Nick Carter Weekly (no. 57) (1898 01 29)

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issued weekly. Subscription price, $2.50 per vear. Fintered as second clas» matter ct the N. Y. Fost Office by StREMY & SMITH. No. 57. NEW YORK, January 29. 1898 Price 5-Cents, MYSTERY Ay 7 GF THE PAINTED ARM "ibe it ih i Aint HE SPRANG UPON THE ASTOUNDED RIVER PIRATE LIKE A PANTHER.

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4 Jen HO - NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1898 by Slreet & Smith, in the Offce of the Librarian of Cong”ess, Washington, D, C. Entered as second class Matter at the New York, N. Y., Subscription price, $2.50 per year. Issued weekly. Post Office. January 29, 1898, AS: 57: Srreet & Suitrn, Publishers. NEW YORK. 5 Cents 29 Rose St., N. Y. | DONE WITH A CLICK: ; THE MYSTERY OF THE PAINTED ARM. a = By the Author o& ‘NICK CARTER.” CHAPTER I. THE HUE AND CRY. “Stop him!” “Yes, if you can find -him!”’ “Ten dollars to know who he is!?? ‘*Tt’s worth it.’ Awe “Twenty to get my grappling hooks ~~ on him!” © ae “If you made it fifty, Red Jeff, ~~ twouldn’t fetch—the kid has vanished, neck and heels.’’ Red Jefi, ex-smuggler, ex- pirate, wharf _ fat, king of the river thieves of New ae Zork city, ground his teeth in rage. sae **Call the boys!’’ he growled hoarsely. ; “They’re coming,’’ announced his “Line the river—the runaway made _.-for cover that way.” Hot on the heels ‘of the two men who had just’ dashed -into view, four brawny fellows came forward, puffing and pant- 1g. ~ ‘Eye on him, governor TAM inquired the : foremost. “Bye on nothing!’ ground © out Red ft. “He dodged around the corner here, - nd he’s gone.”’ ce a puff of smoke," put — in his P ~ the hardened recklessness of crime. ’s the snuggery broken up if that spy ate free—it’s dodge and slurk, and final- ly come slap up against the beaks. In five years not a stranger has passed the thresh- old of our den, unchallenged, till this fellow did.”’ “He couldn’t have been in the house five minutes. ’’ ‘Two was enough for him,” “Rh?” “To tumble over every scrap of writ- ing, every bit of plunder we had.4 in the secret room,”’ **That’s bad !”? ‘‘Pretended to be ‘a plumber’s assist- ant, come to mend a leak. I found an envelope he had some solder in.’’ ‘*Then you velled——”’ ‘‘And seared fiim into flight like the wind, Yell! so would you, for that envel- ope contained an address telling who he- was from.’ Who??? ** Nick Carter.”’ A dead silence fell over the group. a rough, coarser set of faces could not well be gathered together, yet more than one ‘paled under the bronze of exposure and A ‘spy, a detective, a representative of the man whom they feared personally “s Seated Red Jeff, “action! more : tba. the gies solice powers of the

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2 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. metropolis, had penetrated their secret haunt. It must haye been for a purpose—the last one of them was certain of that. The shady, narrow street where their — den fronted was of itself considered dan-— Red Jeff had found a trunk rifled, his coat. pockets: ransacked, a- table drawer containing his limited correspondence all in disorder. a ane chests of tea stood piled up in that room, ~ mute evidences of last night’s foray of his + gang on a China merchantman. on because that -very ee a few o onto its details, ¥E meeqyered the envelope bear- : He was Wien: igely off his bal- ance by that enervating discovery. -come’to mend a leak, arm as a quick ery er pirate like a panther. ; : struggle in which nerve sheer _ oung fellow dressed as a mechanic, car- He was startled—not because twenty The pretended plumber, the boy he Tang out, | gnened and sprang upon ea as- z after the leisurely proceeding at ahead. him, quiet, now!’ Flat to the floor went Red Jeff, upset- ting a chair and half overturning the table, and at the racket, the man’s yell for help, the rush of startled feet, the spty intruder sprang for a window, darted toward tlie river, and vanished. “The brawny giant glared now across the stretch of ‘territory intervening be- tween himself and the river. A large transfer dock comprised it. At one end of the wharf a steam scow was driving piles. Beyond that a barge had just chuted its load of grain into an elevator. Nearer were two buildings about a hun- dred and fifty feet apart. One was four stories high, a storage warehouse ; the other was a low shied- like building. From the higher to the lower struc- ture, set on trestles, ran what might be termed a freight toboggan slide. Down this from a third story platform to that of the shed, a lot of boxes con- taining salted fish had been in progress of transportation for river reshipment. All this’Red Jeff took within the Scns of an anxious, piercing glance, ‘Hunt every crack and corner,’’ i ordered... ‘‘We’ve got to get that spy!"’ Four of his gang deployed toward the river. Red Jeff and his companion pro- — ceeded down the planking that marked a roadway. 2 They looked to the right and the left, Then Red Jeff gave ‘a jump forward, as at a spot where a pile of bricksand a box of mortar stood a form came into view, = It was apparently that of oneof the laborers employed in fixing a chimney ont the warehouse. He wore a well white-washed hat, lime — streaked his clothing, and he carried inc Hodes 2 “It’s hinr!”’ declared Red Jeff. igeres. “You're crazy !’? demurred his: come nion. aie “What! slick hair under an old hat — he’s picked up—white collar for dress, duty at mortaring? Oh, ce Close i -.% The river pirate almost whispered the word, and with cat-like tread, started — - hear hay ‘eee Boe smicg sree.

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 3 never betrayed so much as a quiver-if he suspected. But just as four claw-like hands went out not two feet behind him he gavea spring that was half a whirl. . _He kept whirling and spinning around like a tup, the hod suddenly outstretched spinning with him. Ni It was a fearful weapon, for as it struck be Red Jeff's companion the latter went flat =, with a slam. Red Jeff himself dodged. One corner of the hod grazed his shoulder. He s grabbed out, held on, and its wieider let- ting go went back tumbling. After him!’ yelled the river pirate. His comrade was nursing a broken head and groaning, and Jeff bounded for- ward alone. The fugitive saw him coming. His hat was off now, his face disclosed. His actions had already betrayed him as the late intruder at the den. A sight of his face completely con- a _..- Seipeed Jeff on this score anew. ~ And, in the light of his knowledge that here was one of the dreaded Nick Carter’s allies, the river thief discerned a clear eye, a firm lip, a menacing some- thing, that, boy | he evidently was, he was to be feared in his reckless en- thusiasm and resolute courage far more Bats than any snag he had yet run up against in all his busy criminal career. ‘The boy put for the river straight. _ Red Jeff uttered a shout as he made out - two of his men at the dock edge. They turned, saw the. fugitive, and _ darted forward to intercept him. It seemed as if, the latter was now ina ick glance in every direction, and then | “sprang "to a stationary ladd ste the side of the 1 Se a - up, and the climber got there as. ‘prompt: ly as if he had: | wings. ied | Jeff sprang up it after him. The boy sidked up a hooked pole with which boxes were shunted down the slide. t first -it seemed as if he was going to y that no Sstiden were in vicinity upon whom he for the three were closing in on | evade a ly, waver = ag ptly,_ wavered, shot a cushion of air, the box leaped before eae te was aimed for the ground now. He wate ended at the platform — ree, ‘stories : crates, cold rely for assistance or protection, if needed, he sought to evade an unequal contest, for all three men ‘were now com- ing up the ladder. "The platform and the sfide were smooth as glass. Both were waxed, and a mere touch moved a box as if rolling over ice. The fugitive pushed one to the edge of the slide, sprang upon it, directed a swift glance at his pursuers, and then raising the hooked pole, drove it clear through the cover of the box. He had now something more than a vehicle to shunt him one hundred and fifty feet from his enemies with a bird’s swiftness. The fixed pole was a mast to cling to —a stay, a support. With a whir and a swish the box tilted own the incline, made a sree that took the rider’s breath away. The daring adventurer never looked | behind. The vivid rush of air drove his hair back from his face like floating rib- bons, and he could see clearly. Then perhaps fifty feet accomplished, as he saw something he had not antici- pated, his keen face took a sudden token of alarm. He discerned why work had been tem- porarily suspended in transporting. the boxes. Where the slide made a slight curve to break the velocity of descending objects and to strike the receiving platform be- low just right, a sidebute was ous of place. The sharp contact of the corner of some box had shattered it awry—he could see the wreck of both in the yard below. Would he graze it?—whir! Could he fearful tumble ?—whiz! Over the break, from solid planking to could think. let go the pole as it began to turn, he gave a side twist to his supple body as _ rs wobbled and slid out from under is feet Luck favored him. As the box crashed apart with a terrific noise, his feet came squarely down into a nest of excelsior, lying where it had been dumped from some pottery-packed hogsheads and

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4 : NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Notwithstanding this,.a dizzying shock accompanied the sudden stoppage, and _for a second or two the ‘fugitive was dazed. He was now about sixty feet from the tiver. He made toward it as he saw the lowermost fellow on the ladder nailed to the warehouse drop sheer to the ground, and his companion still higher up follow ‘his example. They blocked escape streetward. To | the boy’s right was the steam scow, but a coming from that direction was another “ of Red Jeff’s cohorts. wz Hemmed in, the fugitive made a des- ____-perate bolt forward, and coming to where alot of piles had been driven, jumped . to the first clump. -Others were being set in place, and the - derrick operated from the scow was but - a few yards away. ae The boy’s idea seemed to be to reach _ the water’s edge, and trust to a dive ora -swim to the shelter of numberless craft anchored near at hand. Be sprang from one cluster of piles to te, ae $ = mee: landing in- the soft mud beneath _ the fourth, as fierce yells pursued him. “a pe turned to study out the proximity maj , and. this distracted his full attention as he made another jump. he This time | landed on a single log ~ end, to find imself cased between the mee oaved sides. of the pile-driver. Hil. It was the last log. Below the water lay. He eagerly scanned the prospect. _. ‘There was a grain barge moored near the elevator thirty feet down shore, out a zed Panne forward d. Ser =e to bear a new and terrific es ; that dazed him somewhat. — ‘It did not ee from any of his ene- - mies. They had halted in various stages from ladder to a stockstill ; jiom rebels sockets, — ner, then to a third, and barely t exactly. aoa Iagitive, were of the river. » , gently was a hat, er! Bc ma _fugitiv his cries were the merest incoherent bab- blings. (Dake care!’’? the fugitive made out. He wavered, wondering if the menace outlined hovered behind or below. - Then he looked up quickly as a sharp snap echoed forth. He seemed instantly to shrink and fall, without nerve or power to control him- self. Both were paralyzed by an awful threat let loose at that second. The engineer on the steam scow had released the hook that held the iron pile-driving weight into its grooves. Down these the half-ton bulk of metal shot with the velocity of lightning. Sweeping and crushing all before it, the immense hammer head landed on the top of the log. ~ _CHAPTER TI. “IN TOUCH.’ *‘Wiped out!’’ shouted Red Jeff. ‘*Squelched—mincemeat !’’ interlarded the man nearest to him, aghast. The workman who had so agitatedly hailed the fugitive came forward, pale and unsteady. **That—boy——”’ he gasped. SS **Ves, we saw him,’’ nodded Jeff. ~ = **Didn’t——”’ chattered the man. ; “Didn't what?” tee 8 “Get crushed—by pile- driver.’’ we “Nonsense !’’ ae “See, now!’ = = The huge hammer ee to ascend— = the top of the log was revealed. ‘“'Pold you so—I- ‘saw him fall,’’ con- Fa tinued the workman. | <= ‘‘Rall, where? Quick, man! He’s got free ‘after all; boys!’ 3 “Over. the log, as the hammer came EF down——” Pay “Ves! yes!” Bim. ‘‘And into the water—splash!?? = “Fish him ouf—hunt him ont shouted Red Jeff. = 73 All three of the pirate - crowd nega . jumping across the piles, Seger From the top of the one farthest their leader. eagerly acamnet ee ic Some ri) pples” jidwath, sFicalng. away. rae had worn, bots +33 ; f Ee

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. | 5 Steadily and ravenously, like some gloating fishhawk, Red Jeff kept his eyes fixed on the water. Went down—hasn’t come up,’ he _ pronounced after a spell. ‘‘As good a way as the other: Let the police find him if he’s missed. Come on, mates.’ ‘*We’re safe now?’’ insinuated one of the men. ‘‘For what he may have found out, yes; from any other spy ever fooling us —oh, just!’? responded Jeff, with unc- tion. ‘‘This one bothered me. He must have been after——’’ _‘*To-night’s big game se _ The trio made their way back to land. _ They halted to take up their battered companion, and soon disappeared in the direction of their den. ‘*That,’’ observed Bob Ferret, ‘‘was a ‘close shave !’’ Bob Ferret was the name of the mem- ber of Nick Carter’s detective school who had penetrated the lair of the harbor - thieves. He was not lying cold and stark under the waters of the river, as his late pur- _suers believed and presumably hoped, ies qu gh dripping, from a ecided point of vantage he was quietly -in the last exciting section of pis ~ afternoon’ s venture. When he went over from the top of the log just in time to escape annihilation from the descending iron sledge, the cold ail water acted on his energies, momentarily a: paralyzed. by horror, like a spur. = ~ Bob swam to where a flapping, box- - ‘Tike piece of canvas extended from one og se oe siento chutes. Sia Then reaching = the a fixed.scoops rounded on mt - _ something to cling'to. =. eS He drew his feet u and: wield Back d maver | ene. a it inthe canvas. — thing oliloquized, straightening limbs as they disap- 3 were as to ave _ What else?” AG, ne papel just as it hadsbeen- he hold. of the barge toc night?” Syd ea. "et os. that I have found out positively, ‘those | fellows didn’t | on the dock. ‘‘Now then, to take a breathing spell and east up accounts. ’’ Bob had a queer method of following out this procedure, for it entailed a brisk run, He got out of the vicinity and out of the district without attracting attention. When he halted, it was in a stable yard back of a modest little house that looked like the home of some teamster or cabman. On the back steps, sunning himself, was a bright-faced, neat appearing young fellow about Bob’s own age. *‘Hello, Bob!’’ he spoke, with a keen stare at his friend’s lime-streaked, water- sogged attire. “Hello, Buff!’ the new arrival hailed back. Buff was a recent addition to Nick Car- ter’s detéctive household. Bob had the reputation of being the shrewdest and most successful juvenile in the school, but Buff was fast following in his. footsteps. Employed by the veteran — ‘thief-catcher to carry messages, Buff had been of the most brilliant service in several recent cases, Nick, discerning in hima genuine ddiainond 1 in the rough, had taken m professionally under his wing. “‘T see you’ve been up to. something,” remarked Buff, as Bob took off his coat and hung it on a convenient eiotigetine: “Slightly !”’ * _ ‘You don’t mean to say you’ ve ven- tured into the lion’s dem?” hf did. ” i “ “Any good 2?” +r _“'This good,”’ responded Bob, with, wae Carter is right; Red Jeff is some big game.’’ You know we complained of getting rusty. iz e eget morning because there seemed wee nothing to run down, no work to do, and how Mr. Carter said he had happened — _ across a little pointer that as hie af . | in eta se a Kinde of tips, M ed Jeff was u rt. oodles He P00

