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Published Every QBeacZZe, q“~ d4r7a77’LS, szzbZisherS,

W d Ten Centsa. Copy.
6 ne'day- gs WILLIAM STREET, N. Y., March 17, 1886.

$5.00 a. Year.

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THE EflTHlM £11113 MYSTERY.

BY JACKSON KNOX
(OLD HA\VK.)

CHAPTER I.
A TWO-FOLD MYSTERY AND A DOUBLE CRIME.

A TERRIBLE double murder, the most start~
ling and most lllysfel‘lOUS on record in New

ork!

such was the impression of the horrified com-
munity. .

The swift successive assassmations of a lovely
mother and a, fascinating daughter; doubtless
by the same rutmcss hand; death in both in-
stances mysteriously efTC‘Cted Withom" ‘1 ViSible
wound or contusion!

Of the fiendisth skillful perpetrator, at first,
:nlotaV footprint, not a vestige, not the faintest
0 WI.

/////////
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1/21/1111” ’

/

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I flax/7,;
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Np womler thé police were mystified, the dc
tectiyos reticent, the newspapers indignant, the
public appalled.

Alia factii 1n the case were these:

e rst glimmer of a certain October “Us THE GR
‘_ . , EAT DETECT ‘ l” 2 ' ‘ “ '
dawn, a. fulloust-drlven coupe dashed along INIIJEIIES ififilfimflElig‘N EXCLAIMED- you ARE,

 

 

2 HawkHeron, fiche “199”,

 

 

the northern or Twenty-sixth street boundary
of Madison Square, from the east.

It attracted the attention of the sole occupant
of the square, a young man who had sat wider
a tree for hours, with his gaze riveted on the en-
trance of the Hotel Brunswick.

The coupe came to a sudden stop in the mid-
die of the block.

A very large man sprung out, hearing some
thing white in his arms.

He deposited his burden on a plot of grass, re-
garded it intently for an instant, then darted
hack into the vehicle, and was driven rapidly

away.

“I’m in luck this morning!” muttered the
lonely watcher, approaching the white object.
“ While deep in one mystery, here is a fresh one
thrust under my very nose !”

He paused after taking a few steps, and,
placing his fingers between his lips, sounded a
shrill, whistling call.

A ragged little boy, with a bootblack’s equip-
ment slung over his shoulder, started into view
from a near clump of shrubbery, rubbing his
eyes.

“Nixey,” said the unknown, “shadow that
corner yonder, and don’t take your eyes off the
Brunswick entrance.”

The lad obeyed in silence.

Then, as the unknown neared the white object,
he observed a bare-headed man likewise a
preaching it on the run from the opposite i<
rection.

But the next instant, as the nature of the
white object was made apparent, he thought of
nothing else.

“Vengeance of Heaven !” he exclaimed, re-
coiling; “it is a human form—the body of a
young girl, beautiful and lifeless!”

The face of the other man, who now came up,
was streaming with blood, and he was panting
hard. He was an old man, apparently a Ger-

man.

“ Ah, I am too late!” hoarsely gasped the new-
comer, with a sli htly foreign accent, as he
flung himself by t e inanimate form. “It is
my pupil—my beautiful Olga—and dead, dead!”

“ here is no wound, no sign of violence, that
,I can see,” said the first comer, stooping to ex-
amine the body.

“She was sensitive as a flower!” cried the
other. “The shock of finding herself in that
masked villain’s power would have been
enough!”

“ Were you chasingthe carriage from which
I say; this poor girl carried but a few moments
a o.

g“Yes, yes! But first I had been knocked
senseless. Otherwise I might have overtaken it.
Oh, what a shock is in store for this poor child’s
mother!”

“ What are you saying?”
“ 0h, useless words, no doubt! She ma also
‘bedeadb this time! The maskedfi may

have mur cred the mother before _abducting the

da hter!” .
What complicated horror is this!! Quick!
ve me an explanation befor the police arrive.
may be of more service than you fancy.”

The old man looked the speaker over.~
He saw a powerfully athletic man, still young,
with dark, earnest features and the eye of an
en la but seedily, almost miserably, clad.
No, no !” groaned the old man, dubiously.
“ You could be of no service, I am afraid.”
_'I'hen he burst out afresh over the inanimate

l. . ,

mi Dead! done to death in the charming fresh-
ness of her beauty and her gifts!” he raved.
“Ah, if the indomitable detective, whose ser-
vices the widow Ashcombe so prayed _for, were
but here! If Hawk Heron, the detective, eculd
Only be found!”

‘ A joyous light leaped into the first-comer’s
ace.

. “ Why, myawk Heron!” he cried

e

“ Bible man, I mu you I” .

“ Prove it! There is a sign—an infallible
mark.” _ '

“ Behold!” said the youngfigmah, tearmg open
thebosomofhisvestands .

Tattooed upon the smooth white chest, in bold
relief, was an artistic representation of a hawk,
or falcon, in the act of striking down a black
vu'i‘htureliéi mid-air.

eo man ave an or cry.

“’Tis the g t detece‘tlgve’s emblem!” he ex-
claimed. “ on are. in eed, Hawk Heron!”

By this time dayligh had broadened, and a
roundsman and two patrolman made their ap-

pearance.

Hawk Heron, as we shall call the iyounger
man, made them a significant Sign, whic caused
them to regard him respectfully.

“ Officers, take charge of this poor girl’s body,”
said he,=after briefly explaining what had hap-
pened. “I will in the mean time accompany
this old man to the place where she lived, and
' then report.”
“All right Mr. Heron,” said the roundsman,
matching his subordinates for a stretcher.

ou willbe responsible for the old man’s ap-
pearance when wanted?”

“ Of course.” I

Heron then made a parting Sign to the lad he

 

Detective.

 

 

had posted at the corner, and walked rapidly to
the eastward, accompanied by the old German.

" Answer my questions as we go along,” said
h

e.

The German groaned, but nodded submis-
sivel .

“ Who and what are you?”

“My name is W'olfgang Schmidt. I am-a
teacher of music. I live at the Gotham Flats,
16 Montauk place, top floor.”

“ “That of that poor girl?”

“Her name was Olga Ashcombe. She was
my pupil. For three months she had been sing-
ing successfully at the Thalia Theater. She
lived with her mother, a wax-flower-maker, in
the floor just under the one I occupy as a
bachelor.” ‘

“ What of Olga’s abduction?”

“ I returned home half-an—hour ago from the
German Singing Club I belonr to. As I was
groping my way up the stairs, met a masked
man coming down them, with the half-senseless
form of Olga in his arms.”

“ Half-senseless?’

“ Yes; for she was struggling and moaning
feebl .”

“ ow could you note all this when you were
groping your way i”

“ The man carried a lighted candle in his dis-
engaged right hand.”

‘ ell, what else did you note?”

“Nothing. He at once threw the heavy can-
die-stick at me, cutting my head open, and
knocking me senseless.”

“ What then?”

“ I must have recovered very (finickly. I
heard the street door being closed, an then the
rattle of wheels. Bleeding and dizzy as I was, I
gave chase. You know the rest, mynheer.”

“ Had you noticed a coupe at the street-door
as you entered?” ,

"No; but there might have been one there,
for all that?”

“ Are you naturally so unobservant?”

“ No; but just then my head was full of the
songs we had been singing, and the toasts in
honor of my adored pupil’s success at the
Thalia.” '

“What was the masked man like?”

“A ggeat, powerful man, well-dressed, I
think. ut, how should I know? Oh, misery,
misery! I am distracted!”

“ Control yourself. Did Olga live alone with
her mother? ’ .

H Yes-9)

“ No servant?”

“None; 'but an old woman, Nprah, came
early ever morning, to make the fire and cook

‘ .

their brea ast.”
“ Well, onder is the Gotham.”
“Yes; at u, mynheer, must break the

£333 to the wi ow. I sha’n’t have the courage

But, just as they were entering the build-
ing, a window on the fourth floor rattledbpen.

‘Murder! murder!” screamed a wrinkled
old woman, thrusting out her head. “Police!
police I” V

“ Mein Gott!” gnaw: the music-master.
“ That is old Norah! at can have happened
to Frau Ashcombe?” ,

“ Follow me!” cried Heron. .

With the old, man at his heels, he dashed into
the house and up the fli hts.

Something had ind happened to the widow
Ashcombe! I

Hler half-dressed dead body lay in her little

r or.

The old woman, who had doubtless just dis-
covered the fact, still stood at the window chat-
tering with fear, as the two men burst into the
room.

“T5; widow had: mmlife flbeen a singularly at;

a vewomimo t' -ve andsewas 9
beautiful in death. my ’ y

Dead she certame was, though at the first
glance she pressnted no more indication of hav-
in met a V)olent death than had her daughter-

he old music-Enema was already in 8. hrs}!
paroxysm o grie . ,.

“ Dead. too!” he exclaimed, wringing his
hands. “Murdered, like the daughter, without
a wound, Without a scar, and doubtless by the
same remorseless hand!” .

The detective lost no time in dispatching the
old woman for the police. A strange sternness
had come into his face.

“You must com yourself!” said he.
gently uttin Mr. Sc midt. aside, and, bending
over t e y that lay half-extended u on a

lounge, he examined the throat and neck. ‘ Ha! .

No mystery here as to the murderer’s method, at
all events!”

“ How?”

The detective pointed to a slight discoloration
of tthe throat, and made a significant wrenching
gee ure.

“ Garroted !” said he. quietly. “ The throat
was suddenly encircled from behind. There was
a serpent-like pressure, athrottling hug, a mur-
derous twist, and the neck was dislocated as
effectuall as by the hangman’s cord! Pah!”

“ Horri 1e!” exclaimed Schmidt. “ This crime
inust” have gone before the daughter’s abduc-

ion.

“ And was, perhaps, the cause of it.” '

. I I \

i
. .

“ You think so?”

“ Yes: Olga would else have proved a trouble-
some witness.”

“ Oh, if Olga herself were not dead—if she
could but speak!”

“ Out of the question. Did you know anything
of this woman’s past history '5”

“ Nothing.”

“ Nothing whatever?"

“ On that subject both mother and daughter
were secret as the grave.”

“ You never thought her widowhood might be
pretended ?”

“ N 0; but she seemed constantly haunted by a
secret dread."

“ As if afraid of being tracked—as if under a
pursuing menace?”

6‘ Yes 1’

“ So! Was she conversant with any foreign
ton 116, do you know?”

“ es; with both German and Russian, though
imperfectly.” ,

‘ Enoug ! Count Ivan Kotzka, there was
ever a method in your murderous madness!
Methinks I recognize it in this double crime!”

This was said abstractedly.

“ How?” cried the music-master.
a clew to the perpetrator?”

The detective hit his lip.

“ On your life, repeat not what just escaped
me!” said he, impressively. “Now, one more
question.”

“ Speak, mynheer.”

“Why had this r woman prayed for the
services of Hawk eron?”

“ I do not know.”

“She hinted no ex lanation?"

“ Only that she ha known you abroad in bet-
ter (lays—before her husband’s death, and when
Olga was a mere child.”

“Nothing more?”

“ Nothing, save that your presence might save
her from some impending misfortune.”

“ Did she never mention the name of Kotzka?”

“ Never in my hearing.”

Hawk Heron s head sunk upon his breast. For
a moment he seemed the prey of powerful and
agonizmg emotions, from which he was aroused
btylthe sound of heavy footsteps ascending the
s irs.

“ Here are the police,” said he, starting. “ Res
member, old man, not a word of what has passed
between us i” t

“ Not a word, mynheer. But, then—”

“ Fear not for the result! With Hawk Heron,
the detective, on his trail; the doer of these
awful deeds shall he surely hounded to the gib-
bet’s foo 1”

“ You have

 

CHAPTER II.
’ HAWK HERON 0N run TRAIL.

THE old woman Norah, had spread the news
so eflectually that, of- the group of policemen
who now put inan appearance, the greater num-
ber were at once employed in keeping back the
crowd of morbid sight-seem. ,

It was evident that the sergeant in command,
to whom Hawk made his report, held the detec-
tive in the highest estimation.

“ Had I better arrest the old German!” was
one of his first questions.

“B no means,” said Hawk.
Bight“ hibm"; th 1d h i”

ow a on e o woman ere

“ Detain her, if you like. But I think both
she and Schmidt will pan out more freely with
the little they know if let alone.”

“All right.” / ‘ ,

“ Have you telegraphed to Head-quarters?

“Only a few words.” .

‘ “ I shall carry a detailed account there, after
saying a. few more words to the old German in
his own a artments.”

Mr. Sc idt’s rooms overhead be’mkened a
musical Bohemian’s eccentric tastes. Besides a
medley of musical instruments, there were great
numbers of canary birds and other feathered
pets him in cages all about the interior.

Mr. Sc midt was still in a dazed condition.

“ Never again shall I take pleasure in my little
home!” he hrokenly exclaimed, sinking 111w 8-
seat. “ My beautiful pupil my Olga, used to
take her lessons here and p y with my buds-
She will come no more !” ‘

“Brace up!” said Hawk. “ So much the
greater reason why we should avenge her death
and that of her poor mother!”

n 1111 be respon-

in his forehead. _

“ Mein Gott!” he cried.
one and the same I”

“ What men .7” cried Hawk, eagerly.

“The masked man on the stairs—the abduc-
tor—and the man in the theater!" -

“ Oho! This is like busmess! What man 111
the theater?” . _ .

“ The immensely big man in the audience,
whose serpent gaze so troubled my poor Olga
night after night!” _ ,

‘ Why hav’n’t you'spoken of this before?"

“ I had only thinking—room for these horrible
events. Now things are clearer.”

“Tell me of the man in the theater.”

“ Those men must be

 

\

The music-master suddenly started up, strik- .

r,

“ He came regularly for more than a week. 

 

 

c

 

 

 

 

 

Hawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.

3

 

 

including last night. Always be occupied the i

one seat. Always he sat like a statue, fixing
Olga with his snakish eyes.”

“ Dcscl‘ibe hiiii.” .

“Much over six feet, portly in proportion,
doubtless of gigantic strength. Elaborate even-

 

“ Curse you!” he gasped. “ I half-believe you

‘ purposcd my destruction l”

Lcaning far over the gate, the giant’s eyes
seemed to dilate gloatingly as he peered down at
his dangling victim.

“ V’nt!” hc hissed between his teeth. “You

ing dress, with a great diamond in his shirt. I take not zo first warning, zen v’at you expect?
Fifty years old, black beard and mustache, short, ! Ali! zo telegraph-Wire cut of! ze legs of zc poor

bristling black hair, and piercing eyes, whose
glance made your flesh crccp.”

It was now the dotcctive‘s turn to give a start
of surprise.

“ Wonderful!” ho muttered to himself. “ The
same description tallies with the supposed forger
I have been shadowing for a week past!”

Then he added, aloud':

“ Good! Your dcscri )tion, niynhcor, is suc-
cinct enough for a haud- )ill. You say this man
ha‘unyt'ed Olga‘s performances night al'tcrnight’!”

L y 17

“ How long would he remain?”

“ About twenty minutes; say bctwccn nine
and half~past nine."

“ Always at that hour?”

“Always. He had timed Olga’s appearance
in a particular German song, and novcr missed
fascinating her during its rendition. Then he
would disappear.” ’ . .

“ And that," again soliloquizerl the detective,
“ would give him ample margin for visitin the
Casino, Where 1 have repeatedly marko my
man. Marvelous!”

“ tha’t did you say, mynhcer?”

“Nothing of moment. You say he fascinated
01 a?"

3 Yes; or terrified her unaccountably. When-
ever she passed nio behind the scenes, after un-
dergoing that basilisk gaze, she was white and
trembling.”

“ Had you or she ever seen him before his ap-
pearance at the theater?”

“ I never had. Olga was uncertain. His
face haunted her like one she might have known
and feared in her infancy."

“ Ah! Was her mother informed of this
man’s pursuit of 01 a?” '

“ No. We fear to _ terrify her, and kept
quiet.” .

“Well, mynheer, do you keep quiet while I
am absent.” . .

_“Trust me, Mr. Heron, for remaining hero,
and so. ing nothing.”

“A ast question. So, you think there was
a resemblance between 01 a's abductor and
her ser ent—eyed liaunter of t e theater?”

“In uild and hight, yes.”

“ Enough.” I _

Ten minutes later, Hawk Heron was waiting
for a down-train at the Twenty-ei hth street
station of the Third Avenue Elevate road.

It 'ivas still early morning, at the hight of the
commission hours rush.

The platform was densely crowded, mostly
with working people, eager to reach their places
of employment.

Suddenly, as the train approached, Heron
felt a paper slipped into his hand.

Before he could search whence it come, there
was a general rush, then a recoil, durin which
an enormously fatand tall man, in a. wor man’s
firess, backed rudely against him, tramping on

is toes.

“ Oaf! mind what you’re about!” growled the
detective, punching him in the back.

Then, as the fellow heedlessly‘ shouldered
ahead, with Hawk slowly following in the press,
the latter threw his eye oyer the aper, which
bore the following scrawl in penc :

" Hawk Heron, beware! Expert as you are. your
persistence in this morning‘s murder case will cost
you your life!“

Hawk di ested this warning while standing
on a car plagform, the train being in motion an
crowded to excess.

“ Who the deuce could have iven me this?”
he muttered. “ The devil seize t at obese giant
who trod on my toes! But for him, I would
have had the warm'n giver by the throat.”

He was so Jamm against the car gate as to
be hardly able to turn his head.

“ Nevertheless, the jam was sensibly augment-
ed, rather than diminished, at the next four
stopping—places.

Then, ust as the train was getting clear of
the Nint -street station. the Same obese giant,
red in the face, came_ rushing out of the car,
‘ scattering the crowd right and left.

“Sucre! zis is 29 station zat I most get om”
he spluttered, thrusting the b‘rakeman aside,
and tear-in open the gflie- Ah. man Dim!
what hair commit? Ze Poor young maul He
Vlll be dash to pieces!”

The substance of this alarm was now taken
up by many voices, and With reason.

The “poor young man” was none other than
our hero.

Apparently .without intention, he had been
hurled throu h the gate by the giant’s blunder-
ing rush, ant? was now dangling over the street
by.a mere finger-hold upon the lattiCe-mil of the
Emmi Speeding cars.

Yety Even when realizing that he would doubt-
less be dashed to death in an instant. Hawk

. nqvertheless glared up at his persecutor with
., mingled suspicion and resentment.

/ %

 

 

 

 

young man i”

Hawk just had time and strength to clear the
Cooper Institute telegraph-wires crossing under—
neath the track.

Then, noticing a friendly tree—top just be-
neath, he let go his hold, s reading imself out
and scudding into it like a ying-squirrel.

A passng liceman assisted him, consider-
ably scrntchc and bruised, to the ground, while
the train thundered along overhead.

“ A narrow esca o youn man!" exclaimed
the fiiiictionary. “pVVhat! awk Heron, is it

on?” '
3 “ Yes,” panted Hawk; “ but it's another man
I’m aftoi‘.’

And he sped toward the Houston-street station
like a bolt from a gun.

The passengers were pouring down the steps,
but the fat iant was not among them.

Hawk das ed up into the station just as the
train was gliding away.

He interchanged a sign of recognition with
the gateman.

“A noticeably big man, in working clothes,
with a red face!” he whispered, hurriedly.
“ Have you seen such a one?”

“ Yes; just a minute ago.”

“ Which way?”

“ Down—stairs. He was the first oil the train;
spry as a kitten in spite of his size. A young
wogenfin with a. basket follered him through the

a .

“ The deuce l"

“ What’s up?”

\Vithout waiting to reply, Hawk regained the
sidewalk. .

“ Curse the fellow l” he muttered; “ he has
given me the slip.”

But as he was hurrying along Houston street
with the intention of saying nothing at Head-
quarters of his misadventure, his heart gave an
exultant leap.

There, in front of a tall, dingy tenement,
stood the object of his search, talking confiden-
tially with a handsome young woman who car-
ried a small basket.

“ I‘m trumps again!” muttered Hawk, darting
behind a grocer's wagon and observing the pair
intently. ‘5 Wait! hat girl with a basket—-
surely saw‘her in the crowd when that moun-
tain of flesh flattened out my toes. Might she
not have sli ped the writing into my hand?
Doubtless! nd hasn’t all this a connection with
this morning’s murders? Like enough I”

While these reflections were flashin through
his mind he was making sure that 6 had his
weapons and handcufl's in readiness.

Then he bounded toward his prospective prey
without a warning word.

Quick as he was, however, the man and girl
were quicker.

They had disappeared into the tenement in an
insta‘iit, slamming the door in hisl‘face and lock-

n i .

awk Heron was of an immense
muscular strength, in strange contrast with his
slendarness of frame.

In another instant the door, torn from its fast—
enings, was hurled inward before his wrenching
onset, and he was following the fugitives
through along, nuserably—lighted passage.

“Halt, in the name of the law!’ cried the de
tective, covering the hint with his revolver.
“Halt, or you‘re a (1 man!”

The colossus turned, seeming to hesitate, while
the girl, suddenly opening a. small door, stood
lookin back, pale and breathless, from the thres—
hold ‘0 a dar interior.

“Vat is 29 mazzer’lf” cried the man, making a.
grimace and throwmg up his hands. “I do
nuzzing wrong—I commit no crime !” ‘

“ We’ll See about that. At all events, you
hurled me off the train.”

“ Ah, man Dim! you’ are mt poor young
man?”

“ Yes; and you are my prisoner!” '

“ Oh, my sweet Adolphe. you must surrender,”
called out the young woman, in excellent Eng-
lish. “ The law summons you. And see; he has
three policemen behind him!”

Thrown oil! his guard, the detective turned to
look for the unexpected reinforcement—which,
of course, wasn’t t ere.

As he did so, there was an ominous click, fol-
{lowefid ihy a report, and a bullet whistled through

is a .

However, thou h,bafiled, he was so close upon
the fugitive’s been as he disappeared through
the opening, followed by_the girl that the latter
dropped her basket outSide the door that shut
out further pursuit.
atIn Earn did Hawk again essay his hercnlean

ren .

The deor was as immovable as if backed by
masonry.

He accordingly appropriated the basket, and
retraced his steps. mentally photographing the
locality, inside and out. ‘ ,

 

“What have we here?” he muttered, opening
the basket, after regaining the sidewalk. “ Like
enough a workwoman’s lunch, or— Ha! M story
of mysteries! Are this morning's mur ers to
twine mo perpetually with their invisible links?”

The basket contained a beautiful design in
wax. Appendcd to it was a busnicss card hear-
ing the name and address of Olga’s mother—the
murdered wax-worker whose remains he had
quitted scarcely twenty minutes before.

But the design itself!

It was that of a falcon, with a stricken 1nd-
tm‘e in its grip, in the form of a medallion, all
in wax, and tastefully wreathed!

“This revelation afl'ccts me personally,” said
Hawk. pursuing his way, after covering 11 the
basket. “ So I think I shall be justified in cep-
ing it to myself, at least for the time being.”

He reached the Head-quarters in Mulberry
street without further interrii ition.

“ Is the chit-f here?” he ask at the door of the
Detective Bureau.

“Not yet, Mr. Heron,” replied the oflcer in
charge. “ But it is nearly seven o’clock, the
chief’s hour.”

“ All right,” said Hawk. “ I‘ll be with him
soon.”

He disappeared into a small room near at
hand, from which he presently emerged, without
thglbaskot, and a greatly changed man exter-
na y.

He had gone into the room resembling a oung
mechanic out of a job and down in his luc .

He came out of it an elegantly attired man-
about—town, almost a dude in his general make-
up, with an eyeglass at his eye, a flower- rig in
his button-ho e and a toy cone in his han .

A moment later he was closeted with the chief
of the Detective Bureau. _

“ Now, captain,” said Hawk, when he had fin-
ished his recital. “Will you give me a carte-
blancgie, roving commission in this double mys-
te ?

I"PyBut can you do it justice, Hawk, while look-
ing 1‘1? your forger?”

H es 1)

H  g”

“ There is a connection between the cases."

“ What?" '

“ It is true.”

“ You amaze me!”

“ Yes; but I can’t explain now. Can I go
ahead on my own hook?"

“Why, with all my heart, if you think you
are ual to it i” cried the chief. “ You know I
consi or on without a eer on the force.”

“ Than . How sha I know this London dig—-
tective, Blithers, who is to meet me to-day about
this foreign forgery case?”

“ Here is his photogra b. He sent it an hour
ago, directly a ter quit mg the steamer, by a ,
district messenger.” ' .

(t  I”

“Yes: and he’s reckoned a. keen one at Scot-
land Yard“ I suppose he‘ll be down here some
time to-day with his credentials.”

Hawk was in ting the photo. It was that
of a middle-ag , boardless man, of large, open
countenance, with short-crop , curling light
hair. and apparently of a an , portly and power-
erful physique. '

“ So,” thought Hawk, half-aloud. “There
seems to be a regular run of big and fleshy men
of late.”

“What is that you say?”

“ Nothing of importance, captain. A mere
coincidence.”

“ How do you like Blithers’s looks?”

“Well enough in the picture, but I’ll answer
better after seeing him in person. Where is he
stop in i"

“ tt e Brunswick.”

“ Howl The Brunswick, too? Wheels within
wheels l” _ .

“ ything odd in Blithers’s toppping at the
Brunswick?” ' '

" No, no! Only another coincidence. Good-
mornin l” .

“ Hol on, Heron i” said the chief, an attend—
ant at that moment handing him a. telegram.
“ This dispatch will interest you.”

“ What is it?”

“It is from the precinct covering this morn-
ing's tragedies. Daughter’s body has been sent
to her former home, to keep the r mother’s
company. . Inquest on both this a moon. One
Schmidt, hiring in same house, will bear expense
of funerals.”

“ Glad to hear he‘s able to,” commented Hawk. \
:11 If Ipm not at the inquest, I’ll be represented

ere.

 

CHAPTER III.
THICKENING MYSTEPJES. -

Anna disposing of u hear breakfast, 0
which he was gready in need, awk Heron 1081:
no time in returning to Madison Square.

That fashionable locality now presented a
scene of bustling life, in sharp contrast with the
early dawn that had glimmer-ed softly on Olga
Ashcombe’s lifeless form on the dewy greensward
a few hours before.

Faithful to his trust, Nixey still occupied his
post in the northeast corner, with his eyes riv-
eted on the Hotel Brunswick entrance.

“ What luck, Nixeyi"

 

‘ reason, for the
the instantly closed in a. life-and-death

’3:

Hawkaeron. the Falcon Detective.

 

 

 

“Bully!”

“ Hal You spotted the man I’ve been shadow—
ing at the theaters?”

