicide.’’ **Tt don’t look it.”’ ‘ **Sandoval again asserts some one must have attacked him, but he cannotremem- ber.’? : ae Tom looked thoughtful. There was just enough of an air of mystery in the case to interest him. e ‘‘Now, then,’’ proceeded Nick, ‘‘I am going to point this man out to you,” : “The king?” : = “Yes: i will be ready to go with you. in five minutes.”’ Nick left the room. He had not been , gone two minutes before a couple of boys: entered, Tom had heard of Nick Carter’s detec- tive school that afternoon—of how the veteran thief-taker was selecting material out of which to make future trail-shadow- ers and mystery-expounders, and guessed ~ that the twain must be members of his ~ household. . ‘“Hello!’’ hailed: one, aE an amused You're the fellow Mr, Carter told us about. ees ona serrate #2 nope to - P attempted < - P eS “ae a = e =

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_ “What's great? who’s disguised?’’ he demanded, - “All right for a watchman, though,”’ tailed the other, unheedingly a spice of ‘malicious mischief in his make-up. - Tom did not like the word. Watch- : apa Humph! ‘That was too much of a let-down from his high aspirations for _ him to endure silently. ‘Say P’ he ‘spoke, flaring up a little, “call it watchman if it pleases you, but Vl bet before I get through with it Nick Carter, who can do anything he likes with people, they say, can make a detective of me. Seeif he don’t, and see if I don’t help him do it!” - _ At that moment Nick re-entered the room. He beckoned to Tom, and they Die ee —- During a rapid walk of nearly a mile, he talked confidentially to his new pro- e avidity of a student anxious and will- ing to learn, Opposite a large store stocked with fine imported fruits the detective halted. “I am going into that place,’’ he spoke, ‘fand shall not see nor speak to you again till you come to report to me.”’ 4. ae right, sir.” Tom nodded understandingly.: “Sandoval himself is there. Yes, I see him. I will engage him in conversation ; _ I will manage to bring him to the door.” Tom tallied off his instructions with ger, intelligent snaps of his bright eyes. = --““When I do,” pursued seers = mate him closely.”’ ~. “I shall do so, sir.” T expect you to find out what is the of the shots and stabs I told you E "From the minute I leave the store work begins, I deliver King San- | into your chrage, That work is pethended ig one ‘Boas sentence.’ 4 sir.’ tege, and Tom drank in the points with | = NICK CARTER WEEKLY. bustling metropolis, the sound, ominots and peculiar, rang out, Tothe momentarily halted onlookers the crashing echo signified an every-day accident, to the person nearest to its source, ‘‘a narrow graze,’’ but to a boy on the opposite side of the street, Tom Dawson, it announced clearly, unmistak- ably ‘‘the first shot’’ in his first detective case. This is what had happened; Sandoval, king of Norona, and victim of some mysterious menace, leaving the store where Nick Carter had placed Tom on guard, had proceeded toward his hotel. The route he took must have beena customary one, for, passing a high partly occupied building, there suddenly hurtled from its fourth story a missile, a projec- tile, a descending mass surely intended to crush out his life at,one dread blow. To passers-by glancing up after the thing was over, it looked as if a large iron box filled with dirt and planted with vines had broken away from the rusted wires holding it in place on some window sill. The minute, however, that Tom’s quick eyes caught sight of the descending object, he caught as well a flashing view of the hand that had started it on its ney journey. The box came whirling down with frightful velocity. It so closely grazed the petrified Sandoval that his hat was blown — from his head. It crashed to fragments so near to him that one piece of the thin, brittle metal shied obliquely, grazed his hand and tore a deep gash clear across his fingers. A woman screamed, another fainted, a policeman ran up. In twenty seconds Sandoval was the centre of a gaping, questioning throng. What had happened? Was he hurt? How did the box come to fall? ‘*I don’t know,’’ voiced Sandoval, pale and shaking. ‘‘Officer, Iam quite—quite unnerved. Will you kindly call a cab?”’ ‘*T will. Your address first, sir. Card? Thank you. Necessary in "case—thase careless people up above get too indepen- dent, and won't agree to be more careful. May have to presute them. Hey, eae cabby |” ae Scie aes thriving, — 2 me Bit arcs Dee se

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 7 had counted, Tom saw Sandoval en- conced in a cab, and whirled away before he could make a move. He could not “hitch behind’? with a gaping crowd surrounding. He braced himself for a keenrun. Then Tom paused. He rapidly went over Nick Carter’s ex- plicit instructions—to not only watch this man, Sandoval, but as well to keep track of those who followed or menaced him. The policeman was expatiating on the perils of housewives using window sills for storerooms, was taking down the number of the building preparatory toa report and later tardy investigation. “We'll make a warning case of this here accident,’’ he stated, oracularly. “It was no accident!” murmured Tom, impressively. ‘‘Shot at two nights ago, stabbed the next night—it’s attempted assassination, and this time is Sandoval’s narrowest shave. That box was pushed— I saw it done. A woman pushed it. I saw her. The intention was to crush the life out of the man I’m watching.’’ There was Tom’s conclusion in a nut- shell, and Tom had facts to substantiate , the theory. For in that swift upward glance of his he had seen an open window, and at it a Woman. "The pose of her body showed that she - had just exerted some unusual force, the gleam of her dark eyes, eager, malicious, proved that she was timing the fall of the ri box with breathless hope. — _. And then as it, landed, missing her in- tended prey, her white teeth clinched, she drew back, Tom saw her dart across the empty room she was in, and knew that = & _ with teady avenues for a prompt disap- pearance prepared beforehand, it- pret hee be difficult to follow her. ee “Trap planted, trick fails, and no dan- ger hut what the woman’s safe to-get away,’’ muttered Tom. ‘‘How’s this for 2 i starter, anyway ? I tell ‘you, it’s seri- vous!” "Serious enough to convince Tom that - detective business was not all rush, Gash ‘more Yorcibly now than ever. Boy as he was, unskilled in n “the pto- fession,” a certain solemn awe overcame “him as he considered that heartless hu- undoebiedly. axing re gether to crush the life out of another fel- low creature. ‘Why?’ he interrogated himself, and then he added, quickly: ‘‘It’s no time to dawdle asking idle questions. My duty is to see that Sandoval comes to no harm— the present point what is best for me to do just now ?”’ Tom rubbed his head thoughtfully. He fancied he must be a pretty poor apology for a detective, for he wavered irresolutely between a notion of scouring the building whence the box had fallen, informing the officer of what he had seen and having the place surrounded, and trying to catch up with the cab which was just gliding around a corner three squares away. “Tt’s too much for me,’’ he declared, starting forward. ‘‘I’d have to bein three or four places at once to do what comes to me to do. I can’t follow the woman and the man, too. She’s vanished, he’s at the hotel where he lives, soI guess the nearest I can come to Mr. Carter’s idea would be to go there and look out for the next attempt to kill him.”’ Tom gave a longing look back at the building. Somehow the fascinating end of the affair seemed to lure him in that direction solely. Then, setting feet and eyes directly contrary, he madea sharp sprint, lessened it toa dragging gait, and pricked up his ears. ‘Keep always on the lookout for sus- picious and mysterious happenings around a place where action centres,’’ Nick Car- ter had laid down to Tom as one of his most valuable rules that afternoon. ‘‘You don’t know when a whisper, a touch, a — look may be the key-note to the biggest kind of a clew.’’ And of just this injunction Tom was suddenly reminded, as something de cidedly uncommon attracted his attention. At the corner of the street a large sign projected from a doorway. Half concealed behind it stood a man, 2 tall, active, well-dressed. If he had- not peered eagerly, sharply down the street and directly at the build- Speen mers mats ing whence the box had dropped, up and down its front, at the throng gathered — hear it, Tom es shes Aight rt? Py

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_ But this he did,.and more than this. As if some definite point was settled in _ his mind by the inspection he had made, _ he now did a strange, and unusual thing. _ He carried a cane in his hand. This he * suddenly reversed. Its lower ferrules was a hollow steel cap. _ Taking from his pocket a thin round piece of chalk, he exactly fitted it into _ the tube so that an inch or two projected. Reversing his cane, with another keen _ look down the street, he started briskly away. . ‘What's he up to; anyway ” reflected — Tom, puzzled. _ *°What’sthe doing that for?’’ followed a prompt second curious query. Keeping to the extreme edge of the = ape the man carried his cane like ee other promenader—swung it, brought it occasionally down on the smooth pave- aes ae ae Only, every time he did this, his hand described a swift, deft twirl. _ And every time he its chalk-loaded _ point, the wondering Tom saw that he : pe made a definite, uniform mark. Say!’ blurted Tom, and that was the sst way he could express his emotions. Here was something directly in line with hat Nick Carter had described as ‘‘sus- “street told iisngspoeisly Qa such slight encouragement had aight. clear. task of watching Sandoval? thaps—the latter was safe, for the pres- t, at least, at his hotel. “Pll see what comes of - it,”’ decided om. ‘‘That manis not making those ane for fun, There’s too many of them a? rom started after him. He could have followed the man without even looking at for every Saputy feet ba ieee was a clear chalk mark, : ( half circle, cut with a sh. At the first crossing street Tom found was the direc- tals?” used the inter- azing a course for “was elongated, and the direc- ex? ‘ NIOK CARTER WEEKLY. After. going about three squares, the man began to get nearer the inner edge of the sidewalk. Suddenly he whirled, shot a piercing glance back of him, describing a sudden movement with his cane in front of him, and—vanished. Tom was some distance from him as he executed these maneuvres; several pedes- trians, too, blocked a perfect view. “Where’s he got to sosuddenly ?”’ pro- jected Tom. Then he saw a great chalk mark crossed a high door-gate guarding a private en- trance to a place with the sign, ‘‘Cafe,’’ on its front. ; ‘“That’s where he went—through that doorway,’’ declared Tom. ‘‘Then he’s waiting for somebody, I’l] bet. And then again, maybe not. ‘Through to another street, for all I know. I’llfind out. Here, Chuck! give me them all.”’ After a quick glance along the street, Tom. darted ahead to where a little urchin was calling out an evening news- paper. Too much of an expert was Tom ‘id to estimate at a glance the number the little fellow carried under his arm. “Hello, Tom——”’ began the newsboy. ‘*Muin itis! There’s a quarter. Follow your nose and don’t look at mé. Ex-try! Here’s your ex-try—full account of— - rumity-tumity—disaster-- clicketty-clack- etty people killed!’’ Tom grabbed the papers from the star- tled mewsboy’s one hand, planked the coin in his other, and darted squarely for the door with the chalk mark on it. He was the hustling irrepressible gamin complete—not afraid to penetrate anywhere with his sense-exciting scare- voice and breathless manner. Back went the door with a slam, and down four steps went Tom, seemingly only a daring paper-seller, but his eyes bored into every crack and corner like gimlets. ‘There were not many. A straight boarded-up space ran to an open side door ‘of the cafe. The man with the chalk cane was no- where in sight. — _ “Is he in the cafe? I’m going to know. Extry! full account—paper, sir?’ ay , Maoust: So open: side eace a ie ape