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principles, for he was the pest of the mer- chant marine, but to bag him on some sure outside crime would be a decided feather im our caps. We laid our plans here,’’ and Bob glanced about the yard. “Then, a couple of hours since, I got one of my restless fits on——”’ “And went up to Red Jeff’s hang out ?”’ ‘Up to it, happened to hear the bar- tender refer to a leak in a water pipe, made fora plumber’s outfit, and—I had five minutes of it only, and a narrow gtaze in getting away, but I got some- thing.’’ ‘‘What?’’ interrogated Buff, eagerly. ‘This. » Bob unrolled a wet and wadded strip of paper. ‘SA letter to Red Jeff, dated this morn- ing, ** he explained, ‘‘with signature torn ”’ Listen: ‘I send the thousand. Dupli- oie same, if you make a successful run efit. *- ‘‘That sounds promising,’’ commented Ee Bul, 835 ‘‘Promising! It’s no cheap penny oy; a Psoain, , the one Red Jeff is up to, and I believe Mr. Carter knew it when he started us out. This isn’t in the junk ine, I can tell you! ‘Thousand-dollar offers come from _ people of importance, ‘and they don’t pay that~ amount except “for a big heap of work, either.’’ ‘That? s so, Bob, and you propose——”’ ‘“Qur original plan.”’ ~ To utilize the heavy wagon of our ) friend, the teamster, here??? ™ : “Exactly. ie i _ “*He’s ready to accommodate us.”’ ‘Good! Here’s the layout, ‘Buff—Red is up tosome big scheme. He and his A t's so big that two thousand involved. That much we n, we want to know “By y getting posted just as ee aber this evening as we “ ef et Diy steady py ” asserted Buf. Sy eevee r > hee en” NICK CARTER WEEKLY. stances. I’m going home to get some dry clothes on.. Meet me here at five.’’ ‘‘And tell the teamster he’s wanted ?”’ ‘*Certainly. Engage him. Let there be no miss as to time or place.”’ “Oh, he’ll do his share. I did hima great, favor once, and he hasn’t forgotten it,’’? declared Buff. The two young detectives parted, but it was too meet again promptly at the hour agreed upon. Bob arrived, to find Buff on hand. He was talking with a cheery-voiced team- ster, who nodded pleasantly to Bob. ‘*All ready ?’’ inquired the latter. ““There we are!’? was the driver’s answer. Two horses were attached to a heavy box wagon. It seemed heaped up full and high with cinders. As the man slipped a slide in the side, however, a false bottom and ample empty space was revealed. ‘That will do,’’ commented Bob. “You know the place?’’ “Like my..own yard,’’ replied the + driver. ‘‘Right against the side, you want to land ?”’ **Just where I told you,”’ “Get ins’? Sete Bob crept through the aperture. Buff came after him, closing it, and the team started up. A little loop-hole was afforded wherea bolt had come out, and Bob kept track of =~ their progress by peering through this. in He was all attention to detail, asthey — lined the docks where he had gone through such exciting exploits earlier in the day. Then the wagon proceeded down the ~~ unsavory thoroughfare where the gew-dt— > the king of the river pirates was located. Every other house was a saloon, and low-browed, villainous-looking fellows loitered in doorways or promenaded the” rir narrow pavements. = By the side of the haunt that Bob had visited ran a narrow alley cutting through windingly to the next street. — _ As they entered it, Bob braced himself, serve a needed balance. - i “Take care}? warned Bob. — wit ake

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e = ‘% Caen ; ~ Bob knew that the critical moment acer had found the driver ready. ‘The hind right side wheel had smashed : - off at the hub, just as it had been ar- es ranged that it ‘should. : Somewhat in the fashion that the an- cients were wont to plant their movable forts in front of the castles of their ene- ties, Bob had devised the present plan to plant himself not’ two feet away from a window looking into Red Jeff’s lair. pn eT he driver: fixed the wheel for just the present catastrophe, had operated a wire, disconnected a bar just at the tight _time, and now leaping to the ground, he looked the dismayed victim of a genuine _ breakdown. Of course a crowd gathered, Eagerness _ died away on the part of many, however, _-as they saw nothing worth stealing about “the wagon. ‘Then the man who ran the bar in Red - Jeff's place eee out to inspect the break- See. here, my man,” Bob heard the a “Din | going to aes cae Whe pe You ste; I couldn't at a whéel here before dark. I'll have it out of your way by sunrise, though.” ‘Oh! that’s all right.” out, 7 egal the “horses: 3 river went in to pay for the z - served ow ‘NICK CARTER WEEKLY. ~ - q “Now then,’’ supplemented Bob, promptly, ‘‘to work and win!” CHAPTER III. THE REVOLVING ROOM. **Be cautious, Bob!’ “Yes, Buff, we mustn't lose what we've gained by any false break now. It was exactly three hours after sais Carter’s young detectives had so cleverly camped ina successful and unique way tight on the trail of the harbor thieves. “They had been so near to a little ceil- ing window looking into the den of the tivet thieves that they had been able to see everything going on. When it had been casually hooked back to give ventilation, they had heard nearly “every word spoken. Those words had been enlightening, for they told the eager listeners that at pre- cisely ten o’clock picked mensbers of Red Jefi’s gang were going by water to earn two thousaud doilars by a few hours’ work, Those words had been stimulating, for as the crowd 'retired from the room under inspection to repair to some secret lair far to the rear, Bob had insisted on creep- ing through that little window and _fol- ~ lowiny them up. “ophey may slip out any one of a dozen secret exits, and all our work will be for nothing,’’ he declared. _ ‘*VYou hope to keep with them ?”? i ine. quired Buff. ° \~ “IT want to see how aha where they start from,” ‘answered Bob. ‘‘If we can’t do that we’re left, aren't we??? _ “T guess you're right, Bob, but we're _ diving into a nest of pitfalls. 2 E in the line of detective duty,”’ ob- ‘ob ~ tersely. “One miss and oe the job’s done, tracks : ee 4% Come on.’?’ BS fae Buty vas willing to go anywhere with ; Bob. He went in through ae wees after him. In front was the bar—they- had’ ‘no busi- e | ness in that direction. _ Bob took the lead. Rhee a door : Leh TES st mystery too deep for us__ » valiee’

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fos >. wat 8 ’ NICK CARTER WEEKLY, ‘And here’s a queer door—built round,’’ reported Buff. “*T noticed it to-day,’’ said Bob, com- ing up and feeling over its half-circular surface. The dimmest kind of light came in at the windows. Bob located a catch, opened the door and stepped ahead. Buff followed him. ‘Then two things ' happened in rapid succession quite start- ling in themselves. The door behind them closed with a slam—evidently a stout spring operated ¥ it—the boys had not proceeded five steps before they came to a forced halt. “Why! what are we in, anyway?’ breathed Bob—‘‘a closet ?’’ **No, Bob, it’s a trap, a cage!”’ “Nonsense ! ake ‘*Reel the bottom with your feet.”’ ‘*Hollow- sounding, yes.”’ ‘*Feel the sides, rounding and smooth, =" We’ re in a sheet iron cylinder.’’ ___ **Maybe its an elevator. No. Why, I =e see what it is, look here —8 revolving ge 008, te Bob drew from his pike a tiny vial p- -and removed its cork. That was his special dark lantern. Tt - took up-no space, it was simple, and he could control its rays. _ The minute air was admitted the little _ jompet phosphorus it contained, soaked _ in sweet oil, fave e out a soft gentle glow. _ Guiding light, Bob verified a dis- covery he Shad guessed at before. ‘They were indeed in a cylinder. It ‘was set on a pivot in a bricked up space, es ae reaching through its open doorway and pushing, Bob found that it revolved - go them. n’t you see?’’ he interrogated, wwe slide around till we reach a corre- = - sponding: doorway on the opposite side.’’ “Do we??? murmured Buff, dubiously. “Certainly. Clever device! ee doorway. The a: ee, explorers. ; No one. can get through from the front to the ack unless the | opening in this is oppo- d by a Sdn al ofthe A revolving room, accompanied by a distinct grating jar. Bob pressed on the brick work one way, . then the other way. ‘Locked !’’ he reported. **Locked !’? echoed Buff, grimly. ‘*Some catch ahead of us. I can half understand it,’? muttered Bob. ‘*Can you ?’’ questioned Buf. “*Yes. We should have pushed the cylinder around and unset the lock on its outside before we started. That’s the knowing way of it, must be. You’re right, it’s a trap—for the unwary.”’ Bob shied the feeble rays aloft—solid, He tapped at the brickwork front two inches away—solid, too. **T don’t ever remember being in quite so tigat a box before,’’ he observed. ‘‘What’s bothering me, is that those fellows will get away on their scheme,’’ complained Buff. “Oh! we'll be brought to light long before they start,’’? promised Bob. **And then ?”? Bob hunched his shoulders philosophi- cally. He did not give up entirely until he had spent fully an hour working to get the cylinder revolving again, the bricks in the wall loose, a seam in the bottom widened. It was all of no avail, and he had just made up his mind that this was a barrier set against entrance to the front till the next morning, when voices sounded, then footsteps, and then the revolving room began its tour again. “‘Pnsh—hold back the way we came!”’ whispered Bob, energetically. He and Buff bruised and jammed their fingers trying it—a steady force had un- locked and was hauling the cylinder around the way they did not wish to go, “Is it fight, Bob?’? interrogated ee ‘To the death, or get killed,’’ an- swered Bob, grimly. The cylinder edge past the new door- way and light began to flood it. | 2 Before it had fully cressed the fitting - cpening space, however, a startled warp ing utterance Tang out, Just a flashing view six or eight men , : got of the two sturdily planted young letectives, bright weaporis extended. oe kis mere” Eines ‘that twain was: .

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2S S5 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. : 9 e>) afforded of grouped enemies, only now > aware of their proximity. : Then the cylinder was sent whirling. For all the world like squirrels in a _ drum cage, the boys spun around and - around. Then came a jerk back, forward, and back again, carrying them ‘off * their feet, slamming them against the iron walls and over one another. | Bob saw what was intended. The pi- rates were employing these tactics of con- stant gyrating motion to dizzy, unnerve and drive them off their balance. ine ‘*Buff,’? he spoke quickly, ‘‘sit down.”’ - “Din detest !? came the prompt te- sponse. _ “Kyery time we pass the doorway where those fellows are grouped——”’ S€Ves.’? SFire?? ee - Ae | see, ” _- Bang—bang! It was like shooting at a flashlight, so ad Alitting was the passage of the open “_ Space, _ Around’ again, two more reports, and aH cries of ian ensued. and the cage began to go.sl wad Bob;*before the hey push again or lock.’? _ ‘Back into the front 2 “Of course.’? Made it!” _ Out of the way!’ * = 5 Stash ! Both the boys had executed a really iece of gymnastics, for they from the revolving room into they had recently left like rubber neve! grazed a hair. gett Ided a new Jaurel to hi fet oa ¢ = dhe As the doorwa: hes just se ae nts y eS ee aha , eS brushing . ei ae +f ylinder ones ise “but ‘“Blocked, locked, barricaded!” nounced Bob, rather exultantly. ‘*They can’t get after us.’’ “Not through that revolving room— they can’t even budge it now.” ‘“They may have some other way !”’ “Dozens of them, probably, so back to the wagon. Hello!”’ ‘fA signal!’ “Sounds like it—in the front bar. Quick, Buff! Well!’ Dodging across the room to open its Opposite door and make tracks the way they had come, Bob halted very sharply. Just as he touched the knob, the door jarred. At that very instant heavy bolts top and bottom were shot into place on its other side. ‘“They’ve telegraphed their friends in front——”’ began Bob. ‘“‘And we’re shut in,’’ nodded Buff. ‘What now, Bob?’ ‘The windows.’’ ‘“‘Not that way—look out first.’’ *“Pshaw !”? Bob .drew back. They were a well drilled set in this den of crime, it seemed for under each of the ally windows of the toom as many men were already posted in an attitude of vigilance and expectancy, On thee sides the apartment was now surrounded or barricaded. ge Naturally the young detectives made for the sole direction © from mea danger had not challenged. | A door yielded to a Nuch. hctade an- dark room “Bob proceeded to reach a second door, but this one was secured. ‘Tramping footsteps and noisy voices suddenly filled the air all around them. *“This room is no better than the other é ah began Buff. “Unless we can hide.”’ ‘*Here’s a bed.’ “Creep under it,” “There is no under.” “How's that?’ spoke Bob, gliding to his comrade’s side. ‘‘Oh, a folding. bed, spring, blankets. Under them! me one is certainly coming.”’ > ‘The sPtings jangled as the boys piled upon them. the matter?" “Pull the ; blankets over ‘you, directed mt So aaah

