Nick Carter Weekly (no. 319) (1903 02 07)

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Issued Weekly. NINGKEGAIR ATER WEEKLY By Subscription $2.50 fer year. Entered as Second Class Ma'ter at the N.Y. Post Office, by STREET & SMITH, 29° William St., N. Y. AY INT [= W7 Entered according to Ac! of Congress in the year 1903, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, No. 319. NEW YORK, February 7, 1903. Price Five Cents. NICK CARTER AND THE MURDERESS; OR, » Tracked by a Trail of Blood. By the author of “NICHOLAS CARTER.” / vie CHAPTER I. re A SUDDEN CHANGE OF PLAN. “Now for the diamond star.” It was Nick Carter who spoke. ss The great detective sat in his library and before ‘him were Ida Jones and Patsy. ; “ Ida, who had worked hard and late on a case the Ig before, had just come in from breakfast. aN _ Patsy had already been down to headquarters to give i ory “some information about a prisoner there, and Nick “3 “himself had been busy since an early nee ina viet - that he soon explained. the matter that Nick referred to when he spoke Chick was engaged in a case that bad aiing todo . ous w a “we'll go right out now and pick it wp in the street.” The article mentioned was a jewel of great value. that had been stolen from the house of Mr. Leslie Gor- don, on Madison Avenue early the morning before. a he Carters had captured all but one of them and had re- Several crooks were mixed up in the affair. covered all the stolen property except the diamond star. That was supposed to be in the possession of Kate Kramer, the one member of the gang who had cs- caped. hoe : Another woman of the same name, supposed to be Miss Kate Kramer’s mother, had been caught by Ida in Greenwich, Connecticut. Mrs. Kramer had re- - fused to leave the State without extradition papers. Bee

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2 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. and the detective had been obliged to leave her in _ Greenwich until these could be obtained. Nick did not answer Patsy’s remark, but said: “T have been to headquarters this morning and had a man sent to Albany to get the extradition papers for Mrs. Kramer. “So we don’t need to think of her for a day or two. “Kate Kramer may be in the city now, though I doubt it. She may also try to pawn the diamond star, but I doubt that still more. I think she wants that gern for herself. “But to make perfectly sure, I have had a warning “sent to all:pawnbrokers to be op the lookout for such an article and to notify me the instant any is offered for a loan. “And, of course, I have had the police send an alarm “to all stations to look out for Kate Kramer. “The question now is, what shall we do. to find her ?” “She may go to the house where she lived,” Ida _ siggested. “That is what she would” want to do,” Nick He ; * sponded, “but I think she will be too shrewd to do so.” ; “She might send a pal,” said Patsy. ~ “If she has one,” added Ida. 2 . ~ Nick nodded. gtr Pea Son are both on the right “track,” he said. tec “careful 1 watch must be kept on that house. The Bint i is Wt oan og ee , ie AP fe “See ed eres: : a ey oe ee raped ~ FE lags io : 7 aires a. clever and may try to bed the hace oh & ee. took charge of Mrs. Kramer after cmt had arrested her.” “But the rest of the message?’ Dempsey sist to get what he had to say in ten words, and the result is that I can't be sure what he’s driving at.” Nick looked again at the message. “You see,” said Patsy, reading over his shoulder, “it may mean, ‘The Kramer woman is murdered, The matron was |killed by a railway train on the way to New York,’ or,” and Patsy laughed, “it may mean that — the matron killed a railway train.” : “Nonsense!” exclaimed, Ida. “I think. the message is clear enough. Mrs. Kramer has escaped, that’s certain. She murdered the matron and was killed herself on the way to the city. Isn't that it, Nick?” | “Pretty near it, I think,” Nick answered, “That about the train isn’t so clear. I believe it means that Dempsey i is on the way to see us.’ He looked at the message once more. “Ah!” he said, “this was sent two hours ago nearly. There has been some delay in getting it here.- Well, — we'll wait % bit. Tt Dempsey is coming he will s x along soon.’ 15 Even as he spoke there was a Tring at the Gb bell c . and a servant came to say that a Mr. Dempsey wanted. to see Mr. Carter. | ake Yai hele “Show him ree said Nick, bes “ When the Greenwich policeman cam¢ in ‘Nick- told | him that he was only a minute behind. his’ telegram. — et “Tam not surprised,” said Dempsey. : “T filed” the message just as I was leaving the village, sete operator said that see were a we he Pe wlises: that were ahead of it.”” is 3 swig tec thoughtful and ft paaed it “No harm dome,” Niokeremasked:: 95 5 os nee i 2+) SP'm ogiad of thats eianecnn alr ep tse ercoueaniaes one es EE railway Greenwich, oe Tea tails.” = sueabea beirtee ste wise, pee “Thank you, I want to capac Z

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: - evening. The prisoner was taken to the lock-up and Ida stayed there until she had been searched. ¥ up they found—what they had forgotten to mention to _ the New York detective—that they had no room for _ the prisoner. __ The village lock-up was a small affair with only a two cells, and the place was so quiet that often weeks ‘a — without either of the cells being occupied. : o On this night, however, it happened that a party of spoiny drunks had been taken in. . They were sleeping off their jags in the cells, and 3 : the officers had to find some other place to put Mrs. 7 Kramer. The only place they could think of was the town 2 ‘poor farm, and they took the prisoner out there. Mrs. Kramer had made a violent struggle at the time of her arrest, but she had been very quiet since, or - a ; r farm aloes to take charge of her through | ‘de 3 se officers would handcuff the prisoner. When the village officers went to lock the prisoner . Pes the village officers thought she would give no — NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 3 The servant looked in and saw the matron lying on the floor, dead. At first sight it looked as if there had been a furious struggle. The matron’s head lay in a pool of blood, and there were bloody marks on the wall and furniture. Later it proved that the matron had been choked to death. “I suppose,” said Dempsey, slowly,) and with a glance at Ida, “that the prisoner cut the matron’s throat after strangling her. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and it doesn’t make a nice story.” “Don’t mind me, Mr. ~ Dempsey,” responded Ida. “I learned long ago not to mind such things. You must give every detail just as if no woman was pres- ent.” , He went on to tell of the search that was made as soon as the: news had been telephoned to the village. A number of men took part in it. They found it unexpectedly easy to trace the course the prisoner took, for she seemed to leave marks of blood wherever she went. . There was a stain on the wall of the hallway near her room, and another on the stair banister. A dark red spot on the knob of the back door showed how she left the building. ) The men scattered over the poor farm yard and soon one found a blood stain ona fence. Evidently the escaping prisoner had climbed the fence here to get to the road. It looked probable, also, that she had started toward the village, and after some ‘further search along the road another blood stain was found on a stretch of bare rock, “Mrs. Kramer,” sia remarked at this point, “must have been wounded in the struggle.” “Probably,” responded Dempsey, “and we aes to know just how when we find her body.” He proceeded to tell how the searchers followed the i 2 ee ‘railroad.

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Workmen on the railroad told how the early morn- ing Boston express had run into and killed a woman on a bridge that crossed a tide-water stream not a Fog ‘great distance east of the Greenwich station. The woman was crossing the bridge at the time and the engineer had not seen her until the train was _ close upon her. , It. was evident that she made a eat elicits to get _ out of the way. eo “Tt looked,” the engineer had reported, “as if she ; tried to drop between the ties of the tressel. She dis- ot i Brad gb and the train went on without any shock that cs could: notice, but there’s no doubt she was hit.” _ Of course, there was no certainty that the woman “nun over was Mrs, Kramer—that is, not at first. _ The engineer could not describe her, and he was the only « one who had seen her at all. aed ‘The train cn’ Nese: stopped and run back to the s, search tease at that time revealed no trace of the if is water’ and that it had been aay away by the tide, _ which was running out rapidly. = ion and the train went on. f Beaty REY d for’ themselves ra 5 f rea aa a ty of : bas eile “the trainmen reported what they knew at the this story, they asked if the raiload ‘men haa a for it. We think it likely inet it will float xe with — _the tide.” » cr gQen ee ys] We Wigs % Bae = that Nias bad no more questions to ask, he took t eek es at the red 4 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. “Then I remembered that Miss Jones had told me how she followed the prisoner from New York, and that Mrs. Kramer, who left New York bareheaded, had bought a hat in Portchester.” . “I went over to Portchester and took the hat with me. “The stores were only beginning to open up for the day, but I found a clerk just taking down the shutters from a milliner’s on Main Street. “ “Ever see this hat before?’ I asked him.” ““Jimminy!’ said he, ‘I should say so. Why! I sold that hat to a woman who came in here bareheaded last night just as I was shutting up, and here it is again just-as I am opening. And there was another woman came sain last night asking about that hat, and I told her’ Here Dempsey stopped, for Ida was laughing. “That clerk,” she explained, “would have kept me_ all night with his talk if I had let him.” ae » “Well,” responded Dempsey, “he didn’t keep me ys Jon@?. I Jet him say that he had told you thejway to a livery stable, and then I broke away from him. He _ was still talking when I left. ‘ “What he said about the hat, of course, settled | a “The woman run into by the train was Mrs. Kra- — mer.” ¢ ' ae . sy % “Has her body been found yet?” asked Nick. “Tt hadn't been when I left, but men wegvenantet “Possibly.” djgbtan /4n leave, ““We'v ve got to hag our lane mae Nice

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‘NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 5 “dered her guard and got away, might manage to keep out of the way’ of a railroad train.” say | wonder how she got rid of her handcuffs?” mused Patsy. '-~ “Perhaps she didn’t get rid of them,” said Nick. __ “Anyhow we mustn’t rest until we're satisfied that she - was really killed by the train.” | There was a little further talk about the case, and then Ida and Patsy started for Greenwich. aks No trace of her had been found except the hat. The tide was coming in rapidly, and most of the ‘men were gathered at a spot where it was believed the body would be washed up. ore “Vou see.” Said one of them, “a man was drowned peace "off this bridge a dozen years ago. > His body went out 7 area rete re, |e cea Gath ot the oot cries end — ASS te itt 2 E _ They went down to the tide-water stream and found a number of men searching for the woman's -body, and a number of idlers looking on. peat § sai was some three hundred st beluw the “tes, ee aures course, the Midetives did not gay who they were pat men spose Bey were drawn there by curi- | eres so, Ida,” said Patsy. nd near the crowd a while. I’m ie anne | Never red auch a nici j While he was doing this a train came along. Patsy caught a tie with both hands and pulled him- ‘self up two or three inches, taking care that his feet should barely touch the gunwale of the boat so that it would not float away. He held himself thus while the train thundered above him. “Good experiment,” he muttered, dropping back to the boat after the train had passed. “That sort of thing shakes a fellow pretty lively, but it’s easy enough to hang on.” When he had crossed to the end and looked around | a little, he rowed the boat back, to the house and re- 5 joined Ida. ” “These chumps will never find her body,” said he, in a low tone “So” : “She wasn’t knocked off the bridge.” _“T’'m not ‘surprised, but “How do I know ?” “Exactly.” “Well, in the first place, the trail of blood is there.” “Indeed !”” “On the under side of the bridge.”’ “Are you sure it was blood?’ “It might be red paint, I suppose.” . acd grinned. “You don’t suppose anything pe the kind,” said Ta, , a “Go on.” -, “The best of. it is" ie Soniiniet: “that her finger I could see where she dat ine pays sparks are piste. perp 9, ba Boy think cold ng by sou gers fom oe of hse 8 while i as! s ta d is what Mr. Krier id?” | hs a ms