‘He skipped inter the Brunswick twenty
minutes arter you stuck me here.”

“ On foot?”

“ No. Druv up in a coupe.”

“Could you make out the ri i”

“Kin a duck swim? Blac ~an’-yaller, mud-
spattcred cab, no number visible; one hoes, a
big dapple—gray, lookin’ badl winded; driver a
sawed—off, mutton—chop whis ers, no livery.”

Hawk started.

“The same outfit from which the girl’s body
was thrown!” he said to himself. “Hardly a
doubt remains. My man and the murderer
must be one and the same!

“ You were sure of the man?” he continued,
aloud. '

“ Sure po , boss. The same oldish swcll you
once show me comin' out of the Casino.”

“Describe him.”

“ Tall as a lam post, pussy as a hogshead;
black beard, off-co or eyes, with a scowl in ’em;
short, black hair, bristlln’ up like a. hog’s back;
cvenin’ dress; shirt-front sparkler like a Tam-
man Hall headlight.”

“ 00d! You must have been close to him."

“ Only left my st here once, to foller him
inter the hotel. eard him assigned to Room
Eighty-six. Tried to see what name he‘d regis-
tered. Was cussed by night-clerk an’ kicked out
by porter what was about to shoulder his
traps."

“ Traps! He had luggage, then?”

b “ Big steamer trunk, two grip-sacks, an’ a hat-
ox.”

“Strange, strange! I can’t understand that.
You then returned to your post?"

“ You bet, boss!”

“ And the man has not quitted the hotel
since?"

“ Not by any front door or winder, boss; an’
I’m ’hettin’ on it!”

” Nixey, you have done well,” said Hawk,
dro ping some money in the little fellow’s hand.
“ C an re your tags to those of a district messen-
ger, an get your breakfast.”

“ What then, boss?” and the money was pock-

eted like a flash.

“ Report to officer in charge of Gotham Flats,
16 Montauk place. next to top floor, and wait.”

The boy Jerked his forelock, with a. comical
scra of the foot and toss of his box from one
sho der to the other, and sped away like an
arrow.

Hawk Heron was familiar with the appoint-
ments, employees and internal arrangements of
nearly every prominent hotel in New York.

It was the fashionable breakfast hour as he
strolled, with admirably-assumed carelessness,
into the Brunswick.

Not wishing to even hint the nature of his
errand, he dld not examine the register, but
merely nodded to the clerks and passed on.

“ Fourth floor, Room Eight 4511:,” 'he said in a
low tone to the attendant, as e entered the ele-
vator. .

There was no other passenger.

4 “End of main passage, last room toright,”
said the attendant, as he landed our hero on the
fourth floor, and received a couple on their way
down to breakfast.

Hawk had the main passage to himself, though
he heard a. chamberde singing at her work in
a cross-passage near at hand.

He was about starting back for Room Eighty-
six when he noticed that the attendant had in-
advertently left open the door leading into the
elevator shaft.

He was closing it when a low, guttural ex-
clamation, like an enraged but half-suppressed
growl, caused him to look up.

Then he gave an exclamation in his turn, and
stood rooted to the spot, his hand on the door,
his foot at the edge 0 the empty shaft’s abyss.

Coming direct! toward him, with swift, cat-
like steps, from t e direction of Room Eighty-
six‘ was the very man he sought, though now in
fashionable walking-dress! \

Not an iota of the description was wanting!

The towering, portly frame, the coal-b ack
board, mustache and air, the latter evidently
bristling up under his hat, the serpent-like, fiery

8 es.
yAll tallied alike with the many characters in
one whom he was seeking—whom he had so
longed to meet face to face. .
It was this terrible concentration of criminal
personalities in one rson,ls ring-mg so unex-
ctedly before him like a v15 on of hatred and
grocity, that had paralyzed the detective for
an instant.
But he was ' y himself again, and with
' t was now upon him.
etective!” snarled the latter, as
apple
euthed

“ Dog of a

at t 0 month of the shaft. “ You have
me down at last but it is to your rum.”

“ We’ll see a lit that!” gasped Hawk, re-
liant in his own herculean strength, but feeling
as if in a grizzly s hug as the swayed and Mg-
gled on the giddy ver . “ ouster! no crimi-
Ia! up! yet esoa from out my [actual
c! ’

utch. -
“Ha, ha, ha!’ laughed the giant, in his low,

\

-, . V4 

 

deadly way, while tightening his enormous
grip. “Foolhardy bo ; wouldst try thy cal-
low strength against mmt Kotzlca the Prob-
cribed ?”

Scarce!
withstan
wrench.

He felt it—knew it. But with despair and an-
guish at his heart, the indomitable detective’s
instinct was still uppermost.

“ Villain! you then confess your identity?” he
panted. “ In your personalit I have then
tracked all those crimes- the crimes of long ago,
the foreign forgerics, the murder of Olga and

a moment longer could Hawk Heron
that boa-like embrace—that lion—like

[her mother, this morning’s attempts on my own

life—to their single hideous source?”

“All, all! and a hundred others you dream
not of!” hissed the colossus, at last, by an irre—
sistible wrench whirlin him from his foothold
out over the shaft. “ a, ha, ha! Fool! idiot!
I can afford a confession now—now, with your
life in the hollow of m hand! Close your eyes,

1 ,

Hawk Heron! Your our has struck
“ Coward!”
“ As you please. But hark you, Hawk Heron,

the vulture of your bosom emblem (do you ro-
member how I pricked it there in the old, old
days?) turns at last upon his falcon foe, to dash
him forever from his haughty hight!”

“ Monster !”

“ Ha, ha, ha! Look your last upon the world,
Hawk Heron, for now, now it is done with
thee!”

The next instant Hawk felt himself hurled into
the depths.

His enemy cast but one glance down the shaft,
and then, with a repetition of his low-voiced,
ghoulish chuckle, disappeared.

This awful stru gle had taken place so swiftly
and quickly that t e attention of no one else had
been attracted.

Even the chambermaid’s song in the adjoining
passage had proceeded uninterruptedly.

Hawk heard it still from where he desperately
hung down in the shaft, after clutching by a
lucky chance the wire door leading out into the
floor directly below, and his fanc invested its
gareless merriment with a moo ing, derisive

one.

Then a fresh horror threatened. ‘

He was still breathless and hardly able to
maintain his clinging rip on the door, when he
heard the slightly rum ling sound of the ascend-
in gr elevator.

00 weak to spring for the rising wire rope,
too exhausted even to call out for assistance he
amustfilunless relieved, inevitably be crushed to

eat .

“Heaven help me for a final effort!” he groan-
ed, “or that scourge of humanity may pursue
his red career unchecked to the very end.

Fortunately, his last effort was successful.

He managed to get his toes upon the ledge,
while maintaininga side-hold with his left hand,
and in this new position slid back the door with
his right.

Just as he stepped forth in safety, the elevator,
which would also have ground him to death,
shotlup past the opening with rcsistless force.

“Not half a minute has elapsed since our
struggle l” muttered our hero, rushing toward a
staircase which he knew to he the only one com-
municatin with Room Eighty-six on the floor
above. “ he villain ha’t had time to escape
by the, staircase. He must have returned to his
room.

Up he started, three steps at a time, and with
the greed of vengeance in is heart.

Still, to make assurance doubly sure, he paus-
ed to question the singing chambermaid in the
intersecting passage a ve.

“ Lawk, sir! there’s no one uses the staircases
nowadays, with the elevator so convenient!” was
the girl’s response to his first query. .-‘

“Would you have noted any one going toward
yonder staircase within the last three minutes?"

“Indeed, I would. sir! Not a soul has assed
along this passe. e for a good hour, and here’s
2101,36 other by W 'ch the staircases could be got

0.
Feeling sure that she was not deceiving him,
Hawk thanked her, and turned into the main

passage.

It was wholly deserted.

b “1%: last!” he said to himself, drawing a long
rea .

Passing, not without a shudder, the opening in
the shaf , he marched straight to the door of
Room Eighty-six. .

His teeth were clinched, his glance like the

lint of a bayonet, his grip locked like a Vise on
in: but]: (if a derringer in his right-hand trows-

e .

flamed an instant outside the door. Some
one was stirring within, and a husky voice,
which he thought familiar, was hummmg a surly

air.

“ Villain! it is my turn now!” shouted the de-
tective, bursting into the room, pistol in hand.
“Surrender this instant or—or—”

The words died on his lips, and he stood rooted
to the floor. \

The sole occupant of the room had suddenly
turned from his half-completed toilet before the

lookingilglassesfi apparently no less astounded than.
in . - /

Hawk

 

An enormously tall and stout man, it is true,
but a thoroug ly Anglo—Saxon blonde with
short, tumbled yellow hair, neutral-tinted eyes,
and a rather careless, good—humored, beardless.
face, though now, naturally enough, a trifle
startled and indignant.

“ What the deuce does this mean i” he exclaim—
ed. “ Only a pistol, eh? But where’s your bow—
ie-knife and tomahawk, you know ’9”

Heron pocketed his was on mechanically, and
began stammering an ape ogy.

‘ Oh, don’t mention it, since it’s doubtless a.
mere custom of the blasted country, you know I"
coolly Interrupted the stranger, resuming his.
toilet. “ Of course, you’re a lunatic.”

“But I’m nothing of the sort-I’m only the:
victim of an infernal mistake l” cried Han-k.
while secretly admiring the other’s coolness. “ I
a ologizc with all my heart, and my name is

awk Heron, at your service.”

The stranger suddenly dronped his brush and
comb, and stretched out both his hands in the
most cordial manner.

“ What! you don’t say so?” he exclaimed.
“Why, my dear boy, I am delighted to meet.

ou!’

“ Can it be possible?” stammered Hawk, though
now with a glimmering of the truth.

“ Really, you know!”

“ Your name?”

“ Jack Blithers, of Scotland Yard. London, at,
your service, my boy i”

“ The deuce! I might have known you by your

photogra h,”
_ Then awk returned Blithers’s greeting uiih
Interest, and at once plunged into his story of
explanation, which the other seemed to hem"
With unaffected astonishment.

 

CHAPTER IV.
FORMING AND VANISHING LINKS.

“WELL, my boy, this is simply astonishing-
a-s-t-o—n-i-s—h-i-n-Ig S”

Suchw s Mr. lithers’s comment at the con-
clusion of awk’s story.

“ It beats anything in the old country no end,
you know!” he went on, while dusting off his
coat. “But, of crurse, the big rascal couldn‘t-
have come out of this room.”

“ Of course not,” said Hawk. “ And. barring:
size and shape, you don‘t resemble him in the:
least.”

“ Thanks: I should hope not.”

“ Oh, I meant no offense! But wherein thun—
der could he have come from or vanished to?”

“ How should 1 know? But I’ll tell you what,
my b0 . I’ll be down in five minutes, and no.
can k thematter over while you are break-
fasting with me.”

Hawk accepted the invitation, though he had
already breakfastcd, and then made an excuse
to recede Mr. Blithers down-stairs.

is first care was to inspect the re ister.

“John H. Blithers, Scotland Yer , London.”
broadly decorated the line that was filled out by
the assignment to Room Eighty-six.

Hawk did not essay to question the clerks,
but sought out the bead porter, whom he knew
to be on duty from midnight tonoon.

"‘When did Eighty-six arrive?” be queried,
shpping him a fee.

‘ t’s Barnum’s escaped giant, Eight -six is,
sure!” said the porter, with a grin. “ ewas
here soon afther daylight, in a coupe, wid a
raw-honed gray horse, frish from the steamer.”

“What luggage?” ,

“ A howlm’ big trunk, two vahses an’ a.
leather hat-box, your honor.” ! _

“Any particular incident in connection with
the arrival?”

“ Divil a bit save that 1 hustled out a.
spagwen of a bootblack that was thryin’ to
rea w
rigister.”

“ Was the gentleman dark or fair?”

“Be gob, an’ I couldn’t say, sor, as his mug
was muffled out of , Sight the minute either he
got under the gas-lights, an’ I was, moreover,

usy wld the traps.”

:: Dld you reCOS’nize the driver of the coupe?”

only to recogmze him as an utter stranger,
your .honor. An under-sized mon, wid a rair
of thim murtherm’ British mutton-chop whisk-
ers. an’ leII of a livery or brass button.” _
rie;'l;hanks. Pray, say nothing Of my mini-

“ Divil a word, your honor.”

Hawk strolled out to the vestibule of the main
entrance.

“Strange, Eran e!” he Inufitemdi {flaming
about him. “Coud the Villain whom Nixey
described as entering here have effected a Chang-o
while passing throu )1 this vestlbule, and “Mn
appeared at the des as blonde, beardless Mr.
B thers, of Scotland Yard! Hardly possible!
And yet the rter COITObOI‘ateS leey in every
other partic or to a dot. I can’t make it out!
For once in m .hfe, I am teetotally, irredeem-
abl mixed up ’ ‘

era a bell-boy brought word that Mr.
Blithersuwas waiting. .

If Hawk had retained a wspicion of there
being any mysterious connection between his
manydided criminal, whom he had heretofore

hat the towerin’ gintleman wrote in the!

r

 

 

 

 

‘1‘?

-4;

.IHa'wk Heron,u~the Falcon; Detective. ‘ ,1 I ’

 

 

~known as simply Max Steinman, forger and
villain at large, and this Mr. Jack Blithcrs,,of
Scotland Yard, London, the suspicion speedily
disappeared before the latter’s frank, renial and
engaging manner at breakfast.

“ So you really think that our original fugi-
tive, Max Steinman, and the perpetrator of
this morning‘s ghastly crimes, are one and the
some?“ said Blithers, after they had exchanged
confidenccs pretty generally.

“ There’s nothing else to think,” said Hawk.
“ (Lin you think otherwise after all I have told
you?

“ No. But then the fellow must be a regular
prodigy of wickedness.”

" An inspired monster !"

“‘ What do you propose?”

“You first.”

Mr. Blithch smiled contentedly.

“ Well, Heron,” said he, “ it’s my opinion that
sleuth—hounds work as well in couples as singly.
What’s yours?”

“ This,” said Hawk, extending his shapely but
muscular palm.

“ It’s a go i” cried Blithers, and he struck palms
over the unexprcssed understanding. “We’re
together in this hunt to the bitter end. Eh?”

“ Done!”

“Good enough! And look you, my boy. I
like your style so demnition well that we’ll top
off with just one more bottle.”

Hawk assented; and, when the glasses had
been refilled, Blithers threw some papers on the
table.

“ Here’s my credentials from Scotland Yard,”
said he. “Pray, throw your eye over ’em be-
fore I take ’em down to your Head uarters.”

Hawk did so with apparent care essness, but
really with a scrutiny that let nothing escape.

He was, moreover, familiar with the signs.-
tures of the London officials appended to the
documents, which he found to be flawless in
every particular.

“ Now, I‘m going direct to Head-quarters,” said
Blithers, receiving back the papers, “ and after
that I shall be privately engaged till this even-
inG'. Can you accompany me?”

‘No; it is already late, and I must be at the
inquest. Au revm‘r till, say, to-morrow morn-
ing.

\Vith this understanding, they Separated.

Hawk would have been considerably enlight—
ened could he have seen the exulting smile with
which “ J ack Blithers ” looked after his retreat-
ing form.

“So, my innocent!” muttered that worthy,
between his clinched teeth; “ I have hoodwinked
you completely. Ha, ha, ha! Max Steinman,
forger, Count Kotzka, the Nihilist leader,
Adolphe Delancourt, the remover of the pseudo
widow Ashcombe and her daughter, etc., etc.,
in the person of bluff Jack Blithers will be our
confidant, and if he doesn’t get the better 0 you
it will be his own fault.”

In the mean time, what had become of the true
Jack Blithers, whom this protean villain was
personating so cleverly?

Alas! this was a new secret that had been
locked up in that terrible breast since early
mornin of that very day, and the sole witness
to who was the cor murdered bod of the
real Scotland Yar detective, 1 'ng un er water
off the string-piece of the Nort river steamship
dock at which he had landed only to meet his
death—stroke. ‘

When Hawk reached the Gotham Flats en-
trance, aftcr a conSiderable detention, two po-
licemen were there keeping back the crowd, and
an undortaker’s wagon stood at the curb.

“ Is the inquest in progress?" asked the detec-
tive.

“ Not yet,” said the officer addressed. “The
physicians are examining the bodies, and three
undertaker’s men have just gone up With ice-
boxes.”

Here Mr. Schmidt came out of the passage,

followed by Nixey now as a smartly-uniformed 1

district messenger 0y.
Tears were still in the honest old German’s

yes.

‘_‘ Oh,‘Boss Heron!” whispered Nixe ,with a
grin. ‘ You orter have see’d one of t 6 under-
tnker’s coves as went up. ”

“ W11 l”

“The rummiest old cove you 'ever see. Jest
as tall an’ pussy as. the. big duck I spotted for
on at the Brunswmk, only slouchy, an’ redder

in the mug than a b’iled crab."

 

Hawk was vaguely interested.
:: One of the undertaker‘s men, say you?”
Yes.”

“ Room in front there!” at this juncture called
out a policeman, on guard back in the passage
at the foot of the stairs. “ IIere comes one of
the undertaker chaps with a big load.”

The)’ all drew back from the entrance as a
roughly-clad man of gigantic frame emerged,
shouldering a large emp tub for stowmg ice.

As. this man caught sig t of Hawk Heron, he
let his‘bm'clen fall with a crash, and then started
back in_ the doorway with an exclamation.

“ Mein Gottl” screamed the old German, in
amazement; “ the man of the theater—tho man
of the staircase—Olga’s abductor!”

“ “ Thunder and lightning!” shouted Hawk;
the man that hurled me from the train—«the

I

 

man that gave me the slip in the tenement-house
passa e!"

Ant he sprung like a wolf at the big man’s
throat.

 

CHAPTER V.
BAFFLED AGAIN.

“ HELP! robbery! assassination!
murder me l”

Such was the alarm raised Iny the gigantic
undertaker’s assistant as Hawk eron sprung at
his throat, and he raised his powerful arms to
defend himself.

It was answered by two men, the driver of the
undertakcr’s wagon and another policeman,
who, at the same mombnt, issued from the door-
way.

Neither was acquainted with Hawk, whose
action was therefore wholly incomprehensible to
them, and they at once precipitated themselves
upon him.

“ Don’t be fools!” cried Hawk, from the midst
of the wild struggle in which all four were
straightaway mixed up. " This man is a mysteri-
ous villain and I am a detective officer! Ha!
Eirsepyou both! I got that through your med-

lug

At the last words, he reeled back, faint and
dizzy, from a random blow in the chest from the
giant’s sledge-hammer fist, while the policeman
and his companion came to a dumfounded
pause.

Then the colossus, likewise flooring old
Schmidt, who was coming to Hawk’s assistance,
and shaking off Nixey, who had grasped the tail
of his blouse, leaped into the undertaker’s wagon
with a anther-like bound, gathered up the reins,
and las ed the horse into a run.

Though the worst sufferer, Hawk was the first
to recover.

“ After him!” he shouted. “ It is doubtless the
murderer himself!” And he shot off like a grey-
hound in gumuit, followed by the rest.

Hawk eron had never met his match as a
runner, even among the most noted profes-
sionals.

Notwithstanding that the horse was a good
one, and lashed to its utmost, he held his on n in
the chase, and soon distanced the other pur-
suers.

At last, after momentarily losing sight of the
fugitive equipage, at a sharp turn, he once more
saw it dashing away, but empty and without
guidance.

At the same instant the hanging of a. street-
door on the right indicated that the fugitive
might have disappeared behind it.

The house was one of a block of small, mean-
looking, three—story—and—basement dwellings, in
a. narrow, out-of-the-way little street, of unen-
viable reputation, known as Melton place.

It was Only after clamoring at the door for a
long time, and after many rotests on the part
of an angry but melodious eminine voice from
within, that our hero was finally admitted into
this house.

Then, as he recognized the owner of the melo-
dious voice, he sprung into the passage, and
gras ed her wrist.

“ a!” he exclaimed, “my demure warnin -
giver of the elevated railroad—my young la y
of the lost basket!”

She stared at him with wellasimulated astom
ishment. «

“ Come, come l” cried Hawk; “where you are
the ‘ sweet Adolphe ‘ cannot be far away. I must
search the house this instant.”

“ As you choose,” said the young woman col-
lectedly. “ It is empty, however, save the ase-
ment, which I occupy. as janitress.”

She was posseSSed of a remarkable and even
commanding beauty, which by this time had
im ressed the detective strongly.

nder other circumstances he might have

Zey would

thought it a case of love at first sight, and the‘

fact that she returned his searching gaze with a
look in which annoyance had given way to in-
terest would have somewhat flattered his self-
esteem at least. ,

“I must do my duty, miss, “said be, half
apologetically. '

She stepped aside, with a gesture toward the
staircase. '

He hesitated.

“ I beg you to tell me your name?” said he.

“ Clarisse Letours.”

“A beautiful name!”

She smiled coqucttishly, and then grew sud-
denliy grave.

“ onestly dislike flattery, sir,” said she,
simply. “But, since you are so courteous, I
shall conceal nothing.”

“Thank you!” ' _ ’

“Just before you rung the hell, I did hear
some one burst into this house, like one'pursued,
and run up—stairs.” '

“ Where were you?”

“ In In basement rooms. Ilthought it might
be a thie , and you an accomplice.”

“But how could he have got in?” ‘

“ Heaven only knows. Perhaps by a skeleton
key. This is an evil neighborhood, infested by
bad people. ” ,V

“ I am aware of that. Anything else?”

“Yes; all the rooms above the basement

1‘
l

 

floor, with one excetion, are vacant and un-
furnished. There is a man in that room now,
but not the one you seek.”

As she hesitated, a suspicious frown crossed
the detective’s face.

“ Explain i” said he, Iperemptorily.

“0h sirl—bnt, yes, will tell you all. Know,
then, t at I make a little mone by occasionally
hiring out that room by the ay. At present
there is a stranger there awaiting the visit of
some other man, )erhaps a criminal.” .

“ Good! I sha 1 interview him.”

But, as he started toward the staircase, she
intaircepted him with a gesture of genuine solici-
tu e.

“ Oh, sir. do not inti ude upon this stranger, I ,
beseech you E" she exclaimed. “ He is so big,
so formidable-lcoking.”

Hawk’s suspicions augmented.

“ Excuse me, but big men are just in In line
at present,” said he, thrusting her aside. ‘ And
if the sweet Adolphe chances to be in hiding up
yonder—”

He checked himself as a door above was heard
to open, followed by a surly exclamation, as of
extreme impatience, and then R heavy descend-
ing ste .

Clarigse started forward, as if to give warn.
ing, but Hawk’s left arm grasped her as. if in
a vise, while one hand closed over her lips and
the other produced his revolver.

“ Traitressl Cockatricel” he hissed, drawin
her into the darkest corner of the passage, “this
is your Adolphe—the fugitive villain I seek l"

ut when the man descending the stairs came
into view, Hawk started back in dismay. ‘

“Blithers—Jack Blithers!” he exclaimed.

“The deuce!" cried Blithcrs, for he indeed it
was. “ Here’s a rum go. What are you doing
here, my boy?” i

“ You owe me the first explanation, since I
spoke first,” said Hawk, slipping his weapon out
of sight, and fastening his eyes on the other‘s

florid face.

“ Ha, ha ha! with all my heart!” cried Blith-
ers, with his fat, hearty laugh. “I confess 
was a little evasive with you when we separated
a few hours ago. My real engagement was to
meet and confer with one Manchester Tibbs, an
old English professional, in Mistress Letours’s
little snugge up—stairs, in re ard to a side‘case
1’m on, you now. Precious ittle good it has
done me, by the way i" he added, turning half-
angrily toward Clarisse who seemed agreeably
astonished at the turn affairs had taken. “ How
now, young mistress? No signal as yet, such as
I adVised ~ou of.”

Before 8 6 could answer, there came the light,
pattering sound of some small pebbles thrown
against the dusty transom panes.

“ Tibbs at last!” muttered Blithers, frownin .
“ n to him, mistress, that I may rebuke h
tar iness as it deserves.”

Clarissa opened the street door.‘

Then, as if in full confirmation of what Blith-
ers had been saying, there skulked furtivel up
the steps from out the gathering dusk o the ,
street a. shambling, villainous figure, thatseemed
a hideous incarnation of Old World squalor,
depravity and crime.

he rascal looked up expectantly, but Blithers
at once opened u n him with such a tirade of
abuse, in the thieves’ Latin that was :3qu
familiar to Hawk, that he speedily skulk bac ,
into the obscurity, with a half-scared, half-sullen
look on his hang-dog features, and was seen no
more.

“My trouble and time for my pains, that’s
all,” said Blithers, with a resumption of his
broad good-humor as he retreated Into the pas-
sage, closing the door. “Now, old fellow, it’s
your turn. What the deuce brought you here?”

Hawk‘s confidence in the other had by this
time been fully restored, if, indeed. it had under-
gone any real diminution at all. In a few words

6 told his story, frankly and succinctly.

‘9 Why, I heard the racket that our fu ‘tive
must have made in breaking in the case
here!” exclaimed Blithers, when he had finished
his recital. “The steps sounded as if he were
making tracks somewhere below. Speak,~mil- ,
tress. Is there any secret egress he might have ‘
availed himself of?”

Clarissa changed countenance and hesitated.

Blithers eyed her keenly, and a hard, savage ,
look came into his face. ‘

“Quick! out with it!” and he made
cant gesture.

“ Oh, I’ll speak truth, but don’t try to bully .
me!” said the girl defiantly. “ You can’t scare

me, big as on are. ' I’ll k but it will. be to
please himy, not on.” d her color ed.
ack as she look at Hawk. .

‘ “Speak, then I pray you, Clarissa,” said the
younger man, w o 8. been silently attentive.
“There is a secret passage, then,” said she.
“It is a. sort of tunnel ing out from the coal-
hole under the street. t passes under a man-
hole, in among the s and water-pipes - and ,
then on and on, the rd only knows wh , ,
rha as far down as the rocks with the nut- ‘
rs’ s antics on top of ’em, for all I know. '
house, I’ve been told, was once occupied by a
band of counterfeiters.” r ,
H Oho I" .
“ Yes; and whether or not your fugitive knew'

\

a signifi- I

.a‘

11

,l‘

 

6 ' Hawk Heron,rtlhey Falcon Detective.

 

of this secret passage, you can guess for your-
selves. You can explore it now, if you
choose.”

"‘ That we do choose!” cried Blithers heartily,
and he linked his arm in Hawk‘s. “ Come, my
boy: I’m with you in this, if you say so.”