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10 \ Buff was punching Bob warningly, his lips swept Bob’s ear to whisper cau- tiously: ‘Some one in the room!’’ **T guess not.”? ‘“Some one slid off the bed as we andes’ on it!” ‘*Are you sure?’ £*Tisten.”’ It was a palpitating moment. Bob had an ear like an Indian. He caught a stealthy, glicing rustle. “Slip off the bed—you on one side, _ me on the other,’’ he directed. ‘*Tt’s too late!’” “*Tt’s lifting !”’ Flop! At the bottom the bed was suddenly seized by an unknown lurker in the room. From its bottom the bed shot up and shut up. Knocked one over the other, and un- able to get out, the two young detectives were brought to a halt, flattened out as if in a squeezing press. : It was, indeed, a folding bed, and it had folded them _ helpless, like two ERS herrings packed in a box. Squeezed and half smothered, the boys ae wwriggled and panted. _ Then they crept with a new suspense, for through the room they were in there | grated forth a mocking, triumphant laugh. —_—- CHAPTER IV. THE , TIMELY BULLET. - Bob had been thrown with his body slightly crossing the bed. Buff was nearly doubled up, head down. “The: bed had not been locked, the ; bulge of their bodies preventing this, but against it, holding it in place. _ The captives felt the pressure reduced as they wriggled, but only for a moment. Before they could push out two inches the man was bank in place, having lit the F = Ae and bounded again into position. so nay 268 tesa in cents like saw So whoever had shut them in stood braced _ Now he began blowing on some kind NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Bob heard a yoice. that kind of thrilled him. “Well, what’s the racket for?’’ pro- — pounded Red Jefi’s gruff tones. “Got ’em!”’ “ **Got who?”’ *“Two fellows—spies.”’ **Glorious! I was shaking in my boots. Feared they’d slipped us. I said, ‘Are they raining down? Is the place a sieve, suddenly letting in all kinds of varmints! You’ve got them—where??’ “In the bed.’ “Rh > “Shut upin it. Take care! They’re spry. They'll pop out like jacks ina box.”’ ‘‘One on each ‘side, ”» directed Jeff, and Bob surmised that he had not en- tered the room’ alone, as two pairs of heavy feet crossed the floor. ‘‘In there, you two!’’ continued the pirate, raising his voice—‘‘I fire if you so much as lift a finger. Now, then, lower slowly.” The pressure was relieved. Buff’s feet flopped over somersault fashion, and he rolled out of the interstice despite him- self. Bob, more erect, clinched his weapon firmly, but a groping arm slid over him and clutched his wrist in a grasp like steel. Then he was snaked ‘out tudely, the weapon was torn from his grasp, and he was flung against the wall in a corner . wiiere his disarmed comrade was just get- .ting to his feet. Red Jeff glared at them, first curiously, and then with a sangtinary snarl as his eyes studied Bob’s features. ‘He didn’t drown !’’ he voiced—‘‘look, who’s that ?’’ “Why!” declared the man who had shut up the bed—and Bob noticed that. his head was bandaged up, and that he was the fellow he had ‘struck with the hod in the shipping yard—‘‘it’s the kid — who banged me to-day !’’ ‘*Ves, the one from Nick Carter! Hold ona bit, mates !’’ The two men who had yanked the two _ boys out of the folding bed, great iron- _ framed fellows, sprang ‘ia as their leader pronounced the name of the hated F : : Pee sg detective. _— ; dock was. ‘segs in cae cyes—bath

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. = =a read that. ‘That sharp command ‘Settled!’ whispered Buff across to iis - _ehecked a crushing assault on the cap- companion. f tives. ‘*It looks it,’? nodded Bob. as “Ves, hold a bit,’? put in the man There was no light in the room except ' wearing the bandage. ‘‘Them’s my that which came in through the curtains, game. Why not? I owe one of them At one side was a stove, and a roasting this broken head, I caught both. Jeff, . hot fire in it, but it was shut up, and only - © they’re mine!’ a few stray glints came froin it. ‘What do you mean ?”’ Besides this, some clothing spread out “What do I mean!’ repeated the fel- on two chairs before it as if to dry shut low gratingly. ‘‘Ay! whatdon’t Iimean? in the front of the stove. fa - You two lead those fellows into the next Red Jeff’s lieutenant came into the - toom and wateh them a bit. Then £ ve room abruptly. He lit the gas, and sat ~ something to say to them in private.”’ down on a stool near the stove, whrich Bob and Buff were hustled through-a was between the boys and the doorway. doorway until now hidden by a curtain. “Tie their hands behind them,’’ he “Their guardians penned them into an ordered the two men. aoe a ieoxe. barricaded it by seating them- Some stout cord was wrapped around selves and® crossing their feet, never the wrists of each of the captives. taking their eyes off them. “Put one in that corner of the alcove, ~~. Bob kept his ears open. the other opposite. ’ _ He caught occasional fragmentary seri- This also was done. The man with __tences from the adjoining apartment. the bandaged head made a gesture to the. = Red Jeff and his injured lieutenant were two men, and they slouched into the next discussing. the chances of there being any room and out of it. _ more prowlers about the place. ‘*Now for a pleasant evening,’ " spoke Some one was signaled and sent to Red Jeff’s lieutenant. ‘I can’t join in = nake a scour of, foe entire “aay and its the fun of a sail, so we'll have sore : sport at home. First, who are you two?’’ 1y bi came more ani- An iron bar used as a poker lay by | ee _ the stove. = ‘You don’t drop ‘to-night’s job for this This the man took up. He weighted p break ?’’ Bob distinctly heard the man he it, he felt of it, he clinched it ominously had hit with the hod say. _ as he fixed lurid, savage eyes on the Not for twenty Nick Carters!” de- captives. — Jeff. ‘‘With another ae “Bob noticed that near at hand was spe ig? Hardly » Tevolver, 5551: Bie a Its muzzle pateyaed ‘from ‘the raat x E of the man’s coat, which hung smoking = abe extra this time. Jeff, we’d on the chair at his side. ; a conntry vacation to-morrow, Bob had knocked him into a puddle of igs simmer down here- mud when he struck him with the hod, ; and the gatment’ had been sponged and afford ere can’t we? hung up to dry. . | the big ‘yaw! Susan Nothing tosay,”” growled the fellow, grating his teeth as Bob and Buff eyed ~ - the. ‘ay: i visit, a box him steadily in silence. ‘*Well, I'l] tell a tow to make, a stowing i jn one You who are you—two of Nick Cees eaal our wharf tunnels | we're through. precious brats!’ Bs .s to the two" ichexeaey \ a ™ ats, Tet it go at that, if it suits you,” ae. : R : ady accents that. served Bob, coolly, = ; “Tt goes. I just wanted to know so as” to tab you. We’ ve gers. ee cemetery hereabouts.’? let Sret a _ ‘Have you?” muttered Bob. a es we ; Loon poe spaces, «ait: ee sae “3 = e 8.

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12 bs ing. You'll be labelled before morning. Show up, tell if this is only an accidental venture of hair-brained, would-be cop- “pers, and maybe—maybe, I say—we might consent to give you a twelve- month forced cruise to Australia to cool your blood and make you forget us.’’ ‘‘Nothing to say,’’ retorted Bob, tran- quilly. ‘‘Nothing to say,’ echoed Buff, with wiwavering vim. “You haven’t! Then I have!’ The man lashed himself into a fury by kicking the stool from under him and brandishing the iron bar. - There was no doubt of his purpose—he shrank no more from putting two trouble- some intruders out of his way than he ~ would brushing two gnats aside. _ Bob steadied himself, and Buff, taking : his @dauntless comrade as the prime model of the age, squared back quite as un- flinchingly. “Took out—Din coming!’ The man crouched back as if for a E.spring—that. horrible, heavy bar uplifted. Bob counted the seconds—he felt that te was in the closest corner of his life. ig east the fellow broke his viciots a or forward progress, there was a - flare, a puff, a loud report. ‘crashing to the floor, and after out so much as a pete he sank ; prostrate, inert heap, = =, ~ Bob stared: Buff thrilled. 5 ae The former tried to take in the situa- ‘ “ he aie of ‘ ) the side ee Prostrate ruffian. oo to the puzzled rs et nimble, “You are the free 1 use of your ee = ied only at the wrists.”’ Sat ; loose: the cords about mine,” b stood with one foot lifted, as ‘if to - silence the man at his fe Zz rate dat the cords about’ his ac ies ies in eagle but r was Pua oe! spring changed to a whirl, the a _ key, and sprang forward = ae 4 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Bob held Buff. “Too bad!’? he muttered. ‘Don’t move, don’t speak,’’? whispered Buff. “STH try: it.?? “Try what??? Buff was a superb mimic. In a recent case triumphantly won at every point, his ventriloquial powers had enabled him to pass one of its most critical crisis. Now, in perfect imitation of the guff, harsh tones of the voice of the “Jeften- ant,’’ he den.anded : ‘* Well?” ‘*Cap’n wants to know if anything’s wrong ?’? - ‘*Course not. Tell him I scare before T kill.” “Ay! ay 19) ‘*Bob!’ exploded Buff, in a vast breath of mingled relief and wonder as the man withdrew from the next room, ‘‘who fired ?”’ SeT his!?? Bob reached over and dragged from the coat smoking before the stove its pro- his breath and looked at 3 truding revolver, 4 “Feel, -hee_directed, aresing the weapon across Buff’s hands. ; The cartridge chambers were almost 5 = ~~ too-hot to touch. “The fire fired it!” ‘What else? Mr. Carter ene a record - df a dozen cases of this kind; sun’s rays, electricity, common fire. A iniracle has ~ interfered in onr behalf, Buff. We were never nearer facing death. os aaewS ‘Is the man dead??? ae eS Bob released his comrade’s haedae a Then he stooped and made a speedy examination of the motionless body. — “A bad ridge along the skull, only 3 stunning, though, I fancy,’’ he reported. : ‘“We can’t stop to nurse him,’? _ “Hardly, in view of - his kindly inten tions toward ourselves !”” ‘Creep into the next room and ‘die: next beyond, Buff, softly now, ands see oy 2 the. Sar oh “guarded, 3 ; : rlided away and prom ly eee back, with a whispered: i * P gn rae > ne recovered thei weapons fre whence they had bee he wo a couch : peennks out on De ~~

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en ee eR Rare ee eee re ‘tc ro ie 2. a Oe : V5 : “== NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 13 Softly Bob raised the window,. peered - out and then along the opposite side of the street. *“Ready for a bolt!’ he ordered. “Never more welcome!’’ declared Buff. “Now for home and_ reinforce- + ments to nail this murderous gang, I suppose ?”’ Not a bit of it!’’ dissented Bob, _ strenuously—‘‘now for Murphy’s dock, _ the yawl. Susan, and a close shadow of ‘the water trail of Red Jeff’s two thousand ~~ dollar scheme!”’ “CHAPTER V. THE MYSTERIOUS BOX, A dash across the street like flitting shadows, a dive down a narrow space be- _ tween two buildings, and unperceived, unseen, Nitk Carter’s young detectives were free of the dangers that had encom- popecocd them for the preceding two hours. Bob made for the river, straight. He on Sqfuestioned two officers he met, gave a es ~ boy strolling by a dime to answer some - questions, and lined the wharves with _ Steady confidence. < “There, it is th ee “announced to Buff, “aS they crossed a little dock piled with “tanbark at the edge of which rocked a good-sized yawl. big Fore and aft were covered spaces, as if = for secret stowage. It held four pairs of oars. ve S-U-S-A-N ’’ spelled Buff, as a glint of light caught the labelled stern. ane 4 is Murphy’s dock.’’ rg 3, assented Bob. ad , Li alg : ee oh “ow | as a place less likely to be disturbed © than the stern, for the latter held tar- aise the ‘paulins,, ropes and other untae often used in a voyage. : _ There was ample ‘room for waning ind stretching themsel selves, and making / no one—was ing them in Bob and Buff went into Te- come just in time, it seemed, for in Jess than ten minutes four men arrived, got into the boat, took up the oars, and started down tlie river. From their voices Bob was enabled to guess that Red Jeff was not among them. From bits of their conversation over- heard as they progressed, he soon learned that the king of the harbor pitates was in waiting at one of their ‘‘wharf tunnels’ ready to receive their cargo when. they returned. . The night had set in misty and with the air full of fog. Bob’s chance to peer was limited, and he had to guess out the course the yaw! was taking. It passed the Battery, went down the bay, atid after two hours’ rowing slowed up slightly. Then it grazed some object, apparently the side of a ship, Was halted there, and Bob could see a yellow lantern among the rigging of quite a large vessel. Not a word had been spoken by the rowers for some time, but”one of them, in a suppressed voice, now directed : “Signal, Bill.’ A low, peculiar whistle sounded out. Then the boat rocked, as over the side of the vessel a form came down a rope. “Who is it?’ inqtited the new ar- tival, trying to scan the faces of the rowers, ‘The Susan—Red Jefi—come for a cargo.’?’ ‘*Quite correct. It’s all ready, boys. Make your yawl steady, lower ané come below and havea bracer for a hard night’ s. work,» ‘‘Not much time to waste, cap’en.”? ‘Oh! no one will trouble you. Why,” ‘half laughed the speaker, ‘‘T worked the game of my mate down with the yellow fever so that all three passengers I didn’t want in the way payed hatidsomely to be landed down the coast. The plague ship racket, the yellow lantern, keeps all ‘meddiers at safe bay, and this fog will cover box and boat like a shroud going back.” _ The yawl was secured by ropes to the side of the vessel, fore and aft. Two men went aloft. Then Bob made out the outlines of a box about six feet long and two broad. come swinging below on ropes, Wiesel across he: stern of the ‘§