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‘drop on the instant snes it seemed as if she was going to be run down. “TY had thought of something like that. The engi- neer would be so startled at seeing lier suddenly that he would not be able to tell whether she was directly in front or not.” Sige “That was the scheme, I think.” ~~ “But she might have been shaken off into the water. The bridge must tremble fearfully “Tt does, and it rattles the nerves, but she could hold on. And suppose she was shaken off; it docsn't fol- 5 p - low that she was drowned.” “No; she may be able to swim.” t as “But she didn’t have to swim.” Cue cNa?" : a “She worked her way from the point where she eo; dropped out of sight to the east end of the bridge, and F re crawled from under on dry land.” “You're sure of that?” Mg, peewes her RSs fiver? marks all the way.” a Far neces. ¢ her ae was so. Well, what next, Fane re sume,” Patsy remarked, “that she dropped her sard asa blind” = that shguld 1 make it so much the easier for us trac “responded Ida. “I got her before, you » Seesuptegb gs pba: bare beaded.” } F there eK. oes one may, a the be round there. NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Both looked up at the bridge when they came under it, and then they turned to each other. There was no necd of discussion, “T'll look on this side,” said Patsy, “and you on the other.” | They went back a few rods to a point near the be- ginning of the cut. Then they searched the rocks, especially in places wliere it was casy to climb up. Presently Ida called: “Here it is.” : Patsy went over to her side. She pointed silently at a dark stain on a rock that jutted a little from the ledge. “Finger marks again,” ae Patsy. she climbed up. Come on.’ He helped Ida to the top. They looked for any- thing to show which direction Mrs. Kramer had taken. They found none, but it ‘seemed most likely that she went on east, as to go in the other direction would have brought her back to Greenwich. For some distance after that nothing attracted their - ’ Then they came to a place where the road “This is where attention. branched. “Guesswork here,” said Patsy, doubtfully. “We'd better divide,” was Ida's advice, and that they did. She took the road to the right and he the one to the left, and they agreed upon a meeting place in the next town as well as a way to keep each other informed by telegraph if anything important occurred. Patsy walked rapidly, keeping his eyes open at every fei for, telltale stains. - _ He came to a cross-roads, where there was a store aa two or three hopape and he asked a few ar there. igh aby Sed aaeeg 2 ie _ Nobody had seen a woman without a hat. In fet: a no stranger of any. kind had been pppned by the people ee raat eS 9 The: detective eae Amie or 80 >from the cross

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Aged NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 7 About halfway through the woods there was a_ three of them were holding him down and yo aoe: _—- farmer’s wagon going in the same direction he was going through his pockets. taking. © or & One stood up for a second. It was cit not heavily loaded. A couple of That was enough for the detective. ~ barrels were all the freight that could be seen at the He fired as he ran. | distance. The man threw up both hands, reeled and fell over ws The ‘driver sat with his head down, his elbows on into the road. = oe knees, and the horse was plodding slowly. ‘Immediately the others looked around. WS Patsy had no sooner seen as much as this than there He who held the horse let go and dashed away geste _was a sudden change in the scene. among the trees. - Five men leaped from the roadside and attacked the The others seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if. farmer. * they had lost their heads. f ¢ mie One caught the horse by the bridle and stopped him. Then they began to climb out of the wagon. The other four climbed into the wagon, two from “Halt there!” shouted Patsy. “I'll a any ies i a behind, two at i.e front. who runs!” a ae : The farmer straightened up quickly and tried to beat One of the fellows seemed to fear capture more than a ie them off with his whip. eae he did a bullet. ca Bal: One tumbled back and fell on his hands and ein -) He leaped from the wagon in spite of the warning but he» was up again in an instant. ears and started into the woods, Ei the others had kept. on. _ The farmer Hess The detective kept his word, “4 shy ht around WA neck and peed backward. Y: Crack! went his revolver, and the man stooge tas ning, put his right hand to his left elbow and went to -jumping around in a circle while he howled loudly. _ ae _ “Hit you on the crazy bone, didn’t 1?” yelled Patsy. ‘i - He was still on the run and was now close We. Be x wagon. ‘The other two had. gor 0: see sechealy per they weren't doing anything, = fi a They had ad of respect. for the see's Weapon. an “Hands up and keep ‘em there!” * ordered ‘Fen d as he came to Seg wagon, rs ees zeae oe men Hesed wei st at : was, not more i vag before iia ne sortie ee the visas at’ PR

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Then he remembered something and put his hand to an inside pocket in a hurry. : “Jimminy !” he added, “they pity dum nigh got my wallet, didn’t they?” ~ He drew out a large leather pocketbook, looked at it, then glanced at the men and hastily put it back. “7 fit for it as well as I knowed how,” he said. _~ “You fit well, pacers responded Patsy, who si to laugh. He was out of breath and. was glad the ruffians wanted no more fighting. '- The man who was dancing around stood still now ’ and the detective kept all three covered with his re- _ volver. “You've got some rope in the wagon, suppose,” _ said Patsy. ah Jods “Uh, huh,” replied the farmer, reaching for it. pe ee get down and tie these fellows.” _ The farmer did as he was told, and in a minute the - two who were not wounded were made fast with their s gpa behind their backs. ss = e, a i ct os ‘ et Con ie shoulder. into the wagon and let him lie down. “Got room for your freight?” asked Patsy. The ee was scratching his head and seen be on. "CHAPTER IIL. waar eae age THE FARMER. — — Cobateaed : ar and the captured ruffians ut the wagon stod it and th the hes at the boracht but helped the : up the scattered squashes and cabbages _ e ge Lott ae: NICK CARTER WEEKLY. “Where were you going ” “T was going to Stamford to sell my garden stuff and put some money in the bank. You see, 1 sold a lot yistidy-——” The farmer stopped abruptly and felt of the i where he had stowed his wailet. “You may have more trouble with-that if you don’ t look sharp,” said Patsy. “Wal, what can I do about it?” “Let me ride with you.” “Suttinly. I s’posed you would.” “We'll go to Stamford together and lock these men up.” “All right, sir. Climb on.” Patsy got up to the seat with him. He kept his re- volver ready for instant use and the prisoners saw it. “Sorry the other fellow got away,” he said. . “Was there any more?” asked the farmer, looking around. “Why, so there was! There was five of ’em.” “The one who held the horse got away before I could shoot him.” “Darn him! “So ?”? “Yep.| Geddup, Nancy. He’s a no-good son of a neighbor of mine. I always said he wan't no bet- ter’n he should be.” “Do you know these others?” “Nope. Jim Springer, that’s the name of ‘aie fel- low who got away, he prob’ly hired ’em to help.” “Probably.” : “You see, mister,” and the farmer lowered his voice, “I sold a piece of land yistidy and the money was paid down about evening. It was too late to take it to the bank. Jim he heard of it, I s’pose, and planned to rob I knowed him, too.” me. That’s what I gee “It’s a good guess.” “They'd. have done it, too, if you hadn’t come along.” “J guess they would. Will you have Jim arrested ” “By gum! I will, soon as I git back.” ; “That's right, and before I leave you TH give you ~ my address so that yO ey call me as a witness if you ‘3 “Thankee, mister.” “What made you say be ware sien ou: wife lost PGiers

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ne Ces _— a ad Be be in such a ruction. When she found her best hat - was missing she jest wouldn’t come. Not but what she had another, but ‘twas an old one. You know how “33 women folks is, I guess. If she couldn’t wear that new hat of hern she wouldn’t go, and she wouldn't. we Geddup.” ‘ | “How did she happen to lose it?” - “Dummed if aknow,. Stolen, likely, but there wan’t anything else missing.” “Better tell me all you can about ats” “Don't know any more, mister. I'd jus’ as lief tell up ‘fore oe went.” a * na “T see.’ “Trust thing she did, as she told me afterward, she * got-her hat outen the clothespress and took it down to. - the kitchen entry so’s to have it handy as soon as we» ~ j was ready to start. She hurg it on a peg there.” < “And then went about the work?” “Right, mister.” “What did she do first?” “Lit the fire, sot the kittle on and then went out to the barn to help in the boi Boh “Ah!” ; ght “That was when ‘twas done, Is ’pose.” “You mean that when she got back ihe: saw that o hat was gone?” “4 “Nope. It wa’ wt till ‘half an. Sue later that ‘she +" | missed. it. Didn't look when she fust come in, you see. Jest went about her work. without, thinking of i the hat, and. bimeby she went into the kitchen. entry to. “Tt was gone, | eh?” 5 24 “Clean gone. ae not another dmmed ‘thing, es

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10 Patsy thought he had, but he didn’t say so. He could think of a hundred cases in his experience that had been much stranger, but it was easy to see how the disappearance of the hat in the early morning would puzzle the simple farmer and his wife. “Moreover it was not at all strange to the detective, for he was quite sure he knew what had become of the hat. : “Tda’s on the right road,” he reflected. she might get onto these facts.” “He would have liked to leave the farmer and go back to find Ida, but, he judged that that would be impossible. - Besides, it was now his duty to see that the ruffians » in the wagon were locked up. tie stayed on the wagon, and in the course ofan .more it arrived in Stamford. prisoners were ‘taken to the town lock-up and .were made against them. ‘two who were wounded were sent to a hospital > others were put behind the bars. Ris “4 Patsy then“bade the farmer good-by, with a prom- ' 4se:t6 look for the hat, and went to the place where he % and. Ida had agreed to meet. ad She was not there, but he found a note from her. ’ “I wish Tt said that she had struck a clew that led to Bridge- _ ; oe sy and she named a place there where he could find ‘ ' bao CHAPTER IV. 0 ' IDA MEETS A STRANGE ads sea oa of the rk a roa af de cone hak en re would not have had to touch anything as en she climbed out ofthe ent or along wn : phon saith aS ty mae = dar. when eal Yo a farm oe Pome tes ta? thas seen red icy ttncac tach Be PE hed NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Her keen eyes quickly discerned a dark spot on the white gate post and she went up to it. It was the clew she wanted—there could be no mis- take about that. Finger marks in dark red! “What was she doing here?” Ida asked herself; “and why was she so careless? Couldn't she See that blood was dripping from her fingers ?’’s Then Ida remembered that Mrs,. Kramer had es- caped in the night, and it was quite likely that she had come as far as this before it was light enough to see anything clearly. She remembered also that a slight cut often gives little pain, and it was quite possible that the woman did not know that she was bleeding. While she was standing at the gate and thinking a woman came to the door of the house, looked sus- piciously at her and demanded to know what she wanted. “T'll tell you,” replied Ida, quickly. a woman without any hat.” “T want to find “Without any hat!’ cried the other; “then look at me!’ Ida smiled. ‘But you don’t need any,” she said. “‘You are at work——” “Don’t need any!” echoed the woman, angrily. “I'd like to know! Wasn't I going to Stamford with my husband this morning, and didn’t I have to stay at home because my hat was gone ” “Indeed! that’s strange,” “T should say ‘twas. What do you mean anyhow by coming along here and asking about a woman with- out any hat?” ~ “T want to find a bad woman,” Ida answered slowly, so that the other would be sure to understand, “who had lost her hat. She would be quite likely to take yours if you left it where she could get it.” “Wal I vum!” exclaimed the woman. She came from the door and down to the gate. “I left mine right in that entry there,” she went on, ‘pointing back, “when I went out to milk the cows be- fore sunrise. When I got back my hat was gone.” It needs no saying that Ida let the woman talk freely. She told the same eee that Patsy. pee learned from the. farmer. “What time was it when you went on $9 mail he

