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CHOPYRIGHTED IN lass.av BEADI—E & ADAMS. 

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ENTEEED ‘1' THE gosrprmcn Ail'iNEWHXORK. _N.fiY.. VAT SECOND cuss MAIL Runs.

 

 

Vol. XL.

Published Every
Wednesday.

Ten Cents a Copy.
$5.00 a Year.

QBeadZe g?- fldams, @ublishers, NO 

 

98 WILLIAM STREET. N. Y.. September 5, 1888.

 

 

 

 

: 0L1] PALunN’soiusuH GAME.

The Story of a Great Sensation.

BY JACKSON KNOX,
(OLD HAWK,)

AUTHOR or “HAWK HERON,” “NIXEY‘S NIP,"
“THE CIRCUS DETECTIVE.” “TEE HURRI-
CANE DETECTIVE,” “CAPTAIN CLEw,‘7
“THE ROCKET DETECTIVE,” “OLD
GRIP," “ THE SALAMANDER DE-
TECTIVE," ETC., ETC.

CHAPTER I.
AN OPENING GAME.

IT had been a great day on the campus of the
Medical College of Owenshurg, a mountain
county town in the interior of New York State.

A return match game of base-ball between
the college nine and the team of Wingham ton,
a flourishing manufacturing village a nzen
miles away. had just been won by the Owens-
burg young men, Whose triumph was empha-
sized by their having also been the victors in
the previous game of a week before at the rival

suom~sror> MAJE UPPEBMOST. locality.

 

2

Short-Stop Maj e.‘

 

The return game of today had only been won
after a close and brilliant contest, chiefly, it
was freely acknowledged on both sides, through
the extraordinary and versatile playing of the
short stop of the college nine, Major Jack Ful-
conbridge, better known throughout the coun-
try-side by his well-earned sobriquet of Short-
Stop Meiji-‘4.

He was not a student, as were his associates;
he was, on the contrary, even a comparative
stranger in the community, and had merely
joined the team to fill a vacancy, apparently for
his idle amusement a short time before, but was
already the ruling headlight in the rather cir-
cumscribed sporting flrmameut of that section
of country.

There was the usual wrangle about the umpire,
a young farmer of the vicinity, the customary
jubilation on the part of the victors, together
with a corresponding state of depression or ill—
humor among the defeated men, to which their
respective partisans, as is mostly the case, con-
tributed more noise and confusion than the par-
tisans themselves, and there was eVen a fair
pro-meet of the decision ending in a free fight.

“ Let it go!” exclaimed Torn Briggs, catcher
of the defeated Winghamptous, burstin out of
an excited group, mainly composed of his fel-
low discontents. “ You college dudes,” some
what threateningly to a handsome, self-com-
p isrd young man—-Paul‘Eggleston, the pitcher
of the victorious nine, “ may be in high feather
Just now, but,vwhat would. you amount to with-
out your shortstop—a disguised professional
expert, and doubtless a sneaking gambler to boot,
coming among you from no one knows where?”

There was a fierce roar of applause from his
associates and partisans, most of them raw-
boued, tough-built countrymen, with not a few
more than half-parts drunk, and eager for a
chance to make good at fisticuifs what they had
lost at base-ball.

“‘Hectoring won‘t mend your case, Tom," re-
torth the young man addressed. with a quiet,
good-natured air. Short-Stop Ma e is not a
professional, for that matter. e have his
word to that effect, and he is a man of truth
and honor."

Briggs was something of a fighter and a
bully, a young giant of powerful physique, and
generally acknowledged as the champion boxer
and wrestler of the entire county.

“ It ain’t the truth!” he clamored, hotly, at
the same time ecgcsticiilating violently with his
brawny, clinch hands. which were not unlike
hams in size an'i color, with arms to back them.
“ Short-Stu is a professional! His play he-

- trays it, an even Mr. Fullhand, the rich gen-
tleman and sport, who has been one of the spec-
tators to—day, is sure of it.” '

“ I noticed that he was betting on your team,”
was the satirical response.

“What of that? He isn’t the gentleman to
have his judgment biased by the loss of a few
dirty dollars. I stick to it that your short-stop
is an oldvtime professional, an whoever says
the contrary is no stickler for the truth i”

Eggleston’s face poled and hardened.

“ It isn’t fair for you to call my word in ques-
tion here and at present Tom Briggs," he said,
still c ley. “ Y'ou must know I am
power ass to resent it just now, with any show
of decency.” ‘

He had cast his glance suggestively toward a
group of fashionab y-attired spectators, includ-
i several ladies, not a at distance 01!; and
B , understanding he hint, nevertheless
bro 6 into a brutal and contemptuous guflaw,
which was duly echOed by his satellites.

“Haw, haw, hawi” he blurted‘out: “so it’s
sweetheart Nettie Moore.the beauty of the'vil-
lags, and Widow Moore, her mother, whose pres-
ence you refer to, eh? But. are on so sure of

llhand ’pears

 

an innin there, old boy? Mr.
,_ . to be mig ty sweet on the girl, anyway, an' they.
 do s?__» I
“ “ om Briggs, stop! Another hint on that
“  ' 1ine',and it is at your rill"
 . Paul E gleston h grown as paleasdeath,

save for t e ominous gleam in his eyes, and he
was advancing on the sneermg iant when a
firmtouch on the arm restraiue him, auda

quiet voice said:
“ This ought to be my quarrel, if any man’s,
 PauL I chanced to overhear the blackguard’s
i ’ remark, with regard to myself, which seems to
" ‘ » have led to it."

Br; 3 gufl’awed louder than before, and be
snag];ng his big fingers contemptuoqu at the

, s r.
pThe latter was a well-knit.‘medium-sized man
(our old friend, Major Jack Falconbridgc, other
wise Old Falcon, of whilom “ Thnnderbolt De-
tective ” fame, in fact), whose physique appeared
yet lass formidable by reason of his close-fitting
yet easy baseball costume, and whose ' clean—
shaved, close-cropped facial aspect, _ moreover,
suggested a youthfulness far under his real age,
V thou h the piercing eagle gaze wasi undimin-
ished '11 its silent forcefulness and penetration.
“ Haw. haw. haw i" roared Briggs afresh;
“so it’s the little short—stop himself, eh, what
. rtendl to be an amateur with the rest of us,
53; is real! 9. professional and a gambler_on
‘ ,flie‘ sl ? 31 my bantam, I take nothing
3 » back; I say it 'all over again, and—”

 

 
  

A quick slap in the face was the interruption.

Up went the huge hands of the ruflian, like
the spokes of a fly-wheel, and—really lacking
nothing of courage, though such a boaster—he
rushed upon Short-Stop Maje with a hoarse roar,
“Curse o!”

But the latter, though unassuming in fighting
as in intercourse, was a species of greased-lights
ning pugilist, minus the thunder, and in less
than two minutes the bully was a superbly-
thrnshed man, artistically decorated, front, rear,
basement and facade, with plenty to spare for
French roof and skylights.

Not only this, but two of his backers, who
would rushly have interfered in the decorative
work, found themselves tumbled on the turf at
their favorite‘s side, dazedly studying back-of-
the—eves astronomy with swimming faculties
and disturbed equipose.

And, better yet, the whole thing had been
performed with such nicety as scarcely to have
attracted the attention of man of those not
twenty ards distant, including iss Moore and
her mot er. ’

“ Well, I’ll swan!" observed Tom Briggs,
coming to a sittin osture. with a comically
crestfnllen air. “ as them really fists, or
brass knobs on the end'of steam pistons, what
done me upso overlastin’ quick an’ easy? I’ll
swan if I know which!”

‘1Get up, all of you!” ordered Short-Stop,
smiling. “You’re not half-bad fellows, if
you’d only recognize limitations. Get up and
shake yourselves together, and but few of the
crowd on the campus will guess what has mis-
chanced you.”

This advice was speedily followed by the de-
feated trio, though they took care to slink oil”
in the direction of the neighboring brook for
temporar repairs; and the remaining roup
had hard yrecomposed itself when the ndies
alluded to, accompanied by their escorts, came
strolling up.

“ I say, young maul" said the most con-
spicuous of the new-comers, a la e, middle-
aged man, with the unmistakable ew York
City cut; “that was stunning in-and-out play-
ing that you made throughout the match. I
can afford to so so,” with a pleasant laugh,
“ since it lost me fty dollars to my friend here,
Mr. Baldy Bricks, otherwise Curveshot Balder,
the celebrated metropolitan umpire, of whom
doubtless many of you have read or heard.”

The individual referred to grinned. He was
asomewhat dwarfish though powerfully-built
man, with fiery red hair, a broad, cunning
physiognomy, and the general aspect of a. lo
fessioual though gentlemanly city sport. he
comely but somewhat careworn woman at his
side was Mrs. Hannah Moore, at whoss select.
boarding-house the two men had been stopping
a week or more, ostensibly with the possible
view of selecting a stock farm in the vicinity.
The can lady in the elder man’s company
was er aughter, Nettie Mom-e, a. sin larly
beautiful nudgthoughtful—looking youngk y of
nineteen or twenty—a blonde with dar eyes—
who had instantly sought out Paul Eggleston
from among the rest with a glad nod, accom-
panied by something of a blush, which, while
responded to by a knidling glance and answer-
ing flush on Paul’s part, had not escaped the ob-
servation of her companion.

Short-Sm Maje, to whom the more elderly
man’s comp iment had been addressed, bowed
modestly. . V

“You do me esir-cud sir. as the 3a in these
gaffe,” he repli . ‘. raise from r. ontague

ullhandispraise,iudeed.” ,

“ I have a proposition to make to your nine,”
continued Mr. Fullhand, yet more amiabl .

Short-Stop Maje turned deferential y to
Pitcher Eggleston, who stepped forward, as the
chief spokesman of the college young men.

“ What would you pr0pose, Mr. Fullhandl"
naked Paul. -

“ Another match—a .ruhber—on_ the spot;
that is, if you fellows are not too tired for it;
and on condition that my. experienced friend;
Curveshot Bolder, here, shall umpire the game.
If you say yes, I’ll cheerfqu be the patron of
the afl'air, and put up a pump of one hundred
dollars. to go to the winning team, share and
share alike.” '

There was a hurried and excited consultation
among the rival yors, and the proposition
was acceded to wit a jubilant shout.

“We’re your. men. sir!” cried Eggleston,
eagerly; and the preliminaries of the match
were forthwith expedited .

CHAPTER II.

, ON 3511;: owed US.
Tm: ame that o 0W was even more ex-
citing aid close) contested than the regularly-

 

eve'ntrof the day, ‘

It was also gained by the Owensburgers,
>onee more chiefly owing to the exceptionally
clever and brilliant work of Short—Stop Male.
and that in spite of frequent favoritism shown
by the special umpire, Mr. Baldy Bricks, toward
the defeated faction. i _

If the campus was a scene of tumult before, it

 

 

was now scarcely lessflien that of .3 small riot,
though athoroughlyigood-n‘ctursd one at last:

I.

arranged one t at bed preceded it,asthe set.

the Win hamptons accepting their final defeat
with a airly good grace, in which towering
Tom Briggs—doubtless with his lesson in fisti-
cuflfs wholesomer in mind—was not the least
cons )icuous. ,

“ t’a a fair licking you’ve given us three
times handrunning, boys,” be freely acknowl—
edged, while farewell handshakings and some
he nobbings were being exchanged pending the
departure of the visiting contingent for their
homes. “And it’s all the more right for us
chaps to acknowledge it, in view of the repeated
unfairness of that durned red-headed umpire in
our favor."

.“That is so!" coincided several of his asso-
ciates. “ It was an infernal outrage on you
college fellows, and an outsider might almost
have suspected that we were standing in with
Bulderand Mr. Fullhand to beat you out by
fair or foul.”

“No one who knows you all could suspect
that,” assured Pitcher Paul Egglestoh, ri ht
heartily, and with his good-humor thoroug ly.
restored. “ Good-by, Tom, and the rest of youl
Better luck for you next timel”

“You certainly contested the fight like good
ones," cried Catcher Chris. Payne, Eggleston’s
college chum. “ The same old story—which we
are free to acknowledge. What would we have
done, and where would we have been, without
our lightning short-stop here, Major Jack
Falconbridge?"

The individual named made a deprecating
gesture, with his accustomed modesty, and then
step ed forward to participate in the generous
han -shaking and good-byes.

Then there was a parting cheer, followrd by a
three-times-three, and the Winghamptons were
sent on their way in far better spirits than
,might have been expected of them.

“Here, gentlemen l” exclaimed a genial voice
at this juncture, and smiling Mr. Fullband, still
accompanied by the comely widow and her lovely
daughter—While Mr. Balder Bricks rather
scowlingly brought up the rear of the group—
was seen advancing with a bunch of greenhocks
in his list; “ I am again a loser—this time for
fifty apiece to your blacksmith and your hotel-
keeper—by your prowess. But you are a ruck
of capital good fellows. for all, and here are the
stakes I promised to be divided among you.”

Who ,could refuse amends when made with
such genial and generous candor?

Paul Eggleston thanked him heartily as he
accepted the mone'y for his associates and him-
self, while at the same time Nettie Moore, with
an eloquent glance of her deep, beautiful eyes,
yet further delectated him by saying impulswe-
ly, though in a low voice:

“0h, Paul—Mr. Eggleston how glad I am
that your nine won again! I shouldn’t have
slept well to-night if the game had gone against
you. That is—”

She paused, drawing back to her mother’s .

side a parently in some confusion at receiving
8. SM t, perhaps a jealous, but‘at all events an
uneasy, glance from Mr. Fullhand. ’
The latter, however, had overheard Short-
Stop Maje addressed by his full or professional
name a few moments previously, and was per-
haps uneasy, if at all, chiefly on that account,
though he certainly seemed an adept in masking
his emotions at 8.1 times under a smiling and
worldly exterior. .
Nevertheless, while leaving Paul and some of
his'associates to chat g9.ny with Mrs. Moore '
find her daughter, he pu sely avoided Mr.
rick’s attempt at propit tion with studied
coldness, and sought an opportunity to speak

to Short-Stop Maje slight] apart from the rest. - .

“Pardon me, my dear s, r, if I make a. mis-

take.” said Mr. Fullhand, “but im’t it possible

that you and I may have met before under very
diaereut circumstances—say, in the somewhat
distant est?”

The iamond-Field Detective had riveted the
man Just once with his keen, boring glance, but
that was all. ' I

_“ Possibly. sir,” he quietly replied. “ But,”
With a slight elevation of‘the brows, “ it is a.
populous and varied world. in which ppssing
and repassiug faces are speedily forgotten.”

“ True, sir, true. But. I thought I heard you
addressed as Major Jaci. Falconbridge by one
of your young associates here.” i

x“ Not unlikely, sir. It is my name.”

“Otherwise known a Old Falcon, the Thun.
derbolt Detective. besides yet other surnames?”

Short-Stop MaJe laughed light] .

“Orl now, (perhaps, as Shox't-§mp Maje,t.ba
Diamond-Fire] Detective, at your service?” he
supplemented, somewhat ironically. “0r,_how .

» would the Toss-and-Catch Trail-Seeker strike ,

you! But really. Mr. Fullhand. I but seldom
refer to my detective experiences, and our
name—your resent name," withaalightlv sig-

nificant emp ads—“was ‘wholly unfamiliar to" i I

.me before my chancing in these out-of-the-way
rts a feW, weeks ago." ‘
Mr. Fullhaud bowed his excuses, animus ap.
gar?eg altogether relieved‘of’ some mental.
Oll .
“Doubtless 1 was mistaken in in im ‘
sion,” said he, politely; "Ace y 1"”

 

 

 
 

m
congratulations upqn your fine p y  1:
games.” _ y ,  x

n

 

5

 
   
   
    
   
   
   
 

l

 

 

 
 
  

' his money!”

, strumént.”

7‘ what can you, know about this man?”

Short-Stop Maje.

3

 

 

With that, he bowed and turned, onlyto be i
confronted by Mr. Bricks, the whilom special
umpire. who appeared anxious to speak with
him.

“ Not now, at least, sir—not now!” exclaimed ,
Mr. Fullhand, with a pronounced dis leusurel
that attracted general attention. “ our dis— i
gusting one-sidedness as umpire of the game i
was a little more than I can stand, especially 2
when I make the humiliating reflection that it i
was at my request you asmmed the role. I may i
be in a humor to listen to your explanations i
later on, sir, but not at present—not at present,
if you please!”

The fellow turned pale through his freckles,
scowled yet more discontentedly, and turned
abruptly away; While Mr. Fullhand, still to all
appearances quietly indignant. presently ac-
companied the ladies off the grounds.

“Here, Maje, old fellow,” said Paul Eggles-
ton, handing the short—stop a small roll of bills,
5‘ is your share of the cool hundred we scooped
in by that little proposition of Fullhand’s. A
capital gentleman, ehvwith nothing small or
mean in his make—up? Come with me to my
room. You’ll have ample time to get ready for
your hotel supper, and there are several things

want to confer with you upon—private mat-
ters, one might say.” And he grew serious.

“ At your service, of course, ’ replied the de—
tective, following at» his side. “ But wait!” he
had looked over the money given him and still
held it flattened out in his hand, ‘ here are
twelve dollars."

“ Certainly: eleven a-piecc for the rest of the
team,and the remainder, twelve dollais, for
yourself. The deuce! don‘t look so stern, or
shake your head, my friend, as if you didn’t far
more than deserve the odd dollar into your
share. What would our play have amounted
to without your superb personality in the
ame?"

“ That is neither here nor there,” insisted the
detective, handing back one dollar of the
money. “ That will stand us all in for a capital
after-supper cigar apiece, and don’t you
forget to apply it to some such distributive pur-
pose, my young friend, or you and I may have
a falling out.”

Eggleston, who was in very high spirits, only
laughed as he ussentingly pocketed the note:
and then they went chatting across the campus
till they reached his lodgings, which Were but a
short distance from the one humble little
‘ hotel’ of the village, where Falcoubridge made
his quarters. ‘

It should be mentioned, in passing, that the
medical college buildings, handsomely situated
on the outskirts of Oweusburg, were solely de-
voted to the various branches of instruction
supplied; the students, of whom there were
several hundred—for it wasalong-established
institution of high re utation, and with a talent-
ed faculty, though 0 ering its inducements on
such terms as were designed to meet the aspira-
tions of poor or only fairly-to—do young men—
lodging and boarding promiscuously among the
neighboring villagers and farmers.

“But you didn’t offer any comment on my
opening remark of a few moments ago,” ob-
served Eggleston,’ beginning to discard his
sporting uniform as soon as he reached the
privacy of his room, in which his companion
hgd unceremoniously dropped into the best
c air.

“ What remark was that?” queried the other.

“As to Mr. Fullhand being such a capital
good fellow.” . .

“ Ah! Well, Paul, he is unquestionably one of
the most capital and consummate good rascals as
present unhanged.”

CHAPTER III.
FOREBHADOWINGS.

Tar. totally unexpected reply caused Paul
Eggleston to stare.

, ‘What!” he asked; “ you know this Full-
hand, then?” I

“ 0f him—yes; as I know of the dew and his
attendant demons." .

“ Short-Stop, you surprise me.”

“Very likely.” _ _ _

“ Then Mr. Fullhand’s amiability, worldly:
polish, bonhomie—J’

“ A fraud, a mockery and a snare."

“ But with what princely carelessness. he loses

“ When he chooses to, with an object in view,

yes.” . .

“ But his excoriating contempt for Curveshot
Balder’s biased umpil'ing in that last game?”

“ Put on—a clever iece of acting for om' de-
lusionwours esped Y- A case of master and
man, workman and tool, Bricks being the in—

“ For my delusion especially, you say ’1'”

“ Just so.” _

“ But to what possible end?” ' '

“ What! you, the preferred lover of Misa
Nettie Moore, to ask such a question!”

Eggleston’s dark face flushed, and his brow
grew troubled. , _ ' i

u, Mv first suspicions Bfifimst the fellow kindled
afresh l" he muttered, ha to himself. “ Falcon-
bvi'idge.” loud and abruptlyi “ What do you,

 

“ I have already confided to you that I am a
New York detective, I believe.’

“ Yes.” ,

“Well, it is on that man’s account that I am
here among you fellows.”

“ What! even to the extent of joining our
college nine?”

“ As a. matter of course."

“Falconbridge,” and Paul made no attempt
to conceal his anxiety, “ what you tell me doubt-
less nearly concerns Nettie Moore, and conse-
quently myself?”

“ Truly it does.”

“ I beseech you, therefore, to 'be frank and
thorough with me in your charges against this
man.

“ Not now, Paul.” And the detective rose to
go. “ You Will probably confer With Miss Moore
soon?”

“ Yes, this evening.”

“ Good! She will‘ doubtless have unexpected
news for on. I saw it in her face. After that,
if you fee you need me, seek me out.”

“ Be sure of that, Old man. Is that all you
will tell me now?”

“ Yes, my friend.”

“ And all you have to say?"

“ Yes; only”—and Old Falcon paused with
his hand on the door—“one thing has always
struck me as odd."

“ What is that?”

“That you have never taken up your quar-
ters in the Widow Moore’s boarding-house,
where you would have your sweetheart’s safety
more directly under your watch and guard.”

Eggleston laughed. r

“ Do you take me for a Vanderbilt. in lieu of
the poor struggling devil that I urn—an orphaned
farmer-lad, fighting, scrimping and striving for
a doctor’s diploma. on the meager and hard-
earned savings of my youthful toils?” »
, The detective’s iercmg eyes softened.

“ Pardon me, an]! i was not aware that
you were in straightened circumstances.”

. “ Oh, don’t mention it!” with another forced
laugh. “I have enough— 8. few hundreds—to
see me through, I ho e. But the bare idea of
my living at Mrs. oore’s fashionable house,
for the special accommodation of rich country
tourists and idlersl Why,,Chris Payne, once
my chum, Well fixed as he is, sometimes con-
fiesseffihat the high prices there fairly stagger

iml

“ After you see Miss Moore, come and seeme.”
And Short-Stop Majc held out his hand, which
the other heartily clasped as they separated.

“What can be the mystery of that strange,

eagle-eyed man masquerading here in this petty,

sporting part with us young fellows?” thought
Eggleston, as he finished his preparations'for
sup r at the neighboring economical tavern
tab e. “Old Falcon! why, the man must have
left a national reputation to come here among
our simple mountain folk! And how closely he
followed, too, upon the sojourn of Fullhand
and Bricks at Mrs. Moore’s house. Well, we
shall see.”

On his way to Mrs. Moore’s, after supper. he
met his 38. young friend, Christopher. Payne.

“Isay, aull”exclaipied the latter; “there
is a goodidea on foot among some of ,us for the
disposition of our six weeks’ autumn vacation,
which has already begun so suspiciously. Gad!
but wasn’t that iii-playing of Short-Stop a cau-
tion to would-be contestants with us for the
palm of the amateur diamond field?”

“ What is your idea, Chris?"

“ Well, it won’t be anything unless you and
Short-Stop join in it.”

“Of course we’ll do that without knowing
what it is,” Paul laughed. “Have a cigar.
which already belongs to you, by the way."
And Paul briefly related the story of the odd
dollar in the stakes-division, much to his com-
panion’s satisfaction. “Now, to begin with,
who is it that shares this good idea with you?”

“All the fellows of our victorious mine, save
Short-Stop and yourself.”

“ And the proposition?”

“That we go starring through the country,
say as the Oweusburg Striped Stockings, on a
regular base-ball lurk—and Ezrhaps putting a
little money in our pockets, sides reputation
and lots of fun in our heads and bodies.”

“ Oho!” And Paul pausad in thought.

“ A capital cigar, this!” commented Chris,
pumng with slow satisfaction at his weed.

‘ Well, what do you say?”

“ The idea had occurred to me before.”

“ Why the deuce haven’t you ventilated it,
then?” ,

“You ought to guess, Chris,” replied Eggle-
513011. with a suggestion of sadness in his tone.

“But I don’t." ~ ’

“The rest‘of us are fairl well—to-do: I' alone
am poorer than Job's tur ey. Half my little
pile eaten away already, and my diploma still a
year distant.”

“ The deuce! However, you have only your-
self to look after.” _ ,I

“ Do you forget my sister so' soon ?”

Payne flushed, while a melting look came into
the gray eyes, mostly so careless and gay.

“Forget Drusilla Egglestou!”he exclaimed;
“ forget your occasional angel visitor from the
adjoining county, who, for all you may‘swear to

 

the contrary. is as much hundaomcr than even
blonde Nettie Moore herself, as the rich blue-
black star-fretting of the summer midnight ex—
cels the mild luster of the noonday sky! Yes,
when I forget to breathe!”

“ Pshawl But she is coming to—morrow, and
you can tell her that sort of nonsense for her in-
dividual amusement.”

“ I am afraid she would perceive more cheek
than heart in it, and that would never do. But,
is she really coming to-morrow?” eagerly.

“ Yes," with some rescrve. “ Haw about that
touring idea?" -

“ 0h, yesl—our lost sheep. as you might say.
Reuenons a has moutons. ell, your sister is
independent of you in her school-teaching ca-
pacity, to say nothing of her amateur theatrical
talent, with which, as I have frequently insisted,
she might astonish the Thespian in orld."

“ True.” '

“ Then on this tour of ours we could probably
win a lot of stakes. ’

“ Or lose them.”

“Not with Short-Stop as the captain of our
team—or not often, at least—which I was going
to propose, saving your presence. old fellow.”

“That is worth thinking about. And, as for
saving my presence, Falconbridge would be in-
finitely more effective than I, as captain and
coacher.”

“ Good! we are going to interview him on our
project without delay.” ‘

“ But I am not in favor of playing for

“ Neither am I. Here’s what I can do
though. Let me lend you what money you will
want.”
go‘LNo, no; I would pay, my own way, or not,

“ Say yes, then.”

“ I will think it over, and see you later on. In
the menu time, do you fellows talk it over with
Short—Stop.”

“ All right l”

But, as Eggleston turned to continue his way, «
Payne called him back, with a hesitant, reluct-
ant air. I. ‘

“I want to give you a word as to Nettie, old
fellow—something you ought to know.”

“ What is it?" '

“ That swell, Fullhand, is after her for all he
is worth, and I think, with the widow’s fullest
sanction. I fancy that the oung lady herself,
though, both fears and di flies the man. ., Au
revoir ! A word to the wise is sufficient.”

He hurried away before another question
could be asked, leaving Eggleston aprey to fresh
uneasiness and doubt. V

CHAPTER IV.
NErnn moons. ,
PAUL, however, had hardly entered the

 

Mrs. Hannah Moore’s fashionable country
boarding-house, when a well known figure,
whose willow grace and fawn-like rhythm of
movement as his heart to beating tumultuously,
came flitting down the dusky garden-path to
meet him. ‘ '

It was Nettie Moore herself.

“ Oh, Paul—Mr. Eggll’estond’

“ Always Paul, and an] only, to you, let me
hope, Nettie.” ' ‘

“Yes, then: that is, I supposeso. But—, Oh,
dear! Iam too flurried to speak toyou con-
nectedly.” \

He saw that she was, indeed unwontedly ex-
cited. if not actually alarme , 'and forthwith
gently led the way to a rustic bench. in a some—
what retired nook not far away from the

path. . »

“ Now, Nettie,” he said, in the softly resolved
tone that was never without a strong efl'ect up—
on the beautiful young irl. “1 want you to
compose yourself thoroug ly before you attempt
to tell me anything at all. Will you do so?” _

“ I’ll—I’ll try, Paul.” with the dark eyes *
lowered—she was one of those rare blonds beau—
ties with eyes so deeply, darkly violet as to
filter; suggest the impression that they were

no . - \

“ To help you along, then, let me speak first.
I love you, Nettie.” I

“ What a quieting, sedative announcement to’
begin with!” And the downcast eyes looked up
with an arch glance. ' .

“ Perhaps it ought to be by this time,” mur-
mured the dung man, gloomily, “ sinco it’s
hardly the rst or the twentieth time I have

from you,at that." _ v 1

She suddenly drew a little_ away,and then,
looked him bravely, unflinchineg in the face,
notwithstanding that her lip quivered and, the
native nuiness of her beauty was clouded with.
troubl thoughts. '

“ You shall not 'justly accuse me of mperfiv
cialness again. Paul, even by implication, she é ‘
said. “ No.” determinedly, ‘however sordidly ‘ ‘
my mother may remain prejudiced  
your struggling poverty and the rest of it -‘ 7

“ What do you, what can you mean; Nether" ‘1

“ Take your answer at last, Paul ” the . Sweet ; '

again drooping. “It is hardly myfanlt,

 

  
 

e , ' ,
tag: you have had to wait so lqfig for it, and I .
;m m'need of  the support, the. sympathy; «

spacious and handsome grounds surrounding 

made it—«and never yet with a serious response 2 I V

 

 

4

Short-Stop Maje.

 

I can get now.
ston.”

With a low, joyful cry, he caught her to his
heart.

" I must be dreaming—I can’t realize it!” he
faltered, showering his burnin kisses unre-
strained upon the beautiful fa 1' face, whose
crimsoning blushes even the deepening goam-
ing could not hide away. “ You love me, ettie,
me, and will one da be my bride!”

“ Yes, Paul, if ate so wills.” She gently
but firmly disengaged herself from his em race.
“ Assuredly, though, I shall never be any other
man’s—more especially that man’s!” And she
shuddered.

“ What does this all mean, my beloved? You
fill me with agonizing anxiety for 1your safety!
Is it that specious man, Montague ullhand, to
whom you shudderineg allude?”

“ Yes, yes; God help me!”

“ Hal then my secret misdouhts as to the
seeming disinterestedness of his attentions were
not premature. Speak, my darling! By the
way, it was with reference to that man that you
were to give me some sort of glad news?"

“There is yet more now—the reverse of glad,
I am sure.”

“ In Heaven’s name explain, dearest. Let
me not, I beseech you, burst with ignorance, as
Hamlet sa s.”

" Paul, aul! you saw how agitated and
flight I”was at first?”

es

I do love you, Paul Eggle-

“I had just torn myself, furious and indig-
nant from that lished scoundrel‘s insultin
arms, or at least rom his attempted embrace! ’

Eggleston’s breathing grew labored, and there
was something in his stern, set face not particu-
larl good to see. ,

“ isten, and I will try to give you a con-
nected story,” the young lady went on, with
forced composure. “You have perhaps won-
dered why my mother—who is such a shrewd,
penetrating woman, in s ite of her comfort-
oving worldliness—shoul have been so taken
with this Mr. Fullhand almost from the very
first?”

. “Yes, es."

“ You now how we were rich before coming
here—before my poor father sunk his fortune in
a mysterious silver—mine, and then died of heart-
disease (more likely heart-break), without even
telling us the name or particulars of the unfortu-
nate investment?”

“ Yes; from general report, and what I have
occasionally gathered from your mother and
yourself.” .

“ Well, Mr. Fullhand was my father's trusted
friend and partner in the investment.”

“ Ha! he doubtless says so.”

“More than that. Mamma is sure of his
truthfulness, by reason of certain admissions on
his part that could onlg come from one once
deep in my father’s confi enoe.”

“Admissionsl But your father had a half-
brother, one Montgomery Moore, who disap-

, peared with the capital stock of the company?

. . “ Yes: to the fatal ruin of my father, and the
temporary ruin of Mr. Fullhan .”

“ Ah! well?”

“Well, accordinjiot: Mr. Fullhand, the mine
has undergone a in, as theiy; call it, and is
now paying prodigious dividen . Our stock,
as I may say, is now held through fraudulent
transfers, b m Uncle Montgomeriza who is
calmly reap n t e golden harvest of t same.”

“Zoundsl nd does Mr. Fullhan ofler to
authenticate all these astonishin decl ations’”

“Yes, on one condition; wit out which he
‘will remain forever silent. He shows his full
hand at last, as he doubtless considers it, and is
inexorable.”

“ But what is the condition demanded l”

“ That I first become his wife.”

E leston started.

“ e cowardlyvvillain!” he growled, clinch-
ing his strong hand.

“ You may well say that.”

“But you spoke of his offering to embrace
you a ainst your will.”

“ es. I suppose he forgot himself for the
moment, or despaired of mamma ever being
able to induce me to turn other than a deaf ear
to his suit, as she has most likel promised me
over and over again. But he nows what I
think of him now! Thank God! he can be in no
uncertain of my loathing and contempt for
him hence ogh.” i h

Good on gave t to im pretty stron

oh, Nettie?” o g,

“ Yes, I didl Ah!” with another little shiver;
“ that is the worst of it.”

“ What do you allude to?”

“The last look on his face—oh, it was ter-
rible, so resolved, so deadly! And then his
. partiu words!”

; V Pan could scarcely contain his anger. .

“ What were'his words?”

“These: ‘ Proud, foolish beauty. mine you
shall be, and m at that, sooner than you
dream! I swear it!”

“ The n l‘ "

- “Imagine these words hissed into my ear,
with a deadly intensity which I cannot import
to them—and from one who had theretofore

been the very soul of considerate and profound

 

courteousness to me, even when evidently
aware of the distaste with which I had persisted
in meeting my mother’s subtle and varied sug-
gestions 0 his suit.”

“ I can imagine it. The scoundrel! the un-
manly villain!

‘.‘ At first I was almost beside myself with
terror. What it is I know not, but I feel there
is a deadly sort of mesmeric or hyp—hypnotic
(that is the word) power about that man. It
makes me shudder when I think of it; I fear
that, if he should once get me under his unre-
strained influence, he might be able to bend me
to his will and inclinations as a reed in the
breath of the hurricane.”

“ He shall not get you in his power—the
scoundrel l”

“ God forbid that he should l”

After a long pause in which the young man

regdained something of his wonted composure, he
sai :
“ This scoundrelly half-brother of your father,
this whilom absconder, Mr. Montgomery Moore,
now said to be fattening on the profits of your
inheritance, is there no way of gaining access to
him, save through this man’s information or in-
strumentality?”

“ Mamma thinks not. Little good it would
do us if we could, most probably! He was al-
ways inimical to her, personally, and is, more-
over, doubtless so intrenched in the possession
of our fortune as to defy either our threats or
our rayers.”

“ his is somewhat extraordinary. What
was he like, as you remember him i”

“ I never saw him to my knowledge.”

U  '

“ Never. I was a mere child when m father
died, leaving us quite oorly off, thong not so
destitute as later on, w en my mother, through
the assistance of friends, was enabled tostart
the boarding - house here. And my Uncle
Montgomery had never been much of a visitor
at our home. ”

“ But what was his personal appearance. as
your mother recollects him i”

“ Her description of him is hardly satisfac-
tory. She only remembers him as ave hairy-
faced man, with a ltijypocritically insinuating
voice and manner an the character of whose
features was hardly visible by reason of their
exceptional shagginess. have heard her
characterize him as a sort of human Yorkshire
terrier with the manners of a saint and .the
voice of an angel.”

H 1”

“ Dear Paul! let us talk no more at resont of
these distressing things when,” wit a love-
lighted look, “ we have our love for each other
to engross our thoughts.”

The appeal was such as to thrill the voung
man anew with a sense of his delectableness,
and once again they were in one another’s arms;
while the golden moments, counted by sighs
and punctuated by “ kisses sweeter, sweeter
than anything on earth,” silently lapsed away
into the loving bosom of the night.

CHAPTER V.
MB. FULLHAND’S aotn PLAY.

Arum a lingering separation from his dear
love, and straining his eyes in pursuit of her
beautiful figure until its last outlines were lost
in the dimness of the shrubbery-shaded path,
Paul Eggleston had a vaguely sweet impression
of retracing his course with a sort of dreamily'
floating locomotion that can onl be character-
ized by the somewhat hackney expression of
walking on the air.

Indeed, so su mer happy was he in the
consciousness 0 his ove. and the still not
wholly realized blessedness of having it returned
by the adored idol of his dreams, the most per-
fect of her sex, and all that sort of thing, as to
bewholly oblivious of everything else for the
time being.

The insolence of Mr. Fullhand’s’presumptuous-
ness was obliterated from his mind;the fact
of his brethren of the college nine probably in
anxious waiting for his decision as to the pro-
jected sporting tour was a lost and wandering
mote in the ragin glamour of his exaltation;
and even the stub rn truth of his poverty,
and hopelessl low-down positiofi on the ladder
that he mus yet mount toilsomely, rung by
rang, and to no inconsiderable altitude, before
he could think of sanely demandin a life pos-
session of his blonde an 1 at the a tar’s foot,
were happily cold real srns, altogether of a dis-
malness beiond the bright wand-stroke of that
enchanted our.

They all do it, theyall do it! Such is the
divine fool's paradise of love. , Such it has been

 

from the pristine quickening of the human
heart at t a mystic command of beauty or

namelsm charm in woman. or of responsive ate
tributes in man; such itisnow. intensified and
yet refined out of the christening bosom of past
ages; such it will be toall eternity and when
even the great lobe itself shall. in the sublime
nihilism of Bha have faded like the in-
substantial fabric of a vision, leaving not a
wrack behind.

Paul, however, was abruptly recalled to the

 

prosaic matters of everyday life by nearly
running into a man, just outside the grounds

 

l

 

gate, who muttered first an oath, then an apol—
ogy, and seemed somewhat unwilling to be
recognized, thou h without avail.

“Oh, it’s you, r. Bricks?” said Eggleston, a
little curtly. “ Good-evening to you.”

“The same to you, Mr. ggleston,” was the
rather rough response.

“ You are not with your friend, Mr. Full—
hand, this evening?"

“ Fullhand be cursed!” imprecated the other,
with an oath, and such apparent sincerity of
vehemence, that Paul was disposed to think
Short-Stop Maje had been mistaken astothe
continued secret understanding between the two
adventurers. “He’s no friend of mine, young
fellow), and I don"t thank any one for calling him

c .

“ Ohol” And, with a word or two of half—
apology, Eggleston went on his way.

A few minutes later, however, just as he was
turning into the village street on which Old
Falcon 8 hotel lodgings were located, a furiously-
driveu coach whirled by in the direction of the
railroad station, doubtless intent upon the ten
o’clock Eastern Express train, whose approach-
ing signal had been shrilled out on the night air
a moment beforehand, and he was certain that.
Mr. Bricks was seated on the box-seat at the
driver’s side.

“Hallo!” thought Paul; “ I shall have the rig
on Short-Stop's prediction at last. Curveshot
Balder is evidently deserting his quondam
patron in a huff, and no mistake; though how
the deuce he can make use of all those trunks
and portmanteaus piled and stacked behind that
coach is a in story. Well, well: good riddance
for one; an when rogues fall out, good men
may come to their own.‘

And he good-humoredly resumed his way.

Had be but known the truth—had be but.
guessed, had be but suspected it! But it is only
a repetition of Touchstone’s everlasting, inter-
posing If, which is no less a mar-all than a peace—
maker in this jumbling Whirligig of a world.

Arriving at the tavern, Pan found all the re—
maining members of the victorious college nine
having a mildly hilarious jollification in the-
tap-ronm, which they were having all to them-
selves, saving the genial landlord’s presence,
and at Major Falconbridge’s expense.

Eggleston’s entrance was signalized by a wel-
comin hurrah.

“ ell-fetched and well-come!” shouted
Catcher Chris Payne, waving his glass over his
head. “ Here, Paul! only your consent is want-
ing. and the deed is done.”

Under any other circumstances Eggleston’s
flushed and joyous appearance, fresh from the
triumph of his love, would have been remarked
and commented n u, but now it was regarded
as nothing more t an a natural reflection of the
general hilarity. -

“ Hooray!" cried First-Base Tompkins, a,
likely young fellow of twenty-two from the
Niagara county tier, while Fielder Jones. an-,
other crack player and not very brilliant student
clapped him between the shoulder—blades: “ Pan
Eggleswn forever! He’s with us, sure, and.
with Short-Stop as our coach and captain, we’ll

ass through the count districts jus’ like—jns’
ike a dose of salts, by J n ol”

Short-Stop Maje had on y looked up, with his
quiet but genial nod.

Some of the young men still retained their
sporting costumes—looking somewhat the worse
for the night they were making of it—and all,
with the single exception of the last named,
were seeming more or less unduly exhilarated.

“Yes!” cried Paul, stepping smiling]? for-
ward;‘ “ I’m with you boys. ount me n for-
the base-ball tour. What arrangements have
been made?” \

Every one, for answer, turned sort of deferen-
tiallv toward Short-Stop Maje.

“We’re to start day after to marrow, Paul,
unless a first challen 8 should hurrz us up in the
interim,” returned t e latter, wit an easy air
of dele ted authority, as to the manner burp.
“ A dec aration of our intentions will appear in.
the Owensburg Trumpet tomorrow morning,
with a conspicuous display.” a

At the same time the falcon eyes sought out
gggleston’s with a covertly searching and in-,
quiring look, that could not but be understood
as bearing upon the subject of the recent consul-
tation between the two.

Before Paul could re nd to it with a few
whispered words apart, unried steps, evidently
accompanied by rushing skirts, were heard out-
side, instantly followed by a hard knock on the
ta room door.

‘Why, Ellen, you’re whiter than a sheet!”
exclaimed the young man, as Landlord Bill
Barker gave entrance to the new arriva .
“ Wh—what has chanced? Can you have brought
a message from Miss Moore for me?"

\A general silence had fallen upon all, for
Paul’s secret was shared more or less by all his
intimates and the new-comer, who was pale
with excitement and half-breathless, as from
hard runnin , was recognized as the popular
chambermai of Mrs. Moore's establishment,
who was somethin of a trusted confidante in
Nettie Moore’s goofi ces.

“ Wurra. wurral everything of bad luck hu’
catchint

chanced, Masther Paul,” cried Ellen,

,J . '- : 

 

 

 

  

sumsmp Maje.

5

 

 

her breath at every word, and all but wringing

her hands. “ Faix, I may lose me place for

fetchin’ wur-rd av it till yez, but I could na’

help it, wid the toormoil that is in the house he-
ant. Och, wurra, wurra! me swate young lady,
iss Nettie—”

“ Speak!" Paul hoarsely urged, for she had
come to a breathless pause. “ All are my friends
here. What has chanced to your young lady?"

“ Och, wurra, wurra!’

“Out with it, woman! Is Miss Nettie taken
suddenly ill?”

“Worse nor that, sor!"

“Speak, I tell you!"

“ She’s kidnapped, SOP—though belike wid her
own mither’s connivance, for all I know!
Misther Fullhand, wid that red-headed spalpeen
Misther Bricks’s assistance, has kerried her off
'by the railroad beyantl” ’

Eggleston staggered back, and struck his fore-

head with his fist.
_ “ Fool that I was!" he muttered. “ That
heap of luggage with the hackney-coach, and
Bricks himself on the box! Oh, why didn’t I
suspect the truth i”

“ Friends of the Owensburg Base-Ball Nine,”

observed Short-stop Maje, coming briskly for- ‘

ward, when some further particulars of Miss
Moore’s abduction had been evolved, “we
have now additional incentive for our trav-
eling tour—the rescue of the young lady, and
vengeance upon her scoundrelly abductor l”

 

CHAPTER VI.
TEE OATH or run NINE.

THE other members of the college team were
sw1ft to catch fire from the Diamond-Field
Detective’s inspiritin words.

Ten minutes later, lien Doherty, the bearer
of the startling intelligence, havmg been sent
back to her em loyment with becoming thanks,
a douceur an a caution, and it having been
decided that immediate pursuit’of the abductor:
and their victim was not the wisest course, if
not wholly out of the question, the nine perfect-
ed their course of action in a, long, low a art-
ment, adjoining the tap-room of the Blue oar,
as the old-time hostelry was designated, where
yet greater privacy was secured.

The pros and cons of the subject had been
thoroughly weighed, and the decision formally
resolved upon on the line of action suggested by
.Short-Sto Maje, when the latter slowly arose
at the ta is around which they were sitting,
and, laying his hand gently on Paul Eggleston s
shoulder. said, with quiet impressiveness:

“Gentlemen, it is then fully understood, I
presume, that our ball-playing tour is to be con--
ducted mainl with the view of following up the
scoundrelly a ductor of Miss Moore—and that
the sphere of the National Game: is the most
likely one in which to get on the track of a pro-
fessional sport of Mr. Fullhand’s pronounced
proclivities you have my professional experi-
ence—to the end of bringing him and his cen-
federate to justice, and effecting the deliver-
ance of the young lady!”

There was a genera assent, Paul himself, who
was ale butsternly composed, merely nodding
his cad, Without a. sound issuing from his
tightly-compressed lips, thou h, if eyes could
speak, his would have been a guage of cold
steel at that juncture.

The Diamond-Field Detective continued:

“Audit is furthermore agreed, as I under-
stand it, that I am selected as the captain of
this team, with fully conferred, indisputable
and despotic authority as to the government
and direction of our future movements, with
that laudable end in View?”

This likewise was concurred in, without a dis-
senting voice or look.

“ lt is well,” resumed the detective. “ Stand
up, all of you, and clasp hands over the oath I
am about to propose in vindication of the op.
sonal afi‘ront that has been put upon our fear
brother here, Paul Eggleston, in the wrong and
indignity undergone by .his betrothed lady-

ove!

The oath was administered and accepted in
simple but fitting terms.

Old Uncle Billy Barker, the characteristic
honiface of the Blue Boar, who was entering
with refreshments from the tap-room.at the
time, and in whose discretion the most implicit
confidence was placed was so deeply impressed
by the grayity and solemnity of the ceremony—
which, under other circumstances and with
older participants might have angerousl
edged upon the ridiculous—that he aused mi -
Way 1'1 the (3001‘. glasses in hand, mouth open,
bald head thrown back, and Watery eyes fairly
_;poppm out of his head, a rough-framed picture
of awe old age and stupefled unsophistication
likes dazed Silenus at the sum-mom rites of
Iacchus. .

“ Lord save us and bless us!” he muttered:

“efi! it don‘t beat the Pirates of the Proud y

Pennant an’ the Vivid Avengers of the Violet
n, I’ma Dutchman!" And he forthwith
completed his errand upon ti toes, and with a
general] anshedand mystifl expression.
Paul ggleston alone remained standing at
thetuble when the oath of compact had been

 

severally taken by the young men who had thus
constituted themselves the sharers in his misfor-
tune and the sworn avengers of his cause.

“My friends, my brothers-in-arms upon the
diamond field !" he faltered, in a voice which
he vainly strove to render firm, “ I thank you
and I accept your devotion. Words are denie
me to say more at present.”

He sat down with a quivering 1i , but to any
one observant of the fierce yet co dly-resolved
light kindling in his dark eyes it was sufficiently
evident that it would go hard with Montague
Fullhand, should the two men, howsoever, the
existing disparity in years and world] experi-
ence, chance to come together on unyt ing like
equal physical conditions.

“ Speech from our new on tain, Short-Stop
Falconbridge!” cried First- use Tompkins,
lighting a fresh pipe.

“ Hear! hear!” seconded First-Fielder Jones,
whose parents were Welsh, and consequently
Britishers, though the Stars and Stripes had
long been more than good enough for their
sturdy di-scenilnnt.

“ That's talk l" chimed in Catcher Chris Payne;
while yet others hammered on the table with
their glasses, and looked cxpcctuiitly at Old
Falcon.

“ Well, what would you have me say, my
friends?" asked the latter, corn sedly.

“Just about this, Cap,” sai Payne, answer-
ing by tacit agreement for the others. “ We
know of you by your professional reputation,
gent from our personal knowledge of you.

e’re in this thing, oath-bound to the bitter
end. We are therefore unreservedly under your
direction, resolved to follow your guidance
and obey your commands to the letter. At the
same time it is the general impression that you
have all along been trackingjand shadowing this
Montague Fullhand-J’

“ He’ll need to have a full band, and a durnetl
full one at that, to escape our combined pursuit,
we are thinking!” interrupted Tompkins. “ But
excuse me, Chris, and out ahead.”

“ —Tracking and shadowing this duck, Mon-
tague Fullhand on your own account, which
would explain the heretofore mystery of your
quiet and observant sojourn among us Owens-
burgers," Payne concluded his Sentence, look-
ing the detective meanwhile full in the face.
“ Eh?”

Falconbridge simply nodded.

“Well,” continued the young man, “seeing
as we are all free volunteers in this enterprise,
sir, would it be too presumptuous on our part
to request an inkling of what you may already
know about the cuss, as to how, if at all, your

rivate pursuit may aid in our general object
in hand; and all that sort of thing?”

“ In other and fewer words,” interposed the
detective, gravely, “you would know if I can
take you into my private confidence in this mat-
ter, within reasonable bounds?”

“That’s the bull’s—head, captain. You see,
we might pull together all the more effectively,
if a little better informed as to the merits of the
Vivisection generally proposed. See?”

“ Vivisection ain’t bad.” commented Fielder
Jones, with a guifaw. “,But viviskinning may
suit us better, if we can only get our subject on
the dissection table of our mad desires.” ,

“ You request nothing more than is fair,”
replied Short-Stop Maje, turning to Chris
Payne, after a moment’s reflection. “Suppose
you, then, my friend, as seemingly well-primed
with the justifiable curiosity of all our friends
present. proceed with such Pueries as enlight-
ment is most needed upon. regard you as my
brethren in this missmn; and any information
that you ought to know from me shall be cheer-
fully sup lied.”

“Than ' you, Cap!” And Catcher Payne
forthwith seemed to square himself for any
chance balls on the fly, while the others we 9
all attention. “I’ll go right into you bluntly
enough, then.”

“ Go ahead.”

“ You were then secretly on the track of this
Fullhand?”

H Yes-H

f‘ You became a member of our nine chiefly
withYa vi,ew to studying his gambling methods?”

es. '

“ [s the man Fullhand other than he seems?”

“ It is my hope to prove him such.”

“ In what other identity do you hope to estab-
lish him i”

“ It is not relevant for thatto be generally
known. I will answer this much by saying,
however: In the identity 'of one of the most
consummate and dangerous of evil-doers.”

“ Were you taken by surpriso by the an-
nouncement of Miss Moore’s mishap in connec-
tion with this adventurer?”

have been anticipating something of the
sort from the first.”
i “XVhatl And you would suggest no warn—
ng.

" On the contrar , I'have repeatedly warned
Mr. Eggleston to were of the man,‘and bid

. Moore and her daughter mistrust his mo-
tives.”

“ It is true,” said Paul. “ But it was of no
use. Nettie persisted in being unsuspicious al-
most, but not quite, to the last. Her mother,

 

 

simply regarding me as a jealous and intermed-
dlin fool, wouldn’t listen to me at all.”
“ hat shall be your first step in this matter,
apart from our united action?” .
"‘ To have some plain words with Mrs. Moore
at her earliest convenience to—morrow mom-

in ."

E In the mean time, what would you suggest?"

“ That we separate and go to bed, without
further delay.”

There was a general laugh at this reply, which
was acted upon forthwith.

CHAPTER VII.
A WORLDLY wmow.

EARLY on the following morning Old Falcon
otherwise Short-Stop Muje, the Diamond-Field
Detective, Sent the following telegram to a
down-town New York address:

“MILTHOMAS Doom—Report in course of fore-
noon present and recent whereabouts I f Mr. Mont-
gomery Moore, Secretary of the Zorilla Sierra
Madres Silver Mining Company (Limited), together
with other particulars of interest tome, and then
beon the lookout for an order to 30m me at any
moment. J. F."

At breakfast the detective was joined by Paul
Eggleston, who looked as if he had passed a .
miserable night.

“Of course you will accompany me to Mrs.
Moore’s,” said Short-Stop.

Paul looked up in surprise. .

“Nothing wil suit me better, if you advise
it,” he returned. “ I thought you were intend-
ing to interview the widow alone.”

“ It was my first intention, but, on turning it
over, I think it will be better for you to intro-
done me.” .

“Certainly, though little good it will do, I
fancy. Nettie's mother is of the world worldly,
and I haven't a doubt that she was privy to the
abduction.”

“ That remains to be seen, though I shall per-
haps tell the lady a thing or two that will open
her eyes with a snap.” _

“ They’re rather accustomed to snapping, ‘
you'll find,” hopelessly. . ~

“Then they shall water, for a change. Digni- ,
fled unremonstratiVeness on your part is all I
ask of on.” "1

“ I s all do in best to meet your expecta- ,,
tions, Falconbri ge, though I confess that the
sordid disdain and selfishness of the pretty widow ' l
is a t to set in temper on edge.” , -

‘f ve it a to me.” -,

“ Of course. But set my anguish at rest, if 
you can with regard to Nettie.” . ,. :Lv

“ I’ll do that.” , ,

“ Where is she now l—what can this scoundrel .,
havo done with her?” -

“ Doubtless placed her somewhere in enforced '
seclusion. probably somewhere in the vicinity
of New York City, there to remain until she
shall consent to be his wife, unless we rescue -,."
her, in the mean time, which, of course, we shall
do. "

“ But how could her abduction have been ef-
fected, so hard upon my last evening’s interview
with her?” -

“ Perhaps, and most probabl , under the in-
fluence of chloroform. Curves ot Balder was ‘ ,
holding the carriage in readiness when you met .