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place, into a dark rear room, Tom dove ae boldly. a His glance took in every object in sight : —a huge ice-box, chairs, tables, and _. seated ata shuttered window, looking as if he was impatiently awaiting some one, was the man he was after, just as he had guessed. “Get out of here!’ roared the aproned keeper of the place as Tom made a hurri- cane dash clear to the street. < - In a flash, orice’ there, he whipped the _ papers into the gutter. : Through that gate-door just swung to _ after him, Tom dove. A daring plan had come into his head. Under the spur of the excitement of the moment he put it into instant execution. The man in the cafe was waiting to meet somebody, and it-could be no ordin- ary appointment that he put that some- . body on his trail like Indians do their fel- lows in the wild West, theorized. the ex- cited Tom. That. ‘‘somebody”’ would sooner or later appear, would join ane man in the rear room of the cafe. _. Of course they would: ‘tale, and to over- - «hear them, Tom was ‘satisfied, would surely be to discover ‘something sinister and interesting. - Way down in Tom's mind, too, there " wasa hope, a bare hope, that this some- thing might have some connection with the box that had dropped so near to San- ~~ doval. aE For the man with the cane had in- gspected the building whence it had -hurtled with no casual interest. "Tf J can only make it!’? breathed Tom, and he crept cautiously,-but swiftly SS nts passageway devs which he just ) o the side Siobe. He knews just as making for—a safe hid- beck: Tom’s dash through _ those “shrewd eyes of his had in every detail of the room. had notized the big ice-box, The x vases comparnen was | ee tickled todeath,’” as what boy-i : NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 9 with the chalk cane sat. His back was to Tom now. **Can I make it?’ fluttered Tom. ‘‘Got to!’ he concluded, with a start, and glided forward. At that moment the street gate slammed. The man at the table bent his ear eagerly. Light, rapid footstepg echoed down the passageway walk. i There was but one thing for Tom to do, and he did it. He made a shadow-like dive. Through the ice-box rear door he went. A clammy chill cooled down his ardor a trifle as he found himself in a zinc-lined apartment. He half drew the door shut after him. Then he wormed. his way to the little aperture covered with wire netting. He could see through it against the light, he was directly at the elbow of the man he had so cleverly shadowed hither. Tom gave a lowchuckle of satisfaction. He was immensely pleased with .the suc- ~ cess of his first detective exploit. zs Then he’bent his ear to listen—tolis- ten to a conversation that was destined to eS . fairly make his hair rise. e "CHAPTER IV. eee ees “A TCHION |’? 3 — oie **Burr-rr!”’ ‘< The minute Tom got quieted down he madea discovery of discomfortthat caused — _ him to hope the interview about to take re place would be a short one. sia It was cold in the icebox.’ The com- partment he was in held nothing but sev- eral rows of bottles on a metal shelf over-_— head, but little gratings let in frigid blasts from the real ice chambers. = Violent exercise had warmed him up considerably, and he felt the sudden — change of some forty degrees of tempera- % ture most vividly. . ee ~ “Door open, netting hole right at my nose—guess I won’t quite freeze,’’ decided _ ‘Tom. ‘‘Oh, my! oh, my! oh, my!” — é. All this "Tom said to himself, but s fervently that Rpowgh serve in his’ uae. wri gled. SS ees Z § hes waz se a ‘common “saying, his place would not

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Ne ee te ca! > a SE 5 > ae > ~~ a a 5 a a) ‘man at the table got up to welcome the _ same. _ _ Then he sat down again, and there sat down with him the visitor who had lo- - cated him through the chalk marks. = “It’s her!’? Tom gasped, in one tre- _ mendous triumphant gulp. ‘‘Run down the first crack out of the box!” _ What would Nick Carter say to this— _ the person who had attempted the life of Sandoval located by his new assistant ' . within one hour after he had started him on the case? ~ Tom. peered through the little wire netting with starting eyes. _ He recognized the woman in a flash. Her face from whch she threw a thick ; ell dark and tragie, he had only seen at a distance, but the eyes, the dress, the ringed hand—he could swear positively ee a ag box from the window sill which had ing himself as comfortably as he could, and preparing to listen to whatever might ‘be spoken between the two at the table not three feet away. But neither spoke. Their glances met. ¢ woman looked sullen, the man an- y. Then the latter arose, went-to the es of the cafe, and shortly returned. “Certainly no one shall interrupt you,’’ ke the approved owner of the establish- sh bustling after him. ‘‘I’ll fix that.’* _ He unloosed the curtains screening the ounecting archway. Then he closed and ocked the rear door, and then, inciden- lly passing the ‘ice-box, he did some- ng else that took ’ Tom’s breath away. Noticing this open door, the man gave __ this a careless kick. Bang! it went shut est =. ‘went a snap, a Tom experi- a dawning sensation of dismay. ~ Caged? I guess,’’ he ruminated. _ that this was the woman who had pushied - we'll pans . to getting out when __vivid start. Sea ; SRE | 2 NICK OARTER WEEKLY. : ‘“Wasn’t it???’ ‘““Try it yourself, next time.’’ ‘*‘Me? oh, dear, no!: I can hire too many,’’ derided the man, with a shrug of his shoulders. ‘*See here,’’ spoke the woman, rapidly and forcibly, ‘‘I have tried to help you, I have blindly followed your directions, but Idoso no longer if Iam to be sneered at’ ‘*You have had three chances.’’ **Ves, shot twice. Try it on the public streets, you, and see how quick a crowd gathers! I barely escaped.’?. ‘‘And tne knife thrusts?” **Stupid as he was, Sandoval shouted. I had to fly: As to the box—was it not a clever scheme? I knew he passed that way nightly. Well, I failed again. What have you to say next?’ > The man bent his brows in an ugly, knitted frown. Then he looked up, and Tom fancied he had never seen a more ferocious face. “Tsay,” he announced—‘‘it must be done!’’ — “That means try again ?”’ ‘*Not try, but do it!”’ “Oh, there shall be no failure this time!’ laughed the woman. ‘*Confident, eh?’ ‘*T am. So far,-you have restricted me. This Sandoval was to die an accidental death.”’ : ‘*It was necessary to my pchante?? - **How would a mysterious death do?’’ ‘*You mean poison? No, that would not do. I want no post-mortems, n0 inves- tigation. ’’ ‘“There will be none. See here, Delos. Rankin, I-can put this man out of the way to-night, as he sleeps in his room, so quickly, so surely, that all the doctors and detectives in Christendom would never guess what killed him.’’ ‘“‘What’s that!’? muttered Tom, with a ‘Rankin? Why ‘He became lost in conjecture. Biokiat ! That was the family name of the actress Sandoval had mafried. Heretofore, Tom’s theory about the at- tempts on Sandoval’s life had been con- fined to the suspicion that some enemy from his kingdom, some emissary of the new insurrectionary party now in power

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ect NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 1 = way so as to make their position seein = strong. — - But now he knew better. The minute he heard the man with the chalk cane called Delos Rankin, that minute he guessed out a new set of motives for the re attempts on Sandoval’s life. **He’s the brother of Sandoval’s wife,”’ _._._ theorized Tom, and he soon learned that he was correct in the surmise. The man the woman had called Rankin site regarded him intently. — _ ‘You ate promising a good deal,’’ he me remarked. ak] Gan cecruie as well.”’ ~ “Will you?” “Provided Rankin’s face drew down. ‘Provided that you answer me a ques- tion.’ . ‘«That’s easy.”’ “You may “not find it so when I come ; to tell you what it is. Let us understand 7 meadh-others seg _ . **For years ‘You have known me— _ elairvoyant, mystic, suerte 3 with _ -allthe grewsome accom ed help in your gambling schemes, I was = _ on hand.’? aes “And I paid you well,”” “J have no complaint on that score."? eae Z hea" * “But this is a different affair,” per- sisted the woman. ‘How ?? \ ~©Plainly—murder ! - The man trembled slightly. His glance "shifted. Then he set his hard lips harder. “Go ahead,”’ he said, simply. _ “'There’s’a risk. Dol mind that? No. You promised me ten thousand dollars See this man, Sandoval, out of the ok : won't work i in the dark.”’ ' prince. ‘ cae don’t donbt that, but—in a case “‘Why, then your task was ended, and “you were a rich woman.’’ ‘‘And if I was caught?’ Rankin simply shrugged his shoulders, as if that was her affair solely. “Exactly !’’? spoke the woman, rightly interpreting the movement—‘‘I ‘could save myself as best I might. Could I im- plicate you? Why! with your precautions, you could laugh at me.’’ ‘‘But you are too shrewd a woman to be caught.”’ **T can be.’?. * "Oh a ‘““The next time.’’ *“Good !?? “But there will be no nexttime. I. shall drop the case, here and now at once, ~ unless I know the ins and outs of this en- tire-matter. In an affair of such moment, I have a right to your confidence. Give it to me, or I drop the case. I have spoken. ?’’ The man glared at her. The listening Tom was wriggling like a weasel, drink- ing in every word. = ““Go ahead,’’ growled Rankin, biting his lips wrathfully. ‘‘Whatdo you want to know ?”’ ‘‘Why do you wish this man, this king, Sandoval, dead?’ “Short and sweet, it’s one hundred thousand dollars in my pocket.’ a3 “* How?” A523 The woman was persistent, and the 3 watching Tom admired her for it. ae = ‘*Well, it is, that’s all.” at -. “Is your sister, his wife, inciting yon’ — to it?”’ oo *“Bless you, no!’’ tied Ranin, forci- bly. ‘‘Her? Why, he treated her likea Gave her ten thousand dollars. They parted the best of friends.’’ ae ‘*Are you after more money he has???” ‘‘He has none. Com pirevay aes Has ing, he i is NOW a poot man.” “Then you expect his widow to become ES heiress to his Kingsiogey?* “Wrong again—he has no ) kin It is in.a state of revolt. Heer if he ent back to the throne, the- country | gs debt he couldn’t raise a dollar. I depend on no. such broken reed ; = a 1 My. hundred ama comes from th

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ing SSaddovel passes in his checks!’’ “Tell me how. Come, you have ex- cited my curiosity !’’ : “aeeie a sure ten thousand good enough _ Prove to me it’s sure.”’ “Pil do it! You're a clever woman, a ¢ helper, a good friend,’’ cried Rankin, na burst of confidence. ‘‘If I do, Viola, . ee, dies to-night ?”’ ont Nes . traced to you, to me.’’> Very well, I will tell Pi ‘om could hardly keep still. He was such pins and needles of suspense, that rowded up close to the minute wire panel. j mies of an apparent paradox. ‘How, by compassing the death of a Fz tatively poor man, Rankin expected ati was a secret worth knowing—it Serie Soke to Nick Carter the key to the > mystery surrounding’ King doy val . ankin bestowed an impressive look on Bed mae aoe It was Tom ne _ interrupted, spoiled, silenced : rdevalotion. ees And ie ae. ras tie a vaudden, wetaice, : Sere being could have repressed those violent sneezes. He tried to smother them, he stuffed his handkerchief against his face, he strangled himself with both hands, but it was too late. The alarm was giveh. Both Rankin and his companion started to their feet. The former looked puzzled, the latter angry, at an-interruption at a. vital climax, “What in the world is that?’’ cried Rankin. “Oh! a cat, I’ suppose, or some other animal,’’ petulantly responded Viola. “‘No, it was a person sneezing. Brown!”’ ‘*Yes, sir,’ called out the proprietor of the place, appearing past the curtained archway. “What you got in that ice-box ?’’ “Oho! Thirsty, eh?’ ‘‘No, no. Iam not joking. We heard some one there.’’ “Some one where ?’’ “Inside of it.”? ‘*A person, you mean???’ “eT do. 9 “Nonsense! Why, look for yourself,’ and the man opened the main glass door of the refrigerator, ‘Tom -had stopped sneezing. Now he began again. *‘Not in that part behind here,’ cor- rected Rankin. ‘‘Hear that! and that!’’ ‘‘Goodness !”’ goggled the man. ‘“That’s 80,3 Tom struggled to his tienda and knees With one shoulder he butted the closed metal-sheeted door. Held with catch and bar on the outside, ‘it defied his efforts. ‘*Got to get out some way! I’m spotted, sure,’’? he breathed, excitedly. ‘‘It can’t be built so awful strong,” and hestraigh- tened up. His head struck something as he did so, and he instantly guessed what it was _ —the bottle-loaded shelf, chin-higp. * * There was a> frightful clatter. He guessed that the man and woman, judg- with Stattled eyequlations, was tugging to. etator door. It gave. For the had to oe oped | made a bol : ing from outside sounds, were hurrying 3 away in alarm. ‘The owner of the place,” a 43> Fe