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, “That fits,” thought the detective. “The Boston express was due to pass Greenwich a little before five, and Mrs. Kramer had just about time enough by rapid walking to get here at quarter past. Of course she hurried.” cs “It’s the strangest thing, Waid the woman, “that ever happened. New hat, tod. I was dreadful dis- appointed. My man, he sold a lot yistidy, but we didn’t neither of us think ‘twould be right to use any of the money to buy another hat so soon after buying the other one.” “Never mind,” Ida responded, “1 think I car’ find your hat.” t “So? Rout ere?” the day is over. “No, but I'm hunting for that woman, you know, and if I get her Pil send your hat back.” “] should be ever so much obliged: ma'am,” “Where is the nearest railroad station ?” The woman told her and Ida went on. It was a mile or so further to the station, a small _ place where few trains stopped. Ila asked the agent about early morning trains and found that there was none stopping at that station be- fore half-past six. “Mrs. Kramer,” she thought, “would not wait so long as that here. She must have gone on.” Nevertheless the detective described Mrs. Kramer to the agent and asked him if any such person had been seen at the station during the morning. _ None had. While they were talking a train came in bound east. With a sudden thought Tda got Sbhatd. She had no ticket, but paid her fare to mtamiorsl, the nearest _ large town. oF “Mrs. Kramer,” she cae a “could walk as far as ee and then ride if she had the price.” It proved that Ida had. shown good judgment. She described Mrs. Kramer to. the ticket_agent at Stamford and learned: that a woman answ description bought a ticket for Bridgepo 4 fa " so after the station opened for business i “She had her hand done up in a handkerchief,” the agest added, Suse in ie _ ‘ine ete out of 3 “How did iia handle ws Honey, then?" “cates: Ida. Esteem ua pushed the money. onto the.window shelf ped t the ticket away as if her ‘arm: was so. cs Shona Hey a pods. nat Ei ae laa ie rig os foe om se ee NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Il “Could you see her arm at all?” “No. She had a shaw] over her shoulders and it covered both arms.” Ida wondered a little about this, but it seemed so certain that the woman was Mrs. Kramer that she went to the place where she had agreed to meet Patsy and left the note for him that has been referred to. Then she took the next train for Bridgeport. As it happened, Patsy almost caught the same train. After getting her note he made a bee line for the railroad station and got there just in time to see the train disappearing in the distance. The first thing for Ida to do after arriving, at Bridgeport was to find whether Mrs. Kramer had come to that city. . She went to the station master and om him on quiet who she was. “I am after a woman,” she said, “who pr came in on the 7.30 train from the west this mo “Can you describe her?” Ida did so. “TI didn’t go out to the platform for the station master, “but: I'll find some were there at the time. Come with me. They went to the baggage-room and talked men employed there. None of them could remem a woman who, kept both hands under a shawl. “You see,” said one, “that train is a local an doesn't often bring any baggage. It didn’t t pals morn- ing, so we didn’t have anything to do with it.’ “Say!” exclaimed one of the others, “the conductor of that train is here now,” “So? where?” asked the station master. “Oh, somewhere around here. He’s not the regu- lar conductér, you know. The regular man is sick. The sub. will take the 2.30 local back this afternoon.” “We'll look for him.” After some minutes’ search they found the con- hag Yes,” he said at once, “T brought a woman who an- Merc to that description to Bridgeport this morn- ing.” } “Do you think,” Ida asked, “that she took some other train from here?” “Of course, I couldn't say as to that, ma’am, but I - o think not. She went sttaight away from the station. as soon as we got in.” ; “Excuse me, but how ek yen: boopie $9. oan * Be ik,

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? “Well, I thought her a queer customer anyway. ‘She didn’t seem to be able to use her hands any, and so I took pains to be at the platform to help her off. She wouldn’t let me.” “She could help herself, then?” “After a fashion, yes. If she had let me take her hand I could have made it easy for her to get down the steps, but she grumbled that she'd go by herself and told me to mind my own business. That made me kind of hot, and I told her it was part of my business to assist feeble passengers.” “What did she say to that?” The conductor grinned. “Excuse me, ma’am,” he answered, “but I'd rather not repeat her words. They didn’t sound nice com- ri from a rss and you wouldn't like to hear 1, ae what did she do?” jusnped from the steps.” think I understand why she wouldn’t give nd... Did she give you a ticket?” * J wouldn’t have let her ride without hand it to you?” ductor thought a moment. No, by gracious!” he exclaimed, “she didn’t. I thought nothing of it at the time, but now that you call . y mind to it 1 remember that her ticket was stuck //in the back of the seat in front of her, Men often put their tickets there, you know, so as not to be inter- + rupted in their reading when the conductor comes Pt: along, but not many women do it.” “She put it there before you came along,” said Ida, Me inter sila ant west 20 Sek ie Seaiee shoe re a. akong e “Why was that, ma’am?” a “Because she was handcuffed.” | “Good gracious!” . CT sete tea ahet tects,” Ida wertt on calffily, “and I 39 am trying to run her down. eee aes See oy iiation sack ger erain sme fr “Then show which way sh "Hie showed her, and Ida started on a long hut in. } di on ‘Her work at this stage in the cage. NICK CARTER WEEKLY, It takes great patience, is generally very slow, and frequently leads to false trails. She asked questions of policemen and storekeepers. Had they seen such a woman as she described between half-past seven and ci oc that morning? In most cases she g information at all; in some she got information thatwasn’t worth having. Now and then she got a point that seemed to be a clew. , A man who kept a fruit stand was sure he had.seen the woman, and he told which way she went when she came to the corner just beyond his place. This was the most promising cley, she had got for a long time, the trouble being that nok around that next cornet had seen such a woman. Of course, there was danger in asking so many ques- tions of so many different people, but there are times when that is the only thing the best detectives can do. At one time Ida suspected that she was being watched. A ragged youngster idled up to where she was talk- ing with a man and seemed to be listening. Ida, who saw that the man could give her no point of value, suddenly said ‘““Thank you,” and went on. She watched the boy narrowly and saw him ge down - a certain street. - As quickly as possible she turned about and went to the head of that street to see where he went. He was not a dozen yards away, playing a game with other boys. - “I wonder if he was onto me?” she thought a little anxiously. “It can’t be helped. If he has given a tip he has given it and I can’t help it. I’ve got to take chances and keep at it.” : So for several hours Ida kept at this sort of work. Once she went to the place where she had told Patsy tocome, — + He had not been there, and she left a note to say that she wa: in Mrs. Kramer had come as iar as. Brid t that she had not yet wot onto her hid- ing p Then s Along toward evening she ara her pace Hid. defly. . She had peer a glimpse of a woman. with, het hands under a shawl. ‘ There was a heavy veil over the woman's face, fv 18 ie i cA eae ied Ris onté sen ohag hap eam chat Ae et at it again.

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"aa “NICK CARTER WEEKLY. - She had opened a door and disappeared in a build- ing just as Ida caught sight of her. But the detective saw how she opened the door. - It was’done by turning her bagk half to it and pushing with her shoulder. “Is it possible?” thought Ida, and immediately she answered her own question. “Of course it’s possible. I must find out about it at once.” In a moment she was at the place where the woman had disappeared. __ It was the side door to a saloon. Without any hesitation Ida opened it and went in. She found herself inadirty backroom of the saloon. There were one * and four chairs there. At one side was adiddor with a slide in it. The slide was closed. At the table, facing the street pete sat the woman _ who had attracted her atterition. e. She:was motionless, but Ida felt that her eyes were upon her, = The shaw! concealed herarms entirely, and the veil hid her face. Was it Mrs. Kramer? Ida could not tell. The seenas of her voice would be enough. “Good-evenig,” said Ida, as she dropped into an- chair. _ The woman made no response. isé followed that was a little awkward. don’ t the bartender come?” Ida asked im- Vt you knock for him?” this ‘the veiled woman swung about in her chair to face Ada_ squarely. questions ” > eal You’ re on the sneak, you a, BR hz _of the barroom and knocked on the slide. do you mean?” she demanded, harshly, “by the pitcher on the shelf. —— | ‘3 It was a villainous face that appeared—but it was not Mrs. Kramer’s. She glared hatefully at the detective for several seconds. “Now what do you think?” she demanded. “T still have my doubts,” Ida answered, and laughed a little. The woman -was terribly enraged. “T'd like to kill you for your impudence!”’ she hissed. “IT could do it, too.” She had a pitcher in her hand that had bath cov- ered by her shawl. With a snarl of rage she got suddenly to her feet and raised the pitcher as if she would strike Ida down with it, The detective did not stir. “Come, come,” said Ida, quietly, “rap for the bar- tender and get your aI filled. 1 shan’t inter fere with you.” For a moment the woman stood in her threateni attitude. Then she lowered the pitcher and went “You've got nerve,” she said, in a low voice, it saves you this time, but look out! I won’t ans for your life if I see you spying on me again.” The bartender opened the slide and the woman quickly pulled the yeil over her face. She put the pitcher on the shelf and the bartender took it away. While he was gone the woman did not stir, and — Ida, too, remained motionless. “Here y’are,” said the bartender, presently, putting “Have anything, ma’am?” This last was to Ida. . “No,” was. the poi “Tm going out with my friend.” The woman, who had pt coin om the sey, fined like a flash, - forte d Cane ; “You're not going with me!” she snapped. “I'm going out when you do,” returned Ida. There was a low curse, and it seemed as if the

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14 “Take your row to the street,” said he, angrily. “T won’t have any nonsense in here.” He opened the outside door and the woman stepped out. “You, too,” said the bartender to Ida. “All right,” she answered cheerfully, and passed him. The woman was walking rapidly, but she turned to see if Ida were following. That was exactly what the detective intended to do, and she didn't object to be seen doing it. Ida had her own ideas about this strange incident. , The woman was not Mrs. Kramer, Vit the detect- ive believed that she had found the straightest clew yet to Mrs. Kramer’s hiding place. Seeing that she was followed, the woman shrugged her shoulders and went on. Presently she went up the steps of a shabby-look- house and stopped for a moment at the door. Well,” she snarled, “here is where I live. Are Madam Pry?” ening,” said Ida, and walked past as if she e whether the woman lived there or not. CHAPTER V. \ A STRANGE FIRE. The detective went to the head of the street only a few steps away, and looked back. ‘She saw the woman just closing the door of the house behind her. “All right,” thought Ida, “she isn’t faking. , She lives there, and if she’s up to the game I think she i is, Mrs. Kramer is there, also.” ‘It was growing dark now, and Ida felt that she must hurry ‘A dozen different plans occurred to her, but most of them were impossible. She would have liked Patsy's help, but she did not know where he was, and if she should go to the place where they were to meet, Mrs. Kramer might take advantage of her abserice and slip away. — | Then the chase would have to begin over again. hie “Of course,” thought Ida, “I may be mistaken in bee Selb fetus thepon a soctalehesiny-chanees: of. her get- ting. &. rest start on me if she isin there. te ML might get the police to make a raid, but that a ie TT ‘mean sending word to headquarters, which Z a ae her rsa: Fd spend meeid Wak then NICK CARTER WEEKLY. if the raid proved that she was not there and had not been there, I should be in a worse fix than I am now. “The first thing to do is to firid if Mrs: Kramer is in that house.” “> The street on which the house stood was not a long one. All of one side was taken by a factory. Men and women at this moment were leaving the factory at the end of their day's work. The street was stopped at the further end by an- other factory, and there were no cross streets or alleys between. & So the only way to get to or fom the house was by coming up to the point where I ood watching. She fOok pains to conceal herself so that ‘she could look down the length of the street without being seen from the houge. Ida did not move from this position until all the working people from the factory had gone away and the neighborhood was again quiet. Meantime nobody had come from or gone into the hguse she had been watching. “I shall have to take the chance of a short disap- pearance,” she decided. Near her was a tenement house. The front door was open and several persons had gone in and out while she stood there. Ida went in and passed the stairs to the end of the ground floor hall. It was dark there, but she needed no light. It was as easy for her to change the appearance of her clothing as it was for the men detectives. Her clothes were made for that purpose, and wher Ida came out again nobody would have supposed that — she was the same person. Of course, she could not change the appearance of her face as the men could, but even there she had made changes:that she believed would save her from ition in the darkness of the evening, was stirring on the short street when she y “tnigpod at the head of it. ‘I 't believe anything has happened in this short time, ” she said to herself. She went down past the house that interested her and knocked at the door of the one next to it. ‘A’sign in a window showed that boarders were taken there, and there was a ne ay window on t second floor. oo Saat Shaya . Aer