 

him at the gate.”

“And the pile of baggage accompanying the ' ‘.
abduction?”

“ Part of it Miss Nettie‘s own, depend u n it. '
Her mother will doubtless advance that act as
a proof that her daughter went ofl willingly
enou h—that it was less of a kidna ping than
an e opement. You will see that t e Widow’s
line gt action will bear me out in this assump-
tion.

“ But how about the note of explanation that
Ellen Doherty said Miss Moore left for her
mother’s edification?”

“ And which none of the rest of the household
Would take any stock in?”

it Yes." . \ -

“ Ah! Well, we will simply demand ,the “
production of that note—which, of course, does-
n’t exist.” ' . V V

“ One thing more.” . '3;

“ What is it?” v, .

“Shall you inform Mrs. Moore as to your
fore-suspicions of Fullhaud’s character—as to _ ‘
your own secret shadowings of the man upto
this time?” ,

“ Yes, and by so doing, open your eyes wider ‘. '
than the widow’s."

Eagleston stared.

“ What do you mean?” .

:‘ ¥ou mustigfittfd see.” N m v

‘ sit e a you. imagine e '90::-
pahle of 11mg deceived me?”

The detective gave his short laugh. \

“ Make yourself ens . My revelation shall
have nothing to do w th Miss Moore, though”,
with one perhaps scarcely less dear to you.” -

Paul’s mystification was now com late, but, ;
as he knew from experience that 0 d Falcon “V
was never tobe persuaded against a set purpose,
he held his peace and, a few minutes later, they
set out for Mrs. Moore’s house. . ' ‘

Ellen Doherty passed them as they were being
ushered into the reception-room. after sending
their cards to the mistress of the house. .

 

  
   
 
   
    
     

 

a

 

. my domestic aflairs interfered with.

6

Short-Stop Maje.

 

 

“ Don’t let the pure? witch humbug you,”
she hurriedly whisper . “ She‘ll purtind to be
all bruck up, but her eyes air as dhry as a bone,
an’ it was herself as packed up me poor young
leddy’s things."

Mrs. Hannah Moore was a very handsome,
even distinguished-looking woman, and she was
perfectly aware of it.

.[n receiving her visitors, she honored the de-
tective With a slightly in uisitive stare, recog-
nized his companion Wit 1 a little (lisdainfully
condescending nod, and then, motioning them
to be seated, gracefully subsided into the most
luxurious easy—chair in the room to the most
advantageous revelation of her attractive figure,
which was appearing at its best in tasteful
morning wrapper of garnet-colored satin, with
elaborate pleatings and a lace front.

She was less pronouncedly blonde than her
daughter, and had doubtless at one time been
equally beautiful, but with almost none of the
soft gentleness of demeanor that was one of
Nettie’s chief charms. Mrs. Moore’s eyelids
were reddened, as if she might have been weep
ing, but her manner was thoroughly composed,
not to say somewhat vigilant and distrustful.

Rudely ignoring Eggleston’s presence. she at
once addressed herself exclusively to Falcon-
bridge, notwithstanding that the somewhat
mesmeric power of the latter’s remarkable eyes,
which he had kept fixed steadfastly but respect—
fully'upon her from the very first, seemed to
cause her both surprise and uneasiness, which,
however, she managed to dissemble with the
sang froid of a clever woman.

‘éMr. Falcoubi‘ideLI believe the name was,
sir. ’

“ Yes, ma’m.”

“ If you are looking for accommodations, I
may as well any at [OH outset that, though my
boarders are now few in number, my patronage
is select and my prices high.”

“ I am not looking for accommodations, ma’m;
though,” with a glance of su erlative admir—
ation that comprehended his e agant surround~
ings and the lady herself as their appropriate
center, “surely a prince of the blood, with the
purse of a Fortiinatus at his command, could
not but be charmed with such as might be
ofl'ered him here.” '

The pleased smile of the lady was sufficient
evidence that the compliment had not been
waited.

“You are too good, sir. But. since you are
not looking for board to what, pray, am I in-
debted for the honor of your virit?”

“ Ah, madam I” and the detective counter-
!eited a shyness of manner he was far from

ing; “ the evident refinement of your pres-

tence makes me hesitate to announce it. I find

myself tongue-tied—lost, as it were—now that I
am before you I” ‘

For all her shrewdness, Mrs. Moore was little
less than beaming now.

“ Nay, sir, speak 1” she cooed. “ The honor of
this visit is then prompted—W
«' “By your daughter’s abduction! Madam, I
am a rofessional detective.”

, If hart-Stop Maje was fond of aflording
abrupt surprises, his predilection was gratified
at this moment. ‘

The lady blackened like a thundercloud. The
professional detective was, to her mind, 3m” gen-
eric, a shabby, sneaking, highly objectionable

ouage, about half-hog and half-thief.

“ What 1” she snapped out: “ so on have also

got hold of that absurd fictionll shall dismiss
every servant in my employ if I can trace it
back to them! Perhaps," turning to Eggle—
stun with withering anger “I am partl in-
debted to you, air. for the dissemination o the
rumor? The ideal As if the affair were not
bad enough as it is, without this additional ab-
surdity. There was no abduction. It is simply
and horribly this: My daughter has systemat-
ically deceived me, and has eloped with Mr.
Fullhand. Or you might call it an unnecessary
alopemeut. since my consent would not have
been withheld from the marriage. That is all.
I will not have the matter discussed. least of all
by—by beggarly students and detectives ! ” The
last words with contemptuous emphasis.
, “ Madam,"interposed the detective with grave
mvity, “ you force upon me the suggestion of
aline from the poet Tennyson, England’s Poet
laureate.”

‘flndeed, sir l”

“ Yes, ma’m. It is this one. from his Maud:
‘You wrong your beauty by being so proud.’ "’

Mrs. Moore gorged the compliment, but was
too angry to be appeased by it.

"“Sir, I ma wrong my beauty,” she said,
'loftily, “ but must continue to refuse 'Ihavin

bong
Icanuol: countenance ’his proceeding with re-
gard to my daughteer—who, by the way, is of
"size, and therefore able todecide for beaten——
Mr. Ill-m acne Fullha d is agentleman in whom
I have BVK ry oi-nfllienk.”

_ ‘4 ‘ “ So at one time had your late husband. I be“

Iiove,” returned Old Falcon, changinghis tone.
,'*‘Apart from the men’s violent abduction of.
yourdaughter-J’ .

' PElopement with. my daughter, if you-
.  “Apart from this matter,1haveeveryrea- -

 
 

 

son to believe the man a swindler, a robber, and
—a murderer 2”

Mrs. Moore turned pale.

“ Mr. Fullhand a murderer l” she faltered.

“ I intend to prove him as such.”

“ Whom could he have murdered?"

“ Your husband.”

She looked at him in genuine fright and as.
tonishment. ' ,

" Can you be in your senses, sir?”

“ I trust that I am, ma’m.”

CHAPTER VIII.
SOME SURPRISES.

“ BUT, sir,” continued the widow, regaining
something of her composure, “such a charge—
apart from its being made against a gentleman
of Mr. Fullhand’s standing—is necessarily pre~
posterous." .

“ I ndeed l"

“ Yes, sir.
murdered.
arms.”

My husband could not have been
He died of heart disease in my

“True: but of a shock purposely timed to'

carry him off at a critical crisis of his ailment-—
the intelligence of his half-brother’s treachery,
and the loss of his fortune.”

“ Your charge is far-fetched, sir. Such a
shock, I grant, was the immediate cause of my
husband’s death. But his villainous half-bro—
ther, Mr. Montgomery Moore, was the cause of
it, in his infamous conduct. I did not even
kn0w Mr. Fullhand then as my husband's asso-
ciate—in fact, had never heard of him.”

“ Doubtless not; and yet Fullhand was his
business associate, and it was chiefly through
him-that the fatal sho:-k was conveyed.”

“ I do not believe it, sir.”

“ You will one day.”

“No, no! Why, Mr. Fullhand is at present
the President of the great Zorilla Sierra Madi‘es
Silver Mining Company.”

“ Of which the scoundrel, Montgomery Moore,
is the secretary.”

" So I have been given to understand.”

“ The man who disappeared with your hus-
band’s money, or whose flight caused the loss of
his investment—the mun Who robbed you and
your daughter of your inheritance l”

“ Mr. Fullhand will compel a settlement in
our favor.” .

“ I know he bargained to do so, as the price
of‘ ystiur’daughter’s hand in marriage.”

' ir r

“on, my dear lady, you must accept plain
English from me! Your daughter despised the
man and his offer; therefore you furthered her
abduction at his hands last night.”

Mrs. Moore arose, crimson with anger now;
but the detective went on imperturbably:

“ What I charge can be roved, if necessary.
Mrs. Moore, I hear you ave a letter, left he-
hind by your daughter. informing you that she
had one 03 with this man of her own consent.”

“ t is true.”

“ I def you to roduce the letter!”

Mrs. core bit er lip, and took refuge in her
indi atiou. .

“ do not Sroduce my correspondence at the
dictation of etectivesl”

“ No, nor at the dictation of any one else, not
even of your own conscience, fair madam, when
you don t happen to have any to produce. ’

“ Sir, you are insulting.”

“ By no means; only truthful.”

“I must beg you. I must insist on your ter-
minating this interview!”

“ Not till I have concluded it. The rescue of
your daughter shall be attended to, in spite of
your own sordid disregard for her welfare,
ma‘m. It shall be duly accomplished in the
interest of my excellent young friend. Mr.
Eggleston, here, who is the young lady’s he-
trothed, and whose gentlemanly self-control
and forbearanCe during this conversation I can-
not adequately commend.” .

Mrs. Moore gave a contemptuously derisive
laugh, which caused Paul to compress his lips,
{int scarcely interrupted the detectiveun the

east. .

“My part in the afl’air,” the latter went on,
“ was merely to inform you, ma’m, of the man-
ner of man into whose base hands you have so
ruthlessly played, at the risk of your beautiful
daughter’s reputation and happiness. He is a
consummate Scoundrel. For weeks I have been
tracking him, in my professional capacity, with
a view to bringing home to him one of his lesser
and more recent crimes—a heartless burglary.”

The last charge arrested Mrs. Moore’s atten-
tion. , ‘ .

“ A’ burglary !” she repeated, almost with

amusement, “Come, now; we are getting
along, it seems. Montague Fullhand a
burglar?”

“ I shall prove. him as such, together with his

confederate, Mr. Baldwin Hitchcock, alias Mr.‘

Baldy Bricks, alias Umpire Bolder, or Curve—
shot Raider—you lose your money, and you
take your choice.”

“ Aliases are not in my line, sir." .
“Fuglhand might help you out with ’em,

’m. .
- “ And what is Mr. Monte ue Fullhand, lfresi-
den-t o: the Zorilla Sierra adres Silver Mining
Company, accused of burglarizing, sir?"

i-.

 
  

 

“Burglarizing is good, ma’m; and I am lad
to see ou so interested in a side—issue. e is
strong y suspected of having stolen three thou—
sand dollars, the property of a client of mine.
and rspresenting the hard-earned savings of
years.

- “Ha, ha, ha! And your client’s name, sir?—
‘ Client’ is also good, b the way.”

“Excellent. ma’m. n this instance, it is a.
young lady—Miss Drusilla Eggleston—the older
sister of my young friend here.”

Old Falcon had said that he would open Paul's,
eyes, and there was no doubt that he had done
so. -

The youn
while Mrs.

man uttered a low exclamation,
core was only less astonished than

8. l

“ So!” cried the latter: “Drusilla Eggleston
has engaged you in her case, sir!”

“ Yes, ma’m.”

“And she accused Mr. Fullhand of having
stolen her money?”

“ I have engaged to prove him as the master-
thief, assisted by Bricks, his confederate.”

“Mr. Montague Fullhaan the pilferer of a
schoolmarm’s savings! A man able and accus-
tomed to drawing his check daily for tens of
thousands!”

“Especially when the drafts are on other
people‘s funds! But circumstantial evidence is
strong against him, in Miss Eggleston’s affair, I
assure you. I ,

“Let me review them. Mr. Fullhand was
haunting a base-ball match (his aristocratic
hobby) in the neighborhood of Miss Egglcston’s
residence.

“ Hearing that she had money she was anx~
ions to invest profitably, he madeoccasmn to
call on her at her cottage home, accompanied
by Bricks of the numerous aliases, and present
the prospectus and tables of the Zorilla Com—

any.
p “Miss Eggleston had got together three
thousand dollars, partly through her savings,
partly through a small legacy. Her object had
been to apply the money to 'the medical educa—
tion of her only brother. to whom she had been
both mentor and sister from his early years,
both being orphans. He had,however, rate-
fully declined the generosity in his behal , and
was already pursuing his studies with money
saved from his own industry, unknown to her.

“ Miss Eggleston mentioned these facts to her
distinguished visitors, and was also imprudent
enough to say that she kept her little fortune

under lock and key in her own houss, instead of '

intrusting it to the custody of a bank.

. “ Her visitors, especially the elegant silver
mine president, were very agreeable. Of course,
the amount at her dis a] was a mere bagu—
telle. But he professe to be greatly interested
in the young lady’s history, and even conde-
scended to unfold the advantages of the
Zorilla.

“ Miss Eggleston, though not very world-wise,
is a young woman of sound sense. She listened
calme to everything expatiated on, turned the
matter over in her mind, and decided not to
invest. '

“ Her visitors took their departure. Miss
Eggleston remembered when too late that she
had imprudeutly mentioned 'some particulars as
to the secret whereabouts qf her three thousand
dollars. But, in view of the seemingly high and
important character of her chief visitor. she did
not deem it wise to give herself any special con-
cern on that account. >

“ Nevertheless, President Fullhand hau sunk
his pocket money that very day through laying
wagers on the defeated team. Perhaps it was
inconvenient for him to await fresh remittances
from the Zorilla coffers. At all events, he was
hard up, and the hiding-place of Miss Eggle—
ston‘s money was lino» n to him.

“ That same night her cottage was. broken

into, and the three thousand dollars disappeared. ~'

80 did the elegant Fullhand and his fiery-haired
satellite of the bewildering aliasss.

“Some few traces of the thieves, however.
were not wanting. ' Miss Eggleston brcu ht
them to New York with her, and laid them e-
fore me. with the request that I Would under-

take to recover her money and bring the crimi»

nals to justice. ‘

“ I did so the more readily from the fact of
my having long had my 6 e on Fullhand, in
connection with other an yet graver sus-
picions. ' _

“Thatis all. If you Will listen to me, Mrs.
Moore, you will therefore the- more fully com-
prehend your dapghter’s psi]. The man is an
adventurer from away back, and is—bas haen
for ears, in tact—a married man.”

“ t is false!” almost screamed Mrs. Moore.
“ You slander a worthy and reputable gentle.
man most infamously, sir.”

“I speak but the truth, ira'm. And_the manta
wife is likewise a confederate in all his rescali-

ties—an unscrupulous adventurer, like ‘him~ /

self.”

“ I will not believe it! Quit my house; not).
of you! This Is unbearable. , ‘ r ,
 he been crime? or case

e no orin passage roug on em -
view. aiid now§wo of Mrs. Moore’s lad
era made hold to enter and

 
  

_yh_oard-
occupyone

 

 

 
  

 

 

 

   
 

Short-Stop Maj e.

. '7

 

 

of the .reception-room, which was large and
elegantly appointed.
ne of these was a large, distinguished-look-
ing lady, of middle—age, superbly dressed, and
witha particularly fine head of bright yellow
hair, artistically arranged.
The detective uttered a slight exclamation,
and then politely approached this lady.
“Why, Mrs. Fullhand, can it be you?” he
said, with his best smile. “This is an unexpect<
ed pleasure!”

 

CHAPTER IX.

STILL ANOTHER. UNEXPECTED PLEASURE.

THE boarding house mistress bud started and

aled, with a bewildered expression, while Paul

ggleston’s eyes had opened yet wider, as if
wondering if there would ever be an end to the
surprises put forth by his detective friend.

As for the lady addressed in this startling
fashion by Falcoubridge, she simply stared at
him, with a half-puzzled, half-supercilious look.

“Sir, you mistake,” she replied most icily.
“At all events, the name-by which you pre-
sume to address me is not mine.”

The woman’s companion—a much younger
lady, of evident refinementfl-suddemy excused
herself at this juncture in a. low and surprised
voice, and quitted the room, not, however, with-
out throwing a distrustful glance, first at the
woman addressed and then at Mrs. Moore.

, The detective laughed, and straightway al—
tered his manner to a brisk and business—like
Self-assurance.

“ Old Falcon, the detective, mn’m, is seldom,
if ever, mistaken in a. personality,” he said.
“Least of all should his mystification be at~
tempted by Blonde Florine, the old-time con-
federate and sometime reputed wife of Monty
Fullhand, the adventurer.”

For a flashing instant the woman’s composed
comeliness was disfigured by an expression of
positive fiendishness, but it was gone almost as
electrically as it had appeared.

She looked nmusedly at the detective through
her gold-bowed eye-glasses, and then turned,
with elevated eyebrows and a scarcely perce ti-
blo shrug of her shapely shoulders, to rs.

o e. .

“ell/sally, ma’m, your friend is more eccentric
than politel” she di'awled. “ Whom does he re-
fer to, prov, and why has he taken the liberty

_ to address me P” ’

“I feel humiliated by this creature‘s be-
havior, Mrs. Vavassour,” replied the boarding.
house mistress, indignantly. “He is no friend

of mine, and I had insisted on being relieved of -

his objectionable presence, together with that
of his companion, before you entered the room.”

“ Vavassour is a good name—a decidedly
good name!” observed the detective, with a
parting how that comprehended both ladies,
and was imitated by Paul, who had stepped to
his side. “ Mrs. Moore, my farewell compli-
ments, and I wish you joy of such a distin-
fill-Shed guest as Mrs. Full—I beg her pardon—

adame Vavassnur!"

And he gave the latter a parting glance from
those terrible eyes of his, as be made his ex1t,
accompanied by Eggleston.

“What sort of man are you, anywayrlde-
manded the latter when they were in the open
air.

“A professional detective,” was the smiling
response.

“I am dunifounded."

“ Nevertheless, you have conducted yourself
with admirable discretion, my youn friend. I
shall know how to. trust you in the uture.”

“ Thanks! But, good graciousl”

“An efl'eminate form of profanity, my boy.
Swaar roundly, or not at all. ’

“ But I am utterly surprised, Majel That
Madame Vavassour has been boarding there for
Weeks. and was that high-toned and exclusive
that she wouldn’t even look at Fullhand, for all
of his money and extra style.”

“Blonds Florino is not one mdisregard in-
structions, doubtless thoroughly understood be-
forehand.” !

“But even Nettie had come to be impressed
by the woman.”

“ A part of the plot.”

“ Good Lord! do you suppose it was art of
that plausible villain’s plan to get Nettie in his
power?”

f‘ Yes; but fear not for her. Unless I greatly
mistake her character, the young lady has na-
tive force and wit enough to look out for her-
self until we can eflect her deliverance.”

“ And my own sister!” burst out Paul afresh,
after a wondering pause. “ What! you have
been followmg up that scoundrel all along, in
lite): interest. WithOUt my so much as suspecting

“ It looks a little that way. But didn't I be
you I would open your eyes?” '

“ Well, ou’ve kept your word, with a ven-
geance! 11!: Pl]. call Sills to an account when
next I see her.” ,

“Talk of an angel, and you hear the rustle of
her wi Lo. an appearance !”

And 8 ort-Stop Maia was alread yly lift-
ing his hat, to a handsome and  young

‘ woma just turning an ad oinin street-corner
‘  j E '

escort of Mr. Christop er Payne, who

.i

seemed to be fairly scintillating with hap iness
under the occasional glance of her brig tbut
thoughtful eyes.

Paul gave a delighted exclamation, and dart—
ed forward to greet his sister, who responded to
his brotherly kiss in the prettiest fashion con-
ceivable, after which she shook hands with
Falconbridge with a cordinlity that made Payne
a little jealous.

“I wasn’t aware that you knew Paul’s sis-
ter,” said Chris. as he joined the detective in
walking some little distance behind the brother
and sister.

“ Oh, yes; Miss Eggleston and I are good
friends, Chris.”

“ But on the occasions when she has visited
Eggleston at the college here, you have not ap—
peared as even an acquaintance.”

“ No, not openly.”

And then the detective laughed slyly at the
other’s jealous stare.

“ But be easy, my young friend,” he was gen-
erous enough to continue. “ Even Paul himself
did not suspect my acquaintance with Miss
Eggleston till this morning.”

“ Oh, indeed! What a secret it must have
been i" -

“ Necessarily. The young lady does me the
honor to employ me professionally. You have
doubtless heard of the robbery she once sus
tained. That isthe business.”

“ Ob! Now, Falconbridge, it’s really good of
a man like you making such an explanation to n.
harum-scarum young chap like me.”

“ Don’t mention it, my boy.”

“ You see, I’m on sort of delicate ground,
Short-Stop.”

“ Ah, indeed l”

“ Yes. I am dead, tee-totally and head-over—
cars in love with Drusilla. Eggleston, and yet,
somehow or other, she will never take me seri-
ously.”

“ And yet she seemsa rather seriously-inclined
young lady.” ‘

“ \ ith every one but me, yes. But she just
won’t take anything I say, no matter how ten-
der or suggestive. in sober earnest.”

" That’s bad—for you.”

Chris seemed greatly in want of confidential
sym thy and advisement.

I “ hat fault, now, do you suppose she can
find with me, Mnje?”

“ How should 1 know?”

“ But you are so much my senior. and must
have had no end of experience. Am Ia little
too lively and jovial and careless, think you?”

“ Well, you’re neither an ascetic nor a hypo-
choudriac, that’s certain.”

“Don’t laugh at me, there’s a good fellow,
Maje.”

“ I’m as solemn as an owl.”

“Maybe it’s because I’m rich, or will be when
my father dies. But then, even such a paragon
of beauty, wisdom and all the virtues as Miss
Drusilla is, should hardly find fault with a
fair-tomiddling-appearing chap on that ac-
count, I should say.”

“ Hardly.”

“ Might it be that she’s heard—perhaps from
Paul; some fellows tell their sisters everything,
I am told—that I occasionally get too full of
beer?” .

“ There’s a good deal of charity for the Gam-
brinian indulgence nowaday, among the liber-
ally disposed, and I have never thought Miss
Eggleston particularly strait-laced in her views.”

" 0h, blast it all, Short-Stop! what a wintry

out,”espec1ally when you see how I am suflfer-
ing?

The detective laughed.

“ You are not suffering—you only imagine
you are.”

“ I swear I am. suffering, and with love for
Miss Eggleston as my complaint! There, now!
Can’t you help me out as to the cause of her per-
sistin in treating me as a mere boy."

“ aven’t you just made the explanation—or
a posnble explanation—in your own words?”

" What do you mean?”

“ How old are you. my boy?”

“Well,” with a nervous little laugh, “I am
not etting gray yet.” ‘

“ hat is your age?”

“Not much of any just. yet,” very faintly.
“ That is, I am not quite twenty-one."

“ While Miss Eggleston is doubtless five years
older than her brother, who is twenty-two.”

Chris at once began to rave about the insig-
nificance of a trifling disparity of years in cases
of true love, and continued in the same strain
till Short-Stop sent him across the way on an
errand ofinquiry at the office of the Owensburg
Trumpet, with respect to the published chal-
lenge of the college nine.

Miss Eggleston had turned, and now waited
for the detective to come up.

“Paul has been reading me a lectuie on the
sin of secrecy in business affairs, Mr. Falcon-
bridge.” she said. '

“You seem to have hold your own, though,
IMiss Eggleston.” ‘

f‘I shall call on you this afternoon, if you
Will be disengaged,” continued the youngilady,

 

with much seriOusness. , _
The detective mentioned an. hour that was

counselor you are! Can’t you help a fellow~

‘t
have been such a fool. Slave as he has inadt 
r ’s

 

iatéislfactory, and returned to his room at the
o e . ,

In the middle of the afternoon, somewhat in
advance of the appointed hour, a servant'noti~
fled him that a lady was desirous of speaking;
with him.

Not doubting that it was Miss Eggleston, he
told the servant to show the visitorinto the little
apartment where he was writing, and which
was both his private office and sitting-room.

But the lady who entered a. moment later,
closing the door behind her, besides being closely
vaileu‘, was of a portlier figure than the visitor
he had expected.

“ Ab, it is you?” said the detective, quietly as
she composedly seated herself, and, raising her
vail, betra ed the features of Madame Vavas-
sour. “ ell, I can't say that your visit is
wholly unlocked for, Florine.”

“ I should say not,” responded the lady, with ‘
much decision of manner. “Old Falcon. it is .
indispensable that you and I should come to
some sort of an understanding."

CHAPTER \X. (
TWO WOMEN. \‘

IT was evident that Madame Vavassour, as
she chose to call herself, was laboring under a.
good-deal of suppressed excitement, though she
managed to maintain the statuesque composure
that was in keeping with her attractions, which
were by no means few, though the possessor
was no longer young. .

The detective smiled. -

“ You are perhaps on the right ‘lay’ this m
time, Florine,” be said, coldly. “ When under~ ;
standings are indispensable, they should not be . v
post cued—if not wholly unattainable.”

“ trust that the one I seek Will not be ad»
juged so.”

“What do you want?"

“ An armistice.”

There was an ill-concealed anxiety in her
vozce.

The detective knitted his brows.

r “ What good will it do you?” he said, after a
slight pause. “ There’s no trusting a woven
like you."

“ There is, I swear it, Falcoubridge. You can
trust me now.”

“ How far?”

“ Well, to keep out of mischief.”

He shook his head.

“Don’t be so hard on me!” It looked odd,
,this elegantly dressed, in many respects nobl 5
demeanored woman pleading thus humbly
such an unassuming and, save for his eyes,
rather common-appearing mam, “ You don’t
blame me, I hope, for trying to face it out, this
morning, out of common self-preservation”?

“No, no: immaterial one way or the other;” ~

“Why, then, did you seek to unmask me?"
Her lip quivered.

“ It was necessary, in order to show up Full-
band, though the lesson seemed lost enough on
that ridiculous boarding-house keeper. But
enough of this,” with his characteristic gesture.
“ What are you begging for mercy of me for in
particular just now?” ' V

“I want to remain where I am, respected ‘
and trusted. The air agrees with me."

“I have no doubt you find it preferable to the ‘
last prison-cell you occupied."

The woman hit her lip, and there was a V ‘
ing flash of the terrible ook in her face the has  ' - ’
once been alluded to. , ' "

“ You are inexorable—crush" she said, in a
low voice. “Time was, too, when you were
glad enough to trust me." ,

. ” Granted. You were a capital detective’s
spy once. and might have made your mark, but.
for your takin up with that hound Fullhand, , I '
and then backs ding with a rush.” -

“ Falconbridge, help me back to where I was. .
Monty treats me like a dog, and I want to quit; ,
“than” ‘

“Iswear to you it’s true!
hate him and his service."

“To the extent of working againt him, even: 5
to his ruin, as I direct?” .’

V “Yes.” But this was only answered after a.
pause, which was enough to vitiate it withthe,
de‘tfftive. ’t d m d h h h ' .

t won 0. sai e, again s aking is end. x
“ Out and away you go. Florinel” . " 'h  ' 

“ You won’t trust me?” . ' '

“ About as far as I can swing an elephant by ‘
the tall.” ' ’ ‘

“Prove me!” ’ :

“ Good. then! How was Miss Nettio‘s ab-
duction effected?” ‘ r ‘-

“ I presume by chloroform, though I don
know. I was as much astonished as you on
have been. Monty’s original plan was to woo'
and marry the girl with .my consent. there being»
big money somehow behind it.” .

‘ Then you were not his confidante inrthe trick
of violently carrying her 011'?" . , ‘ " ‘

“Why, of course not!” was the an

 

   
 
   
  
    
    
    
   
  
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
    
  
 
 
   
    
   
      
    
  
   
  
   
  

I have cometoli'll

      
  

            
       
         
      
  

   
   
  

  
   
  
  

       
    

 

     

swer, with
seemingly truthful vehemence, “I would)!"

 
    
 
  

     
 
 

  

me, I would have known that. with the gi
youth and beauty, it would mean the snapping
of the last tie by which I held him.” '

“ Why was abduction resorted to!" , '

   

    
     

   

  
 
 

8

Short-StOp Maj e.

 

 

“ I presume because of Monty’s despairing of

_ obtaining her in any other way.”

“ So he now seeks to compromise her into
marrying her?”

“ It must be that. However, he’ll have his
hands full. Besides detesting him like poison,
the girl has Will, spirit and shrewdness of her
own.

" Where would he hide and imprison her
away?"

“ How should I know? Good God, major! I
wish I did,” and Florine round her teeth.

" Shall you be able to nd out f >r me?”

“ Undoubtedly; sooner or later.”

“ Do so Within a week from today, at fur-
thest. Otherwise I’ll pulverize you to the
earth. If I have your promise to that effect,
you are free to Vavassour it till then."

" You have my promise, and I will keep it.”
She arose. “ Now you see, sir—”

“ Not a word more!” he peremptorin opened
the door for her. “ Quick! I am expecting an-
other visitor—a lady this time.”

Without another Word, she revealed her face,
and swept out of view, trembling with suppress-
ed rage—like an humiliated queen at the com—
mand of a clown.

“ Bah l” muttered the detective, setting aside
the chair in which she had sat, and putting an-
other in its place. “ It is almost a sacrilege to
receive Drusilla in the same room whose atmos-
phere that creature has enjoyed. But I suppose
it can’t be helped.”

A few minutes later, Miss Egglestou appeared.

The detective’s eyes brightened and softened
with his greeting of the new visitor, and he
made her comfortable with a careful and
anxious painstaking of which perhaps be him-
self was unconscious. -

Drusilla was, indeed, a woman of a different
order from that of her predecessor in Short-
Stop’s visiting chair.

In addition to her noble comeliness, quiet
power, force of characterand decision of resolve
were expressed in every lineament and line—an
AQEPICED self-made young lady, independent,
in est, forceful, attractive.

Her dark eyes and bri ht, mobile features
were now illuminated, asi with a fresh-form-
ed purpose.

“ No need to ask, sir, how you are progressing
with my affair,” she began, smiling. “ Pa
has given me all the news.”

" By which you must know that I am not
progressing with your affair.” '

“ can afford to await your own good time,
Mr. Old Falcon.”

“ Kind of you to so so.” ,

“ No, only just. asides. I am rather proud
of my little charge against Fullhand being fate-
fully mixed up with others so much more mo-
mentous.”

“ It is fateful, Miss Eggleston. However, the
zuccess shall be lumped, no less than the accusa-

ions. '

“ I have a proposition to make.”

“ I have read as much in your face and eyes,
if you will excuse my saying so.”

“ Don’t mention it.”

“ What is your proposition, miss?”

“ First, you must know that I have given up
my private schoo .”

“ Ahl to go upon the stage?”

“Yes—ultimately. How bright you are, by
the way!” with a delicious little lau h. “ Per-
sons aren’t often so penetrative—t at is, men
aren’t. I have long studied, theoretically and
amateurly, as you know, and am at last to have
a. chance with a New York manager (think of
that!) in November.”

“ I congratulate you!”

“ You don’t say so very enthusiastically.”

The detective narrowly escaped flushing out-

right.

“ I can’t help a distaste of the thought of your
going on the stage,” he admitted. ‘ 4

Here there was a tattoo of raps on the door,
and Paul Eggleston, without waiting to be bid-
den, thrust his head in to announce that the
College N ine's challenge had been formally ac-
cepted by the Cherry Valley team, at whatever
stakes should be agreed on, for the day after the

morrow.

And with that he hurried away, to whoop up
the news among the rest of the “ boys.”

“ Paul can be enthusiastic, if I can’t,” ob-
served the detective, smilin .

“ Who couldn’t be, over t e National Game?"
cried Drusilla. “ And here is my proposition to
the front at once."

“ But what is it?”

“To accompany the College Nine as a lady
admirer, while waiting for my New York en-
gagement. You never saw a specimen of my
char‘Sctgr-acting, did you?”

i 0

Miss .Eggleston laughed. Then', after a glance
through thehalf-open door of an adjoining small

* dressing-room, she suddenly sprung up and dis-

apgared into it.
bile ShortStop was still wonderin at her
gbject, there came another rap on t e hall-

oor.
"‘ If you blaze, sor,” said a. fresh-looking Irish

servant-girl putting in an appearance “the
“v masther says are yez ingagedi” '

 

CHAPTER XI.
DRUSILLA.

“ I am engaged,” replied the detective, little
pleased at the intrusion.

“ Av you plaze, sor,” continued the girl, “ the
masther wull be sorry to know, for there’s a
brot’h of a Dutch boy as is howlin’ mad to see

ez.

"A Dutch boy!” Short-Stop looked up in
surprise. “ I know nothing of any Dutch boy.
However,” impatiently, " tell Mr. Barker that
I am not to be disturbed on any account at
present."

“ Yes, sor; glory to your Honor!”

“An odd importation, that girl!” reflected
Short-Stop, as the girl disappeared. “ Must
be a brand new operative in the cliamberinuid
line—However, I wonder what Miss Eggleston
can be up to in my little dressing-room yonder!
A pearl of bright women, though! By Jupiter!
if I were but a younger man, or in some other
busigess, or had nest—egged a little more money,
or—

He abruptly interrupted his wandering
thoughts to fix his eyes again, with puzzled
curiouty, on the closed door by which the young
lady had disappeared.

Here there was another summons from the
hall—passage, and then one of the most preposter—
ously fat Dutch boys imaginable, with blubber
cheeks, pop-eyes, and looking the incarnation of
sausage and sourcrout, came blundering into
the room.

“ Ish dis de dedecdive?” he puffed out. “Vere
ish dot dedecdive? Uu tief go owid ava mid
dat silfer watch of mine, unt I vant dot edec-
dive to arrest unt hang der loafer all der dime.”

Short-Stop, inaflt of rage at the intrusion,
sprnu up and caught the lad by the collar.

“ hat do you mean by forcing your Iubber-
ly, greasy carcass upon my privacy in this
way?" he roared. shaking him run hly. “ Didn’t
I send word to Mr. Barker that wouldn’t see
you under any circumstances? Would you miss
take my quarters for a Bremen sausafip shop,
and myself for your grandmother? hat 0
you mean by it, you herring-eating Dutch
blunrl erhead ?”

But at this juncture the frightened intruder
broke away from his grasp, and incontinently
took to flight, while the angry detective slam-
med the door to with a sounding bang.

“ What can Landlord Billy Barker mean b
having me intruded on in this way?” he grow -
ed under his breath, while pacing the floor.
“It is an outrage! And what can Miss Eggles-
ton think of all this rumpus going on in here?
However-J

He again fastened his eyes in uiringly on the
dressing-room door, his mysti cation at the
young lady’s retirement by this time almost
passing bounds.

But ere again there wasa rap, this time a.
get?! gentlemanly rap, for admittance from the

a

Doubting not that it was Uncle Billy come to
apologize, the detective, still in an ill-humor,
strode to the door and o ned it.

But he was confronte by a very dudish little
young gentleman, with sport and gambler writ-
ten all over him.

“ What do you want, sir?” demanded Short-
Stop, angrily.

“ A tip, my deah boy, as to the College Nine,
you know,” was the drawled response.

“ You can’t get it here i”

And the detective was about to shut the door
in the fellow’s face when the new-comer laid his
hand persuasively on his arm.

“ Don’t do anythin rash, you know, my deah
boy,” pleaded the litt e fellow. “ I’m connected
with the St. Louis Flyers, you must know, and
I’m looking around for new available base—ball
stock through the rural districts. The perfor-
mance of you Owensburg chaps has been men‘
tioned highly in my hearing; and, as I hear it
bruited abroad that your nine’s challenge has
began accepted by the Cherry Valley team,
w y— v

“ Inquire of Paul Eggleston. He’s our pitcher,
and is up to snuff. Lives or lodges next door."

A minute or two after the dudish sport had
been disposed of, the door of the dressing-room
opened, and Miss Eggleston reappeared,

“ What a time you have been having in here!”
she said, smiling.

“ I should say so.” ,

“ But. don’t you think. you treated your visi-
tors with unnecessary brus ueness?”

Short-Stop gave a forced augh.

“ Doubtless more unceremoniously than had
you deigned to remain with me,” he replied.
“But, what can you know, let me ask, of my
intruders and my way of treating them?"

A startling transformation came over the
young lady. Even without the air of charac-
teristic costume, her face suddenly t00k on the
exact image and excpression of the fresh colleen
aha had first intru ed upon Short-Stop’s medi-

tions.

“ Arrahl an’ would yez be axin’ such a ques-
tion av meself’l” she exclaimed, with a precise
imitation of brogue, eye-twinkle, shrinking coy-
ness, and all. “ Then it’s no betther than the
Dootch boy himself ye are, an’ so I shall tell the
mastherl” _ V I

 

 

Then there was yet another transformation no
less surprising.

The youn lad ’s face became that of the
Dutch boy himsel , not forgetting the pufl’y full-
ness of the cheeks, the po —eyed gaze, the stu-
pidity of expression, and t e rest.

“ Meester Dedecdive, I have lost my vatch
unt chain. Gome unt hang dot loafer y der
neck vot sdole mine broppurty. Gouie ri ' e oud,
unt I gif you halluf a tollar all do dime.”

Then, with another flashing change, it was—-
so far as the reproduction of voice and facial
lineaments was concerned—it was the dapper
little dude-gambler that stood before the bewild-
ered detective.

“ Come, now, you know, just one tip, old fel«
lab, as to what you ()vrensburg chaps can do on
the diamond, you know!” drawled the last re-
membered voice. “ I really cawn’t take it
second-hand, you know. Just a little tip my
deal] boy, and it may be a mascot in your little
pawcket, you know!"

Then she ended, with a happy laugh at his
amazed appearance, and was instantly her sweet,
attractive self once more.

“ Well, how will I do?” cried Drusilla, gayly.
“ Now that you have had some improvised ex-
amples, how do you think I might succeed at
character-acting?”

“ Wait a minute !” exclaimed Short-Stop. “ I
must realize it all first.”

“ But, there was nothing real about it—all
make-believe.”

“Yes, yes; of course. But "—he suddenly
turned upon her—“ how did you manage it?”

“ W hat! you were really deceived?” x

“ Who wouldn’t have been? Good Lord! it
was simply immense!”

“ Thank youl The explanation is simple.
You must have wondered at m liberty with
your dressing-room here." She b ushed.

“ Liberty! Don’t call it that.”

“ Well, I guessed that a number of make-ups
would be among a detective’s outfit, my investi-
gation justified the assumption, and there is
a door communicatin with the hall-passage
from that room also. here on are l”

“ Bless me! and you fair y hoodwinked me
with my own properties—my sinews of war, so
to speak 1”

“ So it Se/emed. Are you mad?"

“Perfectly ferocious, to say nothing of my
sense of humiliation, which is becomineg abject,
Iassure on!” -

Drusxl a laughed musically—and, considering
her thoughtful, serious twent -31x ears, she

had a. singularly rippling, girlis laug . It was.
3.

like a peal of joy-be

“ Well, you think 1 will do, then?” I

“Most emphatically! The so-called lightning-
change artists would have no show alongside of
you on the stage.” ,

“ But 1 mean as in your own line—something
of a detective’s assistant on a late-balling tour,
such as your nine have projected?”

“ The dickens! how is that?”

“ Well, Mr. Falconbridge—or Short—Stop Maje,
as I suppose I might as well begin addressing
ygnifithat is just my proposmon, in a. nut-
s e .

“ Bless me! I hadn’t thou ht of that.”

(1": But I had, you see. W at do you think of
it

“ Let me consider. You would go right along
with us?”

“ Of course, and under Paul’s immediate
escort; and then assume such various characters
for min ling with the spectators, especially with
the be ting-rings, as should suggest them-

selves.” ”
“ g: lapprove of it?”
ou wou ave ru e associa was an no
“Y h d ' t' , d t

infre uently at that.”

“ . at is my lookout. Do you approve of it?”

“ I—-l hate to think of you undertaking any-
thing—an thing outre.” ‘

“ I shal naturally shirk any suggestion of in-
delicacy. Your opinion, if you please.”

And the pretty foot under the dress-skirt
began tapping the floor a little impatiently.

“ I fear, you would soon sicken of the under-
taking.” _

“ I am in the habit of carrying through what
I attempt.”

“ No need to tell me.that.”

“ Do you approve, or do you not?”

“ I consent, anyway.” ,

Miss Eggleston clapped her hands.

“ Say that you do so unqualifiedly 1” she cried.

“ Yes, then.” '

She sprung to her feet.”

,“ It is settled then 1” she exclaimed 'oyously.
“I am to have my own part in trac u down
our master villain, and in rescuing the elle of
Owensburg.” ,

Here Paul again interrupted them.

 

CHAPTER XII.
0N ran DIAMOND mm.
“ Bio newsl” cried the pitcher of the college
teamt mgkéng his apg‘eiarapcti, heated and out of
brea u oorrespo in a y.
“ Let us have it,” said ghg det’eeitive.
“ By all means!” supplemented Mia

  

 

nu

 
 

 

 

 

Short:$top Maje.

9

 

 

 

 

ston radiantly. “ I’m to be one of you—in my
own way.”

“Good enough!” assented her brother, who
had already reluctantly given in his adhesion to
her project. “ Well, the representative of the
Cherry Valleys is already here, impatient to
confer with you, Short—Stop, as our captain.”

"I am ready for him,” was Short—Stop‘s re—
ply, and Miss Eggleston rose to go.

P"There’s better news than that,” interposed
aul.

“ What is it?” demanded Drusilla, with mock
impatience. “Don’t- you see I am pressed for
time. in order to make ready for the ‘ tower? ”

“There’sto be a lot of bettin men present
from an adjoining county fair, r. Fullhand
among them.”

The young lady’s face lighted up, and then
became as set an stern as its prettiness would
admit of.

“ So; nothing could be better,” she said,”
compressing her rosy lips. “Fate yields our
prey to our hands at the cutest of our career.
Mos camarades au champ diamant, au revoir,"
anl with a parting laugh. she hustled away.

S “Where is Cherry Valley?" asked Short-

to .
“livifty miles due east by railroad,” was Eg-
gleston’s reply.

“That much nearer New York City! So
much the better.”

“There is a. sort of preparatory academy
there, it seems, and it is a team from among its
students that challenges ours.”

“ Good! Do they want the match to be for
money ?”

“ For a purse, or our traveling expenses, as
you shall prefer.”

“Let it be solely for the latter, then. We are
not gamblers, and shall not begin by posing as
such., Where is the Cherry Valleys’ representa-
tive?‘

“ Chris Payne was to bring him here in half‘
an hour. I hear them coming upstairs now.”

A moment later the representative of the
rival team was introduced to Short-Stop Maje,
and the result was that the match game was
furthmth arranged to take place at Cherry
Valley on the next afternoon following.

When that time arrived the Owensburgers
were duly on hand, having made the trip by a
mid-morning train, and completed their personal
preparations for an extensive tour.

A hitch was threatened at. the outset in the
choice of an umpire, the Cherry Valleys—hav-
ing, doubtless been manipulated beforehand-
backed by a gang of country sports from the
neighboring fair-grounds, at once utting forth
Mr, Bricks, alias Curveshot Ba] er, et al., as
their choice for an impartial man, with a good
deal of inelstence, and his appointment being no
less vigorously opposed by the Owensburgers.

It was a sort of country-side gala day, the
grounds were crowded with spectators, more or
less interested, and the dispute speedily waxed
warm.

“What’s your objection to Bricksy, any
way?” at last roared out the captain of the
Cherry Valleys, a powferfully-built, hot-headed

oung fellow, known as Wrestling Pete, from
is unrivaled success in the palestrian conte8ts
of the academy and the country round about.
“ He’s famous all over the country as a base-
ba‘l‘lfirlnp‘ire.”
ats our objection exactl ” returned
_Short-Stop, who was naturally leayding his side
in the controversy, though in his ordinarily
modest, unassuming way. “ He‘s a. little too
fa‘rptéustfor 1psi,” l b
u w a 5 your Special 0 ection oun
teller?” . j ' y g

“ I sha’u’t go into particulars. We have rea-
son to mistrust him, that’s all.”

" But that ain’t enou h.” 4

.“ I think it is. We’l willingly accept as um«
pire any good, honest man from among your
ownbtovgnsmen who understands the game thor-
ou'z y.

Bricks, who had been drinking enough to be

both ugly and reckless, and was, moreover, con- '

scious of almost unanimous support from the
rough sporting element present, to sa nothing
of the academicians themselves, here urst out
angrily from a half-ruflianly coterie of which
hcfecrned to be a leading spirit.

T’hat’s as good as suyin’ I’m not an honest
mi‘i‘n! he shouted. “Eh? Is that it?” ‘ -

Take it as you please, youncr man, but be
careful to thunder mildly in a clear sky ” was
Short-Stop’s qliliiet response. “ Electricity is
sometimes catc ing.”

Unfortunately for him, Bricks had not wit-
nessed the detective’s summary dis 1 of Tom
Briggs’s pugilistic aspirations on the former ocv~
memo, and his fellow gamblers, moreover, new

'y b an to guy him a bit.

as word led to another until finally some
“’3 ifiifflfiifihfifi’ié’i’ is???“ to prance
weresightseeing... m. ..
liiiilserhsegdfcgigignhis great red-end-
freckled fists doubled, and fairly gnashing‘ his

teeth, he suddenly-rushed upon the Diamond-

.Eield-Detective like a mad bull. I,

   

- down, and then, alighting

 

The attack was wholly a surprise for Short-

Stop, ,who had not dreamed of anticipating it.

Carried off his feet by the ruflian’s initial on-
set, he was tossed into the air and to one side,
like a straw in a hurricane, though alighting on
his feet with the agility of a cat.

Emboldened to frenzy by his apparently easy
success, Bricks charged again, this time with u.
bellowing, chaw-‘em-all-up sort of a roar.

Thirty seconds thereafter he was lying on the
ground, bleeding at the nose, half his false teeth
in his throat, badly bunged up, and a thor-
oughly whipped man generally.

ghort—Stop hadn’t even rolled up his sleeves

to accomplish the bully's defeat, which had gone
on with the ease and efficacy of greased light-
ning. .
“ I really hope we’ll now be able to settle on
some decent man for an umpire,” he quietly re—
marked, while the fallen rulfian was being as-
sisted to a. neighboring pump by some of his palS.
“Fighting isn‘t baseball, and is, moreover, dis-
tasteful to my feelings.”

At the same time he signed to a slender young
gentleman, with what might be called a Na-
tional Game mustache (nine on a side), and the
latter strolled olf after Bolder and his coterie.

"That’s all right!” cried \Vrestling Pete, of
the Cherry Valleys, with a rasping laugh;

“especially when you’re a fisticuff sharp, and:

have it all your own way.”

“ I don‘t exactly take you, my friend,” con-
tinued Short-Stop, even more unassumingly
than before.

“I mean to say that some folks’s science is
altogether with their fists.” And the muscular
Cherry Valleyan looked with a sneer at the
detelgtive’s comparatively insignificant imme-
wor . .

“Oh! and in what direction may your own
science lic, my friend?”

Wrestling Pete planted his feet firmly, stand-
ing up supply and yet flrmly from the ground
like a man ‘of steel, and spat on his brawny
hands suggestively.

“ l’m a wrestler!” he announced, with a
broad grin.

“ Toss him over your shoulder, Pete!”

“ Crack his ribs!"

“ Give him a grand and lofty!"

“You kin do it, Pete, if any man in York
State kin l”

These were specimens of the encouraging
shouts from amon the wrestling Champion’s
associates and their ackers. .

Short-Stop’s little party were, on the con-
trary, correspondingly depressed, since it was
generally feared that the leader’s palestrian
skill might be but little the adjunct .of his
pugilistic prowess, though his behavior should
have reassured them on the spot.

“Oh!” he responded, with his quiet, good-
natured little laugh; “ as it is still in the shank
of the afternoon, 1 don’t mind trying a friendly
fall or two with you, my friend.’

Wrestling Pete’s grin gave place to an alert,.

business-like ex ression, very much as a born
war-horse migh exchange his placid pasture
demeanor for the fiery watchful, eager and
proud air when clothing his neck with thunder
and snuflingl the battle from afar ofl’. '
Off went is striped sporting cap. and then he
was crouched in the half-equality, frog-like fash-
ion, head forward, hands on‘ knees. after the
approved formula of the wrestling rin .
Short-Stop, however, seemed to me e no pre—
liminariyegreparation whatever, but merely
mainta u an erect, rather awkward attitude,
a feeble up ntly half-scared smile on his
lips, his hands ban mg listlessly at his sides.
“What shall it e’l” shouted Wrestling Pete.
“ Catch-amtch-can?” .
“ Oh, yes!" was the hesitating reply; “ almost
anythin v33“ suit me, I suppose." - I ‘
H

“Ready,”
‘0 Now?”
‘6  I”

i The champion bounded forward, seized his
smaller antagonist with the rapidity of a blue
streak, and, whirling him u in the air, seem-
ineg as unresistingly as a. do , hurled him back
out and downward with ‘the force _of aqundv
ru led steam-power thrashing~machme.

0 every one’s astonishment, however, the
detective floated away as if made of thistle-
upon one too, spun
around like a top, after which he calmly aWaited
the champion‘s next effort. _

Again and again were Similar essays made,
but with no better success. I .

Then there was a sudden and twmkling
writhing together of the wrestling forms, end-

ing in quite a genuine surprise to all parties con- .

corned, solely excepting, perhaps, Short-Stop
himself.

The chain ion of Cherry ,Valley had been
stood on his cad. ‘

CHAPTER XIII.
- * 'm xuxmes:

Wansmno Pars: slowl arose from the re-
cumbent posture he. bad :1 so unexpectedly
forced to assume, looking rather ruefully, and
picked the sand and grasss out of his ears in a
somewhat crestfallen way. ,

“ That was all an accident,” said he at last.
“ It mightn’t occur again in a thousand years.”

“ Likely enough,” admitted Short-Stop, al-
most apologetica ly.v “ Shall we try another?”

But another, and yet another, fall was tried,
and with no better result for the Cherry Valley
champion.

He was not a bad fellow, and at last freely ad-
mitted himself worsted; a satisfactory umpire
was chosen, and the match-game proceeded
without further difficulty.

It is not the purpose to give anything like a
detailed account of the ba ~playing incidental
to this work.

The game under consideration was at a very
critical stage, with honors about even, when a
great riot suddenly urosa among the rougher
elements of the spectators, and it at length be‘
came apparent that a project was on loot to
break up the game, or have it decided against
the visiting team.

Short-Stop was at the but at the time. ‘

He had just sent a sky-scraper when a brick
gevg at his head, and then the riot was at its

ig 1;.

He, however, kept his men solidly at their
work, in spite of the personal danger to all;
the Cherry Valleys were no loss firm in their
discipline, and the-decisive innings terminated
at last with a hard-earned victory for the Owensv r
burgers.

“ Follow me!” shouted Shortfitop, as soon as
the .decision was announced. “These rufiians
are looking for fight—we’ll let them have it!”

With that he led his nine, followed by several
lovers of fair play from among the defeated
team, strai ht into the heart of the disturbance
and instan y the free fight became a general

one.

“Good Lord!” exclaimed Paul Eagleston at
Short-Stop‘s ear; “ where can Drusilla. be?”

At this very instant they both espicd her-
she was in-the character of the slender young
gentleman, with the base-ball mustache, already
referred to-_—in the midst of a roaring, pushing,
jostling, turbulent group, composed of Curvev
shot Bolder and his immediate ilk, but having
for its leading spirit a. colossus of a bowling,
blaspheming scoundrel, with fists like trip-ham-
mers and a giggeral formidableness of aspect
suggestive of out do Boeuf in the Ivanhoe

is end.

g.l‘he disgluised young lady was, however, para
fectly coo and even laughing, though some-
what pale, and was apparently endeavoring to
protect or intercede or the protection of a
patriarchal-looking man, in blue-goggle specta-
 who seemed in danger of being badly hus-

e . ' _

“ This is our chance!” growled Short-Stop. in
res use. “Where our lightning-change artist
is, llhand cannot be far away, if on the
grounds at all.”