“IVith all my heart,” said Hawk, and they
followed Clarisse, who tripped before them
down the basement stairs for the purpose of
obtaining lights. "‘ But look that you be on
your guard!” And he lowered his voice.

“ “’bnt! of the girl?”

“Yes; I know her to be the friend, perhaps
an accomplice, of the villain I seek.”

“The deuce! W'hy, she is actually soft upon
you, you dog!” And Blithers pressed the arm
he clasped, with a knowing chuckle.

“ Psliaw! she’s a deep one. However, be that
as as it may, the truth is as I say.”

“ I can hardly believe it; but here we are.”

Clarisse, who had disappeared into the front
basement room, now reappeared with three
lighted candles. She gave one to each man, re-
serving the third for herself, and then guided
them down into the sub-cellar.

At last the stood at the edge of the coal-hole,
a low-vaulte space directly under the front area
and, save for the glimmering rays of the can-
dies, as dark as a cat’s mouth.

“ Yonder’s the entrance,” said she.

She held her candle high over her head, and
indicated a dismal-looking arched opening in the
opposite Wall.

“ Shall I go first?” ask’d Blithers, advancinga
step.

“No,” said Hawk, interposing, candle in one
hand, pistol in the other. “ It’s my game that’s
afoot, and I must lead. Come on!”

He was stooping to enter the tunnel, when he
heard a deep, hollow groan, accompanied by
what seemed the rattling of a chain, and appa-
rent! y issuing from the heart of the sotid mason-
ry to the left.

Blithch also heard the Sounds, and, as they
both started back, they observed a broken beam
of light struggling through a narrow fissure in
the wall.

Just then, however, Clarime darted past them,
throwing herself against the wall with all her
force.

There was heard a sharp click, as of the catch-
ing of a spring lock, and the fissure disappeared.

“ A plague on those water pipes!” she ejacu-
lated. “ Sometim 5 they keep me from sleeping
,with their groaning and rattling.”

The two men abstained from comment, and at
once entered the tunnel, Hawk leading the way,
and Clarissa peering after them from the en-
trance, candle in hand.

The secret passageway was miserably con-
structed, and the footing was made slippery and
insecure by many inequalities.

Blithers soon began to grumble while stumb-
ling along after his companion.

“ Cheer up!” Hawk called back, encouraging-
lv. “ We must be approaching the man—hole
Clarissa spoke of.” ,

“ Vhat of that?” growled the other. “ How—
ever, keep your eyes peeled, for this is a danger-
ous place, and— Hal” ,

The startled exclamation was followed by an
oath and a groan, accompanied by the sudden ex-
tinction of his candle and a dull thud, as of a

, heavy blow being struck and received.

Then came a shot, and. before Hawk could
turn, his candle was snuffed out by a bullet
whistling past his ear.

“ Save yourself, Hawk!” called out Blithers’s
voice faintly, while the heavy thuds and a. sound
of scuflling continued in the darkness. “ Oh, to
be thus pounded to death Without even seeing
your assailant’s face! Ah!”

There was a final groan, the blows ceased, and
all was silent.

Alert and listening, with every nerve strung
to the highest tension, Hiwk fired a shot from
his revolver into the air, for the sake of the
brief illumination the flash might afford him.

The re rt rung and re-echoed through the
tunnel, ut the flash only seemed to dance
against a solid wall of blackness.

Then, just as the flash expired, he suddenly
felt himself seized in a grasp of steel, and hur-
ried forward helplessly, While a well-known
hideous voice was in his ear.

“ Oh, you enemy, you enemy! and now mine
at last, mine at last!” it hissed and chuckled,
while he could feel the arch villainh breath, like
the fiery blast of a moral Sil'Och‘. on his cheek.
“ You fear, you are unnerved at last! The hun-
ted vulture turns upon his falcon fm, and holds
him, awe-struck and quivering, in his avenging
clutch!” I ,

“You’re a liar!” the detective found breath
to gasp out defiantly. “No, fiend—monster in
many shapes that you are—the Prevalence that
hath protected and guided me thus far will not
abandon me now! Though helpless and in your
power, Hawk Heron. the falcon of detectives, is
not destined to succumb to that vulture of
crime Count Kotzka, the Prescribed—no,
though he assume a hundred other bafl'ling
she to elude the fell retributive swoop l”

e could feel an increase of that grateful
upper air upon his face as he spoke. The shaft
of the man-hole was near.

 

But at this instant his invisible foe hurled him
down upon his back.

Steely, talon—like fingers were at his throat, a
mighty knee upon his breast. and then he could
feel the cold muzzle of a revolver pressed against
his forehead.

“Yes, you speak truly!” snarled the voice.
“ I am that Count Kotzka the Prescribed, that
man in one, and you are at my mercy! Mercy!
Ha, a, ha! Such a word coupled with such a
name!” The pity—beseeching victim in the tiger’s
gras l

“ iar again!” gaspingly retorted the detec-
tive. “ Dog! I to plead for pity, and from such
a crson as on?”

is daunt cssness seemed to reuse the ruffian
to the pitch of frenzy. ’

“Ha! are you of adamant? is there no way
of striking terror to your heart!” he roared in
the darkness, fairly gi‘iashiug his teeth. “I
have quieted the Englishman, your fool of a
companion; now it is your turn!” Click click
sounded the cocking of the revolver. “ épeak!
groch for mercy, swear to give over your ruth-
less ursuit, or—’

“ ever!” was the defiant reply.

Then, just in the nick of time, he wrenched
his head to one side as the weapon was discharg-
ed and the bullet but grazed his ear.

Then, as he shook himself partly free, an en-
couraging cry, accompanied y ringing blows,
as of an iron implement being pounded against a
metallic plate, resounded from far overhead.

“Help, help!” shouted Hawk, again almost
overinastered by his invisible assailant.

Here the cap of the man-hole was ried to one
side, and Nixey’s characteristic VOice shouted
down:

“Hold your own for just a minute more, Boss
Heron! Here’s the cops, with a ladder and a
lantern 1”

With a hoarse, gnashing growl, like that of a
baflled wild beast, Hawk’s antagonist suddenly
dashed him to one side, and darted away amid
the darkness of the passage.

Breathless, but not seriously injured, Hawk
lost no time in availing himself of the ladder
that was let down from above.

On emerging. he ex lained the situation in a
few words to two po icemen and the faithful
lad, who were grouped about the man-hole.

“But Blithers—my poor friend Blithers~
he may have been murdered outright!” ex—
claimed the detective. “Never mind the fugi-
tive now. He is doubtless ere this far beyond
reach. Think only of Blithers!”

He was directing one policeman to descend
into the tunnel with a. lantern, while the others
should enter it by way of the house, when the
door of the latter opened, and, to the aston-
ishment of all, Clarissa came out to sa that
Blithers had made his way back into the uild-
ing, where he was then engaged in bathing some

wounds on the neck which he had received from ’

some blunt instrument.

Rejoicing to hear that his companion had
come off so easily, Hawk sent word by Clarisse
that he would keep the appointment made for
the following morning. ‘

He then hurried away with Nixey, leaving
the olicemen to close up the man-hole.

“ ow did you chance to put in such a timely
appearance?” asked Hawk.

“ Easy enough, boss," was the reply. “ After
seeinl you go into that house, which I knowed
fur 8. ad ’un, I skipped back to the Gotham,
an’ got a couple of cops, just on the specula-
tion of your havin’ stepped into a trap.”

“Aha! And then?"

“You see. I already knowed that ere pas-
sage, boss. It opens back on the rocks, Where
I [fisobtlhto’travel with the Short Tail Gang.”

0

“Yes, boss, an’ I was fl also to the man-
hole communication. Wel , me an’ the cops
chanced along in the nick of time with the lan-
tern and ladder. That’s all, boss, an’ then—
But gosh almighty! catch on to the phantom!”

He started back as he spoke, as did Hawk
also, and with reason. '

Out of the mouth of a dark alley-way, which
they were crossing, a form had‘suddenly risen
before them in the light of a near street-lamp.
so ghastly and repulsive in its criminal and
vicious suggestions as to momentarily stagger

them.
“ Ah! it is Bliihers’s man, Manchester Tibbs,”
said Hawk, quickly recovering himself on mak-
ing the recognition.
The ruffian ut his finger to his lips and gave
a hyena-like c uckle. ,
‘ Hi say, mister,” said he, “ w’ot’s it worth to
on, if hi’d guv you a p’int or two ag’in’ that big
10kg w’ot was hin the ’allway With you a w’ile
a of

a‘You mean Blithers?” said Hawk, in _sur-
prise. “ Blithers has proved himself my friend,
and a stench one. There’s nothing against
Blithers.” '

“Oho! there hain’t, eh? Isay, guv’ner, jess
plank the price of a week’s. grub an’ lodgin’
across my ’and wall yer? an’ hi’ll let you hinto a
p’int or two agzin’ that ’ere same Blithers, as you
callI hiflm, w’ot’ll raise the hair clean hoif your
sea p.

. As he held out his grimy paw half-expect-

!

antly, his smile was like that of a fiend or

ghoul.

i “ Begone!” exclaimed Hawk, threateningly.
U Fab 1”

, A hideous change, a change from eagerness to

! hatred and despair, came over the rufl'ian’s face.

§ Then, with a low, deadly sort of laugh, he van-

‘ islied as mysteriously as he had appeared.

, “ Come!” said Hawk, hurrying his little coni—
panion along with him. “ The very recollection;

of that fellow is like a nightmare.”

CHAPTER VI.
CLARISSE.

CLARISSE Lnrouas had not greatly exagger-

i ated the pseudo Jack Blithers’s injuries, though

‘ of course the reader will have divined that he
had only come by them in his treacherous en—

, counter with Hawk Heron amid the danncss of
the subterraneous passage.

I That chameleon-like criminal was finishing the
dressing of his bruises and the readjustment of
his present disguise, when Clarisse returned to

i, the basement apartments of the dingy little

' house in Melton place.

“ So!” said be, looking up with a sort of growl;

“ does that infernal detective still seem unsuspi--

Clous of my identity with Count Kotzka, Adolphe

! and the rest?”

“ He sent word that he would keep his ap-
pointment with you to—morrow.”

“ Is that all?”

“ He hurried off apparently satisfied, after ex-
pressing his sym athy with your injuries.”

“ Curse him! would not mind them if I had

 

either succeeded in killing him or forcing him to '

an oath of neutrality. However, his time will
come!”

.Here Kotzka strode from the semi -dark
kitchen, in which this colloquy had taken place,
to the front room, which answered for the young
woman’s bed-chamber, where a bright light vs as
burning, and confronted Clarissa with a stern
countenance.

“Now, Clarissa,” said he, harshly, “I have
several explanations to demand of you.”

She returned his forbidding look with a half,
contemptuous gaze.

“ So have I of you,” she retorted, quietly.
“ But do you proceed first.”

' He burst into a derisive laugh, but at the same
time eyed her with a certain uneasiness.

“ Ha, ha, ha!” he chuckled. “ You to demand
explanations of me, your master! Come, that is
good!”

The angry color leaped into her cheeks and
her e es flashed.

“ ou are forgetful,” said she, with enforced
coldness. “ I have forbidden that word ‘ master ’"
when we are alone.”

" Oho! Well, then, I shall substitute ‘uncle,’
as of old, if you prefer it.”

“ Neither that again, I repeat to you. Count
Kotzka!” she exclaimed, stain ing her foot.
“ You know that, since I have discovered your
assumed relationship to be false, I have also in—
terdicted that word.”

“ Indeed!” ,

“ Ay,_sir! Henceforth, our connection is sole-
llg political, so far as the oath of the Nihilist

rotherhood binds us, and no more.”

:: Clarisse—”

i you go on with what ou were about
to say, or shall I take the initiatiyve?”

‘ Tut, tut! keep your temper. Yes, I will
continue. In the first place. your carelessness
1n leavmgthe door ajar at the mouth of the tun--
nel well-nigh compromised our secret of the im—
beCile old baron’s captivity.”

“_I a’pknowledge the fault. It shall not occur
again.

“That is well. especially as no great harm can
come of the hint.”

“What do you mean?”

“ Why, if it only serve to tempt Hawk Heron
into the underground passage once more, I shall
take care that it shall be to his death or his re-
nunciation of his pursuit of me.”

“ Ah! Well, sir what else!”

“You coddle and make too much of the old
prisoner dOVE’n yonder. I have noticed this re»

atedly during my recent visits to his cell. Had

e been more severely treated, we might have:
got rid of him long ago.”

“ Pass on to something else. No change shall
be made in that quarter,”

“ Girl! would you dare.”

“ Ay, any‘and everything in the cause of hu-
manity, as you know! It is now many years.
smce the unfortunate Baron Tauchnitz, having
deservedly incurred the resentment of our Bro»
therhocd, was submitted to my chargE, when I
was yet a mere child in years though prema-
tui'el a woman in the arsh Wisdom of the}
wqu . I have carried him from prison-house to
prison-house, from hiding-place to hiding-place,
while following your rovmg revolutionary mis.
sion throughout Europe and America, as the
Brotherhood may have ordered. Speak! Have

task wi h courage and discretion?”

“ Y have,” was the reluctant reply. “ There
is no gainsaying that.”

“ Then forget not that I only assumed the
task on condition that I should be permith to
treat the poor, helpless old man with as much

 

I or have I not acquitted myself of the arduous .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hawk HerOn,

i ’  '

the Falcon ‘Dete‘ctive.

'7

 

 

kindness and tenderness as if he were my own
father.” '

Kotzka started, and gave her a peculiar look.

“ Your own father?” he repeated.

“ Yes.”

“Would you thus trifle with the sacred name
that belonged to him alone, Armand Lctours,
your martyed sire, who, dying in Siberian
cxilc—”

“Yes, yes; and left me the daughter of the
Brotherhood, and in your special and fostering
care!” she interrupted, half-bitterly. “ Oh, I
am not rcpining at my fate! The cause of the
Brotherhood is just and a sacred one to live and
die in, though I cannot thunk it for blending my
poor fortunes with such as yours, blood-stained
and desperate as they are.”

He made an angry gesture, and would have
replied, but that she intiu'ruptcd him afresh.

‘ No more of the old captive, then,” she said.
“If you would reproach me with aught else,
speak on.”

“ There is one other thing,” said Kotzka, con-
trolling himself. “ It refers to this Hawk
Heron.”

“ So; what of him?" _ . '

“ I observed you narrowly while With him.”

“ Indeed l” ' .

“ You paled when he passed, unsuspectingly,

' into the tunnel.”

“ What of it?”

“ Your face was radiant when you knew he
had escaped the trap I was preparing for him.”

“ What of that 2"

Kotzka suddenly gave way to an ungovern-
able bit of fury.

“Girl! woman!” he exclaimed; “ should you
_knowing this man to be sleuthing me down in
the interests of the sworn enemies of our sacred
Brotherh00(l———”

“ I know him to be doing nothing of the sort.”

“ Do not madden me with interruptions,” con-
tinued Kotzka, savagely. “ I say he is the
secret agent of the Russian representative in this
city, howsoever he ma mask his pursuit of me
upon other grounds._ shall prove this to you,
as well as to the Brotherhood. And, after being
aware of this fact, if you should (hire to cherish
a tender sentiment for this Hawk Heron, I warn
you to beware.” .

The color rushed to the girl’s temples, and
then she burst into a scorul’ul laugh.

“ That for your solicitudo where my private
feelings are concerned!” said she snapping her
thumb and finger in her enraged
face. “ Is that all—are you through now?”

Kotzka again controlled himself with an ef-
fort.

“ Yes, for the present,” said he, sullenly.

“ Now it is my turn,” said Clarisse, eying him
with a dauntless and stern expression.

“ Proceed.” .

“ I have just read the evening newspaper ac-
count of the terrible double tragedy in the
Gotham Flats.”

“ I explained to you early this morning my
innocent connection with it, when I gave you
the basket containing the wax-work emblem.”

,. “ Ay; but truly?”

“ On my honor!”

“ Av; but on your oath of afliliation, like-
wise?”

Kotzka turned pale, but she was scrutinizing
his face relentless] , so he drew a long breath,
and answered, reso utelfy:

“Yes; by my oath o nfliliation, I swear it!”

“ Enough. dare not doubt [you further.
You were simply guilty of abducting the girl in
the interests of the Brotherhood?”

“ 0f nothing else upon my oat !”

“And you founr her lying senseless by the
form of her mother, whom some one else had
already murdered?”

“Have I not alread told you so? The girl
afterward died on my ands, or seemed to lapse
into death.”

“ And the wax emblem i”

“ I saw it hangin in the murdered widow’s
room. It not only i entified her past with mine
but recalled the days when I was the friend an
mentor of this man this Hawk Heron, who is
now pursuin me. Hence, I carried it away.”

“ Who cou d have murdered Mrs. Ashcomhei”

“How should I know?”

“ But you were the agent of our Brotherhood,
and on have admitted that it was the Brother-
hood”; interest to Silence her. as well as obtain
possession of the daughter-2’

“ True; and chance—acmdentd—has interposed
in our favor.” I

Clarissa drew a lone Went}!- . i

‘You would not dare trifle With that dread
oath,” said she, in a low V‘OlCO. “ I must needs
believe you.”

“ You can do so safely.”

“ And that is well for on, Kotzkifl’

“What do you mean?’ -

“ Simply this: Close and paternal as have
been your relations toward me since my earliest
recollections—much as I know you to have
stained your soul with crime and blood in the
Interests of our glorious Brotherhood, Whose
cause is that of liberty and humanity—did I sus-
PeCt you to have been the murderer of that poor
woman and her dau hter, I would Without an
mstant’s hesitation aid this Falcon Detective in

\ i

ccmpanion’s -

 

U
his righteous quest, and give you up to the hang-
man on the spot 1”
Kotzka with difficulty repressed a shudder,
but he managed to say with moody calmness:
“It is, however, as I have asserted. And I

shall eventual] prove to the Brotherhood’s satis- .

faction, that awk Heron is in reality a Russian
secret agent, who has merely taken up this pur-
suit of me as a cover to bring about the disrup-
tion of our Order here in this country.”

“ But, as Max Steinman, the London forger of
European securities—”

1 “ [Ell in the interest of the Brothci‘lioml, recol-
cct!

“ Yes, yes; but it was still in that on acity
that you were already the object of Iaw {
.Hcrgn’s pursuit before the tragcdy of this morn-
1113:. ‘

“True! and the political nature of those for-
gcrics )roves him to be instigated by foreign
polii'ica , as well as ordinary detective, employ-
iiient.

“ I don’t know that."

“ Clarisse, I swear it, by the same terrible
oath that you have already evoked l”

“ Ali 1”

“ Yes, and also that he seeks to fasten this ad-
ditional crime upon me to the some political
end! ’

“ All this on our oath of affiliation?”

“ All, all! an a hundred times reiterated, were
it necessary.”

“ Enoug i. I believe you. Now, are you sure
of baffling Heron?” '

“How can you doubt it, with my genius for
disguises, my familiarity with numerous secret
resorts, my bound ess command of money, and,
lastly but mostly, with tho unquestionin devo-
tion, of our entire Brotherhood at my bac 3"

“ True; he must be even more than human to
outwit you.” .

“He cannot—it is impossible!” cried Kotzka,
exultantly.

“ This last disguise of the Scotland Yard detec—
tive seems to stand you in good stead.”

“ I rely on it more than anything else.”

“ Where is the man you are pci‘sonating?"

A deadly and impossible look came into
Kotzka’s face. .

“ Question me not, Clarisse,” said he. “He is
— one!

larisse shuddered, 'She scarcely knew why.

“ You have not told me,” said she, after a.
pause, “ in what way the poor murdered widow
and her daughter stood between the Brotherhood
and its aims.”

“ Nor shall 1 tell you now,” said Kotzka, in a
deep and impressive voice. “ See to it that you,
in your turn remember your oath of afliliation
in that
Master i”

The proud girl bent her head submissively, as
if under a merited rebuke.

“ One question more,” she murmured.

“ Name it.”

“ ‘Was the murdered Mrs. Ashcombe a. widow
in reality?” 4 ‘

Kotzka. started, and gave her a swift, search-
ing look.

‘She seems to have thought or called herself
such, at all events," he said. “ Is not that
enou h?” -

“ erhaps so; but then, since reading of her
tragic fate and the mystery that seems to have
surrounde her life. I cannot be] unaccountably
cou ling that woman with—wit —”

“ ith whom?”

“With our imbecile life-prisoner—with the
Baron Tauchnitz. He was rumored, I remem-
ber. to have had family connections in Hungary
—t&16 ,piysmry was never wholly cleared up,
an —

Kotzka interrupted her with an outburst of
mingled wrath and derision.

“ Preposterous! You have been misled!” he
exclaimed. “ Think no more of such folly 1”

She again bent her head. v

“ I shall strive to obey you,” said she. “ Grati-
, y my curiosity on one other point.”

“ Proceed. ”

“Twice to-day you have had Hawk Heron’s
life in our hands—yes, thrice, if I include th
elevata railroad inCideniF—and—” ‘

“ And yet I spared him? This is what you
can’t understand, ch?”

5‘ Yes.”

“ Well, I cannot explain myself more fully
than to repeat that I was the friend and mentor
of his youth in other days and other clinics. I

refer not to destroy him until it shall be abso-
Yutely forced upon inc.” ,

Clai-isse’s face brightened.

“ But,” he continued, observing her narrowly,
“ such a result will doubtless be forced upon me
sooner or later.” , ,

Her face clouded agam, but he abstained from
comment.

Kotzka now prepared to depart: I

“ Work is  before me to-night,” said he,
“work at which you may assist.”

She looked up quickly.

“ It concerns Olga. Ashcomhc.” he continued.

“ What! the dead young girl?"

He bent forward, and whispered in her ear.
Charisse started back in supreme astonish.
men . ‘

Or er of which I am the august

 

“ Say you so?” she exclaimed. “ I will see! nd
you to the extent of my ower.”

“ I thought so.” said otzka, smiling.

After giving Clarisse a few more whispered in‘-
structions, he took his departure.

__..
CHAPTER VII.
A MOMENTOUS REVELATION.

HAWK was just in time to give his testimony
before the coroner’s jurv.

As it only embraced what he had actually
seen with regard to the tragedy, the reader can
judge how little it availed toward identifying
the murderer.

Mr. Schmidt and the old charwoman, the only
other witnesses, had already given their testi-
mony, to no better effect.

The verdict was accordingly a mere reflection
of the ignorance evolved, and, for the time be-
ing, the terrible crime remained shrouded in
impenetrable mystery.

The undert‘nker’s duties had already been per-
formed. The cofiined bodies of the victims lay
upon ti‘estles side by side in the front apartment
of the humble suite.

Hawk was one of the last that lingered after
the verdict had been declared.

He was also about to take his departure, when
his arm was touched significantly by a young
man who had accompanied the coroner and his
assistant, and had aided in the postmortem ex-
amination. “ Pray, wait till we are absolutel
alone, sir,” said the young man. “ I have a r
markable revelation to make.”

Hawk looked at him in surprise. By the rays
of a single lam that stood on the mantlepiece,
he appeared to e a preposscssing young man, of
twenty-five or six, decently clad, but with a.
he gard and careworn look.

obs proceeded from an adjoining room in
which t e grief-stricken old music-master had
taken refuge.

“ Help me to get rid of Mr. Schmidt," contin-
ued the young man. in a whisper. “ It is best
that what I must tell you should be secret from
even him, at least for the present.”

Equally impressed and puzzled, Hawk ncddcd
his assent.

The young man passed into the adjoining
room, and returned lending in the old man, who
was finally persuaded to retire to his own apart-
ments on the floor above, on receiving an assur-
ance that strict watch and guard should be kept
in the chamber of death. V

“ Who are you, sir!” asked the detective,
when alone with the young man. '

“ Ralph Seagrave, a simple medical student,
and an occasional assistant of the coroner’s phy-
Sician.” was the quiet reply. “But I _am also
something more. Come here!”

He took the lamp, and, assing to the head of
one of the coffins, reverent y unveiled the marble
face of the occupant.

It was that of the beautiful Olga. .

“Behold!” said he, solemnly. “ I am hcr wor-
shiper, her adorer.”

“ What do you tell me?” exclaimed the detec-
tive. “ You might once have been what you
say, but here is only the lifeless shell of the love-
ly bein that has passed to her last account.” '

Ralp Sea grave smiled strangely. v

“Are you sure of it?” said he.

“ Of course I am, as were also the coroner, his
medical examiner, and his jury. One does not
worship or adore a lifeless form—a corpse l”

“ No, surel . But what was the alleged cause
of death in t iis case!” r

“ Heart disease, hastened by a violent nervous
shock. So the physician made out in his report
to the jury.” .

“The physician was deceived. The cause of
her nibther‘s death was apparent enough—a dis-
location of the spinal cord by the murderous
gai‘roter’s wrenching clutch. But as for Olga,

he innocent, the beautiful—” ‘

“Well?” said Hawk, as the young man I

paused, with a repetition of his strange smile.‘

“ As for Olga,” continued the latter, “ the
examination was superficial, the premises hasty,
the decision fallacious.”

“What do you mean?”

“ She is not dead, but slee th!”

Hawk thought at first that the youth had gone
mad, but his earnestness and collectcdness quick-
ly dispelled this im ression. I

“ Look!” said t 6 youth. setting down the

lamp, and removing the entire coffin lid. " Thisb . I

is the astounding revelation I made in secret
during the examination, and have resolved to
share with you alone.”

The beautiful Olga had been dressed forhurial
in a simple, but ecoming suit’ of every-day
wear.

As bespoke, Seagravo lifted and bared the
ri ht arm of the motionless form.

t was round, white and firm as if molded
from alabaster, save a tiny discolored spot in
the hollow of the elbow. ' ‘.

“ Observe that spot,” _S&1d Seagrave.

“I am doing so,” said Hawk, examining it

closely.

“ What is it like?” '

“ Like—like the uncture of a needle—point.”

“Right! It is t a puncture of a needle-like
inthat least—the. pomt of a hypodermic syr-
gei . i

\

 

 

3.9. . A. a.-.

<ma.

:‘n?:

:f

‘I
m
r!
J

 

..

. he is in my employ.
 's; m of silver

8 ' ' Hawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.

 

 

The detective looked up in astonishment.

“Ayz” said the other, solemnly. “Here is
the tin ' proof of the sub-cutaneous injection of
ium'p!uno—doubtless With some other soporiflc
ingredient, since the effect is so death—like and
prolonged—by which the unknown villain was
enabled to forestall her struggles and outcries
directly after her first swoon upon witnessing
her mother’s assassination by the same ruthless
hand!”

“This is amazing!” exclaimed Hawk. “Can
restoration be etl’ected?”