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“4 4 yawl, and the lowering tackle was re- «moved. = “Come up!’? he heard called out. Z **Come out!’’ he whispered to Buff. = Everything as to the crow on the vessel : was pure surmise with Bob, but he real- E: ized that the moment for decisive action had arrived, and it must be promptly im- . proved. ; ‘See here, Buff,’? he continued, ina ~~ Jow tone in his comrade’s ear, as both - crept from covert, ‘‘that box is what these people came after ?”’ ‘¢Sure !”? “It’s what two thousand dollars was paid for?’ “Right again, I think.’’ ‘*We want that box,’’ “If we can get it.”’ - “Listen!” Bob bent his ear. Then he ran up the rope dangling over the ship’s side, peered amoment across its deck, slipped back, and rapidly untied the Topes holding» the _yawl at’stay. oie Can you. sow} >?” he whispered to Buff. lg : a4 *€ Softly? ‘Don’t put for that island— Strike boldly into the fog.’ = MStast, fit ig P%- == The ae drifted abaft Pe Bob - had seen no one on the deck of the vessel, but he had heard sounds of laughing and _ clinking glasses in the cabin. _ He.estimated that they would have about two minutes’ free action before the absence of | gue yawl and box. was _dis- covered. — - The vessel was swallowed up in the “ee ‘mists. The fog shrouded the yawl, denly a light showed to one side. z . “Somebody bearing down upon us— _ don't feet. run ever!’’ warned Buff, fe o—stay the oars. It’s a tug.’’ yee. grazed her course. It’s heavy "pulling « on the oars.” —. We must mend that;’? remarked Bob. —itHow 2? _ Bob was. peering at the tug Se sorts, roe rst of these passed, Bob reached Sua- She had i in tow a string, of sand scows, — the first of Sos. ale the bottom NICK CARTER WEEKLY. he meant to do something with it, and ordered Buff: ‘*Row, now.”’ ** Ahead ??? *'Veg.t” ; ‘*But we’ll run into the side of one of those barges ?”’ ‘‘Don’t delay—do as I say! That's just what I want.’’ Two things urged Bob’s tones up to unusual sharpness. In the first place, he had a scheme in view, and running into the barge meant its initial step. In the next, there was an outcry back in the mist-laden gloom—the loss of the yaw! Susan had been discovered. Buff would have obeyed Bob’s orders if the latter had directed him to row intoa maelstroin. He drove the oars deep, and the yawl , promised to strike the last of the sand barges just ahead of its stern. : **Reverse!’’ suddenly called out Bob. As he spoke, the rope flung wide of his grasp with a gtaceful swoop of its looped end. Coming up from the rear of the. barge were the ends, of a dozen or more posts, so revealed because the top sheathing board had come off. ‘The loop caught on one of these. Bob dropped to a seat. ‘“‘Hold steady—we’re going to veer sharp!” he spoke to Buff. The yawl nearly tipped as it was dragged sideways. Then it swung to the rear, the holding — line caine taut, and it went forward true and straight as an arrow. Bob uttered a decided sigh of relief and satisfaction; Bufi’s face expanded into a proud smile, ‘ ‘We've won!’ he observed. ‘‘So far as getting the box is cancerned, yes,’’ admitted Bob. ‘““That’s all Red Jeff was after.’ ‘‘] am sure of that. So for as he is con- cerned, the deal is no more than a night _ foray after junk.” = “Bat some one is behind him.” ro _‘Phat’s it, Buff. I wish I knew who. There’s the essence of the scheme. How- ever, we couldn’t miss that golden oppor- tunity to nab the box.” a> “Wonder what’s in it?” ; ~

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ee, peur 7 ws “2 3 Something they don’t dare to land in a . legitimate way.” a ‘“That’s certain, and we'll soon know.” be “Yes, soon as we can we'll get it af home. ” se “*Going to take it to Mr. Carter’s?”” — **Straight. We'll call him into ccnsul- ae tation, see what the thing holds, proceeds = of a robbery, something smuggled, I think, of great value—and then start after the real actor in this affair.”’ : “Tf we can find him ?’’ = ‘ot to. Isaw that vessel’s name.” ~ **What was it?” **Abdallah.”’ **“There’s a clue.’’ “Oh, we'll hunt up plenty of them when we start out fresh. Here’s a big catch. Let us get that safely off our hands before we think of anything else.” Bob gave no care for the crowd on the vessel—there was no possibility of their i _ catching up with them, even if they knew ; the direction in which they had escaped. = ee Drawn safely, swiftly and evenly in _ the wake of the sand barge, present End. was of the most satisfactory in Bob spent some time guessing. what ania tatat he even tapped it, poked _his finger into one of a dozen holes in its Rete “Then as he got nearer to the lights of ie: ‘the city, he gave up guessing and kept is eyes and wits on the alert to land right. "The tug in advance swung toward the __ Brooklyn bridge, bound for some poirt __ beyond it, and Bob got ready to cut loose. e ae They fell astern, rowed to a wharf, on Beh, clambered up it, found a be- E meaty contenf as they noisy gerne: stones. . Pobaiwoh a aurel in his-detec- ge career, bai he rad helped him do it, and Buff w y and curious. His speiele full c fall kinds of ex- eo suggestions as. to what the | box con- tained, was firmly set on the « er. that when that cover came off a ee biggest kind Wen. come to” Tight. . rth the bother 1 pale Ned Fenner it’s ted he’ ais NICK CARLER WEEKLY. His 16 Two minutes after they had. reached Nick Carter’s house, that place was a scene of vivid amimation. The box was carried into the large sitting-room and placed on a big table. Nick advised of his favorite’s return ‘with news’’—such was the message Bob called up through Nick’s private ‘speak- ing-tube—came down promptly: Jack Burton, Aleck White and Larry Moore, other members of the detective school, tumbled out of their beds in short order, as Nick tapped at their doors and gave toes the hint that ‘“‘something was up. ”» Bob rattled off the essential points in the doings of the night clearly, but with brevity. There could be no doubt—all hands conceded—but that the box contained stolen or smuggled goods of immense value. Nick examined it curiously. Its cover was only lightly nailed down and a screw- — driver loosened it so that strong Jack Burton, getting his giant-hinged fingers under it, Soest it off with very little effort. ~.Perhaps six more interested faces never peered down into a surprise box, A counterpane showed, snugly tucked in three-quarters of the length of the box. Its remaining space was covered with a piece of filmy gauze. A deadening taint was noticed proceed- ing from the box as it was first opened, and now a cloud of it arose stupefyingly. After drawing back slightly to wait for this to dissipate, all five young detectives pressed forward with renewed eagerness, as Nick lifted up the piece of gauze. _A-simultaneous cry of motley import Tang out. CHAPTER VI. -— THE PAINTED ARM. 2 The box Nick Carter’s young detec- pee had wrested from the possession of New York harbor thieves contaried a n being. Se A man of ebook sainane: age lay back ona ben — with a counterpane, eyes closed ness to~ what w oi eet _ — mg so Saga good one si

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“His story? Yes. him? > 16 ~ NICK CARTER WEEKLY. but was bronzed, apparently through the hot rays of a tropical sun, and wrinkles of thought, grief or care had snes his brow. Even Nick Carter himself was slightly startled at this unexpected revelation, and stood silently gazing down at the queer cargo of the night for some time. Bob was greatly excited and surprised— to his quick mind here at the seeming end of a case was practically its real be- ginning. Buff looked Melis disappointed. He had entertained gorgeous visions of smug- glers’ treasures, robbers’ rich booty— silks, coin, jewels—soinething opulent and dazzling. ‘*He’s asleep——’’ Bob was the first one to speak. ‘*He has been drugged, ”” supplemented the detective. ‘““What do you make out of that, Mr. Carter ?’’ inquired Buff, eagerly. “Let me try to make something out of the man first, and then I will tell you,”’ announced Nick, He took a glass of water from the ’ server and sprinkled the sleeper’s face. Then he tried a whiff or two of am- monia, following this up by opening one ~ eyelid and placing a small pinch of snuff beneath it. Except for faint flutterings and invol- untary spasmodic movements, however, the slumberer withstood all these tests. Nick bent his ear to his heart, felt his pulse, listened to his chest notes, and re- rted : ; ‘“This man’s place is in bed, in a well ventilated room.’’ “Can we ‘not arouse him ?” inquired Bob. ‘‘Not at present. He is laboring with a dense, but harmless, drug.’’ ‘*And its effects will be gone——”’ ‘*By to-morrow noon.’’ ‘*Must we wait that. pores !? cried Bob, Soy ene _ ‘Wait for what, Bob,’? asked the de- tective Po, find out.’’ : The seciibns back of Yes. In the meantime, however, you aight cogitate over the probabilities of a case something like this: ; from some cabal country is coming to A man - States with some secret or secret power. An enemy or a friend who has wronged him, learns of it. He bribes the captain of the ship to never allow him to land in New York city, to deliver him up to him. This captain scares his other passengers away by claiming to have yellow fever aboard. He drugs and boxes up this man. Red Jeff, hired by the enemy, goes to get him. He missed connections, you checkmated him, and— to-morrow this nan will tell us his whole story.”’ Bob was forced to be content with this. He iielped Nick and the others carry the man to an upstairs chamber. There they gently disrobed him, placed him in a comfortable bed, and Nick opened all the windows in the room. ‘Give him time and plenty of air, and we'll have him chatting with us at lunch to-morrow,’’ prophesied the detective. ‘Oh, Bob! set his collar and wristbands loose. Help nature, it is the only restora- tive in these noxious tropical drugs.’’ ‘*T say, Mr. Carter!” Freeing the patient’s neck and one arm, Bob gave quite a start as he came to the other arm. The wristband flapped loose, revealing a queer state of affairs beneath. Beginning at his wrist, there ran up the man’s arm a solid stain—jet black. Bob traced it to the elbow, and saw that it reached apparently clear up to the shoulder. He dizected Nick’s attention to it. “*T call that queer!’? declared Bob. **So do I,’’? admitted Nick. ‘‘It is no bruise or natural discoloration. The arm — is -painted.’’ ‘*Painted!”? Saculated Bob. StVes, ” ‘*What for?" **T shouid say for some burn, or to pre- vent the spread of some poison sting or bite. It is a dense pigment, and will wash off. Leave that till to-morrow, too, Bob. We’ve got the case and the man now. the United thoroughly in our own hands, and can exploit its mysteries at our leisure.’’ . ‘You wouldn’t try to hunt up Red Jeff ‘to-night ee? “Tt would hardly pay.’’ Bob and all hands retired to rest on the detective’s advice, the latter included.

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 17 It was hard getting to sleep, however. Bob had been used to going through with a case at lightning speed, once started in on it, and the present wait, brief and natural as it was, irritated him. He was sure that some great plot would be unmasked through the queer human cargo he had intercepted, some strange mystery appended to that painted arm. He was fighting for its possession in his dreams with Red Jeff just after sun- rise, when he was roused up by a vigorous shaking at the hands of Buff. _-_ **Bob, wake up! hurry up—oh, Bob!” ~__—s«iBuff’s face bore traces of excitement, and he was breathlessly concerned. ‘What is it, Buff?” ‘“The man!’ = ‘*He’s woke up?”’ ‘And gone!”’ What!’ Bob was out on the floor ina flash, diving into his clothes any way to get them on. : “He's yone!’’ reiterated Buff. ‘*Mr. Carter just discovered it, and sent for : on. “You mean——’’ “2 *'Stole away.” — When??? ~ “etNobody knows.” ~~... Bob came down the stairs on a run. He found his fw Sapes with his hat on in __ the hal). paeere “Steady, Bob!” “davised the Jatter, we curbing the young cyclone of excitement. ee eMie man ’s gone, but he may nct be _gone far.’” ; eee may have left hours ago!’’ =} pec » ela 5 ae Mes are ybe in some ‘restaurant Bob intel @ oe to ie Sats aes room rar down again to the lo ng hall Wiesticaty alf a dozen times, on pins a and needles of 7 prolonged one hour, ee a eS eet, it no longer. re pense during the | “absence of vine “*Buff, I feel we’re wasting valuable time!’’ he declared, emphatically. ‘‘I’m going out to search for that man.”’ At the door, however, he came face to face with the detective himself. Bob only glanced at Nick once, to know that he had no particularly good news to report. ‘*Vou haven’t found him, Mr. Carter?” he projected anxiously. “*No, but I have set some machinery in motion that may help us accomplish that result. Had your breakfast ?’’ “*T couldn’t eat.’ : “Go and get it.” Bob knew his patron’s way. He would not speak further till the day was started right—with a good square meal. ‘‘Now, Mr. Carter,’’ reported Bob, entering the library a few minutes later, <M m teady to go on the track of that man, van right, Bob, that is what I intend you shall do, The police are looking for him on description.”’ ‘‘We can’t rely on that.’’ **No, we have a better clue.”’ **EKh ?’’ cried Bob, pricking up his ears. “What do you say to that ?’’ Nick Carter handed over the latest edition of a morning newspaper. It was folded across an advertisement page. Taking up double Space in the Lost and Found column was the following: ‘*Rive hundred dollars reward. The above sum will be paid for any informa- tion that will lead to the discovery of James Singleton, lost last night from the bark Abdallah, off Quarantine—dead or alives??s.;. An accurate description of the man the ~ young auests hhad found in the box followed. But it: was at the name of the person offering the reward that Bob gazed keen- ly, eagerly. “Apply to Victor Rhodes, Temple Block.’’ ‘That was Bob Ferret's eins: ene ee ee Nea ~ a