With that, closely followed by Paul Eggleston
and Chris Payne—the latter bein also intho
secret of Drusilla’s identity—he ed a wedge-'
like rush into the bosom of the particulariud
group, his fists striking right and left after
the manner of a two-edged sword.

“ Holy Smoke! it’s Old Falcon himself!”

The words were those of the bin homing
colossus, whom at the same instantt edeter ,
tive recognized as a. danglerous tough and gang-
leads; from one of the ower New York City
war

The exclamation was accompanied by ator- A
rent of invective. together with a tremendous
enlighten-ash on the part of the colossus him- ~
Se , I . V

For an instant the disguised girl, pallid, but.
collected, was in his path, and his ponderous
fist was already poised to strike her down. . .

But the intended blow never reached its dell-
cste mark. With a lon . quick bound,nnd a
half-articulate, teeth-grit ing sort of snarl that
was terrible to hear, the Diamond-Field Detect
tive was far in advance of his fellows—had torn
the girl aside from the rufiian’s phth—and than
the coward blow smote the unresisting air
while his own shoulder-him stinks hit on ‘
striiiight into the jugular, onus ng the villain to
ree . . ,
Paul had caught Drusilla in his arms, while
Chris Payne was fighting bravely in front of
her, but, for an instant it seemed all up with.
Short-Stop. r

“Never mind mel” gasped the pretended
youn entleman. “Keep the spectecled old
fellow in view. It is of more importance than
you can imagine, and Shortfitop can care for ,

imself against any and all odds. ’ : __ =
She had not» overrated the latter‘s fighting =
capacities.

the staggering facet, had suddenl closed in _
upon him like the toppling waterow ever she a,
van or Pharaoh’s pursuing host in the Red Sea
path of the Exodus. . i ‘
Fists and clubs seemed to fall upon and around
him, like a murdeitus rain, while shoots and ,
“ii” iii)“ ths'lumrrtlsm M je—Old r icon 
ut - was 0 a a ,. ~ ,-
indomitable—who was iii the thick of n, and no
ordinary bruiser or athlete. . *

 

  
 

He seemed to hold his peril of no more-aw
7 count than did Cceur do Lion under the bustling

1,  .-,...( ’s,

 

The mob, directly after» his dealing the riaiit , V

 

  
    
 

  

10

Short-Stop Maj e.

 

Walls of Front de Boeuf’s Castle, with Rebecca
describing the scene to the wounded knight in
the upper chamber, from whose casement she
lwas witnessing the prowess of England’s pilgrim
'iug.

The human waves seemed to beat against the
Diamond-Field Detective, as againsta rock of
adamant, and then roll back, split, broken and

' dissiIEat-ed.

“ eep at him!” roared the colossus, quickly
recovering from his repulse. “ Only keep him
busy till I can finish him! I tell you, it is Old
Falcon himself I"

“ Ay, Jake Jeliflel” came in sharp, hissing
response from the invincible detective’s com-
pressed lips; “ Old Falcon it is, and upon his

' winning game!”

Jelifle had suddenly hurled himself upon his
wiry antagonist. both brawny fists shooting out
simultaneously for the mark.

One of the blows expended itself on the conch
of a gambler, knocking him endwise. The other
flew over the detective‘s head, cleverly “ duck-
ed ” to evade it.

Then zip: bang! flew out the piston—rod
unches of the doublehanded work from Short-
top’s shoulders, and Mr. Jelifie was senseless

under foot, With a dislocated jaw, both eyes in
mourning, and the “Sweet By and By ” of
dizzy reflections in humming ears.

By this time the remaining members of the
college team had rallied to their leader’s back,
and the contest with the sporting crowd was of
a more even character. ‘

Drusilla. had been protected from injury, but,
as yet, had been unable or unwilling to discom—
mode herself of her perilous surroundings.

She now took advantage of the momentary
lull in the fight to spring forward from between
her brother and Chris Payne, to the Diamond-
Field Detective’s side. ;

“ Mark the spectacled old fellow now trying
to skulk away,” she whispered in his ear. “
am almost sure it is Fullhand in disguise.”

The defective was quite sure of it as soon as
his eagle eye comprehended the personage indi-
cated, who was now shoulderlng his way out of
the press, attended by Curveshot Balder and
two ruflianly-looking men, all of whom seemed
to have an anxious regard for his safety.

“ Collegians to the front!" shouted Short-
Stop, with the voice of a. trumpet. " Yonder’s
our master-game 1"

He accompanied the words with an indicatory
gesture, and then sprung like a meteor in pur-
suit.

But the entire gambling contingent were now
in rout, streaming in between him and the
smaller retreating group.

The latter were speedily lost si ht of, and five
minutes later, the whistle of a sporting train
was heard, by which it became pretty evident
that Fullband had effected his evanishment in
security.

The game Was decided. the riot was at an end,
and new, with the best of restored good feelings,
the defeated academicians were only anxious to
be hospitable to the victors.

" You are the boss amateurs of York State
counties, sure," exclaimed Wrestling Pete, as
the mouthpiece of his party. “At playing or
fighting, 1you boys biwen’t your equals, there’s
no mists e about it. We’ve got the moan?
ready for your traveling expenses, as agr ' ;
and now nothing will content as but you be’our
guests at a little spread we have got up for
you. ,

There was no discounting this sort of talk
and spirit, and the festivities were acee ted in

V the kindliness in which they were offer
I Toward the close of the supper that wound
:7 up the stair in the Academy dining-hall, a pre-
f» possessing gentleman of singularly courtly bear-
' ing and agreeable address, who seemed to be an
outsider guest, so to speak, approached Short—
.,’_ Stop, where the latter was chatting a.ny with
' Miss Eggleeton, who was present in her charm-
, ing, true character, with but few the wiser for
n her havmg assumed any ofhor.

 CHAPTER XIV.

I -' mun. rm: BATTLE.

"w Tar. stranger introduced himself as Mr. Bar-
fleld—Mr. Gideon Barfleld—said a few words as
to the cauSes of his having witnessed the game,
congratulated Short—Ste on the fine laying of
V his team, was introduc to Miss eaten and
others, and was presently in agreea 1e talk.

“It is rather unusual to see a lady witha
' team,” observed Mr. Barfleld to Drusilla, after
some general remarks. “ But I am sure it is a
praiseworthy innovation, that might be gen-
erally practiced with advantage.”

Miss Eggleston laughed, and explained her
presence with the traveling team as her brother’s
' special companion; and then enga in talk

Ruth some ladies to whom she had intro-

, . But the suave Mr. Barfield, even while chat-
ting with Short-Stop and others, followed the
young lady so persistently with his respectfully
admng eyes, that Chris Payne’s secret ‘eal-
ousy was not long in being kindled, thong he
mangled to keep it to himself. _ '

it soon became general] known that Mr.

Barfleld was a gentleman o wealth and leisure,

 

 

 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  

 

with an amateurish passion for the national
game, though nothing of a bettor, and he be-
came generally liked.

“I have a country place at Hudson City,
where they have an excellent local team," was a
bit of information that he at last volunteered.
“I shouldn’t wonder if you could be accommo-
dated witn a match there, if agreeable.”

“ That is the sport we are looking for,” re-
turned Short—Stop, and he handed him a copy
of the standing challenge in the Trumpet.

Mr. Barfield looked over the article, and at
last engaged the team outright to accompany
him to Hudson City on the following day.

“ I am quite sure I can arrange a match for
you on favorable terms,” said he. “ And I
wish you would consent to be my guests while
there—to remain till you are tired of the place,
for that matter.”

“The offer was made in such a cordial and
unassuming manner that it was accepted on the
spot; and then Mr. Barficld found occasion once
more to converse with Miss Eggleston.

“ You are doubtless also an enthusiast in base-
ball?" he asked.

' “ Not particularly so,” she replied. “ But I
shall surely enjo the tour with my brother and
his associates, a of whom are personal friends
of mine.”

“ Ahi very pleasant undoubtedly. You wit—
nessed the fine playing of to-day.”

“ Yes.”

“But I did not notice you among the other
lady spectators.”

“ There were so many of them, though—that
is, till the disgraceful rioting drove them from
the grounds.”

“ True. By the way, Miss Eggleston, the riot.
ing itself was rather unique.”

“ In what way."

“Well, I remarked amon the participants a
certain slender young gent einan with a. light
mustache—in fact, a very light mustache—who
seemed to make the affair rather unique, at
least to 'me. Perhaps you also noticed him.”

This was accompanied by a glance, in which
there was the ghost of n» amused smile that
caused Drusilla to more than fear that the secret
of her disguise had been penetrated.

However, she had taken a liking to the gentle-
man, which this alarm did not greatly modify,
and, though coloring vividly at the thought,
she managed to evade the subject under dis-
cussion.

“ You doubtless heard to offer to your
friends, Miss Eggleston, and its acceptance by
them,” said he, when wishing her good-evening.
“I do trust that you will consider yourself as
one of the team,” with a. smile, " and therefore
as being included—nay, specially included—in
my invitation. My daughter, who keeps house
for me, will be' happy to know, and perhaps—

love you.”

i“llshall be pleased to come, sir,” she replied
sm y.

SE9 afterward remembered, however, a

strangely soft light in Mr. Barfield’s dark eyes
while he was saying the words, “ and perhaps—
love you," after a slight pause in his parting
sentence: and she, moreover, could not help
wondering that so young, yet grave-appearing
a gentleman should avo a young lady daughter,
as she doubted not the latter must be in point of
age from his manner of referring to her.

An hour or two later, after Drusilla had
sou ht her room at the hotel, Mr. Barfleld was
un er discussion by such of the collegian nine
as were et chatting together over their cigars
in Short— top’s apartment.

“ Floyd, of the Cherry Valleys, says Mr. Bar-
fleld is 9. ca ital gentleman—no end of money,
free-hand , and with base-ball connoisseuring
as his only dissiiation,” volunteered Paul Eg-
glesfnn on the mi ject.

“ Wrestling Peters says the same of him,”
chimed in another. “ And how different Mr.
Barfleld’s connoisseuring from the gambling in-
fatuation of that hound Fullhandl”

“ I should sa sol” cried another. “ It’s in-
sulting to ment on the two names in one breath.”

“Oh, maybe not so bad as that!” ut in Chris
Payne, a. little peevishly. “ Mr. Ba eld, though
so elegant and quiet and friendly. and all that,
has get to be tested under the rind, like all other
men.

“ Oh, give us a rest. Chris!” cried First—Base
Tompkins, maliciously. “ Can’t a bang-up
stranger look admirineg at Miss Eggleston,
Pvithggut your greeneyed monster rustling to the

ore.

Young Payne’s enthusiastic though not very
promising passion for Drusilla was a standing
mild joke among his associates.

Even Short—Stop joined in the laugh at the
catcher’s expense, though he had himself marked
Mr. Barfleld s susceptibleness to the young lady's
attractions, and not without certain saddening,
if not altogether jealous, reflections of his own.

For, if the truth must be told, the detective
was somewhat smitten with those charms in the
secret depths of his own consciousness, though

withtbesecret reeol eof letting them remain care]

there undisturbed to he end.-

“I don’t care,” said Chris, good-naturedly.
“ If Miss Eggleston must, of necessity, fascinate
every new-cameraman hereonquering path, she
"  :'~ -. " l‘.

.i,

 

" is no more amiable with one than with another,

and I notice to-night that she didn’t care at all
for Mr. Bax-field’s attentions.”

“Of course, she didn’t and wouldn’t!” inter-
fiosed Paul, a little sharply. “ Besides, Mr. Bar-

eld is of more than middle-age, and a widower,
with a daughter keeping house for him at End—
son. Why, the man must be as old as Short-
Stnp here l” .

The detective winced inwardly, with a sense
of pain and exasperation that a few weeks before
would have been inconceivable to him.

After his associates had retired. there came a
last knock at his door, and Paul Eggleston reap-
peared, accompanied by his sister.

" Ah, I thought you would come!” And
Short-Stop set out chairs for both, while address-
ing Drusilla in particular.

‘Yes,” replied the latter, in an equally busi—
ness-like tone. “ As you cannot very well trav-
el with your office-room in tow, I nevertheless,
knew you would wish to question me as to my
part in to-day’s stormy proceedings.”

As she spoke, she threw a rather pitying
glance around, for the room was an exception-
ally common-place one, even fora country hotel,
and there were already evidences of more than
bacherlor carelessness in its littering of gaping
valises, fragmentary articles of sporting para-
phernalia, and the like.

Short-Stop came as near blushing as he was in
the habit of doing.

“ I never look for first-chop accommodations
for myself in traveling,” said he, apologetically;
“and my bachelor habits are incorrigible, I am
afraid.”

“ Don’t mention it,” remarked Miss Eggleston,
quietly. “Besides, you can look out for other.
if not for yourself. The apartment you selected
for me is a charming one, and, I doubt not, by
long odds the best in the house.”

“ You ought to get married, Falconbridge,”
blurted out Paul, with his boyish horse-laugh.

\“You’re hardly too old yet for matrimOny, I

fancy, old fellow.”

The detective gritted his teeth in secret—
somethin he had neVer done before at an al-
lusion to is years; but Drusflla at once relieVed
him by elevating her finely penciled eyebrows,
and saying, with unaffected sur rise:

“Why how odd of you, Pau , not to say im-
polite! Major Falconbridge is still quite a
young man."

“I am past forty, though,” admitted the de-
tective, with truthful abruptness.

Paul burst out’laughing. *

“ Ha, ha, ha! How old does a chap have to
be, then to he called over-ri , I should like to
know. owever I’d be wil ing to bet that our
new atron, Mr. liarfield, is as much as forty,
too— don’t mean forty-two, mind you, but for-
ty pat—ha, ha, hal—and, besides being rich and
a widower, I have no doubt he considers himself
a marryin man yet.”

Drusilla it her lip, and frowned a little,
though accustomed to a. sisterly indulgence for
her brother’s occasional unsophistication.

“ This is not business,” she said, shortly.

“True!” And the detective crossed is legs,
and was at once invested with his cmcial air.
“ Hg? did you first manage with Bricks to-

“ Readily enough. In my swell personatinn, I
first cultivated him with an off-hand invitation
to drink. It was accepted by a couple of his
friends, as well as he. The giant Jelifl’e, whom _

ou afterward trounced so soundly and deserv-
ingly, was one of them. Bricks was trash from
the pump, though still gidd under’the efl’ects
of your opening lesson in t e manly art. I
further won upon him by pretending a world of
sympathy for is bruises, while cheapenin the
rownss that had caused them to the best o my
ypocritical ability. In a short time we were
fairly on intimate terms. Much of the secret
workings of his course, cunning nature “ ere re-
vealed to me. However, there wasn’t time for
him to become as confidential as on could wish,
sir; and it was only by an outsi e accident’ that
I made up to the s ectacled old sport, in order
to assure myself t at he was Fullhand in (ill.-
uise.

Short-Stop was rubbing his hands softly to-
gether, after his professional habit.

“ How did that come about?” he inquired.

CHAPTER XV.
_ - EN ROUTE.

Miss Eoems'rox laughed.

“ I saw the two together just before the rioting
wind-up of the game,” she re lied. “ The were
conferring in whispers. an this seeme to me
strange, since the men had acted like strangers
to one another theretofore. and also by the ap
parent respectability of the spectacled old fel-
low, which contrasted Curveshot Balder‘s style
do pronouncedly. _

“ My suspicions were at once excited that the
old gentleman was something other than he
assumed to be. I therefore drew nearer, and
kept up a sharp watch under an affectation of
essness.

“ V n accident favored the. You remember ;
that sky-scraper that. finished its flight 

the spectators when Tompkins was making h -t
big dash?”

 

l


  
  
 

_ Short-Stop  ae.

11

 

 

“ Perfectly !”

“Well, the ball brought up in old Mr. Spec—
tacle’s stomach, doubling him up like a jack-
knife, and flusterin his make—up not a little be—
fore he could catch ack his lost wind.

“I was instantly on hand to help Bricks bring
his companion around, and was so generally
sympathetic as to Win some words of thanks
from the latter, whose disguise 1 had by this
time penetrated.

“ Then, the wind-up riot having started,
Balrler hurried away into the thick of it.

“ I pretended much solicitude for the old
gentleman‘s safety. While doing so I en—
deavored to win something of his confidence,
but with only indifferent success.

“There wasn‘t time, you see. Besides, Full-
hand is a much Warier rogue than his satellite,
as you know.

“ Just as I was beginning to hope for some
progress with him the wave of the fight over-
took and separated us. You know the rest.
Before this interruption, however, I obtained
one important piece of information from my
pseudo patriarchal friend.”

“ What was that?"

“ He admitted himself as a mild enthusiast on
the subject of the National Game at large, and,
confessing that he was in raptures of admira—
tion over the play of our nine in particular, de-
clared his intention of following them up in the
course of their tour.”

" Ah, that is worth knowing.”

“I was sure you would think so.” ‘

“He will doubtless again be an onlooker at
Hudson City?”

“ Yes; from what he said.”

“ Think you he imagines himself still secure
in his present fictitious character?”

“ It would seem so.”

“ What is your general impression?”

“ That Fullhand has already placed Miss
Nettie in a Secure place of confinement. brief as
has been the interval since her abduction: and
is now devoting himself to following us up, with
the real intention of working your personal de-
struction or disablement at all hazards.”

I “ Good!" exclaimed the detective, cheerfully.
“ Miss Eggleston, your inference coincides with
mine exactly. Let us now separate. Our only
next course is to await the evolution of events.”

Before Short-Stop retired for the night, how-
ever, he had occasion to step down into the hotel
ofice, to make inquiries as to the route to Hud-
son City.

He was about returning to his room when a
queer little old-mannish boy, with a perky,
§POIjt1ng air, and a suggestion of railroad travel
in his dust costume and tiny grip—sack, stepped
into the o ce, and came toa hall: before him
With a sort of military salute.

. “What, Tommy l" ejaculated the detective,
in a pleased tone.

“ Mr. Falconbridge,”'was the reply, in a pre-
posterously deep, growling, R—rolling stage-
voice, which was laughable as coming from such
a diminutive, narrow-chested source. “in the
immortal language of the Duke’s Motto, ‘I am
herel’ ”

“ So I perceive.”

“ As Spartacus would remark, fiYou have
sent for me.’ ” striking a tragic attitude, “ ‘ and
I am come.’ Well, on what then, me sovereign
liege?”

" Drop all that! You got my telegram of the
other day?”

it  did.”

‘: finchmade the inquiries ordered?”

|

“But you telegraphed me no response.”

“ I thought it safer to report in person, with.
out waiting for commands to that effect.”

“ It is well. Mr. Landlord, pass over your
register if you lease. This is my confidential
friend, r. Dod . of NEW York, and he will
want a room directly next to mine.”

The proprietor nodded, smiled, and passed
over the hotel book, .upon which the new arrival
gravely inscribed his address, “Thomas Dodd,

. S. A., New York City,” in enormous door-
plate characters, such as he who runs might
read a mile off. . _

Mr. Dodd then resigned the register to the
landlord’s inspection, and observed the effect of
the fresh signature upon him. _

It was less startling than curious.

“ Ah, we’ll try to make you comfortable. Mr.
Dodd. What, may I ask, do the letters P. S. A.
Stand for?" '

. “ Patriarch of the Shakespearean Amateurs,
311‘: Sir, I am a representative of the tragic
,3“. Don't be alarmed, however; it is likeWise
the mimic art.” ‘ _ 4
. “Come, Tommy,” said the detective, a little
1impatiently. ~

_“Lights there, hol” cried Mr. Dodd. tOSSlng
l1lsi'alise and duster to a gaping fiorter, wlm
has! just put in an appearance. “ r. Falcon-
bridge, I am at your service. Lead on, my liege
10rd: I follow."

The proprietor and porter exchanged looks of
“unfilled awe and wonder as Mr. Dodd strutted
age] with a heavy-tragedy stride at Short-Stop’s

8.
“ Must be one of them actor chaps,” observed
the former. ' ‘

 

The porter was an Irishman.

“ Be gob, a June-bug on shtilts!” was his sup-
plementary comment.

When alone‘with his master, however, the lad
dropped much of his staginess, and was simply
the wide-awake, lightning-smart office boy and
confidential assistant that be had roved him-
self by several years’ hard service in Old Ful-
con’s employ.

“ You made the inquiries at the offices of the
Zorilla Company?” demanded the detective.

“ Yes, sir.”

“Without your object being suspected?"

“ Yes, sir.”

“Of course the president, Mr. Fullhand, is
not on duty now?"

“ No. sir; off on a vacashe.”

“ And the secretary, Mr. Montgomery
Moore?”

“ Sick.”

“ Ah, indeed!
pOSel”

“ Yes, sir; hard at work.”

“ What at?”

“ Reading newspapers, smoking cigars and
wearing out easy—chair upholstery, when not
shirting cocktails and juleps at the neighboring
rum-mill.”

“Ah! and when was the secretary to return
to his desk?”

“ When the president returns to his.”

The detective looked up sharply.

“ Yet the two are never seen in the 031095 at
the same hour?”

“ Never.”

“ How about my suspicions as to their double

ame?” ‘

“ I’ve got a better one, boss.”

“ Oho! as to their never being seen together?”

“ my, my lord.”

“ but do you suspect?”

Tommy Dodd approached his master with
mysterious and impresnive gravity, and whis-
pered in his ear.

The detective started.

“ Hal the echo of my first suspicion,” he mut<
tered. “It should not take long for this to be
verified. Go to your rest now. my boy. You
shall stay by me hereafter until something new
develops itself.”

The College Nine were the richer by Mr.
Dodd’s association on the following day. and
that young gentleman lost no time in pairing
himself off with Miss Eggleston, as his compan-
ion-auxiliary, so to speak, with a picturesque
gallantry and profusion of stage-mannerisms
that were no less interesting than uni ue.

When the team reached Hudson ity in the
middle of the da , and were filing OR for dinner
at Mr. Barfiel ’s residence, Drusilla, to her
great joy, noted in the throng Fullhand, in the
disguise of the preceding day. .

“ He is coming this way, too,” she whispered
to the detective. “ Look out for him.”

The pseudo old gentleman forthwith intro-
duced himself to Short-Stop, as the captain of
the team, and began to state the pleasure he
proposed himself in following up the projected

Other clerks on duty, Isup-

our. .

“ We’ll try to show you first class ball-playing
from beginning to end, sir,” said Short-Stop,
amiably. “ I didn’t catch your name, sir."

“Mr. Delancey,” was the counterfeit’s reply.
“And I should greatly like a little private con-
Versation with you at your leisure, sir.”

v CHAPTER XVI.
AT HUDSON CITY.

THE visiting team was received by Mr. Bar-
field with unassuming hospitality. '

His residence was one of the finest in the
charming suburbs of the town, and not its least
attraction was Miss Letitia Barfield, who re-
ceived her father’s guests in her capacity of mis-
tress of the house.

Indeed, she was so fascinating a young lady
that Chris Payne believed he might aVe quick-
ly lost his heart to her, but for the superior
counter—attraction of Miss Eggleston‘s prox-
imit .

'l‘lIe two young ladies ‘took to each other‘
almost from the first; it was a most agreeable
sort of liberty hall at the Barfield residence,
and in a surprisingly short time all the young
men of the team made or found themselves
pleasantly at home. .

“ You might as well make up Bylaw minds to
stay with me a week at least, of you,” Mr.‘
Bai-fleld took occasion to say at the midday
meal. “ I am quite sure I can arrange several
matches for you with the local team here. They
are capital amateur players._and their repre-
sentative will call upon you this afternoon.”

“ We are impressed by your hospitable ofler,
sir ” Short-Stop took it upon himself to reply.
“ fill]: I am afraid such a. lengthy stay would
hardly be consistent with our pro-arranged pro-
gramme, which is to keep moving metropolis-
wardo-with a particular object in view. By
the way, perhaps I have met the manager of
the local nine here before. Who is be?”

Mr. Barfield made a slightly deprecating
gesture. _

“‘A man whom personally I detest,” here.
plied, ‘5 though perhaps I should be more toler-
ant, since he has been the means of supplying

 

 

me with my favorite amusement quite fre«
quently of late. But pshawl he was prominent
among the turbulent spectators of our yester-
day’s victor over the Cherry Va leys—a Mr.
Baldwin itchcook, sometimes called Bricks,
from the color of his hair.”

Short—Stop started, and looked at his host
almost with suspicion—though this feeling was
but instantaneous~while the rest of the com—
pany were correspondingly interested.

“Ah, indeed!” he commented, after a pause.
“Yes; we all happen to know that individual.
But how happens it he can be managinlg a base—
ball nine this far up the Hudson! sn’t hea
New York City man?”

“ I believe so. But he has been much in these
parts since (arly last spring, when a rich sport-
ing friend of his—a patron. you mightsay—set
up a counts“; gentleman’s establishment in our
neighborho ; in addition to several similar
ones he is said to possess along the river. No
and of money, they say; and I believe he is even
a greater enthusiast in the game than myself.”

. ‘ Ahl a gentleman by the name of Fullhand,
perhapsl”

“ Exactly. The rich Mr. Montague Full—
hand, President of some great Silver Mining
Company in New York. 11 fact, he has been
wanting me to invest in its stock, though I
haven’t made up my mind to do so, as yet.

l‘You are acquainted with the gentleman,
personally, Mr. Barfield‘!”

“ Yes; and," with a laugh, “it’s another case
of my neighborliness running contrary to my
predilections. I can’t say that I like him per-
sonully, while my daughter yonder positively
detests him.”

“ 0h. papa, not quite sn bad as that, I hope!”
cried Miss Barfleld. “Still there is a certain
something about Mr. Fullhand that—that I
don’t like.”

“ Sir,” said Short Stop, “ your aceful invi-
tation to m associates and myse f was, I pre-
sume, whol y spontaneous on your part, with-
out any suggestion from either of the men un-
der discussion f” ‘ .

“Absolutely so,” replied Mr. Barfieldz with
sincere surprise in his voice and manner. ‘ How-
ever, as Bricks saw me looking on at your yesi
terday‘s match, he may very likely have sus-
pected Some such venture on my part. He is
aware of my weakness.”

“ I am glad to bear that assurance from your
lips, sir,” remarked the captain of the Owens-
burgers; who then went on to converse upon
widely different topics. .

Mr. Barfleld was evidently not a. little mysti-

fied by all this; and, later on, when he saw.

Short-Stop being “ intervieWed ” by the pseudo
Mr. Delancey in a corner of his plum, beamin-
bly apprloached the pair, and spoke to the latter
p easant v.

“ Mr. fieliincey, however, quickly made his
excuses, and hurried away.

“You are acquainted with that old gentle-
man. too?” inquired the detective.

"With Mr. Fullhand's sometime odd guest,
Mr. Delanceyl
scrape a naming acquaintance.”

Short-Ste had by this time decided to take
Mr. Barfiel into his confidence.

He had at last decided that he was worth of
it, and that an opposite course might posch
lead to embarrassing complications, now the
the Owenshur party were the gentleman’s
gueststand like y to remain so for several days
at eas .

5

Yes; we have managed to 

. . Witwr/www4mwiiewo<

,i

. mu.,.mms_..mm“swarming.” 

 

He commenced his revelation in his own way. , ., "

“It’s odd, my dear sir,” said he, with his
miling sarcoma.
“ What is—that I should have scraped an ac-

quain1t’anco with Mr. Delanoey, Mr. Fullhand’s ‘ \ I' 1

guest
“ I should siiy so.”
“ But wbyl’ .
“ Because the one is but the other in disguise.”
Mr. Barlield stared.

His further astonishment ma be imagined
hisrevelation, V

when the detective had complet
which omitted nothing. ,
The latter then took the opportunit towin-
mon Paul and his sister, together wit Master
Tommy Dodd. and make known to them the
state of the case.
Miss Eggleston could not avoid a slight blush,

in view of what Mr. Barfleld might think of her »

own part in the oath-bound guest; but that

gentleman’s sympathetic gravity speedily re« _

lieved her of any embarrassment.

"All this is veryhextraordinary, and little,

less than romantic l’ e exclaimed. “ 0’ course
I had heard of the whitpered elopemeiir of Miss
Moore with the silver mine president thmugh
mention in the country-Side press, but find not
given it more than a passing thought. An ab-
duction, you say? My friends, you can depend
upon my utmost cooperation. The man is
evidently a consummate villain, and I am a
to have had my eyes opened.”

“ Fullhand has
hood as an unmarried man, I suppose?” said
Short-Stop. _ ,

“ Yes; as a childless widower,—the mandrel!

To think of my having even permitted him'to _

make my daughter's acquaintancel—HOWever,
he might have exploited his wife—the Mm;

then posed in the nda‘hhor-y .

   

12'

Short-Stop Maje.

 

 

Vavassour you speak of—in some one or another
of his river-side country-places, while perhaps
assuming a different character at each in his
own capacity. The man is no little of a mys-
tery; and, as I said before, you can command
my services in hunting him down.”

Here Miss Eggleston quitted the group, ap-

arently with a sense of secret relief, to jom

iss Barfleld and Chris Payne, who were loiter-
ing not far away. . _

l ‘The question is,” interposed Paul,“ought
we now to make a match with this Hudson City
team, at all?"

“ By all means-now more than ever,”decided
Short—Stop, promptly. “ Why, Fullhand may
have hidden Miss Moore away in this very
vicinit i It would then be our great oppor-
tunity. ’ I

“ I agree with you fully,” said Mr. Barfleld.
“ But here comes our man’s man, as you might

as .”

Ile indicated Curveshot Balder, who was seen
approaching the house by the path, leading up
from the river—road.

“Mr. Hitchcock,” was the detective's suave-
greeting, “it was a surprise to us, as you may
Well understand, for us to learn that you Were
in command of the ,team here, with whom we

' are thinking of making a match. But we are
, ' willingtolet bygones be bygones, in the base-
, ‘ball line, if you say so.”

The sport, who had doubtless anticipated a
less comfortable welcome, disguised whatever
ill-will he was treasuring, and proceeded to talk
business without further preliminaries.

Successive match games, the best three in five,

7 and the first totake place on the afternoon of g

- the following day, were forthwith agreed on;

after which Curveshot Balder returned to the

’ town, accompanied by Mr. Tommy Dodd, who

' 3 had been introduced to his consideration as a

juvenile but thoroughbred lover of the game
from New York City.

 The terms of the match were speedily made

 public, and the consequence was that at the

' opening of the initial game of the series, there

' -was an e optionally large number of spectators

, r present, even for so large and sport-loving

'- a place as Hudson City.

CHAPTER XVII.
A RATILING GOOD GAME.
,, “GENTLEMEN,” cried Mr. Hitchcock, of the ,
 many aliases, with an unlocked—for urbanity,
 while addressing the men of the visiting team in
A ,wthe preliminaries for the opening game, “my
a’ associates and I are determined to forego all
,5 share in the choice of umpire on this occasion.
,' The selection is left with you.”
.f ‘ “That’stoo generous!” responded Short-Stop,
 inlbehalf of his associates, and notalittle sur-
5; prised. “ The old we is good enou h for us.”
 * “No, nol” persis Bricks. “ e’re bent on
 doing] theohospitable, sir. However, Mr. Bar-
' 1 field imself as umpire would probably be higb~
1y acce table to alL”
Mr. arfleld gave Short-Stop a negative look,
and the latter forthwith solved the .zlifllCulty,
"aftera hurried consultation with Paul Eggle~
3» ‘aton by selecting Curveshot Balder as umpire.
" “ ’ll swear I wasn’t fishing for that!” ex-
. :claimed the sport as he sees ted the responsi-
ble ition amid the cheers of is party.
3 “ e shan’t think that of you,” responded
,, Short-Stop. adding to himself: “And neither
 are we humbugged as to the true motive of
, your apparent magnauirnity, my man!” After
 which the game opened.
- It was a toughly—contested one throughout.
" The anomaly was presented of the Hudson City
,team being composed of both better players
" ndrougher characters than the last opponents
‘wlth whom the O wensburgers had contended—
-' and there are pretty rough elements ,among the
upper river towns, as those familiar with the
‘looallties, can attest-and at the same time
, hein I, superficle at least, much more gentle-
flai: y in their manner of play and general be
v or.
 his good feature also impressed itself upon
the spectators. From first to last there was no
end of interest and enthusiasm, and yet hardly
' break in the cheerful good-humor; and a pre-
a ling desire to see fair play and no favor.
be game was won by the home team, chiefly
 units merits, it would seem, but really by rea-
girpcsely slug ish action on the part of
Short-S p’s individua play.
“We Couldn’t do better than give them the
first game,” the latter subsequently explained.
_ , it We are going to fur—
ther any ulterior ends in the neighborhood.”
Moreover, Brick’s rulings had been singularly
his throughout, and accordingly every one was
ap tly in the very best good-humor.
4 > Short—Stop was quitting the grounds in
' waldo company, the pigir were a;
,proac , ya .oup oomposedo twocoun -
_ felts and one solid coin, so, to speak.
V In other words. its ingredients were the
 old man. Mr. Delancey, the pretended
' Miss Eggleston, en characters, and
New York.

 

N; g“: ,1; .

 
   
     
  
  
  
  
   
  
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
   
   
  
   
  
 
 
   
    
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
    
    
 

  

 
   

 

 

 

     

 

 

 
 

  

. s» , E] of

ruin. F conbfidge,” said the latter, “ here is
3“: Balancey, who wants you to stop at his!
 on your way back up the hill.” '

   
 
   

 

“ Not quite that,” corrected the bogus old
gentleman, smiling behind his gray whiskers
and big spectacles. “ It isn’t my country place,
as Mr. Bar-field knows, but the roperty of my
good friend and patron, Mr. ontague Ful -

and, at present unfortunately away from
home. I am permitted, however, to do the
honors during his absence, and nothing would
please me better than to have you allas my
chance guests for the mace."

The invitation was accepted, apparently in
the blandest spirit of unsuspicion.

Mr. Fullhand’s river-side scat was much more
Eretentious than Mr. Barfield’s, but not so

ome—appearing, and, with plenty of servants
at his command, Mr. Delancey did the brief
honors of the afternoon with tact and dis-
cretion.

“I like you, sir,” he took occasion to say to
Short-Stop in private. before the visit termi-
nated, “and would feel highly gratified if you
could call on me again—say this evening or to—
morrow evening—so that I might confer with
you more at my leisure.”

“ I like to be liked by everybody, Mr. De—
lancey,” was the other’s lunt reply. “But I
can’t imagine why you should wish to see me
again, and in private.” '

The other gave him a quick look through the
spectacles.

“ Confess,” said he, “that you have some ul-
terior object in view other than winning match-
games at be se—hall.”

“ Well, ’sir, and what then?"

“ Both Mr. Dodd and Mr. Smith—those charm-
ing young men who assisted me in obtaining
your company today—have deigned to give me
a hint as to the nature of that ulterior object."

“ The deuce they havel” And Short-Stop
seemed to be not a. little embarrassed.

“ Yes, sir; but don’t be alarmed. I can be
discreet: and at the same time I am not in
sympathy with my friend Fullhand’s corrupt
Eractices. In fact, he knows precious well how

eartilva detest them, which is something odd
that he should continue to trust me so im-
plicitly.”

“ What are you talking about, Mr. De-
lancrii‘yi”

“ he abduction of the young lady, Whose de-
liverance is the secret object of your base-ballin
masquerade,” was blurted out, seemingly ha] -
angrily.

‘ Oho!”

“Yes, sir; but tell me first. Mr. Falconbridge,
if I can depend on your discretion.”

“ To the top-notch.”

“ And, in the event of my ‘ giving away’ my
friend Fullhand in this disgraceful and repre.L
hensible matter, . on would not let 'him know
the source of you information?” '

“ He should know no more of it than he does
at the present moment,” , .

“Good! thank yon,'sirl You see, I am not
only under obligations to Mr. Fullhand, but
don't mind confessing that fr} am also alittle
afraid of him.” :

“ Make yourself easy. Do you give me to un-
derstand that you know where the scoundrel
has hidden away the youngJad he abducted l”

“ Not yet, but I shall assured y make the dis-
covery within, say twenty-fgur hours, and com-
municate it to you.” , ”

“ Thanks, Mr. Delancey, I perceive you are a
conscientious man.” -

“ I try to do my Christian duty, sir.”

f‘ Do you imagine that the young lady might
 a prisoner somewhere in this neiglbor-

“ Bless you. no, sir!” with undue eagerness.
“ She is imprisoned somewhere in New York
City. Of that much I am convinced.”

‘ Ab!” and Short-Stop seemed to be greatly
disappointed. “Well, Mr. Delancey, when you
have the information ready for me, please let
me know at Mr. Barfleld’s.’

“ Yes. yes; of course. But couldn‘t you stroll
around this way at, say, ten o’clock to-nightl”

“ Can’t promise, really. Mr. Dodd is my clerk.
If you should have anything special to commu-
nicate, you might let me know b him, or by
your dudish young friend Mr. Smit , or in any
other way.”

“Ah, welll But I trust you will not misin-
terpret my motives in this matte Mr. Falcon-
bridge.” If

“No danger of that, I think. r. Delancey.”

On the walk back to Mr. Bar-field's with his
friends, the detective communicated what had

; and all were agreed that the disguised
‘ullhaud was preparing some especially cunning
piece of knavery in his own interest.

“ However,” said Short-Stop, “ he imagines
himself perfectly secure in his disguise. There
is that much in our favor.”

“ Do you think for a moment,” asked Mr. Bar-
fleld, " that he really intends revealing the young
lady s hiding-place?”

“ Not for an instant; though,of course, I shall
pretend to take the utmost stock in Mr. Delan-
cey’s professions.”

“ And do you think that she is concealed some-
wherein New York, as he asserted!” asked Miss
Eggleston, who played her masculine part in
seemingly blind unconsciousness of. even Mr.

rfleld's  . "

  

 

“ B no means; or he would not have asserted
it wit such eagerness.

“ ’Tis true, ’tis pity, and pity ’tis ’tis true," in
terposed Mr. Tommy Dodd, with a brief return
to his ultra stage manner and sepulchrul tone.
“ Me liege lord, I shall e’en drop in again on the
aged seneschal in the course of this mystic even-
tide, and perhaps have matters of strange im—l
port to relate anon. Till then, I am your liege—
man still, and mum’s the ticket to the crack 0’
doom.”

The pretended Mr. Smith burst into a ringing
laugh. But for all that, Tommy Dodd was as
good as his word.

Late that evening, in Mr. Barfleld’s drawing-
room, where Miss Letitia and Miss Eggleston,
(the latter once more in her true character, as a
matter of course) were successfully entertaining
the young men of the college team with some
good music, Short—Stop was mysteriously called
out of the room by Tommy Dodd.

“ Good 1" commented the former, after receiv-r
ing his little subordinate’s communication. “I
go at once. You might as Well follow me at a
distance.”

But. there was yet one other, besides Tommy
Dodd, that followed the detective when, a few
minutes later, he set out in the direction of the-
Fullhand countr -seat. A 1 . P

'It was Drusil a Eggleston, who had hastily
excused herself to the company for the evening,
and now, once more in her masculine character,
alsgtkept the moving figure of Short-Stop in
Slg .

 

CHAPTER XVIII.

AN AMBUSCADE.

Snoa'rvs'ror was on the‘lookout for continued.
deception on the part of the bogus Mr. Delancey,
but hardly anticipating the real danger that was.
before him. c

He had no sooner turned up the shaded path—
way, leading through the Fullhand grounds,
before five or six ambushed ruflians suddenly
attacked him with silent but deadly fury.

Tommy Dodd, who was following but a short'
distance behind, would have sprung to his mas,—
ter’s assistance, but that at the same moment he‘
was summarily seized from behind and tossed
over the road—hank and into the river, twenty
or thirty feet below.

Then the disguised Drusilla was just on the
point of drawing a pistol, and discharging it in,
the air to sound the alarm, or at one of the de-
tective’s shadowy assailants, she hardly knew
which, when a strong band was clapped over
her mouth, and she found herself helpless in a.
grasp of iron. r

“ The slightest resistance. my little whippero. -
snapper, and you are dead :” growled a hoarse
voice in her ear.

Then, though .erceiving that Short-Stop was-
already ridding imself of his assailants b the
exercise of his lightning~like pugilistic ad ress,
she was dragged of! into a narrow wooded path-
way to the le t, as though no more than a doll
in her mysterious captor’s grasp, for all that
she was of robust frame and fearless spirit.

She felt sure she was being hurried back some-
what in the direction of Mr. Barfleld’s house,
but could make no resistance.

“Swear that ou’ll make no outcry !”- pres-
ently muttered er captor. “ Do this, and I
will release you.”

They had reached a spot where the path
opened into a sort of moonlighted little wood—
land glade. _

She managed to nod her head in assent, and
was straightwa thrust up against a tree, while
her captor, sud enl releasing his powerful hold
upon her person, to ded his arms and stepped
back a pace, regarding her warily.

Now for the first time could she see what he
was like.

A strongly—built, well—dressed man, whose
features were concealed by a closely-fitting-
mas’k, whose disguise was further assisted by a.
slouching wide-awake bat.

Such was as near as she could make out in
the uncertain light. . .

Breathless, besides being sore from his roman-
ly grasp, the courageous young women, never—
theless, did not forget herlfictitious masculinity.

“ Scoundrel l” she exclaimed. indignantly, at
the same time xrougheni‘ng her rich contralto.
voice as best she could; “ what would you with

me?” .

A low chuckling laugh—something in whose
inflection sounded a secret alarm in her wo'
man’sheart—Was the unknown’s only answer.

“ I am penniless, besides being without watch
or chain, it robberylis your object," she felt»
ered.

There was a response now, and such a one as
com lewd her trepidation. v

“fin, ha, hal" laughed the fellow,.in. a low
voice, which she seemed to have heard some:
where before. “As if money or watches and
chains were all that there is worth‘havmg, my
beauty!” . ,. ‘ ,

Beauty! She shuddered inwardly, but still
maintained abold front. ’ a _

“Other’s kidnap 'pret women;” continued
the ruflan,pnd his eyes fairl blazed};

his mask. .‘.Why not I,-as we ll"

 

 

 

  
 
  
 
 

‘ bedraggled appearance;

 

._. ‘

maiden, now almost beside herself with ter-
ror.

“ You know well enough, Miss Eggleston,”
was the cool response. “The deuce! what is a.
masculine disguise, even for a noble shapeliness
such as yours, in the penetrative eyes of passion
and of love. My darling! my angel!”

He made a movement to seize her. But a.
footstep on an adjoining path had at that in-
stant caught her ear, and she suddenly darted
in one side in its direction, with a parting gasp
of loathing fear, and too much frightened to
give her revolver another thought.

With a harsh oath, the man sprung in pur-
suit.

But the chase was amid thick underwood in
which the girl’s lithe figure and fawn-like move-
ments, unhainpered by the flowing garments
habitqu to her Sent, to say nothing of her winged
l'ear, were at a considerable advantage, and,
moreover, that saving footstep was yetnime
audible in her ears, Could she only blunder upon
the pathway it was threading.

Nevertheless, her pursuer’s superior rough-
strcngth began to tell in his favor after his first
stag ering surprise.

“ btop, girl, or I shall show no mercy!” he fu-
riously called after her. “ By” Jupiter! you’ll
rue this trick!”

He was almost within arm’s-length behind
her. In fancy she could feel herself a ain in
that hated grasp, together with his hot reath
on her neck. But at that instant there was a
glimpse of a moon-silvered path, and the saving
step upon it had suddenly paused, as if its owner
were alert and listening. ,

With a sharp, low cry, she reached the path.

“Oh, Mr. Barfield, it is you!” she cried, be-
ginning to reel as she recognized the gentleman’s
approach. “Save nie—save me! I—”

At this instant her pursuer’s rufllanly grasp
once more infolded her. with a savage oath.

But it was Over in another moment. The fel-
low reeled back under a crushing blow in the
mask, and, suddenly releasing her, disappeared,
Without a word, into the wood. Then every~
thing swam before the masquerading girl’s
eyes, and she found herself in Mr. Barfleld’s
arms.

“Dear Drusilla, thank God for this opportu-
nity to serve you!” were his first im assioned
words: but he seemed to recollect himse f instant-
ly. “This is truly an adventure, Miss Eggle-
stun," he went on to say, as she strugg ed,
blushing painfully, out of his embrace. “ Ah,
when wil you recognize the danger of assum-
ing any habit but what pertains to you—any
character but your own loveliness?” And be
indicated her costume with a half-angry ges-
ture.

“Oh. sir, don’t mind me."faltered Drusilla.
“ Quick! let us run. Mr. Falconbridge may be
killed. He was being assaulted by several men
when that scoundre gagged me and hurried
me away. Come, come, come! Oh, he may be
killed!” »

She had suited the action to the word, and
now he was running at her side, as she flew back
in the direction of the lace where she had last
seen Short-Stop so liar pressed.

But when the spot WLS reached the danger
was at an end. ,.

The detective had just finished polishing his
fifth and last assailant by knocking him head
over heels into the river, t e others having been
'put to flight; and Master Tommy Dodd was at
the same moment being assisted by his master
up the steep bank. dripping wet, but not dis-
couraged.

As Drusilla and Barfleld came on the scene
with their explanations, the pseudo Mr. Delan-
cey made his appearance from the direction of
the house, followed by a scared-looking hired
man, bearing a lantern.

Mr. Delancey was likewise, to all appearances,
the prey to poorly disguised terror.

“ Can it be possible?” he exclaimed, throwing
up his hands in the moonlight, when the neces-
sary explanations were made and exchanged.
“ Such ruflianism right at the entrance to Mr.
Fullhand’s grounds! Bless the! What will he
say when he hears of it? I hope no one has been
seriously hurt.”

“ I can only answer for myself,” replied the
defective, dryxlly. “By the feeling in my lists,
the blackguai 5 who set upon me doubtless have
their own im ression in the matter.” I

“ A mere ‘fle, so far as I am concerned,”
carelessly _ remarked Master Tommy Dodd,
though uite the reverse of dryly. “Ugh! By
my ball ome, a pretty pass. though fortunately
the weather is warm.” And he gingerly stepped
out of a pool of water that had been insidiously
forming about his feet.

Drusilla had so far recovered from her fright
as to burst intoalaugh at the stagey youth’s
. . while Mr. Barfleld
maintained a smiling serenity that somewhat
belied his true feelings which had been a trifle
disa pointed, if not _also unpleasantly enlight-
ened: by the trembli eagerness With which
the young woman had orgotten her own alarm
in ‘her fears for Short-Stop‘s safety.

my bad all started up the path toward the
Fullhand house, with Short Stop and MruDe-

“ What are you talking about?” gasped the i

. der me more, than an av

 

“Shutmstopnaae.

1'37 “

 

lancey in the lead, when a shot rung out from
the bordering shrubberios.

“I say, my friend,” coolly observed the de-
tective, as the attendant bu! et grazed his ear,
“ isn’t this sort of thing getting a trifle monoto-
nous?” __

CHAPTER XIX.
A NIGHT’S ADVENTURES.

MR. DELANCEY’S knees were fairly knocking
together.

“Goodness gracious l." he faltered, through his
chattering teeth; “are we beset by invisible
murderers?” ,

Here the first shot was succeeded by another,
and it was Short—Stop’s other ear that was
tickled by the leaden accompaniment in conse-
quence.

The detective darted into the shrubbery, but
returned almost instantly, shaking his head.

“ No good!" he muttered lightly. “ Such curs
are not in ambush to be nipped at their work.”

Miss Eggleston grasped his arm with a solici-
tude that secretly thrilled, while it caused a
corresponding dejectiou on the part of Barfield.

“ You must not stay here!” she exclaimed
energetically. “ There is death in the air, and
you are the target."

" It looks like it, boss!" cried Tommy Dodd,
who had flshed out from somewhere on his
drenched person a revolver almost as big as
himself, and was standing alert with it at half-
cock, like one of Buffalo Bill’s ambuscaded cow-
boys iu the chapel-rel of Erastina Park. " But,
now as over, I’m your man i”

“ Miss Eggleston’s advice seems the best " ad-
vised Mr. Barfield. “ Better return to my case
till this extraordinary state of affairs can be ex—
plained.”

“ No, no!” excitedly interposed the fictitious
Delancey, by this time recovered in some meas-
ure from his knock-knced condition. “ 'Wasn’t
it back yonder that the mysterious assaults
began? Hurry on up to Mr. Fullhand’s house,
which is but a. few steps away, and from there
we can send notification to the police.”

This last advice was just’here emphasized by
yet another shot from the shrubberies, the bul-
let this time making a. neat hole in the detec-
tive’s hat, half an inch above his hair.

“ I reckon if my mug escapes the fourth time,
it will be by mistake,” was Short-Stop’s com-
ment. “Come along!”

And, suddenly placing himself betWeen De-
lancey and the lantern-bearer, with an iron
grip on the arm of each, be forthwith led the
way up the moonlighted path.

A large and pretentious country house, with
ample, well-kept grounds!

f‘Go on in; I shall remain on guard,” said
Miss Eggieston, cool] drawing her revolver,
and makingla sign to ommy Dodd to likewise
remain, while the others were ascending the
piazza steps. “ I have a motive in this. ”

Barfleld turned to look at her in mingled as‘
tonishment and protest, but Short-Stop had
caughta look in her face which he seemed to
understand.

“ Leave Smith to his ow device "he said
abruptly, leadingon into the h use. “ 6 seems

. to know what he is about.”

“ Mr. Dodd, 1 see that you are a gentleman of
nerve,” observed Drusilla, when the two were
alone outsider

“I have been called a mere‘ scene-chewer,
miss," was the modest reply. “But I fondly
imagine that high tragedy is my native home—
off or on the classic boards.” ,

“ Good! You patrol round yonder side of the
grounds, while I take this side. We shall meet
at the skirt of the dense evergreens which I er—
ceive back of the stables and compare notes.‘

“Me lady, I shall only hlench when grind-
stones swim and water flows up-hill!”

They accordingly separated as suggested, and
it turned out well that they did so.

Master Tommy Dodd was of about the same
hight as Miss Eggleston, and, in spite of a mock-
tragic strut and stride inse arable from his
movements, of a carriage an roportions not
dissimilar from the young la y‘s characteris
tics in her matculine role, especially as seen by
the uncertain shimmer and shadow of the lonely
moonlighted grounds they were deSigni'ii’g to
patro . ‘

As a consequence, when Drusilla cautiously
approached the skirting evergreens alluded to,
without encountering any fresh adventure, and

ercelved the doughty youth coming toward

er, while hugging the screening shadows a lit-
tle more closely than she, the -resemblance was
noticeable even by herself, though in a some-
what. comical sense.

“ How much the absurd little fellow mirrors
me, in my present guise!” she thought, with a
smde. “ Truel, it is scarcely possible that I can
have that stilted melodramatic bearing of his,
which so laughany suggests a human grass-
hopperon the war-path; but his clothes are of a
like cut to mine, from his derby to his boots. we
are of about the one hight and weight, and it
boots not that the proportions that make us
both rather miniature men should likewise nan:
iced woman Vin
my Own proper habllimsntg. Verily,notwith,-
standing that the fiction has an independence of

surprised, disarmed, gagged and pinioned in a

 

  

its own, I shall forswear the unsexing disguise
forever at the first opportunity 1"

She was about hastening forward and dis-
closing herself, when suddenly Mr. Dodd was

jiffy before her very eyes by a powerful, masked
figure, that had sprung out from the evergreens
with the noiselessness of a phantom.

It was scarcely less a surprise to the young
woman witnessing the scene than to the stages
struck outh himself.

But rusilla was an eXCeptionally bold and
fearless woman.

in another moment, clutching her pistol tightr
ly, she had stolen to a little 0 n nook amid
the evergreens, whither the mas 'ed rufiian had
incontinently dragged his vainly-struggling vic-
tim, and was on the point of demanding his re-
lease at the re vulver’s muzzle, when some mut-
tered words of the former caused her no little
astonishment. together with an instantanious
modification of her plan.

It was at once apparent that the rufilan was
identical with her own assailant of a short time
previous. and that he had mistaken his fresh
captive for none other than herself.