“I hope so, or I would not have taken you
into my confidence before making the attempt.”

“I alwa 3 want to understand a man thor-
oughly. l by did you decide to take me into
your confidence?”

“ I know you by reputation, and was told that
you are the detective who will have sole charge
of this case. Therefore, in the event of my
resuscitating this young girl, you are one to
help preserve the secret.”

‘ And why should such a secret be preserved?”
“ Can you ask, and you a detective?”

“ No matter; answer.”

“ If restored to life, I would have that restor-
ation unknown to all save you and me and her,
even to the extent of substituting a dummy in
this coffin, and assisting at her mock burial,
along with that of her poor mother‘s remains.”

“ Wherefore?”

“ To further the ends of justice—to confound
the murderer and abductor,when you shall have
at last run him to earth, by confronting him
with the , dead-alive Witness of his graver
crime.”

Hawk grasped the young man‘s hand and fair-
ly Wriuig it.

“ Excellent!

The echo of my own thought!”
he exclaimed. “ You should have yourself been
a detective. Now to end our suspense.”

“ Ah! Heaven grant the attempt may be. suc-
cessful !” said Seagrave, again drawing the sleeve
over the lovely arm, and replacing it in the cof-
fin. “ Make sure that we are secured against in—
trusion.”

“ But how do you know that death has not
really intervened?" said Hawk, as he inspected
the fastenings of the doors.

He received no answer, and when he returned,

> Seagrave wasbending over the placid face, ob-

serving through a mamifying glass a single hair
which he had lucked from his head, and was
holding under t e delicately chiseled nostrils.

“ It moves—there is evidence of the life breath
remaining!” he at length joyfully exclaimed,
though in a low tone, as he loo ed up. “ Quick!
examine for yourself lest I be mistaken.”

Hawk likewise ma 6 the test.

. “ It is true I” said be, after an anxious pause.
“ There is breath enough to just stir the hair,
thoughalmost imperceptibly.”

“Another test, then,” said Seagrave, taking
from his pocket 8. small mirror, which, after
wiping carefully, he held under Olga’s nostrils.
“ Evidence by this test will be yet more conclu-
sive, because less delicate.”

He held his watch in his other hand, observing
its dial intently until two minutes had elapsed,
when he held up the mirror to the light, and
studied its surface intently.

“Oh!” he murmured, with a groan. “There
is nothing !"

“ Wait!” said Hawk, who was looking over his
shoulder. “ My eyes are better than yours.
There‘is surely a mist of breath upon the glass,
though faint.”

' The medical student quickly brought the mag-
nifier to bear. v

“You are right!” ll} said. in a more hopeful
tone. “ Now for the stethoscope.”
~ He produced such an instrument as he spoke,
and, applying it to the heart of the cofflned fig-
ure bent his ear to the instrument. and listened
with his own heart in his face, it might be said,
so anxious and absorbed was his attention.

At last he looked up with a triumphant smile.

“ It beats!” he exclaimed. “ The movement
is faint, but regular—unmistakable! She lives!”

“ And can be restored l”

“ Without a doubt."

“Good! capital! What next?”

“She had better be left to herself for several
hours, until nature shall have got her in readi-
ness to support and respond to_eertain powerful
restoratives. These are what .I. must go for in
the mean time.”

“Good again I”

“ But the patient must not be left unguarded
for an instant,” said Seagrave. “ Think of every-
thing we have at stake—our secret, as well as
Olga’s life !” _ ~ .

"‘ I have thought of it." said Hawk “and
shall, therefore, remain. In the mean time, do
you also get your supper, and fetch me some-
thing to eat in a napkin. I have gone through
much, and am faint.” . _

“ I shall do so without loss of time ” said Sea-
rrrave, putting on his overcoat and taking up
his hat. .

“ Wait! You will see an odd little boy with
the licfiman left on guard at the lower door.”

H

. I
“ His name is Nixey,” continuedHawk, ‘ and
Give him this,” ( ssmg a
‘to send some one wit for his

 

. .
supper, but bid him on no account to quit his

preSent post without orders from me.”

“ All right!"

“One thing more, young man!” continued
Hawk, with some hesitation, as his companion
was about quitting the room.

“ What is it, Mr. Heron?”

“ What sliallIdo—I mean what would you
advise—in the event of—of—” Hawk again
hesitated, and cast a significant look at the mar-
ble face in the coffin.

“ Impossible!” said Seagrave rcassuringly. “A
return to consciousness without the aid of re-
storatives would be something unheard of.
Think of something else till my return.”

He passed out into the passage, and Hawk
locked the door behind him.

“Think of something else, indeed!” he solilo-
quized. “Easier said than done. However, a
general exploration of the premises is in order. ”

He took up the lamp and acted upon this sug-
gestion.

There were four rooms, communicating with
each other in a direct line. These were the front
or best room, in which the cofiins lay; a bed-
room, which had been Olga’s; another, in which
her mother had slept; and a small kitchen,
which had also been used as a living and eating
room.

The front room and kitchen alone communi-
cated directly with the outside passage, at the
rear of which was the staircase. Each room,
excepting the front one, had a side-window over-
looking a large em ty lot. All were plainly but
comfortably furnis ed, and scrupulously neat.

Hawk passed around the foot of the snowy
couch in Olga’s room, andApeered inquisitiver
through the panes of he window. ‘

But the night he. fallen intensely dark, as
well as cold there was not a light discernible
among the dimly-outlined windows on the op-
posite wall, and the deep, wide snace between
precslented nothing but a dense lack hollow
v01 . I -

So he re—entered the front room, and re-
placed the lamp on the mantle-piece.

Then, having nothing better to do, he seated
himself in a large easy-chair, with his back to
the passa 6 door, and fell into a profound re-
verie, wit his arms folded, his in on his
breast, and his half—closed eyes irectcd be—
}ween the two coffins, and resting upon the

amp.

From a sad consideration of his present mel-
ancholy surroundings, his thoughts drifted, step
by step, far back amid other and equally event-
ful scenes in his distant past.

-It was a past in which one of the motionless
and coffined forms before him—the elder and
murdered one, that would never more assunie
the lifeful aspect of which it had been des oiled—
had figured gently and tenderly. A smi e flitted
over is lips at the fair past vision renewed.
Then this was replaced by a troubled and angry
expression, as another form—even that of the
recent destroyer, the gigantic, many-shaped
fugitive of his present pursuit—flitte dar'
across the peopled mirror of that strange,
eventful past, while greeting him with a half-
menacing, half—affectionate look.

Presently the phantom giant seemed to make
a gesture that mysteriously stripped the bosom
of the dreamer bare. Then. as he pointed at the
allegorical representation tattooed thereon, _he
seemed to hiss through his clinched teeth, with
a demoniac smile. “ ’Twas I who lovmgly im-
pressed it there in the old, bright days, but,
ingrate, beware lest the legend be reversed—
lest the hunted vulture turn in mid-flight, to
rend and slay his falcon foe !” after which there
succeleded a drowsy cloud that slowly enshroud-
ed al .

In other words, the reverie of the detective
lapsed into a ‘profound and dreamless sleep, for
lie was wearied out, and exhausted nature at
last asserted her just dues. ,

When he finally started up awake, with a
mysterious sensation that some one had been
trying the fasteniugs of the door behind him,
it was likewise With a consciousness that he
had slept far into the night.

He rubbed his , eyes, slowly collecting his
scattered thoughts, and then emitted a half-
articulate cry.‘ -

Olga was Sitting up in her coflin, gazing at
him with wide-open eyes, that were full of
mingled horror and bewilderment! '

Taking in the requirements of the situation
on the instant, Hawk glided between the collins,
covering that of the Widow out of sight with a
piece 0 drapery as he did so, and put his arm
around her reassuringly.

“ Do not make any outcry, I beseech you!”
said he, in ailow, soothing voice. “Ypu have
had a great shock, have been unconscwus, but
are now restored.” , ,

She looked at him again, still bewflderedly,
and then around her.

“Where am 1?" she asked, faintly. “Ah! I
half-remember—my mother—that human fiend!
Have mercy. Heaven!”

And she hid her face, shuddering convulsively.

At that moment, to add to Hawk’s embarrass-
gient, there came. a thundering knock at the

con. '
She now clungto him, in  terror. He
. ‘ ~ \ r

 

ly‘

He knew the
Whose could

still had his arm supporting her.
summons could not be Seagrave’s.
it be, and what should he do?

J ust then the loud knock was repeated.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE DEAD—ALIVE.

AT this critical juncture, our hero was almost
at his wits’ end.

The bewildered girl—the dead-alive, as she
might be called—still continued to cling to him;
the imperative knock on the door had just been
re )eated.

l‘o'open to the summons, even to ask abruptly
who it was demanding admittance, or to permit
Olga to make the least outcry, might alike be
fatal to the momentous secret of her restoration
to life and intelligence.

The knock was again repeated!

Boldness was now the only course, and Hawk
ado ited it.

“ isten with all your soul, and try to grasp
my meaning!” he hissed into Olga’s ear, in a
deep, intense whisper. “ 1 have restored you to
life, but it is necessary, it is vital, that this
should be kept secret! 0 you understand?”

His only answer was a convulsive clutching
of his arm, which lie, perfmce, accepted as an
affirmative.

“ Some one, perhaps an enemy, is at the deer,”
he continued, with equal impressivcness. “ You
must again lie back, as you were, and simulate
the aspect and attitude of death.”

f Séiccessive shudders thrilled her from head to
00 .

“ But it must be!” he continued, peremptorily.
“ Otherwise, all may be lost! Do as I tell you——
there is danger, perhaps imminent, deadly dan-
ger, threatening! ’

Another shudder, and then the light figure lay
motionless in his arms. She had fainted.

This was opportune, at all events. He re-
turned the unconscious form to its fonmer rigid
and composed attitude in the coffin. '

Just as he had done so, there came another
knock.

“ What? eh ?” he stammcred out, with a yawn
and a shuffling noise, as though just waking up.
“ W'ho’s there?”

“ It is I—Clarisse!” replied a. voice, through
the door—a voice singularly soft, in contrast
with the rigor of the knocks thereon, though at
the same time hurried and agitated. “ Be quick!
I am the bearer of an important message!’

Greatly astonished, he removed the easy-chair,
and, opening the door, confronted the visitor,
without permitting her to enter the room.

Notwithstanding this, Clarisse, who was com-
fortably and even fashionably clad, threw a
swift, comprehensive glance around the in-
terior.

Her looks, however, were unafl‘ectedly agita-
ted, and she looked at him interestedly.

“What! on alone here in this terrible cham-
ber of dent and horror?” she ejaculated, in a
low voice of dread. .

“ Yes, alone, but on
garding her narrowly.

“ It is terrible!” she continued. “But I half-
imagmed I heard you conversing with some
one.

“ Nothing of the sort, though I might have

 

guard,” he replied, re-

was aroused.”
‘: That is strange!”
‘ Not near so strange as your visit at this un-

timel _hour!” exdaimed Hawk, impatiently
consu ting his watch. “Why, it is long past
midnight!”

“ What of that?” ,

Her manner increased his embarrassment.
She seemed to he maneuvering for delay, and
Olga might recover her senses at any moment,
and betray everything.

“Why are you here?” he exclaimed, a little
savagely, “Come, be lively! Your interrup-
tion is neither agreeable nor exactly decent.”

“Rather ask me where and whom I am from,
youn man?”

“ cod! Where and Whom are you from,
then?” I

“From Bellevue Hospital, but a few blocks
away, and a young man who but a short time
ago managed to give me the message I bring to
you. He calls himself Seagrave, and he lies
there at the point of death.”

“ Egon astonish me! Tell me all you know at

once.
f‘ That is easily done. Two hours ago I heard
cries for help in front. of my basemen room in
Melton place. I had not yet retired, and am
used to taking my own part, and occasionally
that of a person in sore need. I seized a pistol,
and rushed out of the house. As I did so, two
ruflians—a short stout man and another whom I
recognized as the repulsive wretch ou saw for
a moment with your friend, Mr: Blit ers, on the
trout stoop there—took to then‘ heels, while a
young man whom they had been assaulting was
sinking to the pavement.”

u Oho En '

“ I ran to his assistance. Before he became in-
sensible, he mentioned your name in a way that;
' caused me to recall you as the person named -and
besought me to ac uaint you with what had be-
fallen him. Then el’ainted.” \

 

muttered in the uneasy slumber from which I.

 

 

 

 

 

“ A pretty stor , to be sure! How, then,
could you possibly ave learned—’7

“ Don’t imagine yourself clevercr than you
really are, young man, until you’ve heard me
out.” .

“ All right.” ,

“The young man had been terribly beaten. I
had no conveniences for attending to his hurts,
even if carrying him into my room had been the
proper thing for a. lonely young woman, with no
dependence save her 5 t ess reputation. to do.
You are wrong in smi ing, sir, but I shall let it
pass. I sounded the alarm, and followed the
young man to the hospital, on his being con-
veyed thither in an ambulance that was present-
ly summoned by the policeman who answered
my call.”

“That both kind and thoughtful,
Clarissa”

A momentary gleam of genuine pleasure
leaped into the girl’s comely face.

“Thanks, Mr. Heron," said she. “But there
is little more to tell. I remained by the young
man’s couch, after his hurts had been dressed,
until he recovered his senses. Then he besought
me to hasten here to you. Although it was
then )ast midnight, I gave him my promise, and
here i am.”

“ You left him at the point of death, you
8a ?”

x He looked that way to me, though the doc—
tors may have been a little more hopeful.

“Ah, indeed. But you have not told me the
nature of the message.”

“I forgot. It is to beseech you to go to him
without an instant‘s delay. "

“ No more?”

“ No more, save that he hinted of an import-
ant secret between you two that might be lost
if you did not hasten to him at once.”

“ Indeed! Yet he must have known that I
cannot leave my post here under any circum-
stances whatever.’

“Not even to receive the young man’s dying
words?”

“ Not even for that l”

“ How strangely you talk. Nobody would run
away with these poor murdered bodies. “ And
anot er glance, which she threw about the
room, rested upon 01 a’s white, upturned face.

A harsh, stern loo suddenly came into the
detective's face. , ‘

“ Clarissa, you have overdone your part,”
said he, clontemplruouslgé

“What! do you not lieve my story?”

“ Yes; the story part hangs together well
enough, but the message does not.”

“ What do you mean?”

“ That the message is false on its face—a
miserable fabrication.”

“Sir, upon my honor—” '

“Enough! It is simply impassible that Sea-
grave should have sent such a message, if even
at the point of death.”

“ Mr. Heron, I swear by 1111—”

“Be one!” and here there was an ugly ring
in the etective’s voice.

Clarisse faded back into the dark passage to-
ward the head of the stairs. ‘

She made a. motion, as though to renew her
entreaties, but met with a gesture even more un-
compromising than his tone of voice.

Then taming suddenly away, she hurried
down the stairs.

She had hardly been gone more than a minute
when a. sudden idea. occurred to Hawk, and go-
ing‘ to the head of the stairs, he called a. and
upon Nixey’s name.

“ Ay, ay, boss!” came promptly from the pas-

e on the ground floor.
moment later, the boy appeared.before his
master. '

“ Have an been constantly at yourpost down
there?” 3. ed Hawk.

“ All the time, boss.”

‘ A young woman, though, just passed you
on her way‘out?”

“ Right you are boss. The same what stood
on the stoop in Me ton place when you crawled
out of the man-hole.”

“True. But why did you let her pass you on
her way in, Without first ascertaining if it was
agreeable for me to see her?”

“She hadn’t passed me on her way in, boss.”

“What?”

\V 8.5

/v u It‘s a, puzzler, but true, boss. Both I and
the policeman down at the entrance will swear
1. mi 1) ' '

n how did she get in, then?” , a

“The Lord on] knows, boss, and he won’t
tell. It’s a soreec ei‘.”

Hawk remained for a moment buried in
thought. - .

u Resume your post, and let‘ this pass for the
present,” said he, at 191131”. ‘ .BY the way' as
$10,, have op rtunityv Ipquire intonthe reputa.

on of the other houses in this row.

“ All right, boss.” .

The faithful little fellow disappearedfl‘mn
gait stairs, and Hutvk hurried bac to his own

3'69”th was 'ust as he had left it as he
{lo-entered the reoin, locking the door behind

nn.

“ Fresh myste

' ste l” he said
to him". half. ever fresh my

elsperately. “But can only

 

 

attend to one thing at a time. This accident to
Seagrave, if truly reported, may necessitate iny
taking the old German up-stairs into my conti-
dcncc. But in y first care must be to once more
resuscitate Olga. and supplant her fears and he-
wildcrmcnt with some degree of prudence and
common-sense.”

He was about to a ply a, restorative when the
thought occurred to im that it 'would be better
to bring Olga back .to consciousness elsewhere—
say, in the next room, which had been her own
——-apart from her funereal and terror-inspiring
surroundings.

He speedily acted u on this suggestion. Hav-
ing lifted her out of t e coflin, he laid her gently
on the bed in the adjoining room.

Then. having found and lighted another lamp,
he was not lon in arousing the girl out of her
swoon, throng the alternative application of
cold water and some smelling-salts, which latter
he was so lucky as to find in a toilettetable near
at hand, when a few drops of brandy from his
flask completed her restoration.

She was again starting up in a wildly bewild-
ered manner, when he gently restrained her,
and at the same time riveted her attention with
the soothing yet inspiriting powers of his mag-
netic gaze.

“Now listen, with all the calmness at your
command, to the stor I am about to tell on,
Miss Ashcombe,” sai he, in his low, thri ling
and intense voice, “and do not offer to answer
any question I subsaéuently put to you, unless
you can do so with a egree of composure.”

In answer to his questioning gaze, her eyes
gradually lost their dazed expresswn. This was
succeeded by a look of horror, showing that
recollections pertainin to her mother s as-
sassination were at wor . To this succeeded an
inquisitive look, doubtless in view of her present
situation. And finally, as the sympathy and
earnestness of his gaze mastered her, she seemed
to control her emotions by a powerful effort,
and there came into her eyes an expressionof
mingled trustfulness, intelligence and self—
restraint.

satisfied with what he at last interpreted in
the sad, answering gaze, Hawk rapidl but suc-
cinctly pictured to her mind evoryt ' g that
had passed since the tragedy, his own connec-
tion therewith, her present extraordinary posi-
tion, his plan of kee ing her restoration a secret
even to t e extent 0 promoting a sham funera
in her case. until the ends of justice should have
been served, and the embarrassment he was
still laboring under.

The intelligence deepened in here es, as she
drank in his words, though she kept t em cIOSed
for several minutes after he had finished.

Presently she opened them again, and delight-
ed him by sayin , in a calm, collected voice:

“ I agree to on propose, sir, you seem so
wise and good. u the mean time, how and
where will you hide me?”

Hawk mentioned the name of the old music-
master. '

“Ah, the good, the kind old mynheerl" she
murmured. ' “Yes; that will be well.”

“ Capital!” said Hawk; “ but now my first
care must be to arrange a lay-figure to occupy
your lace in the—the—porhaps you understand
what hesitate to say 1”

She shuddered, partly covering her face.

“ Yes, as,” she murmured, disjointodly. “ It
is horrib e, but—but I will try to collect my
thoughts—my recollections. Ah, yes! my

r mother—she not only made wax flowers,
Egg also wax faces and busts for the mediates-—

and I was sometimes her model. Wardrobe-

‘next room—ah! Those drops on the dressing-

ca nick!”

Haw had understood enough. He snatched
from the dressing-case a smal vial which she
had indicated, and administered a few drops of
its contents

Their effect was almost immediate. After he
had seen her smk back upon the couch, with
closed eyes and a general expression of tran-
quillity, he whis red aedparting word of en-
couragement, an_ hurri back into the front
room, partly closmg the intervening door.

He had before this noticed a large wardrobe,
which occupied the space between the fireplace
and one of the windows.

An examination of its contents now, to his

eat satisfaction, discovered an entire full-

eno‘th figure attired very much as Olga’s form

had’ been w ile lying in the coffin, and whose
neck, face and head, even to the color and ar-
rangement of the hair, were fairly modeled after
the young girl’s characteristics.

Still more a ropes to the emergency, the life-
like colors h not yet been applied to the waxen
features, which therefore appropriately counter-
feited death. , _

“ Wonderful!” muttered Hawk, while taking
the figure in his arms, and composmg it in the
coffin. “Could anything have chanced more
fortunately?”

While on aged in refastening the lid upon
the casket. e thought he heard a soft move-
ment in the adjoining room, and was about to
ascertain the cause, but: a sense of delicacy re-
strained him, and he went on With his task. ,

In a few minutes all was completed. The two
comns occupied the trestles, side by side, as at

’ the outset, the lids being equally secured, and
the faces of the actual and counterfeit dead, as
seen under the glass panels, seeming alike com-
posed for the atoms sleep, while maintainin
the characteristic family resemblance that had
existed between mother and dan rhter.

“ There,” said Hawk to himsc 1", viewing the
completion of his work with much complacency,
though beginning to feel faint and dizzy from
lack of nourishment and the nervous strains he
had undergone; “the forms will doubtless be
thus committed to the grave, without any ‘fur-
ther examination. and the secret of Olga‘s ic-
suscitation and continued existence will be safe.
It may be a questionable rocecding to deceive
both justice and the pu lie in such a solcll-u
affair, but it is only for the time being, and I
firmly believe that the means are justified Ly
the end in view. New for a. look at my fair
patient.” .

Thinking that Olga might have fallen into a
recuperative sleep, inasmuch as not a sound had
issued from the next roomsmce the slight move
ment he had noticed, he stole to the half~ajur
door and peered throu rh the opening.

Then, with a half— rantic cry, he flung the
door wide, and sprung into the room.

The bed was unoocupied, Olga had disap-
peared! '

The window on the opposite side of the bed
was wide open showing the outlines of an iron
fire-escape platform just outside of it.

He dashed to the o ning and, as he reached
it, the inflowing air aunted in his face a broad
sheet of white paper that had been pinned to the
curtain.

Holding it up to the light. he read the fellow-
ing words, scrawled upon the paper in hurried
characters:

“Sm Dm AND Focu—Be of good cheer! Both
your secret and its fair subject are safe in the pos~
session of KOTZKA, run Paosomnnn."

Crumpling the per in his clinched hands and
gnashing ms test , the detective sprung out upon
the fire-escape staging.

N o ladders connected it with the correspond-
in g platforms either below or above. but a stout
knotted rope was dangling before his eyes. \
. Just as he was looking upward, however, and,
yust as he caught a glimpse of feminine dra cry

sing dragged back over the roof-led e, a ow,
diabolical augh thrilled down from a ore, and

stone dislodged from the co ing.

Receiving part of it on h 5 head, the detective
had just enough strength to stagger backinto the
room, when he swooned away upon the couch.

 

CHAPTER IX.
NIXEY’S HARD LUCK.

WHEN Hawk recovered his senses, with a

s litting headache, it was to perceive the early
aylight streamin into the room where he la ‘.

and to hear old r. Schmidt‘s gentle voice in

the‘ pAassage pleading for admittance.

I’ll admit on.” called out the detective,

springing to '3 feet.

Realizing that it would now be best to keep
the old man wholly in the dark as to what
had occurred. he first went into the kitchen, to
ascertain what in'uries he might have received, '
and remove all races of such as far as possi-

e.

His clothin was covered with mortar dust,
but, on consu ting a looking-glass he found to
his great relief that whatever shock he had sus-
tained had only soiled and grimed his head and
face, without causing either contusion or blood-

S . . .

He therefore concluded that he had esca ed
the heavier materials of the mass that ad
been hurled at him With such murderous intent

a wisp-broom, all of "which were fortunate]

condition.

admitted a fow'moments later; “how did you
pass the watching hours, and where is your
com nionfl’ l

“ r. Seagrave went away some hours ago,
and, as for myself, I have been faithful to my

he was far from feeling, “But tell me, lure
yougndlsturbed by an unusual noise- some hours
ago

ed the German. ‘2 The side of the house seemed.
falling out, and my fire escape above is littered
with rubbish.”

“So is the , fire-escape belonging, to these
rooms,” said Hawk. ‘ We have ad many
frosts and thaws of late, which must have
caused part of the roof-ledge to give way.”

“ Ah, like enough, mynheer!”

“Now, look you. Mr. Schmidt, I am worn cut
and in need of rest. So, you W111 have to take

my lace this afternoon.”
‘ es, mynheer, and I will take charge till.
the r remmns are buried away in my u. 1;.

plot in Woodlawn.”
He ssed between the cofiins and histam-
flowed’a afresh as he looked from one lifeless lace
O

 

.‘A

this was followed by a falling mass of brick and '-

moment’s patience, Mr. Schmidt, and I

and a brisk application of soap and water and .
at hand, soon put him in a more presentab e.

“ Ab, Mr. Heron!” said Mr. Schmidt, glanc- .
ing mournfully at the closed caskets as he was '

trust,” said Hawk, counterfeiting a cheerfulm ss.

“ Ah, mein Gott it is true, myuheerl”exc]a.im- ‘

Haws Here the Faelcofi...'1>_9té¢tiré- ‘ ’ 9

 

\

10'

Hawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.

 

to the other beneath the glass panels, without,
to Hawk’s great relief, suspecting the substitu-
tion in the one case.

Still, the detective wanted to feel perfectly
assured on this point.

“You won’t allow the caskets to be opened
again, my friend?" said he. “Public curiosity
should be satisfied with a view of the poor dead
faces through the glass, and a word of caution
to the undertaker—’7

“Oh, Mynheer Heron, never fear for that!”
blurted out‘ the old man, taking a couple of
clean white handkerchiefs from his pocket and
covering the glass panels with them. “ The vile

’ gublic curiosity shall not be gratified at all.

eel the spotless kerchiefs shall thus conceal the
poor faces till I shall have sent for yet more
spotless flowers to take their place. After that,
covered from mortal aze ever more they shall
remain, for I myself s all see the bodies lowered
into the grave!” . '

Quite at ease now as to the preservation of
the secret, for he had no apprehension that
Olga’s abductor would dare to divulge it, Hawk
offered a few more suggestions to the old man
and then hurried away.

Nixey was at his post at the lower door, along
with a. policeman, who was surly enou h at not
having yet been relieved, and Hawk eckoned
to him as he passed out.

“ Anything else happened since the myster of
Clarisse’s entrance?” he asked, when they ad
drawn out of the policeman’s hearing;0

“ Nar a thing boss,” replied the y giving
him a een loo . “ But something’s happen-
ed to you, boss, if you’ll excuse me for say-
in’ it.”

“What do you mean?”