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18 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. CHAPTER VII. / THE IVORY HAMMER. Nick Carter’s youngest and brightest detective pupil went at once to the vicin- ity of the address given in the advertise- ment. He knew, however, that he had an en- tirely different class of people to deal with now than the river thieves. It had been rough and tumble work with Red Jefi’s gang—but shrewdness would now count instead of force, in case this Victor Rhodes was the employer Red Jeff had allu ied to. ‘‘James Singleton—I know the name of the man in the box, at all events,’’ soliloquized Bob. ‘‘The promptness with which this Rhodes advertises for him only a few hours after we got him away in the yawl, shows conclusively that he must have received instant word of the lost box. Now then, to work—quick, but cautiously !”’ Bob assumed a disguise that completely concealed his late identity. _... First he made active inquiries concern- 3 ing Rhodes, and within the space of half ey _an hour had his record down fine. _ There were two Rhodes—father and a son. | The elder was not in business. The younger Rhodes posed as a law- yer, although Bob learned that his cases were few,.and that he was more of a _» -mortgage shark than an attorney. = The minute Bob entered his office he discerned that 1ts occupant had a crafty, ans oretxepyiete character. He stated his case very simply: He seine work, he had seen the advertise- ment. Somebody wanted to find a missing man. Hire him to hunt for him. The lawyer looked him over witha smile at his apparent simplicity. ‘Why, half a dozen amateur detectives and agency men have been here with all kinds of schemes this morning,”’ said _ Rhodes. ‘‘They’re very, positive as to _ what they’re ‘going’ to do! What we > OF aia to talk.’’ “TE you'd authorize me now, and give “Oh! wantis a trace of the missing man. Find the remotest hint of that, and we're ready me poe meee ere ee murmured | body. James Singleton, on board the Abdallah, disappeared last night, accu- rate description given. Eh?” ‘Telephone, sir.’’ The office boy had interrupted. Rhodes stepped into the next room. ““Who is it??? Bob heard him ask. you, father? What—what! Found? Got him? lll be home right off. Fa- mous !”? Lawyer Rhodes came back into the inner office one vast glow of chuckling satisfaction, of half-suppressed excite- ment. : Bob, under the surface, was quite as actively moved, but he did not show it. Rhodes bundled a lot of papers into a drawer and hurriedly drew on his over- coat. ' “Oh! he remarked, observing Bob, “thought you had gone. Abou® that hoax? As I said, nothing to it.’ . “But you didn’t say——’’ began Bob. “Then I say it now. Some malicious or mischievous person inserted that Sin- gleton advertisement. We don’t even know the name. All a sell, a joke—see?’’ Rhodes hustled Bob out of the office, gave a Sharp order to the boy in charge, and was down the elevator before Bob could gét in another word. ““They’ve found him—they’ ve got Singleton !”” All the affected simplicity of a rather stupid fellow out of work and running down all’kinds of prospects to get it, dis- appeared like magic from Bob’s face. His visit to the lawyer’s office had been timely, resultful. That telephone message incautiously repeated by the excited Rhodes, had given Bob a sure clue. ; There was not ,the slightest doubt in Pob’s mind but that Singleton had fallen into the hands of his enemies. That such the Rhodes’ were there could be no question whatever. The advertisement, the lying evasion of the lawyer, the manner in which the telephone message had been received, set-_ tled this point bevond dispute. **Sinlgeton has been run across by some of Rhodes’ emissaries, or visiting the Rhodes residence has been detained there,’’ reasoned out Bob. ‘‘I’ll get theres he ; Gaxble quick, nce * ay.

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He knew where it was—hie had learned that along with his other recent investi- gations. The cab Bob engaged could not have been ten minutes behind that occupied latter. It was an ordinary house on an ordi- nary street. Dismissing the conveyance at the cornet, Bob inspected the place. He was strolling by it for the second _ time, planning how he could get into it _ unperceived, when its front door opened abruptly. The man he had seen at the office in the Temple, Building appeared at the threshold, _ He was more excited than he had been when the*telephone message had arrived, and he was hurrying out a man who looked like a servant. “*Dr. Dennis—quick, now!’ he spoke. “*Tell him we areall ready.”’ “Yes, Mr. Rhodes,’’ nodded the ser- vant, squaring his hat on his head for a. _~ burried trip. eye * _ ~**And be sure to tell him to bring the os 4 = = eave for the operation.’ x bs eee ratus for the: operation,’ ””) ge. Very good, sir. "Thats all?’? _ Except to hurry.’’ ~; “Ves, sir. es sa “Every word of this animated colloquy _ Bob’s quick ear caught distinctly. ___ He put after the man as he made down the street. Waiting for the doctor means every- ing held in suspense in that lrouse till ¢ “arrives,” theorized Bob. ; » had to — the servant, but his ‘He was planning to get aces on the return trip | Bex: she: doc- Sa ‘He entered the aoe heirs an a 5 rick! r side. esha the name, ‘Dr. “Dennis. Bs ce to come for the ee family!’ mused Tiga aon heard NICK CARTER WEEKLY. by Rhodes in reaching the homie of the be Hi s up, es it ain to this Single-— isforthe operation! ? Now, — it be? ae ; 1's office, when the man dove ‘into. ae ; ing else to do. é dwelling with a faded, battered sign 2 -19 a knock, a response, and the servant’s sing-song tones tepeating the message from Lawyer Rhodes. Then the servant darted past him for the street again, and Bob prepared to fol- low. As the man cleared the steps, however, and Bob the threshold, a hoarse interjec- tion halted him. “‘Here, you!”’ The person who had received the mes- sage, Dr. Dennis, reopened his door. Bob hesitated. ‘Do you hear me—you fellow from Rhodes?” *‘Want me?” propounded Bob, advane- ing. ““Yes—no! Who are you? I wanted the man who just brought me a mes- sage,’’ spoke Dr. Dennis. ° He was a squatty, greasy -skinned man, in whose hands asa patient Bob voted he would scarcely leave his worst enemy. “I came with him,” said Bob, *‘but he’s gone back:”’ “Nice thing!’ grumbled the doctor, and Bob, studying him closely, decided that he was a Greek. ‘‘Send for me ina rush, and never wait to Hep me with my traps !?? “Pll help you,’’ said Bob, promptly, ‘*What can I do, doctor?” “Come in.” / Dr. Dennis accepted _ Bob unstispect- 2 ingly as all right, Bob’s claim that he had come with Rhodes: sepvant settled that. Bob could not guess” “hoy che affair would turn out, but he determined to pursue this branch of the adventure till dee developed something one wav or the other. es doctor pata lot of queer instru- ments into a satchel. Then he ‘boxed in a canvas case a Es square electric battery. ; “Getting too old to lug that half a mile alone,’’ “I'll carry it,” spoke Bob. “Got noth- — You. see,’ I saw Mr.) he remarked, Rhodes about giving me work this morn- ing, so I'll eatry it to his house and back again, if you De and ae glad to put in the time.” “Very good, 1 insisted: Mr. 2 | Dennis. at deserve work. For: being so eee = +, = ~

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20 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. —_ modating. I shall probably be an hour or two at the house, though.’? “Oh, time’s nothing to me; I'll wait for you,’’ said Bob. He only hoped that it would be inside the house that he would be allowed to wait. ‘That would be luck in accordance with his most ardent hopes. It was inside the house. As they reached it, the servant who had brought the message to the doctor admitted the latter promptly, as if waiting for him. “*Go at once to the library, sir. They are waiting for you,’’ he said. ee ‘Put my traps in the hall, He’ll wait __ for me,’’ spoke the doctor, indicating - Bob. a As the doctor tapped at a door, the ser- t vant led Bob past it two rooms beyond. =. It was a sort of smoking apartment. ___ He carelessly nodded Bob to a chair, and : - Bob heard him proceed down the hall. iota Then his footsteps were checked as ~ Rhodes’ tones spoke. ~ © Go_ below, and keep the servants there till the doctor oa os he uttered i. siarply. > ee. ¢ ch Ves, sir.” Bob heard the man go downstairs, He "was overlooked, forgotten, and this just suited him. He caught the echo of quick voices from the library. Its door closed. Then it opened again. _A slight jangle convinced Bob that the ~edoctor had taken in his traps. He heard _ the library door close. _ “Now fofa peep!”’ muttered Bob, - He opened the door cautiously, made ~ sute of his ground, glided to the next, __ Jater stood at the side of a sliding door Pe. _ slightly ajar. er (> v Sievers, 2 that was the first word that met his hearing—‘‘never, I tell you! _ No, notaword!? Bob peered. The speaker was Single- ton, He sat OmG. pets, tied to it hand _ evidently sah father. aie deny, however, son to 3 Basted: turned its knob, and a second - a He was white as death, Two periasie him—the lawyer end 3 an = ee came to this city purposely to give us trouble??? insinuated young Rhodes. ‘*Trouble!”? cried the captive. ‘‘To unmask you, and that I swear to do! Hark you! scoundrels, plotters, murder- ers—for you drove into exile my poor friend, John Lester, to die of a broken heart, you made him believe that two years since when intoxicated he fired a shot that killed a man. make over his property in trust to you, and flee. I sought him out. I told him the real truth of his innocence, but too late. He died, but I have returned to vindicate him, The world shall know the truth—of your dastardly double deal- ing!’? ‘*] presume you hope to wrest his prop- erty from us also?’’ sneered Rhodes. “That trifle! no; but wait till you know all! His sister, whom you left in poverty, shall yet take her rightful place far above you—far .abuve you!’’ ““He has no papers. What proofs can he have to disturb us?’’ ventured the elder Rhodes. ~ “He knows—he has some secret pow-. er!’ hissed the lawyer. this! Doctor!’’ The Greek physician advanced. ‘*Do you see this man ?’’ demanded the lawyer of Singleton. ‘‘He is our friend.’ ‘**He looks it!’ “Dennis,’’ continued Rhodes, ‘‘do you “Enough of know what we want done? Seal this. man’s lips!” “Seal them!’’ shouted Singleton, in a wild transport of excitement. ‘‘Do you think that will destroy my power? Ah! there is an imperishable record——’”’ ‘End this!” Dr. Dennis drew his battery close to the chair. He placed a steel cap with one small opening in it, over Singleton’s skull. He applied various wires to it, and one he held in his hand. he poised a sinall ivory mallet. “Ready !’’ he spoke. — battery ?”” « ‘Connect the * Rhodes. “Yes. Sc hetin’s face was. ashen, but he only glared and panted hopelessly. Bob was never so oe in his er You got him to . In the other hand wero a ee queried

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i b u x x ‘ Only one reasonable theory occurred to his mind. These monsters in human form were about to electrocute the man with the painted arm! Whir! Before Bob could make a move, the electric battery started up. Before he could utter a cry to deter, the poised ivory hammer dropped through the aperture in the steel cap. Tap! Tp OOM ee ee er NO eS oy nD ee re =. CHAPTER VIII. DONE WITH A CLICK! A tragedy had taken place—Bob was sure of it? Yet to his amazement the man in the chair only paled the deeper, closed his Lae ity | aa me eS 4 a2 — yy eyes spasmodically, and then opened them 3 wide again. 3 > Dr. Dennis threw down the ivory ham- 3 __mer and turned off the electric current. “It?s done,’’ he announced, simply. . ‘There was perfect confidence, a certain _ professional triumph in his tone. ~ Qld Rhodes stared ~ Rhodes looked anxious. Sure of. that? 2?” he demanded. _ -- “T -mnever™ fail!” spoke Dennis, in a +.» voice that somehow sounded terrible to the mystified Bob. eS ‘Untie him?” “He is harmless forevermore. ”’ ‘And then?” ‘Turn him loose. ”? Bob’s wits whirled. — Turn him loose—set free the man ~ whom they had so dreaded an instant previous! e What was the meaning of this? for just _ that thing they were doing. - Singleton was unbound, lifted from the intently, young = SY of the room. eee _ Bob sped to the hall door of the apart- ment he was in. He saw the doctor put a hat on Singleton’s head, and the lawyer - Jed him through the vestibule and opened the front door. him out on the steps. Oh, I'm dicamming !? muttered Bob. not, he must keep the t ths — arm in sight at all chair, set on his sre led toward the door -“Go!” he said, simply, sand ‘pushed NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 21 Bob drew back in the room, studied the windows, opened one, sprang out, rounded the house, and crossing to the next yard, came out into the street from its front. He glanced eagerly toward the house he had just left. From the library window three faces peered out—those of the men who had just committed some singular crime—Bob knew this, but was not yet clear as to its entire import. Singleton had reached the bottom of the stone steps. From ail Bob could discern, he had un- dergone no ‘change. The pallor had left his face, the excite- ment had faded from his eyes. Except for a certain dazed uncertainty of manner, he looked and acted perfectly natural. Glancing up street, down ‘street, he started suddenly forward, pa Bob on a rapid walk. Bob paid no attention to fins that could attract the notice of the people at the window. He simply kept Singleton in easy hail- ing distance, turned when he turned, and after proceeding several squares, caught up with him. “‘Good-morning, “Mr. ventured. With the pleasantest ‘smile “in the world, Singleton extended his hand. “Ah, senor!’’ he remarked. “Going to the plaza?’’ ‘“‘What plaza?’ stared Bob. ‘We are down a cent on Santos, you know ?”’ continued Singleton, in a busi- ness-like tone. *‘Sugats are a poor invest- ment. We must curtail shipments from the plantations, eh?” _ He thinks he is in Brazil,’ ejaculated Brazil. ‘Singleton rattled on at a great rate, and Bob Jet him talk uniuterruptedly for suddenly Bob began to guess out the truth. It was all about sugars, coffees, dia- Singleton,’’he _monds, Rio Janeiro, plantations, the markets. _ As they neared an office building Bob knew well, he caught his companion’s | arm and brought him to a halt, “Mr, Singleton,’ he said, ‘“‘will you e: come with me a minute ortwo?”’ —