“So, my little beauty, I’ve got you again,
eh?” growled the fellow, easily controlling and
gagging his captive with one hand, while
an'iusedly holding up the captured weapon with
the other. “ Cannon-balls and bombshells!
what could your pretty little woman‘s hands
he doin with such a ieco of field-artillery as
this? a, ha, ha! at I love you just the
same, my pretty masquerading maid; and you V
shall forthwith away With me too certain dove- .' .\, ‘
cote, secure and dainty, that I know of. Gad! . f
you shall have company there with a pet cage- '
bird of my master’s own; and I doubt not that
he will forgive my liberty with his woodland
retreat when he learns that you are our fair ’
acquaintance ofother days-—the comely school-
marm of our whilom stock-booming experience,
no less than the sister of Miss Moore’s disconso— 
late lover, Paul Eggleston himself, So, come ._ \; .
along with you. my beauty! for this time there i ‘ ~ -
is no marplot of a rescuer to interfere in your ’ .t». ,1
behalf.” 3

Here his astounded victim managed to make
some muffled protests through the great band ,
that was closed so tightly over his lips and face, , ti ‘
while its attendant muscular arm successfully j». '
mastered his struggles. z 5;! :

“It’s alla mistake!” he gasped out. “Vil-
lain, on your life, unhand mo!”

“ Ha ha,hal Woman-like to the core! Yes, : V
yes; I’ll unhand you when you are safely caged,
along with the fair Nettie, and not before.
Shall Fullband have the bird-cagiug all to him-,
self? Not if I know it. Come along. you little '
rascal!”

“ But it's a beastly mistake, I tell you i” sput-‘
tered Tommy. “I ain’ta woman any moron .
you are! I’m—I’m—”

Drusilla gritted her pretty teeth at his fully
in not lettin the misap rehensiou continue uu-
challenged; ut novert eless her» own plan—-
which was totake silent advantage of the strange .
blunder in order to discover the secret prison-
house where Nettie Moore was confined—was ’
not seriously interrupted. ' w 

“ Ha, ha, ha!" again laughed the rufllan, who
she was now quite convinced could be none ,. ’
other than Umpire Baldwin Hitchcock, of the ‘.
numerous aliases. “My dear Miss Eggleston,
you are quite woman enough for me, at all;
events, your maunish toggery to the contrary ,
notwithstanding. So come along my darling. , ~
I‘m thinking of matriinon , no as than my.
superior; and the three t ousand dollars at»
vours that have been passed to my credit on the 1
Zorilla Compan ’s stock-bookfiill be all the.
dowry I shal as , in consideration of our stun- -
ning good looks, which, when not di‘ sued by
this unsexing diguise. I chance to know are be-
yond all computation.” ,\ ,

He disappeared into the deep wood. drag;
ging the now completely exhausted, Tommy “
along with him. .

Drusilla, whose eyes had fairly glistened at ..
3hisplast rfvelgtigm on 1336 uncrgscLous scouno 7».

re s par , se er teet , grasp er wetpom
yet tighter, and warily followed. ~ .  w 

CHAPTER XX.

THE RUINED nwox-nonsn. » . ‘
IT was by a long, narrow and .tortuous path,
through the woods, which seemed to grow dens ,
ser at every step. and whose steadily increasing
blackness scarcely a moonbeam penetrated, the
the fearless young woman followed the masked

ruffian and his captive. . - 1
However, she managed to do so without.-
awakeniug any suspicion. g ,  '
At last a broad, comparatively open rocky
glade was reached, where. as the floodin
moonlight again came uring down no ‘
ruptedly, she was compo led-to shrink backmce ‘
more amid the underwood, lost her 
Shg‘li‘ld bfiigscoveredi' f 1 <- » V
e s a owy on mes o a urge  .
 r
moms?

 

 

 

  
  
   
  
    
  
   
     
  
  
  
  
   
 
 

 

 

 

OI

 

peculiar construction showed against.

ground of rocks and trees, while u

toin-brookbrawled musically ti: the open.
Here the ruthan, with another course is 7

and the gruff words: “Now then, squeal fy

 

' ‘ muc ob a. shindig.

 

   
 

    
 

14

, y

Short-Stop Maje.

 

 

loudest if you will, my beauty! There’s never

It was octagonal in shape, conical roofed,

a friendly ear to heed you here, save my own,” three sections in hight, each dprojecting over the

released his captive? and stood ofl! a step or i one directly underneath, an

two to inspect him or her, as he thought,) for
the first time critically in the moonlight.

Then he reeled back, with a savage oath,.

each section con-
sisting of two stories, or tiers, of narrow, slit-
like windows, originally to facilitate musket-
‘ firing downward and outward in all directions,

 

and the captured revolver, which he had 5 although some few of the easements had been

continued to carry in his disengaged hand, fell i enlarged and provided with

unheeded out of his grasp.
“ Great Scott l” he roared.
the young lady at all!”

“ Of course you pig-headed superhumerary!” l hund

retorted Mr. odd, once more the master of his
ready wit and native impudence. “ Didn’t I
keep telling you so when I had the chance?”

“ The devil! you‘re only that ridiculous little
dandifled shrimp that was dancing attendance
upon, Short-Stop during the match-game to-
day.’

Tommy’s only responso was an indignant sort
of sputter, and then, with a swift, unexpected
hop, skip and dive, he had recovered his
artillery.

“Shrimp, eh?” he cried, dancing back into
the wood, and beginning to blaze away point-
blank at his theretofore captor. Pop! pop!
pop! ” Shrimp, ehi" Bang! bang .' bang!
“ You miserable, overgrown scene-shifter! I’m
only a dandifled shrimp, eh?" Pop ! pop! pup!

“Hold on!” cried the ruflian, dodging here
and there, behind this and that obstruction, to
avoid the bullets. “ What are you about. you
young scoundreli I’ll skin you alive! Ha l”

And then, as Tommy, having exhausted his
ammunition, took to flight back through the
dense wood, he sprung in pursuit.

Miss Eggleston quietly remained in hiding,
for lights began to appear in various windows
of the queer-looking house, and presently a
night-capped head was thrust out of one of the
lower windows, while a cracked voice called
out, with an African accent:

“ Why, you ain’t 

lass-sashes, in ac-
l cordance with modern domici iary demands.
“ What a treasure for the historian and the
. iiewspgger-man is here going to waste within a
r and odd miles of New York City!”
thought the disguised young woman. “ Why,
it’s a Revolutionary treasure! And to think of
its being the prison-house of a kidnapped young
lady in this busy, mystery-sifting age l”

The one window remaining lighted was in the
extreme upper tier, not less than sixty feet from
the ground, and Drusilla had recognized the
voice of the speaker therefrom as Miss Moore’s
own, though she had but a slight acquaintance
with the young lady, having met her only once
or twice in Paul’s company.

How to communicate with the occupant of
that aerial cage without arousing the suspicious
of her failers, as the negro family of big and
little A exanders apparently were, became the
problem of the moment.

The window was too high to be signaled by
tossing pebbles against the panes, even if such
a means might be resorted to with due secrecy.

However, after carefully examining the queer
tower-like old structure on every side, Drusilla
at last discovered a series of stout wooden stakes
or pins projecting one above another from the
successive loophole tiers, which might have been
used for drying the skins of wild animals at some
period when the building had fallen into disuse
for purely defensive purposes.

These, fortunately, presented themselves at a
shaded angle, and led on up to a loophole but a

 

“Whar be you, John Henry Alexanderii

What's all dat shootin’ an’ bangin’l Am a
'unk-sh%g bu’sted, or a flah-wuks factory bruk
oosei her be you, John Henry Alexander?”

A number of smaller and apparently woolly
heads had crowded
around the night-capped one of the speaker;
and then a lumberingaud almost gigantic figure
made its appearance from the door of a small
Outhouse underneath.

“.Henh I be, Arrybeller Mariar Alexander,”
grumbled the latter. “ You think it’s de Fourt’
ob J uly, dat you kick up all dis rumpus, rousin’
out ’spectable folks at do dead ob night? Hal
but I done smell unpowder. Sam Angus.

his Alexander, c you done been p ayin‘ tricks
by moonlight, I’ll bu’st ebery bone in dat brack
akin ob you’ni”

Hem there was a confused chorus of negro
voices, all crying out at once, in response.

It was a regular Babel till a white figure ap-
peared in another window, seemingly very high
is in the air, and a Very sweet and nluSical,

it startled, voice called down to know what
it was all about.

' “Oh, it’s 3655 nuflin’. at all, I ‘ t, Miss Net-

tie,” at last called back the man mm the house-

rd. “ Seems to me I did hear Marser Brick's
voice, togedder wif nnudder one, jess afore de
iban 'n' commenced, but I reckon it wa’n’t

Go to bed. Miss Nettie, an’
res’ yo’ putt leetle head. Even oil! Marsa
Fullhand sh’ come round at dis time oh night,
I wouldn’t let him ’noy you.”

“ Thank you John enryl Annoy me, in-
deed] I should say not!”

Then the airy window was heard to shut

I dawn, and the white-robed ure disappeared.

v r In a few minutes more t e heads also van—
ished from the lower window, the gigantic man
re—entered his sentry—box, as it might be called,
and, save for alight continuing to flicker dimly
from the high casement at which the young
lady had appeared, the deep, slumber-suggest-
ing hush once more gradually resumed its reign
over the strange domicile.

, Miss Eggleston waited until quite sure that

. the coast was clear, and then cautiously ado

yanced out of the wood for a closer inspection

0! the place.

To her astonishment, the little out-buildin ,
into which the huge negro had disappeare ,
proved to be really a sentry-box, while the main
, uilding itself was disclosed as a r lar old
block-house of the colonial period. nd then
she began to remember of having heard some—

' when a child of such a ruinous relic of the
. Indian-fighting days as being somewhere buried
away among the wild forested hills of that sec-
;tion of the country.

‘ , ' But the comparatively excellent preservation

of the tall, fortified work could not but fill her
with surprise, though a closer examination be
frayed signs of recent eflorts at restoration. ’

-- Still the house stood as a remarkable histori-
cal monument, and so heavy and stench were
tee oak and c at logs of its original con-

.4 sis-notion that, apart from the repairs which

had been ottompted, it bade fair to remain in-

hot for v .

17s  honly its :fldusion laiiigd the dense

 parceosomeon-
estate—had prevented it from becog—
ingoneofthegreatlandmarksoftbeperiod.

into the window-space;

short distance to one side of the enlarged or

casementized opening still showing the light,

find doubtless belonging to the prisoner’s cham-
er.

Drusilla was strong, active and athletic be-
yond the avers e of her sex, and, as has been
seeili, she was 0 a dauntless and enterprising
mo ll.

She swung up into a sitting attitude on one of
these great pegs.

A carefu inspection showed it to be still
firm-placed and trustworthy, though dark and
externally crpmbling from the wind and weather
of many years.

If one was thus secure, why not the rest?

They 'were separated, one above another, by
{regut lar intervals of something more than four

ee .

She managed to attain a sitting posture on
the second peg only after a cod deal of difficul-
ty; but, after a long rest, iscovered that there
wasaknack in the method of ascent, which a
little thought and observation enabled her to
master: and then she continued on upsomewhat
more easily.

However on seating herself next tothe ten-
most peg, she found t much more rotten than
its predecessors. and presently, much to her se-
cret taint-m, she foun it unmistakably giving
may under her wei ht. '

0 fall from sue a hight was tantamount to
a broken neck, or a fractured limb or two. to
say nothing of the peril of a detection that
would put a summary end to her fine intentions
with regard to the captive maiden. .

For an instant her heart was in her mouth,
and she was on the point of ing out.

Just then, however, while ugging the wall
hard, she managed to clutch the overhead;
this one was firm-set, and as, wit a. spurning
movement, she gained van e upon it, the one
below crumbled away altoget or down the side
of the house, causing a great clattering racket
in its descent.

But even this was fortunate, though it cut off
her escape for the time being, for even at that
moment she slipped into onset the upper em-
brasures out of sight from below, while the
racket only brought Miss Moore again to her
casoment, close at hand, without disturbing the
colored folks of the lower floor.

 

CHAPTER XXI.
Tim KAIDEN IN THE rowan.

“ Hls'rl“ called out Drusilla, as Nettie again
thrust her head out of the adjoining casement;
“ I am a friend.”

Nettie with dimculty metered alittle scream,
for the speaker had once more leaned out on the
last prtélecting peg, and was more than half-
disclose in the moonlight. '

“ Don‘t be alarmed,” cautioned Drusilla. “ I

“ A woman l” gasped the imprisoned maiden,
incredulously. ,

“Yes; though it does seem improbable and
romantic. More than that, I am Drusilla Eggle-

stun, Paul’s sister, and I am here to save you.
How shall I reach you?” ‘

“ Wait!" Aftera brief pause, during which
Nettie seemed to‘ be mastering the situation.
“ Go back into the loophole. I will manage it.”

 

And she forthwith disappeared.

   
 

am not a man. but a woman disguised as such.”

 

Drusilla obeyed, and presently heard the other
pulling at the old boards that imperfectly walled
up the inner side of the narrow opening.

She assisted at this work, and a few moments
later the young women were in each other‘s
arms.

“Oh, I can scarcely realize itl” murmured '

Nettie, sobbing on the other’s shoulder. “ Come
quickly into my room! They are as vigilant as
foxes down below there, and John Henry would
kill you without mercy were you discovered
here. ’

As Drusilla followed her, she took in her im-
mediate surroundings with a com rehensive
glance, for sufficient moonlight ltered in
through the imperfectly boarded-up wall—slits
to render everything comparatively distinct.

It was an enormous octagonal apartment,
comprising the entire uppermost house-space,
with the single exception of the small compart—
ment assigned to the fair captive’s use.

A rude ladder reached dwindlingly far up
into the somber mysteries of the ruinous conical
roof directly overhead, in which there seemed
to be a constant flurry of hats or owls going on.
At its foot was an open hatchway, apparently
communicating into a similar vast apartment
below, but presenting neither steps nor ladder
by which it could be reached.

“ It is by this means that my captivity is as—
sured,” said Nettie, understanding the nature of
her companion’s sweeping glance. “ When my
jailers, or their scoundrel of a master, would
communicate with me, a ladder is raised from
the next floor below, and taken away again on
my being left to myself.”

Drusilla did not answer at once,,but followed
the young girl into the rather cosey little bed—
room partitioned oif from the rest.

Then as the latter went on to express her joy
at the meeting. and to betray a most extraordi-
nary misconception as to the geography of her
location, Miss Eggleston at lastinterrupted her,
with an astonished air.

“ In the name of all that’s wonderful, my
dear!” she exclaimed; “in what region do you
imagine this prison-tower of yours to be situ-

ted

a
“ Why, in the heart of the Adirondack wilder—
ness, as a matter of course!” replied the young

girl.

Then Drusilla burst out laughing.

“ Am I mistaken, then?” demanded Nettie.
“ You see they chloroformed me when I was
kidnapped out of my mother’s garden. And even
long after I had recovered from the drug, I was
speechless, while Mr. Fullhand and his friend
kept me constantly on the move. When they
brought me here at last, under the care of these
colored people, I seemec to have been almost
constant] traveling through wild, wooded
ways, an Mr. Fullhand assured me that I was
atlast on a hunting estate of his in the heart of
the Adirondacks, whence I should never be able
to get away, save in his company, and as his
wedded bride. These colored people have al—
ways borne him out in that assortion. Am I
then nearer or further from civilization than he
pretended?"

" You poor child 1” exclaimed Drusilla. “ You
are. not more than three miles back from End-
son City, and probably less than thirty from
Al any.” » '

ettie opened her eyes With astonishment,
which was naturally increased indefinitely when
Drusilla put her in possession of the particulars
of her own presence in the block-house, which
she proceeded to do at once. _

“ Oh, it is like a happy dream!” cried Nettie,
clas ing her hands when all had been told.
“ W‘hatl the college base-ball team are under
oath to accomplish my deliverance?"

“ Yes, my dear.” .

“ And Paul—my Paul 1” with a bright blush—
“ among them?”

“Of course.”

“ And that wonderful detective, Short-Stop
Maj», as their leader?"

“ To be sure.”

“ 011, then I shall be soon free—free again i”

“ Undoubtedly, my dear Nettie. But then
we must pI‘OCPed cautiously. for I doubt not that
your captor, Fulihand, is a man of much power
and many secret resources. My first step must
be to communicate your whereabouts to Short—

Stop and the team. But now you must tell me I;

more fully of your own situation.”

“ Oh, there is so much to tell. and yet so little
that is not painful and humiliating. My own
mother’s conduct in the matter, from what on
tell me, is the most distressing to me. Wor dly
and ing as I have known poor mamma to
be, was unprepared for such conduct.”

" Still. you must have suspected her com-
plicity almost at once?”

“ Not quite; but only when I came to a real-
ization of my position, and saw the trunks of
my regularly cked garments that had accom-
panied my a notion.”

“I When was that?”

“ 0n ' the morning of the following day. We
seemed to have been traveling to somewhere all
night on s. railroad, and I was being trans-
ferred to a coun wagon. It was in a villa
but, though I su denly realized everythfiafi
was paralyzed and speechlels from the

I ,



fit;

    
   
 

" u o- '

as- .-:...- g. .- '.::u.aa‘mwmim

 

efiects of the drug, and incapable of making
known my predicament."

“ And your abductors?”

“ The were thoroughly at home in the situa-
tion. ullhand bad disguised himself so as to
appear a very old man, with white beard and
spectacles.”

“ Ahal as Mr. Delaneey?”

“Yes; from what you tell me. Well, he

assed me off as an invalid daughter, and Mr.
Ericks helped him to keep up the deception.
After we had driven off into the thick woods
they did not so much care.”

“ Ah! Speech then returned to you?”

“ Yes; and you may well believe I used it in
my indignation. But they were serenely un-
concerned or impudent, while the driver of our
team was none other than John Henry Alexan-
der, the unconscionable old colored man, who
seems to belong to Fillhaud, body and soul.

“ Mr. Fullhand, in response to my upbraid-
ings, coolly claimed that my own mother had
conspired in my abduction. As he pointed to
my trunks in the wagon, in corroboration of his
assertion, I could say nothing further on that
score.

“ ‘ Whither are you taking me?’ I at last de—
manded. He replied, as I have stated, that my
destination was a hunting-lodge of his in the
bosom of the wild Adirondacks, where, he
added, I would be made comfortable. until
such time as I should consent to be his wife.

“ When I laughed the idea. to scorn, he quietly
replied with a smile: ‘ We shall see how your
antipathy to me shall hold out. It is somewhat
lonesome in the great North Woods.’

“ From what you tell me of my nearness to
populous pomts, they must have purposely kept
driving about by the most forbidding and un-
frequented roads they could select, in order to
give color to the fiction they were fabricating.

“ At all events we were never once out of the
woods during that tedious, jolting drive, which
lasted without interruption the greater part of
the day.

“And only two or three times did we pass
within sight of any habitations, which were too
distant for my voice to reach, had Iappealed
for assistance.

“ However, even had it been otherwise, there
is little doubt but I would have been summarily
gagged on the spot.

” Late in the afternoon we arrived at this
place, my apartment was assigned to me, and
my captivity as ‘a tower maiden ’ was begun.”

CHAPTER XXII.
NETTIE noonn's STORY CONTINUED.

“AN extraordinary story !" exclaimed Dru-
silla. “Indeed, it would seem hardly credible,
but for the strange circumstances that seem to
have facilitated your abduction at the hands of
this accomplished scoundrel. But 0 on, my
dear child. Did Fullhand remain a ter trans-
ferring you to the custody of these colored
wretches?”

“No; though I have been under the impres-
sion that he must beliving somewhere in the
vicinity of the block-house, since he has not
failed to visit me every day, to urge his detesta-
ble suit afresh.”

“ Does he come disguised, or in his own per-
sonality’f”

“ Sometimes as one, sometimes as the other.
He is never insulting, but only quietly per-
sistent.

“ He oflers the ar merits customary in such
a case, I believe. I , I will only consent to be-
come his wife, I shall at once roll in wealth and
luxury, with my Wildest caprice gratified as
soon as expressed, and all that sort of thing.

“ Even my pronounced and invariable repug-
nance seems to have little or no effect upon

 

im.

“ ‘ You will come to like me in good time, my
dear,’ he will say. I am old enough to be
your father, I am also tender enough to be your
husband, and I love you to distraction.’

“ I not only laugh him to scorn, but have not
hesitated to boldly avow my plighted troth to
your brother Paul. All to no avail.

“ ‘I can afl’ord to wait for your change of
heart,’ he will reply. ‘ When that occurs 'ust
let me know. A parson and our own ear
mother shall be produced in s ort order; and
after you are my wife the world of pleasure
shall be at your pretty feet. _ I may eyen bring
a fine lady, a distant relative of mine, nude,
woman versed in the extravagant frivolitxes of
existence, to keep you company.’ /

“ He had referred to this person so may
times that my curiosi was at length excit ,
and he confessed that 3 had reference to my
mother’s ultra-fashionable boarder, Madame
Vavassour.

“ I was surprised, for Mr. Fullhand and she
had seemed to have met before coming together
at mamma’s house, and, indeed, had seemed to
have no liking for each other while under the
one roof. Mr. h‘ullhand explained this by saying
that there had been long a coolness between him
and his Cousin Florine, as he called her, by
reason of certain money matters; but that he
hoped to become friends with her again for my
sake because she was such a fine woman, and
could helpmo along so materially in the world

i

 

 

of fashion, where I would ultimately queen it as
his bride.

“Oh, but it is altogether too ridiculous and
too ainful!”

“ r r. Falconbridge—Short-Stop, you know—
has dropped me some odd hints as to this Vav-
assour woman,” said Drusilla, reflectively.
“ My dear, should you be brought in contact
with her, you must beware.”

" I should do so in any event, for I have never
liked the lady, though mamma seemed to think
her a sort of princess in disguise. But is she a
woman of bad character?”

“I think so, but I do not know. At all
events. she is more likely to be Mr. Fullhand‘s—
confederate than his relative—They seemed to
have made pretty thorough preparations for
your reception here?“

And Drusilla, though not for the first time,
threw her glance around the apartment, whose
appointments were of the best, and even luxuri-
ous.

“ The room would be a pleasant one under
happier circumstances,” Nettie admitted lnd‘e-
ply. “But, oh, Miss Egglestou, you can’t 1m-
agine how lonely it is up here!"

“ Yes, I can, my dear.”

“Then the bats and owls make such strange
noises overhead at times! I often feel that I
shall grow mad with the solitude, notwithstand-
ing that shelt‘ full of novels in the corner yon-
dcr.

“Then you are never permitted to go lower
down than this floor?”

“ Never.” '

“ How do these colored people treat you i”

“ Like a little prize pig, as far as my food and
drink and bodily comfort are concerned,” re-
plied Nettie, with a cheei'less little laugh. “ But
there is something sinister in the faces of both
man and wife that makes me fear them. The
children—nine or ten of them, I believe—are
good-natured, though; and about the only fun I
have bad is an occasional spell at minding
‘ Arybeller Mariar’s youngest baby, which is
the most comical little fellow you ever saw.

“ The older of the boys—one they call Samp
son Augustus—sometimes looks pityingly at me,
too: and I fancy if the opportunity were iven
him, he might be induced to stand my friend;
though he is terribly afraid of his father, who is
simp y an old ogre, without humanity or con-
science.”

And then Nettie burst into the first genuine
girlish laugh she had yet indulged in.

“ What preposterous names!" she exclaimed.
“There is another of the lad’s whom they ad-
dress as Napoleon Bismarck Frederick: one of
the little girls rejoices in Sepharonia—Martha-
Janette as a given name; and even the dear lit«
tle baby is never flea of or to by any of the
family save as coe-Washington-Cleveland
Alexander. Ha, ha, ha! It istoo funn . And
the always bring out the full string 0 names,
without a break, even on the most trifling oc-
casion.”

Drusilla joined in the young girl’s merriment,
but uickly grew grave, saying:

“ rather think, from what you say, my dear
Nettie, that Sampson Augustus will he most
likely to receive my attentions.”

“ What can on mean?"

“My dear c ild, don’t you perceive that my
retreat is cut OR? I shall never be able to make
my way down the outside the house as I made
my way up. The break in the line of pegs set-
tles that question. I shall have to retrace in
way down through the house, or not at a] .
Hence, it will be well to have a friend among
the Alexanders, and Sampson Augustus seems
the most. promising, .from what you tell me.”

Nettie had also grown serious.

“ You can never make your way down
through the house,” she said. “Of that I am
satisfied.”

it Why in r

“ Even if not cut off, as we are, from the
next floor below, by the absence of the ladder,
the next floor under that is a kennel of watch~
do 5. I often hear them snarling and barking;
an besides the amiable John Henry early im-

ressed me with the statement th t they were

0th numerous and dangerous. T en the floor
below that is occupied by the Alexanders them-
selves, all more or less vigilant, while John
Hem himself has his quarters in the sentry-
box 0 ose bv the stockaded entrance.”

Miss Eggleston’s face tell, but almost instant-
ly lighted up afresh as her glance fell upon the
couch with its neat and ample drapery.

“ by, here we are,” she exclaimed, spring-
ing up and stripping off a counterpane and a
pair of sheets. ‘ We are .not above sixty feet
from the ground. What is in the way of our
tearing these things into strips and netting
them end to end, as a means of letting ourselves
down from the window here?”

Nettie at once fell in with the notion, and
clapped her hands.

‘ Why not?" she cried, running to one of her
trunks, and beginning to pull out some of its
contents. “See; here are anungber of strong
skirts which will piece out thebed iug strips ad-
mamellwdid ” d D n ‘

' p en ' 3, an msi a strai tway be
the work. “Moreover, we can figt us «6%

 

from that slit-window by which you admitted
me into the tower, and thus advantage ourselves
of the line of pegs by which I made my way up
the wall.” . -

Both young women now set about putting
their plan of escape into practice with much
enthusiasm. ,

“ Oh. I shall be free this very ni ht, and_ in
your company!” cried Nettie, fair y dam-mg
with delight when the improvised rope was
about completed. “I can scarcely realine It.
It will be almost as good as owing my deliver-
ance to Paul himself. Dear Drusilla! how
handsome you are in your man’s habit! It must
depend upon this night whether you are sure-
ly to be my sister-in—law or not. Oh, I am so
happy! Let us make the trial at once!” And
she continued to flutter about the room in half-
hysterical excitement. _

Drusilla followed her movements with an odd
little smile, and than burst out laughing.

“ What an excitable little goose you are !” she
remarked.

t‘ 

“ Shall you really accompany me on this ven-
ture without dressing yourself, my dear?”

Nettie, who was still in her night-dress,
blushed, stammered, and was all but over-
whelmed, but her companion laughingly pro-
ceeded to assist her wit her toilet, and a short
time thereafter they were in readiness to assay
their attempt.

 

CHAPTER XXIII.
DANGLING EOPES.

WHEN the improvised rope was at last made -.
fast inside the oophole window, and let down
outside along the line of projecting stakes. it
was found to be short b a few feet; but this»
was not considered of muc consequence.

The moon was now near to setting, and
Nettie's Chatelaine watch indicated four in the
morning. '

Everything was hushed below and around,
and, as the line of descent was to one side, i
slightly shut off from the front of the to“ er and i v
the dreaded sentry-box, the omens for success»
seemed highly propitious. ‘

“I shall go first, being the heavier,” said
Drusilla, preparing to initiate the attempt.‘
“It will be a good test of the rope’s capacity. ’ ..

“And perhaps a fatal one for you ”whis~ ’?
pered Nettie. "No; I, as being the lighter, ~
should go first.”

“ You forget, my dear, that I shall have the ,
Eggs to fall back 1: n, in the event of the strain

ing too. great. o, no; the chief uestion is, ’
shall you be apt togrow dizzy in .fo owing my . _
“3'? 123'} ' 

t u not. In fact [was a rett 00d  »
bird-nester when at school.” p y g t 

“ I think you will do, my dear. Now, observe  ‘
my movements, and be careful not to call out .' v.
again, even in a whisper.” ' ' i “ 

A moment later Drusilla was dangling down a I 
the side of the tower, Nettie watching her from ‘ 3
the ledge above with much anxiety. ' * ’

The former proceeded slowly, resting her '
wel ht at intervals on the progectin stakes.  
_Al went swimmingly at rst at when a 3 7;-
l‘ilttlli:t gore than gulf-van}; dowri:i there was a. ; if

g ppm soup ,an t e co vesi of ‘ 
tearing aparg under the strain. gs m ‘ "

Drusilla,,however, managed to relieve it of
her weight altogether by stepping OR upon one
of the pegs.

From this position she could perceive the
point of weakness, which was but. a few yards
above her head, and,’ climbing u another g ,
higher, she succeeded in strengt ening the {the
{1y sagriflcing a foot or two of its already sparse
engt .

Then she motioned to Nettie that the latter
should avail herself of the cord. while her own '
efforts rtvsvould thence be confined to the wooden
su o . ',

ettie accordingly grasped the knotted line 
with a strong grasp, andl swung of! from her 
lofty perch. ,
S e was both light-built and muscular, and. "
made ood progress until opposite the stake on
which rusilla was seated. studying the line.

But at this point her strength began to fail,
and, Without thought or,warning, she swung
herself over to the some support, and lasted her
weight upon it.

Drusilla cautioned her with a hoarse whisper
and a terrified gesture, but it was too late. -

“ Back! back!" she warned. “ Seize the
again—grasp the knots with your knees! Don’t,
you see—” _ :

Hire the support gave way with a crackling
eras . ' i - . .

Both girls saved themselves—Drusilla by a? 
well-poised drop to the next peg below, and ‘ l
Nettie by a timely repossession of the rope once .3
more—but this was not done without the latter"
being startled into a slight scream. '

Instantly the dogs within the walls, until thln‘
unheard, set up a most yelping din: and, a mo-
ment later, out pop t e night-cl head of
Alexander mere, th a the smaller Alexander.
woolly heads clustering and it: while a heavy, 5‘
lumbering movement was rd in the sentry-

box beIO‘W. . ’ ..
” “ For de Lor’!" equalled the woman;-_“ a man»,

 

 

 

  
  
    
   
   
   
    
  
   

 

 

    

16

Shert-Stop Mag“ e. ,

 

an’gal danglin’ like grapes at de side ob do
towahl John Henry—John Henry Alexander!
Come onten dut box duh! Hui Miss Nettie am
eeder haugin‘ hersel’ or runniu’ off will a young
man, I dunno which.”

“Hui” And by this time- Alexander pert?
hove in sight, with an enormous cndgel in one
hand and a ponderous horse-pistol in the other,
with his yellow1sh—white eyes alumst popping
out of his head from under its tumbled, towsclcd
thatch of wool. “ Hui But Ilse on hau’, Ari-y-
ileum—Marian Let loose dezn pups, Sampson
Augustus Alexander! Sepharouia Martha Jun-
ettc, shct up Roscoe Washington Cleveland’s
iqugwk, orlll bu’st dat crust o’ yourn! Hul
lu’.

And he forthwith sprung to catch Nettie, who
was by this time suspended near the bottom of
the line, while Drusilla could scarcely refrain
from laughing from her perch on the last peg
down, notwithstanding her mortification and
chagrin.

“ Cease your ridiculous clamor, you old fool!”
exclaimed Nettie, furiously, as she dropped to
the ground, and waved the old negro back with
sovereign disdain. “ I’m still your wretched
captive, I suppose; but don’t you dare to lay
your hand on me!” ,

Hero Drusilla likewise attained terrafirma,
but before she could produce her revolver she
was roughly seized, and the young cannon of a.
horse‘pistol clapped to her head, whereupon
she again burst into her musical laugh.

“ Why. bress .ne, elf it ain’t anuder gal!”
roared the negro. “ Here, you Arrybeller-
Mariar, stop dat kid’s youpin’, an’ come down,
come duw n! Bressed eff it ain’t anudder young
leddy!"

Then the entire family were on the ground,

. one after another, in every stage of dishabille,

v, - and the noise and confusion were correspond-

‘ ingly increased.

" Yes, you are right there, John Henry,” said
a. fresh arrival, who had just stepped out of the

J adjoining forest. “ It is another young lady—
just the one I'm looking for at that. And it’s a
precious good thing for your old black hide,
John Henry, that this escape is thus nipped in
the bud. Back into the blockhouse with both of
them! And look sharp, all of you! You’ll
have a caged pet of mine to look after now, no
less than Fullhand's.”

' Drusilla had relieved herself of the negro's
grasp. and was now, while supporting the ter-
rified Nettie in the midst of the group, regarding
the new-comer with supercilious doubtlessneSS
[and contempt.

, “ Why, it is really that low cur, Bricks Hitch-

cock, alias pretty much everything else 1” she

» exclaimed, with pretended surprise. “Regard
the fellow well, Nettie, for he is without his
ruflanly mask now. You ought to remember
him as Mr. Fullhand’s fetch-and-carry in your
mother’s boarding-house. Though, to he sure,
his face is scarcely the same since the thrashing
Short-Stop has honored him with on the ball—

und. Come, In dear. It is obvious that
earn somewhat e trap in this distinguished
company-”

.‘ , Nettie, who was also a brave young woman,
thud caught something of her companion’s spirit,

and, as they passed of. their own volition into

“the blockhouse (since further resistance was not

to be thought of,) she even responded to the

baby’s outstretched hands, and bore him away
with her out of his mother’s arms.

Bricks had silently gritted his teeth, witha
dau rous look kindling under his beetle brows.

“ en them together in the one upper room!”
he growled to John Henry, with an oath.
“ And see to it, you black lunkhead, that
they’re both there when Fullhand and I call
here, later on, or it will be the worse for you!” ,

With that he strode away.

But the day lengthened, and the slow hours
passed over the young women’s heads in the

city prison-chamber, without either Fullhand
or his henchmen putting in an appearance.

“They won’t come till after today’s ball-
match,” said Drusilla at last. H‘That is doubt-
' -' less their intention. Oh, if I might but con-
 A front the scoundrels on the ground, and then

. bring the whole brave nine triumphantly to
younrescue, my dear Nettie!”

Before the latter could answer, there wasp.
scratching sound at the bottom of the door
(now kept locked on the outside), and Nettie
peeped through a. crack in it, while a. cautious
whisper reached them from without.

. She lifted a. joyful face. \
’f'lt is Sampson Augustus!” she exclaimed,

, under her breath. “ And he is trying topass in

z the key to us.” -

CHAPTER XXIV.
. saurson eueusrus.
- '- ’ Dnvsmu’s face also brightened up wonder-
fully on the instant.
a The oldest Alexander lad, Sampson Augustus,
a tough-built youth of twenty, had assisted his
" .mother to fetchinfi up breakfast and dinner to
the'primnere, and ' Egglaton, remembering
whatNettie had about his sympathetic dis-
, positian, had given him several eloquent and
We V ces bind the old woman’s
Jack; though she had smroely hoped that they

 

  
   
   
  
    
   
  
   
 
   
   
  
   
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
   
    
     
  
   
 
 
   

.1!

       

  
  

 

 

would be productive of so early a response as
was evidenced by his presence now in this en-
deavor to communicate With her companion and
herself.

Presently the key, an odd-looking piece of
crooked wire, was thrust under the door from
without.

“ Young ladies!” called out the colored friend
in need, in a. rusping whisper that Would have
discounted Tommy Dodd's stugiest and most
tragic aside .' “am you awake and respective
to do words I is about to prououndirutc?‘

“ YOS, yes!” was the double response: “ thor-
oughly wide—awoke, Sampson."

“ Dut wiah am a. skcleting key. it won’t
wuk on de look outside heah, but may be made
to wuk on (int side (lo douh. Young ladies,
does 0’ sagatiate my cxplornutionnmé”

“ es, yes!” replied Drusilla, at once setting
to work with the crooked wu‘e. “ Sampson,
you are a dear, good, kind-hearted young; man,
and you shall have our heartfelt prayers for
your kindness to us. Wait a minute—there!”

The look bad yields-d nt last, and, as the door
was opened, Sampson Augustus was revealed on
the threshold, with u grout, fluffy bundle of
something or other under his arm.

He was a. good—looking young fellow, with an
amiable, half«roguish expression, whose ruling
trait, however, was that of inordinate self-con-
sciousness.

He made his obeisanee, and then stalked into
the room with a stilted but feathery gait.

“ Young ladies,” he said, addressmg himself
more particularly to Miss Eggleston, “ I’se done
gone into dis job lib or die, surwive or perish,
bu’st or rust, dance or kick !”

“Yes, yes!” And both clamped their hands
delightedly. “ How good of you! What have
you got in that bundle! Can we both escape,
or only one at a time?"

He besonght silence with an impressive ges-
ture.

“ i done gone into dis job,” he repeated, “ wif
my life in de holler ob my han’. Dat am de
gospel troof, young ladies: for do ole man would
jess skin me alive, an’ pick out my bones for
jackstmws, eff he s‘pected dis t’ing. But I ain‘t
a-lookin’ fo’. rayers, young ladies; an’ prayers
ain’t de mou -waterin’ reward I’se a-bull’s-eycin’
fur, fur all dat I'se got a ’ligious streak in my
compersitionum.”

Not looking for prayers! Could it be possible
that the colored hero was looking for kisses in-
stead? Nettie was aghast with trepidation,
while even Drusilla. drew a long face. '

“Not looking for nrnyers!‘ she falterinle
echoed. “ Still, you’ll find us becomineg grate-
ful for your kindness, Sampson Augustus.
What is it you are hoping for asareward,”
in a slightly tremulous tone, “let me ask?”

Sampson Augustus elevated himself on his
toes, and reached out his disengaged hand and

arm with a graudly-arching, world~grasping ,

gesture.

“ I want to rise in de wuhld!” he blurted out,
ecstatically. “ I want do oppawchunity to do
somet’ing. to be somet’ing—-—to make my mahk
on do niche ob Fame!”

And then he went on passionately to set forth
his hard and obscure lot among the rest of the
contented but growling Alexanders, and to de-
pict in yet more glowing detail the hights of
aspiration that /he was so desirous of chamber-

in . -

ig‘ You sha’n’t be forgotten!” cried Nettie,
sympathetically. “ If I ever get back home
again, I'll make mammavhire you for a man-of-
all—work, or perhaps evnn to wait on the table.”

The youth’s eyes gleamed exultantly.

“ Or, better than that,”exclaime( Drusilla,
“ my brother Paul shall procure you a position
as target-bearer for a. rifle-company, or you
might even go as man-in-waiting on our base-
ball team!"

Here the aspiring coou’s eyes assumed saucer-
like proportions, and he seemed with difl'lculty
to abstain from executing a Guinea-Coast fan-
dango of delight then and there.

“I shall rise in do wuhld!" he gasped. “I
knowed it—I road it in do dictumary ob fate—
my fortun’ am in my han’! Here you is,
ladies!” "

He flung the folds of his bundle to the air. dis-
closing a. greasy calico morning wrapper of
voluminous proportions and astounding cut,
with an enormous sun-bonnet to match.

“What is that?" demanded both girls in a
breath. -

“ A disguise—mommy’s Sunday-gorm-meetin’
mawnin’-robel” was the highly satisfied re—
sponse. “Hurry up, young ladies! Big as it
is, dere’s only room for one in dat gahment.
Mommy’s new takin’ her sighwester, do young;
’uns am all playin’ ketcher—tag in do back yahd,
an' I done doubled dad’s arter—dinuah whisky-
dose, 30's I ’spect he am in de ohms of Omnibus
afore dis. But dab ain’t no time to disserpate.
Jess call me when you is ready fur (is ’tempt.
Dat young lady,”,indicating Drusilla, “well
make do bes’ how in de guisiu’ dress. I ’spect.”

But Drusil , who had wonderineg cough: up
a portion of the remarkable garment her
handsswpped him as be was modestly sidling
out of the room. _, _ , .

“ Wait, Sampson Augustus, wait!" she cried.

\« " »,‘

 

J

“ This thing will never do. It is big enough
around for half-a-dozen persons of my size.”

“ Can’t help dat mammy’s a bu’stin’ big
woman, she um. Ylou mought fill it out wif
pillers au‘ folder-beds. I’ll wait.
spu’. Hurry up!” ,

Then, as he finally effected his disappearance,
Nettie, in spite of the seriousness of the occmion,
threw herself on the bed, and laughed till she
cried.

Drusdla joined in her mirth somewhat more
moderately, but lost no time in investing lcrsvlt‘
\\ ith the preposterous disguise to the best 01 her
ability, which is not saying much for the milk
culties to be surmounted.

" That will do now, or it may be no laughing
matter for you presently, Nettie,“ she command-
ed at lust. “Come and assist me with this thing
at once. Throw me those two pillous, to bsgin
with; and you might as well pass along the ho!—
ster. too.”

Nettie complied, and. notwithstanding the
superlative-1y comical look gradually assumed by
her friend as the Sunday-go-to meetiu’ wrup and
sun-bonnet took shape and filling-out somewhat
in accordance with their original design, the risk
about to be ventured was paramount in the
minds of both.

“What is your plan?" she asked, while assist-
ing at some of the finishing tLuches. “ Tell me
in as few words as you can.”

“ To discard all this incumbrance in the woods
at the first opportunity,” was the reply. “ ’l'hen,
under Sampson's guidance, I ought to reach the
ball-ground inside of an hour, or. we will say,

No time to

just in the middle of to-day’s match—game."

“ Ab! and then?”

“ Can you ask, my poor dear? I shall instant—
ly confront and accuse the pseudo Delanccy and
that freckled ruflian before them all. And how
long after that before the nine avengers of the
Owensburg-team will be following we through
the woods to our rescue? Hardly long enough,
I fancy. for l e tar-and-feathering of those in-
famous men, which will have to wait for our re-
turn.”

Here the disguise was complete, and there
came a timid but urgent knock on the door from
Sampson Augustus.

There was a parting embrace and kiss, and
then Drusflla was gone under the escort of the
ambitious colored youth.

Nettie could scarcely find it in her heavy heart
to give a laughat the oddly caricatured figure
of her disappearing friend, and then she rushed
to the casement, to see how the pair would suc-
ceed in getting out of the Monk-house and past
the gpen door and window of John Henry’s sen-
try- ox. .

All went well until the latter test was reached,
when the gigantic warder stuck a bare foot and
Icsileep-touseled woolly head out of the sentry-

oor. ’

“Hyah, yo’ Arrybeller Maria!” he called out
drowsily; “ whah yo’ gwine wif dat bes’ gown
on? ’Splain yo’self, honey, or I’ll cave in dem
fat-upholstered ribs 0’ ourn !"

Tremblingly, Drusil a, while concealing the
whiteness of her hands in the bagging sleeves of
her disguise, pulled the sun-bonnet further over
her face, and, grumbling something hoarse]
inaudible in reply, hurried on toward the frien -

ly woods.

“ Whah’s de trouble wif yo’, dad?” called back
Sam son Augustus. “ Can’t mammy go a-
brac ~berryin’ wit me, widout yo’ interferenin?”
And he, too, hastened. .

“ Brack-berryiu’ at dis time 0’ year an’ in (lat
bes’ gown?” ye led John Henry, now suspicious—
ly wide-awake. “ Come back heah, yo brack
folks, 0’ I’ll hu’st ebbery squar’ inch 0’ yaller
hide on you’m bodies! Stop, I say !"

And they heard him shuffle out of the box like
an avalanche.

But by this time the forest-skirt was reached.

CHAPTER XXV.
DBUSILLA’S ESCAPE.

“HURRY up! Frow de dust in him eyes!”
cried Sampson Augustus, lending his aid to his
companion as soon as they were under cover.
“Eg’he only doan’t let do dogs loose, we am

“ But I really can’t hurry up !" puffed Dru-
silla, fairly burdened down with her absurd dis-
guise. “ He—he suspects something wrong al-
ready, I fear. I—I must really rid myself of
some—some of my stufiing before I can run!”

And here. as she floundered along, she began
to tear out and shed her upholstery, so to speak,
piece after piece, bit by bit. r

But just then all doubts as to John Henry’s
suspicious and intentions were set to rest.

“ Arrybeller Mariar, let loose dem houn’sl”
they heard him yell. “Napoleon Bismarck
Frederick. foller me wif dat shotgun! Soph-

aronia Martha Janette, help yo’ mommy to

dress! Hui
And then they heard him plunging. after them
in the underwood, with a sort of husky roar,
suggestive or a rhinoceros on the war-pat .,
But, somewhat with her companion fu tive’s
assistance, Drusilla was doin - swift wor with
her hands, if not so much wit her feet.

The sun-bonnet had been clsoarded. almost at -
‘ ‘ . V

the outset.

   
 
   

  

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- ...._...-......,..__...... ...,.,. .u...

.17

1‘

 

‘ Short-Stop Majo.

 

Then followed a pillow, then the bolster, until
the lust vestige of her fraudulent plethora van-
ished into thin air, and finally she bounded out
of the fluttering voluminousness of the prepos-
terous gown itself, in all the freedom of her
original masculinity, so to speak.

But all this bed consumed time, and the ogre-
like John Henry was already hard upon them,
while Napoleon Bismarck Frederick was heard
bringing up his rear with the dreaded artillery
in demand.

“ Hu 1” howled the firstiinmed. “ Oh, but I’ll
make you-’uns smoke! Sampson Augustus,
count dem panes 0’ you’ll inside dut brack hide,
fo’ Ilse get em bruk now 1”

“ Leah do ole map to me!” punted Sampson,
paling somewhat, but keeping up his nerve.
“ You take keer ob Nappy Bismarck, fur he um
de berry dobbil, nn’ do ole man‘s pet, to boot.”

Drusilla nodded and slowed up, while her
companion, suddenly spinning in his tracks,
lowered his head and darted intothe fatherly
stoninch of John Henry with the force of an an-
cient battering-ram.

Simultaneously with this, while the chief pur-
sner doubled up and went down with a snort
and n grunt, she drew her revolver, and dis—
charged it over Napoleon Blsmarck Frederick’s
head.

The latter howled, jumped high in the air as
if mortally wounded, throw away the shot—gun,
and dashed straight on through the forest, squal-
ling shrilly at the top of his lungs until out of
sig t.

Drusilla snatched up the gun, discharged it in
the air, and then broke the stock to pieces b
dashing it against a. tree; and meantime the be -
lowing and gasping John Henry’s helplessness
had been rendered complete by his hOpel’ul son
tangling him up, neck and heels, in the flutter-
ing remains of Arrybellcr Mariar’s Sunday-go-
to-meeting Emery.

“ Come!” cried Sampson, once more seizing
Drusilla‘s arm. and they continued their flight
together. “Doan’t yo’ henr dem houn’sl How-
somdever, leab ’em to me i“

Fifty paces further on, the bounds, four in
number, with their terrible deep—mouthed bay-
ings resounding through the wood, were at their
very heels.

Drusilla, in common with the prevailing im-
pression, had always associated blood—hounds
with a deadly and awful significance beyond
their deserts.

As the haying-s increased in volume, and she
looked back to perceive the rod-tongued, open-
jawed animals close at hand, she screamed, and
rushed to a. tree, where she clung, terrified and
trembling, for support. half-expecting to feel
their cruel fangs the next instant in her flesh.

But Sampson Augustus, doubtless with his
plantation traditions in mind, was quite equal
to the occasion.

Suddenly confronting the dogs, he lowered
his head, placed his hands to his knees, and,
imitating pretty faithfully the cry they were
giving tongue to, leaped fearlessly straight in
among them.*

The effect upon the dogs was both instantane-
ous and surprising. '

ter a moment’s recoil, they circled be-
wilderedly around, and then began to fawn
upon both fugitives and accept their caresses-—
though tremulously bestowed in Drusilla’s case,
as we may well believe.

“ That will do!” said Sampson, at last: and
the flight was resumed, somewhat more leisure-
ly than at the outset, while the (logs, after fol-
lowing aimlessly fora. while, dropped off, one
by one. among the surrounding thickets.

“What’s done become ob dat little debbil,
Napolleon Bismarck Frederick?” he presently
aske< .

Drusilla explained the manner of the youth’s
evanishment, and expressed a fear lest he
mirht precede their arrival at the ball-ground,
an carry a warning of the wrath to come, or
stored in keeping for Fullhend and Curvesbot
Baldcr. , _

" I done ho a not,” said Sampson. scratching
his head. " done _hope dat dat brack little
(lehbil, Napoleon Bismarck Frederick am too
much oh 9. ijiot to t’ink out all dut wifout bein’
primed.”

t 1I:Iowever, he unfortunately proved to be mis-
a 'en.

The second match-gamewith the Hudson City

team had just been concluded, with victory for

the Owensburgers, when the fugitives, foot—sore;

panting and streaming with perspiration, made
their appearance.

“ Here’s Smithy l" shouted TommyDodd, toss-
ing n his bat. “ Hurrah! I told you she—he
would) turn up all'right with care.’?

Drusilla had rushed in among the victorious
Colle 6 Nine, regardless of the spectators. and
was firendy in the welcoming grasp of Short-
Stop, Paul, Chris Payne and Mr. Barfield, who
were grouped together.

“ Fullband ~Delancey'— Curveshot Bolder!”
were her first gasping words. “Seize them--
arrest them! I have been With Miss Moore—

~.....

" A ruse mere. than once successfully noticed I)
fugitive slaves in the swamps of the uthwest ii;
ante beam» days—Amen. . .

 

 

her rescue depends upon the instant arrest of
those scoundrelsl Where are they? I do not
see them.”

But both the men inquired for bad suddenly
quitted tm grounds a few minutes previously,
after receiving a whispered message from a.
Small negro lad, breathless and covered with

ust.

Drusilla, upon receiving this intimation, made
a gesture cf despair.

“ Too late! baffled!” she cried.
doubtless again be lost to us.”

And then, in a few words. somewhat assisted
by interjections from Sampson Augustus, she
told of her adventure.

“ We can’t be too Intel" cried Mr. Burfielgl.
“ Come along, all of you! I know the way to
the block-house. To think of that having been
the youugludy's prison! Come on; we may yet
be in time.”

Short-Stop then took it upon himself to orcau~
ize the rescuingparty out of hand, while Dru-
silla, confided to the care of Miss Barfleld,
reluctantly resigned herself to being carried oil?
for rest and refreshment, though she insisted on
being still attended by Sampson Augustus, much
to that faithful youth’s delight.

Then a great shout went up from the grounds.
The story of Drusilla’s adventure, together with
much that is signified in connection with the
fair captive of the block-house tower, had gone
abroad like wildfire. And as the college aven-
gers rushed of]! into the woods under Mr. Bar-
fleld’s guidance, they were accompanied by a.
large gatherin of townspeople.

Too late! he block-house was found in
flames, with scarcely‘a last lingering trace of
its recent inmates, white or black.

“ Nettie will

 

CHAPTER XXVI.
DISAPPOINTMENT.

“I CAN’T and sha’n’t believe it!” exclaimed
Drusilla Eggleston, when the news of the non~
success of the rescuing expedition was brought
to her, late in the evening, at Mr. Barfield’s.
“Nettie gone—all the Alexanders gone—the
block—house itself disappeared in smoke and
flame! There wasn’t time for such a thing,
even with Fullhaud and Bricks tenfold as des-
perate and energetic as they wally are. Im-
possible!”

But it was sorrowfully forced upon her by the
chief actors in the attempted rescue, all of whom
Were present.

A little later Drusilla and Short-Stop were
conferring apart from the rest.

Drusilla was now in her own proper charac-
ter, looking her best in a. charming but simple
evening toilette, albeit there were indignant
tears in her splendid eyes.

“What was the result of your interview with
‘Mr. Delancey’ at the Fullhand villa?" she
asked.

“It amounted to nothing of importance,” was
the reply. “He seemed chiefly desirous of
sounding me as to our futuri- plans of ursuit.”

“ You did not unmask him then an there, or
let ,know the extent of your penetration?”

. o.

“ And those mysterious shots from the shrub-
beryl”

“ They were not repeated."

“,Ab. of coure not! since their perpetrator—
the scoundrel Bricks. Without a. doubt—was at
that time‘throttling Master Thespiano Dodd,
and dragging him back through the~wood, un-
der the ridiculous impression that it was I once
more within its clutch.”

“ That is about it.”

“What did you think of my continued ab-

, sauce?”

“Tommy came back, with a rather confused
account of his adventure, as we were about re-
turning to Mr. Barfleld’s house. Your brother
and Mr. Barfleld were greatly alarmed over
your mysterious disappearance, but I managed
to quiet them with the assurance that you doubt-
less knew what you were about, and would take
care of yourself." .

"You really thought that?”

“Not exactly; but I let them think so.”

A faint flush came into Drusilla’s fair cheeks,

and her eyes softened, though she went on firm-
ly with her queries. .

“ Then Master Dodd could give you no idea of
the block-house?” ~

“ No; he was too confused for other than the
“1031? general description of his adventure. Had

‘ the block-house been so much as hinted at, Mr.