“ Your eyes is set an’ your face drawed, boss,
like as if you had been through a quartz-crusher
an’ come out game but shaky.”

“That is neither here nor there at present,”
said Hawk half—angrily. “ I merely need sleep
and rest. In the mean time, I have certain in-
structions to give you.”

“ I’m our Ariel, bo.”

“In t e first lace, what have you discov-
ered concerning t 9 other houses in this Gotham
block?”

“ There are eight in all, boss. The one at ‘the
end yonder what we’ve been guarding, is re-
spectable. So is the next one to it. The third
one, what we’re just standin’ in front of, isn’t.
All the rest are.”

Hawk, threw his gaze over the front of the
house- in question. It only differed from its
neighbors in presenting less neatly-dressed win-
dows and an uninviting hallway, whose street-
door had a look of being seldom closed.

“ It’s a bad ’un, boss!” commented the boy.

“ In what way?”

“ Door 0 n all ni ht; two shoplifters nipped
in second— oor flat t week; rows frequent;
Health Board notified; complaints lively; own-
er’s a Jew, what was once lug ed for arson.” .

“That will do,” said Haw , taking cut his
notebook and  a few words in ncil.
“Now et your brea fast, and then ta 6 this
note to its address. You will wait at the hospi-
tal for an answer. Then seek Mr. Blithers at
the Brunswick, and sav that I can’t call on him
till late in the day. on’t on any account tell
Blithers where 1 lodge. After attending to
these thin , return to your post until after the
funeroall. f yoctli don’lttsee me there, seek meat
m l ' , an repo .

x Nofig more, boss?”

“Yes, one thing. Just before and during the
funeral services be in the room with Mr.
Schmidt as much as possible, and, should the
young woman Clarissa put in an ap rance,
watc her every movement attentive y. Keep
up your sp 'ng upon her, if possible, to the last

moment. hat is all. .

Nixe touched his ca , ducked his head and
sore his foot, after '9 wont, and skipped
away, while Hawk delayed no longer in see ing
some much-needed nourishment at a nei hbor-
ing satin -saloon, after which he hasten to his
room, an went to bed.

Our hero occupied a furnished room in a quiet
private residence not fit wa from Montauk

lace. He had forla a ' reet mother-

y old lady, who thought a the world of him

was thoroughly used to his habits, and would
have deliberated long before admitting a. visitor
to his presence without first obtaining his per-
mission, while, as for doing such a thin unan-
nounced, she would not have dreamed o it.

Judge, then, of Hawk’s astonishment, on
awakin late in the afternoon out of the ro-
found sumber into which his exhaustion had
plunged him, to find a man standing b his bed,
ap ntly lost in a searchin study 0 his face,
and that person “ Mr. Jack lithers, of Scotland
Yard, London.” r _

However, Hawk did not always manifest his
astonishment, so he merely opened his eyes
wide] , and riveted his visitor With a rat er

stern ook.

“ Hallo! ’-day at last, eh?” cried
-“ Blithers," wi “his fat, heart laugh, which
somehow was not very agreeab e to Hawk just
then. “ I’ll bet my head, you know, that you’re
wondering how I found you out, and came to be

ere I”
h 0

 

Hawk vouchsafed no answer, but, leisurely
rising, began dressing with the utmost indiffer-
ence.

“Ha, ha, ha] You see it happened in this
way. my boy,” continued ‘Blithers,’ seating
himself and affecting not to notice his ungracious
reception. “ I was in bed myself till late this
morning—you see how my neck’s plastered and

ulticed; Gad, it’s a wonder that rascal didn’t

ill me I—and was on my way to the hotel desk
when the accident occurred that brought me
here.”

Still no answer.

“Sad news I’ve brought you, too, my be l”
Blithers went on, with sudden gravity. “ T at
odd little chap in the district messenger’s dress,

ou know—in your employ, I believe, and was
it Nixey you called him?-—well, I felt bound to
hunt on up, after the shocking accident that
cau his death, so I at once—”

“ Heavens and earth!” exclaimed Hawk, find-
ing his ton e at last; “ what are you saying?”

‘ Painfu , but true, my boy i"

“ Dead, you say?”

“Tumbled down the hotel elevator—smashed
to a jelly, with hardly a doubt.”

Hawk had loved the boy. He grasped the

dressing-case at which he was standing, pale as»

death.
“ It was about eleven this morning,” Blithers

went on. “Perhaps the lad was on an errand
to me from ou ?"
Hawk 11 (led, and signed him to proceed.

“ I was crossing in front of the shaft,” the
other continued. ‘ on my way to the desk, the
elevator car itself being doubtless at the top of
the buildin , when, whiz, plunge! down rushed
the lad’s fa ing body!"

Hawk groaned.

“ Swift as it assed me, I recognized it as that
of your little ixey.”

“ Was there no outcry?”

“ Not from him—nothing but a dull, sickening
thud down at the bottom of the shaft. '

“ Horrible l”,

“ I should sa so! ‘15 the boy dead?’ I asked
of one of the c erks that came rushing up from
below a few moments later. ‘ Dead as a door-
nail!’ was the reply. I waited to learn no more,
but made tracks for Police Head-quarters to
learn your address. Was a long time unearth-
 it, to be sure, but here I am at last, and—”

or the first time Blithers’s emotions seemed
too much for him, and Hawk extended his hand

to him.

“ I—-I really didn’t mean to incur your dis—
pleasure, my boy 1” blurted out the big man, ap-
parently not seeing the proffered hand, “but——

ut I thought you might want to know without
delay, and—and, finding the door below unlocked,
I just ventured-" _

“ Say no more of it, my good friend,” said
Hawk, seizing the hand with a grateful pressure,
“ and for 've me for having treated you so cav-
alierly. ut the fact was—” ,

He was interrupted in his turn by a peculiar
ring—or rather, series of light rings—at the
door—be , and he gave a surprised start.

“ Eh? What?” said Blithers, looking up.
“ Why do ou eye me so sin arly, my boy?”

“ I bar ly know,” said awk. “But hark!
The door has been opened—there is now a bound-
ing stfip on the stair—and now— Why, how
now, . Blithers! what am I to think of your
statements?” .

The last words were almost shouted out, as
there came a light, familiar rat-tat-tat on the
door—a counterpart of the peculiar rings at the
door-bell.

“ Come in!” cried Hawk.

And then, as Nixey—Nixey, lo and ha -
gard, ’tis true, but Nixey himso f, surprising y
alive and active, for all that—hopped into the
room, Hawk caught him in his arms and fairly
hu ged him.
ut ‘ Blithers" had started to his feet with an
amazement as unaffected as Hawk’s.

“ Jerusalem!” he stammered; “the lad—the
very boy himself I”

“ You can bet your life on that, an’ live it out,
too, Mr. Britisher!” said Nixey, with his charac-
tenstic s irit. “ Who else should it be?”

“ I’m t out 1” said Blithers. “ With my
own eyes I saw you plunging down the elevator
shaft, and a moment later the clerk said to me,
‘ The boy is as dead as a. door-nail 1’ ”

“ So he was, sir, but he meant the bell-boy I
fell on and not yourn truly, whose life was sav-
ed at the expense of another’s,” said Nixey, wip-
ing away a tear. “Poor little chap! His name
was Tommy Kelly, and he’s left a poor mother
and sister to mourn him. But I’m good for many
a tumble eyet, boss. though sort of rattled aisljust
at presen , bess,” and he responded grate y to
Hawk’s continued caress. ‘

“ Where are you from last?” asked Hawk.

“ The hospital—St. Luke’s—boss. They’d have
kept me there longer, but I knowed you'd be
worried, and wouldn’t have it.”

“ How did it all happen?”

“ I was fired down the shaft—yes, boss, fairly
firefldown—it was a reg’lar attempt to murder
in .

“ To murder you!" exclaimed both men in a
breath. “By whom?”

“ Not havm’ «optics in the back of my head,

 

fl

boss, I can’t sa ,” res onded the lad i orin
‘ Blithers ’ altogether. p , gn g

“ Explain,” ordered Hawk.

“ Short an sweet‘s the gait, boss. I had knocks
ed at Mr. Blithers’s door on the third floor fur ten
minutes, wiihout gettin’ an answer, an’ was
standin’ outside the elevator gate, waitin’ fur
the machine to come down. Suddenly I was
grabbed by the scruff of the neck, while a bi
paw was pressed over my eyes an’ mouth.

card the gate shot back, and. before I could
squeal or kick, I was fired head-first down the
shaft. You know the rest, boss.”

“Something like my own adventure at the
Brunswick,” remarked Hawk. '

“ But this is most extraordinary l” exclaimed
‘ Blithers.’ “ Have you made this statement to
the authorities, boy?”

“ I was senseless when picked up, Mr. British-
er, after killing poor Tommy Kelly, and I’m just
from the hospital.“

“But you intend to make charges, if even
against a would-be assassin who is unknown!”

“ Nary a charge Mr. Britisher!”

“But this is madness! Why not, pray?”

“ I never makes charges, Mr. Britisher; I gets

‘ Blithers’ threw up his hands in a comically
despairin way, and said he believed he would
be off, as e had some pressing affairs.

“ Anythin fresh in our case, Hawk?” he ask-
ed, wit his and on the door-knob.

‘ Nothing worth mentioning,” replied Hawk,
who had resumed his toilet.

“ What! nothing at all—nothing more con-
cerning our fugitive colossus?” And it struck
the young man that the words were accompanied
by a look of extra inquisitiveness.

“Nothing, I tell you. If anything turns up
that Iyou ought to know, I’ll bring you word.”

“ hanks] ’ said ‘ Blithers,’ in his hearty way,
and he disappeared.

Ni ht was already falling.

“ uick, Nixe l” exclaimed Hawk, as soon as
he heard ‘Blit ers’ pass out of the house.
“ Shadow that man to his next destination, and
report to me at the Gotham Flats.”

‘ Go’s the motto, boss, an’ level’s your head to
mistrust him!”ch1rruped the lad, as he disap-

peared.
CHAPTER X.
AN mrnnnnprmn CONCLAV‘E.

HAWK HERON, on quitting his lodgings a few
minutes later, went direct] to Mr. Schmidt’s
apartments, where he foun the old man, who
had not been long back from the burial at
Woodlawn, engaged in cooking his su per.

“Ah, my good friend!” said the utter, wel-
coming his friend luguhriously; “you were not
at the funeral, but it was no matter. Besides
myself, there were none but curiosity-mongers
present, but my tears were copious and heartfelt
enough for a hundred. the religious services
were appropriate, and I saw the poor victims
laid away in their last resting place.

211%? tll‘iey rest  peace, but not unavengedl”
881 3W erven .

“Ah, mynheer, itydoes 111 old heart good to
hear you say that!” cri the music-master.
“Colmembe seated; you shall share my evening
mea w1 me. ‘

Hawk assented, and then explained that he
hgd arranged to meet his messenger, Nixey,

ere.

“ That is well, Mr. Heron,” said the old man,
“ for after sup r I shall have to meet the under-
taker by appomtment, and you can have my
rooms here to yourself.”

Hawk listened for some time, without reply,
to Mr. Schmidt’s copious but rather uninterest-
ipg talk gout lthe fungilfinfilduflggrgfi re as;
i occurr to im to ' e an er a
recovered his runaway horse and wa on.

“Truly, yes, In good friend. for 8 told me
as much” was t e reply. “But the oddest
thing is that the undertaker has never again set
ey‘e‘Sfim the gtialiiilt lthtzg gimppsared wig; gem;

e is no 9 y 0 so observ aw
glandh there may be others ’more disappointed

an e.

“But he had hired him asanextra hand by
the merest chance, without suspecting him to be
a madman, or something worse,’ ‘said Mr.
Schmidt, “and the fellow did not come back,
even to ask for his wages.”

“How very extraor ' ary!” said Hawk, who
could not help smiling at the old man’s simplici-

. “Now, suspecting what you do, my friend,

on’t you think that giant would fie something
23 :51 eggssjggtsgkv gn’otorlety, or rat er conspicu-

Supper being ended, Mr. Schmidt began to
wee soft] once more while cleari away the
dishgs y ’ ng

“ Ah, TEES; do mykyopfiig friend, bug Istlgad

wn co r ere are rap:
gcoending the stair. Your messenger must
coming, so I will attend to my business afl'air.
If ou go away before my return, lock the door,
an gun the key under the edge of the oilcloth
outsi e.

Nixey entered the room, breathing hard, as
the roprietor was taking his leave. ‘

H e11?”
alone.

. .

said Hawk, as soon as the two were '

 

<2

‘

 

Hawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.

, y

11

 

 

“I sleuthed him down, boss,” said the lad,
“ though it was a. hard race, as he took a cab as
soon as he had turned the first corner.”

“ Good! Where did you track him to?”

“Melton place—the house of Clarissa—the
house of the man-hole!”

“ Oho!”

Hawk remained for a moment buried in
thought.

“And What more natural than that Blithers
should go there again, in View of what I have
already noted?” he mused. “ That he had some
sort of detective busniess when I first chanced
on him there, seemed quite apparent. How
often has my own private business thrown me
amid equally questionable surroundings, that I
would not have explained to my dearest fl‘IC‘Ddl
‘Truly, I must be inistrusting Blithers without
sufficient cause, and yct—"

He turned his e es upon Nixey, who was
stud ing him intent y. '

“ say, my little friend,” said he, kindly,
"‘ we’ll just drop Mr. Blithers out of our.p1nns
for the )resent, and I wish you. would think no
more 0 that attempt on Wur life—at least, not
just now. ,

The boy’s impish face flushed with pleasure.
Street Arab as he was, a word of kindness from
Hawk was his delight, and to be thus consulted
confidentially was an honor that made him feel
six inches taller. _ .

“Agreed’s the ticket, boss,” said he; “an!
you‘re the doorkeeper.”

“\Vell, then,” said Hawk, “now as to the
[commissions I gave you this morning?”

“ All hunky, bOSs, leaviii’ out the swell’s
name what‘s to be dropped.”

“ Was Clarissa at the funeral?”

“ Yes, hem; at the services.”

“ How did she act?”

“Like a thoroughbred lady, boss; but at the
same time as if disappointed.”

“ Disappointed at what?”

“At not bein’ able to look at the face of the

yourxggfi‘woman’s remains.” ‘

“ Yes; old Schmidty had covered up the win-
ders of both coffins with flowers, an’ so they re-
inained.”

“ Clarisse did not accompany the remains to
the cemetery, then?”

“ No: she made a motion to get into one of
the kerriages, and then changed her mind.”

“ You then shadowed her to the house in Mel-
ton place?”

“Right you are, boss.”

“ And saw no more of her?”

“Nary a sign.”

“ Now as to your first commission. You gave
my $128,310 the patient in Bellevue Hospital!”

es.

“ Did he seem to understand its contents?”

“ He growled and cussed under his breath
while readin’ it, enough to make one think so,
boss.”

“ That bespeaks animation, at all events.”

“ An’ why not, boss?” .

“ Why, I understand he was half-killed.” _

“ Killed be blowed !” exclaimed l‘iixey, With
supreme contempt. “ Do you fancy where he is
new. boss!” ‘

“ Yes; in the hospital, I suppose.”

“Wrong.” .

“Where, then?”

“ At the curb-stone, just over the way, waitin’
for trio to signal him to come up, if agreeable to

“ The deuce!” exclaimed Hawk; and then he
muttered betWeen his clinched teeth: “ Ah,
Clarissa, Clarissa! am I always to be the dupe
of our dece tions? _

‘yfiold on,pboss, if you’ll parding the hbert 1"
said Nixay. “The young feller hkewise allu ed
to that ’ere odd young woman as havm’ been his
friend in need.”

“ But- slie assured me that he had been almost
murdered.”

' “ s9 she might have thought at first? boss, an’
llkewme the youelflig teller himself an the sur-
geons What look after him. But the poundin’
he had got turned out to have made nothin’ but
lumps an’ bumps, after all.”

“ I rejoice to learn this. Signal him to come
up at once.”

Nixey went to one of the windows, opened it,
and wafted three shrill whistles down into the
street.

A moment later, Seagravo entered the apart-
ments. .

He were many bandages around his face and
under his hat, but his eyes were ea or and his
wiry activity seemed to have no ergone no
diminution. _ ,

“Never think of my! injuries, Mn'Heron,”
said be, after returning awk’s welcoming asp
of the hand, “ but tell me the particulars 0 cur
failure; that is,” withta” Side-glance at Nixey,

when it is convenien . .

“I have determined to take I‘Tixey fully into
my confidence,” said Hawk. Stand by the
door' yonder, my lad, and keep your ears
pricked.” _ _

Nixey sprung to his post With sparkling eyes
and flushing cheeks.

“New, Seagmve, let’s commence at the be-
ginning,” said Hawk. “ How did you chance

. nel’s entrance, whence the

 

into such an out—of-the—way spot as Melton place,
where you were assaulted?”

“ Why, your message directed me to go there.”

“ I sent you no message; but go on.”

“ Last night,at about eleven o’clock,” Seagi'ave
proceeded, “ while on my way back to you, I
was standing in a drug store, waiting for a cer-
tain prescription to be put up of whose intended
use you are aware, when a ra god little girl
brought me a note. It purpor to come from

011, and directed me to apply without delay at

o. 23 Melton place, where something of inipor-
tauce would be communicated to me.”

“ And you obeyed it?”

“ I am ashamed to confess that I was unsus—
picious enough to do so.”

“And the result!”

“I was suddenly assaulted, at the s t indi-
cated by two rufllans, who Would have oubtless
hammered me to death with their bludgeons,
had not the handsome young woman, who sub--
sequeiitly carried my message to you, bravely
rushed to my assistance.”

“ At least one point in Clarisse’s favor!”
thought Hawk, with a sense of pleasurable relief;
and then he added, aloud: “ Let me see the
note you received at the drug store.” '

“It has disappeared. I either lost it in the
stru gle, or it was stolen from me.”

“ ‘0, that is all?”

“ Not quite," said Seagrave, uneasily. “ The
igiigngest part of my misadventure is to be

“ Go ahead.”

“Well, no matter by whom I was hired to
Melton place, the ruflians who attacked me
there evidently mistook me for some one else.”

“What makes you think so?"

“ My assailants, or rather one of them—a
short, stocky fellow, evidently a. foreigner, with
side whiskers—kept muttering something in
broken English durin the assault, which
convinced me that t ey were Anarchists,
Socialists, Nihilists, or something of the sort,
who considered me as a false fellow-conspirator
—as one meditating treason to his associates.”

“ That doesn’t seem likel to me.”

“But I am are of it. ometimes the fellow
I allude to would hurl upon me epithets in Rus-
ian, and I hap n to have some acquaintance
with the Russmn tongue. ‘Miscreant spy!’
‘Dog of a traitor!‘ ‘ What, would’st thou be-
tray us to the Czar’s minionsi’ These are sam-

les of his furious expressions that were hissed
into my ears till I lost the power to understand
them.” ,

Hawk now grew grave. '

“ This is a new element in the tissue of perils
closing in around us” said he, after a pause.
“ Kotzka was evidently the prime mover in all
this. He must have reported you as a spy to
some secret society of which he may be the
chief. What was your other assailant like?”

“A horrible-looking tatterdcmalion—an im-
portation, I should say, from some foreign cess-
pool of crime."

“Aha! a portrait that both Nixey and I re-
cognize I fancy,” said Hawk. “Now it is my
turn. but meanwhile, Nixey, take a look at
the stove in the back room there. I smell some-
thing burning.”

The boy obeyed, bringing back word that the
fire in the stove had gone out.

All were then aware of the smell alluded to,
but they attributed it to some cooking going on
in the adjoining house, the dividing walls being
thin and out of repair.

Then Hawk went on to relate in detail the
strange events that had intervoned since Sea-

razle and he had separated in the chamber of
ca .

His listeners hung upon his words with the
most absorbing attention.

Seagrave groaned aloud when he had finished.

“ To think of Olga in the power of that fiend—
her own mother’s murderer!” he exclaimed. “ It
is a lling!”

“ rue,” said Hawk, “ but the secret of her re-
storation is still safe, since her captor will not
dare divulge it.”

“ Ah, but may he not eflectually silence heras
—as the mother was Silenced?” And Seagrave
shuddered. ‘

“Hardly, or he would have done so in the
first” instance, instead of merely drugging

er.
“ But you forget that now she may be a wit-
nessvaégainst him—the only one, in fact."

“ as she not so in theflrst instance, and did
he not spare her?" ‘ .

“ A , to be buried alive, as she surely would
have on but for our intervention!”

“Neverbelieve it! Theyillain is a. deep one.
We but forestalled his intention in rescuing
Olga and effecting a substitute for the grave.”

‘ 150 you think so?" .

. “ I am sure of it. And now, inthis connection,
listen to another story of mine.”

He then related in detail hisadventure in the
secret . ssage, but more particularly that por-
tion 0 it that referred to the fissure at the tun-
oau and chain-
clanking had issued, and whic Clarissa had so
hastily closed, while attributing the sounds to
the gurgling of the water-pipes.

“ It’s a strange story,” said Seagrave, when it

/

 

was finished. “ But I don’t see how it connects
with our lost Olga and her whereabouts.”

“ You don’t!” said Hawk. “ Well, I do,
though it is true that I have a pretty lively im-
aginution.’

“ Explain your theory."

“It is this: In the first place, Clarissa is in
some way in Count Kotzka's power, though
whether through fear or a common interest I
can’t determine. Perhaps some political oath or
revolutionary conspiracy ma furnish the bind—
ing tie. Who knows? At 3! events, the social-
istic tinge of the assault u on you, Seugrave,
has set me to thinking. We! , to my mind, some
poor prisoner is kept in chains in a secret cell
near the mouth of that secret ssage. Kotzka.
is doubtless that prisoner’s jailer, and Clarissa
his attendant.”

“ Doubtless.”

“ Well, something tells me that there is some
mysterious relation between that prisoner and
Olga—that communication with the one would
lead to a knowledge of the other’s where-
abouts.”

“Why do you think so?”

“To answer you intelligently would neces-
sitate my revealing much of the history of my
past life—a dark and eventful one, mostly amid
scenes far away. That I am not new prepared
to do; though henceforth you may learn it from
my li s.”

“ ank you. Come, then, how shall we set
about reaching the mysterious prisoner of the
secret cell?" .

“We must first apply to Nixey,” said Hawk,
turning to the boy. ‘We can’t avail ourselves
of the man-hole, as it is too public, but Niyey
knows of a spot where the tunnel opens out
among some rocks in a secluded place.”

“That I does. boss!” cried the boy, proud! . ,
“It’s down in the rocks where the ast of t o
s uatters’ shanties in this ward are lingerin', an’
w ere me an’ the Short Tails used to have lots
of fun!" ‘

“Could you (guide us there this very night,

for instance, an then procure us lanterns and
crowbars?” said Hawk. “But the deuce take
that burning smell! There it is again, and
stron er than before!”
“ ou bet, boss!” replied the lad, intent upon
the uestion. “ There s a livery stable just un-
der he blufl, where the hostler’s a friend of
mine, an’ I could get everything needful from
him. But right you are, boss; somethin is
burnin’, sure!”

“Yes,” said Seagrave, going to a window,
“ and there’s a great crow of people collecting
down there in the street. “What can betho
matter?” _

Hawk also sprung to his feet, while Nixey
darted out into the passe e. '

The latter returned most instantly, with
consternation depicted in ever feature.

“Fire!” he shouted. “ Oh, oss, we’re cut off
already! The stairways an’ passages are check
full of smoke an’ flame!”

A choking fit stopped his further utterance,
for a ufl o dense smoke had followed him back ~
into t a room. -

Themany-feathered pets belong to the old
professor began to flutter wildly in t eir cages,
as Hawk an Seagrave dashed out into the pos-

sa e.

fiixey had not overstated the danger.

Dense volumes of smoke and flame drove them
back, and they heard a. crash—the fall of a.
burning stair-case—far below. _ _

“Quick! the roof—the scuttle—it is our only
chance!” panted Hawk, graph} for the ladder
leading to the trap-door, whic he was lucky
enou h to find. “ Where are you, Nixey'i”

“ Here at your side, boss!”

“Up with you, and lift the trap!
the spryest. Quick!”

Nixey had instantly ascended.

“I can’t budge t e trap, boss!” he called
down. “ It must be fastened on the outside.”

“ Nonsense!” And Hawk darted up to his as-
sistance. .

Just as be exerted all his force ineflectuall ,
hewaver, a demoniac voice from the upper si s
of the scuttle smote their ears.

“Trap ed at last!” it cried. “New, fools,
roast an fryin your cage, while Olga and her
secret survive for me alone! ’

CHAPTER XI.
FmEl—AN UNDERGROUND ths'r.

FOR an instant, Hawk was a polled at the im-
minence and horrible nature 0 be new danger
that environed him and his friends, but it was
only for an instant. . .

‘ Nixey,” said be, “it seems to me I saw an
ax in the old German's kitchen. Do you think
you might fetch it?” .

A choking sound of_asscnt was his only an.
swer as the brave urchin slid down the ladder,
and crept away on all fours. V

“Where are. you, Seagrave!” Hawk next
called out. ~

“ Directly below you,” was the sping reply.
“ God help us! Five minutes of t ' atmosphere
will— Ha !”

He was cut short by a. crash of breaking
panes, followed by a shower of water, while a

You are

 

!

 

'I12;

 

Hawkae‘ron, the Falcon ‘ Detective.

 

murmurous war arose to them from the street trying to break through the scuttle, some vil-

below.

“Hurrah!” shouted Hawk; “ the fire laddi'es '

have got on their streams.
for us!”

Here he applied his shoulder to the scuttle
with a force that caused it to bend and creak,
but without giving way. ,

“Ha, ha, ha!” again rung out the demoniac
voice from the rec . “ Hope on, thou fool but
there is no ho ! I smothered hope to oath
when 3I fastener down this trap with screws and
rivets, after firing the stairways in twenty

laces! Ha, ha, ha! You are buttoned under

atches, like roasting rats in a burning ship!
Ha, ha, ha, my falcon! where is the hunted vul-
ture now? Such is the triumph of Count Kotzka
the Prescribed l”

The terrible voice had gradually grown
fainter, indicating that the exulting fiend was
consulting his own safety by taking himself off.

“ Olga, my poor Olga!" murmured Seagrave,
in half-stifled tones. “ It is her fate, I deplore,
rather than my own i”

“ Never say die!” laughed out the indomitable
detective making another powerful but ineffect-
ual assauit on the scuttle. “By Jupiter! I be-
lieve I could die without a pang, if I could meet
that arch~fiend once more, hand to hand and
front to front!”