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"The door -was opened by a colored woman. - “Got any empty rooms?” asked Ida. AY . “Yas’m.) “What price? “a “Meals an’-all?’”” Ves, »” a x “It’s three dollars a week for meals an’ room ac- cordin’ to size.” “Let me see the rooms.” ; ‘The colored woman admitted her and showed te P the front room on the first floor. : “That’ s two dollars,” said she. > “I'd rather not be on the street floor.” ik i ~ “Come upstairs, then.” _ On the next floor the colored woman showed a hall- © bedroom that she said could be had for a dollar. Ida shook her era oe : “ht isn't” big. ‘enough, ” she said. “I’ve got a trunk the depot and there’s no. place for it here.” “Go'n’ to work i in the shop?’ asked the woman. 7 shall work ‘hear here,” Ida replied. Sse ead woman opened another door. : “That's | the bes’ room in the house,” said she. “The - rane uises, it A but you: can have’ it if you a ~ a syria iwortan for a week ina moment had the room to herself. my. trunk later in the evening,” | she we Reet a dated ahelidd a: ‘that — it she front door of the ialped ~~ a waiting, she said to herself, | ss telling him rsh i ie’ ae sp wt and wrote on the outside “Charles Thompson.” That was the name by which Patsy was Loe naner ts met ya ted er ee | -NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 15 “I wonder if she’s looking for me?”- was the de- tective’s thought, After a moment the woman came back. She had not been to any store, and she had not spoken to anybody.’ It seemed likely, therefore, that she had been out on a scouting errand. Ida saw her go into the house again. A few minutes later another woman appeared, com- ing from the end of the street. This one also entered the next house and did so, as Ida could see clearly, without ringing the bell. Less than a minute after this two women came down. They also stopped at the next house, and one of them rang the bell. It was impossible to see who met them at the door, but somebody did and let them in. “Is it only a boarding house?’ queried Ida, “and * are these women just coining in from work in a fac- ~ tory somewhere ?” Pons That might be it, and it looked all the more so whe’ still another: “woman came down and entered after Ting: Pa ing the bell. Four who had not been there when Ida first saw the house had now gone into it, but that was not all. Another minute passed, and then came two more women, who rang and were admitted in the same w ay: Ida was interested and curious, but she saw no rea- son to regard the matter as mysterious. If the place was ; a cheap boarding house it was natural that a PaO, of persons should Pe, into it at this hour. ” All were women, ‘but that was ssi epleinel In Six: had now gone in,. and there was still no ‘sign of anything that Ida wanted to learn. © She decided.to try.to get a message to Patsy. 2 _ Taking her. notebook, she wrote a short message in where she was and that she thowght had found where Mrs. Kramer. was hiding. Having written the note, she tore out the leaf, folded

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16 It seemed so, and the smell seemed to grow stronger rapidly. The thought made her a little anxious—not for her- self but for her plans. e ‘house she was in would burn like paper if it caught fire, and so would the other houses in the row. If one caught the others would be sure to go—or at least all the inmates would have to get out. - Mrs. Kramer might “escape in the confusion—that is, if she ‘was really hiding near. Ida laid the note on the table and went to the door. When she opened it she almost coughed, the smoke was so thick in the hallway. A lamp was burning on a stand near the second stairway and by its light Ida saw the colored woman standing at the top of the first flight. “What’s the matter?” the detective demanded. Where does all this smoke come from?” ' The darky breathed heavily through her nose. ‘Huh!” said she, “ ’pears like I do smell smoke.” . “Smell it!” cried ida, “you can feel it! Where . does it come from?” “°Tain’'t downstairs,” returned the darky, doubt- : fully. “Dar ain’t no fire down dar ’cept in the kitchen ’ stove.” “Have you looked in the rooms on this floor?” “Yas’m, c’ept yourn.” 3 ‘ “It comes from upstairs! see!” . _» Ida pointed up the next flight. In the dim lamplight she could discern the smoke . rolling from underneath a door at the top. . The colored woman came to her side. | 7, in dar. ” With this she bounded up the flight. * Ida, who hated to leave her watching place even for a few.seconds, looked on anxiously. “She stumbled down the stairs again, holding her apron to her eyes. | “Lord a massy!” she stammered, “can’t go in dar “Coward!” exclaimed Ida, dashing past her. Bch ad. gor ce ammnanad Mrs. Kra- / “Lordy!” said she, “dat’s so! An’ dar’s a sick chile _ Skin egrets ceeendeahamioes mtn . aie: house all on fire an’ dat pore sick chile——” | iat § child lying in a roo that was on fire ; é | See mesic npr am ef Aether a attend to it alone.” NICK CARTER WEEKLY. The smoke was horribly dense at the top of the stairs. It rolled out in great clouds, for the darky had left the door open. Ida put her hand over her mouth and nose and hur- ried into the room from which it came. At the further side she could see a dim blaze. It did not give light enough to see anything else. She reached out her hand and touched a bed. From the feeling she could tell that it had been / occupied, but there was nobody there now. The detective had a terrible fear that the child had crawled from the bed and lay somewhere on the floor overcome by the smoke. Her eyes stung with it and she shut them. It would choke here to breathe it. Still holding her mouth and nose, she got on her knees and felt with the other hand all about the floor near the bed. She found nothing. Having to breathe, she hastened back to the st-irway a moment, and then, opening her eyes, saw what looked like a bundle on the floor of the hall. Ida picked it up. It was a. child, unconscious it seemed, although it moaned a little when she started downstairs. At the bottom she met the darky and another woman, the landlady as it proved. “Ah!” cried the latter, “give her to me!” The detective was only too glad to have the child taken c4re of, and she handed her to the landlady. - “Have you given the alarm?’ she asked. “We must have water £ “Done got dat,” interrupted the darky. “You , go right inter ag room now, missy. I'll put the fire out.” She had a pail and dipper in her hands, 5 In that moment of excitement it seemed to Ida that ' the whole affair was very strange, but there was no time to think of it»just then. - Of course, she did not go back to her room. Not while she believed the house to be on fire and nébody but a cowardly oer trying to ‘put out the The darky was halfway up the ipvcait flight. ‘Ida, having given up the child, started after her- ~ “Better not go up,” cried the landlady, “Liza can eo isi! her,” was Ida's reply. EES igfh ie * We oat, Pa aime el Pees rer alata or 5 PI ae

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Sige = » NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 17 “You go back,” said Liza, turning at the top and facing the detective. “You git burned to deff if you don’t.” “Nonsense!” exclaimed Ida, “give me that pail!” She pushed the negress to one side, took the pail from her and again entered the smoky room. It was not so difficult as before, for much of the - smoke had drifted out. She saw again the faint glow at one side and went to sprinkling it carefully, . “Tf I had left it to the darky to do,” she thought, “she would have poured the whole pailful on the - flames at once and that probably would have been worse than letting them alone.” To Ida’s satisfaction and somewhat to her surprise, the flames were put out very. easily. There was a short hissing, and then the glow disap- peared. To make certain that no fire was left she stooped and felt cautiously where the fire had been. . By wetting her hand in the pail, for she had not used half the water, she could touch things without scorching her fingers. What she felt gave her a start of astonishment.’ She could not believe it. Turning to the door she saw the negress side there. { It was not possible to see the darky’s face, but her form was distinct. “Bring a lamp,” said Ida, sharply. “You don’t need no lamp if the fire’s out,” was the reply. “Bring a lamp or there’ll be trouble!” _ The darky grumbled and went downstairs. ‘Ida heard her voice in conversation with the land- lady for a onesie and it was the latter who came up. She had a feo ; “You were very brave,” ‘tte was saying. “If it hadn't been for you my poor child 7 have smoth- eet to death, I thank——” _ The Mgtecirve interrupted | her the moment she could a see clearly in the room. 6: _ *What® does that wii eee demandes Peak. i . CHAPTER VI. VISITORS FROM. THE NEXT HOUSE. “What does that mean?” Ida repeated. “Why!” stammered the landlady, “the stuff in the hod must have caught fire somehow.” “Somehow !” echoed Ida, “I should say so. Do you see this?” She stooped and pointed to a burned match on the floor near the hod. “Yes,” answered the landlady, “I shouldn’t won- der if my little girl was playing with matches.” At that moment Ida‘ believed that she had discovered and prevented a horrible crime. She wanted to ask more questions, for. it was clear that the landlady was tangling herself up/ and the de-. tective was so indignant that it was all she could do to keep from arresting the woman on the spot. But Ida had to think of other things. It was the woman who was probably in the next house that she must arrest. To do that it was necessary for her to conceal her real character from the landlady here. So, “Til investigate this later,” Ida said to herself, and went downstairs. All she said aloud was: “Tt seems to mé that somebody has been very care- less.” “T_ s’pose so,” muttered the landlady, following, “but it’s all right now.’ , “I’m not so sure of that,” eres Ida, sits: at the door to her room. The thought of the child was too ait for her. “Let me see the little one,” she demanded. “She’s in\here,” said the landlady, leading. her to the hall bedroom that Ida had refused to take? The negress was sitting on the bed, holding her child in her arms. Ida stooped and examined the little one. She was unconscious but asleep apparently, for she was breathing naturally. The child, however, was very pale. “You must have a doctor,” said Ida. “We've had one,” answered the net: “When was he here last?” Pig! _ “This morning.” _ “He ought to come again, and at once.” _ His henge an heady nt APU wes

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“I insist on it,’ continued the detective. “Send _ your servant out for the doctor. I have an errand that I-want done, and.she can do it at the same time.” “I can’t spare her from the house,” said the land- idy. » “Then get a boy from some neighbor’ s house. I _ don’t want to make trouble for you, but that child should be seen to at ouce.. I know something about sickness myseli——” Bs * “Couldn't you doctor her, then?” » “No! are you going to send for a doctor?” Tp eae very sternly, for her mind was made up d's. 's life,” ‘she Raa Ns es,” replied the landlady, evidently badlf 3 scared. pony in a minute.” ve ‘the person you send ‘call at my room for a letter, t V'll pay for the trouble,” aa am landlady promised to do so, and Ida entered | dom, ‘it it possible,’ ’ she ceiecuad: “with a shudder, “that nean to smother that child to death by burning | a coal hod in her room? one we crawl out to get ee from the % Pog Sa lighted the amo i in her room it was roe © eal ree NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Somebody, certainly, had been in her room during her absence upstairs. It might have been the negress. Had she been tempted by curiosity to take the note? It hardly seemed possible, for the darky was busy and evidently excited all through the fire. Who then? the landlady? or somebody else who lived here and who came along just in time? Ida had seen but three persons in the house: the landlady, the sick child,.amd the hegress. Were there others? She was puzzled by these Lait, for a short mo- ment. Still thinking of them she went to the window and was about to sit down vi she saw a piece of paper on her chair. It was the missitig note. : “Have I been dreaming?’ she asked herself; “am I becoming absent-minded ?” ; ' She sat down and looked the note ‘over. It was just what she had written, and she knew that no one except a Carter detective could make head or tail of it. That wasn’t what troubled her, Ida was in doubt for a moment as to where she had left the note when she *went guty lf she had left it on the chair, Bit then all this questioning was for nothing. But Ida-knew that she had-not been dreaming, and that she was never. absent-minded. She remembered perfectly that she had laid the note on the table. - The paper could not have gone ‘by. jal from: table to chair. ‘ _ Therefore, somebody. had been. ‘in ‘the room, and that somebody had looked at the note, . os don’t believe,” said Ida, very slowly to. a, “that it means anything more ~ -yant or boarder has | been i in heré and. tried to find out , something about me.” a" >" t She sat down ith ae pair in her hand and looked : front steps of ‘the next house. me - a ne sb ee C0 aes feel than ‘that a prying ser- : ate os 4 ieee) a ae 4