Barfield’s suspicions would have doubtless been
aroused at once, as to the pessibility of its being
Miss Moore’s prisou~house, and we would have
hastened to the rescue then and there.”

” What do you think of‘what I have told you
of my share in Nottie’s captivity l"

“ From other lips than yours. and without the
charred remains of‘ the block-house itself as
corroboration I should be tempted to set it
down as»: fiction of the imagination.”

“ It would. indeed. Seem so. In fact; it seems
more like a dream than reality. even to me, now
that I look back upon‘it. How do you account
for the evanishment of the tower’s inmatesin
such surprisingly short order?” ‘

“ I don’t attempt toaocount for it. Fullhand

 

I

f and Bricks must have bestirred themselves with
little less than su ernatural activity directly on

i the heels of their riot warning, beswles having

facilities at their command of which we can

have but slight conception. That is all that can

be said."

“ Public indignation must be furious against
them hereabouts.”

“ It is. Miss Moore's misfortune, together
with pretty much everything connected with it,
is now common property. The Scoundrels
might have u taste of Lync law, if caught.”

“ A regular hue and cry?”

“ Yes. They advise me to put the matter in
the hands of the authorities, but I tell them that
our ayengers Will manage the alfair in their own »
way. ' l 1'

“I am glad you stick to that. The law moves
slowly, while we are independent, with not a.
flutter of red tape to trammel us. besides having
(13M Fplcon for our mentor, leader and fountain-

earl.
b “T’hank you, Miss Eggleston; I shall do my
est.

“ Which will be equivalent to forty detective

bests of the ordinary kind—~more or less."
‘ “ You compliment me too highly." 'v .

“ Not at all. What traces have Fullhand
and Bricks left behind them here in the town?”

“ Almost none worth mentioning. The villa.
is already hermetically sealed, with only a ser-
vant or two .in charge. closo»mouthed as the
grave. Curveshot’s belongings have mysterious—
ly disappeared in his wake from the hotel where
he was staying.”

“ Sol then the remaining ball-matches are 01!,
at this point?”

‘i As a matter of course. Our rivals here are
perfectly furious over the conduct of their late
manager, and have eagerly consented to cancel 7
the remaining games at my request.” . ' 

“ Whither do on incline to think Miss Moore
has now been spirited away?”

“ Southward along the river-line. if not into
New York City itself.” » - , x

“ What shal be your next move?” ,

"‘ I have already telegraphed fora. match with
a fine local team. at Péekskill. where it is under-
stood that Fullhand has another fine villa. An
answer should come presently. The wild and '
picturesq'pe scenery thereabouts would argue a
second c oice, on the master-scoundrel’s part.
for the concealment of his fair victim in that,
quarter.” . - v

” Good] Now tell me what you think of what ~
Nettie told me as to Fullhand’s notion of bring-
ing his alleged kinswoman‘ on the scene—mean-
ing, most likely, the Vavassour woman?”

“ Ahl my old acquaintance, Blonds Florine, ‘ .
that I told you of?” > ‘

u Yes 7)

3‘4,“ ‘ 

u mm b.’ a... a mama...“

  
   
 
   
   
 
    
    
 
 
 
 
   
   
 
  
    
  
    
  
  
   
  
  
 

“ Letxus wait. I may not have done with the '
Vavassour yet, and she ma prove-of more‘use
to me than to the Zorilla S lver Mine president _
himself.“ ‘

Here one of Mr. Berfield’s servants entered
the little parlor in which they were conferring,
and, after saying that a. strange lady visitor was.
in waiting for an interview, ended the detec-
tive a card. ‘ ‘

The latter glanced at the address, passed it to
Mrs: Eggleston, and made answer to the ser-
van 2

“ The lady is in the reception-room, I pre-
sume. Say that Miss Eggleuton and I will not
kee her waiting.” ' i

T 9 domestic retired. ,

Drusilla looked up with additional surprise. .

The card in her hand bore the address: ‘ 

" Mun. Fromm n: Vnussotm."

“ An odd coincidence I” observed Short-Stop,
smiling. -

“ Indeed it is. But why should I accompan
you in the interview demanded?"

“ I wish you to know the woman—perhaps for
future reference.” _ ‘

“But will she not think it intrusive on my ,
part, or—” ‘ \‘ '

“Never mind what La Vavassour‘thinks, or ‘
liave’it tome. Now, if you please, Miss EggIc- ~
s on. - ‘ , z. _, .- *

And the young lady was forthwith introduced,
to the VlEltOI'. with a few truthful remarks“ 
her interest in the leagued euterprln on foot.

“And now, my dear Florine, ’ continued the _
detective, with his accustomed serenity, after .
the trio were comfortably ouped, seated, and 
in awmeasture fete a tete, ‘ what can we do for
you. ' ' ,j ,
The visitor had hit her lips resentfully—pree
sumably at this familiarity of address in Miss * .
Egcleston’s presence. ,

Albeit in traveling dress, she mguperbly at-
tired with her accustomed expensiveness and
fine taste. I

“ I wished to see you alone, Mr. Falcons
bridge,” Madame Vavassour said, gently, but;
pointedly. . t »  ‘

“And you can’t have your Wish, which is the
end of the matter. Miss Eggleston is present M51
pyggpecial request. Are you here as friend or

m ” 5. .

r

 

f M3. Vavassohr elevated her hat;de ._
or erewasnow a. suggefiono pom hide ;
Tues: in the detective’a tone and manner. 9’ . '

 
 

4', '
’1':

   
 

‘Ihould not biasyouagainst

18

Short-StOp Made.

 

 

CHAPTER XXVII.
BLONDE FLORINE.

“ A FRIEND to you, as a matter of course, Old
Falcon,” Mrs. Vavassour nevertheless replied,
with amiable promptitude. “ Would I be so
imprudent as to present myself here in any other
characterl”

“ I should hope not,” replied the detective.
“ But you are a bold woman, Blonde Florine."

“ Why do you address me thus?” she demand-
ed, at last thoroughly incensed. “Is it gentle-
manly?”

“ It is business.”

_ “"1 shall have to beg you to explain yourself,
sir.

“ With pleasure. Miss Eggleston, together
with the rest of my associates, is directly inter-
ested in tracking home certain crimes to this
rascal, Fullhand, who is, or has been, your——
shall I say husband, or confederate?”

“ Both, if on choose.”

“ Good! ell, it is therefore necessary that
a lady like Miss Eggleston should, under the
circumstances, become acquainted with a—ah—
person like yourself. Moreover, it is my wish.
Are you satisfied?”

“ More than that—charmed, delighted, trans
ported, my dear major!” And the woman so
far dis uised her mortification as to make an
ironical y elaborate courtesy to Miss Eggleston,
who was not without embarrassment on her
part. “ Ah! quite an unexpected pleasure, I
am sure !”

“Enough of this!” And the detective made
his abrupt gesture that could be so significant.
“ What do you know or hear of Fullhand i”

“That he would doubtless be mobbed, if at
present in this town. It seems to be the only
talk at the hotel, where I am newly arrived.”

“ You are not here, then, agreeably to some
appointment with him?"

“ I should say not!”

“ For what purpose, then?"

“To confer with you.” '

“Ah! tired of Owensburg seclusion already,
though you seemed over-anxious to retain it,
on caractere, when last we met?”

"I was not tired of it. On the contrary, it
ligreed with me.”

“But you were still the rich Madame Vav-
assour with Mrs. Moore’s fashionable boarders?"

“ Barring the wealth—yes.”

' “ "blige me by not being enigmatical, Flo-
rine.

“ Ex lanations are ea. . The lar t bank
check Iphad at my disposgl’ proved to grworth-
leis—no money in bank.”

“ Ahl and you had doubtless received it from
Fullgand’?” H pad

es; or 9 es sna .

Short-Sm rubbed hisphands.

“ Well, F orine, and now whither away?”

“ In the first place, to New York to pawn my
jewels; though I have some money left—a bag-

e.

“ Well, and after then l”

“can you ask?" The gloved hands in her
lap clinched suggestively. “ When a man, who
once professed to love and admire me, delib-
erately tries to compromise me with a worthless
check, and then kidnaps a younger woman for
his consolation, my thoughts are very forgiving,
as a matter of course?"

“Pshaw! this won’t do. You have been in
money troubles time and time again, and Full-

! hand can’t aflord  break with you perma-

nengy.”
“ our old distrust of me, oh!”
H Yes 7V

“Falconbridge, I hate that man enough to
send him to the gallows. if in my power!”

“ ‘ Words, words. words!’ as Hamlet says.” '

“ By Heaven, I’ll prove it! or, at least, I
want to, if you will let me. That is why I have
followed you here for this interview. That,
and one other embarrassment.”

“What other?”

“ Iam without a maid—a deprivation I can-
not accustom myself to.”

“ Style, or nothin , eh?"

“ As you pleaSe. ut spare me your sarcasm,
I beg! My French hussy ran 01! with my best
ear-rm this _mornlng. The rat had doubtless
dee the ship to be sinking, or no longer sea-
worthy.‘ Well, 1 am in hopes of sup lying her
place With some honest country miss Rom here-
abouts, who at the same time shall be sumcient-
1y sophisticated to dress my hair and not bore
me with pronounced awkwardness. But. all
this is irrelative. Shall you trust me taco-oper-
ate! And. if so, what shall I do for you in
New York?”

:“ Wait a bit. Miss Moore, thou h still in
Fullhand’s gras , has been sligh y ‘ inter-
viewed.’ He epo e to her once of companioning

1 her captivity with an elegant woman of the

world, a relative of his-ewdently meaning the
irre reachable Mrs. ~Vavasour—vwho, he was
con dent, would-ultimately persuade the dis-
oonsolate child to become his bride, without
an more nonsense.”

lands _Florine exhibited an astonishment
thatwas either genuine, or a most adroit piece

of acting.
“ I understand your drift,” steam, “buthit
me. course, e

 

 

could have referred solely to me—the impudent,
confident, unconscionable villain! Elite.”

“ Never mind going further. I’ll absolve you
from collusion in the matter, Florine.”

“ Thank on.” a

“ And I shall trust you—at least to a certain
extent.”

“ Still better !”

; “ Mr. Barfleld, our host here, on ht to be luf-
flciently well acquainted to know 0 some desira-
his young woman that you might give a trial to
as the maid you require.”

“Indeed, hope so.”

“ It shall be attended to. Then you will go
direct to New York.”

“ If you wish it. ”

“ I do. Both President Fullhand and Secre-
tary Moore are unaccountath absent at the
same time from the Zorilla offices, or were so
until very recently. Find out the cause of it,
and report to me. ’

“ I shall do it!” And Mrs. Vavassour pre-
pared to rise, with a look of satisfaction.

“ Wait! What were you intending to do,
after your visit to New York?”

" To seek out Fullhand at Peekskill, where he
has his finest country-house, that I am fortu-
nately familiar with.”

“ Excellent! We likewise go to Peekskill
from this place. Report to me at the best hotel
there. One other thing. My curiosity is ex-
cited. How does Fullhand, even if richer than
reputed, manage the expense of so many coun—
try seats?"

“ I am glad to be able to explain. It is less
expense to him than it appears. In addition to
his other schemes, he is a cunning dabbler in
real estate. These villas are either not his own
at all, or only in part, and as the agent for
their sale. His pretensions to proprietorship,
and keepin them stocked with furniture, ser-
vants and t e like, are but part and parcel of
shrewd tactics to dispose of them for crack sums;
and, to my own knowledge, he has already re-
alized larglely in this way.”

“ Good uslness-tact, that, and not soillegiti-

ate either. Thanks! Good-evening, Florine.”

She lapghed.

“ One minute now, on in
Falconbridge, if you please.
ous.”

“ That is but fair. What are you puzzled
over?"

“ Fullhand’s desirousness to marry the young
lady he has abducted.”

“ Ah! but is she not so attractive as is re-

med?”

p0 .

“ Pshaw! what of that? I have had cod
looks in my own day, but it was never t ose
that mafitimd Montague Full’hand to my side.
I had a nanza out of the old Lottery Fraud,
of which you have some recollection.” (With a
defiant look at Miss Eggleston, who was main-
taining a retired attitude). “ And after he had
spent that for me—spent it like a hurricane—1
had money-making talents which he deignsd to
find usefu .” ‘

“Well, that is it—the money.”

“But Miss Moore’s mother keeps a boarding-
house.”

‘ “There isafortune in the Zorilla belon ing
to them—an inheritance—if the worthy presi ent
and the mysterious secretary, Nettie’s half-
uncle, haVen’t already made way with it.”

Mrs. Vavassour opened her eyes, and it was
evident that she was enlightened.

“Pray do not forget to speak to the gentle-
man about a maid or me, ’ she said, risiii to
go. “ It is yet soearly in the evening, I s all
sit up for an hour or two, in the bilit of
some one appl ing for the place to-night. am
reall lost wit out my maid.”

“ t shall be attended to.”

And then she had floated out of the room,
with the air ofa duchess, and just the barest
monition of Miss Eggleston’s presence.

Then the servant entered with a tale am.

“ The Peekskill team accepts,”said t e detec-
tive, scanning the dispatch, when the man had
gone. “ Pity you can t be present at the . me
or games we shall play them, Miss Egglesto .”

She looked at him in surprise.

“ But I shall be present, as a matter of
course.”

“ Oh, no; just the contrary.”

“ But why not?"

“ You will be Madame Vavassour's lady’s
maid.” '

And then he laughed at her blank amazement.

“ Is that your new plan, then?”

it Yes]?

“ Well, I suppose it is a fine thing,” good-
humoredly. “And I suppose I must obey or-
ders. Lucky, too. that my features were almost
instantly in the deep shadow while she was

ere.

account, Major
also can be curi-

__—.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
ran marinas u rammn.

IT was toward the close of the second match-
with the Peekskill team. the first of which

ad beeneleverly ,won by the Owensburgers,
with a fresh victory in prospect, when Short-
Stop. Maje, ina momentary respite from or.

-

 

duous and telling work, received a significant
signal from Sam n Augustus Alexander, who
had been duly ta en in tow as a sort of travel-
ing steward, valet in ordinary, or chief cook and
bottle-washer of the touring College Nine.

Short-Stop responded with a gesture, and was
then almost instantly merged, heart, hand, foot
and brain, in the filial struggle, which proved to
be the rubber inning, with victory once more
upon the visiting team’s standard.

“ You chaps are the Traveling Terrors l” cried
the leader of the defeated nine, good—naturedly
grasping Short-Stop’s hand, in the customary
hurrahing that followed. “ I shouldn’t wonder
if you’d next get a defi from some of the crack
New York boys. It’s a mighty poor chance we
have with you.” '

“ Don’t forget the fighting chance left you for
to—morrow,” was the genial reply; and then the
detective hurried away to join the negro lad.

The latter was vain as a Haytian bri adier,
in a base-ball costume of bright red annel,
white belt, striped blue-and-white cap, and yel—
low—and-white checkered stockings (his own se-
lection, and the donutive gift of the college team,
at Miss Eggleston’s special request,) in which he
moved, posed and scintillated here and there,
much to his own gratification, and like an
unique and most preposterous bird of an. impos—
sible feathered species.

“Madame Pompydore am at de hotel, yo’
Honah,” was Sampson Augustus’s grandiloqnent
announcement, accompanied by a military
salute such as was, for flourishing bombast,
never seen before on land or sea.

“ Vavassour, you probably mean,” returned
the detective, leading the way in the direction
of the hotel.

“ Dat’s de cognomeron, boss,” continued Samp-
son, striding grandly but respectfully at his
side. “ Mistah Dodd am doin’ de honahs wif de
ladies, boss.”

“ Ladies, eh i”

“ Yas, boss; Madame Pompysore, an’ de
sweetest lady’s-maid in all do lan’ what all do
time uts me in min’ of somebody dat I kinder
see’d fo’, an' yet I carn’t say whar.”

“ That will do for the present, Sampson,” and
the latter was dismissed at the hotel door.

“ I’se on de rise in de wuhld!” he guffawed to
himself, while retracing his iridescent steps in
the direction of the ball-ground. “I’se on do
rise, shuh!” . .

A few minutes later, havmg changed his dress
and made himself generally presentable (though
not, as he had to acknowledge in secret, espou-
ally for the Vavassour’s sake) the detective en— ,
tered the parlor, in which r. Tommy' Dodd
was making himself a reeahle to the lady and
her new maid with a eatrical dignity that was
all his own.

He quickly beat a retreat, however, on catch-
ing his principal’s eye, med then. as Drnsdla in
her new character also disappeared With a de-
mure air, business was on foot.

“ Well?” demanded Short-St op, abru tly.

Blonds Florine was looking at her st, but
she knew better than to air her graces at this
moment.

“I wentto the Zcrilla, with whose offices I
am not unfamiliar,” was her tprompt response.
“ It was in the morning, ap President Full-
liand was ex cting a meeting of the Board of
Directors. Wight again in the afternoon. Full-
liand had disappeared and the secretary, Mr.
Montgomery, who had been absent at my first
visit, represented him."_ _ _ _

“Always thus! One invISihle, while the other
is visible—never both seen together l”

“Are you sure as to that?”

“As to my own experience, yes. You must
have frequently visited the ofiices in your
time?"

“ Naturally.” ' i

“ And have you ever seen both president and
secretary together?”

“ Not that I recollect, now as I turn the mat-‘
ter over in my mind.” _ _ I

“ Well," with a gesture dismissive of that
branch of the subject, “ what did you make out
of Fullhand l” . .

“Five hundred dollars.” With a slightly ex—
ultant flush.

“Ah!” (

“Yes; as I didn’t raise quite the row he had
doubtless anticipated, he seemed disposed to

enerosity. Moreover, he had to buyback that
gas check he had given me.”

“ What did you make out of him in the other
sean to Miss Moore‘s whereabouts!”

“ Nothing.”

“ hat wasn’t much.”

“ ell, I didn’t press him painfully on the
point. And he seemed becomineg grateful on
that account; and, moreover, there was a sort
of lurking» devil in his eye that deterred me.”

“ What impression did you obtain?” .

“ Merely t at he now quite the city evem
evening—probably to come ii here. At
events, his club and other city at! seem to
know him not of evenings any more than here-
tofpre of late.” :

d“¥es; and Dorinda was of a like implies.
on. a
“ Who the deuce is Dorinda’i”

!

I

;~a

 

 

s

   

.. “am”. . ..... _....~ -» :—-~.::.-:;:-—- ~:.—~-—-.==m

Short-Stop Maj e.

v—v www.m“HwMu

19

 

 

 

“ My new maid. Didn’t you notice her as
she was quittin r the room!”

“ Not particu arly."

“ She’s handsome enough, in all conscience,
though, for a wonder. I'm not a particle jealous.
I am indebted to Mr. Barfleld’s recommenda-
tion for such a treasure.”

“ Ah! you were looking for a new maid up
there at Hudson 3”

“ Yes; and Doriuda Jones is just a gem. But
she is a perfect lady, for all her rustic training,
and I make more of a companion of her than a
lady’s-maid.”

“ So! Then Florinda accompanied you to the
Zorilla?"

“ Yes; or rather Dorinda did.”

“ Well, Fullhand‘s country house here seems
to be wholly deserted; and neither he nor
Bricks has put in an appearance at either of
our games.”

“ That is hardly strange, considering the up-
river row. However, Fullhand might be visit-
ing his villa nightly, for all of its apparently
deserted appearance. I know that house.”

“ Pay it a visit, then, this evening.”

“ Of course, directly after supper.”

“ However, I don’t apprehend that he can
have hidden Miss Moore away in the house."

“ Hardly; but the rounds attached are rocky,
wooded and wild, fu of queer nooks.”

“ Well, make your visit this evening. I sha’n’t
be far away.”

“ That is settled. Are you beginning to have
full confidence in me, Old Falcon?”

“ Will let you know tomorrow.”

“ Still suspicious! However, how can I
blame you? Wait!” as he rose to go. “ A
sudden idea strikes me, and, oddly enough, ‘for
the first time."

“ What is it?”

"Might not Hitchcock-Bricks and the secre~
tary of the Zorilla Company be one and the
same? The man is better at character-acting
and disguises than Fullhand himself.”

Short-Stop thought a moment, and then slow-
ly shook his head.

“ I think not. However, the suggestion is
worth second thoughts.”

“Confess that it now occurs to you for the
first time.” 7

“ I do that; the credit is with yourself, Belle
Florine." '

“No, it isn’t by rights: but with my maid,
Dorinda, who ori inated it.”

“ The deuce! ought to know this Dorinda
better. Suppose you send her to me.

“ Certainly; and, as there is yet an hour to
spare before su per, I shall, in the mean time,
take a stroll in t 6 direction of the villa. But
you must promise not to fall in love with my
new maid.”

“ My worst enemy has never charged me with
susceptibility in that line.”

Florine laughed as she withdrew, and pros-
ently, as the detective perceived her passing
along the street from his station at the parlor
window, he found himself alone with “ Do-
rinda.”

She was looking particularly charming in the
mingled demureness and animation of her new
character, with its jaunty little lace-cap and
half-rustic dress, that was in excellent keeping
with her dark and earnest beauty, and the de-
tective was secretly much flattered by the shy
anxiety for his approval with which she re-
sponded to his cautious greeting and accepted
his outstretched hand.

“ You are looking splendidly!” he exclaimed.

“ Then I am out of character,” replied Dru-
silla, smiling. “ I should only be looking lady’s-
maidedly.” _ -.

H on, but you are doing as wall as you look;
and no masquerading could hide your beauty,
you know.”

Drusilla had never seemed to like compliments,
though she was not particularly displeased on
this occasion.

“I have filled my new character to the best of
my ability,” she hastened to say, in a. business-
like tone; “ and withput my true character he-
'n sus cted as yet. a
l ‘5 Lisifin.” And the detective forthwith re-
peated the substance of Florine’s reportnalmost
verbatim. “ How does that tally With the
truth?" , ,

“ Perfectly. Everything has chanced Just as
she has said."

“ Good! Whatdo you think of the Vavassour,
in a , eneral way?”

“ he has many amiable traits, though some-
what loom-principled. Ilikem mistress” (With
a smile) “fairly well, though e is not the sort
of woman With WhomI could care tobe inti-
mate or sympathetic.”

“Of course not; that stands to reason.”

“Mrs. Vavasmur treats me very kindly—so
much so that I am sometimes ashamed of the
does ‘on I am practicing upon her.” ‘

“ but no harm is intended her; besides,
she ought to be used to that sort of thing. Her
lifehas been one of make-believes and decep-
tioan adventuress’s career.”

“ That doesn’t excuse double-dealing;a I shall
malt; up to‘ her for it, when all shall ve been

med. _
- ere there was a trembling knock on the door.

 

CHAPTER XXIX.
THE san'r CAUGHT UP AGAIN.

As the detective opened the door Sampson
Augustus presented himself, and in rather a
comically pitiable plight.

He was as pale as his color would permit, his
knees were knoeklng together, and all this, in
conjunction with his kaleidoscopic costume, was
both striking and incongruous.

“What the devil do you want?" demanded
Short-Stop, seeing that the terrified lad seemed
scarcely capable of speaking.

“Dat’s it, Mnrse Short-Stop—-de debbil!” be
tremblingly ejaculated. “ I done jess see’d him
on do street! Oderwise, w’u’d I persume on
follerin’ yo’ in froo (le hotel? Not much, boss;
not fur de biggest rise in de wuhld dat ebber
was!”

“ You have just seen the devil on the street?”
growled the detective, while Drusilla controlled
her countenance with difficulty.

“Yas Marse Short-Stop; it am dc troof—de
Gos el, ymn-book troof!"

“ hat sort of a devil?”

“ De ole man—my ole dad, John Henry
Alexander!” And then Sampson Augustus
collapsed against the side of the door for sup—

‘1‘ Che!”

And then, after the few particulars of John
Henry’s apparition had been evoked. Sampson
was dismissed with instructions to keep out of
range until after dark: and Tommy Dodd, on I
being summoned, was forthwith put on John
Henry’s trail, with orders to report progress at
the earliest moment.

“ This is good news," commented the detective,
on returning to Drusilla in the parlor. “ Where
this old negro is, Miss Moore’s new prison-house
cannot be very far away.”

“That is true," re lied Miss Eggleston, at
once greatly interesw . “Oh, if we can only
get on Nettie’s track again, with so little de-

“ You will doubtless assist in the work, as be-
fore. But to return to our subject. What of
Blonde Florine‘s intentions with regard to me?”

“ I am quite certain that she means and wants
to act in thorough good faith.”

“ But as to her pretended hatred for Full-
hand i”

“ That I would place less reliance upon."

“ Ah, I thought so.”

“ She perhaps thinks she hates him, and wants
to hate i ; ut I doubt if she ever forgets
that she once loved him, and she perhaps loves
him still.”

“ Ah, just the way with women!”

“ I am afraid it is.”

“ But this is the question: Will her resent»
ment extend to her cooperating with us against
Fullhandi”

“ As lon as Miss Moore remains in his power,
yes. undou tedly.”

“ Well, that will be sufficient. You think I
can then rely on her good faith?”

“ To this extent, yes.”

“ Good! that will do.”

“There is one thing, however, that you ought
to know.”

“ I am duly expectant. Miss Eggleston.”

“ There is some sort of mystery in the Zorilla.

management, of which I am sati this wo-
man knows more than she pretends.” I .
"Ah! you refer to the company's precident

and secretary never being seen together?”
a Yes it

“ Make yourself easy. Florine herself was
honest enough to throw out a suggestion in
that regard.

“ What was it, please?”

“That the secretary and Bricks might be one
and the same.”

“ Preposterousl That would not obviate the
two oflcials being seen in each other’s company.
Besides, is there not a facial characteristic that
could never be successfully counterfeited, to a
woman’s eyes. by the best of mimics, of which
assuredly that coarse fellow, Bricks-Hitchcock-
Baldwin-Balder:Curveshot, or whatever else he
may call himself. is assuredly not one.”

“I supposo so; and yet Florine‘s eyes are a
woman’s eyes, and it was she that offered the
suggestion.”

“ A suggestion thatshe could not in realit
entertain for a moment. That is the warning
would convey.”

“ Thank you. I begin to understand. She
may know the real secret. and yet while honest-
ly eager to assist us in Miss Moore’s deliverance,
be willing to mislead me in this one regard.”

“ Exactly.”

“Ab! and she has enough lingerin tender-
ness for Fullhand to keep a loophole_ or his es-
cape after he shall have been deprived of the
young girl whom she doubtless regards as her
rival?"

“ That is it. I think.”

“ Good! Not unpardonably woman-like: and
we shall know just how far to trust La. Belle
mange 3301:1119, and no further.”

es ’

“_Tell.me your own impressions of this mys-
terious secretary, Nettie’s half-uncle, Mr. Mont-
gome Moore ” ‘

 

“ lending of the bull, the tiger and the

 

fox, but completely masked to penetration by-
disheveled gray hair and heard, with the single
exception of the eyes. Those are restless, cun- .
ning, steel-gray and voracious—much the same-
eyes as Fullhand’s, but without the self-confi-
dent, ordinary good-nature in keeping with the
latter’s smooth-shavcn bonhomie and sleekness..‘
Otherwise, a shabbilv—dressed, rim and secret
31d m’an, putting one in mind 0 the Wandering
ew.

“Aha! an excellent characterization. for I
have had two or three glimpses of the old fellow
m self."

‘Waitl Ihaveitnow. Delanceyi The score--
tary looks not unlike Fullhand in his Delaucey‘
personation.”

“ Better and better. He, that is, Fullhand, is
a deep one. He doubtless modeled his disguise-
from the life-study."

it Yes.”

“ Well, we make some discoveries tonight.
Isn’t that the supper-bell?”

“It has an edible intonation,” replied Dru-
silla with her smile, whose beauty no masquer-
adin could wholly disguise.

“ es; and here is the Vavassour returning
from her reconnaissance. Let her lead in every—
thing, and try to keep up the lady’s—maid fiction
till in your own judgment it can be of no more
avail.”

“ Certainly."

Then Florine reappeared.

“ I ,have reconnoitered the lace," said she.
without appearing to think anyt ing of the time
that “ Dorinda ” and the detectivo had evidently
been conferring together. “ Two or three of
the house-rooms are occupied, in spite of the

enerally sealed-up appearance of everything.

if that I am satisfied. Come and make the
ready for supper, Donnda. I can Bee Mr.
Falconhridge later on, and talk over a certain
plan of mine.”

The arlor was one room of a small suite that
Mrs. avassour had engaged, and, as the detec‘
tive tmk his de artnre, “ Dorinda ” followed
her mistress 'wit becoming demureness and
alacrity into the adjoining rooms.

Short-Stop was on his way to the hotel supper-
room, whence he could hear his rollicking base-
ball associates already at their knife—and-fork.
exercise, when a touch, together with a greeting
at his elbow in a somewhat constrained voice,
1tiefgayed the unexpected presence' of Mr. Bar-

e .

“Ah, you with us again, sir?” exclaimed the
detective, with a somewhat forced heartiness.
“Good, and welcome.”

“ Thank you i” responded the gentleman from
Hudson Cit , still ill at ease. “Yes; I couldn‘t
well resist ollowing your team and rejoice over
your victorious playing here. But—” He came
to a dead stop. V

“What is it. my friend!” and the detective-
led him a little apart. “ You are seemingly out
of sorts.” ‘

“Yes; a—something of a disappointment, I
must say.”

“ What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing, perhaps. That is— Well, I.
have been have several hours. The fact is I got
a glimpse of Miss Enggleston, and—and I don't
exactly understand.

CHAPTER XXX.
A summsnn user’s-nun.

THE Diamond Field Detective looked at Mr.
Barfleld keenly. '

“ What is it you don’t understand?” he asked.

“Why, Miss Eggleston in the capacity of a.
lady’s-maid—-of another lady’s domestic.”

“ Oh, you don’t, eh?”

“ No, sir!” more spiritedly. .

“ Well, you understood the young lady’smas.
queradlng in a perha a yet more criticisable,
part up at Hudson, di n’t you?”

“ Yes: though I regretted the assumption of
such a dis-guise by a person of her beauty and re-
finement.” .

“0h, indeed! Well, just make up your mind
that she has very good reasons of her own for
the assumption of her present part. no less than
for the former one. it you are still unsatisfied,
sir,” somewhat sarcastic-ally, “you mi ht apply, I
for an explanation to the young lady erself, or
perhaps to her brother.”

He was turning brnsquel away when Mr.
Barfield, with a half-heseec ing look, laid an-
other restraining touch on his _arm. ‘ ‘

“ Don’t be impatient, my friend i” he pleaded,

“0b, of course not!” the recollection of the
gentleman’s kindness and hospitality now mak-

ing Short-Stop a little ashamed of 

“ Forgive me. my friend.”

“There is nothing to forgive. and it is per-l ‘v

hapsm own fault. I shall explain In W

ing ob rusiveness into the young lady. hm“,

ness.’
“ All htl”
“Ilove her,"was the simple and manly u— ,
lanation. “I love her, and intended to ask
er to be my wife, if I shall ever feel,” despond-

ently, “ that she is likely to give me encourage» ,

ment."
M  1”

“Doesn’t that explain my natural  i .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
  

 

V in the London music halls ‘
" was auadventuress at large, it you choose!"

'20

pass as to her—her assuming these strange mas-
iqueradin s?”

Shor top scratched his head. Barfield would
be a most eligible parti for a young woman of
Drusilla’s uncertain worldly rospects. There
was no denying it. He was rich, refined, good-
looking, not too old, a most amiable gentleman,
and probably without a single bad habit or ob«
,joctionable trait. What then was the occasion
for this half—frightened, half—incensed feeling
with which Short~Stop received the frank an-
nouncement of such a thing? However, there
was something in Mr. Barfield’s very trustful-
ness that appealed to his more generous in-

.sbincts.

” I suppose it does,” he answered, a little con-
fusedly. “ However, Barfield, that is a question
wholly for your own consideration, and Miss
Eggleston is a very independent young woman.”

“ How 1 wish one might read her heart!” ex-
claimed Barfield. “ Oh, if I could only know
how a. proposal might strike her even now.”

“ Faint heart, and so on,” replied the detec-
tive, with an attempt at cheerfulness. “ But I
am hungry, my dear sir.”

“ I think I’ll defer thismatter,” muttered Mr.
Barfield, faintly; and he followed the other into
the dining-room.

Mrs. Vavassour and her “ maid” were also
there, though the latter (who had not been par-
ticularly noticed even by her brother, so per-
fectly had she accommodated herself to her new
character), notwithstanding a searching look
from the gentleman, gave not the slightest indi-
cation of having ever seen him before.

Mrs. Vavassour had said just before quitting
her rooms, attended by her companion:

“ Dorinda, my dear, you will take su per at
my side this evening, and after that I she I have
a confidential announcement to make that may
somewhat surprise you.”

The surprise came forthwith as soon as they
had returned to their quarters, and were once
more alone.

“ Wait here, Dorinda, my dear!”

And, leaving the maid considerabl mystified
in the little private parlor, Blonde F orine, who
was an exceptionally tall, finely-formed woman,
disappeared, with a stately sweep of her hand-
some skirts, into the adjoining dressing-room,
in which her luggage had been bestowed, closmg

the door behind her.

While Dorinda was still wondering, the door
was partly opened again, and she was both as—
tonished and scandalized to hear a slight scuffle,
and then a melodious, though decidedly mascu-
line voice say in a soft, half-expostulating
tone: ‘ .

“ Let me pass out this way, I tell you! Your
maid, indeed! What sort of a lady’s maid is it
that cannot be intrusted with her mistress’s
love-affairs? Nonsense!”

And then, after another slight scuffling sound
the door opened wider. and an elegant, languid
young gentleman, with a poetic blonde mus-
tache. and dressed in the hight of fashion,
loun ed carelessly into view.

“ ell, ’pon honor!” he ejaculated, as if speak-
ing to some one behind, and bestowing upon the
amazed young girl an impudent stare of admira-
tion through an eye-glass flirtingly adjusted
with white, effeminate fingers blazing with rich
rings; “ no wonder you were averse to my
meeting a new lad ’s-maid who .is so much pret-
tier than yoursel , Flo! Gad! a gem, a new
beauty, a marvel! Give me a kiss, my deah!"

White, indignant and mortified, Drusflla had
recoiled from his accompanying demonstration,

as from an adder’s threatening spring.

“How dare you, sir?” she exclaimed, furious-
‘ly. “Here, madam, I want to see on. Pray
consider my service at an end from t is instant!
No longer shall I associate with a lady of such—
such extraordinary character for ten times the
wages you offer !”

‘Dartiug to one side, she was about to dash

' into the dressingwroom when a musical laugh—

Blonde Florine’s own laugh this time—burst
from the exquisite’s lips; and then she found
herself summarily snatched into that fictitious
individuals arms, and kissed right roundly,
whether she would or not.

“ What!” stammered Drusilla; “can I believe
my senses? It is you—you yourself, Madame
Vuvassour?"

"The latter—for the dandy was no other than
she-4th herself back into a chair, and in-
dulged her merriment unchecked.

“ What! Miss Eggleston, you think no one an
actress but yourself 3” she cried at last. “Why,
my dear young lady, you can be but at best an
amateur, while I was a rofessional character
ore—well, before I

Drusilla was still not allittle bewildered.
“ You—you know me, than?” she faltered.
‘~‘ Ay, and have known you from the first.

i “What! you forgot I had caught glimpses of you

the few times you callai on Nettie Moore at her
mother’s house? Or did you imagine you could

v eyes like mine with your mincing little
. lady’s maid airs and

_ . Ha, ha, ha! But
was I to interfere with Old Falcon’s test of my

i trustworthiness, especiall' as I was secure’in the

honesty of my intentio Not Ii”
' “ I can hardly realize it all," murmured Dru-

‘ Short-Stop Made.

silla, not a little crestfallen in her own conceit.
“Dear me! I considered myself cw. fait in a.
masculine character, but I couldn’t begin to
rival you, ma’m."

“ You must let me judge of that, my dear.
Run now to your trunk, and trick yourself out
to match me, for I doubt not you have the
wherewithal thereto, and you must not forget
that you are still in my service. Dispatch now,
my dear! for I have a plan afoot that we shall
lay together before the detective.”

Drusilla, having now come to a cheerful ac-
ceptance of the changed situation, needed no
second bidding.

She, in her turn, disappeared into the dress—
ing-room, and Blonde Florine clapped her hands
approvineg when she reappeared in the well-
fltting male costume with which the reader is
familiar.

“ Capital!” cried Florine, enthusiastically.
“ We shall pair off well, you and I, my dear,
and it shall be no fault of ours if we do not as—
sist our detective friend to his desired ends.
What is your name at present, my love?”

“ Smith.”

“And mine is Gonfalon—French still, or
nothing, as you see.”

“ You are just splendid, Monsieur Gonfalon !”
exclaimed the other, with unaffected admira-
tion. " Do you know, I am ambitiousof a stage
career? And I wonder if you cannot at some
time give me some points in that direction ’13”

“ Can I not, Smithy, my boy? Well, just try
me, that is all. There is a knock at the door,
that ought to be our detective’s."

ShortrStop came in, gave one glance at the
double transformation that had been effected,
and then laughed in some embarrassment.

“ Think of it, Mr. Falconbridgo!” cried Miss
Eggleston. “ I haven‘t imposed on her for a sin-
gle moment. Our trick has been transparent to
her from the very first.” '

“ I miglht have divmed its uselessness with a
woman 'ke you,” grumbled the detective, with
a half-resentful glance at Florine.

“ Ah," she rep 'ed, with a dazzling twirl of the
blonde mustache, and a complacent look down
over her dandifled shapelmess; “ you had
doubtless forgotten my character-singing days
in London.” ‘

“ No, I hadn’t,” he candidly admitted,
“though I was stupid enough to imagine you
gullible.” -

Florine languidly rose, signed Drusilla to
stand up beside her and struck a match for the
cigarette she had placed between her lips.

“ How do we compare for a couple of prime
swells?” she demanded.

He smiled approvingly, though secretly cer-
tain that the advantagle was assuredly with
Drusilla, who, though t e shorter, more robust
and less experienced, to say nothing of her
youth, seemed to carry her masculinity, so to
s ak, With a less conscious grace and assurance
t an her companion, who, however, naturally
had the details of her characterization more
thoroughly in hand. ,

“ Admirable, both,” he commented, discreet-
‘ly. “Well, what do you propose?” 4

“ Dusk has already fallen, eh i” asked the
pseudo Gonfalon, to whom the query had been
particularly addremed.

. “ Yes; with a clear sky, and good moonlight
in half an hour.” '

“Nothing could be better.
done so far?”

“ Paul Eg leston, Chris ‘Payne, and Tommy

odd are a ready posted at the Fullhand
grounds. 'Barfield would also have gone, but I
didn’t see the necessity of it.”

“ I am glad of that," interposed Drusilla,
eagerly.

M  g”

‘ “Wefi,” somewhat confusedly, “one doesn’t
want to be criticised by everybody while— while
unsexing oneself, so to speak.”

CHAPTER XXXI.
ADVENTURE.

THE detective hit his li .

Why should Miss Egg eston be so much more
sensitive of Mr. Barfleld’s criticism than of his,
unless she was beginning to have a tender re-
gard for the former? '

“No woman nnsexes herself when doing her
duty ” he replied, quickly. “ However, I have
first etc]! you that your whilom negro jailer
has been seen on the street here today. But
what am I thinking of? You also were a wit-
ness \of our kaleidscopic Sampson Augustus’s
upromeiferror m imparting the information.”

es. -

“ Well, now then,” to Florine, “ what is your
individual plan?” .

“ To boldly present myself at the villa, with
my friend Smith here, and insist on conferring
with Fullhand in regard to a contemplated in-
vestment in Zorilla mining-stock.” =

“ But the house, you say, is virtually closed.”

I“ We shall make ourselves heard by those
who, I am satisfied are within. Leave that to

me. . , r
“Will 'Fullhand bite at the bait, if therei”
“ I haven't a doubt of it”, - _

What have you

 

 

“But. dank you fear that hewillrecoguize
youridentity?”  ‘ I.  , I

 

   

 

  

it No.” a, v

“ Still, he first made your acquaintance when
you were singing in character on the London
concert boards?"

“ True; but I have absolutely nonplused him
a hundred times since for mere,amusernent.
have no fear of his penetration."

“Good, then! But wait. You, Miss Eggle-
ston, though I perceive you have made some
changes in your disguise, might still be recog-
nized as Miss Moore’s tower companion by John
Henry Alexander, should he be on hand, as he
is uite likely to be."

rusilla threw a glance down over her at-
tractive, albeit somewhat foppish, person.

“ 1 think I am pretty safe from recognition,”
she replied. “ My coat and but are both differ-
ent, and you will perceive that my mustache is
darker than originally."

“Well,” once more to Florine, “ after you
shall have obtained access to Fullhand, as we
shall presume?”

“ If we are discovered or in any other danger,
a scream from me shall be our notification to
you entlemen outside.” '

H  ell?”

“ And if all goes well, I might easily pretend
to desire the purchase of the premises, in addi—
tion to my other pretensions, and then demand
to be conducted through their secret under-
ground passages, out of antiquarian curiosity,
and thus get track of the young lady’s new
prison-house.”

“ Underground passages!” repeated the detec-
tive, in ear rise.

“Yes; I elieve I intimated a partial famil—
iar-it with the premises?”

“ ou did.”

“ Well, the nucleus of the villa is an old stone-
walled Revolutionary mansion reconstructed.
It was once inhabited by an influential Tory
family, in secret communication with the British
forces, and with the traitor Benedict Arnold,
while the latter was' hatchin his treasonable
plot for the surrender of West oint.”

‘ l

“ Yes; and Fullhand’s servants used to whis-
per strange stories of Tory ghosts, patriot
phantoms and haunted secret Passages, in con-
nection with the house, that felt sure must
have some foundation in fact—the passages, I
mean, as a matter of course, for ghost-belief is
not one of my soft spots. See?”

” I do see; and this is certainly a revelation
worth knowin . Why, we may be alread much
nearer Miss oore’s deliverance than could
have had any idea of.”

“ Shall we go now?”

“Yes: and Sampson Augustus shall attend
us. But yet a moment. Are you young gentle-
men armed?”

“I have still my revolver,” replied ‘Smith,’
composedly.

“ And am seldom, if ever without this,” re-
sponded Gonfalon, smilingly displayin a slen-
der but effective—looking dagger, whlc sheas
suddenly sli ped out of Sight. ‘

“ Allons (me! as the French say.”

They quitted the hotel without exciting com-
ment, and went up the village_ main street,
through the thickening twili ht, closely followed
by the brightly costumed mpson Augustus;
Whom a few words of stern warni g on t 9 part
of Short-Stop had induced toc nceal atleast
the excessive manifestation of his fear, though
it 'was easy to perceive that he was in constant
dread of encountering his dread parent.

0n reaching the top of the steep street, they
turned southward along the road running paral-
lel with the river, at the end of which, surround-
ed by spacious picturesque grounds,_stood the
villa that was the objective point in View.

A small, deserted gate-house was at the head
of the broad, short drive, now beginning to
stand 'out distinctly in the rays of the newly-
risen moon. ,, '

At this point Sampson’s knees began to knock
together afresh. , ,

“Lor’ bress us!” he chattered; “I know dis
place—I’se been heab befo’. My ole dad, he
cotch me now, shuah!” .

“Why, Sampson Augustus, I’m ashamed of
you 1” said Drusilla, who had of course become
again familiar to the fear-smitten youth’s eyes.
“ You were not such a crown when you were
helping me to escape from the block-house.”

‘ I know dat, marse, but—den we, our famhly
lib heah hefo’. We tuk keer ob de place fur
Max-so Fullhand las’ winter, an’ it am '

'ammed wif ghcstses. t’icker den sardines ina,

ox, halls, rooms, Gabby-holes, secret passurges
an’ all.” _

This was news even to Florine—the fact of the
Alexanders having taken care of the premises
—and the detective si ed his companions to
permit him to do the ta king.

‘» “So. you are somewhat familiar with this yr

lace. Sam n?"
p “ Yes, r

.

“And, do you think yourfar-oilypunishes-ol L

after deserting the block
.“ Yes, .” , i I.
“ Would our family recogn ze you in our

present char? condition, think you?" , I
“Do ole ebbi'l, John Henry, he would, *1

reckon,” with a shudder.  “

.V‘,

case so huniedlyi”

   

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“But would your mother and the rest?”

“ I done reckon not, boss,” With an admiring
glance dawn over his preposterous costume.
“ Not in dis highfulutin’ transfummeration,
boss; not since I tuk dat big rise in de wuhld.”

“Good! Now, young man, do you just do
precisely as I recommend, or you’ll experience a
sudden rise in the air from behind quite equal
to any elevation in your prospects that you can
welliuiaginv. Understand?”

There was a quiet intensity in the detective’s
voice and manner that was sufficiently signifi-
cant.”

“Yes, boss,”

At this ’uncture the group was silently joined
by Paul lEggleston and his companion scouts,
who had explored the surrounding grounds
without effecting any discovery.

Still addressing the young Colored individual,
Short‘Siiop pointed out a narrow footpath run—
ning parallel with the driveway toward the
silent bonse. partly disclosed in the moonlight,
{jut heavily flushed at one side by thick shrub-

cry.

“ Pursue that path now alone, and in silence,
till you reach the house!” he commanded, in his
low, stern voice.

“ Oh, bossl fore de Lord I dassent. De
ghosies, do clebbil, do old man hisself—”

“ Silence, and obey l”

Sampson Augustus hesitated, braced himself
up, and then, with a last but ineffectually ap-
pealing look, advanced along the path.

Then he seemed to gather courage, with each
step being accompanied by immunity from
harm, and he proceeded with increasmg confi~
dence, that soon became a stiltcd swagger
(doubtless solely intent on afresh ‘rise in de
wuhlll’), his gal-mental gorgeousness fairly
scintillating in the moonlight.

ll’hen two-thirds of the distance was accom-
plishei, however, a gigantic black hand, forth-

’st.rctched from the shrubbery, suddenly de-

scended on his dancing crest with extinguishing
effect, a. hoarse, creaking voice exclaimed:

“Hul I‘ss got yer ag’in, yo’ ongrateful dis-
respectable brack nigger!" and, with a Collaps-
ing sort of squeal and wriggle, he was in the
powerful grasp of the dreaded John Henry
Alexander.

The detective made a significant sign, and,
follolwed by his companions, rushed silently for-
warm.

There was a crashing blow, just one, and then
the gigantic pater amilias was prostrate,
bound, gagged and he pless.

“I thou hi: the bright bait would catch on,”
muttered hart-Stop. “Quickl” with an ex-
pressive gesture.

Then the old darky was tossed to one side, the
majority of the group melted off into the shad-
ows, and, attended by the now grinning Samp-
son Augustus, Florine and Drusdla proceeded
directly to the house—entrance, and pulled the
bell.

 

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE MYSTERIOUS VILLA.

THE door-bell could be heard ringing, with a
strangely hollow and a suggestively. deserted
peal, through the silent house, but glvmg back
no answer, save its own sad echoes.

HOWever, the summons was repeated again
and again, and at last an approaching light from
the interior was signaled.

Then a cautious, shuffling step was made out,
and presently a grad“, wheezy vome called out
through the heavy door: .

“Who’s dat, whar yo’ come from, and what
you want?”

Florine signed to Sampson Augustus, and
whispered something, whereupon he culled out,
enthusiastically: ‘

“It’s me, mummy, it’s me! Brass. de Lord!
donn’t yo’ reco nerize your own produal's return
to de buzzom 0%) de sheep-fol’, mummy?”

“ Bress de Lor’ l” and there came the Welcome
sound of shooting bolts and ratthn chains.

“ Am it yo’ yo’self, my S nnpsou, my el es‘ bohn?‘

Come to yo’ mudder’s lirl-sls‘ l”

And, as the door flew open, the prodigal was
folded in his mammy’s capucious arms.

There was a series of osculatory sounds of ex-
aggerated character, intermingled With fresh
tendernesses of ex ression, and then the old wo-
man, having set own her lantern, held her er-
ring wanderer at arm’s-length, while interroga-
ting the visitors with suspicious looks.

“ Who am dose fine gemmen, Sammy?” she
demanded.

“ Dey em Muse Gornfalleron, my new mars-
ter, mummy, an’ his frien', Morse Smith,” re-
sponded Sampson Augustus, with cheerful men-

. ' dacity. “ I'se tuk a. big risc in de wnhld, mommy,

an’ dese rich gemmens am ’sponsihle fur dot
rise. Doan't I look sweet, mammy?” I .

“'Fore de Lor’, like a two legged rainbow,
Sammy! I’se proud oh ou, honey, but, bress
us an’ save us! eff John enr Alexander catch
Vo’hg’in. he skin de bra bide ofi’en yo’,

mmy!”

“ Mebbehe won’t catch on. mammyj Mebbe
hedone gib hisself a sort ob rest. ese gem-

:  men dey want to see Morse Fullhan’ on big
.business, mummy.” ' »,

 

“Marse Fullhun’ can’t be see’d—doan’t yer
know Marso Fullhan’ ain’t henh, honey?"

“ No; but I done ’spect he ain’t nowhar also,
mommy.”

Here Monsieur Gonl‘alon gravely interposed,
and stated the anticipated business with Mr.
Fullhand in the blandest and most seductive
tones.

“I‘se purty shunh Morse Fullhan’can’t be
into do house,” responded Arrybeller Mariar,
filling up the doorway with her corpulence
while Wisely scratching her woolly head he-
neath its flaming-red handana. “ Still, 11‘
might hunt aroun, yol know. What mought
your business be wif Morse Fullhau’?”

“ We are thinking of investing money to a.
large amount in his mining business,” replied
Florine, carelessly. “And we might also like
to look over this interesting old mansion, with};

ossibility of buying it. It is a pity if Mr.

ullhand is not in, for as we are merely passing
through the country on a pleasuring tour, we
may not be able to call again. However, pre-
sent him our regrets, please. Come, Smith, we
might as well be going. Sampson, attend us.”

“Now, ‘hold on, gemuiansl" cried the old
woman. “ Dough I’se pooty shuah Morse Full-
hup’garn’t be in, still I mought hunt aroun’,
an ~—-

“ Let the gentlemen enter, minty!” called out
a voice from somewhere back in the cavernous
darkness. “ I’m always to be seen on business
of importance.”

The visitors were at once admitted, the door
being carefully secured behind them, and, after
being conducted through several passages, they
at last found themselves in a rickly furnished
interior room, closeshuttered, brightly lighted,
and ventilated by a great open skylight, where
Fullhanrl and Bricks were discuSsing wine and
cigars over a table, suggestive of hastily re-
moved playing-cards and perhaps more pro—
nounced gambling indications.

Mr. Fullhand received his visitors with .his
customary urbanity, the necessary introductions
followed, and then, after the fictitious Gonfalou
had somewhat enlarged in carelessly tempting
terms on the object of the intrusion, he went on
to he hospitable and explain the closeness of his
seclusion from the WOlld.
' “ You see, I come up here solely to get rid of
harassing business cares,” said Mr. Fullhaud,
smiling. “And I have to protect myself from
being overrun by them here in my country
retreat at any cost. But in case of anything
very special seeking me out, I can mostlybe
found when wanted. Take seats and make
yourselves thoroughly at home, gentlemen.

ere are cigars, and you must join us in some
wine. Aunty, more glasses!”

In a few minutes everything was hospitably
arran ed, and the two scoundrcls were alone

with 1: air visitors in their luxurious den.

“ Goufalon " had turned the conversation ver
artfully upon the subject of the house itsel,
while “ Smith,” on the lookout for Bricks’s pos-
sible, penetrativeness, had keptmodestly in the
back und.

“ ave long wanted to possess some such old
house as this, with genuine Revolutionary asso-
ciations, as I have been given to understand,”
drnwled the former, after some preliminary
talk, toying with an empty wine-glass, and
seeming to enJoy a newly-1i hted cigarette.

“In fact, money is no 0 ject to me when I
have such a fad on the brain. What are the
qualificatiqlns of these remises. and what would
you be wi ling to sel for! I have the best of

ew York recommendations, and always do a
cash business.”

Not only letters_ were displayed, but also, as
if with careless inadvertcnce, and much to
“ Smith’s” secret astonishment, several pocket—
books, a parently stuffed to bursting with
greenbac s of large denominations.

Fullhand’s eyes sparkled. and Bricks in-
stinctively hitched his chair a little closer to
the table.

“This is a fine old country lace,” cried the
former, beamingly, “and will ouhtless fill the
bill of your requirements, Mr. Gonl‘alon. “ The
fact is, -I am not so much the actual owner as
the agent for its sale, at my own discretion, and
I honestly think you can strike a. good bargain
right here.” -

“ What size are the grounds?"