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The aperture, however, was too small to admit of very much progress. Describ- ing a kind of a dive, ‘I'om landed against -__the bewildered outsider, drove him back, tumbled in a heap to the floor, and before he could’ gain his feet and run was grabbed by a powerful arm. “Let me go!’ cried Tom, vigorously. "Yes, I will. What you doing in there, ) anyway??? ; ‘*] was—resting.’’ *- “Blue blizzards! Look at that!’ grasp of a giant, _ Evidently, in his first wrathful out- burst, the man was minded to deliver Tom up to the nearest policeman. Just nearing the archway, however, a voice ~~ halted him: “Brown!” The man turned, and the helpless Tom glanced back ward, too. - Atthe side door, quite pale and dis- _turbed looking, was Rankin. _ ‘Who is he?’ was projected sus- ‘piciously. Sees eee ee “Beoks like a wharf rat, acts likea thief. Planted there in the ice-box to rob me, I suppose, after I’d shut up.” “Oh! do you—you don’t suppose he was watching, listening?” ‘Him? Not much! Says he was ‘rest- ing!’ Fine place to sleep! Must have come before you did. ‘Think of that dam- ates age =: dded the man, tofind out if he’s », He ‘comprehended; further, hat every hour he was inert meant hay a Pi V F a ‘ h + NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 13 *‘Come on, you young sneak thief!’’ Tom had given up active resistance. He saw that it was useless, and only made his captor’s iron fingers twine more cruel- ly, but he watched out for a chance to trip up, slide or ship. The opportunity for any — such maneuyre, however, was not allowed him. To adoor the man dragged him, opened it, pushed him before him down some steps, and Tom found himself ina close cellar about twenty feet square. It had shelves for furniture only, and these were loaded with row after row of cobwebbed bottles. ‘‘You cool off there, you destructive rascal! You ‘rest’? where IH find you when I want you,’’ observed the man. He locked the door as he retired. Tom was up those stepsin a flash. Fora few minutes he pried with his fingers, peeped through the cracks. “Double lock, bolt and chain,’’ he finally guessed. ‘‘Well, if there’s no win- dow below, I reckon I’m booked fora 2 free all-night berth.’’ Tom groped ‘around the dark cellar. Except for two four-inch ventilating grat- ings, there was not a break in the solid stone wall. ~ He sat down to, reflect. The most tor- menting question was what Nick Carter would say tc his taking an independent course in following Rankin, and thereby getting into his present trouble. There was a prospect of Tom remain- ing a prisoner until morning, and by that time the plot against King Sandoval would have succeeded. “It’s terrible to thirk of!’? murmured Tom. ‘‘All-the same, if I hadn’t got clutched by that bruiser overhead, and had got to Mr, Carter and warned San- doval, what a howling success I’d have been, orders or no orders! I reckon it’s — success only that counts, no matter how © accidental it comes. Oh, drat it! Cooped © up like a rat, and no help for it! 111 dis-_ cover away!’? ime Tom was aroused, for he was consciot that all his clever work of the past hour would count for nothing in the face of final disaster. _ ft F ee Fs . es thes ¥

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_ Sandoval, And then, as he realized that he was _ the only person in the world, probably, - who could help the beleaguered king, He felt that he must do something, if it was only to keep from thinking. “I was foolish not to fight, kick, yell, _ draw a crowd up stairs there,”’ he de- elared. ‘I could show up all right to ple or police, The man, Brown, _couldn’t, for he’s in with Rankin, ina _ way, sure. Wish I was up stairs again! _ Why, say! I'll get there!” _- Tom’s eyes snapped confidently, and he _ chuckled. . Hemoved over to a row of bottles, and, _ groping, began to pile dozen or more across one arm. “It comes high, but we can’t stop at -costliness!”’ he gloated. ‘My place is in _ a police station if I’ve done wrong, not __ cooped up in a private cellar. It’s an in- ~ fringement of tyranny, so here goes! I'll _ bring that Tunky = iant down among his dusty treasures, or know the reason why.” _ ‘Tom drew back, poised a bottle in his x Ag ick duc! : _ It struck the door at the head of the stairs. Back came a shower of glass, Gekiectip Jeon echoed the mellow gur- Whack —bang! © ‘he cobwebbed récesses of the close gave back a hundred startling hoes. ‘Footsteps, heavy, hurried, sounded rerhead, a frantic groan, approaching a oar, | told Tom that he had succeeded in ousing the lion at last, ‘The door opened at the’ top of the stairs. Tom had light now to direct his aim. He took sight at _atempting row of bot- on a shelf. They went down like ten- : iat you “going—oh, what you do- Sle eos wreckage. P21 kill you!" x Joe hand, took blind aim, ard let it » yelled the frenzied owner of all this ee. mister,”? announced old vegetables. littered the aS and ace? nd the eee ga foe tipped over twenty others with another deft throw. ‘**See here, mister,’? he called up, as the man reached back of him and grabbed up a heavy club, ‘“‘don’t you come at me with that. Pll give you the next bottle if you do!”’ **Then stop!’’ Pll stop when I get out of here—not before. ”’ **Get out of here? Yes, yes, you shall! Come here!”’ The man descended three steps. Then he made a spring. It was Tom’s intention to attempt to dodge past him, but the man was too quick for him. He fairly swooped on Tom, flinging him to the ground and falling on top of him. Then he struck at him wildly, jabbing his head back on the hard stone floor, beating his heavy fists into T’om’s eyes, slamming him, banging him, in a trans- port of the wildest fury. Tom was wholly stunned for a minute by the fierce onslaught, for he afterward had no recollection of being carried up the stairs. His senses only partly returned as he opened his eyes and saw that he was on the main floor again, but he had not the strength to call out as he had planned. A bruised, wavering plaything in the hands of his powerful captor, Tom only shuddered as he observed that near the ice-box the man had lifted a trap-door, — A dark hole yawned. Into it the man savagely flung Tom, with the words: “You couldn’t leave well enough alone, eh? Well, see if you like those quarters any better !”’ ose a t CHAPTER VI. A BOLD BREAK. If Tom’s first prison place in the cafe ‘was gloomy, his second dungeon was positively repellant. ¢ ‘ He landed with a shock on what he — found to be a ner of coal. Through the trap, it seemed, the man had been in the © habit of sweeping “all his refuse, and lemon peel, cigar stubs, beer dregs and LSE Ae ee aie Bey iy sie tes Sy Pe

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NICK CARIER WEEKLY. 16 —— a ORS Se come = OP : a = It was fully half an hour before Tom found himself in any shape to move about. The man had given him a dreadfui beat- ing, and his tumble into this vile coal hole had not brightened him up any. As muscles, wits and emotions got back to normal, however, Tom displayed the usual vim of a genuine New York gamin —he got mad as a hatter. : “T]l be even with that fellow if it takes a year!’’ he muttered, ‘‘and I’1l nip ; his scheme of holding me for that villain ; Rankin, to pump, if nerve and energy can do it.’” Tom’s hopes went down a degree or two, however, as he proceeded to closely inspect his new quarters. The place was lighter than the cellar, - for it had a window. This was about two feet square, but provided with bars placed every three inches apart, and sunk into the heaviest kind of hard wood planking, top and bottom. At the end of half an hour Tom made up his mind pretty conclusively that he could hope to accomplish very little in the way of getting out of his prison place with only a broken-bladed pocket-knife. 5 He was strong, but he could not budge the bars. A white washed windowless wall faced him ten feet away. There was a little yard ce between. The man who ran the cafe probably used this, and "Pom decided that shouting would only bring his brutal jailer down upon him. All his conclusions were justified by the appearance of the big burly ruffian in the -__- yard a few minutes later. "He dragged a_ stool beside a log, drew $ “some sawed pine slabs from a pile invisible awhile to keep you coole Toure a fiery one, you are, but I'll take of it out of your hide in the more one don’t pay me for ” ? i _ morning, if some jubilated Tom. knew I would make it!’ ae eee window dolefully enough, acknowledging that he held the upper hand just now. ‘‘You keep quiet if you’re wise,’’ ad- vised the man, making an armful of the kindling and moving away. ‘Good !”? Tom bolted out the word, and his heart | surged with sudden hope. With glowing eye he noted the spot where the man had just sat. The kindling cutter had left behind him the short-handled ax he had been using. Inasmuch as it was some fifteen feet away from Tom, and inasmuch as it was not only completely out of reach, but with blade sunk inch deep in the cutting log, a careless observer might have won- dered at the stimulation its presence gave to ‘Tom’s heart every time he regarded it. He listened intently. Would the man return for it? Yes, he was coming. - No, only closing some door. Then his foot- steps sounded at the front of the place. “To work!’ cheered ‘Tom, aglow with delight. I see a way out.” He began selecting, doubling and tying together several of the numerous pieces of string lying among the refuse until he had a stout cord over twenty feet long. Of the lead foil caps of bottles he made a ball weighing several ounces. Of the wire that had encased the neck of a pop bottle he constructed a rigid Then Tom was ready for business. © He made several throws through the bars. It took infinite skill and patience to lasso the ax; it requred some delicate manipulation to loosen it from the chop- ping log. - At last he accomplished this. Then the real-expert angling began. Inch by inch Tom looped and dragged the ax across the fifteen-foot yard space. How his fingers thrilled as he drew it. © right up to the window, reached through the bars and seized it! ay “Blade good steel, handle solid éak,”’ “She comes. Ah, I _ Tom employed the ax simply as a pry. Once he got the blade edge under the low- er plank in which the bars wereimbedded, nd it began to give, he knew he was as

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At last he had it lifted. Under it the bars were barely tipped into mortar and - Jead. One vigorous jerk bent the entire structure out of plumb. It was just dusk when Tom crawled out into the yaed. He was dripping from — head to foot with perspiration. - He made his way by a devious course to the street—over a shed, up into one building, down through another, and two squares away from the cafe he sat down on the curb to cool off. =< <*{Made it!” he piped, cheerily, ‘‘so -_-what’s the odds? It all counts as experi- ence. Now then, to get back to thie track and make no more mistakes. Mis- _ takes? Who’s made one? . Why, I’ve got the whole scheme and the parties cinched ~~ clean. Tl go straight to Mr. Carter, re- - port, and see what he says.’’ Tom started faithfully enough for head- re but it was not fated that he should reach them. | Sen __ Half a mile further on, leisurely and thoughtfully trudging along, he eyed a form in advance speculatively ; then with a fancied tinge of recognition and theu with an eager interest that set all- his im- petuous nature agog on a new track of procedure at once. ; ~ “Tt’s her!’? breathed Tom. _ So certainly was it the woman he had seen with Rankin three hours previous, t Tom was enabled to compare a dozen siliar points in her attire with memory pictures of what he had noted when. in the-ice-box. Soa _ The woman was veiled, and was walk- like a person not exactly in a hurry, ‘still like one on business rather than pleasure bent. é ‘She carried a hand-bag of large size. ‘Tom noticed that it bulged as if well co It’s her!”’ he retold himself. ‘‘Where’s bound? For Sandoval? Why not? said ‘to-night.’ Say, I don’t dare lose her!” ‘NICK CARTER WEFKLY. only the natural temper of an irritable nature. She had not seen him at the cafe, he was sure of this. : Her glance revealed that she took him in carelessly as an ordinary street gamin, and Tom presumed on this supposition. He did a very bold thing. ‘‘Madam,’’ he said, humbly, ‘‘would you let-a poor fellow*earn a nickel carry- ing your hand-bag for you’’ : — CHAPTER VIL ROOM 156. ‘tom had offered to carry the woman’s hand-bag more to hide his embarrass- ment than anything else. To his surprise, she gave him a second keen ylance, and said: “Very well, if you need the nickel, I will let you earn it.’’ “Thank you, ma’am,’’? mumbled Tom. He puckered his lips toa speculative silent whistle as the hand-bag in question was delivered into his keeping. Here was a bold stroke, indeed!—a resolute facing of the enemy, a daring invasion of tabooed territory. What would Nick Carter say to this? wondered Tom, and. how was it likely to turn out? One thing Tom was positive about— the woman, with all her heartlessness, was perhaps spasmodically impulsive and generous, and had simply taken pity on his seemingly forlorn condition. One thing Tom was worried about— suppose she led him straight to some street corner or doorway where Rankin was. waiting for her? = Rankin had seen Tom, and would rec- ognize him. More than that, finding Tom free when, he supposed him caged up, Rankin would at once take the alarm and get himself and his colleague out of reach. Ste ay ‘Wish I knew her programme—wish I. knew what I interrupted Rankin telling her in the cafe,’ mused Tom. ‘If I only had that point, I’d know the motives of the whole game, and the case would be ended. Wonder what she’s got in the hhand-bag? I’m almost tempted to make a bolt with that. ning! = Th Se eoad Ss It might tell some--_ Tom ‘‘changed hands."” For A dmail a ] f 4 * #