“ Are you there yet, boss?" called out Nixey’s
piping voice, and there was another dash of
water that slightly freshened up the air.

“”Yes.” replied Hawk. “ Have you got the
ax?

“ No; there’s none there, or I would have
‘ found it. But come back into the rooms, both

of ou!”
“ ack there!
“ No, boss but solid on the goose! Come on,
I tell you! The air ain’t half so thick in there
an” the water’s comin’ in like a river! ‘Hero I
am at the bottom of the ladder! Get on your
hands an’ knees, an’ foller me!”

He spoke so confidently that both Hawk and
Seagrave lost no time in following his advice.

That it was the very best under the circum-
stances was soon made apparent.

As they reggined the room they had quitted,
which was ing fairly flooded by the hose-
streams from the street, a glance backward
showed more than half the passage a mass of
flame, which had alread licked up and devour-
ed the ladder upon whic Hawk had stood but a.
moment before.

“ Here’s something of a change, anyway i”
sputtered Hawk, the last one to stagger back
into the room and close the door behind him.
“ Ii;Jupitor! it's a Russian, Turkish and shower

. bat , all in one.”
Though twice knocked off his feet by the in-
ing streams in the attempt, he at last reach-
ed a. Window and leaned out.

A fireman with a three-inch nozzle in his

clutch, was glued to the upper run of a ladder
‘ about ten feet below the window ,

“I say, young feller, don‘t think of jumpin’
out i” thg fireman called up. “All ain’t up with

er et! .

y “ wasn’t thinking of jumping out,” re lied
Hank, coolly. “ What is that sort of peg aon
wheels down yonder in the crowd i”

“ Bully fur you, colonel; you’re one of the
right sort 1” was the hearty repl , while a shift-
ing of the nozzle in the fireman s grip sent up a
stream that ripped out the remain er of he
window-sash over Hawk’s head. ,“ That pagoda
down vendor’s the water-tower, young man.”

“ When will it get to work i”

“In three minutes—just as quick as some fel-

There is yet hope

I

Are you crazy?”

, lers on the roof can chop holes through to give
' it a show— Hi, there! stand back, young fel-

ler! ” She’s gittiu’ to work right this holy min-
ute!

Hawk had already heard vigorous blows being
dealt overhead.

And now, just as he shrunk back into the cen-
ter of the room where Seagrave and Nixe had
remained standing, three oles were simu tane-
ously knocked through the ceiling- and then fol-

 ’ lowed such a drenching, down-rushing delu e of

Water as if the flood-gates of heaven had 11
suddenly let loose.

“Jewhillikens, boss!” cried Nixey, flounder-
ing about like a rat in a sewer, while his com-
panions were no better 011’. “Do they think
we’re thirsty ’

“ Alas for poor Mr. Schmidt’s household ef-
fects!” said Hawk. essa ing to look about him.
“ I can only hope he is sured.”

Just then the end of a fire-ladder was thrust
through one of the windows, and a fireman
vaulted into the room.

“ Saved ag‘in!” he cried. " Can you-‘uns find
your wa down the way I got up b i”

Hawks answer was a grasp o the sinewy
hand, and then he sprung toward the ladder,
followed by Nixey and Seagrave.

The night was cold, their garments wringing
wet, and they were consequently chilled to the
bone :pon reaching the street, but otherwise un—
in
' ‘Have you any idea how the fire occurred!”

asked a fire marshal. as our hero stepped oi the

ladder. “What! Hawk Heron, is it on?”
“ I only know,” he replied, “ that, w ilo I was

 

lain on the roof called out that ho had battened
it fast, after kindling a fire in twenty places on
the stairways.”

He then made a significant sign to his two
companions, and darted off through the crowd,
1211? following.

nder his guidance, they presently brought
up in a private room at the rear of a small
drinking saloon.

Here they were uninterrupted, with a warm
stove to keep them com any.

“What next?” aske Seagrave, after they
had discussed their adventure and got their
clothes dried.

“The exploration of the tunnel, as a matter
of course,” said Hawk.

“ Whntl tho-night?”

“ To be sure!”

l‘ But—l,

“Why, what other time could serve us as
well, especially if that superlative monster,
Kotzka, failed to linger in the crowd, and so
cannot know of our escape 'ust yet?”

“That‘s so, boss,” said ixey. “He felt so
sure of havin’ us toasted, that I don’t believe he
hung around in the crowd.”

“ Even were it otherwise,” said Hawk, calm-
ly “ there is no time like the present.”

alph Soagrave gazed at the detective in un—
feigned admiration.

“You must be of iron—iron will, as well as

body!” said he. “ Of course, you can count me
with you.”
The reparations were soon made. The

pro rie r of the place, with whom Hawk was
we actéuainted, provided them with some flasks
of bran y, together with a large supply of sand-
wiches. which Hawk thought mig t rove ac-
ceptable amid the damp recesses of t o secret
tunnel, and they at last set out.

Nixey was the guide for the time being.

He at last led them up a dismal street that rose
steeply from Third avenue in an easterly direc—
tion.

Lofty tepement-houses bf a mean class rose
uninterruptedly on the right, or southern. side
of this street, but, on the opposite side, a similar
row of buildings was intersected midway by a
rough precipice of natural rock, which had not
yet been blasted away.

Perched on its lo ty edge was a miserable
white-washed shanty, of a type that still flourish-
es,along with numerous goats and geese, in the u
per wards of the cit , while a small livery stab e
occupied the first oor of one of the tenement-
housos at its side.

“ The glory of this here, lace gents,” said
Nixey, pausin with a glow o pride at the foot
of the b uff, “ as departed.” '

“ True,” said Hawk, smiling. “I remember
when it covered several blocks, and was known
to the police as ‘ Sebastopol.’ ”

“ Right on are, boss, an’ they might just as
well have ubbed it Giberaltcr, too, seein’ as how
so many thieves and toughs defied the cops from
among the hundred an’ one shantics that cur-
rowned the rock-ribbed hights in them days of
departed glory. I’ll be with you ag’in in the
shake of a sheep’s tail.”

The little fellow darted away as he spoke, and
disappeared into the livery stable.

It was now late at night, and the street wholly

~dese

Nixey reappeared, accompanied by a. rough-
looking man, with a cast in bi eyes, whom he
addressed as Rocksey.

Between them they carried three dark-lanterns
and three small crowbars.

“ I hopes,” said Rocksey. touching his forelock
to Hawk and Seagrave, with an oblique sort of
leer, “as how yer won’t furgit I’m a ore but
honest cuss, efl.’ there’s swag in the win .”

Hawk took a lantern and crowbar, without
making any reply, as did ve likewise.

“ Now look here, Rocksey,’ said Nixey, an gri-
ly, “ I’m the daisy you’re under obligations to,
an’ if you attempt to insinuate—”

“That will do, Nixey ” interposed Hawk, not
unwilling to keep up a false impression as to the
work in hand; ‘win or lose on our part, your
friend’s services shall be remembered. ’

Rocksey snorted like a horse, stamped his feet
atsaiglhis fetlocks itched, and faded back into the
s e.

Nixey led the way along a steep, zigzag path
up the face of the rocks.

“Blast the gall of that galoot, after how I
stood between him an’ the co at his last
racket l” he muttered, still in nt 1: on the
stableman’s leering request. “ May I ss a pig
fur luck if I ever see the like!”

The fierce barking of a dog, accompanied by
the rattling of a chain, in the primitive shanty
inclosure eetcd them as they emerged over
the top of t e rocky elevation.

This was nearly as high as the towering tene—
ments on either side.

It extended back through them a distance of
two blocks, the adjoining cross street not having
yet been cut through the mass.

Three other miserable shanties, likewise ro-
vided with barking dogs, were scattered era
and there.

Nixey led the way to a deep fissure half-over-
grown with noisome weeds, at the side of one of

 

the houses, and seemingly half-filled ii with
broken bottles, old tomato cans and ot er re-
fuse characteristic of New York squatter sov-
ereignty.

Neither were the goats wanting, two or three
of those picturesque animals lazily shifting their
sleeping accommodations, as the trio of ex-
plorers picked their way down into the disagree-
able crevice. '

The party, having already lighted their inn-
terns, continued to descend slo ingly till they
came to the end of the cleft w ere the much—
broken mouth of a tunnef opened directly
against the side of the buildin .

“ Here we are. boss!" said ixey, flashing his
bull’s—e 6 into the half-choked opening with a;
triump ant gesture. “Lo an’ behold the door
of the Toughs’ Retreat, or the Cop’s Puzzler,
aswe Short Tails used to call it by turns.”

Hawk peered into the tunnel. and then de—-
liberated as to its probable trend.

“It’s course must bend considerably,” said
he, “or it cannot connect with the house in
Melton place.”

“ But it does bend to tho northward, boss, not
more’n a hundred fget from here ” said Nixey.
“ After that it dips down mighty deep, skirts the
foundations of two old houses, in one of which
them foreign lunatics what wants to burst up
thrones an murder all the crowned heads used
to hold their mysterious chebangs, an’ then bores
along under t ree streets an’ business blocks,
right into the bow-wowels of Melton place.”

‘Goodl” said Hawk, assing into the opening
with some difficulty, ollowed by the others.
“ Nothing venture, nothing have l’

Their progress was very tedious for the first
hundred feet or so, the tunnel being in places so
choked with fallen stones and rubbish as to no—
cessitate considerable labor in clearing it to one
s1 e. .

But after passing the bend of which Nixcy
had spoken, where the passage made a steep de—
scent, the wagi was much improved.

The arche roof, nevertheless, continued so
low as to compel the ex lorers to proceed in a.
half-crouching attitude w ich was very fatiguing
and the air was damp and oppressive.

They continued to advance and descend, how—
:yer, slowly, tut with little serious interrup—
ion.

At last, as a number of huge rats scampered.
off before their approach, they came to a pause
as a mysterious rumbling sort of rear began in
roll toward them through the tunnel, which
slightly trembled.

“ It’s an earth uake!” gasped Seagrave, who
followed last. “ once heard and felt one just
like it in a Peruvian silver mine.”

“ Nonsense !” said Hawk. “ We’re more likely
passing undera street, and that is the jarring
rumble of some heavy wagon passing overhead. "’

Nixey burst into his elfish laugh.

“You’re both out!” said he. “ I know what
it is—I bet I does i"

“Tell us, then,” said Hawk.

“ We must be near the house where them for—
eign frauds is holdin’ one of their secret che-
bangs, an’ them sounds is the enthusiastic roars
of applause, as the theayter crickets say. ”

This, or something like it, proved to be the
true explanation.

Going on a little further the explorers began
to skirt a rough, half-broken foundation wall,
through which the sounds were plainly distin-
guished as multitudinous voices.

“Look, boss!” said Nixey beginning to pick
away part of the wall With his crowbar. but
with little or no noise. “I can soon make a
peep-hole by which we can look in on ’em.”

“ To what end?” asked Hawk impatiently.

Nixey leaned on his crowkar, and gazed at
him with a comical look of mock contempt.

“Well now, boss,” said he, “ fur a15nx.eyed’
hawk—billed detective. you can sweep the deck,
joker included, fur downright lunkheadedness
whepvyou want to i”

“ hat is. the matter with me now?” said
Hawk, laughing.

“ Why, wasn’t Mr. Seagrave here attacked by
foreign looneys? Weren t they sat on to it by
the big dufi'er we’re runnin’ down? Mayn’t he,
therefore, be mixed up in their ’spiracies? Ain’t
there a ’spiracy goin’ on right behind this ’ere
wall, what we might get a peep at? An’
mightn’t these thin catch on to each to other
like the links of a og-chain ’

“Yes, they might, but in st likely do no ,” '
“ However, go on -

said Hawk, giving a start.
with your work, and I’ll lend on a hand.”

Seagrave also assisted, an an aperture wrs
socliln effected by which they could see into a vast
cc er. I

It was loftin vaulted. illuminated by nomen-
ous as-jets, and provided with rude hrmhrs,
whic were occupied b a uglsy and excited as-
semblage of both sexes, ut With the men greatly
in the majority. ’ '

The letters peared to be mostly foreigners,
rudely dre and in many cases with forbid-
din faces, though there was a scattering of
we] dressed persons of an intelligent aspect.

Red flags and gaudin painted motwes and
emblems of a. highly inflammatory nature
drs the walls.

aciug the audience was a small stage, from

 

"—4.

 

iHawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.

,‘. ...‘:., . , .

13

 

 

which some speaker had just retired whose l
Philippic had awakened the stormy plaudits 1
that had first attracted our explorers’ atten-
tion, and had not yet wholly subsided.

Just at this moment a fresh orator—a wo-
man, young, beuptiful, superbly formed, her
every lll’)Vt‘lllelll’a instinct With melodious grace
——'.'.'as ascending the platform.

" Can it be possible?” murmured Hawk,
starting back. “ Here at this hour, and in such
cozzipaiiy!”

It was Clarisse.

CHAPTER XII.

BURIED ALIVE.

SHE began to speak at once, in a tongue
that was uiifaiiiilar to Hawk, but with such
eloquence anal fire as to thrill him strangely,
while the audience before her seemed to be
spell-bound. _

“Peerless creature!” muttered the detective.
J" She may be mistaken, led away by false lights,
but she cannot be either iguoblo or bad. \Vhat
would I not give to know the purport of her
silvery eloquence?” _

“I understand her every word, for she is
Speaking in Russian,” whispered Sezigrave.
“ “'01! may you admire her. my friend l”

H W'h v3” .

“ Because the purport of her impassioned
speech, though in support of aiiarcliical senti-
ments of which I do not approve, is of a
purity and enthusiasm in keepmg With her mag-
nificent beauty.” . _

“Ah, 1 can believe you! But listen. Her
tones are like those of a wind-harp, interspersed
with tempestuous throbbingsl” I

Clarissa was suinptuously dressed, even glori-
ous jewels flashing at breast, throat and ears,
and she wore them as an empress born.

As she proceeded in her address, her voice
and manner grew more wild and impassioned.
The one at last rung through the vaulted hall
with startling yet melodious distinctncss. while
1he other attained that of an angry but still
lovely .ytlioncss invoking the vengeance of in-
sulted cities

Suddenly she ceased, with heaving breast,
flashing eyes, her whole bright figure quivering
from the excess of the stormy emotion that had
swayed her.

Then the assemblage burst forth in semi-de-
lirious laudits, the roar of which, in compari-
son wit that which had preceded it, was as
heaven’s artiller to the lapping of summer
waves upon an is and beach.

Tumultuous and hoarse as it was, with but a.
gesture of her shining hand she presently silenced
it, and, retiring gracefully from the platform,
gave way to a fresh orator.

Her successor was Kotzka, whose ap earance,
magnificently dressed and covered wit glitter-
ing regalia, was hailed with only less enthusiasm
than had greeted Charisse.

Without preface, Kotzka at once burst into
a thundering harangue, likewise in Russian,
which had a marked effect upon his hearers.

“Why, this is astounding!” whispered Sea.-

rave in our hero’s ear. “ 'l‘ is man’s address is
l irected almost solely to one subject—411% is
against you!”

“Against me?” murmured Hawk. “ You
must be raving!”

“No, as I live! though Kotzka. is, or rather
ranting, against you at a tremendous rate!”

“ What is be saying in substance?”

“ He is holding you, Hawk Heron, up to the
Order’s special attention and vengeance, as a
:secret agent of the Czar’s representative in this
country for the identification of the rominent
Nihilist exiles, emissaries and apostles ere.” .

“ I begin to comprehend the Villain‘s tactics.
Does he 0 into particulars?”

“ Yes; 8 says that you are l in constant com.
munication with Count Rudovoski, the Russian
consul in New York, whom you keep thorou h-
.Iy informed as to to the movements of all Ni ‘i-
list, Anarchist and Socialistic societies in
America!” .

“ Oh, the deep. the designing knave! Why, I
never even heard of the consul’s name before 1”

“ He also declares that you have branded him
as the author of the Gotham Flatstra ed solely
for the purpose of enlisting the New or detec-
tive authorities In your relentless gmrsuit of
him, Kotzka, the Master of this score Order, in
the interests of the Czar’s government.”

H Oho p! .

“‘Wait, now. As he is drawing to a. close, I
will translate the concluding words of Kotzka's
harangue as he utters them, 8mg. you can Judge
of their effect by what follows. ’

The concluding words of Kotzka s inflamma-
tory address, as whisperinle tranShted m
Hawk Heron’s car, were as follows: ,

“ Comrades, compatriots, brothers in oath and
fidelity! Will you then tamer submit to this
Hawk Heron’s persecution of our chief and dis.
ruption of your Brotherhood No; I foal that
you will not—that you _ mPY Cunang
against his cunning, force against liis force, vion
Ience against his Violence, till you have abolish—
ed him from the face of the earth ' he contami-
inatesl But I must warn you that he combines
the wisdom of the serpent with the boldness of

 

the falcon, which be up ropriates as his emblem
and his motto. Such is is power thatIshouldn’t
wonder if even now he might be familiarizing
himself with the nature of our secret proceedings
here. But no matter; I feel that I have sufl‘lci—
ently unmasked the treacherous designs of this
Hawk Heron—this pseudo police detective, but
actual secret agent of tho Czar’s despotism—to
mark him henceforth as the chief object of your
relentless pursuit and uiipitying vengeance!”

The furious effect of this ingeniously delusive
harangue was indescribable.

The auditors were fairly frantic and Hawk
Heron’s name was vocifcrated by hundreds of
stentorian voices, and coupled with ever ox-
prcssion of detestation and hatred of whic the
dialects of continental Europe are capable.

In fact, our onlookers from the tunnel aperture
were so much occupied with observing these
demonstrations as not to notice a certain ruilian-
ly figure hastily disappear from the hall after
receiving some whispered instructions from
Kofzka.

\Vhen the hubbub had subsided, some closing
ceremonies were bad, including a recapitulation
of secret signs and passwords, to which our hero
was specially attentive, after which the place
was suddenly thrown into darkness, and the
strange convention was at an end.

h Hawk was the first to retire from the peep-
ole.

“ Forewarned forearmedl” said be. “We
now know what new perils to ex cot.”

“ Yes; and how to prepare or them,” said
Sea rave.

“ ome,” continued Hawk, “the next step is'

to build up this breaca again.”

The wisdom of this precaution was sufiiciently
apparent, and the task was soon effected.

“Now one more precaution before we pro-
ceed.” he continued.

“What is it?” said Seagrave.

“Name it, boss!" said Nixey.

“An oath of mutual secrecy as to what we
have seen and overheard, with regard to out-
siders.”

The oath was taken. ,

“ Forward once more 1” ~

The trend of the tunnel dipped no longer, but
ascended slightly as it led them away from the
foundation wall right on through the bowels of
the earth.

Presently, however, the began to skirt the
outer wall of which N ixey ad advised them.

“We ain’t more’n two hundred yards from
the man-hole in Melton‘place now,” said the

boy.

“Good!” said Hawkz' “but how oddly the
formation of the tunnel has altered l"

At this int, indeed, the rigid—hand wall of
the tunnelpghowed dangerous reeks in many
places, causing deep fissures to appear at irreg-
ular intervals.

“These ’ere breaks didn’t used to be here,
boss!” called out Nixey. “Hello! what was
that?”

They had left the second house-wall some fifty
feet behind when Nixey, who was last in the
line, made this exclamation.

It was instantly echoed by Seagrave, who for
the time being was in the lead, and then Hawk
caught it up.

‘ We’re being dog ed!” cried Hawk. “A
figure just now flit past- me, and vanished
into this fissure."

“No, boss!” cried Nixey, turning, and flash-
ing his lantern to the rear; “it flitted past me,
too, an’ vanished somewhere back yonder.”

“That's strange l” called out Seagrave, flash-
ing his lantern forward; “ I’d almost swear it
slipped by me, and darted of! yonder. vPahl I
smell something like a fuse burnin .”

Nf‘So do I, somewhere back this way,” cried

ixe . .
“ Lincertainty won’t do in this complication,”
said Hawk, gently puzzled. “Seagravc,
on ahead, ma ng sure of every fissure you pass.
Nixey, do ou_ retrace your steps for the same
purpose. will attend to this deep fissure right
here. into which I feel sure the shadow darted.”

“ All right!” came from both his companions,
as the branched away from either side, leaving
him a one.

" Be on your guard at every step!” shouted
Hawk, as a farewell precaution. “ Mistrust the
veriest shadow l”

If any response was made, they were now too
far away for the responses to reach him.

Grasping his revolver with one hand, and
holding his lantern on high with the other, he
was advancing steepineg into the fissure.

Suddenly a loud explosion. followed by a ‘

crash, from the direct-ion in which Seagrave
had disappeared, caused him to start back.

Then came a similar explosion, accom nied
by a like crash, from the direction of ixey’s
retreat. _ ‘ _ ,

Instantly, then, the Slckening, suflocatin
smell of burned gunpowder in a damp, confine
space,

Then a chuckling, triumphant laugh, and
Hawk had barely time to set away his lantern
in safety as an uncouth fi re,‘ which he recog-
nized as that of the ruflian y Manchester Tibbs,
rushed upon him from the mouth of the fissure,
knife in hand.

 

The single hurried hot that Hawk managed
to fire was without e act.

The next instant he was grappled, and than
ensued a brief, but desperate, life—and-death
struggle in the semi-darknes of the now stifling
passage.

Brief, because, after the first shock, Hawk’s
superior address asserted itself, and, avoiding
two vicious knife-thrusts delivered with light-
hing-like rapidity, he got in a second shot, which

ierced his antagonist’s breast, and stretched

im helpless on the ground.

The next instant Hawk was bending over
1pm, flashing his lantern into the fallen man’s
ace.

An enormously broad—brimmcd slouched hat,
which had partly concealed his features, bad fall-
en off, and now the unmistakable grayncSS that
precedes dissolution was stealing over them.

“ What! is it so bad?” said Hawk; “ but 1 see
no blood."

With a feeble effort, the rufflan tore open his ,
blouse and shirt, revealing a small round hole
over the heart.

“ It’s bleedin’ in’ardly,” he gasped. “ I feel it
tricklin', tricklin’, tricklin’ all through wet
Young fcllcr, you’ve done for me!”

“ But in sheer self-defense!” said the detective.
“Why did you attack me? I never wronged

on. '

“ You never did—I’m sorry enough now,
vouug fellerl Oh, a curse on that ’ere Russian!
What have I ever got fur doin’ his dirty mur-
derin" worki' Blows an" kicks! kicks an’ blows!
But he held me to my oath, curse him !”

The words came disjointedly and with in-
creasing feebleness. , .
exclaimed Hawk; "the Russian—
You were his minion?”

A esture of assent.

“ nd Blithers, my friend—what connection
had you with him?" . ‘

A surprised look followed by a smile, but no
answer.

“ So! You were meditating treachery to the

Russian, and so communicated with Blithers,

or made overtures to that end? I think I un-
derstand.”

“You do, eh?”

“But is it not so? Speak l”

“Young fellcr, I have an oath! There’s lots

of blood on Bob Tibbs’s soul, but there’ll never
be oath—breakin’.” -

“ What!” exclaimed Hawk, hopelessly; “am
I buried alive here—to die slowly, horribly, and
unavenged?” I

“Yes, young feller, an’ with only a collar
wall ’twixt you an’ the Russian, your deadly
foe! ’Twas in work! I’m sorry, but - it‘s too
late fur that. rgivel I feel I’m goin’l"

The words came so brokenly and huskily as to
be hardly intelligible.

“ What do you mean?" cried Hawk. “ Is
there yet a chance for me?” '

The dying man made a. half-negative sign, and
was then seized with a. convulsive fit of cough-.
ing, for the air was almost insupportable forthe
soundest of lungs.

“Another word—one more I beseech
criedWHawk, wildly. “HaveI a. chance
on e .

' ‘ Perhaps, if—if—that ccllar-wall—that is—”

Another convulsion, choking the words in his
throat, and then Manchester Tibbs fell ,back a
corpse.

 

"CHAPTER XIII. l  ,

THE rrr or FIRE AND sum.

Aaousmo himself from his despair, Hawk
lost no time in assuring himself of the full ex<
123111,: of bis_siti:ilation. u. " ,

was snnp y apps in .

The bombs that had amen exploded in the
track of both Seagrave and Nixey had brought
down not only the tunnel’s arched roof injimo
mouse sections, but also tons of other debris.‘

He was com letel caged within a. stretch of
about ' eet, oth ends of which were
choked up y masses that might require hours
of toil to remove. .

Long before these hours should have assed,
he would doubtless succumb to the ‘terr Is at-
mosphere, which was already nearly suffocat-
mg.

Then cynic, in spite of his own situation, the.
Wild conJecture as to the fate of his companions.

Had they get beyond the jarring influence of
the bombs before the ex Jesion occurred, or had
one or both been buried ‘eneath those ponderous
masses? ‘ .

Now at one end of his tunnel-dungeon, and
then at the other, he called long and, loudly
upon their names, but without eliciting a. re-
sponse. ‘

Naturally enough, the horrors of his own
situation soon en tossed him altogether.

He at last sto gazinrr alternately at the dead
man and at that portion of the tunnel
formed by the cellar foundation.

Suddenly there was a gleam of hope. '

The collar wall appeared solidly constructed,
bathe might yet pick his wa through it with

__ hislsharp crowbar, and he ha been assured that?

Kotzka, his enemy, was just beyond it.
Then he remarked that the ruflian, whoa? dead

W“. .

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I

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\
J!
,
l l
,

 

 

:  Tr  '1'.

32'3"”

for»:

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body lay before him, had recently effected a con-
siderable improvement in his garb.

The clothing of the body was rough and
cheap, but new and clean, while the great—
brinimed sombrero would go far to finish off a
disguise.

“I have it!” said Hawk. “I shall first as-
sume this dead Wretch’s garb over my own.
Then, if I can cut my way through yonder wall,
my counterfeiting powers may enable me to
pierce some new penetralia of my subtle foe,
even to the very heart of his undoing.”

\Vith our hero, to determine was to act, to
plan was to execute.

In a few moments he had assumed the dead
ruflian’s outer garments over his own.

Then, before donning the sombrero. he grimed
and blackened his face in as near an imitation
as he could of the swarthy and forbidding feat-
ures that were stilled forever.

Then he set to work at the wall.

After an hour of torturing labor, a breach
was effected.

Retaining his crowbar, he gave a sigh of re-
lief as he step (1 into what the dim rays of his
lantern revealeed as a vast cellar.

A brief exploration showed it to be empty,
save for some cases and casks heaped at one
end.

There was an inclosed space, like a spacious
flue at the side opposite the breach he had
ma e.

At one side of this flue ascended a rude flight
of wooden steps.

He began to climb them.