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. when her attention was attracted by a slight noise in her room. Thinking that the negress or some other person had come to get her letter, she looked toward the hall door. Nobody was there, but in that glance Ida saw an- other door opening. It was the door to the clothes closet of the room. She had opened that door when she first went into the room and had seen that the closet contained only a few dresses that belonged to the landlady. At the moment when she caught sight of it now the door was more than half open, and it was still swinging back. The lamplight showed a woman standing there. It was the one whom Ida had met in the saloon. Her face was more villainous looking than before, and the flashing of her eyes showed that she was ter- ribly in earnest, Her right hand was raised, and in it was a revolver that was pointed straight at Ida. There are times when even the boldest and quickest of detectives has to lie low. This. was one of them. Ida‘never knew_anything so well as she did that, if she attempted to resist, she would be shot instantly. She had no intention of being shot, but she had been in too many perilous situations to feel alarm. Nothing but coolness could save her, and Ida was perfectly cool. “If you stit before I give the word,” the woman whispered, “I will kill you where you sit!” “Doubtless,” returned Ida. She.almost regretted that she had spoken at all, for the woman’s eyes flashed more fiercely, and her hand trembled slightly. “T’ve a great mind to fire anyway,” she saiigea: ad- vancing 4 step. Ida made no reply, but she kept her eyes | fixed on _ those of her enemy. Behind the woman came another. Both stepped into the main room, and then a third came from the closet... ' The second was armed with a 1 revolver also. “The last carried a long knife in one hand and a coil of rope in the other. ve detective faged Tightly eee: past, | be en mistake,” she maid. 2 “Ida Jones,” whispered the first, ye are a pris- 19 “T never supposed that I would be taken for my worst enemy.” “What!” It was the first woman who spoke, and she was evi- dently startled by the detective’s cool remark. The others were thrown into such doubt that they glanced at each other inquiringly.. Ida followed up her advantage quickly. “Do you suppose,” she asked, “that I didn’t know | what I was about when I took a room here? I haven’t worked Bridgeport before, but I knew where to come.” “Do you mean to say that you are not Ida Jones, the famous detective?” “Of course, I do! I’ve been up against Ida before this, and I ought to know what she looks like. If you had ever seen her you would know, too.” “What are you here for, then?” “I told you. I came to work the town. ,If there isn’t enough for all of us to do, and you want me to clear out, you might say so without trying to scare me to death.” “But what did you shadow me into the saloon for?” Ida had to think fast. Had they really recognized her? Should she deny that she had shadowed the woman? Making her decision quickly, she answered : “I was trying to make friends. You wouldn’t have it, and I wasn’t going to force myself upon you. *I sized you up ~ one of my kind, and T hit it right.. didn’t 1?” In all this the detective was watching warily for a. chance to draw her own weapon. But the first woman never lowered hers, and it wa’s just as certain as at first that if the detective made a false move, the revolver would be fired. “How are we going to know that you're straight oe the woman demanded. “You ought to know already.” “But how?’ “By this,” and Ida held up the note she had written to Patsy. “You've read it,” she added. “How do you know?” “Because it wasn’t where I put it. You came in while I was out and looked at it, but you et a to put it back where you found it.” “The note doesn’t mean anything to us.” “What! do you mean to say you don’t know the thieves’ cipher? Say! you ought to come: ‘to New York and take lessons!”

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Ida spoke scornfully, and it was clear that she was 5 making the women more than doubtful when a arale 4 voice from the closet broke in on them: » “Fools! why do you let her play with you? Bind = et and bring her at once to our den.” The detective knew that voice. It was Mrs. Kramer. ae ~The murderess stepped from the closet and looked hatefully at Ida. : _ *She’s laughing at you all the time,” added Mrs. _ Kramer. “Why do you let her? If you don’t make her secure while you have the chance she'll give you ee the slip—and somebody will get hurt.” . “Are you sure?” asked the first woman. » “Of course, I am!” “Then bind her !” ¥ _ The woman with the coil of rope advanced, and Ida er are determined to make a prisoer of ofl ‘said, “you're welcome. I’ve been a prisoner’ be- e. You'll find out your mistake in time.” The woman with the rope was about to tie Ida’s ae when Mrs. Kramer interfered. ‘ ol she cried ; “see how she Stark her hands! done «epic borgrbamernigc For one instant Ida wanted to resist’ and she Bai’ NICK CARTER WEEKLY. “IT see you still think I am Ida Jones,” the detective. “I feel flattered.” “We don’t think; we know! !” retorted the mur- deress. remarked “You'll know more some day,” said Ida, laughingly. The women snarled in their fury that she should be so cool. “Never mid,” said Mrs, Kramer; “her time for laughing is short. We'll laugh last.” Ida did as she was told and walked into the closet, where it proved that there was a secret door into the next house, ms ¥i This was closed as sdon as the idit woman had passed. Up to that time the woman had spoken in low tones. Now they laughed triumphantly and loudly. Ida never had seen sich hideous creatures in all her experience, Their faces were scarred and bloated, and their deep eyes burned like live coals, “They really mean to kill. me,” she thought, “and my charice depends on the pleasure they will take in torturing me first. They will wait till they have me thoroughly frightened before they give the fatal blow. Well, they'll have to wait a long time.” — She was taken downstairs and into a back room where she saw three siierinet m hideous as her cap- tors. nae “Hasn't Mother Blaney come yet ? demanded Mrs. Raat No,” ‘answered. one ‘of them, “nobody’ s been here | since you went up.” I tes Si “Delia,” and Mrs. Kranter iitoed to the woman whom ‘Ida had met in the saloon, “go to the corner and look into Red Jim’ : place and see ‘if she’s there. Ah! won't she be glad when she knows that we've got the woman Carter, the great’ Nick’s assistant!” “All right,” said the ‘woman called Delia, “but don’t “do pagthing. ie: yl I'm gone. 1 want to a = Mes circus.” % “Oh, we'll all wee it, Bat we mst have bison

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oe a She did so, and the women brought their chairs so that all sat in front of her. For a moment they leered at her and muttered deep _ cursés under their breaths. “Whew!” thought the detective, “this is the worst . ~ looking lot I ever. was up against !” : But she smiled as if she were enjoying it all,’ and "a ‘said: ¢ “T suppose this is an initiation iets your society. I hope Mother Blaney will like me.” : “Young woman!” cried Mrs. Kramer, with horrible harshness, “you can call this an initiation if you like. A. When you get through with it you will be in another _ world. ” : / Revi EO: interesting) " retorted Ida; “will you all go ee ake, too?” ~The fnurderesd a8 40° furious for a moment that A. ~ “T am listening,” sid Ida. vik Mh it -ipeeise “by hie ots 458 — fad me siete you iat. tUps get on the trail of a woman F capsdireete shawl. Ha! s ca “you say you had ; wl. od catia’ wee thet | for?” | ‘NICK CARTER WEEKLY. ee a all over Bridgeport this Ac akce feos %) _ both hands under a shaw! that I stole from a farm. : | 3 e “T tell you, these ‘leis to > show ‘that 1 am no 21 It was her game to make some of the women at least doubt that she was a detective. So not once did she admit that she knew what Mrs. Kramer was talking about. “You know as well as I do!” cried the murderess, _ “for you had me handcuffed last night.” “Did I?” “Well, no,” and Mrs. Kramer was confused for a moment; “I had forgotten. You left me at the sta- tion, but you must have known that I was handcuffed when they locked me up in the poor house.” “Oh!” “You knew it, I say! Well, my hands were ironed, true, but there was a chain a foot long between the bracelets, so 1 wasn’t wholly helpless, oh, no! not _ wholly. The matron of the poor farm found that > out to her sorrow. “Did you make her take off the bracelets for you?” “No, though I tried to. I made believe sick, and when she bent over to give me a dosé of medicine I _ siezed her by the throat and pressed my fingers in deep, and held on and pressed harder till her face was black . . and her eyes were rolling out of her head. ee I knew it was safe to let go.” _ Ida found it hard to keep from shuddering as the miurderess told these details, looking like a fiend and — speaking in a hoarse unnatural voice. The. other! women shut- their jaws together dod’: gioated on every word. i “When I let go," Mrs. Kramer continued, oy cut _ her throat to make perfectly sure. Shae ts: ds te ek” an ordinary table knife. It was troublesome work with my hands ironed, and I gave myself a cut on the fingers, but I didn’t notice that till an hour later. “When I did see it I bound up my hand and kept sky 14 longer afraid of you, for dead men tell no tales.” ae 3 ae Hes she thrust her face close to sank wo nega Neither do. dead women!” ee ? ae haat i Ae. ty

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At this moment Delia returned. All looked inquiringly at her. “Mother Blaney isn’t at Red Jim’s,” she said. - “Has she been there this evening?” asked Mrs. : Kramer. > “NG a “What’s become of her?” - There seemed to be anxiety as well as surprise in the tones, for nearly all the women spoke at once. Ida was encouraged. Sco Delay would be useful, and if anything had hap- 2 pened to keep Mother Blaney from toming, there might be a way to capture all these hags at once. ¢ ; “T don’t know,” Delia replied, marehly. “T believe “< in going ahead without her.” ‘ “That's against the rules,” said a woman who had i not spoken before. a | Ida had noticed that she was the one who seemed ay _ most doubtful as to whether the prisoner was any ee _ Ida Jones. 3 = _ “If I could only make them dispute about that!” she Se thought. “If I can make them quarrel among them- selves I shall be safe.” . d “But we can’t wait forever!” cried Delia. “That's so,” said Mrs. Kramer. find Mother Blaney. She will tell you who | am.’ ~ “Do you know Mother Blaney ? ?” asked several of : the women together. “Of course!” cried Ida, scornfully, “Would I be Mother ‘Blaney would square me when she comes?” ° 4 In truth the detective never had heard of Mother : et before this evening. \ We ene take to too ‘many “chances,” ame “T agree with you,” said Ida, “and I hope you will = ; lia. sitting here without flinching if I didn’t know that ee longer.” 7 Ri Aang feat atfick 22 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. “we'll wait a little while longer. and look for her. Go out again, Delia, If you don't find her pretty soon . come back and we'll finish the business. I won't let it wait all night.” Delia grumbled that she had to do all the running, but she went out. As soon as she had gone, Mrs. Kramer said: “T want to speak to the prisoner alone.” The others scemed to be afraid to trust her with the prisoner, but Mrs. Kramer ordered them out, and after a little delay they went into another room. Then Mrs. Kramer said: “There is just one chance for you to save your life. If you will take it quickly, you will be spared.” ‘CHAPTER VUL DELIA’S RETURN. “You are very kind,” “What is the chance?” . responded Ida, coolly. She felt that at that moment she was in the great- est danger, for it scemed likely that the murderess had } sent*the others out so as-to do her deed of vengeance. without interference. Mrs. Kramer looked steadily at her, and said: “T suppose it’s useless to ask you to join us.” “Haven't I said that I would like to?” exclaimed Ida. “Didn't I say that 1 came to Bridgeport to work . the town, and that I wanted to get friendly with De- _ ” . “Ida Jones,” responded the murderess, harshly, “it is of no use for you to try to pretend that sort of thing to me. You can fool the others, for they don't know you. You can’t fool me, and you'd better not try Ida shrugged her stioulders and was silent. - “T don't think you'd join us,” continued Mrs._ Kramer, “and so I won't say anything more about _ that. But I know that you will ee a promise if you make it.” : . “Thank you.” babe f “Wait! ‘Listen to me, T NS, t care anything Fa at Hass nied om, Pit meta ouch |

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en a woman needs help as I did this morning. | couldn't have got rid of my handeuffs if I hadn’t been able to come here. Delia filed them off for me, and the rest of them will stand by me. “But they are no good when it comes to sharp bus- _Tve no use for them. | have use for my daughter, Kate. I also want to keep in business my- “This is the chance for your life. Give me your “Promise that you'll let me and: Kate alone, and in two “minutes you will be able to get ae out of this den. “What do you say?” ‘The detective was corte hae if she refused at once he back hak We can\go up and through the sec et door, into the other house where you were be- pee. a ne NICK CARTER WEEKLY 23 As she spoke she waved the blade back and forth within an inch of the detective’s throat. “Let me ask one question first,” said Ida, hoping: to gain time. “Be quick, then, for Delia may be back any minute!’ “]T want to know about the fire in a coal hod in the house next door.” The murderess laughed brutally. “A fine trick to get you to leave your room,” said. she “I was sure it was you who hired a room there, but the others were not so certain. I knew that if you showed great Courage it would be you, and I thought you might give yourself away by arresting the land- lady.” : “Did you mean to have the child die from suffoca- tion?” “What did I care for the child? But to answer your question, no. The landlady laid her on the floor of the | hall before lighting the fire in the hod. So the child - was safe enough, and the trick worked, for you risked your life, and I knew it must be you. “Then we found your cipher note. Of course we wouldn’t let you send it, and we caught you before your could get away from the house, Does that answer your re “Yes,” replied Ida, siowly, “T think it does,” “Then do you promise t to = hounding me and my daughter?” Ida drew a long weve looked the murderess i in the eyes, and answered ; “Nol. a thousand times, bat Do your worst » Mrs. Kramer was taken by surprise. _ She had expected a consent, and for an instant she » gasped and stared. Sat It was” hard to believe shat: the ‘desaiae would oe _ yield to such a horrible, threat as she had made. Starting back two pass she raised the knife sore oe herpes | 5 Pd Sot Worm he a et a