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EA NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 17 : teceptacle, the hand-bag was certainly vety noticeable. “Weighty? I should say! Thirty pounds if an otnce,’’ ruminated ‘Tom. “Think it was gold, or lead.”’ Tom’s curiosity was aroused. He deftly swung the bag so that he could hold it 3 “with one hand and feel across its bulging surface with the other. — “Fat as a drover’s purse,’’ he com- mented. “Something soft .and flabby inside. Solid? I guess! What is it, anyway ?” Tom dented in the leather exterior with _~ a dozen finger pokes. — Then the ends of those fingers tingled and thrilled. - s “The dickens!’ he muttered. “ : He had made a sudden, a startling dis- _ covery. : ; Whatever the woman’s hand-bag con- tained, it was—alive! He had disturbed something, and it _ mioved—he had felt it, he could feel it __ how, for the bag vibrated as at the slight shifting of its contents. Tom got terribly excited. He could not help it Viola was a_sinister woman, and that nameless, mysterious something in her hand-bag predicted a sinister pro- ceeding. in the : ‘“What is it??? he puzzled his brain _ frantically, and was fingering the clasp of the bag preparatory to taking a sly peep, when the woman’s voice disturbed him. _. One square, two squares she had _pro- ceeded, grimly silent, and Tom had been _ thinking so hard, was so engrossed in the hand-bag that he had not noticed particu- _ larly the course she had taken. ~ _ Abruptly pausing under a flaring brack- vet street Jamp, the woman held out her d nd. ae “That will do,’’ she spoke. - Tom reluctantly delivered up the hand- : “Here's your nickel, boy.’’. It was a quarter she gave Tom. : “Thank you, ma’am,’’ said Tom, tip- his cap. ‘‘Why, what's this?’ ‘The woman had hurriedly entered a hallway. For the first moment noticing building, Tom was excited anew. _ ‘Tt was the hotel where Sandoval lived. Its name stood out plainly on the lamp. ter had spoken it-that afternoon, had even given Tom the number of San- doval’s room— 156. ‘‘Here’s business, ’’ muttered Tom, star- ing blankly at the door to the ladies’ en- trance, which had just closed on the trim figure of the woman with the mysterious haund-bag. Here was -business, indeed! Things were beginning to fit with a nicety, to move with.a rapidity that kept Tom’s head whirling. The woman Viola had promised Ran- kin to remove Sandoval from an earthly sphere that night. What but a move looking to that end in view could her presence at the hotel sig- nify ? ‘‘She’s on his track, hot and prompt,”’ thought Tom. ‘‘My! she’s a—corker! Pistols, knives, loaded flower-boxes—what next? Something doubly deadly this time. She told Rankin so. Is it in the hand- bag? If it is, it’s something alive. — It’s getting harrowing. Well, I’m at the right place to find out what, and at the right time, that’s sure.’’ : Tom. devoted a minute to practical thought. Should he follow the woman ? It would be difficult to keep direct on her trail. : : He entered the main entrance of the ho- tel, unnoticed among the many persons standing and lounging. around, slid into a seat near the clerk’s desk, and fixed his eye through a doorway commanding a perfect view of the private stairway of the hotel. : “‘She’s gone up, she can’t come down without my seeing her, if they don’t root me out from here,’’ formulated ‘l'om. “Front! Ladies’ parlor,’’ just here spoke the clerk, and Tom guessed that the new arrival had shot the button he. heard drop on the indicator behind the desk. A boy started swiftly across to the pri- vate staircase, flitted up it, was gone two minutes, flitted down again and up to the clerk’s desk. ; . “Lady in parlor. Register Mrs, Hul- — dah Warner, Poughkeepsie,’’ he an- -hounced, reading from a penciled strip of _ per. ieee _ “Any baggage?’ queried the clerk, tak- ing up his pen. ~ af ee Stas “No, sir—here youare.’? seth ea gu? Fs owe -_ fn > eye Se ae ee or

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; The a unpalmed a two-dollar bill, half turned away, his mission apparently executed, and then came back abruptly. “Wants ¥55-"2 **Hello!’’ jerked out Tom. “Eh? ejaculated the clerk. ‘Oh! probably directed by some old customer who knows our best rooms. Can’t have it. -Taken:’?’ ‘“Then she says 157 will do.”” I ‘Hello!’ projected Tom, still more forcibly. '*Tet’s' see. Front!’? and - --—s another boy came forward. ‘‘T'ake key and show lady in parlor to157."" Tom’s face was working with sentient _ thoughts. All the suspicions he had en- _ tertained for the past few moments were positive certainties now. “The woman Rankin had sent hither to __ kill King Sandoval had ‘managed to geta room directly next to him. “Thoroughly posted, she had arrived on _ the scene and had got in the best possible : position to carry out her deadly plans, _ without obstacle or delay interfering. _ Tom had sense. He knew that the average police officer in his present posi- tion, having both victim and plotter un- derthe same roof, and positive proof of their mutual relations, would simply call assistance, apprehend the woman red- handed, and ‘settle affairs at one easy stroke. But Tom had ‘enthusiasm, Sacavdeint ideas of “fine work,’’ a craving for bril- _ Hiant action, and all ‘that, ‘The way he had read it, real smart de- tectives like to play with their game like acat with a mouse—like to unwind the ra reel of mystery clear to the end. Sarva won't make any bad break. There’s > hurry. She’s only getting placed, and will begin her work ‘later,’’ theorized Tom. ‘“‘Let me see? It?s about eight "clock. She don’t know, and I don’t now if Sandoval i isin his room at all— aybe not even in the hotel. The ques- on to decide is, shall I hurry and report > Mr. Carter first,” or find out and warn i 2” Tom saw framed and ung on the side of the clerk’s high desk plan of the hotel. ‘There were five floors: He studied for a moment, and — located Room four fights up a: oa sient All right. NICK CARTER WEEKLY. the hotel, and, dibéding to the pian, three windows back from the sidewalk frontage. ‘'Pretty near find that in the dark, ne x murmured Tom. ‘‘Here, youngster, take a slide!”’ The hotel officer discovered Tom right here, and nudged him warningly. ‘tGot business,’? declared . Tom, prompted to dispatch it under urgency. “Get through with it, then.”’ Tom approached the clerk’s desk. “T wish to see Mr. Sandoval, Room 156,’’ he said. “Not to be disturbed. Come in the morning. Quite ilj,’’ chopped off the clerk, With a careless glance at Tom’s newsboy attire. The officer hustled Tom along and into the street before the latter could think out what was next best to do. , “Huh!” flared Tom; ‘‘guess they’d change their tune if they knew who I was, if I said ‘Nick Carter!’ He said never tell who you are, though, or your business, until necessary—never call in help till sure you’ve got everything just tight. Have I?” Tom knew he had a shrewd woman to deal with. Suppose, alarmed, she re- moved or destroyed all evidences of mur- , derous intent, or these were so subtle as not to be identified until employed, and denied Tom’s unsupported accusation ? ' “Pd like to get my eye on her, in that room, 157, for about five minutes,’? rumi- - nated Tom. ‘‘I’d just like to guess what she’s up to.”’ Tom looked along the inside wall of the hotel whence he knew the room in question faced. Next door was a two-story frame store, closed for the night. The upper floors of the hotel loomed above this. ‘One, two, three’’—Tom counted the windows from the front. ‘‘That’s her room next—lighted. Inside blinds closed, but there’s pang of light. Wish I was at short range! What’s the matter with going up the fire-escape?”’ Such a contrivance ran from the top of the hotel to the roof of the next building. That roof, therefore, was Tom’s first o jective point of ascent. It was not a difficult task to work es st _ way around to the rear. Within ten min-

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 19 utes Tom was on the roof in question, his hand on the first bar of the iron ladder. The side of the hotel where it ran was in comparative shadow from the bright corner electric lights, it was far enough ’ back from the «street to be out of near sidewalk range.. Tom went up the fire-escape till he reached its little grated platform in the . fourth story. - It ran between two windows, and. he _-was sure one of these was in Room 157, __ eceupied by the clairvoyant, the other in 156, occupied by Sandoval. Ashe had before noticed, 157 had a light inside—156 was shrouded in dark- ness. ; ; Tom guessed that Sandoval, with nerves badly shaken up by his latest re- -_ gent encounter, had retired to rest. He leaned cautiously towatd the win- dow of .the lighted room. There was no loop-hole in the lower sash blinds. ' Where the uppér set swung to, how- ever, there was a crack perhaps half an inch wide _ To this Tom applied his eye. The in- _ terior of the apartment was in plain view now. "The woman he.did not see at first. Her > "hat and veil and jacket lay on the bed, her handbag on the table. Ss * Finally, twisting himself. a_ little i around, Tom got amore complete view it? of the rear wall of the room. = floor. At work, and of all the queer things. in this. queer world, what in the name of goodness is she doing ?’’ _ He might well ask! om had arrived on the scene just in time to view as strange, as mystifying a Heoceeding as any. he had ever witnessed. —_——- CHAPTER VUIL / «> BABFLED. The clairvoyant sat on the floor right > against the wall of 156, Sandoval’s m, and she had an auger in her hand. With this she was boring a hole through [Sian ase ra i aT = A vs contesse om; ae “There she is, sitting down on the 2 sane he discovered, se ne wees manipulated the bright steel tool. Suddenly they paused. From her movements T'om could guess that the bit had pierced the first board, was probing in the empty space between it and the one three inches distant which fitted to the floor of Sandoval’s room. The clairvoyant simply got a start on the invisible board. Then she arose. Tom followed her every movement, fascinated. She first drew from her pocket a little instrument resembing a flute. This she placed on the floor near the hole she had made in the base board. An aperture, Tom estimated, with the auger withdrawn, to be about the size of a sil- ver dollar. Next she produce a fine steel ‘saw. This, too, found itself in place alongside the base board, evidently to be used in enlarging the hole, Then she lifted the hand-bag, placed it carefully on the floor in the same spot, and—— Turned out the light. “Oh, confound it!’ shot out Tom. It was an unexpected, a disappoint- ing climax to a most engrossing and omising spectacle, and Tom was of a sudden ‘‘all rattled to pieces.” “It’s guess work now,’ he declared. ‘Just as it was getting interesting, too!”’ Still, Tom was a good guesser, and, in his rough and ready way, in two minutes’ time had summed up she situation and decided what to do. The woman was not pédiiig a hole in the wall for nothing. What she was doing it for there was i only one way to find it out—to get'into the next room, and watch developments _ when that auger point came through. sae “Pye got to protect Sandoval, I've got to fasten attempted. assassination on her,’? mused Tom. ‘‘I can doitin the — next hour, if I’m not disturbed.”’ = ' Tom started out on a daring planin- stiintly. The window of Room*156 was just as near to his perch on the ee a as was Room 157. eras Tom found the window of Sandoval’s apartment open about an inch at the bot-_ that the blinds