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22 ‘ NICK CaRTER WEEKLY. “Why not ?’’ ““T want to introduce you to a friend.’’ “Good! We may be able to unload some surplus sugars on hiin, eh ?’’ Bob led his companion into a doctor’s - office, that of a physician of high skill in whom Nick Carter had great confidence. Bob knew him familiarly. While ‘Singleton was examining some pictures on the wall, he found time to hurriedly explain to the physician what had just occurred. The face of the latter drew Soba -_as Bob proceeded. It grew very stern as he said: “‘T must make at least a cursory exaini- nation of the patient.’’ This had to be worked deftly. The _ doctor talked sugar and coffee with — Singleton fora minute or two, proposed | a glass of wine, and ten minutes later had his visitor under the influence of a light drug in his operating chair. “Horrible!” Bob thrilled at the doctor’s report after a close inspection of Singleton’s head. ri ‘What have they done, doctor ?”’ he inquired, falteringly. : ‘“*They have killed this man’s mem- Ory. Ped ee ‘“TIneredible!’’ before,’’ said the doctor. ‘‘It is rumored that he was once employed in Italy to scientifically maim, blind, distort children eek. 2 they grew up objects of pity, profes- ee sional beggars.’’ “Tt seems monstrous !"” “He has depressed a portion of this at 2 man’s skull, has killed all memory of =. the past—he i is a machine, henceforth.’ = “But his” brightness, his intelli- gence—— ” es “On the sugar markets of Brazil? Ves. ‘Phat will continue the one atmosphere in which he will live. Placed on the 8 its secrets, its connection with the pres- ts: the future—all, all is a blank to him, is is too deep for me!” asigh Bob confessed it. Well ty tet Lrescies turn loose **T have heard of this infamous Dennis. moon, he would entertain that. fallacy, that alone. Of his past, its associations, Bob Sileclosed t the black-painted forearm. "= “Why! what is this?” inquired the a "physician, curiously. They had deprived him of memory, of reason—whiat had they to fear? Shrinking at actaal murder, they had simply grazed the gallows by killing his mind. It placed everything in a muddle. To arrest these men to hunt up John Lester’s pauper sister, the captain of the Abdal- Jah, Red Jeff and his malodorous crew— all this might be modeled into some kind of a result, but not the one aimed at. They could punish, but they could not probe.. The secret knowledge James Singleton had entertained had been for- ever buried under the stroke of the elec- trically propelled ivory mallet! “‘Doctor,’? spoke Bob, “I feel that I must call Mr. Carter into instant’ con- sultation.”’ “I deem it best myself,’’ answered the physician. ‘‘This man should be taken care of—kept in friendly control. Some- thing might—mind you, I name a mere fleeting possibility—something might be done to ameliorate his smmigat nssase condi- tion.’’ **Will you hold him here till I return ?’’ inquired Bob. “*T promise that.’’ Beb started for the door. He was go- ing after Nick Carter. An intricate exi- gency had arisen that he felt to be beyond his power of grasping coherently. At the door, however, he turned. A sudden thought had occurred to him. He approached the operating chair. It was drawn close up to an open window looking out on a court, Not ten feet across fronted the win- dows of other offices, but view from these was excluded by a-shade raising up from the bottom. This Bob drew down—he even wheeled - the chair nearer to the strong light re- flected from the white-tiled brick walls - the court. “Look, doctor—I want to show you : something, ” he said. pulled up Singleton’s sleeve and ‘Something that just occurred to me,” explained Bob. “We noticed that painted _ arm in disorbing this mau early ta morning.”? : se

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NICK CARTER WEEKLY. . 23 The doctor looked closely at the stained limb, He brought out a_ nfagnifying glass, he rubbed some acid on the flesh. ““Why!? he said, quite interestedly, “this is a movable stain covering some writing. t **Some what??? epimlsied Bob, vividly startled. ‘‘Writing—letters.”’ ‘On his arm ?”’ ‘*Yes, under the paint.’ **Doctor! What?’’ **You want to know?”’ “Do I want to know?’ voiced Bob, ardently. ‘‘Why! Singleton interrupted himself in his defiance of Rhodes, claim- ing that there was certain imperishable proof as to his secret power to unmask him and enrich his friend’s orphan sister.’’ ‘*Ah!’? murmured the doctor, impres- sively. “*Can this be it?”’ ‘*You shall soon know.”’ . The doctor ripped up the sleeve of the arm but half exposed. -__ _Engrosed, tremendously excited, Bob = _ watched and helped. 7 _ Along the forearm, as the application “of F some a ac adually removed the stain, “there begar to appear the natural white ~ flesi. ~ .. Then, the, contrast diminishing, there appeared, ‘as if written on a scroll of vel- i. kan; letters—words, sentences. — -- **§ human parchment!’? murmured the doctor. ‘You have it complete.” am “It is written——’’ -, “Quite a record, with some powerful Sie indelible ink, as ‘effectively as if tat- ze "Bob fluttered mightily. derful discovery. # raKe writing was clear, plain, as _ He read its first section “John Lester, ‘solemnly certify to all that my friend, James testify as to the plot to drive me into <ile on the part of the Rhodes, father ad son, who hold my estate iMegallaes” 2 The next section began: pW te <) = In the haste of fight I hid away th bulk of. amy fortuue. This will. It was a won- Singleton, may na Zi Pe ees the doctor, So Senge SBS: a ahd It was—click! Bob started and =a, keenly, Then he uttered a vivid cry of alarm and dismay. Across the court, just retreating from a window on a perfect level with Single- ton’s uncovered arm, was.a man. At a glance Bob recognized him—Vic- tor Rhodes! In his hand the lawyer held a camera. Its shutter had caused the click. It had opened, closed, to take a flash- ing photograph. James Singleton’: s enemies and Bob Ferret’s enemies had gained pesscssige of the secret of the painted arm! Bob did not wait to see if the doctor connected man, camera and patient. The recognition of Singleton, the snap of the shutter, an instant comprehension of the fact that he had been followed by people from the Rhodes house, urged him up to impulsive action. He was out of the room, down the hall, around to the corridor fronting the offices opposite in a flash. Elevators, two sets of stairways, rooms above, and rooms helow—Bob realized that a person could lose himself in a twinkling in this vast busy hive. He dove, therefore, for the office where he had seen Rhodes with the cam- era. : He knew it by a glance across the court where the doctor and his patient were in full view. Three young fellows, clerks, were im the office. One was counting over some bills and ‘chuckling, the ‘others were watching him covetously. Bob took a hurried glance around. Rhodes was not in the department. He ran so hastily up to the young fel- low with the money, that the latter put — the bills behind him as if deeming hima thief. _ “No,’’ came a triple dissent. — i “He was in this office a ae ago. c ; was al **Ounick p? urged Bob—‘‘do any of you fellows know a man named Rhodes?” Peficc e win- 5 a

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vd x Wx be ee a4 NICK CARTER WEEKLY. interested ” ‘He came in, and seemed watching the doctor’s office—— ‘*Ves! yes!’’ ““My camera was on the desk there. I brought it to take a view in the park on my bicycle home spin to-night.”’ ‘*Was it loaded ?”’ ‘*He asked me that, snapped it, turned like a flash, hauled out a roll of bills, threw down fifty dollars before ime with ‘There’s double value,’ and shot through the door like a flash. I thought he was crazy.’’ The office clerks must have deemed Bob crazy, too, for the young detective dashed from the room without a word of explanation. He got down to the street and scanned it keenly, but he had not hoped to geta glimpse of Rhodes, nor did he. As he returned toward the doctor’s office he was thoughtful and worried. Success had been shrewdly snatched from his ‘hands at a moment when it seemed positively within his grasp. -The unique inscription on James Singleton’s arm which he had only half read, told where the bulk of his dead friend’s fortune was hidden. With a perfect photographic copy of that same, the scheming lawyer was now speeding away. Bob proceeded up the stairway leading to the doctor’s office formulating rapidly - the score of things that must be done-at once to keep results from slipping from his control. Just reaching the landing of the floor ~ where it was located, a form swept by him with such force and Tapidity as to | a almost carry him off his feet. ‘Take care, there !”’ he spoke~ “Stop!” -- -He put out a hand, but it» grazed a dodging form. - ‘Then, as he was ready for a grabbing swoop upon the passing figure, it halted. Mi hand shot out. It jabbed something -at Bob, who dodged back. made no mistake, and Dennis directed a vicious lunge at an adversary he knew would not let him get away unless dis- abled. Spry Bob evaded the thrust. Warned and enlightened, he posed to detain the man who could be in that building for no good purpose, and for no other pur- pose, surely, than one connected with Singleton, A flashing suspicion told him that both Rhodes and Dennis must have followed him step by step. Just then asharp cry rang out down the hall. It came from the doctor’s office, and the doctor himself uttered it. As Bob saw that person stagger through its doorway, his interest was at once dis- tracted from Dennis. The latter instantly sprang down the stairs, as something in the doctor's plight. drew Bob to his side. ‘What is it? Speak !?? urged Bob. “T am choking—suffocating! That fiend! A man entered the office——”’ “It was Dennis, the Greek physician,” declared Bob. ‘*H€é broke a capsule of some vile drug in my face——” ‘*Singleton ? harm him ?’’ **T do not know.”’ Bob rushed through the doorway of the office. The mau with the painted arm lay where he had been placed at the first. There was apparently no change in him. Bob looked him over, trying to guess why the Greek had entered the room. Then his eye falling to the arm wherc the stain had just been removed, his heart sank like lead. ‘Knocked out!’ he spoke simply, but. expressing volumes. The arm was red, blotched, disfigured —some powerful corroding acid had cer- tainly just been applied by the crafty Dennis. your patient—did he . ze ‘was not a weapon, but a long, slim & ‘surgical tool of some kind, shee Dore The writing it had borne so clearly ten and deadly as a Venetian stiletto. _ minutes previous was a blur. $5 +r S ‘know you—Dr. Dennis!’’ cried Even as he looked, the dismayed Bob yb. ‘*What are you up to here?’ saw the inscription blend. into a mass of “You—spy ! Take it!’’ hissed the doc- discoloration, grow vague, fade out. He felt his natural shrewdness to beat a bi seapcaa as he ae ht tea. min-— 4 Teas me Greek. pina eh haa.

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= et utes’ sharp work on the part of his ene- mies had effected. They had baffled him at every turn. | They now possessed the only copy in the world of the secret of the man with the painted arm! CHAPTER IX. THROUGH FIRE. “*Apples!’ “Get out!” _ “Ripe apples!”’ **Will you let up?’’ ‘Dad says if you want any provender while you’re camping here, he’!] sell it cheap—over at next farm.’’ A clod of dirt knocked off the speaker’s cap, and he picked it up and retreated grumbling, : He had a basket full of fruit on his arm, but twenty feet accomplished with a row of brush between himself and the _ persons who had so rudely addressed and so roughly driven him away, in among _ the bushes went the basket with a fling. Instantly, too, the gawky pose of a ees ahs gave way to the brisk _. alertness of shrewd Bob Ferret. A detective’s business leads him into "queer places, into widely separated __ points in a brief space of time. | ‘That of Nick Carter’s young pupil had brought him to the spot where he now 2 was, as naturally as an Indian on a trail __ where al] the ‘‘signs’’ are sure. "Thirty-six hours had elapsed since Bob _ had confessed himself knocked out in the Office of the doctor whither he had taken the man with the painted arm. “ee ter’s charge, telling the veteran detective — the condition of affairs, Bob had started — out to follow 4 very good piece of advice; _ o get on the track and to keep on the rack of Victor Rhodes. are two o’clock that afternoon Bob had ~al nec two things. ~The Rhodes father and son, and the care: Dennis, had left their - respective : seed. that they were > pots seclusion—developing the photo- formulating their plans for bene- by what it inight tell. es y that individual in Nick Car- j NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 25 At five o’clock Bob struck rare luck. Passing a railroad ticket office, he saw inside the servant of the Rhodes house- hold. : Bob waited till he came out, entered the place, and learned that he had just purchased three return tickets for Fair- field, a town in New Jersey. Bob guessed what was up. -He verified it when he arrived at this place the next day. _ Two miles away from it was what was left of the once stately home of the dead friend of the man with the painted arn— John Lester. It had burned down a year previous. By dusk Bob knew that it was to this spot that the photographed writing al- luded, for the two Rhodes, their servant and Dennis arrived on thé evening train. They carried several tightly done up packages that looked as if they might contain tools, and gave out at the village hotel that they were going to camp out in the vicinity for a day or two. This was how it was that Bob had en- deavored to penetrate their midst, test his ‘farmer boy disguise, and pave the way for picking up a few morsels of informa- tion. “They won’t have it, but they never guess who I am,’’ he soliloquized, creep- ing in among a dense patch of thick bushes. ‘“They’re here for John Lester’s hidden fortune—so am I!’’ - How they were going to get it, how he was going to get it, Bob could not guess, but his spirits were at a decidedly high flow. ~ eet: sae % _A definite task lay before him—clear results were attainable if fortune favored ch Pyeees aie : ‘The treasure-hunting party had made it a point to arrive after dark, ‘Where there was a slight depression in the ground they had built a large camp- fire. urea The fire that had distroyed the man- jon had burned down a good many trees, eninants of these afforded an abun- of fuel. wer ee - Rhodes and Dennis, smoking, occasion- ally exchanging a word or two. The servant kept piling on fuel, and faethe, 8 aN fe efore the fire, on a log, sat the two