Half-way to the top he came to a. small door,
evidently opening toward the_flue.

It yielded to his grasp.

Opening it, he threaded a. short corridor,
opened a panel and looked in and down.

Then he started back with a thrill of horror,
such as he had seldom before experienced.

Had he gazed into an abyss of the infernal
regions the effect could scarcely have been more

' . horrifying.

firThe flue, as he had thought it, was a pit of
e!

The walls and bottom were not only gilded
with dazzling fire, but were likewise bristling
with innumerable bayonet points.

Overpowering sulphurous fumes saluted his,
nostrils.

From somewhere in the depths issued demoni-
ac groans, combined with the clanking of
chains.

Hawk reeled back, closing the friendly panel.

“ What awful mystery am I on the threshold
of l” he muttered.

Regaining the steps, he continued theyascent.

At the top, another small opening in another
direction admitted him to a. carpeted corridor,
which conducted him to the foot of a. winding
staircase.

Ascending this and passing through another
door, he found himself in a road, illuminated
and superbl y-furnished passage.

A closed door was at either end. ,

From one of these there came the sound of
voices in angry dispute.

These voices he recognized with a start.

The pur rt of their discussion, which he
could plai y distinguish, was even more start-

ling.

“ I tell you ” said one voice, which was that
of Clarisse, “ Iwill not have a hair of the girl
injured!” I

“ But,” said the other, the hated voice of Kotz-
ka, “if Olga’s prison should be traced by that
infernal detective—”

“ Hawk Heron, you mean?”

H Yes.”

“But you told me you had burnt him to
deatg." pad h a,

“ e esca , curse im!

“ What?”

There was a joyful ring in the utterance of
this word that caused Hawk to palpitate with
pleasure.

“ Yes,” Kotzka’s voice went on. “ the man’s a
salamander. I saw him descend a fire-ladder,

,

“ hank God!” ~

“ What do you mean by that?”

“ No matter.”

“ But I insist on knowing!”

“ You insist!”

u A [1’

“ Count Kotzka, remember that you are my
master only in a political sense.” I ,

“ Remember your oath !” I

“ Ha! Do you remember it, too, Count! If I
only thought-—”

‘ What?"

“That you had descended to private crime,
indepc’ndent of the Order’s commands, by Hea-
ven— -

“ Well go on!” '

“ No, I shall not."0 _

“ But you have either said too little or too
much.” ‘

“ No more; you know me.”

“ In what way 5”

“As a stainless woman, who merely aims at

\ heroic distinction in the cause in which my sire

laid down his life.”
“But you forget that I hold you in my per—

!

 

Hark_Herone_._the€?100n Deceive-

 

 

 

sonul power by the one secret of your past, which
is in my possession alone.”

“ Forget it! Am I likely to?”

“ I should think not.”

“ But for that, would I conspire with such as
you?”

“ Woman!”

Kotzka’s voice thundered forth the last word,
and ended in a sort of snarl.

A scornful laugh was his response.

“ Let us return to our first sub 'ect,” said
Kotzka’s voice, in a calmer tone. “ here is no
reasoning with you, Clarisse.”

“ As you please, then.”

“Well, then, I do not wish to destroy the girl,
unless upon necessity; But if her prison up here
in the tower should '0 discovered—”

Hawk gave another start.

“What!” he muttered, joyfully: “ Olga con-
fined here—here in this very ouse!”

“ No matter,” he heard Clarissa interrupt.
“ Not a hair of her head shall be injured.”

“You say so?”

“I swear it!"

U Ha I”

“ Yes. You have partly persuaded me that
Olga’s abduction was necessary to the cause. I
submit. But I shall defend her life as I would
In sister’s."

otzka. burst out in some furious retort in
Russian.

Clarissa answered, and the dispute was con-
tinued for some time in the same tongue.

Then there was a movement as if they might
be coming out into the passage.

Hawk hurried to the door at the other end, so
as to seem to have just entered by it.

He had left his lantern on the stair, but still
retained his crowbar, and his revolver and dag-
ger were Within easy reach. '

Just as he turned, and began to advance,
Kotzka, followed by Clarisse, stepped into the
passage.

Both were splendidly dressed, as at the secret
convocation.

“ What !” exclaimed Kotzka;
Tibbs I"

“ Ay, maister,” replied Hawk, scraping his
foot, and imitating Tibbs’s voice and manner to
perfection but takin care to keep on his hat.

Followed still by larisse, Kotzka advanced,
observing him narrowly.

“How did you get here?” said he.

“ What’s the odds how maistcr, so long as the
job Eon set me onto is did?”

‘ a! the tunnel?”

“ Is bu’sted up, or rather down!”

“ And the detective?”

:1: under the ruins, with my bullet in his
no .

‘ ‘ You shall be suitably rewarded,” said Kotzka,
after a. long pause. “ Remain here till I re-
turn.”

He 'retraced his steps, re-entered the room at
the other end of the passage, closing the door he-
hind him.

Clarissa moved toward the pseudo Tibbs, her
eyes 8 kling with excitement.

“ Hawk Heron, I know you,” said she, simply.

Hawk gave a. surprised start.

“ Yes,” she continued, “your disguise is
clever but I penetrated it at a glance.”
ell,” said Hawk, “ you will not betray

“ you here,

‘6
me?”

‘5 Indeed!” with a hard laugh.
H No. ”
“ Why will I not betray you?”

Hawk snatched ofl? the sombrero, and looked
her full in the face.

“Because I love you!”

A rich color mounted into her cheeks.
succeeded by a troubled look.

“You are in deadly peril,” said she, “ for
Kotzka has likewise recognized you.”

“ Are you sure?”

“Yes; his manner and words were merely a
pretense.”

‘t: XVeIIJf I am in a trap, I can fight my way
on .

“You cannot! This is a fastness of desperate
men. A stamp of Kotzka’s foot would bring
them upon you in swarms. Imposs1ble!”

“Then you will save me.”

“ I? But if it be not in my power? How-
ever—” ‘

She started back, for just then Kotzka burst
again into the passage, with the aspect of a
demon.

“ Oho! Hawk Heron!” he roared: “so you
would venture into the lion's den? Be it so, for
this time our doom is certain!”

Hawk t rew off his hat and twirled his crow-
bar over his head.

But he was entrap !

At a stamp of otzka’s foot, armed men
started into li a at every hand, almost from the
very floor at his feet. .

“Seize him, bind him!” thundered Kotzka;
“he is a spy, a traitor!”

There was a wild and desperate struggle
while it lasted, which was scarcely a, minute. .

As the conspirators precipitated themselves
u n him, Hawk laid about him with telling
e ect, but he was quickly overpowered.

Then Clarissc’s voice rung out over the hubbub
like a clarion. ‘

o

It was

“Bind and gag that man, if you must," she
cried, “but harm him not on pain of my dis-
pleasure!”

“Woman!” yelled Kotzka, in awhite rage;
“dare you dispute my authority here? The man
is a s y, a traitor!"

“ e is neither, and I’ll answer for it!” she re—
torted, defiantly. “ Fellow-conspirators~—”

Several of the men interposed, and, as well as:
Hawk could make out—for he was now bound
and prostrate—they were trying to persuade her
to be quiet.

At length they seemed to succeed.

Then there was a confusion of voices in a {err
eiau ton e.

'l3ut Hillwk was meanwhile busily but silently
cutting his bonds with a tiny knife-blade, which
he always kept concealed in his sleeve for just
such an emergency. .

He had been deprived of his crowbar, but his
revolver and da ,ger were yet available.

Suddenly, fin ing himself free, he bounded to
his feet, pistol and knife in hand.

b What did that instant of liberty reveal to

im?

Clarisse had disappeared.

The conspirators were grou d about their
chief, and, excepting him, t ey now wore
masks.

Taking advantage of their surprise, Hawk.
fired his first shot full at Kotzka’s breast.

Then he sprun among the group, playing
both weapons, rig t and left, for all they were
worth. '

There was another wild struggle.

“Upon him!” yelled Kotzka who had for
some mysterious reason escaped t e shot. “Down
with him! but spare his life, on your own lives—-
spare him for the torturing doom!”

Our hero was once more speedily overpow-

ered.

"Whither shall we drag him, master?” asked
a voice, in English.

The answer curdled the blood in Hawk Heron's

veins.

“ Whither!” roared Kotzka, in a. terrible
voice; “whither but to the pit of fire and
steel?”

Hawk’s eyes were then bandaged as he lay
be] less.

hen he felt himself borne swiftly away.

His next sensation, after a. halt had been
made, was as of books or grapnels being fast-
ened between his shoulders.

Then he felt himself hoisted from his feet,
and dangling in the air.

Near at hand sounded a. roaring and crack—
ling of flames, and he again experienced this
sic ening sulphurous smell.

“New,” cried the terrible voice, “swing-
back the brazen doors, and float him down
into the pit of fire and steel! Ha, ha, ha!
Hawk Heron, you must indeed be more than
salamander if you survive this torturing test!”

Simultaneous y with the words, there was a.
clung of opening doors, Hawk’s limbs were
unbound, and the bandage was torn from his

eyes.

Then he found himself suspended, face down—
ward literally swimming m space, over the
horrible pit. .

Horror-mastered him.

The walls around him were glittering with.
fire and bristling With bayonet points.

Far below yawned a gulf even more appal-
ling in its suggestions.

"Stand by the running gear,” continued the
terrible voice from somewhere overhead, “ and
await the order to cut the rope!”

CHAPTER XIV.
THE IRON TOMB.

THE rope was not cut, however, and Hawk
remained suspended over the pit.

This fact and one other served to reinstate
his courage. . \

The other fact was that. while the sulphur—
ous fumes rising from the glittering depths were
almohitltoverpowermg, there was no correspond-
ing .

Still our hero’s situation was sufficiently
mysterious and dreadful to have appalled the
stoutest heart.

Presently he began to be swung violently to
and fro, in. a. manner that threatened every
instant to impale him on one or more of the-
bavonets protruding from the sides.

hen the terrible voice rung out once more
from overhead. _

“Hawk Heron,” it cried, " in consideration.
of that past in which you were not the enemy
you now are, your life may still be spared, on
one condition. Do on hear?”

“Yes, I hear,”
in response. ,

“Swear, then, to give over your fell pursuit
of Kotzka, the Proscribed!”

Hawk vouchasafed no answer.

“ Swear this instant, pr you shall he precipi-
tated into the fiery, bnsthng gulf yawning to
'receive you. Swear!” . .

Our hero felt that his hfe trembled in the bal-
ance, but he was indomitable.

“ Never!” be exclaimed.

The oscillations now became yet more violent.

 

awk managed to gasp out

 

But in one of these, which brought him almost. ‘

 

,.._,.... .-. _

1"

‘ and sleep to

r l

Hawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.

15

 

 

against the bayonets, a voice—tho voice of
Clarisse—whispered encouragineg from sonic-
where at the side. _ I

“ Courage!” it said; “ the pit but blazes With
phosphorus, the bayonets are but Shams—these
are but stage-horrors in the initiative ceremonies
of our Order.”

“ One more chance is left you,” continued the
terrible voice. “ Swear!”

“ Never 1” repeated Hawk, of course more
stoutly than before.

The pit suddenly became pitch-dark, and he
felt himself whirled up in the void.

Then he was once more in the small room from
which he had been shot out over the pit.

But before he could take much note of his sur-
roundings, he was again bound and blindfolded,
while he felt the grapuels unhooked from be-
tween his shoulders.

“ Master, what shall we do with him?”. he
heard one of the conspirators say in a low Voice.
“He already knows too many of our secrets.
Death alone can effectually silence him.”

“ Not yet,” he heard Kotzka’s voice respond.
“ I may be able to make use of him before con-
signing him to the inevitable.”

“ But he has murdered our servant, the Eng—
lishman, Tibbs. Rudolph has found the dead
bod in the tunnel, with a bullet in the breast.”

“ rue-l,

“ There must be blood for blood, master. It
is our law.” . . . O

“ Fear not but that it Wlll be maintained,
brother. How fared it with this enemy’s com-
panions in the tunnel?”

“ Both were killed, master. The bodies of
both have been unearthed, shapzless and muti-
lated beyond recognition.”

It seemed to Hawk that this whispered collo-
guy was carried on with no intention of his
overbearing it.

This last announcement, therefore, caused him
the most poignant grief, but he held his peace.

“ Capital 1" the voice of Kotzka went on;
“ thus you see we can afford to defer our revenge
with regard to this enemy.” -

“ But, master, in the two stru gles below, he
fought like a madman—five 0 our brethren
have been Seriously disabled by his terrific
blows.”

“Patience, I tell you! A torturing death
shall ultimately be his reward.”

“Master, we submit.”

“Take him up among you, and bear him
hence.” .

Hawk, who was as helpless as a log, felt him-
self taken up by numerous powerful hands.

“ Whither, master?” .

There was something appallineg suggestive
in the hollow-voiced response:

“ To the cofi'in-cell—the iron tomb.”

Hawk instantly felt himself borne away, and
up, up an apparently interminable flight of
Ste 5.

esently, however, there was a halt.

Then there was a clanging of bolts and bars,
as he was violently thrust forward the bandage
and cords were torn from his eyes and limbs,
there was another clanging of bolts and bars,
and he found himself incarcerated in a strange
dungeon. , ’ .

It was dimly illuminated ina mysterious man-
ner. .

This illumination and a brief examination
showed him that he was the inmate of a perfect-
ly coffin-shaped cell, about ten feet lon by six
wide and six high, the walls, ceiling an floor of
which were of smooth, rivetless and apparently
immovable iron plates. . .

At one end—t 9 end corresponding With the
foot of the coflin—thers was a narrow, heaVily-
barred window, having a sort of overhang that
caused it to look downward as well as outward.

With this ekceptiou, there was not an aperture
of any sort, not even the slightest chink, to re-
lieve the cold, black, forbidding bareness of the
iron casing.

Hawk’s minutest examination could not even
discover the outlines of the door by which he had
been thrust into the cell.

But the mysterious light revealed at last one
Object that was grateftu suggestive to his ex-
hausted frame.

This was a rather comfortably provided straw
pallet the only Sign of furniture the cell con-

tain . _
“There’s nothing hire a good level-headed rest
repare oneself for the unknown
rils of the uture,”.said Hawk, half-aloud, as
E: rapidly divested hunsolf of part of his cloth-
ing. “ ‘God bless the man who first myented
slee ’ said good Sancho Panza, and so say I.”

e‘ threw himself upon the pallet, drew its
coverings around him, and was soon wrapped in
doe sleep. _ . _ _

on he awoke, the sun_was shining into his
cell so broadly that he conJectured he must have
slept far into the day.
Beside his pallet on the floor of the cell, was a
tray containing a hot and substantial breakfast.
Rolling up the pallet so asto form a sort of
seat, Hawk 0512 no time in taking the tray across
hisknees, and disposing of its contents With a
Wig-1118 appetite. ,

’ ' 6 thus engaged, and at the same time re-

:flecting upon his situation, he broke in half a

 

Ffrcnch roll, and a twisted piece of paper fell out
o it.

“ Aha!” thought Hawk, eagerly smoothing it
out: “ I am not wholly deserted, it seems.”

The paper contained writing, to the following
cfl'ect:

“Since they have you caged at last in the Iron
Tomb, I fear you are veyond my aid. Alax/ Niel-61's
no sham, no mmrll/ theatrical her/01', tn yourpresent
situation. However, hope on, and on no account, as
you value your life, attempt to communicate with
any one in the street below. Cunissn.”

There was certainly not much satisfaction to
be derived from this communication.

However. he concealed it upon his person, fin-
ished his breakfast, and then resumed such of
his own garments as he had discarded, leaving
the disguise he had worn 1 ing on the floor.

Then, standing on the undlcd pallet, he for
the first time looked through the bars of his cell
window.

He first looked down into a street that was
far far below him.

rllhis, together with the fact that the level out-
look extended high over the roofs and chimneys
of neighboring buildings of great hi ht, afford-
ed him some idea as to the cxtrao 'nary alti~
tude of his cell.

“ Why, I must be ca ed 11 here fully a hun-
dred feet in the air!” he so iloquized. “ Now
let me take my municipal bearings, and see if I
can form some idea as to the nature and locali-
ty of my prison-house.” ‘

He did so, casting his eyes in every possible
direction for landmarks.

At last a look of intelligence sprung into his
face, and he slapped his thi h.

“ I have it!” he exclaimet to himself.
in the enormous brewery

“ I am
building of Poppen—
heim & Co. that was halt-burnt out two years
ago, and subsequently abandoned altogether for
more comedians quarters up in Morrisania.”

He paused, and reflected.

“Yes, there can be no doubt of it,” he con-
tinued. “ These socialist conspirators, these
throne-upsetters, have doubtless leased the
abandoned premises for the prosecution of their
solemn mummeries and impracticable schemes. ”

Another pause, and then, with renewed satis-
faction:

“ Ha! And this theory explains the tower
prison of Olga, that I got a hint of from Kotz—

a’s stormy conversation with Clarissa. There
was just such a tower—a clock tower——on the
northwestern angle of the old brewery, and
which must even now be directly over my head.
Heavens, to think of it! Olga in captivity, and
almost over my head! Oh, to speak to her, or
even look up at the place in which she is con-
fined l”

The window formed a. deep embrasure.

He partly climbed into this, and strove to
turn his gaze aloft, but, the window itself being
a sort of overhang, this was im ssible.

Hawk cast his eyes anxious y back into his
coffin-shaped cell. 1

“ I have a watch-spring saw in my sleeve,” he
thought, “ with which, were I sure of not being
secretly watched, I could soon make li ht of
these iron bars. However,” despon ently,
“ what could that avail me at this tremendous
hight, and with the roof above perhaps even
more inaccessible than term firma .9”

He returned to the interior of his ominous
cell, and seating himself on his pallet, gave him-
self up to bitter and despondent reflections,
which lasted for hours.

Presently he roused himself to remark certain
tokens of the day’s decline.

“ Why should I heed Clarisse’s warning?” he
thought. with sudden renewed energy. “A
trace to it! I will apprise some one in the street
below of the horrors of my position.”

Clambering once more partly into the em-
brasure, he a am looked down.

How deep, eep down it seemed.

A couple of teams were passing along the nar-
row street, and, oh, joyl there was a police-
man standing on the Sidewalk almost directly
beneath the easement.

Hawk leaped back into the cell, resented him-
self. and began to pencil a message on the back
of the paper Clarissa had conveyed to him.

His back was to the window.

He had not written six words before a rapid
daiilzening of his light caused him toturn and
100 u .

He started to his feet in consternation.

The entire cell was moving noiselessly, smooth-
ly along the wall of masonry, against which it
abutted. _ I

In a moment, the light of the Window was
blotted out. . .

Then the cell came to a pause, leavmg its in-
mate in total darkness. _

Hawk sunk back upon his pallet-seat, for the
first time almost completely unnerved, panic-
stricken. '

The darkness that had supervened was abso-
lute—a veritable blackness of darkness.

He remained literally cowering in it for a pe-
riod which seemed an age.

Atilast, however, he became aware of a light

scratching sound on the wall of his cell nearest

which he was sitting.
He listened attentively, and then made aslight

l

\

. this coffin-shaped

 

noise by altering his attitude. Then there came
to his cars through the iron wall, a low, but in-
cisive voice.

“For the moment you are unwatched, and I
can communicate with you,” was the burden of
that voice. “ Can ou hear me?”

“ Ha!” exclaimm Hawk, starting up in the
darkness; “ it is Clarissa!”

CHAPTER XV.
DUNGEON WHISPERS.

“YES, it is I, Clarisse ” continued the voice.
“ But bend down closely to this side of the
cell, and beware that you do not elevate your
voice to that pitch again.”

“Speak on, then,” said Hawk, following her
instructions. “ In the first place, God bless you
for coming!”

“ Thanks! But did you not get my note? ’

“ I did get it.”

“ Why, then, did you disregard its solemn
warning?”

“Did I so?"

“ Yes, with regard to attempting communicate
with the street below.”

 

“Ah, yes; but the solitude was becoming a V

torture!7

“ Do you find it any less tormenting, with the
addition of darkness?”

“ No; but a thousand, a million times worse!”

“ Let the penalty you have incurred, then,
make you more careful in the future—that
is, if much of any future be vouchsafed you.”

An inexpressible sadness invested the conclud-
ing words.

‘Clarisse, what do you mean?”

“ Alas! I fear for you—I fear l"

“ Heavens! but are you in earnest?”

“In deadly earnestl Alasl out of that iron
sepulcher in which you are now entombed no
prisoner ever yet—but I can say no more!”

“ lint are you mad, Charisse? Speak, Ientreat

oul

“ In the first place, swear l”

“ To what?”

” To never injure, by word or deed, any mem-
ber of the Order, into whose mysteries you have
accidentally obtained a slight insight.”

“But Kotzka is a member of that Order.”
“ , and a great one.” '

“ hatl and you would have me include
him—the monster criminal; the world’s arch-
enemy, as well as my own—in that sweeping
immunity!”

The answer came very faintly, but it was un—
mistakable.

H Yes."

“Impossible!” exclaimed Hawk, indignantly. ‘

“Why, Clarissa, you ravel The man is a inur-
dererl I hope
paralleled iniquity l” .
Then there was a sudden eagerness in the re-
sponse. ‘ 
“ Ah! only prove him that—apart from the
interests of the Order—and ou are at libe
1‘30 egolude him from the oath s protection I a
or.
Hawk reflected a moment.
“I enga e to do more than that,” said he.
;‘ I fiigage o prove him a traitor to the Order
use .

“ Ah! if you might but do that.”

“Doubt me not. With this reservation,
Clarissa, I will take the oath you require.”

“ What will you swear byl.’

“By what has become. to me the sacredest
thin on earth.”

“ nd that is—”

“ My love for youl” ‘

There was a long  When she spoke
again it was ve gent y. _

“ You swear, en?”

“ I do.

“ $0M I have re 'stered the oath.”

“ here?” g

“In my heart.”

Hawk gave a joyous cry.

“Clarissa, do you really mean it? Ah, ,this is
happinesS!”

‘ isten: Now that you are in the iron tomb,
you are beyond my immediate aid. I can only
watch over you.” ~

“ Is there more thfiiéi’one secret connected wi
ce
“Yes, a fatal, a horrible one 1”

“ Tell it me.”

“I dare not—I am oath-bound. I. can only
warn.” ’
“ Well, what do you warn?” - ’

“ Do not, on your life, let slee overtake
{0% again, even though your eye 'ds are as
ea .

“ I shall remember. What more?”

“ Should the worst threaten, remember the
embrasure of the window.”

“But there is no longer any window.”

“ It will be restored to cu.”

“I shall remember.

“ Alas! nothing.

hat more?”
Have you no friend who

might be brought to you under a pledge of - ' 5

secrecy?” ,

H 1: suddenly thought of Blithers as the
frien for the emergency, But before speaking
his name he wished to relieve his mind of a
heav anxiety.

“ ell me, first, Clarisse,” said he, “if you

;\

to prove him a criminal of un-

 

  
  
  
 
 

 

-—-



r

V

i Hawk H

eron, the'Falco'n Detective. ‘

 

 

know of the fate of my late companions—Sea-
gi'ave and the boy Nixcyi”

“ Ido not.”

“ [ overheard one of the conspirators say that
they “'irl‘U dead—buried beneath the ruins of the
tu'mcl.”

" I think it must be true then.”

A deep groan was Hawk’s tribute to the
memory of his friends.
was so critical as to speedily absorb all other
czziotions. -

" There is cne friend," said he, “ one whom
you also know, on whoso assistance I might rely,
if you could bring him in communication with
in ~.”

“ Name him.”

“ Illitliers, the English detective.”

5s  y.”

This was said with a sigh, which came through
the iron wall with such equivocal suggestivcncss
that llawk started.

" \Vhat a strange alteration in your tone!”
said he. “ Why is it?”

“I cannot explain.
carr your message.”

“ Ion know his address?”

“Yes. Never fear; he will not fail to respond.
Hush—no more i"

“ Are you going?”

“ Yes: there is danger.
warning. Farewell.”

The voice died away.

Then the cell was suddenly jarred by a
shock so violent that Hawk was thrown pros-
trate.

He was scarcely a minute in recovering him-
self, but by that time the cell had glided back to

But be content. .I will

Do not forget my

its former position, and the grated window was .

once more in view.
Night had now fallen, however, and onl the
solemn starlight stole into the coflin-shap cell.
It was presently illuminated by the same mys-
terious light that had once before served the in-

mate.
By this'he perceived that another substan-

tial meal had been placed on the floor of the

cell.

Hawk made way with the viands without
questioning the mystery of their appearance.

Then he sat in a corner, with his back to the
embrasure, to patiently await further develop-
ments, and duly mindful of Clarisse’s injunction
against falling asleep.

He had sat thus for a long time when there
suddenly came a. puff of vapor into the cell,
which blinded him for an instant and induced a.
violent fit of sneezing and coughing.

When he recovered. the atmosphere was again

uncontaminated, and he was no longer alone in V

the cell.

A powerful figure, gagged, blindfolded and
with the arms pinioned behind the back, stood
before him. attempting to communicate by ludi-
crous bodily contortions.

Companionship in his solitude was an un-

looked-for boon.

Hawk sprung forward, with the new-comer’s
name on his 1i 5:
“ Blithe ack Blithers!”

 

CHAPTER XVI.
THE IRON SHROUD.
“ BernERs.” for be it was, continued his elo-

' uent contortions until Hawk hastened to re-

lieve him of his gag, the blindfolding bandage

, and the pinioning cords.

“Gad!” exclaimed “Blithers,” snapping his

‘ ‘ eyes and takino' in his odd surroundings with a

eat sinh of re ief; “in what sort of the devil’s
‘wn pic 11% do I find you. my boy?” .

“ In such a one that you can‘t imagine how
glad I am to see you!” cried Hawk.

He seized “ Blithers’s” hand and wrung it for
about the twentieth time. .

Seeing no soul: other than the improvised one
Hawk had occupied, “ Blithers ” sat down on the
floor. leaning his back against the wall.

“ Well, it is a. tummy sort of crib, you know.”
said he still apparently all amazement. “And
let me! tell you, my boy, to oblige no one but
yourself would I have submitted to the condi-
tions imposed upon my seeking you out.”

I " Clarissa brought you my message at your
hotel. then?” , .
“ Yes; but it was only after I got in the car-

' riao'e she had in waiting that I submitted to be

ti and gagged as you saw. after first taking a

, frightful oath to secrecy. Two villainous-look-

ing rascals in the coach attended to the myste-
ries my boy. But here I am, at last.”

ithout more ado, Hawk eagerly explained
his situation and the adventures which had led

to it. v
“ Blithcrs” drew a long face. .
“Wonderful!” he commented. “Romantic,
too! Why, it beats anything I ever heard of
even in London, where we have these foreign
fanatics in shoals! (What do you want me to
7

1’
" In the first place, tell me if you have seen
nothing of Nixey?”