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He set at work. That work ended very _ shortly in a suppressed sigh, but one of tremendous satisfaction and relief. _ He was in Sandoval’s room, ceasing to wonder any longer that porch-climbers SE on window sneak thieves were so com- , Ye pushed the blinds to as they had been. Then he stood ‘still n dismay, The ‘window had begun to descend of its own bs weigh. It stopped short of the sill, however, and there was no crash. -’T‘om tried to accustom his eyes to the darkness. _. Over in one corner was a bed with a screen before it. Sandoval undoubtedly lay there asleep. fom planned and planned and planned. He was like enthusiastic and excited. He would wait till the clairvoyant had developed her scheme to such an extent t proofs of its existence were undeni- ‘hen he ‘would wake up Sandoval, arouse the house, capture the woman, and, incidentally, all the glory of .a bril- —liant success in his first detective case! __ He sat down noiselessly on the floor, ut five feet away from the spot where 2 estimated the woman was at work at _ the other side of the partition, as eager, _as nerved up as a hound watching for the ippearance of its quarry. ‘There was the faintest glint of light in the world in the room, proceeding from some distant apartment facing on the hotel hall and getietthig dimly through transom. — ‘It’s. coming !’’ a ad Tom, after ithless spell of watchfulness. _ Burrow—pfit!—it was the auger push- ing out the last thread of wood. ; A ow. even cutting sound ensued. woman was enlarging the hole with Shen aap for it did its work al- “What next? | <om’s nerves were a ‘thrill now. What me through that hole—in what W the menace appear that was King Sandoval of his life? _ re was a distinct tustle i Lg the nent oe a aa ‘ NICK CARTER WEERLY. far distant aeolian’ strain, faint, soothing —so smooth and gentle as to be echoless —the low murmur of musical notes fol- lowed. The woman was certainly playing on the flute that Tom had seen in the next apartment. Tom began to grow uneasy. The situ- ation brooded. ominously. Things were so unreal as it puzzle him. The music ceased. There was a second tustle at the hole. Low, coaxing tones purred vaguely. Tom now had sight and soul centered raptly on the aperture. Outlines only he saw. Something blocked it, he could make that out. Something came through. Horrors! He gave a start that unnerved him so that he became cold and weak all over. A sluggish, wavy object blackened the floor sinuously, with two spots bright as fire where its head moved about. “*A snake!’ gurgled the appalled Tom, way down in his throat. The flash of conviction, the rapid mem- ory of the clairvoyant’s reference to her grewsome pets, back at the cafe, took Tom’s breath away. This woman, this siren, this snake- charmer, was sending a poisonous serpent ~to do her deadly work. And before Tom could move to get out of the way, before he could command voice sufficient to raise an alarm, the rep- tile, making for nearest human prey, was upon him. It crossed his feet, it wriggled its head upright with a frightful hiss. Paralyzed as he was with terror, Tom never could understand later what supreme power of will and energy spurred him up to make a fearful struygle for life. Like one inspired, he was on his feet instantly, and the snake, big, slimy, hiss- . ing, wriggling, was in his grasp—head nearest or tai] nearest,. he did not BROW. * he was too desperate to care. e: In a frenzied, frightened- way he was ty: swinging the snake around his mane Sees fast, faster! ; ae He let go. Sig Ae ae ~Crash!. . uarely for the transom | he aimed, olen it shot or the mark. = “

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NIGK CARTER WEEKLY. — 21 -and fellamid a shower of glass in the hall outside. Then Tom stood like a statue, rigid. His heart seemed to have ceased beating during the terrible ordeal he had gone through. He waited for those life-taps to resume, During all-this time he had not uttered a word, had not made the slighest noise. The crash, however, so near, so clear, _ must have alarmed the woman in the next room. Tom heard her. low, purring voice at the aperture. Then he saw come through it, beckon- ing, flittering brilliant jewels, as if to at- tract or encourage her silent ay: a white, small hand. “In reach!’ he uttered, in one fervent gasp. He made a noiseless spring. Out shot his own sinewy fingers, true and sure as an eagle clutch. He had the woman he could not see by the wrist firmly. She uttered a frightened cry and tried to break free. ‘Listen!’ spoke Tom. ‘‘I know you —Viola, the clairvoyant. Listen! I know your accomplice, Rankin. Listen! I know your purpose—to kill the man _. sleeping in this reoom—Sandoval”’ Dismay, fright, rage, mingled in a flut- tering hiss from the woman’s lips. : Struggle, and I yell,’’ pursued Tom. “Pye got you. If your hand was red-hot, I wouldn’t let go.’ _ ‘*Who—who are you 12? ‘fA detective!’ voiced Tom, proudly, and he was right! ““VYou—you are a boy—— **Perhaps, but I had a man’s work to do, and I’ve doneit. See here; I give you a chance. Bad as you are, you are a little fish. It’s the main guy we want. Tell me truthfully where he is to be found, now, right here—what is he put- ” = ‘ting King Sandoval out of the way for, and I’ll be light on you.” — Tom felt the woman’s. arm shiver— with hope or dread, he could not distin- — guish which, ““You will??? she voiced, feebly. “Yes, I will,’’ promised Tom. _ “Bend nearer. Get your face close to the hole. I will whisper to you, but no one else must hear.’ ‘Vest! yes}? All eagerness, Tom bent down to the aperture. Too late he realized that at the acme of positive triumph there had come per- manent disaster. The woman had deftly reached through ‘her other hand. Up into Tom’s face flew some subtle liquid. It dizzied sight, it robbed him of strength, it deadened sense. With a groan he relaxed his hold on the fair white wrist. CHAPTER IX. A HOT CHASE. ‘Help $9 Tom fancied he uttered that word in an appalling scream, loud enough to reach the farthest corners of the hotel. In reality it was a weak, choked whis- per, exaggerated by his distorted senses. His brain only was active. His body held in thrall by the deadly liquid the clair- voyant had thrown into his face, Tom was like a person in a nightmare. “Mercy !”? A second deluge of the volatile stuff— . burning, stinging, blinding—struck him. This time Tom went back with a thud. The action helped him, however. It took him out of further reach of the woman who seemed to be prepared to kill or deaden to order. ‘‘Some poison—it will reach Sandoavl, it will end both of us!’’ gasped Tom. The powerful drug was diffusing itself through the room. Had it not been for the shattered transom and the slightly taised window, Tom would have probably dropped inert at once. As it was, he could just hitch himself along on one hand and one knee, likea person grievously wounded. The movement took him out of range of the woman, but that was not entirely what Tom was after. He.wished to reach Sandoval on the bed, to arouse, to warn him ere the dead- ly poison did its work. Tom kept mumbling chokingly. Cry out he could not. His tongue was like a

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22 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. : cinder, the vocal channels seemed clogged up, paralyzed. At last he reached the screen. He tipped it over in rounding it; at last he ¢ touched the bed. “King— your majesty — Sandoval!’’ called Tom, huskily. There was no response, “Danger — kill. Arouse yourself! There’s—no—one—there !’ That announced Tom’s discovery. The bed was tenantiess. It had not even been slept in. For a second, rather stunned at the rev- ‘elation that he had been risking life to :. aid a man not at all in peril or even in _* present evidence, Tom almost collased. ss "Phen he ealized his own danger. He must fight the deadly fumes hovering about him. Tom reached the door. No key. He _ feebly fingered the knob, but he did not ___ possess sufficient strength to raise himself wa” by it, Pressing his lips close to the crack under the door, he got enough clear air aS = to shout. ‘This he did, once, twice, as lond as he ee ‘He heard an utterance of dismay in the next room, the sound of a hastily optned Sie co, ‘Tt closed with a slam; a diced swished,, footsteps echoed down the hall. - “She’s going, she's gone!’ almost wailed Tom. “Help! Fire! Police! Oh, _ she’s going to give me the slip!’’ _____ No one responded to Tom’s cries. A aera of the escaping woman aroused him. He had not strength to force the seers but there was the window. ' Slowly, pi aera he reached it—one Pest e pure cool air coming in at a4 eae sitans went through him like an Siglecttic shock. - _He had the sash up ina jiffy. He got out on the fire-escape platform. = There Tom clung for a minute or two, ‘recovering from the effects of the drug that had so nearly overcome him. come _ All through the ordeal his brain had erved its normal functions to the full- est degree—now it became doubly active. “Don’t dare venture into that room Tom told himself. Feta time : sign, thence to a “A ie ay se mai mer naineees. its She has fled—there is no doubt of it. Left that snake behind. Won't it create a sensation! And Sandoval wasn’t in the toom at all!’ All the manifold details of the situa- tion tumbled incoherently over one an- other in Tom’s mind. The main issue, however, rose clear as crystal before him—he must not lose sight of the clairvoyant. Tom went down the fire-escape ladder faster than he had come up it, reached the flat roof of the two story frame build- ing next adjoining, ran to its front and peered over the cornice. ‘In time!’’ he fluttered, staring down. Viola, the claivoyant, had just left the private entrance to the hotel. She flitted down the pavement past his range of vision with rapid, nervous steps. Suddenly she paused, turned her head, caught sight of a cab coming tearing down the street, and glided to the curb, holding up her finger. “Quick !’’ she said, simply. The driver only half halted his horse. “*Cab?’’ he queried. ‘“Ves—double fare, but quick !”’ **Got a load, ma’am. Wait one minute, half a minute; deliver just around the corner. ‘Then at your service.’’ ‘Hurry!’ breathed Viola, in an in- tense tone. Tom understood her anxiety. She feared pursuit from the hotel at any mo- _ ment. He saw his opportunity all the clearer, too, he fancied, because he knew the cab- man. On whirled the conveyance, the woman keeping on down the sidewalk to meet it — as quickly as possible when it returned. One swift, comprehensive glance Tom took of his roof environment. ; He had a task to perform, and he be- lieved himself able to execute it—reach the hext street and interview the cabman before the woman met him. It was a fearful rush and tumble. The toofs were unequal, some slanted, some were broken or littered, but Tom was. dauntless. — “ He nearly broke his neck as he rencbisd 3 the corner structure, and dropped to + % sidewalk, and was up to load. ph

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‘Bill!’ he panted. “Hello!” ejeulated cabby, with a stare —it’s Tom!’’ ; . “It is. Listen. Keep driving,’’ and _ «Tom bolted to the seat beside the aston- ished driver. : x sé Eh ?» '. **Woman waiting——”’ _ _ “Yes, just hailed me. How do you _ know? Where did you come from ?”’ “Roofs. Chasing her. Bill, old a friends?” : —. “You bet!” “Then listen. Just take herin. Let -mesit here. I must shadow that woman e.?? “Get up!’ _ Bill urged up his horse. Tom grabbed ip a lap robe and enveloped himself in it till he was unrecognizabie. ere He was barely in time, for the clair- Voyant came bolting around the corner in a fever of hurry just then. She casta quick glance back of her, and running out into.the street opened cab door for herself. Fly!’ she ordered, E It’s driver ‘made the wheels spin till they had gone Several squares. ee Then a definite. order as to destination me up from inside. Tom sat mufiied like a mummy, but linking like a Trojan. FS He guessed that the woman would eith- fait to her home or some place ere Rankin was. s his friend the cabman turned into street the woman had just named, m leaned toward him. ‘Bill,’? he whispered. . ention!’? came the prompt, low- : es : sone : = When you leave me—— When I leave you—where ?”’ Where the woman lands, of course.’ Drive to Nick Garter’s.”” __ “Hello! Ate you on that lay?’ bolted 5; ill, wonderingly. : Ears ; Fe ore you remember something _ hand, shot down, and he duc tarily, he knew not why, NV did not save him, NICK CARTER WEEELY. 23 ‘“Pell Mr. Carter and Bill went over the message word for word twice in succession Jike a child memorizing a les- son. “‘That’s it, Don’t forget Sandoval— don’t mix the names. Here we are.”’ At a word from the woman the cab cir- cled to the curb in front of a grim, shut- tered two story house. It was detached, and as Viola, tossing a bank-note to the cab driver, alighted, ran up somes steps, unlocked a door, and let herself in, Tom dropped from the seat, and, with a wave of the hand to Bill, glided into the dark side passageway. He heard the cab rattle away, and he chuckled. Nick Carter would temporarily take King Sandoval off his hands. The king would be safe till Tom found time to persqnally report to the detective. “Tve run the woman to her den—the rest is easy,’’ decided Tom. He crouched between the two build- ings and listened. He could plainly hear some one inside the house ascend a pair of stairs. Then a window over his Head was flung open, and a blaze of light struck the op- posite wall. Zz Some one passed in the street—a man seemed to enter the house, and Tom fair- ly wriggled, as a minute later, overhead he plainly distinguished the sound of voices. ‘The clairvoyant—Rankin,’’ he mur- mvred. ‘‘He must have been on the watch for her return near by. Hope he didn’t see me dodge in here! I’ll lay mortal quiet for a spell.” Tom devoted his energies principally to listening, but he could catch no intel-. ligible words from overhead, and sudden- ly, even the hum of voices died away. He was debating what he should next do, when, chancing to look up at that broad square of light, reflected on the op- posite brick wall, he caught the outlines of active shadows. = He moved to get up and look up direct. -As he did so, as he rose, a fluttering cry of dismay escaped his lips. Something shadowed in a human edinyolun-