“ Thirty acres, including everything pic-
turesque, useful and lovely, and running down
to the river’s edge.”

“ Out-buildings?”

“Numerous, and first-class.
house, ice-house, bins, apple-Cellars, tenant—
house for servant’s family—all first-class, 1n tip-
top condition and apple-pie order.”

“ This mansion itself.” _

“A glorious old place, in thorough repair.
Roomy, convenient, even elegant. Will, show

you all over it.”
And how about the historical

“ Presently.
associations?”

“ First-class, bang-up, fully authenticated l”

“ Can’t be beat!” ch med in Bricks.

“This is interestinirl” exclaimed Gonfalon,
greatly interested. “ My ancestors were Hu ue-
nots, and not a few ofytbem fought and b
Place said to be haunted, eh?”

Stables, coach--

 

“ Well, ur—”

" I‘m rather fond of ghosts, you see—of the
revolutionary sort.” ~

“ J ust the spot for ’om l”

“Thicker’n flies!” seconded Bricks, trcating‘
himsclf to a lone drink.

“ Yes, es! Ghosts? Oh, they swarm!
Though, 0 course, being u mutter-of—fact man,
I’m willing to take hearsay for ’em.”

“ Not so fully authenticated as the more
material associations, then?”

“ Bless you, yesl Common servants can hard—
ly be coaxed to sleep here any more. M nig~
gar family, however, “‘1” vouch for the ghosts.

ust wait till I summon in John Henry Alexan~
der, as the daddy gorilla calls himself, and if
you want eye witness testimony to the ghostly
existences—”

“ Never mind. We’ll acoept the hearsay evi--
deuce. What do the historical features consist,
in?

“Everything queer, spooky and outlandish.
Deserted turrets, uncanny fire-places, secret
stair-cases, false doorways, tapestried nooks—”‘

“Subterranean passages, underground tun-
nels, out-of-sight dungeons, mysterious connec-~
tions!" struck in Bricks, appropriating a fresh

C) or.

in. Fullhnnd frowned reprovingly.

“ I’m (loin this descri§tive business, if you
please, Mr. itchcockl— es,” once more to the
visitors; “just everything in the historical-as—
sociative line. The old duffer that originally ,
lived here was up to all sorts of secret dealin s
with the red—coats, they say: and when t e
patriots at last tried to smoke him out he wasn't
nowhere!"

“ What?” exclaimed Gonfalon, uow fairly
flushed with enthusiasm.

“ He’d vanished, my dear sir.”

“ Gone 11 with the smoke l" supplemented the

irrepressib Bricks, grabbing the decanter ab»
sent-mindcdly.
_ “Not so bad as that!” cried Fullhand, laugh-
mg good-bumoredly, in spite of the addendum-
“ ut they do say the old Tory got to the river,
with his whole family, without once showing
above ground, and so flitted away into the
British lines by boat.”

Gonfalon rose to his feet in a tremor of anti—-
quarian excitement.

“What are your terms for the, place, sup—
posing all these things verifiable?”

“Eighteen thousand dollars; half cash, easy
payments for the rest.”

“ Uniucumbered?”

" Absolutely.”

“ Show us over the place instantly, secret
sages in articular. Come, Smith! If I he
the pram ses, Mr. Fulnhand, you can have the
pa rs made out for me to-morrow.” '

lhand’s eyes had sparkled, and yet he
seemed to hesitate.

CHAPTER‘ XXXIII.
zxrmmnous.

“WHAT are you hesitating for?” asked Bricks-
in a scarcely audible whisper, and without mov—i
mg his lips. f‘ We needn’t take ’em toward the
river.

Fullhand gave him an an ry look. and then,
after some reflection, glance up at Gonfalon.

“ Suppose you let me look over some of those

letters you reduced in few moments back,” he 7‘

rather timi ily suggested. “ Of course, I would
not think of disputing your good faith, Mr. .
Gonfslon, and yet—”

“ And yet business is business, as a matter of"
necessity l” smilineg supplemented the other.

And then, to Drusilla's renewed astonishment,
the packetbooks and documents were age in pro-
duced and handed over.

The latter conisted of clevorly—forged cori’c-~ V

spondcnce with bankers, railroad presidcnls,
financial big-guns, and the like, whose prepara-
tion was subsequently explained with no little
gusto by Florine. who, it seemed, was by no
moans masquerading as Monsieur Gonfalon for
the first and only time. '
Fullhand merely glanced at the contents of"
the letters with his experienced eye, and seemed
to find them eminently satisfactory. . ‘
He returned them with an apology, and their ‘
suggested that the examination of the premises,
could be more conveniently made b do light.
But the elegant and anti uarian hi; onfalon
‘v‘vgsdngt to be turned asi e a moment from his
8 .
. “ It’s always now or never with me I” he cried,
impatiently; and “ Smith ” had also peremp-r
torin risen and taken up is hat. “Passages
and stairways of a bygone da are more inter»
esting by‘ candle-light or moon ight. Strike me
when hot, or run the risk of finding me irre—'
sponsive when cold."
“ All right!” And Fullhand was on his feet;
“ Hitchcock. summon the old woman, or John
Henry himself, as lantern-bearer—that is.” car»

castically, “if you can divorce yourself {mm 

that decanter long enough to do it.” .
“ on give us a rest l” growled Brit ks, going
to the &

cernedly putting away a or drink.

“ My boy Sampson, th - canalsomake in» 7
self useful,” suggestedyn, onfalon, as 35m.-
‘ ' 7465. V -

1 my;

cor. and bawlingjor lights, after nations: 1

 

 

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22 /

Short-Stop Made.

 

son Augustus put in a re-appearance along‘

with 'rthy ‘ Arrybeller Mariar.’

" allol” cried Fullhand, surveying the
youth With surprise, while Bricks also grinned.
“ Seems to me this young coon is familiar to me.”

“ I should sa so,” said Gonfalon, with a
bored look. ‘ only picked him up a day or
two ago, and he first suggested your ownership
of the old house here.”

“ Humphl looks as if he’d been spilt into a
pot of boiled rainbows.”

" Ya—sl a trifle iridescent, to be sure.” .

“ Do you always dress your bodyvservants in
this variegated livery?”

“ Not as a steady thing, and then only at their
own request. The boy seems to have a weak-
ness for crazy-quilt patterns, and he is not un-
amusing. That is”-—with a, yawn—“ I found
him so at first.” ’

“ I’se done tuk a rise in de wuhlzi. Boss Full-
han'!” exclaimed Sampson Augustus, with a
‘proud grin, While his mother looked him over
ecstatic-ally. “ De wuhld am all befo’ me whar
tochoose." And he extended his hand witha
clawing, ambitioust grasping movement.

Fullhand laughed aniusedly, while Bricks
fairly roared. . '

Then the explorations began, with proud
mother and promisin son as light—bearers.

The examination 0 the upper reams and cor—
ridors of the rambling old house need not be de-
scribed, though a fictitious interest therein was
duly manifested by the visitors.

At last, after not a few secret crannies had
been exposed to view, Mr. Fullhand, who was
leading the investigation came to a use before
a piece of paneling in the grand old ining-room,
at the side of a Wide fire-place, which seemed to
have been neglected for many years.

“ You seem to have been interested so far,
.sir," said he to Gonfalon. " But what you have
seen is commonplace, compared with‘the under-
ground wonders of this quaint old place yet to
as disclosed to you.”

' Gonfalou’ adjusted his eyeglasses, and put
on a hecomingly expectant air, which was re-

lproduced by his friend ‘ Smith.’
' Still Fullhand seemed to hesitate at the last
. izioiiient.

" W here’s John Henry?” he demanded, abrupt-
ly turning to Arabella Maria. “ He should ac—
.; .iiipany us now.”

"' ‘Eore de Lord, I doan’t know, Marse Full-
iian'!” re lied the old woman. " He ain’t home
_\'er, au" done he ‘stonished whar he can be.”

" Drunk in the village, like as notl I’ll break
his head if it prove true! However, perhaps it
won’t matter. "

He pressed his hand on the wall, seemingly
without particularizing any spot. '

Instantly the entire panel moved noiselessly
to one side, revealing the head of a narrow stair-
caso in the thickness of the wall.

“Strange as you may think it,” observed
Fullhand, “ this stair has no communication
with the cellars directly under the 'house. But
let us descend.”

He had also rovided himself 'With a bright
lantern, in addition to those carried by Samp-
son and his mother, and the party forthwith
followed him down the steps, which were of
stone, and slippery, apparently with the accu—
mulated dampness of a generation or two.

At the bottom was a large rounded cellar-
chamber, very deep, and showing four tunnel
entrances branching 03 in as many diflerent di-
rectioua.

“ Odd place this, eh!” cried Fullhand some-
what exu tantly. “ How’s this for a Ilevolu-
tionary relic and Tory retreat, eh?”

“ Superhl” cried Gonfalon, ecstatically.
“ Come on! I can scarcely contain myself with
these curious explorations in prospect.”

And, snatching Sampson’s lantern from ' his
hand, he moved impulsively into the passage
that ought to lead directly toward the river.

“Hold!” cried Fullhand, with an oath. with
his band on Gont'alon’s shoulder, while Bricks
and Sampson’s mother likewise had a startled
look. “ N61: that way, if you please!”

Gonfalon appeared to be greatly astonished.

"Why, what's the difference which way we
branch of!” ’

" on, not much, save that the tunnel in that
direction is dangerous,” replied Fullhand, in an
evasive and milder tone. “ Roof smashed in.
and unsafe condition generally. Here you are l"
And he piloted them in just the opposite direc-

tion.

As he did so, and Sampson resumed his lan-
tern, Florine’s hand secretly touched Drusilla’s,
and was answered by an intelligent pressure.

The subterranean passage they were planning
was sufficiently interesting.

It was several hundred eat in ion h, abound-
ed in numerous little chambers an side-cells.
that light at one time have been temporarily
occggi' by fugitives from military pursuit, and
end tb It“! mmble-dowiu openienig, pprtly blocked
up, a origina' l y open on on a rugged
hillside, Arabella Maria averred, well out of the
immediate house grounds.

And near this termination, too, there was a
gated opening high 1) at one side of the tun-

'l,andparélgcov upwithearth,thatalso
commutes. mm the open air.

 

 

“ What was that for, I wonder?’ demanded
Florine, curiously. '

“ That‘s one of the eucher-hands I ass with-
out looking at my hand ” replied Ilhaud,
cheerfully. “Rum old place, though, ain’t it?
Let’s go back and try another passage.”

CHAPTER XXXIV.
ram sunmaaaaaau PASSAGE.

ON the way back Sampson Au ustus, who
was bringing up the rear at Drusil a’s side, re-
ceived from her a hint that he was fortuname
intelligent enough to comprehend.

After that, his lantern having apparently
gone out and persistently refused tobe relighted,
he found the opportunity to pass it into her cus-
tody, together with a bunch of matches.

As the assage branching ofl toward the
riVer was interdicted, Florine, on returning to
the starting-point, selected of the two remain-
ing ones the one apparently leading 011‘ in the
direction of the gate-house foundations, along
the above-ground line of which Short-Stop and
his fellow watchers might be most likely lurk-
ing in the possible expectation of a signal from

er.

She accompanied her choice by a significant
glance toward her fellow conspirator, and the
investigation prooeeded, but without Drusilla
obtaining the coveted opportunit to drop out
of notice, and then beta e hersef by stealth
into the interdicted passage, which was now the
secretly-understood objective point.

However, after this passage had been ex-
glored, and when the third was being entered,

rusilla, with Sampson’s help, managed to lag
considerably behind.

A moment later she had noiselessly retraced
her steps, while Sampson jogged on after the
main party, talking and laughing to himself
aloud, to foster the impression that he was still
companioned b Gonfalon’s friend.

Drusilla, on er part, regained the starting-
point, relighted the lantern, and then sped off
into the depths of the forbidden tunnel, which,
instead of being unsafe, proved to be in the very
best condition of all.

As for Florine, now uite satisfied that the
desired maneuver had a set in motion, she
resolved to make the ex loration of this third
passage as prolonged an tedious as might be
without exciting suspicion.

Fortune favored her in a measure, for the pos-
sage was in reality more interesting than either
of its redecessors.

In t e first place, there was quite a large con-
necting chamber, with the remains of an an-
cient fire—place, where Arabella Maria was gar~
rulously disposed to recount a ridiculous legend
about some Wounded To refugees having
starved to death, after eating two or three of
their companions, in which Gonfalon insisted
upon the minutest details, much ,to the im-

apiegisce and disgust of [both Fullhand and

no .

Then there was a specially haunted cell, where
the fat old woman was again led into expand-
ing the win of her imagination or mendacity
to the erxdp nation of the last and minutest
blood-cu ing detail.

Finally as much as twenty minutes had been
consumed in reaching the extremity of the pas-
sage, without the absence of Smith having yet
attracted attention.

This passage, like the first, terminated in a
partly locked-up mouth, doubtless opening
out upon a slope, with the same attendant grat-
ing h gh up to one side of the interior.

At this point, to her great joy, Florlne was
quite sure she heard the indistinct murmur of
outside voices, which, if she was not deceived,
could only belo to the above-ground watchers'
in the near neig borhood.

Anxious to prolong Drusilla's immunity from
pursuit to the last moment, she picked up a.
smooth, elongated stone from the ground, and
pretended to examine it with extraordinary at-
tention.

“ A bone— rhaps a human bone!” she ex-
claimed. “ k! doubtless the relic of some
poor hunted wretch who perished in this gloomy
place more than a century ago.”

They all crowded around her, with the single
exception of Curvesbot Balder, Who—half-drunk
at the outset, but now sobered, and with a cun-
nin , suspicious expression—was studying her
Wit a scrutiny she did not half-like.

“Bress us an’ save us!” exclaimed Sampson
Augustus. rolling up his eyes over the pretended
relic. “ Ghostes oughter be roun‘ dese diggin’s,
shuah as shootin’ i”

“ Lawk!” squawked'his mother, in more real
wonder than his; “ a bone, a bone, a BONEl
Look out for de cawpse denl Golly! but I'se

red.”

“ It’s nothing but a porous stone,” said Full-
hand, coutemptuously. “ There’s another, and
yet another, just like it.” i

‘f My dear sir. I must beg to difler with you l”
cried ‘ Gonfalonfl. argumentatively.

And he was goxng on to expatiate on the sub-
m Indefinitehlg when a sort of snort from Bricks

lecture and challen the at-
mfltfin ged

“Where's Mr. Smith—Where’s that other
duck?” bellowed the fellow.
, ' ‘ ham .

       
 

 

And then the absence of Florine‘s dapper com-
paniion was suddenly and pronouncedly no-
“CE: .

“The deuce!” cried Florine, in well affected
astonishment; “ why, where can Smith have
gone? However. don‘t be alarmed. Ten to one.
he’s slipped back into the main chamber, and
thence back up into the house.”

Fullhaiid had now likewise taken the alarm.

“ What! back in that solid darkness, and
alone?” he cried, pointing back into the passage.
“ Not much!"

“ Oh, but Smith’s an odd fish," persisted

Flori ne. “ It must be as I suggest."
"I’ll ski hack froo de tunnel, an’ see," cried
Sampson ugustus.

“ No, you’ll not !” roared Bricks, downing
him by a fierce blow. “ Treachery! Twenty
to one Smith’s a gal in disguise, and is off into
the river passage! Treacher l” And, as
Floriue started back, pale but co ected, a wipe
of his brutal hand deprived her of her curling
blonde moustache, which was the best feature
of her disguise.

Here Fullhand uttered a frenzied oath, along
with the exclamation, “ Blonde Florine herself,
by J u iterl" and both he and Bricks sprung to-
ward er, revolver in hand.

But Florine was possessed of a tigress’s cour-
age, with the activity of a pantheress.

She partly evaded them with a flying leap,
conjoined with a cancan kick that knocked
Brick’s revolver out of his hand and then made
his chin staggeringly acquainted with the toe of
a very prettily booted foot.

The next instant she had fastened her face to
the grated opening, and let loose a tremendous,
ear-splitting shriek such as would have discount-
ed the champion steam-whistle of the universe,
With a fog-horn or two thrown in.

She had not vaunted her lung power to Short-
Stop without good cause.

Fullhand staggered back in a species of mo-
mentary daze; Bricks, holding his damaged
chin in both hands, popped his eyes open as if
boxed on the ear with an Indian club; and
Mammy Alexander, who was helping her over-
thrown son to his feet, trembled all over like a
mountain of black jelly, done up in calico, and
shouted out, “ Glory to Hebben in de Highest!
who hit a Wild-cat wit a bomb-shell?”

The scream had also been answered to hy.a
shout, together with hurrying footsteps, from
outside and above.

“ To the rivershore, some of you!” screamed
Florine again, scarcely less loudly and piercing-
ly. “ But lookout for me right here.”

By this time she had taken advantage of the
momentary panic by snatching Bricks’s fallen
pistol from the ground, with which she at once
set up a reverberaiing fusillade, though aiming
the discharges at the tunnel-roof ; while Arabel-

‘la Maria and Sampson Augustus began dodging

about, and adding their frightened owls to the
general din.

But by now Fullhand and Bricks had in some
measure recovered themselves, and a shot from
the former’s istol dashed the revolver out of
Florine’s han , but without harming her in the
liast, and not until she had expended her last
5 ct.

“ Traitress!” roared Fullhand, and then he
and Bricks once more precipitated themselves.
toward her.

But Florine at bay was nota woman to he
despised.

“ Stand off, on your lives!” she cried, coolly,
planting her back against the half-filled-in
opening, dagger in hand. “ Montague Full-
band, you ought to know me b this time. Shoot
me dead, if you please, but t e first hand laid
on me, its owner ies!” _

But at this juncture Sampson Augustus, Wltl)
unexpected spirit, suddenly lowered his head,
and, dashing forward, batterin ~ram fashion.
landed it in the hollow of Ourv ot’s back, and
flooring him like a shot. '

Then, as Bricks keeled over, the back of his
red head doubled up Mammy Alexander, like a‘
smashed feather—bed, and, in sprawling out with
a species of explosive snort, she in her turn,
With her fat arms going like the sails of a Wind—
mill. brought Fullhand such an inadvertent but,
sounding smack on the Jaw that his pistol flew
one way and his lantern another, While, in try-
ing to recover himself, be planted his foot on
Bricks’s lantern with a crash.

Sampson extgzguished the other one that Full—
hand had dro , and then, disregardful of his
mother’s squa ls andthe men’s curses, Was the
next instant at the side of Florine, who was by
this time more hilarious than desperate. .

“ Quick, ma’m,” he Whispered; “.foller me
troo dese loose rocks, an’ we am freein snudder
minute.” ‘

Florine followed as well as she could in the
dense darkness that had shut down around

them.

As she did so Fullhand was heard to shoutout
to his companion, with a storm of imprecations:
“ Back to the other passage, or Nettie escapes
me l” after which ,there was a skurry of retreat—
ing footsteps in the Solid gloom. I

“ Sampson Augustus Alexander, whar am

yer?” cried Mammy Alexander’s voice, in._

wheezy'piti‘ableuess. “What! yo’ mgrateful

 
  
 
 
     
 
 

  
  
 
 

r \

Short—Stop Made.

23

 

 

brack debbil, would yo’ lcab your own flesh an’
blood to do mercy ob de ghostsesi”

“Squat whar yo’ am, mummy.” was the re-
s use. “I’ll tend to you presiniinently. Now
I Se takin’ a new rise in de wuhld!”

CHAPTER XXXV. -
DRUSILLA‘S FRESH ADVENTURES.

SAMPSON AUGUSTus did attend to his mother’s
extrication a few minutes later, after his fair
companion and he had wriggled their way out
of the tunnel-mouth, and into the arms of Short-
Sto and Tommy Dodd.

These latter, indeed, assisted them not a little
in their final extrication.

The others of the outside party, Paul Eggles-
ton and Chris Payne, had hurried off to the
river-front. in obedience to the warning scream—
ed forth by Florine.

She now explained the details of the under-
ground adventure in as few words as were pos-
sible. ‘

“ So farso good!” exclaimed Short-Stop, at
once setting the example of effectually closing
the mouth of the tunnel, after the trio had as—
sisted Sampson Augustus in helping the still
‘vociferating Arabella Maria out of the depths.
“ To work now! Like expedition must be made
in closing up the two other tunnel-mouths, and
then a couple of us can guard the house itself,
while the rest can prooeed to the riverfront."

“ Splendid l" cried Florine, while the work
went on. “ I regard the young lady as practi-
cally rescued already.”

“’1 hope so; though much yet remains before
.us.’

“ You would also capture Fullhand himself,
then?"

“ Yes: and his fellow-scoundrel. They shall
‘be handed over to the authorities without fur-
.ther delay.”

Florine made no reply to this, though she
slackened not in her share of the tunnel closing
business.

They were at work at the mouth of the third
tunnel, which had been located with some little
difficulty.

Mammy Alexander, who had been induced to
assist in the work, perhaps without very clearly
understanding what it was all about, was puf-
fingly resting herself atop of a stump overbrow-
ing the moonlighted spot where the others were
filling in the rough aperture with fragments of
rock and other debris.

Suddenly there was a demoniac “ Hu i” sound-
ed, and a gigantic figure chargled the party from
a neighboring cedar-clump, ooking yet more
colossal and ormidable than the reality in the
magnifying effects of the eerie and spectral
moonlight.

Sam n Augustus uttered a yell of terror,
and is to his knees.

it was the Alexander pater familias, the
dreaded John Henry himself, self-freed in some
manner from his bonds and gag, heroically
chargin down on the workers with a roar like
an ava anche on the jump, and waving over
his head a bludgeon that appeared little less
than a young tree, or the- stu of a telegraph-

a.
Short-Stop and Florine burst into a laugh
and Tommy Dodd tragically drew his revolver,
as they stepped aside to avoid the enraged
darky’s tornado-like rush, but a lucky chance
intervened to dispose of the on-coming peril.

Sampson Augustus, still t{piling for mercy,
dodged the initial stroke of e Brobdingnagian
cudgel, which then set the earth and stones fly—
ing as if from the eflects of anewly-dropped
aerolite,.and then, diving forward in his terror,
brought his favorite butting tactics to bear, once
more landing his bullet head in the paternal
stomach with telling effect.

With a final “ Hui" like the expiring wheeze
of a bursted balloon, the giant went down to the
bottom of the hillock in a confused beep, and at

the same instant the hippopotamus bulkiness of '

Mammy Alexander, losing its equipoise on top
of the overhanging stump, plumped down on the
old fellow in a sitting posture, and with the
force of a small earthquake.

It was a case of one person being “ sat down
upon " by another with a pronounced ven-
geance. ‘

“Bress us an’ sabe us!” sqnawked the old
lady, while her human cushion uirmed and
writhed ineflectually under her so idly-planted
ponderosity, “of it ain’t de ole man hisself.
Cam’t yo‘ keep quiet, John Henry Alexander,
till I done ootch my brefl? Ef it hadn’t been for
dis squattm’~place, I mought hab done bruk
ebbei'y bone in my skin."

“ Stay where you am. mummy!” vociferated
Sampson Augustus. “He won’t fly away wif
dat paper-weight onto his frusldness ”

“ Away !” cried Short-Stop, sternly. “ To the.

house, and then to the river-front!”

In the mean time Drusilla, havi li hted her
lantern and darted of! into! thefipt s of the
interdicted,_pam:ge, soon found that it was in

ood traveling 0 er, though so steeply inclined
pwnward as at drew tagger coposi arable cau-
tion necessary in m ng e exp ration.

This she knew was because of the abrupt slope
of the river-bank and was thereat confirmed in
her hope that N’ettie’s prison-house would be

 

found somewhere in the vicinity of the further
end, though she anticipated the discovery of her
absence from the exploring arty almost any
inszant, and the consequent c amor of a pur-
sui .

But as the moments slipped by uninterrupted-
ly she took fresh he irt, and devoted herself
wholly. body and spirit, to the task before her.

The passage was a very long one, hut, after
about the first hundred yards, the dip became
less difficult, and at last straightened out almost
to a dead level, where she could almost pursue
her way at a run.

Presentlya sound caught her attention that
caused her to stop and listen.

The murmurous sweep of water, mingled with
the more articulated unds of it beating and
lapping upon roots and stones!

An cxultant; feeling possessed her, and she
hurried on.

The majestic river was at hand, and doubtless
Nettie Moore’s new prison-house could not be
far distant.

A moment later. though, she came to another
pause—this time one of no little pei'plexity.

At this one point one side and the roof of the
passage had partly fallen in, leavmg just room
enough for her to slip past the obstructing frag-
merits.

This she had done. and then turned back, with
her lantern elevated, to perceive that yet an-
other fragment of the roof Was precariously re.L
tained from falling, and might be facilitated to
that end on the spot, with the effect of thus
closing up the passage completely.

Should she do this now, and thus eflectually
bar or greatly impede, any immediate pursuit
that she was momently dreadin ?

This became the problem of t e moment, that
could not be lightly disposed of, for the fall of
the rock would likewise cut off her return, in
the event of there proving to be no point of
egress ahead.

However, after an instant’s reflection, she
accepted the risk. and, setting down her lantern,
forthwith began to hammer cautiously at the
poised fra ment with a lon , spear-shaped stone
:he had se ected from a. m ley of debris at her

eat.

It was a harder and longer task than she had
anticipated, but she persevered, and it was well
that s e did so. -

Even while thus engaged, and after she had
been effectually at work for twenty minutes or
more, there came to her the sound of approach-
ing steps from the opposite side of the obstruc-
tion, but, strange to say, no accompanying
lantern-gleam.

However, her pursuers were at hand.

" Hark!” she heard Fullhand’s voice say;
“didn’t you hear a picking sound just now?”

“ Yes; and yonder’s a streak of light!” called
out Bricks’s voice in response. “ Hurry up, and
have your revolver ready.”

“ Do you think I’ve forgotten it? The dis‘
guised girl must be murdered on the spot before
she shall be permitted to communicate with my
ca tive a second time.”

hen nothing but the nearing, steadily near-
ing footsteps.

Drusilla was desperate, and moreover felt that
she must be presenting a good target for a bul-
gt, and yet he dared not extinguish her lan-

m. I

Neverthele, she did shove it somewhat to
one side, and then, panting, raised the sharp
stone for a last stroke at the friendly fragment
overhead.

 

CHAPTER XXXVI.
DRUSILLA’S ADVENTURE CONTINUED.

Tau stroke fell, but ineffectually, and at this
instant there was a shout from the darkness, a
shot, and then a bullet whistled by the brave
young woman’s ear.

Drusilla dropped her improvised hammer de-
spair'ingly, an then, stepping back a pace or
two, set her teeth hard, and drew her revolver.

As she did so, there was a fresh shot, another
exultant shout as the second bullet'whizzed un-
pleasantly close to her head, and, With a storm
of triumphant and double-shotted curses, her
ruthless pursuers were almost upon her. .

Suddenly a thought flashed upon her like a.
revelation.

Raising her revolver. she instantly fired, not
at her pursuers, but at the J ged connection
overhead which had so long de ed her pickings
and ponndings with the pointed stone.

Success, and in the nick of time!

The overhanging fragment came down, with
a eat crash and a cloud of dust. ~

he narrow-passage was effectually choked,
and she was saved. _

Breathing a prayer of thanksgivmg, and
wholly regardless of a torrent of oaths and exe-
crations from her bafled enemies on the or»
posit» side of the obstruction. Drusilla lost not a
moment in snatching up the lantern, and hurry-
ing on her way. _ .

She was faint and weak at first, but her
strength speedily returned to her, and her step
was once more assured and confident.

I lsTtherewas a welcome white gleam in trout at
a .

: the personality of that embryo flower of the,

 

 

It was the flash of moonlight on the broad,

li uid bosom of the Hudson River!

hen she was out in the free, wide air, though
only a narrow shelf of shingly beach, with the
river in front and a sheer precipice l'ehind.

Drusilla was at first disposed to give way to a
feeling of dismay.

The shelf on which she stood, scarcely a dozen
feet in breadth and less than a hundred in
length, was evidently, barring the tunnel-com-
munication, inaccessible save by water or by a
rope-ladder, or something similar, let down
from the brow of the precipice, fully a hundred
feet or more overhead ; and as yet there was noth-
ing visible that could suggest the longed-for
prison—house cr secluded retreat of the abducted
young lady.

HOw‘ever, she presently heard a familiar
sound, as of a vessel rocking and dipping in the
waves, and then perceived the stern of a light
sail-boat, with a small skiff attached, disclosing
itself now and then from the shelter of a deep
cove, or rift in the cliff-face, at the end of the
narrow beach.

Running thitherward, a close‘ examination
enabled her, much to her surprise and joy, to
discover a stone boat-house, occupying the in-
ner extremity of the cove, and built so flail
against the cliff, and of the same kind of roe
composing the latter‘s natural formation, as to
be doubtlessly hardly discernible, save at a.
very short distance from the shore.

It was two stories high, with every appea -
ance of having lon been uninhabited, and in
some places the we] 8, though of heavy masonry,
showed the crumbling effects of time and ~
weather where the glancing moonlight slanted
along their rugged and muss-grown grayness.

But nothing could have been better designed
for secrecy and security, as, in addition to the
hide—and—seek concealment of the. spot, it was,
save by water or a perilous descent from the
crag—crest above, accessible only by the subter-
ranean passage which Drusilla had, as she
thought, effectually sealed up behind her.

After a moment’s examination of the strange
edifice, her heart leaped exultantly in her
breast.

There were whole glass-panes in one of the
river-fronting windows of the second story,
which would argue the presence of an inmate;
and here were the boats at hand with which a
rescue might be speedily secured, with the pre— 1
liininary steps thereto thoroughly taken and ‘ ‘ N,»
assured. . ’a

The lower story, however, consisted almost “
wholly of a water-arch, into which the sail-boat 
was partly thrusting its bowsprit; and with
which Drusilla could perceive no communica-
tion to the rooms above. ' , .-

But it required only a first glance at the situ- :7.
ation for the resolute young woman to make up
her mind.

In another moment she had collected in her . .
but some pebbles, and clamhered to the uneasy {-
deck 0f the little yacht from which she stra' ht-  “
way began to bombard the one whole wi ow
of the upper story of the boat-house, and at the
same time to call out a summons for atten-
tion. - 

In a short time .there was an exclamation 
from within, then a shuffling of steps, then a - 
raising of the sash. and finally an appearance at ‘J
the moonlighted window-o nlng. , "_

Drusilla’s heart sunk wi in her once a ain. H

It was only the woolly head and dusky ace of
one of the minor Alexanders—of Sepharonia
Martha Janette to he more particular—and in
her arms were the dumpling-form and chubby
black face and staring round eyes making up

 

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
  
      
  
 
    
    
  
  

flock and pink of Ethopian babyhood, Roscoe
Washington Cleveland Alexander.

“ 'Fore do Lor’, ssh! what am de rumperous?”
gas Sepharonia, looking down upon the in-
tru er and catching her breath.

“ Oh. dear!” despairineg cried Drusilla, “ are
you, then. the only inmate of this place?" ,
“ Waitl 1—1 am here!” screamed another
voice, from behind. “ Oh, Drusilla dear Dru-
silla! is it, can it be you pnce more?” - -
And then Miss Moore, who had been doubtless ‘
cowering in bed until aroused to new hope by
the accents of her friend‘s voice, was also at the
window, her beautiful fair hair streaming down
over her white-robed figure and her del' hted '
face in striking contrast with the grinningi lack ‘
ones helping her 0 fill out the_moon- ghtod
picture framed by e window-casing. I
Drusilla could at first only utter an exclama-

tion of v in response.

“ Oh,j°how ha py I am i" continued Nettie,
half in gobs, “ was afraid I should never see ,
you again, How long have you been there? 5
How did on reach this plaer Where are you
from? Vghen shall you carry me away from
this dreadful house? I can't come down to vou‘;
can you come up to me? Dear, darling
Egglelstguzl’ How shall you manage nowi‘ What ‘
shall 0 . . ‘

“ One question at a time, Nettie l” ciied-Dru- 3
kills. laughing in spite of herself. “Batten-let 3
me do the questioning at first. I think.” -

d “fikllmright! just as you choose! Oh, you
ar ng . V ~
_ Here Sepharonia Martha Janette began to

 

\
~ .
\y. y, p

24

Short-Stop Maje. 

 

 

 

guflaw in high glee, which was apparently a
signal for Roscoe IVashingtonCleve and to ex-
press himself in a diametrically different spirit.

in all events the shining black rotundity of
the little fellOW’s face suddenly wrinkled all over
most astonishingly, and he forthwith set upuan
awful squalliug, that was the reverse of musi—
cal, and caused Miss Moore an interruption of
five minutes to coax and dandle into a state of
renewed quiescence.

" Sepliarnnia is permitted to keep company
with me here," Nettie found opportunity to call
out jerkiugly to Drusilla while thus engaged,
" and Mammy Alexander also allows me to
have Roscoe with me a good part of the time.
Isn‘t he a little dear .7"

This was rather uncertainly assented to.

“ The Avengers must have reached the block-
houso within two hours of my escape from it in
Sampson's company,” Drusilla called out, as
Roscoe began to quiet down. “ How did your
captors manage to effect such a wholesale disap—
pearance, and then fire the place in such short
order?"

.“ I don’t know. It all happened in a sort of
dream. Fullhand and Bricks suddenly put in
an appearance, looking stern andanxious. Ten
minutes later, it seemed to me, the Alexanders
were packed up and prepared to move off, which
they at once did with a couple of wagons and
some horses, which were produced from some—
where in the forest, as if by magic. together
with a. light top—wagon, attached to a fleet ani—
mal. Into this I was summarily hurried, along
with Fullhand and Bricks and my trunks, in
spite of my struggles and protests, and, as we
drove away through the deep woods, I saw the
block-house springing into flames.

“ It was the chloroform again, I suppose. At
all events I was suddenly seized by Fullhand,
, my head enveloped in a shawl, and I speedily

lost consciousness.

“ When I recovered, I was still their prisoner,

' but in that little vessel, instead of the carriage.

“ Then they brought me here, and here have I
been ever since.”

CHAPTER XXXVII.
. , run: SHORE SIDE CAPTIVE.
4 IN return for this brief account of Nettie’s
" experience, Drusilla related in few words what
' bad chanced with herself and the Avengers.
“ Come now i” cried the latter at last. “ Those
villains may break through the obstruction in
, « the underground passage at any moment; and
 ‘ I can’t imagine what may have become of
-' ‘ ’ Florine, or what our friends in the house-
ff' , grounds may be doing. You must lose no time
‘ ‘ in coming down here in this boat to me in some
way.
“ How I wish I could i” replied Nettie, return-
ing Roscoe to Sepharonia’s charge, and looking
v ’ down doubtfully. “ But it is very far down
,. there.”
 ' “ Not so very. In fact, I wonder at your not
fgviflg made the attempt, unaided, long before
3' is.
 “ You wouldn’t have had me drop myself into
the water, would you i”
‘~ “No, but here into the yacht’s forecastle—as
‘ I believe the call it.” ,
“ This is he first time the boat has been left
‘ ' sofar inside the cove, or the attempt would
 have most likely suggested itself; though I
' knownnothing about the management of a sail-

t.

" Neither do I,” admitted Drusilla, the matter
now occurring to her for the flrsttime. “ How-
~ . ever, you must manage to get down here to me

' in some way, Nettie. There’s the smaller boat,
that might answer our purpose; and I _once
handled the oars a little, when on a visit to
‘ : Chautauqua Lake.” ,

“ Oh, what shall I do?”
“ Wait 1” And then Drusilla managed to pull
the yacht’s bow clofer in under the arch, so
that the fore-deck was directly under the win
dow. “ How is that?”
But it was really a risky jump, the distance
g all of twenty feet, and Nettie could still
’ on] clasp her hands despairingly.
here must be a staircase leading up to you

1mm. somewhere under the arch, isn‘t there?”
* Drusilla inquired, arts; a troubled pause.

, , _“ Yes; Fullhand m es uss of it in makingme
' his detestable. importunating visits; and that old
ogre, John Henry, is also intrusted with a key
to the door at the top of the steps. I am always
. kept locked in, however, and the door is as im-
. movable as adamant."

, “ I have it ” cried Drusilla. “ You’ll have to
\ dot yourself down by the bed-clothes, which we
used  such good advantage at the block-

"‘ There ain’t any.”
“ No bed-clothes?’
Not a. stitch, save bare pillows and mat
, ,” and Nettie was half-laughing and half-
egying while making the pitiable confession.

‘ How is that!"
f‘ My captors have taken a lesson from my
former attempt in your company, my dear.
Since then Mammy Alexander has each evening
mm me the drapery for my ‘couch, remain-
ed with meal! night, and then taken them away
 in the morning. To-night, for some

 

 
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  

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fl

     
  
 
 
  
       
   
   
  
  
   
      
    
  
     

  
 
 
  

     
    
  
   
  

  

 
 

  

reason or other, she failed to put in an appear-
ance. The fact is, Sepharoniu, Roscoe and I
were trying to forget our miseries bunched to-
gether under a l )t of my old skirts when your
uuex acted summons reached us.” ' '

“ his is distressing!" exclaimed Drusilla,
clinching her teeth. ,

Here there was a sort of revelational exclama-
tion on the part of Sepharonia. who, with the
quieted. but still wide-awake Rosooe clasped
tightly to her juvenile bosom, had been gazing
down at Drusil a, from her position at Nettie's
side, with a species of frozen guffaw on her
black. good~natured little face.

“ l’se got rle ijeear,” she suddenly yelled.
;‘ 1 say, Mister Party Gul, in coat and trowser—
egs, '

“Well, my young friend?” was the not very
hopeful response.

“Promise ter let me an’ Rescoe go ’long, on"
'I’ll tell yer how ter do it. ”

“ That is as Miss Moore must decide,” replied
Drusilla. “ Roscoe is a. trifle young for un—
known voyaging. it mus"; he confessed.”

“ I shouldn’t object, if it would only help us
out of the difficulty,” said Nettie. “ We might
find some means to send them back to Mammy
Alexander, after securing our escape."

“Dal: won’t do!” decidedly interposed Seph-
aronia, who was a well-grown girl of fourteen,
and seemed to have a spice of Sampson Augus-
tus’s vaulting ambition in her composition.
“ I’se gwine fur good, ur l’se not a—gwine ter go
at all. Ilse done boun’ tor see someiin’ ob do big
wuhld, I is!"

“ Oh, dear!” cried Drusilla, with ill-restrained.
amusement. " Must you be taking a. rise in the
world, too?”

“ You kin bet I mus’, honey!” with an as-
piring grin. “ Oh, jess gib me do chance for to
light on do big wuhld, like a blue—bottle buzzer
on top oh 8. maple-sugar chunk! I’ll show dem
white—folks what’s what, honey 1”

“But surely, Se by,” said Nettie, “ you
wouldn’t deprive litt e Roscoe of his mummy?”

“Oh, no, miss! Send him back when you
done please, but-as fur me,” with a swaeping,
hungering gesture, “ gib me do hull, big, boom-
in’, circumjumperin’ Universerum l”

“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed Drusilla. “ Bless me!
you all but frighten me, Sepharonia. Well, we
shall agree to your terms, and take you with us.
Get dressed without delay, Nettie, and let us see
what Sephy’s great idea is.”

Sepharonia also disappeared from the Win-
30“; with a kind of whoop, as Nettie stepped

ac .

The next instant she was seen stumng the
mattress through the window with great on-
thusiasm, having meantime set the baby to one

s: e.

They fell one on top of the other directly
across the hows of the acht.

The pillows and b0 tors followed in quick
succemion, and were received by Drusilla, who
now perceived the true inwardness of the new
idea, and arranged them artistically on top the
other articles, as if to prepare for a ground-and-
loft tumbling act. .

hen Nettie rec peered at the window fully
dressed the group -work for the impromptu
performance was about complete.

“Look out fur de pieces!” cheerfully called

out Sepharonia, tossing out Roscoe as a test~
trial. “ Dah yo’ g2!” ‘
The dumplingdi eyouhgster struck the ile
fairly on his little teriors, and ave a we] as
be bounded up li e an India ru her ball. but
washdeftly caught by Drusilla. without suffering
mlS ap.

Sepharonia hilariousl followed to show the
way, and landed similar y, with a grand bounce
suggestive of something more than nature's bus-
tle. and reaching her feet on the deck with quite
a little flourish of her long heels.

“ You’ turn, Missus Nettie!” she called back
encouragingly. “ Yo’ mus’ fall squattin’,dough,
or oberboard yo’ 0, kersocki”

Nettie did ma e the jump, though a little
more gracefully than advised, and got 05 with
a slight sprain. "

“Into the small boat now!” cried Drusilla.
“I hear noises from the tunnel, no less than
some others from the top of the cliff. Let us
make haste!”

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
A rsmnoos PREDICAMENT.

AFTER :1 good deal of trouble, the fugitives
succeeded in crowding into the small boat.

Then the rope was cut, Drusilla pushed off,
availing herself of the onl air of cars, which
she could handle but i i erently, and some
slight progress was made toward gaining more
open water. ‘
at this juncture. however, there were a couple
of interruptions of a very diverse character.
“Stick to it!” shouted a well~known voice,
from high overhead. “We'll find means to
reach you in a short time.”

It was Paul Fagll‘eston’s, and now they per-
ceived him waving is hot from among a small
group on the summitof the moon-silvered blufl.

Drusilla respon with a cheer, and Nettie

 

 

  

 
    

 
  

    

  

  
    
 

 

 

 

couldoalnrost havecr with delighted excite-
ment, while the irrepressible Sepbaronia sent up

4

  

 

  

a chili]! screech that might have been heard for
a mi e.

Thena man, who was recognized as Short-
Stop Maje himself, was observed to run to the
edge of the clifl', and wave his hand.

“ Keep down the stream! ‘ called out his clear,
resonant voice. “ There is u landing-place down
there where we can receive you.”

Drusilla made a glad gesture in response, and
then recognized Florins, also beckoning encour-
agingly, with Chris Payne and the many-col—
ored Sampson Augustus at her side.

And at that moment Sepharonia recognized
the last mentioned individual at the same time.

“ Glory Hallelujerum!” she squalled, tossing
Roscoe so frantically in the air that there
was imminent danger of his tumbling oil“ into
the river; “ eff dere ain’t our Sampsy ’Gustus,
a-shiuin’au’ awsparkhn’ like a dead fish in de
moonshine! Oh, Laws a messy! but what a
rise in de wuhld dat brack coon must hev took!”

“ Be quiet, do!” commanded Drusilla, who
was now doing her best to row as well as the
crowded condition of the heat would admit
while the group on the bluff had scattered and’
disappeared. “We’re not safe yet, and must
devote ourselves only to the bul’ness in hand.”

Here occurred the second interruption.

There was a tremendous explosion, apparently
from the bosom of the tunnel, and its month,
now directly opposite the boat’s position, was
seen to vomit forth a pod“ of smoke, together
with a shower of stones. 1

“ Heavens!” exclaimed Drusilla, the truth
flashing upon her like a revelation; “those
penned-up scoundrels! They must have blown
out the obstructions with such powder as their
pisfnlmartridges would furnish, and even at the
risk"gf blowmg themselves up, into the bar-
gain!

Tho truth of this surmise was instantly ap-

parent.

Quickly following the smoke-puff, two men
were seen to rush out of the secret passage upon
the moon-lighted strand.

Their powder-blackened faces did not prevent
their instant recognition b both Drusilla and '
Nettie, as Fullhand and ricks, even had the
forrger’s voice not established the fact beyond a
don t.

“ To the sail-boat!” he was heard to shout, in
a vmce hoarsc with baffled rage. “ Quick! if
that girl is torn from my grasp by the Diamond:
Field Detective, I am a doomed man!”

And then they were seen to rush frantically
for the acht. v

Drus' a maintained an outward calm that she

'was far from feeling in her heart, and husband-

ing her strength, she bent to the cars as method—
icallfV as her imfierfect knowledge of rowing
woud allow, wh e heading out slantingly, so
as to get the full force of the magnificent river’s
east shore-current at the earliest possible mo—
ment.

She could not deny to ‘herself the imminent
dan or there was of recagietcure; and both Nettie
and epharonia, as if re ‘ting her anxiety, had
grown as still as death, even little Roscoe
self settling down into infantile apathy.

To spring on the yacht, cast 03‘ moorings, and
shake out the sail, had been the work of but a
minute or two on the part of the ursuers, who
appeared to be thoroughly at ome on the
water.

The craft was only floating out with the tide
at present, but a good down-stream wind would
doubtless phi! out her sail like a little balloon as
soon as she should drift from under the deaden-
ing shelter of the rising blufl; and as it was
fully half a mile down before a landing could
be eflected by the small boat containing the
fugitives, there was the best sort of chance of
their being overhauled.

“ 0h!” sobbed Nettie at last, the tea rs stream-
ing down her face, “ why did we not think of
scuttling or firing that hateful sail-boat before
shoving 011’! We might have done it without
any sort of trouble whateter."

“I was a sad oversi ht on our part; but lei:
us no despair,” replied rusilla, gravely. “ It’s

0 use deploring what can’t be remedied, and

e're not captured yet.”

“But we must not be, Drusilla!” cried the
youn girl, clasping her hands franti ally. “I
feel t at I would sooner die than in that
man’s power again.”

“It shall be neither the one nor the other,
my dear, if ‘I can help it,” was the calmly-
serious reply, with a suggestion of irony in it.
“ Take courage, and keep on a lookout far down .

him—

v’along _the bank there for the reappearance of
n

our ends.”
“ There isn’t a sign of! them i” cried Nettie,
desperately. “ Besides, where would they get a-
bout to come of! to our rescue?” ' '~
“ No matter; we might go to them. If they
could not come to us.

ahead
rush with it splendidly ”
é “ Dat am the
o
‘

lly fetching
ole sail-boat bobs an’, slpuches a

a tighter clasp on Roscoe.
e um join: slicin’ along like

wif its tail gone.” i l , to.
seem ng y making ‘

se whiledat
utlikeagoooe-

“What is that speck
us from far out in mid-stream!”

M ; .9

  

See; the swift current “ '
y seizes our keel, and weare beginning to 7 '

fac’l’;‘exciainied Sepharonia, L 3

 

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2,25" . 

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.-... ~— ».- i..- Ks)“;

Short-Stop. Made.

25

 

 

Drusilla, without relinquishing her monotonous
labor at the oars. “ It seems too insignificant
for a sail."

“ It is one, however,” said Nettie, after a
moment’s scrutiny of the object. “ I can make
it out now. It is the tiniest of sail—boats, and
there is but one man in it, who seems to be wav-
ing his hand toward us.”

Here there was a. despairing wail from Sepha-
ronia.

._-.__

CHAPTER XXXIX.
SAILS AGAINST oans.

THERE was cause enough for that despairing
cry, and as Drusilla and Nettie followed the
glance that accompanied it back along the wake
of the row-boat, the younger girl’s heart grew
hushed and choked with fresh dejectiou.

The wind had suddenly caught the drifting
yacht, and with her one great leg-of—mutton
sail swelling out like the snowy bosom of a
mighty bird, she was now apparently bearing
down upon the fugitives with almost the speed
of an arrow.

Drusilla, on her part, merely calculated the
interval to he overhauled as perhaps a little
more than a quarter of a mile, and then pointed
to an in-shore beach. a little less than twice the
distance away, on which Short-Stop and his
companions could now be seen gathered, but in
evident embarrassment over a perfect compre-
hension ot' the criticalness of the situation, and
the fact of there being no boat to be had.

Then she coolly stopped rowing, and shipped
the sculls.

. “ Oh I" exclaimed Nettie, “ what are you
going to do i”

For immediate answer, Drusilla. produced her
revolver, which had been emptied in the tunnc-
and elsewhere, and began supplying it with
fresh cartridges.

“ Oars are of little use as against sails when
the wind blows,” she said, quietly. “ We must
trust in something else and—wait.”

Sepharonia screamed, and buried her face in
the fat little baby’s body.

Nettie, however, now seemed to catch a little
of her friend’s heroic spirit, and forced bench!
to be calm for the worst.

“ I wish I had a weapon, too!” she said, sim-
ply. “ I never, to my recollection, discharged a
firearm in my life; but, if I could sight and
touch oil? a whole cannon now, I feel certain I
would blow that yacht out of water, and its
cowardly inmates into atoms."

Drusilla smiled approvingly, and then glanced
from the on—swooping yacht to the tiny sail-
boat from mid-stream, which was now quite
distinct.

“ We shall be overhauled in just about five
minutes," she observed. “ In the mean time, I
recognize the man in the tiny sail-boat, and
rather think he is desirous of assisting us.”

“You know him?" exclaimed Nettie, in sur-
prise.

L. X785.”

“ Who is he?”

“ A Mr. Barfield,” and the olive pallor of
Drusnla’s face was suffused with a mantling
blush.

“ Dere goes somet’ing in de water of! de sho’l”
cried Sepharonia, who had slightly recovered
from her first despair, and she pointed to the
excited group at the foot of the river-bank.
“ ’Pears to be somebody gone in a-swimmin‘.”

“ It is nothing but a big dog in the water, I
fancy,” was Nettie’s comment, after a. careless
glance in the same direction.

Drusilla‘s eyes were now fastened steadily on
the etic figure of the swiftly-coming yacht,
now ess than three hundred rods away.

Her low-lying deck permitted both its occu-
pants to be seen distinctly.

Bricks was wholly occupied with managin
the boat, apparently with a practiced hand, an
Fullhand was craniug his neck forward over
the prow, his eyes glowing with fierce and cruel
expectancy.

They had both cleansed the powder—black
from their faces, and their features were quite
distinct.

“ Two human brutes, calling themselves men,
against two youu .women, a black girl and a
baby!” muttered rusilla, her lip curling.

Then, leveling her revolver with a deliberate
aim. she fired her first shot.

The Weapon, though small, was an excellent
one, and its trajectory was true.

Fullhand was seen to start to one side, as a
suggestion that the bullet had passed uncom-
fortably c1056.

“ What are you-aboutf’fies yelled, furiously,
drawing and flourishing his revolver. “ Curse
you! would you commit murder?’

Drusilla. smiled, and for answer, sighted and
fired cram.

A Egod fore-and—aft shot narrow] missing
Fullhand once more. but causing B _s to dro
the tiller and c185? 1115 left firearm» "1th a be '

low of pain.
But the acht wasnow at close quarters, and
Fullhand, yfurious With rage, threw out his pis-

fired. _
mbgli'ifiig: random shot, but accompamed by

a shriek from the negro 81’1- v

 

Nettie turned toward her with a cry of her-
ror, while Drusilla only glanced back once.

The baby was dead in his sister‘s arms, shot
through the head.

“, Coward! infamous out i” exclaimed Drusilla,
through her clinched teeth and bloodless lips;
“ murderous, craven hound!"

“A By Jove, that was inattention l” shouted
back Fullhand. seemingly in no less horror than
ra e. “ You don’t suppose—-"

ere Drusilla fired again, the bullet grazing
his neck, and burying itself in the mast.

But the fugitiVes were by this time overhaul-
ed, and Fullhand, forgetting the tragedy in his
exultation, was leaning out with both hands
graspingly outstretched, while Bricks, still glar-
ing over his wounded arm, seemed capable of
any reprisal.

“ Give in!” roared the former.
we’ll run you down!”

But at this juncture Drusilla’s last shot cut
the governing cordnge of the yacht’s sail, letting
it down with a rush, and she hurled the empty
weapon desperater at the scouudrel, striking
him full in the breast.

“ Courage, M iss Egglestou l” shouted Barfield,
now buta rod away. “ I’ll be at the villain in
an instaiitl”

Even as he spoke, his bird-like pinnace struck
the yacht, and he leaped to the latter’s deck,
but only to be straightway tackled by the mus-
cular burveshot Bolder, who in spite of his
wound, could still be a dangerous customer, and
the two went down together in a furious hand-
to-hand grapple.

But Drusilla. had by this time been sent reel-
ing back by a. blow from F‘ullhand’s fist, and Net-
tie, though struggling desperately, was already
in the scoundrel s powerful grasp, and being
pulled up over the yacht’s gun wale.

“Stick it out!” at this instant thundered a
voice, seeming from the moonlit river’s depth.
“ Club the brute with that car, Miss Eggleston!
I am on deck 1”

Drusilla. uttered a scream of renewed hope,
and made a snatch for the oar indicated; while
Fullhand, now with Nettie crushed helplessly un-
der his left arm, roared out an oath, and leveled
revolver with his disengaged hand.