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Se ae a i pnbeieg £5 ‘Patsy lost no time | in: n finishing his diols * As he spoke he swung his arms about and knocked 24, | Among them could be distinguished the harsh tones of Delia. . The,door opened, and Delia and the others crowded in. * “What's the matter?’ demanded Mrs. angrily, and she thrust her knife out of sight. “Mother Blaney’s pinched!” gasped Delia. Her eyes were staring wildly, aiid shé stood in the middle of the room wringing her hands. “Pinched!” echoed Mrs. Kramer, astonished. ' “Yes. It’s the work of the Carters. They are in town. I heard of it at Red Jim’s.” “Are you sure?” “There can’t be any mistake. without her?” Delia seemed to have lost her head and to have for- gotten all about their prisoner. “Do?” screamed Mrs. Kramer, here! we can do that much at least.” “Yes!” cried other voices, “kill her! don’t waste a second.” “We won't.” t was Mrs. Kramer who spoke last. She flourished her knife again and made a leap at ‘da. exvege The others pushed close to see the fatal blow fall. | Suddenly Delia caught Mrs. Kramer’s knife arm with one hand and her shoulder with the other, and hurled her clear across the room so that she struck Kramer, What shall we do “kill the Carter _, the wall and fell in a heap. “Well I guess nit!” shouted “Delia,” and in-that aR there was then a new and deeper tone. _ It was the voice of a man. _ “Patsy!” gasped Ida. She was as much astonished a as any of the ig ‘shee 5 two of the screaming women to the floor. = ae rte Secon te: ind oman ‘ec oman a aes aa NICK CARTER WEEKLY. At this moment Ida stood up. Her hands were free. All the time she had been sitting there she had been patiently working her wrists to stretch and loosen the cord that tied her. She had hoped to get her hands-free in time to re- sist Mrs. Kramer. It was not too late now, she thought, to do some- thing to help in capturing the whole gang. But she found that her arms were almost powerless because they had keen kept so long in one position. The first woman she tackled slipped from her grasp and fled to the next room. “Never mind, Ida,” cried Patsy, “they can’t get away. There’s a squad of Bridgeport police at the door waiting for them to come out and be captured.” At this moment the two whom he had knocked down were scrambling to their feet and trying to get away. Patsy was leaping from one to the other and siipping bracelets on their wrists. / He made no attempt to stop the others. There had been so mugh noise and screaming dur- ing these first few seconds that neither! he nor Ida noticed what was happening to Mrs. Kramer. Now that the*others had run from the room they heard her groaning horribly. She was writhing helplessly on the floor where she had fallen. ‘ There was a red streak across her cheek. : Even'as Patsy and Ida turned to her she gave a fearful gasp, shuddered from head to toe, and lay still.” The murderess was dead. . “IT understand,”. said Ida, in a low, horror-stricken ~ . tone, “she told me her knife was poisoned. When you -threw her the blade“accidentally scratched her skin, «drew blood—and shé has come. to the end that she in-~ tended for me.” © : “Well,” said Patsy, “I can’t say that I'm sorry. — But she deserved ‘the smniteo Let’ s go out and see” how the boys are getting on.’ ‘3 There was a Tot of ae ate going on in front % the house. . * as he we hy helt ite eds % Bit rete aie rae A Sane ge? _ = eal -< : Curae oR a a a Lam 3h hue ane

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. - NICK CARTER WEEKLY of policemen who had been stationed there to receive them. j In short, every woman in the gang was arrested, ¥ including the negress and the landlady of the next house. -’ The New York detectives did not have to make a _ wharge against them. “You see,” Patsy explained to Ida, “the police here z “Have been after this gang for some time. all the evidence they need, I think. ' “The gang was led by a woman called oe ines bi Basieg —" _ “T've heard of her,” Ida interrupted, with a laugh. = “And I made her acquaintance about an hour ago,” ) said Patsy. “I arrived in Bridgeport some time after you did and went to the place where we were to meet. _ As you weren't there, and I found no message, I con- cluded that you were at work on a clew. So I went back to the railroad station and asked some questions that showed me you.had got on Mrs. Kramer’s trail. _ “Then it struck me that Mrs. Kramer must have friends among the criminals of the city, and I went _ to headquarters to see if I could get any points there. es “They. told me they had been trying to get hold of 5 a gang made up, as they believed, of women, and led ted one named Blaney. : _— “Mother Blaney, ‘they said, had been shrewd enough r to be seen with any of the gang, and the police not certain where they hung out. “a “OF course they didn’t know where Mother Blaney lived, or ‘they would have had her long ago. pies “J went out on a still hunt. About an hour ago I 1 d into a saloon near here, ly Slee : known as Red Jim. d, ‘hello, mother.” ia hut up!’ she retorted. ‘Don't call me , mother.’ 1 was enough for me, she was so mad about it, ner 1 she Segphe ee Look: her in on sus- little serap of it,” "and Patsy held on and took her,fo the cooler. thts, T Cel They have’ ile I was there a 5 ES a Red 25 gang might = found, and I got onto the fact that a woman named Delia would be on the watch ‘for her. “The rest you can guess. I laid for Delia, caught her, and borrowed her rig. “Then, after copying her face, I came back with a squad of police and we wound the thing up.” “You were just in time,” said Ida. “In another minute I would have had my hands free, but they weren't going to allow me another minute.” “The Carters are always in time, Ida,” Patsy ;re- marlsed, to which she responded. “Yes, but I don’t want a closer call than that was.” It was so early in the evening when their work was done that many stores*were still open. “I know a farmer’s wife who ought to have a new hat,” said Patsy, as they passed a milliner’s on the way to the railroad station. “So do I,” returned Ida, “and it’s lucky I am along, for I shall know what to buy her.” They went into the store, and Ida bought a hat which was probably worth a good deal more than the one that had been stolen. They ordered it sent to the farmer near Greenwich, and then went on to the sta- tion. When they had reported to Nick, which they did be- fore midnight, he said: “That really winds up the case, but we have still to find the diamond star.” THE END. How the Carters found that wonderful gem at last will be told in the next number of this weekly, No. 320, under the title, “Nick Carter and the Diamond - Star; or, Placing the Guilt Where it Belonged.” It all came about through Patsy’s joining in a search for a strange cat. There was something else on the tapis besides a. cat hunt, and Patsy knew it. It led him up against as pretty a piece of burglary as could be imagined. How Ida found the missing link, and — _ the sharp detective work that followed, kept their hands full to the limit, and for a time it was anything yi but a sure thing which side would win out. See com- plete account of this big case in the next number, — A

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STORIES OF IIYSTERY. The stories of mystery are pouring in by the bushel. The contest has decidedly caught on. The stories are capital. _ The writers have studied Nick Carter to advantage. . Keep up the good work, boys. For list of prizes and particulars, see page 31. A Ghost Story. (By Frank Bowman, Cleveland, O.) It was night. Slowly the great silvery moon mounted into the star-studded heavens. A deep silence, a silence one seemed to’ feel lay upon the face of the earth. A soli- tary star shot across the firmament and disappeared be- yond. I was not’a superstitious young fellow at that time, but thought I; “If there are such things as ghosts and goblins and imps roaming about this world, which, of course, is very improbable, to-night would be an ideal night for them.” And. instinctively I glanced hurriedly about me, half expecting to see an apparition in white rise from the ground to greet me. ae The morning of this same day 1, with Carlo, one of ‘my favorites, had started for my uncle’s farm, which was —e three miles distant, and I was now returning home. My path, a well-tredden one, led me through. the very nest of Senobaugh’s woods. Here and there patches of light fell upon the path through the openings in the ; _ somewhat dense foliage above, making it a very easy © matter to see my way along the path, About halfway a newly, erected rail fence crossed the “ “ie ath and was lost to view in the gloom beyond. | had passed this and had walked a short distance on the other _ side, when suddenly -I>heard something spring upon is. ~ the fence and the next moment the patter of feet upon Vi my track. In an instant all my previous thoughts of i . "ghosts: and goblins psi within me, and with my heart , _- in my very mouth I jee tb goaded: on by thy wi “stances, goaded.on by cd wi "Was 9 So bark Sates ok poll ctr I cast one fleeting glance behind pcg it was—a ragged spot of. ure white about the size of my “two fists. ‘That was all. I saw, and it was Tun under similar cireum- dest fear. But strain as I My speed Fhe i celia oy ata ee fst de de- broke into a mad run. And, oh, how © ed‘rapidly on me. ‘Now he | But - eat , the perspiration sa cond not keep ~~” They: both went for the conductor, phys ae Carlo, my favorite, his hot breath fanning my face. I reached out my hand and stroked his neck. “You rascal,” said I, “that was a scare you gave me.” Then I looked at the: single spot of white on his breast and laughed again, On leaving my uncle’s I had not been able to find the dog, and so had gone without him. But he had returned ~ not long after I left, and finding that I had gone started out after me. His joy at qvertaking me had caused him to leap against me the way he did, A Messenger’s Fright. (By Albert Koeppe, Pekin, Ill.) It was a cold, dark night in January; the snow was falling fast and thick and a fierce wind was blowing it into large drifts everywhere, he Cannon Ball Express was late in arriving in the little town of Cliffdale. The express messenger was very busy sorting his carload of express packages and boxes. The train crew were rushing here and there, giving and receiving orders and signais, and everything seemed in harmony with the dark and mysterious night. It so“happened that on this night the express agent at this town had’a corpse of a man for the express, and asthe car was jammed full, the messenger had to strap the huge coffin-like box on the front platf of the car, The late train pulled out and the snow ell very thick over the - body of the dead inan. ~ As it happened this messenger was a very superbtitions fellow, tet he dreaded the sight of a corpse, but on this particular night he forgot cprapleely about the NE: until nearly the end of hisrun. =~ Sa He at last thought of it, and went to the door, opened it, and looked out, - What he saw there must have scared him very much, for he jumped back with a yell of fright od and terror. a Slamming and bolting the. door, he ran to the other end 34 of the car, pe yelled for the brakeman. The latter came _ _ in and the messenger told him to take a look at the box on the front platform. ‘He did, but no sooner did. he set - “eves on the box than he also took to his heels, + _strong-nerved person. He what was wanted, ‘the messenger told him see fiend a Lee Poise betige in a,