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a4 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. - It caught him about, the waist, impris- oning his arms. - There was a sharp jerk, and up aloft went Tom. He had nothing to catch at, and he went up between the two brick walls with many a scrape and knock. He was dragged. through the lighted window space just as he expected. Looking up, like ‘a. hooked fish wrig- gling at the end of a line, he met the hard, fierce glances of Rankin and the clairvoyant, just as he had anticipated. The man slammed down he window, pulled the shade, and his lips grew stern. _ The woman glared at Tom piercingly, and in the depths of her dark eyes Tom - yead hatred and cruelty. ‘*You were right, Rankin,’’ she said. | ‘It is the boy who carried amy hand-bag, therefore, the one Idosed in Sandoval’s room, ’’ _— *Andthe boy we discovered in the ice- _ box at the cafe, and whom I supposed to be in safe keeping there yet. Lucky I saw him dodge from the cab. Lucky you las- - goed him. Now then, my young friend, _ ‘you sit there and answer questions. ’’ ee He lifted Tom and fairly threw him _ into a chair. Tom tried to look saucy and act independent. ‘Oh, I don’t know!’ he remarked. Sic “We have no time to trifle,’’ spoke the man, rapidly, and with vigor. ‘You will answer one ‘question promptly without evasion, or we will make a short shrift for you. Who put you up to shadowing 2 pn? eee ‘*1°}] answer nothing ’’ began Tom. _ *#The crystal room—no time for. fool- _ ing, Rankin!’ cried Viola. hese people meant every word they - said—Tom learned that ba next mo- ment. Se oe Be aah seized him; fe woman tore open a door. Into a room and upon a broad couch in its centre Tom was flung. ‘Slam! went the door—hiss—hiss! A __ series of ominous sounds ensued. Tom tried to get up, failed, tried again, ‘didn’t even want to; experienced a delightful - languor, and, half guessing he was in an _ apartment su lied by faucets with some ‘exhilarating but deadening © es] he sank eae ne _ will see to the other end of the affair.’ CHAPTER X. FOUR HOURS. ‘*And the boy ?”’ ‘tT will attend to the boy.’’ | Tom shuddered. Where washe? He | did not-know. He did know, however, that the speakers were Rankin andthe . clairvoyant, and that the tones of the lat- _— ter contained a deadly menace that | chilled him. Darkness was all about him. The speakers wete in another room, but neither they nor himself were in the apartments where he had last lost con- sciousness—Tom felt'sure of this. ; “It’s a bad bungle, I’ll admit,’’ came Viola’s voice again. ‘‘We’ve had to de- sert the city house for fear this boy sent ._ some word to that—that—oh! I could seratch his eyes out !—Nick Carter!’’ ‘Yes, he’s in the case,’’ spoke Rankin. - Then we are not safe here. It’s fix the boy so he can’t ever take the witness stand, and get out of the country. If - Nick Carter knows the whole scheme, he'll never rest till we’re placed where we won’t trouble Sandoval for some years to come.”’ ; The woman’s teeth clicked viciously. Tom could hear them. It momentarily lighted up his anxiety, and uncertainty to hear this wholesome praise of the great detective. . “‘No!’’ answered Rankin, definitely. “No, what?”’ “Leaving the country, getting scare: abandoning a good hundred thousand dol- lars, more nearly in our grasp than ever.”’ ‘*You don’t mean it, Rankin!’’ ; sey do. ”» “Why——” Pog ‘‘Listen. I am satisfied that although _ Nick Carter is in this case, that drugged boy in the next room has not communi- cated to him. his suspicions, clues, or a -whatever he may have—yet.”’ 7 ‘He never shall, then!” grated the Fr woman. fe “*T leave that to you. You say he will 3 not come out.from under the influence of his medicine for several hours. Don't oe ‘ Z “33 him ever. You attend to him sdlely; I “You have found a way to encompass your designs penne = eeu iy a ee it he ooes sigete

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NICK CARTER. WEEKLY. £6 “Ah, then I slip up on my ten thou- sand dollars !”? muttered Viola, Cisspporit edly. ., “Not a bit of it. . Listen.” - Tom listened, too, with all his might, and he came nearer to listen. B..~He sat up on what felt like a mattress. He got off it. _ There was a window—open. ‘These - were careless plotters! No, they had - only depended too fully on their drugs. _. Looking down ten feet, Tom saw a horse standing attached to a light wagon. . ‘*Why, I’m good as free!’ he fluttered. - Then he neared the partition beyond which the voices sounded, came up against shaky door, glued his eye to a crack, and fancied himself the luckiest boy that ever tried to become a detective. : “Tisten,’’? repeated Rankin. ‘‘This boy seems to be one of that drove of med- dling pupils Nick Carter is letting loose “on the community.”’ “Some of them have done some pretty thorough work, all the same,’’ muttered Viola. ‘This one won’t. It’s thite o’clock in morning now. Before this hour ar- Tives again, King Sandoval will have re- ved his quietus.”’ “Vou are sure?’ seo is now, at-this ine, speeding straight, so surely to his death, that hing but a miracle can save him. tee The woman uttered an impressive sigh epee and suspense. ‘Tom. thrilled ominous announcement. _“Briefly,”’ pursued Rankin, ‘(when you d last night I said four times and 5 dere your reproach,” murmured ‘woman, bitterly, ‘‘but I did my And no fault I found. I learned that oval, frightened by the flower-box Ah! my work would have been fruit- s then » even if this us had not intet ly. I decided ona bold 1 move. I il ate ae clerk ess, ‘had not ame to his room at the ““Then,’’? continued Rankin, ‘‘I re- solved on a daring move—to risk all. Heretofore 1 had kept strictly in the background. I formulated my plan, I made sure where Sandoval was, I pre- pared my game, and I went to see him.’ “Well!” *“He was glad to meet me again. I led the conversation promptly to the attempts on his life. I told him that knowledge of the same had brought me from Rochester, post haste, to his side—I persuaded him that the attempts on his life were being made by hired emissaries of the insur- gents of his home kingdom of Norona.”’ ‘*A clever play,’’ commented the clair- voyant. x “T told him that a messenger from his kingdom, friendly to him, had come to the home of my sister, expecting to find him with her. He brought some impor- tant papers. How IJ arranged the details, never mind, but I succeeded in convine- ing Sandoval that he must be at a certain remote place with that box of papers at a certain hour to-day, to meet the messen- ger, who dared not show himself in New York. With that box of papers closely sealed, I saw Sandoval take “the two o’clock train on the Midland Central for Doversville, forty miles west-of here.’ ‘““Why! what was your object ?’’ “‘He will reach Doversville at four o’clock. lenjoined him to speak to no one, to evade being seen, to cling to that box, to stop nowhere. Alighting at Dov- ersville he will start along the track of a branch railroad on foot, which I de- scribed to him. There is not a station for — twenty miles, and that is Martinsburg. I told him to reach that place, at about ten ‘o’clock in the morning. He would find his friend there. ’’ ‘‘Rankin,’’ interrupted the clairvoyant, “what can all this circumlocution mean ?”? ““Success. ” “How > “Our man will never reach Martins: = burg.”? SS ae “Ah? zoe 1 ‘‘No, At exactly eight orclock, at some = lonely stretch of. os — Sandoval =e will: meet his s doom.’ se

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“The box of papers is not a box of pers.” . $"P hen—-—?? ‘But,’ continued Rankin, impressive- ly, “a box of dynamite, supplied with a clock work fuse, timed to strike fire at just eight o’clock this Morning | “*Clever!’? Horrible!’ The listening Tom broke into a cold perspiration. He almost fell against the ramshackly door. His breath came in painful gasps. The cool heartlessness of these plotters, the sure, direful danger menacing King San- doval, appalled him. . _ “In other words,’’ concluded Rankin, lifting from his pocket a long envelope and waving it triumphantly, ‘‘by noon. _ to-day the telegraph will announce that enough ‘of an unfortunate being has been _ picked up along the tracks near Martins- burg to be identified as the remains of ‘Sandoval, king of Norona, ‘Before a week, on the strength of that on ‘identification, I shall present this to the _ proper parties, and draw my well-earned - reward—one hundred thousand dollars.’’ In indescribable agitation, Nick Car- ter’s newsboy friend wavered where he ~ stood. He noted the official-looking envelope, he observed on the table where the two _ plotters sat, at Rankin’s elbow, a revolver _-—he teok in every detail of his environ- mentin a frenzy born of desperate re- solve. — _- Was ever such ‘4 cold-blooded crime ~ meditated ?—was ever human being placed in the terrible circumstances of responsi- bility that now surrounded him? He for- got for the moment that he was Nick. P Garter ’s pupil, an emissary of justice—he became a purely impulsive, generous-. hearted boy only, indignant at an awful wrong, inspired to save the life of an im- periled human being. _ Creak—he drew the door open ina ar he flash. Grab—grip—one hand tore the en- velope from the grasp of the astounded Ran in, the other snatched up the revol-_ at his. elbow. Move, and I fire!’ rang out clear and gasapistolshot. = b hokeoe 1 scream if he—— ie NICK CARTER WEEKLY. “Escapes? I’ve done it!’’ Doughty Tom finished the sentence. He fairly slid back into the room. He was across it and at the open window in a twinkling. He heard the others after him. It was a leap for life—a race for life after that. He barely glanced down. Then he poised on the windpw sill, a deliberate purpose in view. Slam !—he landed where he aimed for —the box of the wagon below. Undoubtedly this vehicle had been em- ployed .by Rankin to bring him to this secluded part of Jersey City. The sharp noise aroused the unhitched horse. It started up with a snort. Tom was flung to the floor of the wagon. Scrambling up, he saw two void, _white faces back at the window of the house from which he had just escaped. Tom got hold of the whip, and lashed up the horse. His initial idea was to get beyond pursuit. This point he safely covered, after one ortwoturns, Then he began to know where he was. ‘The Midland?’ he soliloquized, breathlessly. ‘‘That must be two miles away. Left at two? The explosion at eight. If I only had wings!”’ Heart and soul, mind, nerves, energy —Tom became an ardent living spirt of resolve and endeavor as he flew down the deserted streets. The horse was in a lather, his hands chafed and cut with urging and holding the steed, as he drew up beside the fence surrounding the track yards of the Mid- land Central Railroad. “ec Whoa! ~” 2 Tom jumped from the wagon, aban- doning it, and darted through a break in the fence. : He made out the passenger depot per- haps three hundred yards ahead, with — few lights and little stir or action about it. t Here, however, an engine puffed on the main track, seemingly coaled and watered for some early morning run. — Near it was a shanty, with several men a lounging, fixing lanterns and ie teady for work. Tom approached one of them who was acme ane Loved sf gee on a Bice S r]