The new-comer wa : a. swimming man,who had
just grasped the small boat’s gunwale.

It was the Diamond-Field Detective.

CHAPTER XL.
rsrn IN THE BALANCE.

FULLHAND’S pistol spoke just as Short-Stop
was flinging himself out; of the water and ever
the smal boat’s side. '

A look of the detective’s curling hair was
nipped by the bullet from his left temple as
neatly as with a pair of shears. ’

“Quick, Bricks!” shouted Fuilhnnd, recoiling
with Nettie still in his iron grasp. “ The matchl
the match!”

And Bricks,who had just freed himself from his
grapple with Barfield, who was momentarily
dazed on his part, darted down out of sight
under the yacht’s deck.

“Coward! Criminal!” thundered the detec-
tive, his glance flashing from the murdered
babe back upon Fullhand, whose recoil had at
this instant been expedited b a. rin ing rap
from the hrandished ear in rusillas hands;
“ but fate is in this battle-balance, and your
doom is fixed l” _

With that, he precipitated himself like a
thunderbolt along the shaky intervening space
full at the scoundrel’s throat. ,

But before the grapple could be effected, there
wasasmoke—pufi‘.‘ from the yacht’s liatchwa ,
and Bricks reappeared with a. scared look, only
to be pounced on by Barfield again. .

Then Fullhand gave a hoarse laugh of de-
moniac triumph, and Sprung headlong into the
river with Nettie in his arms.

Bricks had in the mean time tripped up Bar-
fleld, and grasped Drusilla in his muscular arms
just as she was landing on the yacht’s deck at
the detective’s side with a triumphant cry. .

Then he in turn reeled back und r a terrific
fist-blow from Bnrfield, who also t rew his arm
around Drusilla; and just as they were all roll-
ing off into the water in a writhing, battling
group, the yacht blew up with an immense ex-
plosion.

Amoment later, when the smoke and frag-
ments of the explosion had cleared ofl', Short—
Stop Maje, who had been thrown uninjured into
the bottom of the small boat, at the terrified
black girl’s feet, took his primary outlook over
the side. and ground his teeth with a rage too
deep for more intelligent expresswn. _

Barfield’s swift and uninjured‘-pinnace.was
just filling away before the wind, like a frlgPt-
ened bird, already twenty yards. distant, With
Fullhancl, still holding Nettie’s fainting form to
his breast, in her mid-ships, and the rnfiia‘nly

“Give in, or

, Bricks dragging himself up over her low stern

out of the river's embrace.

But it was not this disappointing and baffling
spectacle that had chiefly evoked that furious
expression of the detective’s anger and chagrin.

.Floating near at him on the surface of the
river, Was the senseless orm of Drusilla Eggle—
ston, supported by Barfleld, who. while easily
swimming, was gazing into her unconscious

 

 

face with an a onized anxiety that took no note
of anything 9 se in the wide world at that try-
ing moment.

ate had, indeed, been cast in the battle~
balance, and with a result the reverse of favor-
able for the lion-hearted, silent-faced Diamond-
Field Detective.

“Curses on the luck of it all I” he muttered,
under his breath; “ must that man, with his
wealth, his grace, his refinement, his hundred
advantages to which I am a stranger, forever
interpose, and seize the best and first chance out
of my clutch? Why am I not in his coveted
place, with her head on my arm, even though
the embracing river were my grave the follow-
in}?r moment? Fate, fate, fate!”

Iere Barfield called out for his assistance,
and between them they lifted Drusilla’s form in
over the gunwale, the gentleman following.

She had been but temporarily stunned by the
concussion of the explosion, without sufi‘erin
any more serious injury, and speedily show
signs of recovery after her immersion. .

" Where am I?" she at last cried, starting up.
“ Give me that other pistol! Whatever hap-
pens, save Nettie! Ha E”

And then she sunk back, hiding away with
shuddering hands the sight of the rapidly-re—
ceding pinnace, with the returning flood of
recollections that it emphasized.

“ Oh, it is too much!’ she murmured, broken—
ly. “ All this trouble, and toil, and exertion,
and fob—nothing!”

Yes; and she might well have added, in her
own case, “ and all this self-sacrificing heroism,
pure and simple!” but she did not, and perhaps
even failed to think of it.

The two man regarded her bowed, dripping
figure, so statuesque in its powerful, graceful
lines, in silence. I

So beautiful and yet so heroic! how could the
one avoid secretly congratulating himself for
having hung between the splendid creature and
a watery grave, or the other stifle an angry
bitterness at heart in that it was not he to grasp
the olden op ortnnityf

“ am all ripping wet,” exclaimed Drusilla,
rousing herself again. “Ah, yes; the explosion
—I have been in the water then i”

Falconbridge resolved to sup of his bitterness
to the full. ' V

“ Of course you have,” he took it upon him-
self to reply, with outward calmness. “And
there,” pointing to Mr. Barfleld, “ is your res—
cuer—your sole deliverer!” *'

"' Oh, surely not altogether so,” she mur—
mured, but nevertheless flushing under Bar-
field’s ardent glance. “You also, Short-Stop,
were in the thick of it all.”

The latter shrugged his shoulders, and straight-
waly betook himself to the oars.

hen Drusilla’s eyes fell upon the dead child,
still clasped by Sepharonia, who, alone, of all
participants in the night’s crowning adventure,

ad escaped a wetting.

She shuddered, and then, placing herself
gently at the girl’s side, put her arm around
her, and remained so without s eaking again.

On the way toshore Bar-field riefly explained
his own presence upon the tragic scene. ,-

Boating by moonlight had always been one of
his delights, and he was taking a solitary sail in
the pinnace, hired for the occasion, when, in
sweeping the waters with a ni ht-glass, his at-
tention had been directed to t e fugitive.craft
and its pursuer, and, half-divining something of
what might be going on, bad at once directed
his swift course toward the theater of the strug-
gle, with the result as described.

" It must be the truth, for he is too much of a. I

gentleman to fabricate,” growled the detective
to himself, still bending apparently unconcern-
edly to the ours, with bOWed head. “ Luck

luck, luck! It was just Fate in the balance, and
dead against me.” . ‘

Florine was the first to seize Drusilla’s hand as
she step ed ashore.

“The ravest of the brave,” she said sim ly.
“ You deserve the title, my dear, no less the
the fiercest—mustached marshal or soldier 0
history.”

“ Speak not- thus, Florine,” was the murmured
reply, as\Drnsilla tenderly assisted the still-
dazed colored girl ashore, with the lifeless in.~
tent in her arms. “
and I. and our first duty is here.”

And they forthwith gently conducted Sepha-
ronia homeward between them.

When Short-Stop and his associates got back
to the hotel, shortly before midnight, a telegram
was placed in his hands. .

“We must be sure to Win the rubber-match
here to-inorrow,” he coolly remarked, after
glancing at the dispatch. ‘ V

“ Why?” asked Paul Eggleston.

“ Because Miss Moore is doubtless being hur.’ : 

ried New-York-wards,” was the reply; “and

here is a. challenge from the Man
accepted on the spot.”
CHAPTER XLI.

_ DOWN rm: HUDSON. ,
Tim rubber game with the Peekskill boys

 

m i
been played and won. only after-a close and dose

parate struggle; and, late in the afternoonof

1'

See; we are women, you,

. _ attanville ,
White Stockings, which must consequentlybe.
"x :

é:
,,
L,
if

 

 

 

’26

Short-Stop Maj e.

 

 

the same day, the victorious Owensburgers were

33 ttheir way to New York by one of the Albany

a s. .

Short-Stop had been so rushed with business
following 11 n the exciting adventure of the
preceding night as to have hardly a thought of
unything else, and was now looking among the 1
pazssen ers in the hope of having a. quiet plan—
ning ta k with Drusilla and Florine, when Chris
k‘ayne touched him on the shoulder.

The young man had lost much of his charac-
teristic animation, and wore a heavy, discon-
ieuted look that was threatening to become ha-
biiunl.

“ I say, Short-Stop! isn’t it an infernal shame
now?” he blurted out, confidentially.

“ Isn’t what a. shame?” '

“ Why, the way that rich Barfleld fellow—
fifteen years her senior, if a dayl—is tagging
around after Drusilla Eggleston.’

“ Where is she now! I am looking for her.”

“ Over yonder, by the port wheel, with that
Mrs. Vavassour. See? Yes: and Barfield, as
usual! By Cracky! if my old Governor would
only shell out as he might, who knows but I’d

. be as rich' and polished as that Barfield, and

s with just as good a chance—”

“ On, bcsh, Chris! grow a thicker beard, and
try to think of something else than pretty
women!” -

And, with a good—natured laugh to soften the
’brusqueness of the interruption, Falconbridge
made his way toward the two ladies with an in-
different air. '

Both were quick to perceive that he wished to
converse with them apart, and, as they made
room for him on the bench between them, Bar— ‘
field, who had evidently been vainly desiring a
similar inv1tation, made his excuses and floated '
awa with a rather disconsolate look.

“ on saw the Alexander family again before
leaving, I presume?” was the detective’s first ;
query.

Florine and Drusilla were, as a. matter of
course, in the habiliments of their sex, and were
both looking very well, considering their recent
adyentures.

“ Yes.” the former took it upon herself to re-
gly. “ They were somewhat quieter over the

aby’s death, but even the considerable sum we
placed at their disposal, with the compliments
of the team and others though gratefully re-

ceived; did not check some fresh outbursts of ,

e . 

“ And their sentiment toward Fullhand!”

“ It is simply murderous. The general popu—
lar indignation is as nothing, compared to the
fury of the colored famil . Even John Henry,
who seems to have been ullhand’s unscrupulous

,2“ - tool f years, would doubtless strangle him on
 I sight, if the opportunity were oflered him; and
 as for the poor old mummy, her thirst for re-
‘ venfie ison a par with her grief.”

“ he girl, Sepharonia?”

» “ She continued in her stupid half-dazed con-
dition. Poor girl!”

“Yes,” interposed Drusilla. “Poor Sephar-
 onia’s ambition for a rise in the world will
'21,, doubtless prove her ruin. I doubt if she will

' ever be her bright and healthy self Isigma. look

at poor Sam son Augustus, too. e doubtless
feels his fami yaffliction deeply, though he takes
‘, such a ridiculous mode of showing it. Poor
fellow! with this private grief, he is now most
likely, in his own estimation, the very head and
front of the Avon ing Nine, with their chief re-
.l' sponsibility u on is shoulders.”
"’ She had in icated the colored youth, who was
’ standing apart from the crowd with Tommy
Dodd on the opposite side of the deck.“

Sampson Au ustus was still conspicuous or
 nothing. In dition to his man -hued base-,r'
Eu} ’ balling costume, which he persists in wearing
on all occasions, on and of! duty, he had framed
a huge, stifl, flaring red pasteboard letter B
over the aggressive visor of his sporting-cap,
doubtless with sanguinary significance; his
ordinarily good-humored physio nomy was set
in a stereotyped fmwn or scow of diabolical
gnmness, while his slouchy demeanor had taken
on a profoundly melodramatic and tragic air
that seemed to_ excite the secret envy of his
present companion.

“ The child’s murder shall be avenged!” said
the detective, in his low, thrillin voice; “ and
that in, shorter order than Full and can pro-
bably anticipate.”

Both ladies looked at him expectantly, but at
this juncture Mr. Tommy Dodd, who had sop
arated from Sampson Augustus, came up and
saluted the group with his customary stagi—

 

 

“Excuse my intrusion, boss,” he remarked,
with a profoundly pardon-asking bow to the
, ladies. “ but I thin you ought to have a. tip with
regard to that coon of ours.
'  grams  with him?” .
7 s ‘r y on e jumpin mm for
Bel-lad, my liege! You rha g warm" that
horrent and ensanguined ral 1c symbol on the
r moko’s dancing crest—the new device on his

acuteheon, so to ’ ‘

   

’ 1' over Sampson’sea front, ”

“ If you refer to the pasteboard initial pinned ’

 

yes.
“Boa” with t eatrical in: msivoness “ 1;
mad: :5. Bel-lad!" p ’ ’1

  

“Ah, indeed 1”

“Sure as you live, boss! and I’d hate tobe
shifting scenes, or hammering out stage-
thunder, on theOId Bowery boards at the pre-
sent hour with Sampson Augustus Alexander
in the Bill Sykes murder act, or in the Othello
smotherin scene.”

“ Aha! anger, eh?”

“ There’s blood on the face of the moon, boss,
should that coon meet Montague Fullhand face
to face, back to back, hand to hand, heel to
heel, on his present thoughts intent."

“ That will do. and thanks, Tommy! Just
keep your eye on Sampson, lest he should swal-
low more than a barrel or two of gore before
We reach the city, and then report to me, as I
may have a special commission for you.
Wait!”

Tommy turned again, on the point of taking
his departure.

“Are you thoroughly acquainted with that
building in which the Zorilla Mining Company
has its elegant new offices?”

"Not so, my sovereign liege. Only the
ground-floor is fully occupied, as yet.”

“ ‘Vell, you Will give your earliest attention
to the janitor of the building, together with the
topmost unoccupied rooms.”

“ There are thirteen stories, boss; and the
passenger elevator isn’t in the shaft yet.”

“No matter; so much the more need of in-
formation. Report to me at our Harlem hotel
to—night, if possible.”

Mr. Dodd nnlimbered his stateliest bow, and
effected a stoical retreat.

Both Florine and Drusilla looked eagerly at
the detective.

“ You don’t surely apprehend,” exclaimed the
former, “ that Montague Fullhand will venture
to appear at the Zorilla offices at once?" .

“By no means,” was the reply. “ But Mr.
Secretary Montgomery Moore may answer for
him at a pinch.” ‘

Florine looked uneasy.

“ You suspect something there?” she queried.

“I do; and have suSpected it. Florine, you
have done nob] so far. Don’t sully my increas-
ing good opinion of you by keeping even an
atom of pity in your heart for that scoundrel
we are both equally interested (or should be) in
hunting into his last ditch.”

All this was quite incomprehensible to Dru-
silla, who, however,'prudently held her peace.

CHAPTER XLII.
A FRESH CLEW.

FLORINE’S face presently cleared, and the
mingled beauty and firmness which could be its
engaging characteristic when she chose, came
into her lineaments. ‘

“Ishal! tread the last lingering remnant of
it out of my heart!” 'she exclaimed resolute! .
“Henoeforth, I am for truth and honor (wi h
your good help,) if I starve to death by the
change. There’s my hand on it!”

Falconbridge bowed his head, and gravely
took the glove hand so earnestly extended to

1m. .

“ You will know more of this presently, Miss
Eggleston,” he said, turning with a smile to
Drusilla. “ Florine is at liberty to make you
her confidante, and we shall doubtless confer
together again this evening. Excuse me now.
I see that manager of the Harlem White Stock-
ings conversing with our boys, and they are
doubtless wanting me.”

“ Let us go into the saloon!” said Drusilla.
somewhat hurriedly, when he had gone. “ I
don’t want Mr. Barfleld to find me again at
present.”

Fllorine accompanied her with an amused
sun 9. ' l

“ That man is greatly in love with you, my
dear,” she observed, when they were seated in
the salobn.

“Nonsense! Mr. Falconbridge is too stern a
man to be in love with any woman.”

“ He. too, eh? Well, 1 might have included
himqhad I thought a moment.”

“ What do you mean, Florine?”

“ I referred to Mr. Barfleld.”

is 0b 2»

And Drusilla blushed in more confusion than
she was in the habit of betraying.

“ So! Then you only just now discover that
there are two of them i”

r “ By no means. The idea of Old Falcon being
in love, and with me!”

“ He isn’t old, save in his sobriquet, by the

ay.
“ I didn’t mean that. Of course he isn’t.
However, I had forgotten that poor boy, Chris
Pavne!” . ‘

And Drusilla laughed.

“ That one would be young enough, in all con-
science,:even with addition of some salt.”

“ I should say so!”

‘.‘ Poor Falconbridge !”

“ He isn’t poor. Why do you say that?”

“ No matter. Barfleld "is doubtless the best
parh’ all round.” .
' “ You think so?”

It Yes-"(I _

tighhyhgi ' h hand I 1 greoabl
, , e no some. c over, a e
affectionate—3* "- I, = ' - ’

W

 
 

 

“And a do—nothing! However, he is prob-
ably”all you say. Let us talk about something
e se

“ With all my heart! Men are a subject more
or less stale, at best.”

“ In that sense, yes, perhaps! But now about
Fullhand and this mysterious Zorilla Company
secretary?”

“ Well?”

“ There is a mystery) about the latter, then i”
t‘ Yes.”

“ What is it?”

Florine smiled, and then seemed to reflect.

“ Wait till to-morrow, or till we can talk
with Short~Stop again,” she replied, after a
pause. “ There is just this to it now: I have
long suspected a mystery in connection with
that man, and new first perceive that our detec—
tive friend has got hold of the same idea.”

“Even after your trying to throw him off the
scent by advancing the notion that Secretary
Moore and Bricks-Hitchcock, or Mr. Alias, as
they ought to call him, might be one and the
same person ?”

Florine colored.

“ I own to havingiwished to delude him as to
the truth,” she fran ly admitted. " But that is
over now.” , _

“ I feel sure it is ” and Drusilla took the older
woman’s hand. “ want to remain your friend,
my dear Floriue. I feel sure you will help
me to become such by being a true,'honest wo—
man!” '

Florine was not a little affected, and the im—
pulsive kiss that she gave her companion just

then was a sufficient answer in itself for the.

time being.

Here there were indications of some sort of
excitement below decks forward, together with
shouts of rough laughter, and presently young
Chris Payne was seen separating from Mr. Barv
field, after which he approached the two ladies,
lookin _ hot and confused. ‘

“ at was the sensation out forward there,
Mr. Payne?” asked Drusilla. -

“ Oh, the most ridicuious thing in the world !”'
And he laughed with something of his boyish
animation once more. “ I do believe that coon
of ours, Sampson Augustus, must be growing
daft.”

“What of him?”

“ Why, be suspended from the forecastle ceil-
ing by a isco of tarred rope an enormous meat-
ax, whic he had found lying around some-
where, and fell to apostrophizin it, after the
manner of Macbeth and the air- rawn dagger,
in the most bloodthirsty and vaunting impro-
visations conceivable. ven when he had col-
lected a great crowd, who did nothing but guy
and jeer him, he persisted in his nonsense, till
Short-Stop led him away by the ear. It was
too absurd l” s

“ Sampson must be looked after,” comments
Drusilla, gravely, while Florine burst outlaugh—
ing. “ I fear that the poor young man‘s int 1-
lect may become affected. Besides, his sta e
heroics are not much more extravagant than
little Tommy Dodd‘s, after all.”

“ But I wanted to 53
Miss Eggleston.” An Chris’s confusion re-
turned.

“ What is it, Mr. Payne?”

“That—that gentleman, Mr. Barfield. you
see—he’s just made a queer proposition to me.”

“ Indeed !”

“ Yes; it seems that he is accompanying our
team down the river, without having let his
daughter know of his intentions.” '

“ Well?”

“Well, he proposes that I run up to Hudson
City by rail, and escort Miss Barfield hack to
the city—to the Hotel Brunswick, where her
father always puts up when in New York.”

“A capital trip for you, I should say! and
you will have time before the next match"
amen, ‘ I ,

g “Yes, yesi”a little testily; “but that isn’t,
exactly the—the possible drawback.”

“No? What, then?”

“ Well, you see, Miss Egglestcn, I told Bar—
fleld-—tbat isr—I didn’t exactly refuse to go after
his daughter, on—on the condition that—that
you wouldn’t object to—to my sort of cavalier-
ing another young lady in public i”

Drusilla elevated her eyebrows in amuse-
ment, before fully understanding thesilly young/
fellow’s drift, while Florine hastily quitted her
seat to indulge her laughter unrestrainedly.

“ Oh!" cried Miss Eggleston at last. “ Why,
what possible objection could I have, Mr. Payne.
Execute Mr. Barfleld’s commission, by all
means;,and,” very sweetly. “if you don‘t im-

prove the chance of making a good impression I’

with such a charming young girl as Letitia
Barfleld (she must be a your or.two younger_
the? yourself, by the way), it Will be your own
fan t. ' , ‘ '

Then, as poor Chris shrunk back, looking
more confused than ever. she jomed Florine.
Short-Stop and Mr. Barfield In 'the general

move that was being made out of the saloon, 

for the ,New York loading was now being'ape»
proached ‘

“ What can that man mean?" asked Drusilla a; , I ‘

moment later. on the outer deck, as agent
hulking, slouch-batted book-'peddler, whoh‘ad

   

something else to you, '

 

 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
 
 
 
 
   
 
   

I)

 

 

 

      
 
 

life and twice as active.

Short-Stop Maje.

2'7

 

 

boarded the craft at Yonkers, brushed rudely
by her. “That is his second rudeness or clum-
siness, whichever it may be.”

Before Barfield could interpose, Short-Stop
Maje stepped up to the fellow. took up one of
his books, under a pretense of examining it, and
peered up keenly at the face under the hat-
brim.

The next instant he had tom the head—cover-
ing and a pair of false whiskers away, disclosing
the identity of Mr. Alias, as Drusilla had last
alluded to him.

The fellow uttered an oath, dropped his pack—
ages, and sprung to the guard-rail.

The detective was upon him in an instant,
with a tiger’s spring.

At that instant, however, Bricks turned like
lightning, drew a heavy revolver, and, aiming
it point blank at the detective’s breast, fired.

 

CHAPTER XLIII.
IN NEW YORK.

NOTWITHSTANDING the close-range, point-
blank bullet, however, which, to all a pear-
ances, should have pierced the detective’s ieart,
the latter at once closed With his assailant, With
a fierce, remorseless cry.

There was an instant’s struggle, then the
guard—rail gave way/with a splinteriug crash,
and the two men pitched headlong into the
river.

In another instant they had disappeared,
locked in a grappling grip. beneath the per-
turbed surface. almost directly in front of the
steaiiier’s wheel, which, after a moment’s pause
incidental to the wharf being approached, was
again furiously churning the water into eddies
and foam.

Barfield looked up in silent, scarcely realiza-
ble horror, while Drusilla’s face was like chalk.

“ A dastardly deed !" exclaimed a. bystander,
while there was the usual excitement natural to
such an occasion. The smaller of the two must
have got the bullet in his ribs even before he
went overboard so pluckily with his hand on the
scoundrel’s throat.”

“Not much!” cried Florine, triumphantly,

picking up the book let fall by the detective
at the last moment. “Don’t faint, Drusilla.
Look!”

She exhibited the book—a thick, cheaply-
bound volume of several hundred pages—with
the intercepted bullet buried, into its thickness,
which it had pierced more than half through.

Miss Eggleston caught her breath, her pallor
being quickly replaced by a. bright hopeful
color, which was not lost upon Barfleld, who
thereupon hit his lip), and seemed ill at ease.

“Hurrah!” at t is juncture shouted Chris
Payne who had scrambled. to the top of the
wheel-house, where he was waving his hat en-
thusiasticall ; “ there’s Short—Stop Maje, right
side up wit, care, though the other chap has
probably gone to the bottom. Hallo! but he
seems unable to swim. No: there goes a diver
to his support. By Jupiter! if it isn’t our rain-
bow moke, Sampson Augustus, I hope I may
bu’stl” ,

This substantially proved the upshot of the
adventure.

Bricks had disappeared; Short-Stop, after
experiencingastunned sensation was sup rted
in the water by the faithful negr’o lad until both

' were assisted on board the boat; it remained

uncertain whether Bricks had been drowned or
had mysteriously effected an escape; the landing
was effected a few minu 5 .later; and that was
the end of the episode, rief, sudden and ex-
citing as it had been., .
Late in the evening of the same day Florine
and Drusilla were conferring together in their
private parlor of a west-side Harlem hotel, at
which the touring team had deCided to setup
their headquarters, when Falconbridge en-
tell? 1 k d verly
00 e 11 ea .
“ lids Tom myllDOdIl returned from his mission
” ked Florine. _ . .
ye‘t‘?Ndlssy¢et,” and the detective smilingly seated
himself. “ But I am expgcting him at any min-
d be will seek me ere. _
utfiit‘llgthing further of that scoundrel Bricks, I

But he has doubtless escaped. A

suppose?”
Nothing. m; as well as he

fellow who can manage o yea

‘ did last night isn’t apt to drown in fresh water.

We shall merely have to hide our next opportuv
nity with him.” I »
“ But the steamer’s wheel might have struck

' when you were under the water together.” .
h‘m “ You say that it Just ‘

ted Drusilla.
striking yourself by the luckiest chance.”
“That is true. It was the instant before we
were torn apart- By the way. it’s pretty hard
work to hang on to your man under the water,

and under those circumstances." . r

“ We should judge s0. Without having ever
made the trial," observed F10r1no,smiling.

“ Well, I somehow feel that I was not alone
in making my escape. That ends the matter—

; ' for‘the present.”

Here there was a knock at the door, and Mr.
' Dodd put in an appearance, as small as
the Zorilla Company

 “You have explored

 

building, as directed?” demanded the detective,
without ceremony.

“ Mr. Falconbridge, your instructions have
been fulfilled to the letter. ”

“ With what result?”

“The janitor is an honest Scotchman, tender
of money, than of even oat-meal or whisky.”

“ To the point, my man."

“ He occupies sky-parlors in the fortieth or
fiftieth story of the towering edifice, I forget
which.”

“ Well?”

“ Family consists of a wife, daughter and
idiot son—the last putting one forcibly in mind
of that sweet old drama, ‘ The Idiot Witness;
or, The Tale of Blood.”

“Any one else in family?”

"‘ A mysterious young lady guest, received
this morning at daylight; can’t be seen; coni-
panioned by the daughter of the house.”

The two ladies’ eyes sparkled. but the detec-
tive’s voice and manner remained unchanged.

“A prisoner, do you think?”

“ No way of telling.”

“But your opinion?"

“Is that the Campbell family are Miss Net-
tie’s new jailers."

“ What do you base it on?"

“ The still small voice that softly, sepulchral-
ly whispers to me from out the misty unknown
——-the mind, the spirit, the intuition, the Pro-
methean spark—”

“ Enough of that, sir!"

“ Otherwise, Mr. Falconbridge, on the old
duffer’s manner when I was doing my best to

ump him dry, while pouring Scotch whisky
into him by the pint measure.”

“ That is more like it. “What was his man-
ner?”

“ Foxy and timid, by turns; a sort of tacit
admission that there was a mystery of some
sort.

“ How can we‘ best ascertain the truth?”

“ To—night?”

u Yes),

“By the ladies calling on the janitor’s wife
on some trumped-up excuse. Then, while the
family’s attention or suspicions are engaged

' below, you and I might gain the root from the

adjoining buildings, and See if there ain’t facili-
ties for the skylight act.”

“ Good l" exclaimed Short-Sta , while the
ladies seemed equally pleased wit the sugges—
1ou. ' -
“ What excuse could we make for calling on‘
the janitor’s wife?” murmured Florine, half to
herself. . \

“She and her daughter are ban
makers, for one thing,” suggcs
Dorld. '

“Excellent! And Sampson Augustus shall
accompany us as our e—in-waiting.”

Drusilla. bad eagerly risen, while the detective
got up more reflectively.

“ It is a delicate business,” he observed.
“ But Heaven grant that we are once more on
the track of the much-wronged young lady’s
place of captivity!” v

CHAPTER XLIV.
, UP IN THE AIR.

THE new building, part of whose ground floor
was occupied by the ofiioes of the Zorilla Silver
Mining Company, was situated near the
Battery, or. lower end of Broadway, and was,
together with an older adjoining edifice, one of
the very loftiest in the city.

Stor after story rose in bewildering window-
tiers, c imbing one above another, as if rooming
all constructive limitations between their earth-
ioundations and the fixed stars. , ‘

A towering, imposing monstrosity, a stupend-
ous joke of a facade, a roof commanding a view
like a mountain-top.

When Florine and Drusilla. attended by Samp-
son Augustus, resented themselves before this
wonder of hric , mortar and terra cotta at about

-up lace-
Tommy

leight o’clock of the evening under consideration,

they at first hesitated with a. natural uneasy
sensation, such as is sometimes experienced on
the brink of some momentous and overpowering
invesui ation.

The rowning magnitude of the many-win-
dowed, cloud-aspliring walls, together with the
loneliness of the our and the comparatively de-
serted aspect of the street, seemed to daunt and
oppress them.

Where did Short-Stop and Tommy Dodd
so?” whispered Drusilla. “I wish they had wait-
ed“with us a minute or two longer.”

They disc peared into yonder entrance.”
glorino replie , pointing to the adjoining pile.

Falconbridgc discovered that he was well ac-
quainted With the ex-policeman janitor in charge,
which will doubless facilitate their reaching its
roof, and perhapsco-Operating with us, with but
little difficulty on their part.

“‘ How I wish our janitor was an ex-policeman
With whom we were well acquainted! The soli-
tude of all that windowed emptiness up yonder
appalls me so‘mewhat. Murders might be com-
mitted away up among some of those empty top
angers“ without an outcry being heard down

“ Psliawl Are we tyros inadventurq‘that we

should hesitate ut' the threshold at this hulking

 

   

mass of architectural ugliness? Sampson, find
the janitor’s bell, and ring it.”

Sampson Augustus, who had been provided.
with a new costume, somewhat less startlin ly
variegated than its predecessor, at the grateiul
detective’s expense, advanced boldly into the-
moonlighted entrance, and presently came back
shaking his head.

“ Dei‘e’s a obfustercation,” he said. “ What
sort ob hells do Eanitors use, ma’m? Efi’ it‘s a
or’nary dinner-be] , I dean’t see IJQ handle."

The night was hot, and there were some prom-
eiiaders on the street, mostly from the airy
households of janitors and private watchmen.

A couple of these promenaders, young girls,
bare-headed, now strolled up and inquired what"
was wanted.

“on, I’ll find the bell for you!” cried one,
when their curiosity had been satisfied; and she
straightway ran into the mazy entrance and
pulled a knob, or did something of the kind.

“Are you after sepia Mrs. Campbell about
the lace-work?“ inquire her companion, duly
impressed by the elegant toilettes of the visitors,
to say nothing of the ‘nigger in waiting,’ as she
would have doubtless characterized poor Sar '.p-
son, with his stilted stride and self-important
airs.

it Yes.” > ‘

“ You ought to be welcome, then. For,
thou h it’s beautiful and expensive Irish lace
that rs. Campbell and Jenny make, there are-
fewer ladies call for it of late than formerly;
They ought to set up a little store somewhere
uptown. But then perhaps the strange young
woman who came to them just after daylight
this morning—maybe she makes lace, too, or is—
to help them sell what they produce.”

Here the other girl returned to say she
thought Mr. Campbell would make his appear-
ance before long.

“ But he’s always slow in answering a ring at
night, and no wonder,” she went on to say.
“You see, there is only a temporary elevator
car at work in the shaft at present, and it does-
’nt work very well; while the stairways are too
many to be of use from the. to of the building,
Going u there is like visiting t. Peter.”

Both lorine and Drusilla thanked the young
girls for their good-nature, while equally im-
pressed by the allusion to the visiting ‘ strange
young woman.’ , -

Florine cautiously returned to that topic now,
and dextrously angled for what further infor-
mation might be at hand.

It wasn’t much, but yet enough to strep then
the hope that the visiting stranger and emo-
Moore might be one and the same. I

One of the girls, the one who had first
breached the hint, had caught a glimpse of the
new arrival, while leaning out of one of her
mother’s windows, at the ‘top of a business .
building opposite, for a few breaths of the
early-morning freshness. ' ,

“ What was she like?” demanded Florine,
sinking all attempts at diplomacy'in her ini—
patieuce. . '

“I couldn’t tell, I was so high up," was the
reply. “ But she seemed to be a young thing,
poorly dressed, and in bad health, from the
way the men helped her into the entrance from.
the carriage.” , ‘ '

“ How many men?”

“ There were two.”

. “Please tell me everything
will cheerfully pay you, an
your good-nature.”

Florine’s request was complied with, but the
girl suddenly ceased speaking, and gave her'a
warning look. . ’ ,

Florine hurriedly slipped a dollar into her in-
formant’s hand, and then turned to confront
Campbell, the janitor, who had Just step out
of the great entrance, while the two girls stily
withdrew to some distance, as though they
feared or disliked the man.

“I dunno,” replied Mr. Janitor Campbell.
scratching his head reflectively, after listening
to Florine’s glib explanation of the visit, and
leering inmriisitively at both ladies and their
escort. “ as, my missus hez the laces to sell, '
but, you see, leddies, he’s tuk unco' bad to»
night. ' V

“ Who is it that is taken so bad. if you please,
Mr. Campbell?" inquired Florine, with nympho
thetic sweetness. .

“ My.son, ma’m. He's rampin’ in the upper—
works betimes. not to say ijiotical, and—anda— .
Well. he's roarin%to-night, and no mistake.”

“How sad!
daughter only that We wish to see, you know.”

“ But that’s just it. My missus is about got
her hands full W'l’ Sawnie, while as for Jenn ,
she’s busy enough wi’ lookinj arter the— o
matter,” correctin himself in no little confl-
fusion, “he’s got er busmess cares, too, of
late.” ‘

“ What are we to do, Mr. Campbell?r Oh,
dear! we must have some of your wife's laces, I
after coming all the way from Albany for "

you observed. 
pay you well, for

the ." v ,
‘gghat! ye ha’ come all the way from Al~

banv.’
“Y ,indeed!” said Florine. who could
varies with charmin earnestnessomo

“ HOWWEI‘. it 9 8816 0 , say fitty dollars'» word; I‘

 

 

owever, it is your wife and - '

 
 

 

 

28

Short-Stop Maje. ‘

 

 

of laces is of no ob'ect to your wife and daugh-
ter, we must look e where.”

“ Fifty dollars’ worth !"

“ Yes; or perhaps more.”

“ Ye might call tomorrow.”

“ Thanks! and then again we mightn’t. Come,
Mrs. Vanderbilt, we seem to have had our
trouble for nothing. Sampson, find our coach‘
man

Instantly Mr. Janitor Campbell was all obse—'

~quiousness and anxiety.

I “ 1f you wouldn’t mind Sawnie’s roaring,” he
hastened to say, " I might look after him my-
.sel’ while my missus war wi’ ye.”

“We mind no one’s roaring, Mr. Cam bell,
when we gratify our caprice-no, nor a 1011’s
roaring either, for that matter. We're accus-
tomed to paying our way and taking our choice.
Lead the way then. Come, Vandy; Sampson,
attend us.”

As they followed the now eager Scotchman
into the building, one of the young girls made a
warning gesture, as much as to say, “ Look out
for that Campbell; he isn’t the best in the
world!” but Florine only nodded gayly in reply.

“Bless me! are we to make the ascensmn in
that cage?” she exclaimed, a moment later,
ste ping back.

hey had been ushered into the ground-floor
hallway, the great door being closed and locked
behind them, and were now before the tem—
porary elevator.

It was an uncouth but snbstantial-lookin
wired-in platform, that had probably been 11
by the workmen in finishing oil? the interior.

It seemed to hang as if suspended by vapory
.threads amid the black, ghostly hollowness of
the shaft, dimly made visible by a sin 16 gas—jet
.from the adjoining vastness of the hallway.

“It ben’t muckle to brag on.” remarked the
janitor apologeticalli, “ but you’d find the stair-
ways like Jacob’s adder for the number 0’

ate .”

Key stepped in upon the staging without fur-
ther rotest, and, in obedience to a touch on a
dang ing rope, beg n straightway to rise into
the immensity an blackness of the upper
regions.

 

CHAPTER XLV.
ran eroa’s uvsrsmns.

A PART, at least, of the young girl’s warning
signal at parting was speedily comprehended by
the passengers on the elevator staging before
they had ascended to any considerable distance
into the upper mysteries of the great oflice
building.

This was an uncomfortable realization of Mr.
Campbell‘s whisky-laden breath, which, in the
confined atmosphere of the shafting, soon be-
came intolerably disgusting and thick enough
to cut in slices with a cheese-knife.

Even Sampson Augustus, who might have
been thought smoke dried and case-hardened in
the alcoholic line from paternal associations,
uttered a asping “ Whoof!” or two on the way
up, and lorine subsequently declared it for-
tunate that no light accompanied the ascent,
else there might have been a case of spontane-
ous combustion, with disastrous consequences.

However, all amictions,'like the measles and
snake-bite, have their periods, and at last the
car came to a humping stop at the topmost
landing. where a feeble li ht was burning, and
where the ladies, follow by their attendant,
hopped out of the wire cage with sighs of relief
little short of ecstatic.

“ Laws 0’ Messy!” gaspgd Sampson Augus—
, tus, mopping his face wit a red and yellow

bandanna that would have joyed the soul of 8.
Cleveland and Thurman boom, “ radder sultry
an orbnoxious in dat elewater. ’Pears ter me
dailslw‘e mus’ have passed froo a bu‘sted kerosine
mi .

“ Yes,” admitted Mr. Campbell. with odori-
ferous unconsciousness. “ Them Eyetalian
laborers do leave an unco smell behind ’em.

, ‘This way, leddies, if you please!”

As he led her the we toward some living
rooms near at hand, the our of one of them,
pleasantly lighted, opened. and a sad-faced gen-
tle-appearing woman of middle age made her
ap arance.

imultaneously there rose from somewhere
not far away a strangely-terrifying sort of cry,
human in its character, and yet so wild-beast-

.like in its savage. heart—quaking intensity as to
cause the visitirs' cheeks to pale instinctively.

“It’s only Sawnie,” said the janitor, reas-
suringly; and. turning abruptly to the woman,
he asked, harshly: “ How is he doing?”

“Quietly enough, and I left him secured,”
was1 the low-vowed, but strangely-indifferent
.re y.

be was then introduced by the janitor as his
“ missus,” and the alleged business of the visi-

tors was as briefly stated.

“She’ll attend to you, leddief,” said Camp-
bell, as they passed into the li hted room to-
gether. “As for me—de’il ta e that roarin’l
there he goes again—I ha’ business elsewhere.”

He disappeared into what seemed like a gen-
eral corridor connecting the various living-

rooms; there was a suspicious sound of a bottle
‘ being uncorked and then applied to without the
intervention of a glass; t n they heard the

 

 

 

shuflle of his retreating steps, followed by more  and Tommy Dodd were having some sort of

distant sounds, as of curses and blows; after
which, with a last reverberation of that inhu-
man territ‘yin cry, there was a silence.

“ ow very readful!” Drusilla could not help
exclaiming.

“I am used to it by this time,” said the
janitor’s wife; making haste to add: “The
pfoor creature is Campbell’s son, but not mine.—

ou would like to examine some of our work, I
suppose?”

She thereupon produced some really beautiful
specimens of hand-made lace, which at once
evoked the unqualified commendations of her
visitors.

Florine who had a very queenly way of her
own where money was concerned, soon set
aside several of the pieces, paying the cash for
them, and then expressed a desire to examine
more specimens. '

“ I haven’t any more of my own work at pres-
ent,” the woman reluctantly admitted.

“ But we understand that your daughter is
ecflually skillful with yourself. Let us see some
0 her work.”

“ Several of these attems are J enny‘s
work,” and Mrs. Campbe 1 pointed them out,

“ But we don’t fancy those. Can’t your
dau ,hter bring us some more?”

“ ot now,” hesitatingly. “ She—she is nurs-
ing a friend, who is ill in one of our other
rooms.”

“ Bless me! must your daughter also take
care of ‘ Sawniel' ”

“It isn’t Sawnie that is ill."

“ Ah: doubtless your young lady-visitor of so
early this morning?”

The woman caught her breath, a kind of ter-
ror coming into her face.

“ Hush!" she faltered; “my husband might
be listening."

“ Dear me! and what of that?”

“ on, do not speak so loud, please! How did
you know of my young lady i—Not that there is
one here, mind!”

Florine elevated her eyebrows. and repeated
what the young girl on the sidewalk had said.

“ She‘s one of those Ryans across the way!”
exclaimed the janitor’s wife,
“They are always ,spying into other folks’
affairs!” ’

“ But what mystery can there be in your re-
ceiving a young lady visitor at an early morn-
ing hour?” , ‘

“:None—none whatever! of course, not!”

“ Does your daughter work at her lace-mak-
ifig‘yhile looking after the young lady who is
1 '.

“ Sometimes—perhaps,” with increasing un-
easiness. “ That is—”

“ 0h, never mind!” cried Florine, indepen-
dently. “ If she can’t come to us, I sup ose
there can be no objection to our going to r.
Isdthis the way?” And she stepped into the cor-
ri or.

“ Oh, you mustn’t! indeed, indeed, on mustn’t,
madam I” and with a sort of terrifl spring, the
woman had clutched her by ’the arm. “ I
wouldn’t venture on it, not for my life!”

Drusilla and Sampson Augustus, taking their
cue from Florine’s hold action, had also risen
and approached the corridor entrance.

It was along one, communicating with room-
doors on the left, besides having one at its fur-
ther extremit , and withwindows on the right,
through whic the moon was brightly shining,
to the additional revelation of a trap—door in
the ceiling, with connecting steps, between two
of the windows near the opposite end.

Florine, who had taken in her new hearin s
at a glance. decided on yet bolder action, wit -
out any more preliminaries.

Releasing her arm from the woman’s grasp
by a sudden athletic twist, she in her turn seized
the other’s wrist.

“ Listen, my good woman!" Her words were
low-voiced. but stern and determined. “ We
are here to communicate with the oung lady
who is ill, or whom your brute of a ushand is
keeping confined here against her will. Make a
single outcry now, and it will be at your peril!
On the other hand, facilitate our secret object,
and it shall be more in your pocket than lace-
making could fetch you in a year!”

The janitor’s wife was in an agony of hesita-
tion and yet her eyes had sparkled greedily.
“l cannot—I dare not!” she faltered. “He
would kill me. Hark !"

That savage. demoniac howl again. with a
repetition of the muflied curses and blows, all
seemingly proceeding from one of the rooms
midway along the corridor.

“ So much the better!” continued Florine, de—
cidedly. “ Your husband’s attention is doubt-
less fully engrossed as it is, which makes this
our opportunity. Come!” and, partly dragging
the woman with one hand, she displayed a
tempting roll of money in the other.

“ Hush. hush, then!” murmured the janitor’s
wife. “ And for Heaven’s sake tread softly!”

CHAPTER XLVl.
ON THE THRESHOLD.
As the party hurried cautiousiy along the
oorridogthere came a sound of tramping feet
on the roof, indicating perhaps that Short-Stop

 

impatiently. _

 

trouble in their proposed co-operation from that
quarter; while the curses and blows in what
was presumably the idiot’s prison-room, sud-
denly subsided, with the growled-out words in
the 'anitor’s voice:

“ here, the de’il seize you!
be quieter now.”

Mrs. Campbell was very white, and she trem-
bled like a leaf, but the grasp on her wrist was
relaxed, and Florine’s manner was threaten-
ing and encouraging by turns.

Then the latter queried, “ Which is the door.”
by signs.

The woman indicated the one at the extremitw
of the passage.

Then they were on the threshold.

Florine dropped the woman’s wrist, with a
last Sign of warning, and opened the door.

A rather comfortable interior was revealed,
with a comer young woman, knitting lace at a
bedside, who started up in surprise at the sud-
den intrusion. .

Then the occupant of the couch itself who
was none other than Nettie Moore, an who
was not undressed, likewise rose into a sitting
posture.

In spite of a pantomimic warning to caution
on the part of 'both visitors, the'joyful view of
Drusilla’s face once more was too much for her.

“ Oh, my friend, my friend!” she cried,

Perhaps you’ll

stretchin out her arms. “I see you again—
Eeaven as not wholly deserted me—I am
saved!”

The evil was done, and the entire party, push-
ing their way into the room, had only time to
turn around before old Campbell, furious with
rage and drink, sprung into the corridor, slam-
min the door of his idiot son’s room behind him.

“ hat does it mean?” he roared, advancing
threateningly toward the open room in which
the women and Sampson Augustus were group-
ed. “Beldam!” to his wife; “it"s youi'sel’ Ill
hold to the responsibility 0’ this night’s wark!”
And, fairly purpling with fury, he spat on his
hands yet more suggestively.

“ The ladies insisted—I couldn’t help mysolf,”
pleaded the wife, shivering with fear. “ They
wanted to see Jenny's lace-work. Indeed,
John—”

“ Lies, lies, lies! Spies, devils, and con-
spiracies!” thundered the janitor, grinding his
teeth, and flourishing a formidable-looking
“jimmy” which he suddenly produced from one
of his pockets. “ Woman, on have betrayed
my secret! I was to have ve hundred dollars
from President Fullhand for keeping that girl
out of sight for a fortnight. But now!” .

He gnashed his teeth afresh, and was appar-
ently about vto rush upon the woman, when the
latter recoiled, with another horror than that
which he ins ired.

“ Look!” 5 e screamed, pointing back over his.
shoulder with a shaking hand. “For the love v
of Heaven! it is Sawnie!”

At the same time there was a demoniac
chuckle behind him.

The janitor, sobered in an instant, wheeled
like a flash, but he was too late.

There was on] time to hear the chuckle swell
into one of t ose hlocd-curdling, maniacal
howls; then there was just a glimpse of the es-
caping madman—a huge, hulking creature, with

a skull no bigger than a monkey’s, and a face .

like a gibbering fiend’s—slip ing 11 the steps
and out upon the freedom of t e r00 5!

The horror-stricken janitor was instantly in
pursuit, hut wasagain too late.

Th door of the trap had been clmed znd se-
cure on the outside.

Then. while he “as still'hammering vainly on
the under side. there was the trampling commo-
tion of a terrible struggle of some sort over-

ea .

This was followed by a shout, then a repeti—
tion of the madman’s scream, and an appalling
crash.

Then all the women shrieked and started
back. pointing to the moonlight-flooded window
on a line with the trap-door steps.

Following a falling shower of bricks and mor-
tar, a body had gone plunging down into the
area below—a bcdy which, swift as was its
shooting passage. all had instantly recognized
as that of the half- dressed idiot.

“St. Andrew preserve us!” ejaculated the
now horrified Scotchman, staggering backward
down the steps. “ My ain Sawme.”

But this was not all.

After the briefest cessation, the struggling
sounds on the roof had recommenced, and, it
Seemed, with added violence.

Then there Was a scream in a youthful voice,
a fresh shower of debris, and two bodies, grap-
pling together, went plunging down and past.

Drusilla uttered a piercing shriek, for she, at
least, in that fleeting instant, had recognized
one of the descending pair. '

“ It was Falconbridge—Old Falcon himself!”
she gaSped,‘ seizing Florine for support. Oh,
God! now let me die, too.” , v

“ Hush! impossible! It could not have been i”
cried her friend. ,

But, at this juncture, the trap was torn '
and a small, spry but trembling figure, rev
in hand, made its appearance on the steps. .. .

4 4.3.3:?

 

 

 

 

 

  
 

Short-Stop Maj e.

29

 

 

1 It was Tommy Dodd, with a face like parch-
ment, and his hair on end.

“ Who were those men who fell from the roof
together?” demanded Florine, sharply.

‘ Short-Stop and Bricks!” was the almost
choked response.

Drusilla shrieked again, and swooned
Florine’s arms,

In spite of his own horror, Tommy Dodd had
taken in the meaning of the situation at a
glance_ Then he seemed to nerve himself into
intelligent action.

“ Down-stairs with you, and see the upshot of
it!" he shouted, menacing the Scotchman with
his huge weapon. “Sampson, you go, too: Be
ofi’ with you! My place is here till I know the
best or worst.”

And, as the janitor and colored youth disap-
peared, he planted himself on a chair at the
door of Nettie’s prison-room, with the revolver

, across his knees.

CHAPTER XLVII.
INSIDE THE BARRIER.

To return, as is necessary, to Short—Stop and
Tommy Dodd at the outset of their part in that
eventful night’s terrible adventure, they suc-
ceeded in speedin making their way to the roof
of the tall ad 'oining building, after leaving
Drusilla and lorine, with Sampson Augustus,
at the entrance of the yet loftier and newer
edifice containing the Zoriila Mining Company
offices.

This they were enabled to do through the

good nature of an ex-policeman and whilom
intimate acquaintance of Short-Stop’s, who
, resided in janitor’s apartments on the top floor,
, as did the Scotchman, Campbell, in the more
A pretentious building.
“ But this roof was twenty odd feet lower than
its mightier rival, and how to reach the summit
of the latter became at once the leading ques-
tion of the moment.

“ I can lend you a ladder that will reach two-
thirds of the distance up,” said the exopoliceman,
after a little reflection. “ But, that won’t help
the matter any.”

“ Yes, it may,” replied the detective. “ Fetch
it along.”

The man hesitated a moment, and then said:

“ I’ll do that much for you, Falconbridge, but
. you must- not ask me to assist you further.

‘ have already stretched my small authority to
oblige you.”

“ I understand, old fellow. Brin me the lad-
der, and I shall ask no more, besi es thanking
you kindly. into'the bargain.”

The man accordingly produced the ladder
! from one of the lumber rooms below, and then
1 disappeared down into the building, with a
‘ shrug of the shoulders, and a movement of the

hands suggestive of washing them of whatever

mi ht result. _ _

hort-Stop laughed, and, pickin up the lad-
der, examined it carefully in the right moon~

\ li ht.
t proved to be strong and, fortunately,

li ht.

g“ Half a loaf is betmr than no bread l” assart-
ed the detective, philosophically. “ Tommy,
bear a hand l”

. Together they lanted it against the adjoining
' well, only to flu that it could not be made to
reach Within less than six feet of the upper
ed a.

E It will never do!” cried Tommy.

“Yes, it will; though it Would do better if I
were six feet two, instead of five feet eight.”

E “ Or, if the ladder, say, were about six feet
lon er, boss.”

“ ither way. Be ready to do as I instruct

on.”
y “ Ddad e is the word boss I”

Then, w ile Tommy Dodd held hard algainst
the foot of the ladder to steady it, Old alcon
carefully mounted, step by step and rung by

in

 



 

 

run . .
Agt the topmost round he could Just, by fiat.
teniug himself against the wall_and reaching up
to his utmost, bringI big-Inger tips to Within two
r hree inches of t e p. .
o Btut Falcon had been a Metropolitan fire-.laddie
in his time: and to have been a proficient in
that field of public usefulness is about equiva-
lent to being capable of almost anything calling
for coolness. courage and athletic address. .
“ Hold hard!” he called down below. while
remaining apparently glued against the blank
w

a
“ Hard it is!‘” was the response.
Then, executing a liding, straight-u leap,
like a frog’s along t e inner glass w _lof an
aquarium tank. the ' daring detective, With as-
tonlshing cleverness, caught his hooked finger-
ti over the masonry edge. '
omm look‘eg up from below, and flirly
ht h s brea .
“first the next instant,h p herculean effort,
the detective had drawn '18 bodyup over the
’ i. wall! _
3 Then he was seen. after a brief breathing
, leaning‘over, head down, and hands
own-stretched: . _
-- how’s your blushing little man!” he called
out. ""Up with the d or as far‘as you can
boostitl”

 

 

 
 

 

Tommy Dodd was stronger than might have
been expected of one of his diminutive size.

He managed to hoist the ladder so that Short-
Stop obtained a grip of its sides.

“ On with you now!” called out the latter
again; “ and see that you hang on too!”

Tommy obeyed, grasping the lower round
with a firm clutch.

Then, slowl drawing his body, thus loaded,
back on the edge, Short-Stop swiftly dragged
up the ladder, hand over hand, and the next
minute his little assistant was safely landed at
his side.

The vast roof whose summit they had gained
at last, though so laboriously and after the loss
of considerable time, was as flat as a paved
court, and. like some courts that are seen, was
stoutly and brightly tiled, with a low and rathbr
insecure-looking parapet running around the
5] es.

“ Well by jingo, Mr. Falconbridge!” ex-
claimed Mr. Dodd, in his heaviest tragedy tone,
and sexzing his muscular principal by the hand;
“ there’s no use in praising anything you do,
since your worst is always more than a match
for any other man’s best. But that ladder trick
was just immense! Holy mackerel! it was more
thrilling than Arrah na Payne's lover’s ivy-
and-ruin climb in the Old Bowery, to say noth-
ing of the hazard.”

“ Peace 2” enjoined the detective, sternly
” We are on top of the building; the next job is
to at down into it. Come!”

nd he started directly for a little cupola,
doubtless covering a trap entrance, well along
toward the edge of the roof overlooking Battery
Park and the glorious moonlighted water-view
beyond Castle Garden.

efore they entered or examined the trap-
house, as it might be called, Tommy Dodd
stepped to the parapet and looked over and
downward.