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Ile at once demanded.in a stern tone of voice: “Who sits there?” To their surprise, the white object got up, and, shaking the snow in every direction, told them that he was a half- frozen hobo, who was stealing’ a ride. The poor fellow certainly got a good ride, for they grabbed him by the collar and gave him a ride to the ceiling of the car about half « dozen times. The hobo, in his turn, was very frightened, and, seeing his chance when the train was slowing down for a water tank, he darted through a door and escaped. Robbery and Murder. (Ry Ned Holmes, Lexington, Neb ) Jn the little town of Centreville, there lived a man who was called the Professor. He was a Darwinite, and had a collection of all kinds of animals, arnong them a fine ~~ monkey, named Bigo He lived alone. except for an old colored couple One day he was found dead in his big armchair. One arm hung down over the chair, and, lying on the carpet, was a handsome little .32-calibre re- volver. One of the window panes was broken by a sec- ‘ond shot fired by the assassin. Robbery was evidently the motive, for his money could not be found. He had kept it in a box in the monkey’s cage. The old negro and his wife «were arrested for the murder, and placed in jail. But nothing could be proved. _A reward of ten thousand dollars was offered for the trest and conviction of the murderer. A_ detective named Harry Sly took up the case. On examining the window where the bullets had “entered,” as the prose- utor kad put it at the inquest, he found that the particles of glass from the broken pane lay upon the window sill mroutside,=.*) es ___ The shot that killed the professor had been fired from inside of the room. The murderer, then, must posi- ‘ly have been in the room. ; The detective looked around a while, and then went 0 the police station and said to the chief: “I :believe I e discovered the murderer, and if -you will come with to the house I will bring you face to face with the as- sin and induce him to admit his guilt.” The chief sented, and they went to the house. The detective “Tf you will wait a while I will show you the mur- "While we wait let me show you a few of the tricks professor taught Bijo. Stand up, Bijo.” The. ani- al obeyed. The detective placed an apple on the head ‘monkey and he remained motionless, while’ the hand, and_ then they withdrew to the other de of the room. re was a loud report as the ani- ouched-the delicate hair trigger, and the chief heard — -the bullet, which struck the wall close to his je chief sprang forward excitedly. Harry fol- slowly. Going to the cage, he took from it a ewe he laid upon the table, pressing upon is two hands as he did so. The chief was as- o see the shell separate in halves, disclosing crisp United States bonds of large denomina- : gabe’ * saree tees TPS NICK CARTEK WEEKLY. ve shot it off: Sly then placed the revolver in the 27 “When I was put on the case,” replied Harry, “I saw this nut in the monkey’s cage and noticed that the ani- mal had made no attempt to get at the meat. I became suspicious, and examined it. The old negress had testified that her master kept his money in the box with the nuts. This helped me in making the discovery. The professor neglected to close the box, and Bijo helped himself after he had slain his master, discarding this unique money- bank Yor another nut when he discovered its spurious char- acter. If it was Bijo the robber, why not Bijo the as- sassin? I acted on fhe suggestion, and on several occa- sions proved the correctness of my theory by placing the revolver in the monkey's way, which he invariably handled until it was discharged. Thus poor, innocent Bijo was guilty of a double crime.” Harry got his reward, and was greatly complimented for his skillful solving of a difficult problem. The Deacon’s Bride. (By H. H. Woods, Tahlequah, I. as) Everybody in the little town of Fame, I. T., was ex- cited to the limit, for Deacon Raymond, of that town, who, just six months before, had married, was dead; shot, as it was stated, by an assassin, when coming up to his own gate. Every one had his suspicions, but the evidence pointed to an old darkey, who was arrested. The statement was that he was seen coming from the spot a few minutes ‘after the Mnurder, with a basket under his arm, which the people supposed contained the weapons, and so he was locked up. \ Meanwhile, the deacon’s wife, who was a little, child- like woman, with tender blue eyes, was so overcome with grief that she was seldom seen out. Just three days before the trial of the old darkey, Detective Moody, of Texas, arrived, and set to work on the case. He was often seen walking about the spot of the mur- der, and the house of the murdered man, but never saying ) a word. . At last the day of the.trial arrived. The court-house was jammed with a crowd of anxious people, among them, in the first row of seats, sat the deacon’s wife. The trial began, and ended, as all trials do; then it ad- journed till next morning, when the jury retired. When the jury came back the crowd was spell-bound, as the chairman rendered the verdict, “Guilty,” But just then a voice rang out: . “He is not guilty. for he did not commit that crime!” All eyes turned, to see the detective stride up to the bench, and then heard: “Your honor, I demand a hear- ing. Eyou shall have it,” said the judge; and then the de- tective told how-he had hung around the scene of the crime. ? J * : How he had discovered the window had rai for the first time that winter, in the deacon’s es vag How he had found a little revolver, with one chamber _empty, beneath the window. Fitri * Jew he found, engraved, the initials of the deacon’s Wit, ie "i Se ban = Bs ~ Pah a » “Now, Silas,” addressing the old darkey, “tell your i i ee ag Ne we story. dl, pie Sa a

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28 _ “On Saderday night, as I’se ‘turning home, old Deacon _ Raymond, he cotches up wid me, and we’se walks ‘long pte. He saams gratly agitated, and says to me: ilas, do youse knows I be bin worried ter death since I'se -mar—— But right dar, as we gits eben with hes gate, a shot is fared, and old deacon he falls; it looks to me _likes it comes from his lib’ary win’ow. I’se nearly scared _to death, and I lited.” Just then the people's eyes were directed to the deat’ s wife, who was white as a corpse, and hissing through . her clinched teeth: “It’s a lie, a lie; it’s a lie, 1 tell you. Then she sank to the floor in a dead. swoon. . After the adyenturess, as the deacon’s wiie proved to be, was taken to the jail, she confessed all. That she had married the deacon for his money, and, after finding he had little, and being tired of him, she resolved to kill him. hen the people of Fame heard this, they nearly went wild, while the detective received a reward, and also great praise. The Haunted House. » - (By Robert Sinclair, Columbus, Ohio.) ea The 1 moon was shining down brightly through a scud of Rays: 2 white clouds. + Tt was just twelve o'clock on this warm summer’ s night, ; "eal the small village of Alton was wrapped in slumber. EEya ‘Two boys were walking briskly along the highway just Se ottside the town. These boys not walked far over _.. two miles along this lonely road at this late hour for mere » pleasure. They were on an‘adventure which they thought would afford a little.excitement. for them, and it did, as arog miles from the € stood an old frame building, known as the Woodruff House. This house was. ‘thought to be beer and ya: gave.the place a wide berth, especial night. It was three years since ee family left Ree ee They said that they heard i ‘noises in the old Tb at night, which a could in no way account for. . The three preceding families told bare story. ri owners, seeing thas propery going to ruin, offered reward to the ose nae and ‘sugcee saveling the bs ai b had saniactalion he, that was 1A ME dete hs “wild rabbit. “than a rabbit.” ‘ered that ‘they got between the walls and climbed up to , bank, as he sat conversing with the keen detective. “I discovered it in. this manner: Last. week, one of _ steady depositors came to me and told me he wante _1 accompanied him to the vault. and found it closed, as. in utaveli who would. _ -ugual, but on spring J it I started ba have ees NICK CARTER WEEKLY. thought he heard ‘a faint noise near the stairs. He listened again, but the noise had ceased, He did not hear anything, but he drew his revolver and fired in the direc- tion whence the sound came, but he did not hit anything, as they found in the morning. Thé boys talked and planned all day, and finally George Stillman, the other boy, suggested a plan to catch the “ghost” that scemed to offer success. That afternoon George went to his home in the village and procured a large steel trap, which he used ‘on his various hunting trips. This he took to the old house. sefore they went to bed that night the boys set the trap and laced it near the head of tle stairs. This done, they lay down in their blankets as usual, and were soon asleep. Near the middle of the night they were awakened by the noise of the trap as it sprang. After lighting the lantern, they went to examine the trap. They expected “to see a man with his foot in the trap, but there was no_ “ohost,” but there was a rabbit, a The boys were so astonished they could man in the trap, nor hardly speak. ~~ é “Well, qT declare,” exclaimed George, when he found his ‘voice, “‘T thought we would catch, something more Nevertheless they discovered what it was that-made the noise. Fa They got the reward, and were praised $or the cour- ~~ ‘age which they showed in unraveling the mystery. It was a long time before it was found how the rab- bits made such a rattling noise, but it was finally discoy- the attic. This was what made the noise. © From’ the at- tic they easily got inside the house. “The Mystery of the Vault. (By Harry Selatsick, New York, N. Y.) “Tl be a ruined man if you do not solve this m of the yault, Mr. Fox,” said the president of the ca m Sa Pees bob ie “ ‘fe cars SN ‘ws as to sail to Europe. draw out all his savings, as he int ck aghast, for every _ drawer was rummaged, and valuable papers were lying scattered all over ‘the fi rine ‘ab wishing to be exposed, [ gave ve him the r money out of my own pocket, and ever nes am non ste 6 me, fisseabs dh pe oe anced

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY all-around ruffian, made his way to a table near them, but they spoke in such low tones that the listening detective did not hear a word they uttered. They were about to go, when “Reddy” said: “Half past twelve to-night, be sure to be there,” and then the trio of crooks left the place. “Hali-past twelve, be there,” laughed the detective to himself; “well, I will be there.” ™* * * * * * * “Hist, here they come,” said the detective, in low tones, to his companions, just as a part of the floor of the vault opened, and a head was popped up. “There is no one around, boys,” said the owner of the head; “you may come up.” One after another the men came up, and they were ut to open a drawer when the detective gave the signal, and said: “I'll save you. the trouble this time, Mr. ‘Reddy,’ alias Jim Sommers,” and he proceeded to hand- cuff them. Meanwhile, they were being covered by two grim revolvers, held in the hands of two determined officers. - = * * ep ¥.? * * * “So the mystery of the vault is solved,” said the presi- dent to the detective next morning. “Well; here is the reward I promised,” and he continued by taking out a check-book and filling out the blank. “Yes,” answered the detective, “it was robbed by ‘Reddy’. One of the miscre- _ ants, who is’a wharf rat, discovered the sewer under the vault, and in this way robbed you; and here is the money he robbed you of, but now I must bid you good-day, for I __ must attend the trial,” and with these words he left. But _ the president never ceased to be grateful to him for solving the mystery of the vault. A Mystery of Flo-ida. (By James King, Cambridge.) Last summer while in Florida with a friend of mine, ~ we visited an old Indian who was called “Indian Joe.” ; ‘As he was getting dinner one day we asked him to tell ~ us a story of his ast eno Abie promised to do so after _ dinner, so hastily bolting: ! zator we finngs 414 for the story which “Indian : ne ghting his pipe, told in this wise: 18—, I-at comrade, Pedro, sat one venison, when I noticed earances, it suddenly considered myself a good ty first lessons. At last, id as night was fast ap- log behind” a il . As $, corn bread and alli-: 29 what passed between the two, but failed. The only words I could distinguish were ‘by bridge of clouds,’ and immediately a tremulous whistle sounded, and what ap- peared to be a cloud arose, on which the men quickly stepped; then they appeared to fade into nothingness, and the clouds rojled away, leaving me rubbing my eyes as if in a dream. “One day, about a week after this strange occurrence, as I was fishing on a broad bayou, I fancied I heard a scream, followed by a splash. Paddling near the spot, I fotind, by looking through the rushes, my Pedro lashed to a small raft, while swarming in every direction were hundreds of scaly alligators. I was horrified, and for a moment I was nerveless; but, regaining my will power, I seized the paddle firmly in hand, and, with a powerful sweep of my paddle, sent my frail craft fairly hurlin through the water. I approached my comrade with the speed of the wind, but I could already see that I would be too late, for when I was but two-thirds of the way there, one monster, more rapacious than the other, seized him by the arm, and had started for the bottom of the bay, with the others in full pursuit. Pedro saw me, and with. an agonizing scream, turned his bloodshot eyes toward me, and sank forever beneath the muddy waters of Tampa Bay. “Pedro’s murderers decamped the next day. “The bridge of clouds was a huge sheet of canvas, cleverly contrived so that it could roll up or unfold like an immense curtain; thus giving the appearance of a large white cloud when viewed frem a distance at night. This explains how I had lost their trail; but the strange part of the mystery was that, the next day, I found my poor Pedro's clothes, his money and his old silver watch. The watch was still going, and his clothes were not cut or torn in any manner. Now, how could this be, when I plainly saw them on his body when he was seized by the alligator? Why was Pedro put to death, and I not even molested? How did the gang disappear so quickly, and who were they? These are the parts of this great mystery that for forty years have remained unsolved. Old Joe has spoken.” Jack the Slugger’s Finish. (By Harry H. Hunter, Boston, Mass.) Carl Gilbert and his friend, Ray Earlson, were talk-— ing on a subject very interesting to both. S these two friends were in the neighborhood of sixteen years of age at the time I am writing about. cn were inseparable chums, and though often into mischief, were not bad boys.