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cla Aaa _ **Mister,’? he said, - the Midland?” sy “Sure. oe I - “J want to get to Doversville.’’ ‘Right place, my son.”’ “How soon ?”? : “Two hours — first train out six > o'clock.” _ **And when do we arrive?’’ inquired ~ Tom, dubiously. __**Slow local—eight-forty-five.”’ “T can’t wait!’ answered Tom, vehe- ‘mently. BY _ ‘Got to, I reckon. No other road runs ‘there, and—you see that engne?’? asked the man, pointing to the one steamed > 3 sharply, ‘“‘this is _ Ves,’’ nodded Tom. “T run her—twenty-three. She takes ut the Doversville accommodation.’’ Tom retreated to the fence. On a pile f rails he sat down. He was quivering with uncertainty, citement, suspense. _ He must overtake King Sandoval— ww? Z Every moment was precious. At eight —o’clock—four brief hours’ ahead—the timed box of dynamite would go off. ace graph? The local offices were not open. SHasten to the eerrice? A’ vital rt would be lost. A phantom picture crossed Tom’s mind at that instant, and made jim almost : was that. “ef the man he had_ been ed’to watch by Nick Carter—innocent, ing the lonely railroad tracks, for Martinsburg Slbescte ny a of ixctal, vital exigency. ‘Tom’s eye was Ria with a mad, y eroic resolve. - Lo _grasped the the throttle aed-foay feat nce to stop him, and his. ; Wee. Sel ee eee NICK CARTER WEEKLY. _@7 Toot-toot ! Tom knew something about the inte- rior mechanism of a locomotive, but not sufficient to start up without a jerk that sent his cap spinning, and the wheels of the engine plowing the polished rails with a rippetty-rip whir that brought the men about the railroad shanty to their feet in consternation. Hg was off with a thrill, and one glance ahead, showing the main track set with clear signals. He gave the whistle- tope a triumphant jerk. Then Tom subsided to the cushioned seat of the engineer, trembling from head to foot, his hopeful yet apprehensive heart going like a trip hammer. “T’ve done it! There’s no backing out now,’’ he breathed. ‘‘Fifteen minutes after four.’’ Tom read the time on the little cab - clock, and reckoned as far as he could the chances of his arriving safely at his pro- posed destination. Until clear out of the city, he passed ~ only a dozen persons—two were watch- men, the others railroad ep. a going to their work, They simply stared after the scudding “*special,’’ which they supposed it to be. Where there were a lot of switches, a man in the signal tower made *some frantic gesticulations from its window. Not-understanding them, Tom could not heed them. It was fortunate that he had done what no regular engineer had ever dared to. do—cross the tracks of two other systems without stopping—at an _early hour when trains were few. ‘Seven mileé,’? read Tom from a fly- ing mile post. ‘‘How long has it taken? Sixteen minutes. At this rate I shall be at Doversville before siz o’clock. I dare go faster now.’’ Tom grew calmer as moments and miles sped away. There were two sets of rails, few switches, and he ventured to increase speed slowly.! ; He passed the depot of quite a idan town. . There was some stir about it, and — he pulled the lever another notch, for he | the train crew ee telegraph — and apes to reach: local

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_ the steam valves haphazard. Everything seemed to be going all right. ' Aslight qualm of fear oppressed Tom as he fancied the results of his wild es- capade. He had blocked a system, disturbed its schedule—he might wind up in damage and disaster. : **Can’t help it,’’ piped Tom. ‘‘What’s _, forty railroads to one human life? Let her go!. My!” Tom held his breath as he turned a - eurve. A locomotive ahead seemed bear- ing directly down on him, but as it came nearer it passed safely on the other track. His joy knew no bounds as he flashed ont a little station bearing the indication _ that it was thirty miles from the city. “It was just twenty-five minutes of six. = “T shall be in time, sure—a full two __» hours to put after Sandoval,’’ calculated — Tom. ‘What's this?—what’s this?’’ ' “Tom, of course, had no means of know- ing that No. 23 here left the train, re- © yersed, and got headed right for a return to the city after running up to Dovers- ville, so before he knew it he was off on - aspur track and headed for a turntable. ‘om turned pale as he snatched at the _ locomotive © halted. with. a jerk, two _ wheels off the rails, and tilted dangerous- _ ly for the turntable pit, which it had nar- : Sawiy escaped going into. He tried to get it back on the track, SS te aait made matters worse instead. Stuck!’ he muttered, grimly—‘‘now _ whatever am I to do?’’ | ih here seemed nothing for it but to foot a it the remaining ten miles. ts - Tom was a good runner, and in shape for a fair sprint, but he doubted very - much if he could overtake Sandoval be- fore eight o’clock now. ~ He buckled manfully down to his task, however. Back the. spur track he ran, headed see the main road bed, and just Tilted up again the. structure was the ‘railroad agent’s bicycle. Tom’s eyes anced No one was in view, and he had ae a rails iu peeking, = es reat ” he voi as he got t g ivance, and Se Se ahead at lever and throttle. He turned paler as the - Tom checked his giance at a spot so «thirty feet from NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Doversville! There was the sign—here was his destination at last. Tom ditched the bicycle, ran to the depot pump, took a deep draught of cool- ing water, and glanced in at the depot window. ‘Just five minutes after six he mur- mured. ‘‘Oh, say! is this the railroad running to Martinsburg ?’’ A man passing in a loaded farm wagon nodded assentingly in reply to the ques- tion, and Tom started down a single road bed leading into the timber. According to Rankin’s statement this was the route Sandoval would pursue. He must have got pretty near to Martins- burg by this time,’’ Tom decided. ‘*There’s just one thing sure,’’ he rum- inated—‘‘between here and Martinsburg I shall find him. There’s only one thing | to do—count on running twenty miles in two hours, if necessary and keeping my eye out sharp soI don’t pass him on the way.” After proceeding what he judged to be about twelve miles, Tom was more ex- cited than flustered as he sat down ona heap of railroad ties to rest. “IT shall catch Sandoval before eight o’clock,’’ he told himself, confidently, ‘Pye run the first twelve miles in a little over an hour. It was a spurt, but—I won't be beat! I'll take a look around and forge ahead.”’ Tom climbed to the top of the heap of ties. It was loose, it was wobbly but he got a secure foothold at its apex. Shading his eyes with his hands, he took a good look down the straight road bed. re ‘*No one in sight,’’ he reported. ‘‘San- doval’s got a good lead on me, that’s sure.”? aoe Tom wondered if he might not have passed Sandoval, and he trembled in- wardly. + . But as he swept the rugged, brambly stretch lining the railroad he was reas- sured, for no sane being would choose ~ such a difficult course wheu offered the much smoother route of the neifaged track ways. Just completing this survey, ‘ibeeae + the ‘tracks, stared ha a es

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_ peered closer yet, and gave utterance to a startled : **T declare!’’ He was very greatly surpirsed at what he saw—so much sothat it took hima minute or two to realize fully what he had discovered. — It’s my man, it’s Sandoval,’’ breathed Tom. ‘‘Lucky? oh, just!’’ Over near a lot of straggly bushes, ly- ing flat on the ground, apparently sound asleep, was the kingly personage in whom Tom had taken so powerful an interest during the past twenty-four hours. Not a bit royal looking, however, was the ruler of Norona. His attire was disor- dered, his features were flushed and swol- ~ Ten, and by his side was a token that he - -was ruled by a monarch stronger far than _ himself. a ‘Two kings,’? mused Tom—‘‘King Sandoval and King Alcohol, and the last holds the winning hand at present. Too bad. Mr. Carter says he drinks to drown his troubles. He’s been dousing them good since daybreak, then, for there’s a quart bottle, and it’s empty.”’ Tom reasoned out the situation, San- ‘doval, afcer being put aboard the train by Rankin, had secured the liquor in some _ way, had solaced his lonely walk from . Doversville with frequent potations, had aegis off the course and had dropped » “Box and all, +8 eadae Tom. ‘‘Say, o think of it! Fifty masked deaths in that — ittle box, and—he’s got it under his head ‘asa pillow!” — Tom thrilled. and his Savers twitched, Ww gingerly would he remove that box aS hurl it rods_away from lith something like the irrepressible ah- f the miner who calls - ire i the venturesome explorer thrills the air with an echoing ‘‘Ex- _ ” on some far mountain top, Tom pool of water he saw at nigra he mace a sage for- NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 29 after a cviigaree 32d blur, and then—knew the worst. It was the very worst. Ina word, he had dislodged the loose logs forming the heap of ties, and they had borne him down, imprisoning him. Tom did not mind the bruises and scratches he experienced, the terrific blow. on the head that had so nearly stunned him, the excruciating pain of one limb now held as in a vise way back in the topsy-turvy heap. It was his utter helplessness that con- founded him. In a frenzied way Tom re- alized that he was a captive, held so close, so firmly, that to move meant to bring down upon him a score of crushing logs, that, unaided, he could never hope to es- cape. It was singular how, without breaking every bone in his body, the mass held both feet from the knees down in a clasp as neat as if artificially produced. Tom looked about him in despair. ““Tcan’t get out without help, I ma as well make my mind up to that,’’ he muttered, grimly, at last. ‘*What time is it? Pretty near half-past seven. I must wake Sandoval up, arouse him to his - danger, dispose of the dynamite and get him to help me out of this fix.’ Tom fancied that an easy task, but he found out his mistake after ten minutes’ effort. He shouted at Sandoval, he whistled, he screamed. The man might be deaf, stone dead, for all the attention he paid. — “This is serious!’? muttered Tom. ‘“‘Why, if I shouldn’t be able to arouse him——”’ Tom’ shear stood still, and Le shud-— dered as he thought out the balance of ES that dread sentence. Sandoval was some twenty feet from him, and the bushes screened him : slightly. Tom reached out for all the missiles i in view. _They were not numerous—a few _ bark pieces of aot and fragments of T _ a _ He began ito. oy. these at tne fi with no effect. ‘slum berer Beret short of their mark from sheer a lightness, others graze < ‘th it cack

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= “He! s dead gone, and we’re both gone oe decided Tom, glooniily, after half an hour of futile shouting and fusilading. “Tes drawing near the hour. It’s pretty close up to—oh, what’s that!” Seat Was <a ‘low; ) ominous, whirring -sound. It came directly from inside the box that pillowed the head of the sleeping EX. King Sandoval, but it never ruffled his sodden wits. _ ‘We're a goner!”’ pronounced Tom, in an awed, lots whisper. ‘‘The dynamite is beginning to go off!” CHAPTER XII. =<, THE SECRET OUT. eo Tom counted the seconds and held his breath. —‘*It?ll soon be over,’’ he choked up. “Pye done my duty, and Nick Carter will say so!”” - It was hard to give up life at the hreshold of a great victory, but Tom ced that whirring dynamite box bravely. Real defectives have pluck. Tom had lots of it, and he never winced as he real- ized that he could scarcely escape the fate that menaced the andiarsieeping Sando- Tom had set his lips ‘frmly: had _half- He opened them ab- . _ ‘*Won- - what it was, after all? That wretch nkin will get his hundred thousand What for? Have I time to find out? bie-deace 2? From his coat pocket Tom drew forth Bask per he had snatched from eipiigh s e Gacely 2 scanned it. One glanes was ficient to enlighten him. — a Sandoval’s life is insured for ars in favor of © om. The yak he was in re must have filled the king liquor, had him examined, _ wing ity: se con a 2p : a, insurance | policy—the secret ankin !’? cried NICK CARTER WE KLY. useless to him in his present predicament, fluttered to the ground. The sounds he had just heard told him that the fuse inside the box of dynamite had probably been lighted. Tom’s fingers closed about tle revolver he had taken from his pocket with the paper—the weapon with which he had reowed its owner, Rankin. He fired a shot in the air, and eagerly watched Sandoval. The latter never moved. It seemed as if a cannon fired at his ear would fail to arouse him, so profound was his sleep. Then Tom pricked up his ears anew. Another sound, a louder sound, drowned out all those clicking, whirring demon- strations from the box under Sandoval’s head. ‘TA train!’ he breathed. “I hear it. I see it. The headlight, the cab. Stop! Hey! Help! help! help!’ Tom screamed like a madman. His eyes started from their sockets, he waved one hand frantically. ‘They must stop!’’ he aed, shrilly. Bang—bang—bang—hbang! What guided his hand but frenzied im- pulse Tom could not tell, but every shot told on the windows of the cab. Toot! toot! down brakes; hiss-swish! the train came to a stop. ‘“Phis way!—oh, this way!’’ shouted Tom. ‘‘What’s this? Who fired? Train rob- bers?’’ demanded the engineer, storming up to the spot, an iron bar in his hand. “No, say—quick! See that man asleep?’ ‘See him? I should say——’’ 7 “The box under his head—oh, for mercy’s sake! No delay, no questions. Get it. That's it. Throw it far as you can!”? i . “Burr-rr-r!’’ . ee If the quick pistol shots and the crash- ing panes in the cab had startled the en- gineer, the frightful, awful explésion ‘of the dynamite box, hurled into the water _ pool just in time, fairly scared am out * He his wits. = Running for his life back to the rae motive, his clothing riddled with gravel fired like bullets, drenched with a deluge — _ like’ a waterspout, he was are, in t like adie ce