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all hands seemed in no hurry to begin operations. Bob would have given considerable to F get near enough to overhear what the = three men might sav, but he dared not ¢ venture “it, for there was no desirable covert of cet er weeds in their immedi-. ate vicinity. Finally, however, as he stood watching © and pondering, just that issue was irre- sistibly forced upon him. The servant who was poking the fire was addressed some words by the younger Rhodes. Bob guessed that it appertained to his recent intrusion, for he fancied he caught : the words ‘‘prying strollers.’’ others in the very direction he had just sts ; roceeded slowly, and peered all ieee iio: and Bob had either to fetreat _and be forced back out of the neighbor- 3 ood, or round the bushes and trust to 3 * Te ck that the searcher would not come => It cette unfavorably, for Rhodes’ man began a direct circuit of the bushes. = He beat into. them with his stick and =e = he peered in among them, and Bob was | never so near discovery. Be: s With some concern he orem: nearer and _ Fortunately ‘the backs of ‘e. three men seated there were toward him, in- aes, of their faces. sae kept just ahead by crouching out Ee ; e cout of his unconscious pursuer, but oa coul oe maintain this “eet Tun- 4F . around beyond a certain : <oPhere’s a show ae he Eaecd ab- Tuptly, The ‘‘show’’ comprised a section of rotted tree. It lay flat, and. was a mere ‘shell. , Bob ‘saw that it would afford a capital hiding , not only near to the fire, but ; and comfortable. ¢ e dove for its end, and he burro nto it promptly. — : 7 Soe little» Maso ga ‘there. Securely en fete mced, Bob could — plotters The servant started away. from the . - hike way ae ag Pade to risk the latter course. . pretty, clear. 26 2 ; NICK CARTER WEEKLY. : The latter resumed his course, and Bob knew he had found what he was longing for at last. He was not now more than ten feet distant from the log on which the three men sat. oe He pricked up his ears diligently as Dr. Dennis’ hoarse tones reached him: ‘‘What time do we begin operations, Rhodes ?”? The lawyer consulted his watch. ‘*Oh, in about two hours.”’ “Think it’s best to wait, eh ?’’ “Surely. Give the inquisitive Paul Prys around here a chance to satisfy their curiosity. They roost early, so we’re safe from interruption after ten o’clock.”’ ‘*Making a good deal of fuss and delay over a mere job of measurement,’’ it seeins to me,’’ remarked Dennis. “We don’t know that. This screed isn’t altogether plain.’’ Bob’s finger ends tingled to get hold of “a photograph Rhodes drew out. ‘*Well, yes—some parts are a trifle blurred,’” spoke taking the picture, I suppose, but it’s Oh, well! this is pleasant enough—a variety from the city, with you don’t know how many detective . spies oy your track.’’ “*T fancy the scent’s blown,’’ observed the elder Rhodes, carelessly. ‘‘How that fellow got onto us in the first pecs can’t guess,’’ - “The Nick Carter crowd have an un- pleasant faculty of getting onto most. everything !”’ growled the Greek doctor. ‘‘Well, we’ve placated Red Jeff and they cay) never pump him, the Abdallah is outward bound again, Singleton is a dead issue, memory and message alike, and they may hamper, but they can never prove anything against us,’’ spokethe | lawyer. ‘There must be eolisiderable. of eit fortune you never got, according to that little photograph ?”” insinuated Dennis. “We can find room for se all!”’ Taughed =~ hodes. The servant came back. The fire had a : plenish it. a SE ty ieee Dennis—‘‘hurry of © ? ‘There: was a lapse of silence. Half ; an = * Siete went by without event. ‘burned quite low, and: S02 began to re-

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HRS a | ea NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 27 He got tired finally of picking upsmall __, Getting it between himself and tiie pieces of wood, and began kicking, drag- camp-fire, Bob grasped its heavy main ging and rolling dead limbs and larger stem and began to climb. ~ legs down into the depression. All four of the men at the camp-fire Bob quivered as he saw the speculating had put after him, but Bob was away up eye of the faithful fire-tender light on the aloft, well sheltered by a dense mass of very log he was in. : leaves by the time they reached the tree. The man approached it, gave it a test- The servant and the elder Rhodes ran ing kick with his foot, and it quivered. on, Dennis and the lawyer poked in about Leaning toward it, with both hands he the vine roots, in and out of: the bushes started it ona roll. near by, but never thought of looking \ - ‘Oh, this won’t do!’? muttered Bob in aloft. _ dismay. ‘Where did he go to?’ projected Den- . The third roll Bob made up his mind _ nis. ~ he could not help revealing himself. ‘“He disappeared here,’’ declared the . = About to attempt to crawl out, how- lawyer. ‘Now, then, what do you make ‘ever, the man tipped the log over the ofthat?” edge of the brief incline. ‘It looks suspicious, but still it may The next minute it rolled squarely be that prowling apple seller or some - . down into the nest of fire. other country gawk, imagining it clever sth to pry into other people’s business, ’’ : ‘“The dickens!’ whispered Bob te him- CHAPTER X. self just, here. F TRAPPED! : The vine was giving. He clutched a handful of smaller feelers. ‘These strained, and he described a quick ~ascent to save a drop. He had got to the top of the tree now. Catching one of its jagged sides, he lifted himself up to a more comfortable posi- . A shower of sparks went up. Bob mad a vigorous scramble. There was no. denying the desperate- ness of his dilemma, the urgency of im- © It was fortunate that one jagged end of |. — the hollow log arose on a tilt free of the ton. ~ flames. ee Bob sought to balance himself there in Je de Bor this end Bob made. He got out of as small a compass as possible. ‘It entailed a fall to the ground; but hollow of the tree, and sitting on its edge Bobwasspry. of leaves. As shouts of mingled dismay, amaze- ‘All right now, I guess,”” he solilo- “men et. OE eS at something, missed, and went shooting Jictant. but downward, feet foremost. ee oe ‘Breath and wits seemed shaken out of d him = ee law- him, for he landed as much as twenty feet ‘paid no atten-, down with startling abruptness. cae pare: “lee Sepoks ater ie The shock would have been tremen- shot ot followed almost immediately. but for the fact that he found his feet knew the temper of the shooter, and in a bed of soft, punky refuse that ed from his outlined ‘aga ‘ tt . ‘sang away from the inside trunk of , dead and broken off about tle tree. Bs os Le te nd—over it on all sides for d received a hard knock as it woodbine vine. passed a knob on the centre of the trunk. = cs - =o eet up, was broad enough to One shoulder was quite badly bruised, ; it in a decided hurry. He swung both feet over downinto the = M

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Here the hollow had narrrowed so Bob could just slide through and that was all. He could turn around, he was probably safe from the remotest contingency of dis- covery on the part of his enemies, but Bob did not faney his new dilemma. If his descent had caused any particular rustling, either it had not been noticed by Dennis and the lawyer, or they at- “- tributed it to disturbed birds. Bob heard their voices recede and then die away altogether. “*T can’t stay in here,’’ he muttered. “Tt’s stand up all night, if I do, and it?s close as a furnace!’’ He felt all around his queer prison place, turning a’complete circle in doing so. ‘““Smooth as glass,’’ he commented— ‘not a break, nota hollow. Yes, here’s one, but/chest-high, only.”’ Bob poked his finger into a punky rot- = ting knob. Its core pushed out. . It was only big as a thimble head, but ~ aa ‘he was glad of one thing—it made an te looking out directly on the cam np fire fifty feet away. ___ He could make out there the four men _ who had pursued him. _ They would discuss, then separate, scour the vicinity, return, sit down, get up, and act generally like people badly disturbed and very uneasy. _ **Phis will hurry their operations,’’ de- F cided Bob. ‘‘Where will I be when they S) get the plunder? Not in here, I hope, worse than belolens.- Not if I can help Ar. id _ got down into it. ce He found even the initial steps the - hardest work he had ever undertaken. 3S It was like scaling a smooth tube. ic At last he thought of something that arf agers ‘take considerable time, but it ‘seemed the only course open to him. __ Employing ‘the largest blade of his fora knife, he cut little notches ab, wo feet apart till he got them head ‘ae wee a single toe and finger hold possibl le by. ae ey ‘back brace, Bo _ Teached 1 free hand, st: a se a With a doughty will Bob set. at work) to get up out of the hollow tree as he had am NICK CARTER WEEKLY. Groping up, his hand came in contact with some daugling object. ‘““Why,’’ declared the mystified Bob— “it’s a rope!”? Such it was, and he seized it. He had not noticed it in the rush of his descent. Bob pulled at it. The strands strained slightly, but it sustained his weight. ‘‘Ramous!’’ he exulted. But three feet accomplished, Bob found his new hopes dashed. He had come to the narrow part of the cavity. Through this he had slid, and if the tree had been flat he might have managed to force through, but, lifting, he saw after one or two arduous efforts, that it would be an impossibility to wedge past the in- side trunk bulge. “*Give it up, because I’ve got to give it up!’’ he soliloquized regretfully. Bob dropped to the bottom, glad to re- lieve his strained sinews. His predicament, he now decided, was something more than inconvenience—it was serious. Unaided, he could certainly not get out of that tree, and he had no idea of appeal- ing to the four deadly enemies in sight. He now abandoned all hopes of being on hand when they made their hunt for the hidden fortune. His only theory of escape was that after they had departed he might the next day hail some casual passer-by from his mi- nute loophole of observation. , He saw the quartet at the camp-fire lighting a lantern and undoing their bun- dies, and guessed that thet®would soon begin to search for what they had come after. “I'd like to know how that rope hang- ing down the inside of this tree got here. What’s it for?’ he mused. ‘‘Hello! I smashed through a piece of bark and caught my foot in my fall,’’ he continued, as he lifted one foot to change his position, x He kicked clear the ee Te Then = he applied himself to watch the treasure 7 hunters. ts oe ‘They were down to business at last. Old Rhodes carried a Jantern. He held this close to his son, who walked along with frequent references to the photo- _ gtaph hs the — arm.

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| This he inspected through a magnify- a sing glass, and each time he did so he would say something to Dennis and the servant who carried a long tape line. Bob saw them strike a central point— near where the ruins of a house founda- tion showed. » The lawyer called off distances. Dennis Feneited, and would run out the line. Once it ended right at the tree in which Nick Carter’s young detective was in- eased. pere= Lwice—three Sa Dennis sang Outs > “Here's the spot. Does that end the directions?” _. ~ It does,” replied young Rhodes, run- ning up quite excited. ‘‘Yes, Dennis, this is certainly the place.” “This tree is blurred——”’ “That's what’s in the photograph— sixty feet, ending at’ a some kind of a something. Why not ‘oak tree’ ?”’ “All the measurements end here. _. We've found it. Rhodes, John Lester’s _ hidden fortune is in that tree!’ *‘Great goodness!’’ ejaculated the dis- “ee turbed Bob. ae. dbrilled all over. In that tree! 2 que freak of fate had put him me this of of ail places? ~ What would the amazed plosters say when their ardent search resulted in un- o> -earthing—one of Nick Carter’s detec- Bob felt a pardonable glow of exulta- tion at having handled the hidden treas- ure first. It was superseded by a chilling. shock of dismay, however, at Dennis’ next ominous words: **Get an axe!”’ CHAPTER XI. DYNAMITE! * Bob Ferret was startled, but he wags not rattled. The unexpected possession of the hid- den treasure inspired him with a mighty resolve not to part with it readily, ‘“They are going to cut the tree down,”’ he soliloquized, and as he spoke a dull clang vibrated. Pluck to the last, grit to the con Bob set his wits at work, lawyer’s voice sounded outside He stowed the papers in his breast and” reascended the inside of the tree, with ae the help of the notehes he had cut. When he reached the rope he got a good hold on it and half-dangled, Shalt braced himself. He was now entirely beyond the possi- ahi of any danger from the axe. is cut through the thin wood of. the nk in a very few moments. There arp | creak and the tree swayed. ST BPs: going! Where will I be?” mut- ‘tefed Bob, grimly. : “Stand back!’ he heard Dennis shout. “Then with a splitting crack the tree eae. bent over, dropped and landed with a crash. pe falling Bob was shot font ais, ant a ed "pasa accident happened. gc 0 his dismay he found himself held by. the arms and shoulders in the narrow- _ ing bulge ‘of the tree as Sightly * as * x: driven Eases mete oh i va oe