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39° ~ tore off two valuable rings that she wore, and,, without a word, the. villain bounded away into the darkness. As-soon as she dared, Edith got up and ran home. Between her sobs, she told her parents what had hap- pened, then fell to the floor in a swoon. The matter was put in the hands of the police. An in- vestigation followed, but “it was of no avail, and the af- fair was seemingly forgotten. Carl and Roy had not forgotten, and, as I said before, they were talking the matter over, some three weeks afterward. They both agreed that if they wished the villain brought to justice, they must do it themselves. Finally, they agreed upon a pian, and to meet at Carl's home at seven o'clock that night. At seven o'clock Roy rang the bell, and Carl, going to the door, took his friend up to his room. There they began to dress themselves in girl's clothes, and, after _ much Jaughing and lacing, they presented the appearance of two young ladies, going out for a walk. Placing “loaded revolvers in their dresses, where they could quickly get them, they slipped downstairs and out the back door. Arriving on the street, they proceeded to the scene of Edith’s assault. They passed slowly along the street where the assault took place. they were about halfway through, Roy whis- te pered: “See that shadow skulking close to the wall?” Carl said nothing, and the pair walked\along. Suddenly a dark form bounded toward the nearest boy. “Look out, Roy!” cried Carl. Of course, that gave them away. The villain, hearing that, started to run, ‘but Carl was right after, him. When about four feet behind ‘him, Carl, who was a good football player, made i emt dive, and, tackling the man around the legs, ht him to the ground. nen the ruffian began to fight, and Carl would have pee badly had not Roy run up, and, covering the villain _ with his revolver, cried: “Keep still there, or I'll blow your head off.” This quieted the man, who had no no- oe tion, of stopping a bullet with his head. 7 ‘The boys then ordered him to get up, and, with their aby en in their hands, drove him all the ‘way to the 2 e station. slugger was tried, and he confessed to a number te peaeie: ‘and: was given a heavy sentence to serve. for some time, and Edith thinks more of Hoy, than petare, th as ed not a little. ting i the aa woof Ch It is needless to say that the two boys were heroes eee te age ox whee Sone NICK CARTER WEEKLY. have dropped. some of the bills in his flight, Griffin went out to search for some sign of the thief. He was re- warded at last by finding a ten-dollar bill that was stuck in some bushes in his neighbor Wilke’s yard. Wilke had been seen going’ up the road in the morning with his fish-pole. Griffin instituted a search of Wilke’s shanty, and in it was found a bunch of keys, one of which fitted the door of Griffin’s house. Wilke, on his return,*could not find anybody that had seen him fishing, and the men were for lynching him at once, and would have but for the inter- ference of Randall, who first asked to see the ten-dollar bill that was recovered. “Just what I suspected,” he cried; for, upon looking at the bill, the imprint of a row of teeth could be seen, and upon examining Griffin’s box it was found that a ground-mole had bitten into the box, and taken the money. ane money was found in the mole’s hole under’ Wilke's ouse. ° s An Unsolved Mystery. (By Joseph Gorzalez, Tampa, Fla.) Mr. White was returning from town, and as he turned a bend in the road, somebody in the bushes discharged a double-barrelled shotgun at him, The bullet went right. through the back of his buggy and through his body. The horse got frightened, and ran away, and never stopped till he got to his own door. The man’s wife came to the door and found him sitting in the buggy unconscious. Her screams aroused the neighborhood, and a doctor was soon brought. Mr. White, before he died, told where he was shot at. The neighbors searched and found a double-barrelled shotgun; and a walking- stick in the bushes. They tried to trace the murderer, but on account of the dense growth of palmettocs, they could find no trail, and the mystery has never -been solved yet. This happened a couple of years ago. Two men have been arrested on suspicion, but as gomuns could be proved against sess, ey, were re- eased a Boy’s Detective Work, (By Sam Steinfeld, Brooklyn, N.Y.) — | On Wednesday, September 21, 1900, a citizen of Mil- waukee was chased on the corner of. Stuyvesant and Milwaukee Avenues, by a man with a club, and so he turned around and ran ‘home, nearly. scared to death, On the same‘ night, Mr. French was chased in the same place, and he, too, ran away, nearly scaréd to death. Two boys, whose names were Frank. and George, who were known as boy detectives, decided to solve this. * George told Frank, on Thursday, noontime, that if ‘each should trap his man, to bring him to an old log cabin near the river, at 9 P. M. Gene Tt was ee to distinguish a person’s feitnihs $0, — Mr. Rie and ME Mr. Smith. ex- Tt, he 4 ia eae ta 2

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Ls, * ‘ > ‘STORIES OF MYSTERY SOE SEINE FOR ‘ Pees e ety RE you interested in stories of that nature? Do you know any stories with a mystery in them? If you do, write it out and send itto us. In this new Mystery Story Contest we are giving away FIFTY PRIZES—175 SPLENDID BOOKS Just look at the list of books for boys given below. They are the very finest stories that money can buy and written by celebrated authors with whom you are all familiar. Do you want to win two or more of these books? » "YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN TEN. Write out any story yen know into which the element of mvsterv enters, and send it in. 58—Gilbert, the Trapper...4....,+.. -By Captain C. B. Ashley 59—The Rajah's perres- + BY "ny. George "if Graydon FIVE FIRST PRIZES! cera inthe ve best 60—Thbhe Mountain Cave. y ree H .Coomer . a h be we Tis Boy.. & Rs Belay a Jr. fe ow He Won......... «sees . rooks McCormic : stories wil] each re tate A = vey ignds 6 Ce wese dee By Mite eis Burns P: ¢ : The Tour of a vate Oar... .... aithew t ceive TEN BOOKS from this list. 65—That Treasure. ........... kdkas wavods ee 4 Frank H. Gunvalee 66—-A Young Vagebond...... ae + BY Z. R. Bennett 67—Tom Brown's Sanoet pays -By Thomas Hughes .By Annie Ashmore The ten boys TEN SECOND PRIZES ! 69—Pirate Island........... rh ra ‘By Harry. Collingwood who send in the 70—The New and Amusing History of Sandford ang Merton, a 3 urnan: next best stories gis ie Dele ee will each receive any KOUR BOOKS they may «BY ‘Gacrme Many ita Feon elect i in this list. a sibs ab thee Saw a A wa + Coomer “AFTEIN THRD PRIDES! B= Sq) | SERS. pend us~the oratio Alger, Jr. tees Be Gavtaie slavoe Ria next best stories will each receive any TH REE BOOKS they may select in this list. 8i—Arthur Helmuth - the H. é'N."¢: iatiway. «By Edward S.. Bilis _ TWENTY OTHER PRIZES! ao 82—The Young. Bditor......<. By Matthew White, Jr. send \in the bite Butcher ‘of Cumupers: sr ied Mirza, orapaee es best stories. cic sth: each receive any TWO Fay they m y select in this list, : 7i—Mark Seaworth’s Voyage on the Indian Ocean, By William H. Kingston 72—-The Way to Success; Hp ‘Tom Raseeil.. : By ‘aitrod Oldteliow ; -By William. Dalton ‘$6—Facinn Death..--++-s0+++ ‘| By Richard Dowl ¢6—Catmur’s Cave $87—The Five-Hlundred-oiig Check. "By Horatio Alger, Jr. oe By Mattpow White, Jr. 83—~My Mysterious Fortune..:.../.-+++ 89—Ciinton ; or, Be Life io the Country 20—-Out the Pam Biaas te trae das tse G2 —Spee Ng - «By Headon “By” Horatio Alger,” Who Had ap. he dptag B bahay Be te ; HERE 7—The ani . a t ‘ARE THE DIRECTION cee, | BEE CaS PRS ie i A lp "Fea ant seta ae osvematieee rs foo met Seog galt ee fame 0 become a contestant nf theve Aa onesie. O19 =i erates pa Fiesee aie Nome: 2.8 98 By ahs agin Ral ‘ s ary A. Deniton ey ihe 7 Pp ‘ : : ; , ’ Tank ) , wpb "a ' : fe , ‘ ‘ A rank H. Conversa w iad ee Winkeres By Frank Ht Conveves vega yttr sg Ker ad phe oy of By Wi. By Jules V ‘ iy Whe oe 5 es cyated 7 a,

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aseeceseseseceseseceecscscessecsese (seetenseeceseseoes seseescoscseesosecoccseesosses NICK CARTER WEEKLY THE BEST DETECTIVE STORIES IN THE WORLD 285—Nick Carter’s Chinese Puzzle; or, Patsy’s Little Game. 286—Nick Carter’s Pullman Flot; or, Following a Chance Clew. 287—Nick Carter’s Wedding Gift; or, Landing an Old Offender. 288—Nick Carter’s Expert Exposure; or, Downing the Freight Thieves. 289—Nick Carter and the Bank Draft Raiser; or, Catching a Slippery Crimina’ 290—Nick Carter’s Quick Decision; or, A Strange Weapon for a Murderer. 291—Nick Carter and the Snake Brooch; or, Making a Startling Discovery. 292—Nick Carter’s Note of Warning; or, The Murder of the Empress. 293—Nick Carter’s Ghastly Find; or, Sleuthing in the Dutch Mountains. 294—Nick Carter’s Handicap; or, Victory Won in a Canter. 295—Nick Carter’s Palm Clew; or, What Chick Saw Through the Window. 296—Nick Carter and the Stranglers; or, The Coin Cuff Button. 297—Nick Carter at Mount Vernon; or, The Old Rabbit’s. Paw. ‘ 298—Nick Carter’s Bath Mystery; or, After a Sleek Pair. x 299—Nick Carter Among the Peter-Players; or, The Little Knocker-Out. 300—Nick Carter’s Suspicious Companion ; or, Discharged from Custody. 301—Nick Carter in Chicago; or, The Crime of the Lake City. 302—Nick Carter’s Queerest Case; or, A Murder in the Snow. 303—Nick Carter’s Wonderful Nerve; or, The Little Giant’s Task. 304—Nick Carter in Baltimore; or, The Conspiracy of the Red League. 305—Nick Carter’s Clever Decipher; or, The Letters on the Floor. 306—Nick Carter’s Greatest Peril; or, On the Trail of a Human Fiend. 307—Nick Carter’s Chase of the Thirteen: or; A Prisoner for Life with the Dead. ! 308—Nick Carter's Asylum Case; or, A Great Crook Outgeneraled. By 309—Nick Carter’s Dog Detective; or, A Race with a Maniac. 310—Nick Carter's Mystery of Seven; or, Sleuthing at Ninety Miles an Hour. 31I—Nick Carter in Mexico City; or, Arrested as a Criminal. 312—Nick Carter Among the Hotel Thieves; or, The Great Jewel Robbery. 313—Nick Carter’s Fourfold Murder; or, Clever Work in Florida. Sat ' 314——-Nick Carter’s Pipe Line Case; or, Running Down the “Reindeer Rye.” xe 1 _. g15—Nick Carter and the Gold Thieves; or, The Grubstake Mill Conspiracy. * 316—Nick Carter’s Cigarette Clew; or, “Salted” for a Million. 317—Nick Carter’s Auto-Chase; or, Trailing the Red Spider. 318—Nick Carter’s Quick Guess; or, Ida Jones and the Jewel Thieves. _319—Nick Carter and the Murderess; or, Tracked by a Trail of Blood. _ 340—Nick Carter and the Diamond Star; or, Placing the Guilt Where it Belonged. SEHSSSSE SESE LSESEELLELES SLELSSSSE LS LESSEE THOFIPIIS SBSIIVD SPF LPIDIPPS IDI I FPIISES FETIP IDIOIDITSSIFSIIDIIFFISIFIFSFISIVSS All of the above numbers always on hand. If you cannot get them from your newsdealer, five cents a copy will bring them to you by mail, postpaid. 4 5 _ STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 238 William Street, New York. F

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& Sepa can be no question about the advantage of being able to box well. When called upon to defend h yourself you are always ready aad the manly art of boxing if practiced as set forth in the pages of the boo! entitled “The Art of Boxing and Self Defense” will bring the muscles into : b o 5 a eS = of, ‘ ae - - Z a . ee L ae } . play and transform a weak man into McGOVERN CROSS-COUNTERS WITH HIS RIGHT. a noble specimen of his race. The Artof Boxing .«“ Self Defense By PROF. DONOVAN a wa THE CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS WILL Minit Fo HAND BOOK HAND BOOK ————= _—s INTEREST THE MOST INDIFFERENT PERSON. a The only authentic work on Boxing now on the market. hi is profusely illustrated with 37 elegant half- tone cuts, showing the different positions and blows. The originals of these illustrations are such noted pugilists as James Jeffries, Robert Fitzsimmons, James J. Corbett, Terry McGovern, _ Young Corbett, and all the heavy and light-weight fighters who have ever held the championship of their class. The book is printed on good paper, clear, sharp type and bound in attractive illuminated cover. PRICE 10 CENTS ALL NEW SDEALERS If sent by mail, 3 cents additional for postage. PUBLISHERS YOUNG CORBETT GETS IN A STRAIGHT NEW YORK d LEFT ON McGOVERN’S STOMACH.