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- King Sandoval woke up at last. He Stared vaguely about him. “What was that ?’”? he maundered. ~ “Your death-warrant!'’ pronounced Tom, solemnly. “‘What do you say!”’ “**Voided by a supersedeas from Nick Carter—arrived just in time!”’ The conductor of the train, supported by a crowd of passengers, came hurrying pale-faced to the spot. For ten minutes life was an incoherent whirl to every person in the vicinity. They even made Tom tell his story rover twice before they consented to set him free. Z Then, as he was helped to the train, -the wonderful thing he had done began > to dawn on the throng, and he was a hero clear to the next station. = Tom was in bad shape for walking __ with his bruised limbs, but’ he had the sense and courage to immediately impress ® the telegraph into his service. ; Nick Carter got a very complete idea of what had happened, and who had caused it to happen, within the next hour. Tom and Sandoval were directed by the detective to return to New York on the noon train. _ heir reception at the city depot was in the nature of an ovation. Nick and several of his students formed - one welcoming party, a group of report- __ ers another. The Sandoval case was public property at last, because, through Tom's direc- tions, the arrest of both Rankin and the clairvoyant, Viola, had been consummated that morning. Tom was a happy boy when, an hon- = ored guest in the detective’s house that afternoon, Nick Carter told him that every Sas ege, Blind. Billy, was pres- = oval had been inquiring into irs, Satine the past: hour, and he had ed t the little fellow, gs well a Tom, beyond all danger of ‘before he returned to his king- “Whats the ull account of’ th hollering outside, Tom ?’’ asked Bille as ears np caught the et calls publications from your newsdealer, five cents a copy will NICK CARTER WEEKLY. KI Tom blushed, too modest to tell. “It’s about this young hero, Billy,” said Sandoval, placing a grateful hand on Tom’s shoulder— ‘it’s about the won- derful exploits of Nick Carter’s Newsboy Friend.’’ “Right!’’ nodded the detective him- self. ‘*Full account of a boy who is able to give a most excellent account of him- self, as the central figure in elucidating the ins and outs of the Great Sandoval Mystery. ”’ THE END. The next number will contain ‘‘Work- ing in the Dark; or, A Novice Lends a Helping Hand.” === 4 5.1¢ LATEST ISsvUuEeS, 222—Nick Serterc Newsboy Friend; or, The Great Sandoval Mystery. 221— W orse chan Murder; or, Nick Carter's Second Assistant on the Suburban Robberies, 220—"Mid meee ete: or, Lively Times on the Chesa 219—From Hotel a Prison Cell; or, A Criminal Globe tter’s Useless Bribe. —— Figickamtg T; or, Nick Carter and the Body- 27—Nick as Double Senders or, The Ins and ts of a Boston Sensati 216—A Confession by Mistake; or ek Helping Hand to an Peleg 8 Prisoner. 215—Nick ame at Stake; or, After the Sun- set Cit Sf Sharpers. 214—Blackmailed for | ee or, The Facts in the ‘amous Ford Poisoning Case 213—A Swindler Petticoats; or, Nick Carter's Pretty Prisoner. 212—The Wizard of the Cue; or, Nick Carter and the Pool R Case. oom 211—Run Down in Toronto; or, Nick Carter's Work for a Friend. 210—The Man With the Big, Head; or, Who Opened the Combination Safe? of the Yellow Cab; or, A Little ck for Chick. ae from the Flames; or, Nick Carter at Mys- tic Vale Crematory. itty Hole in the Bank; or Nick Carter's Cam- Against “Capt. Gold.” 206—The etor’s Dangerous Experiment; or, Nick . _ Carter's Fiving Trip to New Orleans. Passenger in the Lower Berth; or, a Star- tling Disappearance from a Rallroad Sleept Sa ked to Union Station; or, The Celebrat Louis Mystery. ti —Pardoned by the President; or, Nick Carter at e United States Treasury. The ‘Counterfeiter's Gold Tooth; or, Nick Car- ter’s Crooked Correspondent. 2%1—The Great Life Insurance Fraud; or, Nick Car- ter's Tussle w un oO pers 198—Ni Carter Under the Knife; or, The Little nt Among the 5 et igi ay 9 rs. 197—The Little Glass Vial; or, A Beautiful Black- mailer Brought ban oer Killed Dr. ht aah 196—A Man of Wood; 195—N: Saris Giatetal "elients or, Saving onor of the an’s % Lg Ra iH ny Bee: or, A Crippled 's 193—Nick Carter on the Inside; or, No Chance for the er. rin Frisco; F, Instructed. by 2 News sien 8 e ° ach catueieria hand “you cannot get our

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than any others. - wherever the American fiag floats. _ $1.00 to $1.50 each. - book will bea _“standard.”’ can get them for TEN CENTS A COPY. 87—The Five Hundred Dollar Check............ , Horatio Alger, Jr. — B—Catmur’s Cave........-seceeeeceees Richard Dowling %—Facing Death....................+.......G. A, Henty _ %&-—The Butcher of Cawnpore. Ee Te = William Murray Graydon (%&-—The Tiger Prince......... wwietvavbees William Dalton 82—The Young Editor....,.2....:.. Matthew White, Jr. _ &l—Arthur Helmuth of the H. & N. C, Railway, Edward 8.’ Bilis _ &%—Afloat in the Forest.......... Captain Mayne Reid 79—The Rival Battalions........... Brooks McCormick ' 98—Both Sides of the Continent...Horatio Alger, Jr. _ Ti—Perils of the Jungle................Edward 8. Ellis ie we Tiger; A Tale of the ees Mvath tiple tea «Seales sh iee iliam Dalton ™ faces ee in the Forecastle.. ito H. Coomer 74—-The Dingo Bowhcs h5.05ci.:GOOrES Manville Fenn 73—The Wolf Boy of China............ i sem Dalton -72—The Way to Success; or, Tom Ra Aiiret 0 Oldfellow jaan Merk Seaworth’s Voyage on the Indian OCGRIE iS teaves cose yo 56 iliam H. G. Kingston ‘70—The New on Amusing History of leices and Merton .«....... woes vesseseeeeB, C, Burnand = @—Pirate TSIEN fos ven. ostetecdas Bede Harry Collingwood ' 68—Smuggler’s Cave ............---....-Annie Ashmore ~ g—Toan ‘Brown's School Days.......-Thomas Hughes aa Young Vagabond...................Z. R. Bennett Se oy eet ere pera Frank H. Converse "The Tour of a Private Car...Matthew White, Jr. e .-Horatio Alger, Jr. ©The Mountain Cave............George H. Coomer Rajah’s Fortress.. “Wiliam Murray Graydon = Hilbert, the Trapper........ -+++-Capt. C. B. Ashley aa The Gold of Flat To; Mountain ee as .5¢ , = Frank E fe ain —Nature’s Young Nobleman....Brooks McCormick A Voyage to the Gold ee x Converse HJoe Nichols; or, Difficulties Overe 4 adv York Telegraph eT™e entures of a New York Re roeereen Bee | aorrom F Farm Boy to Senator...-Horatio Alger, Ir. TLACY.+++0++++- /+seeeeese-Arthur Lee Putnam ‘Alfred Olafellow . ’ oe §0—Dean es ete Alger, Jr. ; 88—Gay Dashleigh’s Academy Days....Arthur Sewall 7 i—Commodore Junk.....-.....,. Geored Manvile Fenn 86—In Barracks and Wigwam.............-...-.- eo > William Murray Graydon %—In the Reign of Terror................. G. A. Henty im 84—The Adventures of Mr, Verdant Green..... Cuthbert Bede, B. A. 33—Jud and Joe, Printers and Publishers..... Gilbert Patten 82—The Curse of Carnes’ Hold............ G. A. Henty 31—The Cruise of the Snow Bird...... Gordon Stables .- 30—Peter Simple .......2.ceceseeesceses Captain Marryat 29—True to the Old Filag................-.. G. A. Henty 283—The Boy Boomers 27—Centre-Board Jim... 26—The Cryptogram......... William Murray Graydon 7 %—Through the Fray...... Ae Pep ee ei G. A. Henty # 24—The Boy from the West............. Gilbert Patten io 23—The Dragon and the Raven.......... G. A. Henty ts 22—From Lake to Wilderness.................... William Murray Graydon 21—Won at West Point.....Lieut, Lionel Lounsberry ae 2—Wheeling for Fortune.............. -.-.. dames Otis. ~ a 19—Jack Archer.......... ie dsetee cvane waees G. A. Henty eS 18—The Silver Ship....... Gnshe bude ena Leon Lewis - 17—Ensign Merrill..... a yee Lionel Lounsberry 16—The White King of Africa................... William Murray Graydon 15—Midshipman Merrill,....Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry 14—The Young Colonists: A Story of Life ane te” War in Africa... G: A. Henty> * (7% 13—Up the Ladder......-.-....++ ..Lieut. Murray. © 12—Don Kirk's Mine........esseeeeseeee Bs gk a * li—From Tent to White H ‘ouse (Boyhood a: a Life of President McKinley). Eaward %. Ellis 2 10—Don Kirk, the Boy Cattle King....Gilbert Patten 5 SesT eS PB 6s ysOllver™ rs ate 2—Cadet Kit Carey.........Léeut. Lionel Loun 1—The Boat Club... serceteseeneeerersesess Oliver ¢ eeeeerielrerier rr erer:

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ee rel +7, > ek a va ee: Se Peat

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Y a.) 2 VISAS OAS IAS IASI SAS IR ANOTHER NEW IDEA The Shield Weekly. TRUE DETECTIVE STORIES Are stranger than fiction. THe SHieLD Weexty is a new series ot Detective Stories, but it is “something different.” Street & Smith’s long experience in the publishing business has taught them that the average man and boy like nothing better than good detective stories. We have, in the past, published many of the old style, where the detective passes through a series of marvelous and hairbreadth escapes and finally secures his quarry. Te SHte.p Weekty will, however, be an absolutely new departure. Each and every number of the weekly will contain a history of a complete and intricate crime, the solution of which is worked out by the skill and ability of the detectives. THESE ARE TRUE STORIES absolute chapters of experience taken from the note books of the greatest and most noted Chiefs of Police in the largest cities of America & &% & 3 2x x sh ohh, ; “tae h- 5 DOVEILVERVEMES VRS MVE MVE IASON Their fund of knowledge upon this subject has been drawn upon by special arrangement. We propose to demonstrate to the reading public of America through the SHieLp Weexty that the true histories of real crimes contain as much and more of romance than do the imaginative tales which have been constructed in the past hy the writers of detective stories. We feel that the time is ripe tor the presentation of this absolutely new class of detective tales. The first numbers in this series will consist of manuscripts from records in the archives of the Boston police, as repre- sented by INSPECTOR WATTS, who is well known throughout the New England States, in fact, throughout America, as one of the shrewdest and most clever Secret Service Officials in the world. The great inspectors of other large cities of the country will figure in due course. —_ CATALOGUE. 1—Sheridan Keene, Detective; or, The Chief Inspector’s Best Man 2—Silhouette or Shadow ; or, A Question of Evidence 3—Inspector Watts’ Great Capture; or, The Case of Alvord, the Embezzler 4—Cornered by Inches; or, A Curious Robbery in High Life 5—The Man and the Hour; or, Sheridan Keene’s Clever Artifice 6—Who Was the Model? or, Missing, a Beautiful Heiress 7—Under Seal; or, The Hand of the Guilty 8—A Lion Among Wolves; or, Sheridan Keene’s Identity 9—A Double Play ; or, Two Mysteries in One Net 10—A Frozen Clue; or, The Cold Storage Mystery 11—Under the Knife; or, The Cloak of Guilt 12—Arrested at the Tomb; or, Sheridan Keene on a Curious Case 13—In Bad Hands; or, Sheridan Keene’s Help to Some Country Visitors 14—The Mysterious Signal; or, Sheridan Keene on the Water Frort 15—Behind the Asylum Bars; or, Turned Down as 4 Hopeless Case 16—A Paper Gold Mine; or, Sheridan Keene Afier Money Order Book 2409 THE SHIELD WEEKLY wim rea ptors.- It is issued every week on Wednesday. > CENTS Try one. We know you It can be found on sale at all Newsdealers. PER COPY will like it. <i STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 73. "oRe" . VES ASTD ASG St ASSAD SVASRR 7. ‘ ed *