“ Great Scott!” he exclaimed. “ What a pile
of cotton there is down below there! Some of
the bales on top are bu’sted open, too.”

“ Yes,” assented ShortStop, glancin down.
“ It is the remains of what was saved rom the

eat cotton warehouse fire over on Pearl street
ast week. There is a vast heap of it. "

“I sa , boss!”

(l W '9'”

“ If a fellow should drop just here from this
hight, what a bounce he’d get on that loose top-
cotton before breaking every bone in his skin,
wouldn’t he?”

Before Short-Stop could answer the ridiculous
supposition, there was a hoarse exclamation
from behind, and they both wheeled in their
tracks like lightning.

A man had just stepped out from the trap-
1301;58, and now confronted them in the moon—
ig t. .

That man was Bricks-Hitchcock, alias Curve-
shot Balder, et at I 

A long knife was in his hand, his brutal face
had the savage expression of a starved wolf,
and his brawny, powerful form was partly
crouched, as if for a spring.

“ Don’t try to draw on me, Falconbridge!” he
snarled out. “ Before you can touch trigger 1
shall be upon you!”

“How came you here?” demanded the detec-
tive, who felt the truth of. the other’s words,
and was, moreover, still uncomfortably close to
the parapet. “ I thought it possible you had
been drowned.”

“ Ha, ha, ha! Of course you did. But I can
swim along distance under water, Major Jack.
And I am here, as a _last refuge, by a secret
arrangement With Janitor Campbell, who has
Fullhand’s sweetheart in safe-keeping 'ust under
our feet. Ha, ha. ha! Your eyes spar Is. That
is what you are here for, too, eh? To eflect the
gal's release?”

“ It is,” was the calm reply.

“ But you’ll never do it, save over my dead
body; and two can play at that game, as you’ve
found out. Bark ye, Falcon: did you hear
some queer sort of outlandish howls somewhere
below us here within a short time?”

“Yes.”

In fact both the detective and Tommy had
heard the maniac’s cries, but very indistinctly,
and. as a consequence, had made no allusion
to them in their talk.

“ Can you guess what they were?”

u No.1“

. f‘The cries of a madman—of old Campbell’s
idiot son—a creature with the brain of a mouse
and 81:16 Strength of a lion.”

0.

“ Yell my b0 : and, hark oul Nettie Moore
shall be thrownyat that demgi’s, that Caliban’s
mercy, before you shall effect her rescue!”

Here both Short-Stop and Tommy Dodd gave
a shout of both horror and warning; the maniac
was there!

CHAPTER XLVIII.
run MYSTERY’S BEAM. .
Bur, the shout was too late!
Th ped ,madman’s steal'hy ste was
already on the trap-house’s thresho! , and
£30k! onlv turned to find himself in that wild-

st p! ,
Idiot and fiend combined, the maniac not

i .

 

 

 

 

only wrapped the hunted roman in bi enor—
mous grasp, but strove to reach his throat with
wolf-like energy and ferocity; the fang~like
teeth gnashing and glistening, the heady eyes
snapping, and the short coarse black hair fairly
bris ing all over the knob-like, gorilla-suggest-
inibrain-pain.

ut. Bricks-Hitchcock, as has been Seen, was
no coward, and he was, moreover, fcrmidahly
armed.

As the strangely matched pair went shuffling,
grappling and hustling over the tiles, in thew

irection of the parapet, whence the two horri-r
fled spectators slipped quickly away to a less
precarious vantagaground, Bricks, though all

ut crushed in the bearish bug, was neither idle
nor hopelessly helplesa. . _

Again and again the long knife was buried.
into the madman‘s body, but at first seemingly
without any eflect whatever.

At last, hawever, it seemed to reach a vital
:pot, and, as Bricks tore himself out of that ter»

ble embrace, the maniac fell with tremendous
force against the parapet.

Instantly the barrier gave way, and the un-
fortunate monstrosity. with a partingr screech,
was precipitated headlong, together with a mass
of) debris, farout in the air and down into the
a yes!

Tommy Dodd, who had retreated along the

rapet-line, while Short’Stop had gone further

ack, shudderineg followed the body with his
eyes till it struck the street, a crushed, mutil—
ated mass, far out beyond the miniature cotton-
mountain, which might otherwise have broken 2
its plunging descent.

A double shout recalled him to a realization
of his immediate surroundings. . 3

He turned to perceive ShortStop and Bricks ;,
engaged in another deadly grapple, scarcely less
appalling than the first, and in equally danger-
ous proximit to the now broken parapet.

Bricks, as if with some of his first antagonists
maniacal fury imparted to himself, had evi-
dently inaugurated the fresh struggle, but had
lost his knife, which rendered the combat more-
even.

Tommy Dodd drew his revolver, and was
dancing between the combatants and the tra .
house, with the par of getting in a shot it
favor of his beloved c ief, when accident brought;
the struggle to an appalling termination. ,

Both men slipped simultaneously on fragments, .1
of the broken wall, and, the next instant, the I
gluting into the outer abyss, still grappled: l

hart-Stop Maia uppermost! ;.

The be uttered a yell of horror, and tattered
to the gi dy edge. 

He could only see »the falling men, Bricks f".
undermost, strike the cotton, and then go bound» :‘
in 08 and down. }

on he staggered back, with his hand to his 7*
eyes. _ . '
i

i

Wei-n: .

»;«1-.«-..;;

It was in this appalled condition that hemade
his way through the trap and u on the scene in
the janitor’s living-rooms in l e manner that, ,
has been described. “T

Tommy had sat at the door of Nettie’s room, , ’7".
with his revolver across his knees, for some time ’3
after the disappearance of Campbell and Samp— .i
son Augustus on their errand, amid a hushed A“?
and horrified silence. 

There was naturally but little disposition to
question him, as to the details of the tragedies, \
on the fpart of the frightened and stricken in» ,
mates 0 the room. 1 '

Florine was en a ed, with some faltering as. ‘
sistance from ett e, in restoring Drusilla to
consciousnessmhile the Ca mpbell women . mother- 
and daughter, were standing in statuesque V j i
horror, merely questioning each other’s pale» i ' . .:
faces with terrified looks.

Suddenly the two latter started, however, and
then bent their heads in listening attitudes. . ~ ( ,

“The creek of the elevator again 1” cried the 2/ U A
janitor’ wife. “ They are coming back i" ,

“ What does it all mean!” demanded Drusilla,
abruptly starting out of the last of her fainting I. ‘
fits. “Oh, I remember!” with a shudder, and ‘ if
yet tting resolutely upon her feet. “ Ah, but.
Godswill must be done, and Old Falcon, the
{ingest of the brave, the truest of the true, is

es . .

Here there was a rush of feet from without, .
acgompanied by a loud bum in Sampson’s
vo 06.

Then he made his a pearanoe, tossing up his.
head-wear, and shou ng like a tickled mad-
man.

“Hooray!” he yelled. “No roof-tumble am.
gwine to wipe out Mai-so Short Stop, le me tell.
yer! Oh, it mus’ beth de kingdom's curing,
an’ de year ob jubilo am here!”

Then Tommy was also on his feet with a
glad cry, while the women pressed forward into ’
the corridor.

There was Short-Stop behind Sampson~walk-‘
ing with something 0 a limp, to be sure. but -
serene and calm and resolute as was his wont. ,

“ It was sheer good luck on my part,” he be. -.
an to extslain as soon as the vociferatin .

rky wo d €23 him the chance. “We 
antecotton— ,Iontop.1haveafew ,
bruises, while Bricks is already on his way to; '
the hospital with a brgken book. e unfortu-

nate madman is dead.

 

 

    
 

30

Then he glanced among the group with a
smile for Florine and a glad nod toward Nettie,
till his eyes rested on Miss Eggleston.

“ What’s the matter?” he asked.
fainting?"

“ Oh, no; or that is ”—confusedly—“ You
see, we made sure that you were dead, and—-
and then the heat of this place is somewhat
oppreSsive.” r

“ Oh, is that all?” And he just betrayed a
slight disappointment, but nothing more.

Then he began to show his common-sense en-
er y, after his usual fashion.

‘ Come!” he exclaimed, bustlingly, “this is
no longer an place for us. Madam,” to Mrs.
Campbell, “ was glad to learn that the unfor-
tunate idiot was not your son. But your hus-
band and the police will doubtless be hide in a
few minutes with the bod . ‘ Miss Moore, as soon
as Mrs. Vavassour and iss Eggleston can place

. you in readiness, we had better go up—town to-
gether. In all probability, your mother will be
in New York to-morrow morning.”

“ My mother 1” exclaimed Nettie, while Dru-
silla also looked up in surprise.

“Yes; I telegraphed for her privately on our
arrival in Harlem, stating certain facts and 0x-
'pectatious that can hardly fail to start her on
the journey at the earliest opportunity. Come
now; let us not linger.” ’

Here came the heavy tramping of feet, and
the women shpt themselves in the room; while,
as Short—Stop. Tommy Dodd and Sampson re
turned along the corridor to the sitting room, a
sad group entered it, carrying the body of the
madman. ’

Half an hour thereafter Short-Stop and his
party, including Nettie Moor, were at their Har-
lem hotel. >

Mrs. Moore arrived at nine o‘clock the follow-
ing morning, after traveling all night.

CHAPTER XLIX.
A LAST REVELATION.

Mn. MONTGOMERY MOORE, secretar of the
Zorilla Sierra Madras Silver Mining ompany
(Limited), seemed greatly surprised when one of
the company’s clerks entered his luxurious pri-
vate office, at about eleven o’clock of the morn-
ing following the tragic events narrated in the
last chapter, to inform him that an unusually
Euuwrons group of visitors were desiring to see

1m.

“ They doubtless wish to see Mr. Fullhand,
the president ” said Mr. Moore, twirling his
eye-glasses. ‘ Better show them into his room.”

“ Mr. Fullhand is still absent from his post,
sir,” replied the clerk, respectfully.

He might have added, but for fear of losin
his place, “ As a matter of course. Mr. Full-
, , hand is absent since you, Mr. Secretary, are
present; for when have the pair of you ever
been on duty at the same time, or ever been
seen in one another’s company?” and thus have
echoed the mystified common sentiment of all
the clerical force in the great mining company’s
cm 105‘.

his odd fact was, indeed, become the haunt-

ing myster of the corporatiuu shared of late
by stockho ders and directors alike.

Never in the comparatively brief period that
the Fulihand-Moore combination had assumed
managing control of the Com auy's lucrative
mining and stock business, ' they been seen
at one and the same time. When President
Fullhand had presided at a directors’ meeting.
the secretary's place, through alleged sickness or
some other cause, had been temporarily filled
1) his chief assistant, with suitable apologies.

hen the secretary was resent, it was Presi-
dent Fullhand who was a sent, his chair being
. usually filled by one or another of the directors.
' And so it had gone on, to the increasing mysti-

flca‘tiou of the company and of others, which
would have doubtless come to some sort of cul-
mination, sooner or later. even without the re—
velation that was preparing at the hands of Old

Falcon and his associates.

“ Who are the visitOrsi” demanded the secre-
tary again.

, ‘ ,“ Mrs. Hannah Moore, of Owensburg, Miss

Moore, her daughter, Mr. Falconbridge and
' others ” replied t a clerk.

“A mit them into the Directors' Room, and
33% that I will see them presently.”

he clerk retired.

Mr. Montgomery Moore was a large, power-

fully-framed man, but apparently bent with
.age before his time. A shock of iron~gray hair,‘
together with long, thick disheveled heard of
the same color, so efl'ectually concealed his
‘ features that scarce! more than his eyes and
' nose were visible. T e former were alert, cun-
rning, restless. intelligent and piercing; while
the nose was finely formed, hooked like a bird’s

7 ~heak, and expressive of intellectual force.

He remained at his desk silentlyj‘or some mo~
merits, mechanically twirling his eye-glasses, his
brows knitted in a meditative frown.

“Psbawl I am secure, and should be fully

, prepared for this ordeal,”lie muttered to him-
self. “ With Hitchcock speechless. at death’s

“ Been

 

- door with a broken back, in the hfispital, what ,

is there to fear, even it the gig-glib” finally es-
caped her abductor’s clutch? 'des. am I not,
.a saying this tinge of gray in hair and beard.‘t j

  

 

he tune is'stili intact in the Zorilla stocks, in the

' Short-Stop Made.

same Mont omery Moore as of old, and must
not my ha f—brother’s widow recognize me as
such? The devil! there can be no danger.
And, at all events, it must be now or never.”

He arose resolutely, and passed into the direct-
ors’ room, where the visitors were awaiting him,
two or three of the office clerks being also pres-
ent at several small desks in a corner of the
large, ex ensively furnished room.

Mrs. oore had instantly arisen at the secre—
tary’s entrance.

“Do you remember me, Montgotiiery?’7 she
asked.

“Perfectly, Hannah,” was the good-humored
reply. “ It would be odd if I didn’t remember
my half-bro her’s handsome widow. And this,"
with a glance at Nettie, “is the young lady
whom I used to call my little niece, years ago.
Keep your seat, Hannah. You also recognize
me, then, it would seem?"

“Yes, indeed,” continued the widow. “ You
are older and grayer, but not otherwise
changed.”

“ The Object of this visit. if you please?” ini-
patiently, and With a questioning look‘at Florine
and the detective.

“It is made at the instance of Mr. Falcon-
bridge. He says that my husband's fortune,
which was invested in this corporation in its
early precarious days, was converted to your
own use, Montgomery Moore, and is nowiof
almost double the original value. My daughter
and I are desirous of receiving our inherit-
ance." -

“The money was sunk in the first stock is-
sued, before the present company was formed
upon the ruins of the first one,rsaid the secre-
tary, shortly. "There wasn't a dollar of it
saved.” ,

“ That is false!" interposed the detective,
quietly. “ False as you are false!”

,_ The secretary glared, and was evidently
startled.

“You would apparently make felonious
charges?” he sneered.

“ I would, and do I”

“ Well, formulate them i" decisively.
are they?” ’

“ First, the one already stated by this lady—
the fraudulent conversion of her husband’s
property. Secondly, the burglarious appropria—
tion of three thousand dollars belonging to Miss
Drusilla. Eggleston, now resent. The details
of the charges can be had ater'on.”

“Indeed? And whom do you charge with
these alleged crimes?”

“Mr. Montague Fullhand, the resident of
this company, as the principal ma efactor-for
the present,” replied Old Falcon after a. pause.

“Ah! but Mr. Fullhand is not here to defend
himself."

“He is present—here, in this room!” And
nearly every one, with the exception of Florine,
loo d up in astonishment at this extraordinary
a n unoement.

r. Moore was now perceptlbl uneasy.

“ You are eitherdruuk or mad ” he exclaimed,
turning to go. “ If you have charges against
our president, better wait till he confronts you.
As for me—-—”

“ Hold!” commanded the detective. “ He
confronts us now—be is here 1”

And, with a bound that cleared the interven-
ing space, he had precipitated himself on the
secretary, and torn oil! his masking hair and

“ What

ar .

Montague Fullhand stood revealed!

The Secretary and President of the Zorilla
Company were one and the same man.

In another instant the unmasked scoundrel
had closed with the detective, and a. terrible
struggle was in regress.

But, it was of rief duration.

The first frenzy of his maddening fury being
exhausted, Fullhand-Moore, . or whatever he
might most appropriately be called, was but as
a child in the great detective’s iron grasp.

A moment later he was helpless, in the charge
of police officers, who had been in waiting, and
there were none looking dov‘vn upon the baffled
Scoundrel, so defeated and so exposed, with the
secret of his strange and cleverly-acted double-
life henceforth bared to the world, with greater
.mingliugs 0t consternation and amazement than
his late employees and associates of the company,
who had come flocking in from the communi-
cating ofiices in a startled herd.

“ This for your further comfortl” exclaimed
the detective, folding his arms and grimly re-
garding the ruined adventurer. “ Bricks-Hitch-
cock, just before dying in the h ital, two
hours ago, made an attested confessiion of his
connection with your crimes. It vauches for all
that has been charged against you, in the ini-
nntest detail. Your other crimes, including the
cruel abduction of Miss Nettie Moore, and your
random murder of the colored infant, can be
readily proven by still living witnesses. _You
are now in the hands of the authorities."

. The man had listened llke one stunned. Now
a, great and weakening change took place in

him.

“True, true, all true!” he gas out, a thin
fmth showing on his lips. "‘ ut, restitution
can and shall be made! My half-brother’s for.

 

 

two names Fullhand and Moore! All—all that
I leave should go to Hannah and her daughter,
saving the three thousand dollars, with interest.
which I stole from Miss Eggleston, and should
be restored to her. Money won’t help me now.
My: game is up! I—I—”

he froth had increased on his lips, and he
went down in convulsions.

In three minutes he was a dead men, having,
as subsequently proved, succeeded in swallowing
a deadly drug, probably at the moment of his
unmasking at the detectives hands.

“Strange! almost incomprehensible! I should
say sol" exclaimed Short-Stop, in a subsequent
conversation with Nettie Moore’s mother, who
had undergonca wholesome change of heart and
feelings, and quite naturally, in view of the re-
cent developments. “ Of course, Mr. Mont-
gomery Moore was the same man in general ap-
pearance that you had formerly known. But it
was only through the reproduction of that ap-
pearance, and when he was not masquerading,
by the simple absence of his‘ shock-hair and
heard, and with certain changes of mice and
manner, as his alter ego. or other self, in the
person of Mr. Montague Fulihand; with which
transformation he doubtless, irom what you tell
me, likewise imposed more or less, and with
equal success, upon your husband toward the
last. That this double life should have been
successfully practiced for so many years is cer-
tainly astounding; but is only another instance
of the old saying, that truth is stranger than
fiction. No wonder the newspapers are making
it the sensation of the day.”

“It still seems like adream,” remarked the
widow. “ I can’t realize it yet.”

“ But now that the Zorilla Company has
placed you in possession of youri husband's
money, together with all the wealth left behind
in the Montgomery Moore and Montague Full-
hand names, you ougllit to be content, even if in
a waking dream. ay I ask if the (lin for
your daughter’s marriage with Paul Eggleston
has been xed?”

“Yes; now that the base—balling tour has
come to an end, I have consented that they shall
be married the first of next month.”

“ Ah! the same day fixed for Chris Payne to
lead Letitia Barfied to the altar?”

“Yes; Nettie has taken a great liking for ‘

Miss Barfield, as has Miss Eggleston also,.anri
the weddings will perhaps be arranged to take
place together.”

“ Humphl Then I suppose Miss Egglestou
will appear in the character of a bridesmaid for
one or another of the young ladies?”

Mrs. Moore smiled. ‘

“Not if Mr. Barfield can have anything to
say in the matter, I am inclined to imagine,”
she to licd.

“ hat do you mean, ma’m, if you please?”

‘,‘ Why, is it possible you haven t noticed it?”

“ Noticed what?".

“ How frantically in love with Drusilla Mr.
Barfield is, to be sure. And only think of what
a chance it is for her—with nothing but her re-
stored little savings'and her fanciful stage as-

pirations to her name—and he so rich, so hand-i

some, so amiable, and with his high osition in
society! Ah, it will be no fault of ideon Bar-
fleld if there is not a triple, rather than a double
wedding, and with Drusilla Eggleston as the
additional bride. Only to think of it!”

Falconbridge doubtless did think of it, and
with a vengeance. At all events, he abruptly
terminated the interview.

 

CHAPTER L.
L a s 'r w o R D s . _

IT was on the day follOWing this conversa-
tion and Falconbridge was still at the Harlem
hote , having just completed his good-byes with
his late sporting associates, the- majority of
whom were preparing to depart for their homes,
mostly in the interior of the State. -

He was writing in his little private parlor
which had been the common property of the
visiting teams and their associates during their
stay at the hotel, when the door opened and
Florine entered.

She was just returned from an expedition
down—town, and was looking buoyant and
pleased. ‘

“ Congratulate me !” she cried.

He looked up with a laugh.

“ For what? Are you going to be married,

, .

l .

“Nonfise, no! -But, thanks to your kind-
ness and influence, I am a ‘ female inspector ’ in
the New York Custom House, with congenial
employment and an honorable career before

” .

me. v . v
" Good! I do congratulate you on that, most
heartily!” ' '

“Of course you do, you dear kind—hearted ‘

man! But, Iain afraid I havede news for

you in return.” v
“ I hardly think it.”

“Mr. Barfieid just drove up to the hotel door ' ‘

in a magnificent uipage.”
“ What of that?"3

“He asked for Miss Eggleston, and is douht- 

less alone with her now in oneof the large’por—
lors below.” .. " V ' '

M-, r“ 

fir.

 

 

  
 
  
    
    
 

 

  

   
  

<...~m.:_mw-..w~ s IWJH‘ '

' 398 Sleepless

Short-Stop Maje.

31

 

 

“ But why should this interest me?” with an
heroic attempt at indifference. _ '

“ Ten to one, then, he is proposmg marriage
to her i”

“ Like enough!" with increasing success. “It
is apparently in the air.” '

Florino looked at him with mingled exaspera-
tion and pity. '

" As if you didn’t care!”

" (‘nre for what?"

“ Huw innocent we are! For Mr. Barfield
proposing marriage to Drusilla Eggleston, to be
:surcl’

“ But, my dear woman, you are enigmatical!
Why should I care, one way or the other, save
to be glad of the young lad ’3 good luck?”

“ Oh, you! But it ‘woul be an enviable offer
for any girl.”

" Magnificent!”

“ 1—1 am sadly afraid she will accept him.”

“ Afraid! You mean you hope she won’t be
such a goose as to refuse him.” _

“ I mean nothing of the sort. Ha l” glancmg
out of the window, near which she had been
standing. “Why, there be is getting into his
carriarge again i"

is g”,

“ Mr. Barfield. A brief enough interview,
surely. And, somehow, he doesn't drive off
with a very conquering air, either.”

Here the door opened, and Miss Eggleston
herself entered.

She was looking a little pale, but otherwise
her own beautiful, collected self.

“ Mr. Barfield has proposed—I know he has!”
cried Florine, laughing. “ We are intimate
friends, the three of us together here—confess
it, Drusilla.”

“ Yes, then,” replied Drusilla, after a. mo-
ment’s hesitation. “There was no request on
Mr. Barfield’s part, that his offer should be kept
secret.”

Florine clapped her hands, though with pre—
mature disappointment nt heart.

“When is it to be?" she cried.

“ What do you mean?”

“ The wedding! Of course you accepted
him?”

“ Just the contrary."

“ Do you mean to tell me that you refused
him?"

“ Certainly.”

“ Why, the man is rich, splendid, unobjec-
tionable—a marvelous catchl”

“ All that you say, I have no doubt. But it
happened that I did not love him.”

“ Oh, how really glad I am 1” .

And Florine embraced her friend, With en-
'thusiasm.

“ 1 shall be an actress,” added Drusilla, com-
posedly. “ Hencetortb, unless my heart should
become truly engaged, I propose to live for Art
alone. Will you not support me in that senti—
ment. Florine?” _

“ Until your heart is won by the right man—
yes, my dear.” _

“ And you, Mr. Falconbridge?” With an arch
look at the detective.

“With all my heart!” exclaimed the latter.
rising abruptly, and pressing her outstretched
hand warm y. ' _

He looked as it he might say something more,
but he did not then and there. _

There may, indeed, be another story, chiefly
concerned with Old Falcon’s wooin o’t; but_to-
gether with his career as the D amond-Field
Detective, our present narrative is ended.

THE END. .

 

Beadle's glue libraria-

BY MAJOR DANGEBFIELD BUBB.

92 Buffalo Bill, the Buckskin King.
117 Dashing Dandy; or. The Hotspur of the Hills.
142 Ca tuin Crimson, the Man of the Iron Face.
156 Veliret Face, the Border Bravo. . ’
175 Wild Bill's Trump Card ; or, The Indian Heiress.
188 The Phantom Maze pa: or.’l‘he Hyena.
448 Hark Kenton. the altor.

BlY MAJOR DANIEL BOONE DUMONT.

' 888 SilverSam. the Detective.

389 Colonel Double-Edge, the Cattle Baron's Pard.
411 The White Crook; or, Old Hark’s Fortress.
490 The Old River Sport; or. A Man of Honor.

489 Salamander 8am.

454 The Night Raider.

464 SandycraW. the Man of Grit.

BY GEORGE C. JENKS.

e. the Pacific Detective.
432 The Giant orseman.

' BY 11‘.- A. sir. mox.
471 The Heart of Oak Detective.
491 Zigzag and Cutt, the Invincible Detectives.
an NEWTON 1n. ovn'uss.

120 The Texan Spy; or. The Prairie Guide.
:54 Giant Jake, the Patrol of the Mountain.

~BI C. BURNING CLARK.

164 The ’8 Pool.
183 Gilbert Guide.

| BY CAPTAIN MARK WILTON.

176 Lady Jaguar. the Robber Queen.

194 Don Sombrero. the California Road Gent.
202 Cactus Jack. the Giant Guide. ' .
219 The Scorpion Brothers; or. Mad Tom‘s Misswn.
223 Canyon 1) we, the Man of the Mountain.

‘22? Buc ‘shot Ben, the Man-Hunter of Idaho.
217 Long‘Hairol Max; or, The black League.
215 Bari-anon. Bill, the Revolver Champion

258 Bullet Head, the Colorado Bravo.

263‘ Iron-Arde Abe, the Hunchback Destroyer.
266 Leopard Luke the King of Horse-Thieves.
271 Smiieflst. of Big Nugget Benn. I

276 Tcxa Chick the Southwest Delective.

285 Lightning Bolt, the Canyon Terror.

291 Horsesho - Bank. the Man of Big Luck.

305 Silver-Plated Sol, the Montana Rover.

311 Heavy Hand; or, The Marked Men.

32:1 Hotspur Hugh; or. The Bonded Brothers.

BY CAPT. FRED. “'IIITTAKER.

89 The Russian Spy; or, The Starry Cross Brothers.
65 The Red Rajah; or, The Scourge of the Indies.
69 The Irish Captain. A Tale of Fontenoy.
96 Double Death; or. The Spv of Wyoming.
98 The Rock Rider; or, The Spirit 01 the Sierra.
108 The Duke of Diamonds.
115 T1163 Severed Head; or, The Secret of Castle
ouc .
132 Name, King of the Tramps.
159 Red Rudiger, the Archer.
174 The Phantom Knights.
187 The Death’s Head Cuirassiers.
193 The Man in Red.
206 One Eye. the Cannoneer.
211 Colonel Plunizrr; or The Unknown Sport.
215 Parson Jim, King of the Cowboys.
220 The Mad Hussars; or. The 0‘s and the Mac’s.
230 The Flying Dutchman of 1880.
242 The F0}:' Devil; or, The Skipper of the Flash.
247 Alligator Ike: or. The Secret of the Eve lade.
25‘} ‘A Yankee Cossack; or.The Queen of the ihlllst.
295 Old Double-Sword; or, Pilots and Pirates.
272 Seth Slocum. Railroad Surveyor.
277 The Saucy Jane. Privateer.
284 The Three Frigates; or. Old Ironsides’ Revenge.
290 The Lost Corvette: or, Blakelvy’s Last Cruise.
295 Old Cross-Eye, the Maverick-Hunter.
303 Top-Notch Tom, the Cowboy Outlaw.
310 The Marshal of Satanstown; or. The Cattle
Lifteru’ Leaeme.
326 The Whitest Man in the Mines.
878 John Armstron . Mechanic.
406 Old Po Hicks, howman.
412 Lari-y ocke. the Man of Iron.
445 Journeyman John. the Champion.

I

BY 89M 8. HALL—“ Bucklklll Sam.”

3 Kit Carson, Jr.. the Crack Shot.
90 Wild Will. the Mad Ranchero.
178 Dark Dashwood, the Desperate. ‘
186 The Black Bravo; or. The Tonkaway's Trluin h.
191 The Terrible Tonkaway; or. Old Rocky and is

Yards.
195 The Lone Star Gambler; or, The 'Magnollasn

199 Diamond Dick. the Dandy from Denver.

204 Big Foot Wallace. the King or the Lariat.

212 The Brazos Ti: ers: or. The Minute Men.

217 The Serpent of El Paso; or. Frontier Frank.

221 Desperate Duke. the Guadeloupe “ Galoot.’

225 Rocky Mountain Al: or. The Wait of the Range.
239 The Terribl- Trio: or. The Angel of the Army.
944 Merciless Mart. the Man Tiger of Missouri.

250 The Rough Riders: or. Sharp Eye the Scourge.
256 Double Dan the Dastard: or, The Pirates.

2614 The Crooked Three.

269 The Bayou Bravo; or, The Terrible Trail.

279 Mounlain Mose. the Gorge Outlaw.

282 The Merciless Marauders; or. Carl’s Revenge.
28? Dandy Dave and his Horse. White Stocking.

293 Stampede Steve; or, The Doom of the Double

Face.
801 Buwlder Bill: or. The Man from Toos.
809 Raybold. the Battling Banger.
322 The Crimson Co otes; or N its. the Nemesis.
328 King Kent; or. he Bandits of the Bason.
842 Blanco Bill. the Mustang Monarch.
858 The Prince of Pan Out.
871 Gold Buttons; or. The Up Range Pards.

BY FRANCIS JOHNSON.

25 The Gold Guide' or. Steel Arm. Regulator.

29 The Death Track; or, The Mountain Outlaws.
121 Alapaha the Squaw; or. The Border Renegades.
124 .Assowaum the Avenger; or, The Doom ut the

Destroyer. .

185 The Bush Ranger: or. The Half-Breed Rajah.
136 ThaOutlaw Hunter: or, The Bush Ranger.

188 The Border Bandit: or. The Horse Thief’s Trail.

BY COL. THOMAS H. MONSTERY.

89 Iron Wrist. the Swordmaster.
196 The Demon Duelist: or, The Lea
148 The Czar‘s Spy; or. The Nihilist ague.

150 El Rubio Bravo. King of the Swordsman.
157 Mpfiirad, the Mameluko; or, The Three Sword-

asters.
169 Corporal Cannon. the Man 01' Forty Duels
236 Champion Sam: or. The Monarchsof the Show
262 Fighting Tom. the Terror of the Touche.
882 Spring-Heel Jack; or, The Masked Mystery.

BY ISAAC HAWKS. Err-Detective.

982 Orson Oxx; or. The River Mystery.
940 A Cool Head; or. Orson Oxx in Peril.

nY'NEn noNTmNE.

14 Thayendane ea, the Soon 9; or,The War-Eng .
16 The White vim-a; or, Tlig Seminole Pro bet.he
18 The Sea Bandit; or, The Queen of the Isle.
29 The Red Warrior: or. The Comanche Lover.

* 61 Captain Seawall. the Privateer.

g; ghe Smuggler Ca tour or. TheSkipper's Crime.

e of Steel.

aul Sabberday. t e Idiot SD .
rate‘s Daughter.
n Pilot. ,

 

270 Andros the Rover: or The
so Tombstone Dick, new

 

 

BY GUSTAVE AIMARD.

15 The Tiger Slayer; or, Eagle Heart to the Rescue.
19 Red Cedar. the Prairie Outlaw.

1!) The Bandit at Bay; or. The Prairie Pirates.

21 ‘I he Tram)ch Daughter; or. The Outluw’s Fate.
24 Prairie Flower.

62 Loy a] Heart: or. The 'l‘rappers of Arkansas.
149 The Border Rifles. A Tale of the Texan War.
151 The Freebooters. A Story of the'Texan War.
158 The White Scalper.

BY ‘VILLIAM ll. EYSTER.

145 Pistol Pnrds; or. The Silent Sport from Cinnabar.
160 Soft Hand, Sharp; or, Tlr- Man with the Sand.
182 Hands Up; or, The Knights of the Canyon.

192 The Lightning Spurt.

214 The Two Cool Sports: or, Gertie of the Gulch.
229 Captain Culsleeve; or. Tlio‘LiLtle Sport.

268 Magic Mike. the Man of Frills «
300 A Sport in Spectacles; or, The Bad Time at

Bunco.

333 Derringer Dick. the Man with the Drop.

344 Double Shot Dave of the Left Hand.

355 Thr e Handsome Sports; or, The Double Com-
bination.

375 Royal Gear 9, the Three in One.

396 The Piper etective.

402 Snapshot Sam: or. The Angels‘ Flat Racket.

429 Hair Trigger Tom of Red Bend.

459 Major Sunshine. the Man of Three Lives.

478 Pinnacle Pete; or, The Fool from Way Back.

BY CAPTAIN MAYNE RE“).
8 The Headless Horseman; A Strange Story of

exas.
12 The Death-Shot: or. Tracked to Death.
55 The Scalp Hunters. A Romance of the Plains.
66 The Specter Barque. A Tale of the Pacific.
74 The Captain of the Rifles; or, The Queen of the

Lakes.
200 The Rifle Rangers; or. Adventures in Mexico.
208 The White Chief. A Romance of Northern Mex.

co.
913 The War Trail: or. The Hunt of the Wild Horse.
215 The Wild Huntress; or. The Squatter‘s Ven—

eance.

928 Tge Maroon. A Tale of Voodoo and Obeah.
234 The Hunter‘s Feast.

$7 The White Squaw.

BY PROF. J. H. INGRAIIAM.

118 The Sea Slipper: or, The Freebooters.

118 The Burglar Captain; or. The Fallen Star.
314 Lifltte; or. The Pirate of the Gulf.

516 Lafitte 3 Lieutenant: or. Child of the Sea.

BY DR. Jail. ROBINSON.
13 Pathaway; or, Nick Whlmes. the old Nor’west

Trap r. .
17 Ni hts ade; or. The Robber Prince. , .

22 W. itelaw; or. Nattle ot the Lake Shore.

87 Hirl,kthe Hunchback; or, The Santee Sword-
ma or.

58 Silver Knife: or. The Rocky Mountain Ranger.

70 Hydrabad. the Strangler.

78 The Knights of the Red Cross; or, The Granada

MagriCian.
163 Ben Brion; or. Redpath, the Avenger.

BY J. o. cownnicx.

390 The Giant Cupid: or Cibuta John's Jubilee. ‘
492 Blue Grass Burt. the Gold Star Detective.

496 Kentucky Jean, the Sport from Yellow Pine.

452 Rainbow Rob, the Tulip from Texas.

473 Gilbert of Gotham, the Steel~arm Detective. ,
499 Twilight Charlie, the Road Sport. 1

MISCELLANEOUS.

6 Wildcat Bob. the Boss Bruiser. By Edward L.
Wheeler.

9 Handy Andy. By Samuel Lover.

10 Vidiocq, the French Police Spy. Written by

h mselt.
11 Midshipman Easy. B Captain M att. ,
82 'B’hoys of Yale: or. T e Sci-apes or liegin.
60 Wide Awake, the Robber King. By Frank Du-

mont.

68 The Fighting Trapper. By Capt-1.13. 0. Adams.

76 The ueen’s Mus steers. By George Albany.

78 The ysterious Spy. By Arthur M. Gralnaer.

102 The Masked Band: or, The Man without a Name.
By George L. Aiken. ‘

110 The Silent Rlflrmau. By H. W. Herbert.

125 The Blacksmith Outlaw; or, Merrie" England.
By Harrison Ainsworth.

133 Body the Rover. By William Carleton.

140 The Three S niards. By Geo. Walker

144 The Hunch lick of Noire Dame. By Vlictor -

Hugo.
146 The Doctor Detective. B Geo e Lemuel.
152 Captain Ironnerve, the Co’imrerigirer Chief.
158 The Doomed Dozen. By Dr. Frank Powell.

166 Out-Elev, the Robber Prince. By Septimus Kr

rban.
179 Conrad, the Convict. By Prof. Gildersleove.
190‘ The Three Guardsmen. Bv Alexandr]: Dumas.
961 Black Sam. the Prairie Thunderbolt. By Col. \

Jo Yards.
215 The Sniucgler Glitter: or. The Cavern in the
Cliff By D

. , . . , nro .

312 Kinkfoot Karl, the Mouiyitaln Scourge. By Mor-
ris Redwing.

830 Cop'Colt,the Quaker City Detectlve. By Charles

or s.
350 'l'lgsh Falcon. the Society Detective. By Weldon

853 Bart Brennan: or. The King of Straight Flush.
By John Cuthbert
366 Trig Telegraph

case
410 Sarah Brown, Detective. By K. 1“. Hill. .
500 The TrueHeart Pards: or. The Gentleman
Vagabond. By Dr. Noel Dunbar. ' _r -
A new issue «can; Wednesday.

Ronald’s.» nlme Librar is to "
masummrsrpin mitifi ’ a
as William Street} New York. , 

Detective. By George Henry ' 

      
   
   
   
 
  
    
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 

[I

 

BEADLE’SrDIMErflBRARY.

Published Every Wednesday. Each Issue Complete and Sold at the-Uniform Price of Ten Cents. No Double Numbers.

 

 

I!" COL. PRENTISS INGRAKAM.

2 The Dare Devil; or, The Winged Sea Witch.

85 The Cretan Rover; or. Zuleikah the Beautiful.

89 The Pirate Prince; or. The Queen of the Isle.

.94 Freelance. the Buccaneer
103 Merle, the Mutineer; or. The Red Anchor Brand.
104 Montezuma. the Merciless.
109 Captain Kyd. the King of the Black Flag.
116 Black Plume; or. The Sorceress of Hell Gate.
121 The Sea Cadet; or, The Rover of the Bigoletts.
128 The Chevalier Corsair; or The Heritage.
131 Buckskin Sam. the Texas Trailer.
134 Darke Dan. the Colored Detective.
139 Fire 9; or. The Bride of a Buccaneer.
M7 Gold pll‘. the Genileman from Texas.
155 The COer Queen: or, The Gypsies of the Sea.
162 The Mad Mariner; or. Disbonored and Disownod
168 Wild Bill. the Pistol Dead Shot.
172 Black Pirate; or The Golden Fetters Mystery.
177 Don Diablo. the lanter-Corsair.
181 The Scarlet Schooner; or. The Sea Nemesis.
184 The Ocean Vampire' or. The Castle Heiress.
189 Wild Bill‘s Gold Trail; or. The Desperate Dozen.
198 The Skeleton Schooner; or, The Skimmer.
905 The Gambler Pirate; or. Lady of the Lagoon._
210 Buccaneer Bess. the Liom-ss of the Sea. - '
216 The Corsair Planter; or, Driven to Doom.
290 The Specter Yacht; or, A Brother‘s Crime.
224 Black Beard. the Buccaneer.
231 The Kid Glove Miner; or. The Magic Doctor.
235 Red Lightning the Man of Chance.
246 gueen Helen. the Amazon of the Overland.
255 he Pirate Priest; or, The Gain Dier’s Dau hter.
$9 Cutlass and Cross; or, the Ghouls of the .
28l TheSea Owl: or. The Lady Ca rain of the Gulf.
807 The Phantom Pirate; or, The ater Wolves.
818 The Indian Buccaneer; or. TheRed Rovers.
825 The Gentleman Pirate; or. The Casco Hermits.
829 The League of Three: or. Bu alo Bill‘s Pledge.
336 The Magic Ship; or. Sandy ook Freebooters.
341 The Sea Desperado.
846 Ocean Guemllss; or. Phantom Midshl man.
362 Buflalo Bill’s Grip; or Oath Bound to uster.
864 The Sea Fugitive; Or, The Queen of the Coast. .
369 The Coast Corsair; or, The Siren of the Sea.
373 Sailor of Fortune; or, The Barnegat Buccaneer.
877 Afloat and Ashore: or. The Corsair Co irator.
888 The Giant Buccaneer: or, The Wrecker itch.
990 The Convict 
899 The New Monte sto.
418 The Sea Siren: or. The Fugitive Privateer.
425 The Sea Sword; or. The Ocean Rivals.
480 The Fatal Frigate- or, Rivals in Love and War.
435 The One-Armed ccaneer.
446 Ocean . the Outcast Corsair.
457The Sea nsurgent.
469 The Lieutenant Detective.
476 Bob Brent, the Buccaneer.
482 Ocean Tram r
48) The Pirate unter
498 The Scouts of the Sea.

BY WILLIAM H. MANNING.
279 Tch uG-oiid Dragoon, or. The California Blood.

0 .
297 Colorado Rube. the Strong Arm of Hotspur.
885 Wild Dick Turpin. the Leadville Lion.
465 Old Baldy. the Brigadier of Buck Basin.
415 Hot Heart. the Detective S y.
427 The Rivals of Montana Mil
487 Dec Duke: or. the Man of Two Lives.
442 W West Waituthe Mountain Veteran.
449 81111! Burke. Kin of the Rockies.
455 Yank YeUOWbli' . the Tall Hustler of the Hills.
468 Gold Gauntlet. the Gulch Gladiator.
470 The Duke of Dakota.
479 Gladiator Gabe, the Samson of Sassajack.
486 Kansas Kitten. the Northwest Detective.
492 Border Bullet, the Prairie sharpshooter.
498 Central Pacific Paul. the Mail Train Spy.

BY EDWARD WILLETT.

1” Mlssissi Mose; or. a Stro Man’s Sacrifice.
209 Back Far ey. the Bonanza nee.

222 Bill the Blizzard; or. Red Jack’s Crime.

948 Montana Nat the Lion of Last Chance Camp.
274 Flush Fred. in Mississippi Sport.

289 Flush Fred's Full Hand.

29% Logger Lem; or. Life in the Pine Woods.

803 Hemlock Hank. Tough and True.

815 Flush Fred's Double: or, The Squatters‘ League.
827 Terrapin Dick. the Wildwood Detective.

887 Old Gabe. the Mountain Tramp.

318 Dan Dillon. King of Crosscnt.

868 The Canyon King: or. a Price on his Head.
483 Flush Fred. the River Sharp.

DY JACKSON KNOX—“ Old Hawk.”

386 Hawk Heron. the Falcon Detective.

424 Hawk Heron’s Deputy.

444 The in Détcctive; or. The Hidden Hand.
451 Griploc . the Rocket Detective.

462 The Circus Detective;

467 Mainwnring. the Salamander.

477 Dead-arm Brandt.

486 Rowlock. the Harbor Detective.

494 The Detective’s Spy.

501 Springsteci Steve. the Retired

 

RY BDFFA L0 BILL (Hon. W. F. Cody).

52 Death-Trailer. the Chief of Scouts.

83 Gold Bullet S ort; or. Knights of the Overland.
243 The Pil rim har ; or. The Soldier‘s Sweetheart.
304 Texas ack. the rairie Rattler.

819 Wild Bill. the Whirlwind of the West.

394 White Beaver. the Exile of the Platte.

897 The Wizard Brothers; or. White B raver’s Trail.
401 One-Armed Pard: or. Borderland Retribution.
414 Red Renard. the Indian Detective.

BY JOSEPH E. BADGER, JR.

28 Three-Fingered J ack, the Road-Agent.
30 Gospel Geoge; or, Fiery Fred. the Outlaw
40 Lou -Haire Pards; or, The Tarters of the Plains.
45 Old oil’s-Eye, the Lightning Shot.
47 Pacific Pete, the Prince of the Revolver.
50 Jack Rabbit. the Prairie S ort.
M Double-Si lit. the Death S 0t.
67 The Boy ockey: or, Honesty vs. Crookedncss.
71 Captain 0001 Blade; or. Mississip 1 Man Shark.
88 Big George; or. The Five Outlaw rothers.
105 Dan Brown of Denver; or. The Detective.
119 Alabama Joe; or. The Yazoo Man-Hunters.
127 Sol Scott, the Masked Miner.
141 Equinox Tom the Bully of Red Rock.
154 Joaquin, the ddle King.
165 Joaquin. the Terrible.
170 Sweet William. the Trapper Detective.
180 Old ‘49; or. The Amazon of Arizona.
197 Revolver Rob' or, The Belle of Nugget Cam .
201 Pirate of the Placers; or. Joaquin‘s Death unt.
233 The Old Boy of Tombstone.
241 S itflre Saul, Kin of the Bustiers.
2A9 ephant Tom. 0 Durango.
257 Death Trap Diggings; or, A Hard Man from
’Way Back.
283 Sleek Sam, the Devil of the Mines.
286 Pistol Johnny; or, One Man in a Thousand.
292 Make Homer. the Boss Roustabout.
802 Faro Saul. the Handsome Hercules.
317 Frank Lightfoot. the Miner Detective.
824 Old Forked Ughtnin~. the Solitary.
331 Chispa Charle . the Gold Nugget Sport.
339 Spread Eagle in. the Hercu es Hide Hunter.
845 Masked Mark. the Mounted Detective.
351 Nor‘ West Nick. th— Border Detective.
855 Stormy Steve, the Mad Athlete.
360 Jump' Jeri-y. the Gamecock from Sundown.
367 A Roy Flush; or, Dan Brown’s Big Game.
372 Captain Crisp. the Man with a Record.
879 Howling Jonathan, the Terror from Headwaters.
387 Dirk Durg. the Ishmael of the Hills.
895 Deadly mm. the Duke of Derringers.
403 The Nameless Sport.
409 Rob Roy Ranch: or, The Imps of Pan Handle.
416 Monte aim. the Black Sheep of Bismarck.
42l5'ThSe3 Ghost Detective; or. T e Spy of the Secret

rvicc.

4&3 Lauaghhing Leo- or, Sam's Dandy Pard.

438, Okl oma Nick.

443 A Cool Band: or. Pistol Johnny’s Picnic.

450 The Rustler Detective.

458 Dutch Dan. the Pilgrim from Spitzenber .

466 Old Rough and Readyfes e Sage of Sun own.
474 Dadd Dead-Eye. the pot 01' Dew Drop.

488 The ore hbred S art.

495 Rattlcpate b; or, he Roundhead’s Reprisal.

BY CAPTAIN HOWARD HOLMES.

278 Hercules Goldspur the Man of the Velvet Hand.
294 Broadcloth Burt. t 9 Denver Dandy.

821 California Claude, the Lone Bandit.

885 Flash Dan. the Nabob; or. Blades of Bowie Bar.
340 Cool Conrad. the Dakota Detective.

847 Denver Duke. the Man With " Sand.”

35? The Desperate Dozen.

365 Keen Kennard. the Shasta Shadow.

874 Major Blister. the Sport of Two Cities.

882 The Bonanza Band: or. Dread Don of Cool Clan.
392 The Lost Bonanza: or. The Boot of Silent Hound.
400 Captain Coldgrip: or. The New York Spotter.
401’ Captain Coldgrlp‘s Nerve: or. Injun Nick.

413 Ca tain Golding in New York.

421 Fa her Ferre t e Frisco Shadow.

4114 Lucifer Lynx. the Wonder Detective.

441 The California Sh .

44'? Volcano. the FriscaoEwpy.

458 Captain Coldgrip‘s n2 Trail.

460 Captain Coldgri . the Detective.

4r8 Co (1 'p in De wood.

489 Haw ar. the Man with a Secret.

48? Sunshine Sam, a Chi of the Old Block.

496 Richard Rcdflre. the wo Worlds’ Detective.

BY PERCY B. 81‘. JOHN.

l
57 The Silent Hunter.
as The Big Hunter: or. The Queen of the Woods.

BY LEON LEWIS.

9 Flying Glim; or. The Island Lure.
Demon Steer. ' '
Silent Detective: or. The Bogus Nephew.

Ready. the Red Ransomer.

 

BY PHILIP S. WARNE.

1 A Hard Crowd; or. Gentleman Sam’s Sister.
4 The Kidnap er: or. The Northwest Shanghai.
29 Tiger Dick. aro King; or, The Cashier’s Crime.
54 Always on Hand; or. The Foot-Hills Sport.
80 A Man of Nerve; or. Caliban the Dwarf.
114 The Gentleman from Pike.
171 Tiger Dick. the Man of the Iron Heart.
207 Old Hard Head; or. Whirlwind and his Mare.
251 Tiger Dick vs. iron Despard.
280 Tiger Dick’s Lone Hand.
299 Three of a Kind; or, Tiger Dick. Iron Despard
and the Sportive Sport.
388 Jack Sands. the Boss of the Town.
359 Yellow Jack. the Mestizo
380 Tiger Dick‘s Pied e; or. The Golden Serpent.
404 Silver Sid; or. A ‘ Daisy " Bluff.
431 California Kit. the Always on Hand.
472 Six Foot Si; or, The Man to " Tie To.”
502 Bareback Buck, the Centaur of the Plains.

BY ALBERT W. AIKEN.

97 The Spotter Detective: or. Girls of New York.
81 The New York Shag; or. The Flash of Lightning.
3 Overland Kit; or. he ldyl of Whiie Pine.
34 Rocky Mountain Rob. the California Outlaw.
85 Kentuck. the Sport: or. Dick Talbot of the Mines.
86 Injun Dick: or. The Death-Shot of Shasta.
38 Velvet Hand; or. In no Dick's Iron Grip.
41 Gold Dan: or. The te Savage of Salt Lake.
42 The California Detective: or. The Witches of NY.
49 The Wolf Demon; or. The Kanawha Queen.
56 The Indian Mazeppa: or. Madman of the Plains.
59 The Man from Texas; or. The Arkansas Outlaw.
63 The Winged Whale: or. The Red Rupert of Gulf.
7:! The Phantom Hand: or The 5th Avenue Heiress.
75 Gentleman George: or. Parlor. Prison and Street.
77 The Fresh of Frisco; Or. The Heiress.
79 Joe Phenix. the Police Spfi.
81 The Human Tiger: or. A cart of Fire.
84 Hunted Down: or. The League of Three.
91 The Winnin Oar: or. The Innkeeper’s Daughter.
93 Captain Dic Talbot. King of the Road.
97 Bronze Jack. the California Thoroughbred.
101 The Man from New York.
107 Richard Talbot. of Cinnabar.
112 Joe Phenix. Private Detective.
130 Captain Volcano: or. The Man of Red Revolvers. .
161 The Wolves of New York; or. Joe Phenix’ Hunt. _
173 California John. the Pacific Thoroughbred.
196 La Marmosst. the De tective en.
5108 The Double Detective: or.The dnight Mystery.
252 The Wall Street Blood; or. The Telegraph Girl.
320 The Gentecl Spotter; or The N. Y. Night Hawk.
349 Iron-Hearted Dick the Gentleman Road-Agent.
854 Red Richard; or The Crimson Cross Brand.
863 Crownin hield. the Detective
870 The Dus y Detective: or. Pursued to the End.
376 Black Beards: or. The Rio Grande Hi h Horse.
881 The Gyps Gentleman; or Nick Fox. elective.
884 Injun Dic Detective; or, cked to New York. ‘
891 Kate Scott. the Decoy Detective.
408 Doc Grip. the Vendetta of Death. _
419 The Bat of the Battery - or. J as Phemx. Detective.
421 The Lone Hand; or, T e Red River Recreants.
440 The High Hor e of the Pacific.
461 The Fresh on the Rio Grande.
465 The Actor Detective.
475 Chin Chin the Chinese Detective.
490 The Lone Hand in Texas.
497 TheFresh in Texas.

LATEST AND NEW ISSUES.

508 The Dude from Denver. By Wm. B ster.
504 Solemn Saul the Sad Man from San be. By

Jos. E. B ger. Jr.
505 Phil Fox, the Genteei Spotter. By Capt. Howard

Holmes.
506 Uncle Honest. the Peacemaker of Hornets‘ Nest.
By Wm. H Manning.
507 The Drummer Detect ve. By George C. Jenks.
508 To notch Tom. the Mad Parson. By Maj. Danie)

one Dumont.
509 Old Falcon. the Thunderbolt Detective. By
Jackson Knox. ~
510 El Moro. the Corsair Commodore. By Col. P.

Ingraham. - ,
511 Paint Pete. the Prairie Patrol. By Major Sam
. a . ,
512 Caiptiiin Velvct‘s Big Stake. By Capt. Howard
me

o s.
518 Texas Tartar. the Man With Nine Lives. By
Wm. H. Manning. Ready A t 22.
514 Gabe Gnnn. the Grizzly from G nseng. By Joe.
4‘ E. adger. Ready August 99. .
515 ShorvStop M ’e, the Diamond Field Detective.
By Jackson ox. Ready September 5.
516 Chatard. the Dead-Shot Duelist. By Colonel P.
Inn-sham. Read September 12.
517 Buflalo Bill's First . By Ned Buntline.
Ready September 19.
, A new issue every Wednesday.
Beadle,- Dime Library a for sale by all
Newsdeaiers. ten cents per copy, or sent by mail on
receipt of twelve cents each.

BEADLE AND ADAMS. Pumsnns.
as William Street, New York.