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20 NICK CARTER WE KLY. He simply could not budge an inch, he was imprisoned helplessly. ‘‘Now, then!’ rang out the lawyer’s excited voice. ; A mighty scrambling echoed among the debris in the revealed tree trunk. **Rope—a box, but. broken,’’ called out Dennis. ‘“Empty !’? fairly howled the lawyer. ‘“Some one has been before us!’’ shouted Dennis. ‘‘Hold the Jantern— what’s that?’ It was Bob, and he saw him, or rather, Bob’s feet, for the trays of the lantern shot up the cavity in which Bob was wedged. **Tt’s all up with me!’ muttered Bob. He felt his feet seized. ‘There was a terrific wrench, Bob got one hand into his breast, seized the papers, flung them beyond him into the hollow trunk, and came, out head = down. “Who is it!’ demanded the lawyer, ye eagerly. Bob was righted, but firmly clutched, "2 ~ by three pairs of hands, The lantern was flared into his face. _ The boy with the apples——’’ began aga - - } haven't got it,’’ declared Bob, ae “PH make him tell——" - **RhodesP? > In a shout Dennis. distracted the law: year’s attention. He was pointing toward _ the camp-fire.. The servant and the elder Rhodes ae tinued to hold Bob. ‘The latter was as ae Silat as Dengis andthe. laey er, gr the ‘Bob submitted to the rough process: A new actor had appeared on the scene. Plainly visible, coming toward them from the direction of the fire, was a man —James Singleton. He held a sinall wooden box under his arm, and he was studying trees, bushes, ali the ground about him as he advanced. Bob was amazed. How had he got away from the city—how had he got here? ‘Rhodes!’ whispered Dennis, hoarse- ly, ‘‘it’s Singleton !’’ **Or his ghost!” ‘‘Nonsense! See! he has a box! it be the treasure ?’’ - Both started forward. Never looking up, Singleton approached, engrossed. They grasped him suddenly. The man with the painted arm uttered a startled cry and tried to wrench free. The lawyer tore the box from his grasp, Dennis dragged him toward the tree. ‘“‘Hold the boy,’’ he ordered to the servant, ‘“‘hold this man,’’ he spoke to the elder Rhodes. ‘‘What is in it?’’? he continued, running back to where the lawyer was turning the box over and over in his hands. **Do not open it! Do not open it——” began Singleton, but the two amen ran_ toward the camp-fire eagerly. They got a hatchet and began to pry tip the cover of the box. Abruptly the impatient lawy er gave the stubborn Jid a kick. ~ _ Singleton had been struggling fierceiy, - utterly incoherent warnings all the time. ‘Do not strike it!’? he shouted. ‘Too late! As the hatchet descended a second time an awful boom rang out. , The appalled Bob saw a blur of mingled flash and form. A’ shock that drove jis captor’s clutch free permeated the air, : ‘*‘Dynamite!’ panted Singleton. With an awful shriek the elder Rhodes darted toward the spot where a moment — before his son had been and now was not. Then‘as he realized what had- happened _ ~ apd he reeled, threw up his arms and sank Can senseless to the grotind. The servant, white as, death, tottered toward him, ind stood gazing, pale and © horrified, at a great hole in the ground: where the pe ea had taken place. os

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£ NICK CARTER WEEKLY. 2 el '“Come!”’ Bob Ferret could not afford to lose his Wits, to take any risks. _.. He got the papers out of the hollow _ tree and grasped Singleton’s arm. The latter was babbling incoherently of Brazil, of treasures, of dynamite— _ snatches of real and imaginary things— but he went placidly paige at Bob’s A a By the time they had reached the “nearest farmhouse, egnessed the mystery of his strange ap- eae on the scene. Nick Carter’s doctor had operated on _ Singleton’s head sufficient. to help back his memory in part. - In some way Singleton must have es- “ as f-clouded impulses. He had purchased a stick of dynamite _ © and had placed it in the box, with some Wague idea that it might aid him in blow- » ing up the tree to get at the treasure—a ee: man’s phantasy—the explosion d be explained in no other way. ~ Bob got the farmer out of bed. He told Fim enough of the story of the tragedy Beige ice Gai 2 j gle on was "given in rt: ‘of one of his sons. The other, with the farmer, anied Bob back to the site of the Brenne the following day the news- pers of New York city told graphically shat Nick Carter’s young detective had accomplished in the case of the mystery the painted arm. is and the lawyer had been blown ees father of the latter had re- ceived a hock. aes which he would _on Red Jeff's aunt, ee the river pirates e e ¢ity merchant teatest pests. ster of dead John Lester Se found, and to her was" given ‘the for- tune. -presented by the securities found ; “by Bob in the old hollow tree. i i “Nick Carter’s doctor, who had great Bob fancied he . ped and had hurried hither, directed by” ight to enlist — his interest and _ leton was again placed in abe pacee Az - -OUT- DOOR. “SPORTS. that by careful. treatment within a Complete instructions for playing man many ofthe most popwiay ont “his. seieen would be ie oe Bob plac€d in Nick Carter’s curiosity cabinet a few days later two ominous mementoes of his latest case. One was the photograph of the painted arm, found at the scene of the explosion. The other was the little ivory mallet, secured at the Greek doctor’s office. . They were mute but eloquett reminders of one of the most perilous shadaw ‘trails ever followed by a member of Nick Carter’s detective school. [THE END.] The next number of the Nick Carter Weekly will contain ‘*The Unseen Eye; or, The Girl Detective’s Crack Case,’’ by the author of ‘‘Nick Carter.” B OOK FOR EVERYBODY TEN CENTS EACH. - ‘The following list of books will be found useful, entertaining, and rsh of instructive information for all. They-are handsomely bound in attractive covers, printed on good quality paper, illus- feared and are marvels of excellence, These books have never fore been big at such slow figure. The price, 10 cents each neludes pos USEFUL AND INSTRUCTIVE INFORMATION. Album Writer's Assistant. Short Hand for Pyeryhody. Sea Do Pe carpe mateur’s Manual of Phot waa rae etter-Walteee @ Hunter Angler, The beatae © The Complete Kirton: Amatear fre cena ai Oarsmian’s Riding and Driving. s’ Own Book of Boats The Book of Knowledge. The Ta lay Cook Book. ‘owen power Poe’s Foot-Ball, Complete atin Guide Pad Amateur Peg rats Lawn Tennis. Dunn's Fencing Complete Checker Player. _ ar Web of Swimming bacon an “i cuits or agg ro ing and The Young Gymnast. F ae AT : <2 t PORTUNE-TELLING. Napoleon’s Book of Big ad Cupid's Dream Book TRICKS. Herrman’s Black Art. Heller’s Hand Book of Magie. The Way to Do Magic. Herrman’s Tricks with Cards. RECLEATIONS AND READINGS. * Select Recitations and Readings. The Peerless Reciter. a 4 The Standard Reciter, The Young Elocutionist. ‘These books w ill bé sent prepaid upon receipt of 10 ¢ each: When ordering, please be partictlar ee me the full ‘tlle. of or the hookka dexired. Sic your full name and address. The books xre 10 cents each, postage <TRERT & pes 25 Rose Ste. ag York ee Library aes ) pate pte a New ae ot-door games reais: hoo es

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. 32 Nick Carter Weekly Nick Carter Quarterly. | BINDERS. This binder will keep your papers always clean and smooth. No more missing numbers, Handy to refer to and ornamental as well as useful. Sent post-paid to any address on receipt of price, fifty cents, Address, STREET & SMITH, NEW YORK CITY. A NICK CARTER WEEKLY. The earlier issues of Nick Carter Weekly, are now on sale in the form of Quarterlies, each including 13 consecutive issnes of this favorite weekly, together with the 13 original Wluminated iinstra- tions. and an elegant cover in colors. The priceis 50 Cents per volume, for which sum they will be sent by mai! post-paid to any address in the United States. NOW READY. - - No. 1, including Nos. 1 to 13 of Nick Carter Weekly. No. 2, © Nos. 14 to 26 of Nick Carter Weekly. No. 3, « Nos, 27 to 39 of Nick Carter Weekly. If your Newsdealer has not got the Quarterlies, remit direct to the publishers, * STREET & SMITH, 238 William St., N. Y. WRESTLING. History ‘tells us that wrestling was the first fornr of athletjc pastime, Without doubt, it gives strength and firmuess, combined with quickuess and pliability, to the limbs, vigor to the body, coolness and discrimination to the head and elasticity to the tem. per, the whole forming an energetic combination of the greatest wer to be found in man. The book is entitled Prorxssorn MULDOON'S WRESTLING. It is fully illustrated, aud will be sent postpaid On receipt of ten cents, Address SY BERT & SMITH, 25 Rose street, New York. (Mannal Library Department). HOW TO DO BUSINESS. This book Isa guide to suecess in Mfe, embracing Principles of Busivess, Choice of Pursuit, Buying and Selling, General Manage- meut, Mechanical Trades, Mauufacttring, Bookkeeping, Causes of Success and Failnre, Business Maxims and Forms. etc. Italso contains an appeidix of conyplete business forms and a dictionary of conmercial terms. No young man should be without this valuable book. It gives complete Information about trades. a Sago and occupatoin in which any young man is interested. rice ten cents. Address STREET & SMITH, 25 Rose street, New York (Mauual Library Department.) AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 4 Many people biagine tat a photographer's camera is a dificell — rmachive (6 handle, aud that the work isdirty and disagreembie All this isa mistake, Photography is « clean, jigit, and pleasant ae- complishment, within the reach of all. The capiera will prove a triend, reporter, aud helper. With a very inexpeusive canertauy doy or girl caw now learn not only to Lake good pictures, but pictures that there is everywhere a demand for at remmnerative prices, A complete guide to this fascinating art, entitled AMarrun Manuva OF PHOTOGRAIINY will he sant on receipt of ten cents, STREET & SMITH, 25 Rose street, New York, Manual Library Department). SUPERB JUVENILE PUBLICATION ARMY AND NAVY. 48—LARGE MAGAZINE PAGES—48. + seta - Each Number Contains Serial Stories by the Best Writers, Two Com- lete Naval and Military Cadet Stories, Sretches, Special Articles, Departments. A SPECIAL FEATURE. in no other publication. lifurrinated cover—48 niagazine pages—the best sto; | newsdealers. In each number of the Army and Navy will be found two complete novelettes of cadet life at the West Point and Annapolis military and naval academies, written by graduates of the academies. These fascinating stories can be found TM TS.—Evitorial Chat, Athletic Sports, Amateur Journalism, Correspondence, Stamps, atc, rate, AL TE CLES splendidly illustrated, on naval and military subjects, will be found in each nunber, SHORT STORIES.--lilustrated short stories by the best writers are published each week. 4 ries that can be purchased. All for FIVE CENTS. For _ - STREET & SMITH, 238 William Street, New York City.

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Thirty-two Pages. Back Numbers always on hand. HOPE TEETER ER TOE THE EEE 9—Trim in Cape Town; or, The Man with a Strange Limp. ~ 10—Trim in the Diamond Fields of Kimberly. 1i—Trim in the Wilds; or, Hunting a Criminal on the Dark Continent.’ 12—Trim Changes Cars; or, Taking Big Chances for a Quick Capture 13—Trim in the Main Shaft; or, Hunting Criminals a Thousand Feet Under ground. = 14—Trim Shoots the Grain Chute; or A Surprise _ Party on Board the Falcon. 15—Trim’s er. in Detroit; or, A Long Chase Ended in a ri’? ye 8 String of Clews; Al] Tied by the Same not. 17—Trim in Cincinnati; or, Following a Bogus Case. 18—Trim’s Secret Mission; or, A Green Countryman 1st’ Cal Cold Baths or 20—Trm’s Cle after a Murderer; or, Caugliéi in “Sa rnin te Cigar Biores, or, A Lively Wooden 22—Trim in Mexico; or, Breaking up a Secret So- ciety. 23—Trim i the Crescent City; or, A Break in the Levee. 24—Trim’s Run of Luck; or, A Case Concluded 1ead of Time. 25—Trim’s Combination Case; or, Two Clients After the 26—Trim that Turned out Goid. 27—Trim in Kansas City; or, The. Detective’s Ex- periment in Second Sight. 28—Nick Carter at the Track; or, How He Became a Dead Game Sport. 29—Trim in the Dark, or, A Long Road that has no Turning. r. Trapping a Criminal in 4 an. on he Pee or, A Leave of Absence ) eax Carter's Railroad Case. spe $1—Trim’s Electric Machine; or, The Man Who art Had Charge of the ‘Office. see Carter at the Iron Pier; or, The Body Found in the Boat. + 33—Trim Turns Professor and Teaches a Lesson to a Queer Pupil. 34—NickCarter’s Wheel of Fortune. Nick Carter Weekly Price, 5 Cents. eeeeee conten eee eeeeteete STREET % og PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK. Illuminated Cover. Price, post-paid, Five cents each. 35—Trim’s Stock Exchange Case; or, The Man Who — Answered the Advertisement. xs 36-- Nick Carter in a Tight Place; or,a Haul . orth — Making : 37—Nick Carter does his Best; or, a Fortune in — the Ballace. 38—Trim Behind the Footlights; or, the Hold Up Pe at the Casino. " Money Soon Parted. 40—Nick Carter’s Detective School; or, The hoang tt r Reporter's First Case. ie 41—Nick Carter at Headquarters; or, Work on the Inspector’s Scrap Book. - 42—Nick Carter’s Brightest Pupil; or. The Great _ Counterfeiting Case. 43—Nick Carter Arrested by Mistake; bt The Man on the Window Sill. Ae Ue Carter’s Magic Hand; or, The ‘Crime ‘or » The Chifese Highbinders. 45—Nick Carter’s Promise; or, Miilions at < 46—The Goid Wizatd; or, Nick Carter's Clevel Protege a 47—Nick Carter in the Chinese Joint; or, A Bar- gain in Crime. ' 48—Nick Carter’s Newsboy Friend; or, The Gres Sandoval Mystery. 49—Nick Carter’s Hot Pursuit; or, On the Track of an Escaped Convict. 50—Nick Uarter’s Y: ungest Detective; or, Work- ing on His Own Case. 5]—Nick Carter’s Second Edition. ; 52—Working in the Dark; or, A Novice that Lends a Helping Hand. Ps 53—A mg Clue; or, Tne Mystery of the Black , ac 54—A Young Detective’s Air Route; or, The Great Hindoo Mystery. 55—Nick Carter’s Missing Detective; or, A Warn- ing by Telephone. 56—Nick Carter’ s Girl Detective; or, What B of the Crown Jewels. 57—Done With = Click; or, The Mystery of the =. Painted A: 58- -The Unseen Piiye; or, The Girl Detective’s Crack Case. 59—A Message of Fire; or, What was Done Wit A | the —_