" Why, no! And from what on have told

' me, the boy must have been kille ,togethcr with

the other lchap who was with you in that infer-
‘nnl tunne . '

But his own situation ‘

l

l
!

 

 

Hawk groaned.

He had hoped, almost against hope, to receive
Some sort of contradiction of that fatal presump-
tion, but now he could hope no longer.

“ ‘ Blithers,’ I believe you to be my friend,” said
he, at last.

“My boy, put it right there!” said Blithers,
holding out his hand, with his hcartiest smile of
sympathy.

Hawk placed his hand in the broad palm,
which at once closed on it with a fervent pres-
Sul'l‘.

“ What do you advise?” asked Hawk.

“ Blithcrs” reflected for a moment.

“In your present predicament," said he, “ or
let me say our predicament. for what with their
oaths of secrecy and all that sort of thing, these
desperate rascals have inchd me up with it,
there is only one of two things I can advise.”

“What are they?”

“ Blithers ” sunk his voice to the lowest whis—
per.
“First and foremost, let me go to Head-
quarters as soon as I am at liberty, and give
awn the whole situation to your chief.”

at our oath to secrecy?”

“ To t e winds with all oaths, my boy, where
a f riend’s life is at stake!”

“ Thanks. But there are other objections to
such a course.”

“ What are they?"

“ In the first place, I have sworn in my own
heart to run my man to earth without the assist-
ance of my brother detectives.”

“ Pshaw! professional pride i”

“In the next place, such a course would
merely accelerate my murder at the hands of
Kotzka and his fellow-fanatics, or his du es.
Oath-bound and enthusiastic as they are, t ey
take no account of legal consequences.”

“ Ah! there is something in that.”

“ Thirdly and lastly, this Kotzka is likewise
your man, Without a doubt—the great forger
you are on here from Scotland Yard for the
special purpose of running down.”

“ Yes‘ I no longer have any doubt of that."

“Wel , such a course as you propose would
undoubtedly lose you your prey, while depriving
me of. mine.”

“ But I really don’t care for that, my boy, so
lon as I get you out of this internal scrape,”
sai Blithers, after a pause. “It will hurt me
professionally, but let it go.”

The apparent magnanimity with’which these
words were spoken touched Hawk nearly, and
again he wrung “ Blithers‘s ” hand. '

“Say no more of notifying the police,” said
he. “ That course is out of the %estion.”

“ All right,” said Blithers. “ e’ll drop it.”

“What is your remaining piece of advice?”

Blithers fastened his eyes upon him with a
peculiar look. _

“I shall offer it boldly, but you Will be more
10th to take it than the other.”

" Speak out.” *

“ Accept the conditions which you say Kotzka
has repeatedly offered you. Give over your
pursuit. cry truce to vengeance, and cease to
molest him!”

Hawk Heron sprung to his feet in a towering

assmn.

“Spare that monster!” he exclaimed, indig-
nantly. “Cheat the law of the expiation that
is its duel Outrage society by leaving that fiend
unchecked, untrammeled in its midst!”

“I have said it,” was the cold re ly.

“ But, in one or another of his iabolical im-
personations, this villain has repeatedly attempt-
ed m destruction 1”

“ o I understand.”

“ He dashed me from a speedin elevated train
—his bullet grazed my ear in a ' ouston street
hallway—he hurled me down the Hotel Bruns-
wick elevator shaft—he throttled me at my first
entrance of the underground passage—it wasn’t
his fault that he didn‘t roast me to death in the
Gotham Flats—he set Manchester Tibbs, armed
with a revolver, knife and dynamite bombs, on
the quest that destroyed my companions, and al-
most cost me my life—lastly, he is the author of
my resent appalling predicament!”

“ rue, every word you say!”

“ He was the ruthless murderer of the Widow
Ashcombe l” '

. “Granted, if you like, though that remains to
be proven.” \

“ He is Olga’s abductor l”

“ W ho says he isn't?”

Hawk’s fury, which had kept pace with the
othcr’s cynical coolness, now reached the cul-
minating point. ‘

“And you would advise me,” he cried, hoarsely,
“ to pardon all these injuries and crimes, in
order to save my own wretched life?” _

Beside himse f, Hawk seized “Blithers” by
the throat, and shook him fiercely where he sat.

“ Villain l” he exclaimed: “ your friendship for
me is a sham—a foul pretense—none buta. scoun-
drel could offer such cowardly adeel”

“ Blithers” lumbereri up to a standing atti-
tude, and shook him off, though Without losing
his temper.

“ Ga ! my boy, but you are mad—as mad as
a batter, you know,”‘said he. “ What the deuce!
You first beg for hdvice, and then want to
murder a fellow for giving what you ask.”

/

     

 

Hawk gradually mastered himself with a sense
of shame.

“ I didn‘t solicit the sort of advice that would
involve the sacrifice of my manhood,” said he,
sullenly.

“ I had only the hopelessness of your present
quandary in view.” '

“Ah!”

“ To be sure, in be ' and I mean ever 'thin
for the best.” y y, 3 g

“ Forgive me!”

“With all my heart!”

Once more they clasped hands.

“ Now, just throw your eyes around you, my
boy,” continued “ Blithcrs,” “and say WhOthiT
you are in a position to exact any better terms
of our enemy than I suggested.”

awk surveyed, for perhaps the hundredth
time, the interior of his hideous, coflln - like
prison.

Then, with a deep sigh, he resumed his seat on
the allet, and folded his arms hopelessly.

“ lithers ” was about to continue his argu-
ment, when Hawk sadly but firme signed him
to be silent.

“ No more of that ” said he.
menu well, but it would be useless.”

“ You will not, then purchase your freedom,
perhaps your life itself, by a compromise with
yO‘l‘llfifoytii”

0.‘

“ You will yield in nothing Whatever to con—
ciliatc him?”

“ Never 1”

Blithers remained silent for some moments, at
the end of whlch he said:

“Doesn’t it strike you that this cell is ow-
ing, smaller—more contracted all round? Study
11:.

Hawk did so, and at once became excitedly
interested.

The interior had grown more contracted.

It was as though, by some diabolical, noise-
lessly-working machinery, the sides had been
brought a little closer together, while the ceil—
mgihad settled down to the same extent.

awk shuddered. '
“ Clarisse’s warnin was not without cause,”
he said to himself. ‘ What refinement of tor-
ture or lingering death is preparing for me?”
“I have read of contracting dungeons in
ancient times.” said Blithcrs, reflectively,
“that gradually closed in on a prisoner, slowly
crushing and smothering him, until what had
been his iron prison walls became at last his
iron shroud.” - '
‘* So have 1,” said Hawk.
‘ “ Who knows but that these dynamitic. secret-
lv conspiring miscreants may have imported the

endish dev1ce to this country, for the purpose
of terrifying, or even destroying, the victims of
.their ven eance or malice?”

“ Who nows?” said Hawk. '

“ By Jove, my boy, but you take it ecolly
enough, you know 1”

“ Why shouldn’t I?” .

“But look! The cell has shrunk another
inch since I first noticed the alteration!”

“You had better be qfiiitting it.”

“ How, since I don’t now the manner of my
entering it?”

“ True, no door is visible.” ‘

“ Besides, I was to receive some sort of notice
when my time is up.”

“ Pra Heaven you will get it soon i”

“ Ga ! I should hope so. See; the interior is
still shrinking l” '

“ I I erceive it.” ,

Blit ers had by this time apparently worked
himself up to an agon of alarm and solicitude.

“But, ieavens an earth!” he exclaimed;
“come what may, I cannot leave you in this
death-trap.”

“ You must.” '

“Impossible! Reconcile yourself—conciliate
this Kotzka. while there is yet time I”

“Never!” _

“But see; the space still shrinks while we are
talking! At least, crave terms of the monster.”

“ Never!”

“ By Jove, my boy, you are ‘the most cold<
blooded, immovable—”

“ You may

He was interrupted by a thundering blow on ‘

the cell, as if the iron shell had been struck with
a sledge-hammer. ‘ !

Simultaneously, the air was impregnated with
the same stifling vapor—pull? that had preceded
Blithers’s mysterious entrance. v

An 'instant later, when Hawk had recovered
from its effects, he was once more alone.’

. Blithers had vanished as mysteriously as be
had a .peared. -

He ad left a token of his visit, however, lying
on the floor of the cell. '

It was the long andstOut cord, 8. new quarter-
inchd rope, by which his arms had been pin-
ione .

Hardly knowing to what use it might be put,
Hawk stooped to pick it up. _

As be straightened himself, his head struck
against the ceiling! .

So much had the'girth of the cell already con-
tracted, that' the interior had assumed tunnel—
like proportions, in which he could. no longer
stand quite erect.

And the iron Sides were coming together just

 

 

 

 

 

,

i .- i ' y
I.

Hawk HerOn. the Falcon Detective.

1'7

 

 

 

as noiselessly, steadily and relentlessly as the
iron roof was shutting down. ‘ '

Forgetful for the moment of Clarisse’s instruc-
tions, Hawk stood, or rather crouched, in the
center of the cell, gazing back into the diminish—
ing recess, overmastcrcd by a supreme sense of
horror.

His seeming indifference to his peril, in ‘Bli-
thcrs’s’ presence, had merely been assumed.

Now that he was alone, the full knowledge of
his situation well—nigh paralyzed liis faculties.

He could see the iron box in which he was en-
trapped slowly and remorselessly closing in upon
him, like the contracting maw of some gigantic
reptile into which he had been sucked by the
vertex of a nightmare. '

Yet lnwcr he crouched, quivering like a leaf,
while he could almost touch the narrowing sides
with his elbows.

Then there came another shivering blow from
without. ‘

It was followed by the some terrible veice that
had thundered forth its demands when he had
dangled over the pit of fire and steel.

“ A chauce'l’or life is yet accorded you, Hawk
Heron!” exclaimed the voice. “ Swear to relin-
quish your pursuit of Count Kotzka, the Pro-

‘ scribed!”

“Never!”

“Reflect,” continued the Voice. “But two
more blows will be struck with this hammer.
At the last, the contracting process will be hast-
ened—the roof and Walls will close upon you like
a house of cards—your iron tomb will become
your iron shroud l”

Hawk vouchsafed no answer.

Even in this emergency, however, he could
not help thinking, “How odd that this villain
should echo Blithers’s prediction, almost to the
exact words 1”

“Once more, and for the last time, speak!”
again cried the voice. “Will you take the oath
demanded of you?”

Hawk could now easily touch the sides of the
cell with his elbows, and he was half-doubled up
by the encroachment of the descending roof.

The ordeal through which his resolution was
passing was appalling—his hair was bristling
and the sweat of mental agony pouring from
him in streams.

But he was indomitable.

“ Sever!” he gasped through his clinched
teet .

A diabolical laugh of mingled fury and deri-
sion rung out from overhea .

“Adamantine doltl incorrigible enemy! die
then in thy perversityl” again called out the
.voice, though in receding tones, as thou h its
owuer was retreating. ‘ Three minutes once
thy body will be a breathless, broken and irre<
cognizable mass within its iron shroud l” '

Hawk shuddered as the voice died away.

Terrible as it had been, it had afforded him a.
species of companionship that was preferable to
solitude in the presence of that awful, torturing
death that was gathering him into its iron em-

- brace.

He was now so narrowly inclosed as to be able
to change his attitude only with the utmost difli-

culty.

The fact that the contracting process was now
going on much more slowly—so slowly as to be
hardly perceptiblkwas only a refinement of the
torment endured by our hero. .

His eyes were starting from their sockets. his
breath coming and gomg in quick, panting

s. _
gag; could only wait, in a. sort of horrible ex-
pectation, for the next of those two fateful ham-
mer-strokes that had been promised.

At last it came. I I

It fell so heavily and jarrineg that the shiver-
ing iron walls inclosing the miserable captive
bruised his flesh through his garments.

Was not the end now at hand—was he not a}.
ready, to all intents and purposes, enVeloped in
his iron shroud? , ,

Still, the few remaining instants of immunity
from the fell destroyer’s actual embrace Were
115 an age. and Hawk groaned aloud. _

Suddenly Clarisse’s penetrating whisper rung
through the metal plates close to his ear.

“ The embmmm—the Window!” hissed the
voice- “ Have You forgotten, or are you mad?”

“I don’t believe I can turn toward the win.
dow nOW.” HaWk mugged to gasp in reply.
“ I am fairly locked up in iron!”

A low, despairing wail floated in to him

Then the whisper was yet more urgent and
enfi'i’ii’tmbniy trv, or you are lost I” it continued.
“ Fathei' of Merby! not a moment is to be lost.
The next hammer stroke disJomts the entire c911

r fate !‘ .
ambivseads dgsfiierate effort, Hawk succeeded m
turning right about face.
gut the :(ilndowi cry
6 utter a savage ,
wild beast whose last hope of egcape has been
suddenly and unexpectedly cut 0 .I

The window was no longer there

At least, only a narréiw sl7V
remained the contrac ing _ .
ing closed over the greater part from Egghfir Side.

Nevertheless, Hawk frantically edg 15 way
toward it.

like that of a. snared

it of the embrasure .

He was too late—the catastrophe was upon
him!

At that instant, the last hammer stroke fell
with shattering force, and the iron walls and
roof tumbled in upon and around him with a
hollow crash!

CHAPTER XVII.

IN DARKNESS AND STORM.

BUT the sudden demolition of the iron walls
iniprisoning our here had also re—openod the em-
brasure.

By a last desperate leap, Hawk ained the
ledge, and ensconced himself within t e opening
just as the maSsive plates collapsed with a. hid-
eous crash on the floor behind him.

Breathless and half-unnerved, he clutched the
gratin;r of the window, and looked back.

The immense room in which the hideous dun-
geon had stood was wrapped in darkness.

Out of this darkness, there issued a retreating
voice, the terrible voice of Kotzka, the Pro-
scribed.

“ Come away, and leave the stubborn fool to
grovel in his iron shroud i” cried the voice. “ He
dared his awful fate, and it overtook him. To—
morrow we can dispose of the remains.”

Then there was a sound of numerous footsteps
dying away in the distance.

Outside the weather had changed, and a
furious tempest was raging.

Hawk waited long and anxiously, in the hope
of receiving some further intimation from
Clarisse.

None came.

The s ace within was doubtless deserted, and
yet-bac again into that chamber of horrors,
Hawk dared not venture. ' '

Should he do so, hidden fees might spring
upon him as if by magic; and, as the case stood
he was doubtless thought to be dead, a man led
and motionless inmate of the iron shroud, w ich
erroneous impression might greatly facilitate
his escape.

He now produced from his sleeve his fine, deli-
cate saw, and went to work on the thick bars of
the grating.

His task was frequently illuminated by flashes
of lightning through the pouring rain, while
thunder-pools rolled and crashed overhead.

He was an expert at his work, and two bars
were presentlly isplaced.

He dragge his body half—through the open-
ing and gazed anxiously below and above, as
the lightning lent its illuminating flashes.

Scarcer ten feet over his head was the cornice
of the building, just back of which, he was sure,
arose the tower in which Olga was im risoned.

Far, far below lay the dimly-light , deserted
street. ~

The rope which he had secured.though new and
strong, was barely thirty feet in length.

b {1‘0 ascend or descend directly was an impossi-
i ity.

But a flash suddenly revealed to Hawk the

roof-ledge of an adjoining building, a little low—
erdthan his position, and about twenty feet to one
si e. v -
B suspending himself from the remains of the
gm ing, there was a chance, the sli htest chance
that he mi ht succeed in swinging imself along
the blank ace of the brewery, so asto obtain the
coveted foothold.

Enormous as was the risk, it was taken almost
as soon'as conceived.

A few minutes later, he was suspended over
the awful depths, with the rope knotted under
mam-ins, and the storm whirling, lashing and
whipping him about like a reed.

As he pushed himself from one side to the
other, he felt the rope suddenly give with his
wei ht an inch or two.

 

e looked up. .
Horror! " -
A_ flash showed him that the re , by rubbing
agamst the sharp outer edge of till: embrasure,

was almost severed! ~

One more oscillation might plunge him, bleed-
ing and man led, upon the pavement below.
wk oyzever, esperate as was the chance, he must

9 1 .

By a last powerful _eflort, he swung himself on
a level With the adaoming roof.

Just then the rope parted! ‘

But he had already gained a grip of the ledge.

The roof chanced to be a love one.

A moment more, and he was standing upon it,
breathless,,aud With the severed rope dangling
from his body.

' As be rid himself of the incumbrance, he took
his bearings. ’

. He was on the flat roof of one of a series of
lofty tenement-houses.

The blank side-wall of the brewe building
rose above it to a hight of twenty-0d feet, and
above that, set a little back, rose the tower in
which Olga was imprisoned.

Drenched and shaken as he was, Hawk looked
up at it with longing eyes, as he crept over the
roof in the pouring i-uin.‘

Suddenly a short flgui-e, with a dark-lantern
in one hand, a pistol in the other, sprung up in
his path from behind a chimney. .

 

“What!” thought Hawk; “have my enemies
pursued me even here?” . v

 

Unarmed as he was, he instantly closed with
the figure.

There was a shot, the bullet grazing the de-
tective’s hair, and then his assailant and he were

- locked in a hand-to—hand struggle.

Hawk found himself by far the larger and
stronger.

In an instant he had whirled his antagonist
from his foothold, and snatched the weapon from
his hand.

Then came an illuminating lightning—flash.

Each recognized the other at the same instant,
as they staggered apart. '

u le0y I”

“ Boss Heron i"

It was, indeed, the faithful lad.

Hawk again can rht him in his arms, but
tenderly and gratefu ly, though in supreme as—
tonislinient.

“Now Heaven be praised, for I thought you
dead 1” he exclaimed.

“Not yet, boss!” was the llad’s cheerful re-
plyiw‘q'iut, ohl Lordy, boos, how awful you
00 ' .

“ In what wa ?”

“ As if you ad been Havin’ pot-luck with
ghosts!” ,

“ I may well look that way, for they came
near making one of me, and at first I took you
for another. But why are you here?”

“ To look after you, boss. ’

“ How did on escape from the tunnel? An
Seagravchis e also alive?” , .

“ Alive an’ kickin’, boss; same as me.”

“Tell me about it.”

“ The bus-up in the tunnel brought down the
roof,boss, but behind both Mr. Seagrave an’ me,
he at one end, an’ me at the other. Then we got
out at dilferent ends, an’ met ag’in on top of the
rocks.” , .

“ Good! And what have you been doing
since?”

“ Fu’st otl’, Mr. Seagrave thought you must
have been killed, but I was sure you hadn‘t
been.”

“W‘b ?"

“I sort 0’ knowed it wasn’t your luck to be
cornered to death like a rat in a hole, boss.”

Hawk once more embraced his stench little
friend.

“ I now see why it was that I overheard the
report of my friends’ destruction,” he thought.
“ t was intended that I should overhear-it, in
order to strike deeper ,des ir into my soul.
Well, go on,” he centinued, a cud. ,

“Well, boss, then Mr. Sea ave was fur
notif 'n’ the perlice, but I won] n’t hear of it.”

“ at was right.”

“Then I was fur seekin’ out Mr. Blithers, but
on second thoughts concluded I wouldn’t.”

“ Right again 1” ‘

“Then, the rest of that night an’ yesterday,
when we wasn’t asleep, Mr. Sea ave was 5k -
mishin’ around tryin’ to find Clarissa, but
without success. w '16 I was busy in locatin’ that

old brewer , into which I sort 0‘ felt you must .

have for your way, an’ been captured,”

“ Ab! and you located it at last?’

“ Only two hours ago, boss. Then I made in
way u to the roof of this ’ere tenement throu
the ha lways. My object, boss, was to gain 8
roof of the brewery, an’ somehow make my way
dowh through it to our relief.”

HaWk ressed his and.

“I ha been studyin’ that ’ere dividin’ wall, '
boss, fur more’n an’hour. wonderin’ how I’d shin
up over it, when you suddenly crept over the
roof an’ tackled me. But, J ewhillikinsi how'
it rains! We’ll be washed away like gum-drops,

055!

“Where is Seagrave
tive headless of the rain.

“ bown at the door, on watch.”

“ 0n watch?"

“ Yes, boss. This hull block of tenements
gest swarms with Eyetalian, Rooshan an‘ other

urrm aloo’cs what may be feller-conspyrators
of that otzka.” ,

“ Oho! Can you signal Seagrave to come up

here?” '

“ Yes, boss: but, fu’st 03, let me lend you to, ‘

a lane of shelter.” , V
e led the way along the roots till they were
underneath a little room, or bed, built over one
of the scuttles. . ‘ i
“ All right new, boss,” said Nixey. ' “ But be-

fore I signal, will you permit mel to propound a. _ ‘

question?”

“ Certainly; speak.”

“Why stay up here, boss? Why not come
curse f, an’ take a rest?”

' Haw pointed out of the shed at the tall out-

hne of the tower on the brewery.

“ Olga is imprisoned up there,” said he. “ I
shall take no rest till I have seen and spoken
with her.”

This was said in a tone that admitted of no
argument. -

Nixey ran to the edge of the roof, and sound

now i” asked the detec-

a shrill cubical] down into the street. A . '.

A moment later, as Hawk and he advanced
toward the nearest 0 en scuttle, Seagrave came
bounding up throng
he was burdened with a box in which were a.

number of odd-looking, bulbous-shaped bottles,‘ 

partitioned ofl? one from another.

it, notwithstanding that ‘ I

.... am...— ,.. m- .... .....‘ mm“...

_.__ “nu W-m....

W

W

“a "K. . ‘ :,« .. .‘
. ......_......~_..w.~.m a“ WM“.

,

..;..~.-Wl..; .Mm-.....m_..;_._- a-
Wm m

mw u...
Wm

 

 

2,
F.

'18 Hawk

He had hardly recognized Hawk, with a cry
of delighted astonishment, before he exclaimed:

“ Be on your guard! I am pursued! A house-
full of foreign (lespcradoes are at my heels!
They have recognized inc—they are doubtless
Kotzka’s minions !"

CHAPTER XVIII.

IN MID-AIR.

“QUICK!” said Hawk; “have you a spare
weapon? I am unarmed.”

Setting down the box, Seagrave thrust a re-
volver into his gras .

“ What are those nottles?” asked Hawk.

“ Hand-grenades, for putting out fires. I
found them in a staircase—niche on my way up. ”

“Your purpose with them?”

“I hardly know; but being filled with some
sort of suffocating chemicals, they may assist in
our defense. Ha! here they come.”

The inmates not only of that one house, but
of the entire block, seemed to have taken the
alarm.

As Seagrave spoke, one or more wild—looking
heads popped up out of almost every scuttle, to
be speedily followed by bodies of both men and
women.

All were armed, mostly with knives, and,
with wild, threatening cries in foreign dialects,
they made toward the three friends through the
driving rain, with the lightning lending its weird
flashes to,the exciting scene.

“ Upon them!” cried one, in Spanish; “ they
are our master’s foes!”

“ Diavolo, yes!” cried another, in Italian;
“ cut them in pieces!”

“ Two or three can play at that game!” growl-
ed Seagrave, while his com anions fired their

istols over the assailants” eads; “ take some
tanic snuff for a change!”

With that, one of the glass grenades from his
hand struck °and broke on the first rutfian’s
brow, filling the air momentarily with over-
powering and suffocating fumes.

‘ “Por bios! las fantasmas, las fantasmas !”
(“Heavensl the ghosts, the ghosts i”) spluttered
the sufferer, tumbling back, head over heels,
into the scuttle from which he had just emerged.

Then both Hawk and Nixey lent a hand at the
novel bombardment, which was continued with
dire effects.

“Whenever you see a head hit it!” was their
Donnybrookian motto for the time being.

The female assailants were spared, but their
com nions were treated without mercy.

Flask after flask broke in rapid succession on
as man dusky foreheads.

The umes of the released chemicals at length
became almost intolerable, and the assailants
grew correspondingly frightened and bewil-

ered.

“These are fiends! these are sorcerers!” they
clamored, in their various lingos. “ Run, run!
They will'burn us alive 1”

As they turned tail, and began to disappear,
helter-skelter, down the diflerent trap-doors, the
victors could hardly refrain from laughter.

However, one thick-set rufiian lingered a little
behind, as though still undaunted.

Hawk and Seagrave recognized him at the
same instant.

They sprung upon him, dashed the knife from
his liand, and had him at their mercy in a mo-
men .

“ Quick, Nixey!” cried Hawk; “ a gag and
some cords, if on can find such things.”

“. All right, !”

Nixey explored his capacious pockets, and pro-
duced a long cord and a ragged, but voluminous

‘handkerchief.

These were speedily ut to use, and the cap-
tive lay gagged and elpless in the driving

rain.

“A hostage is a good thing to have now and
then,” said Hawk, examining the irisoner‘s face
by the, aid of Nixey’s lantern. “ a! I was not
deceived.”

It was a round and rudd face, but sullen and
determined-looking, with s orb-cropped mutton-
cho whiskers.

“ either was I deceived,” said Seagrave.
“ It is the shorter rufiian who attacked me in
Melton place, and cursed so loudly in Russian.”
, “ It is also the mysterious coupe driver,” said
the detective. “Let us question him a bit. ’

But no amount of questioning proved of any

' avail. ’

Whether the fellow could understand what
was said to him or not, he remained as dumb as
a fish, merely regarding his inquisitors with a
stony. disdainful stare.

“ What is our next move 9” asked Song-rave.
“ Those rascals will soon get the better of their
superstitious terrors, and be upon us a ain.”

‘ Yes,” said Nixey, looking into t 6 amp
box, “ an’ there ain’t no more stink-bottles left to
pe r ’em with.”

awk pointed to 'the tower on the loftyad-
joining roof.

“ Yonder’s our next task,” said he. “Olga is
up there—it won’t do to back out new, with
final triumph almost within our clutch.”

He then hastil related his remarkable experi~
ences while in otzka’s power.

“Now,” said he, when he had finished, “ how

 

eron, the Falcon Detective.

f0 surmount that dividing wall is the next prob—
em.

“ I doubt if it can be done,” said Seagrave.

“ Here is the rope ” said Hawk, “ that has
already served me well. If we only had a grap-
nel!

“But here, boss,” said Nixey, holding up his
lantern “ here is a hook.”

The antern, though of the ‘dark’ variety,
had evidently seen service in some stable. At-
tached to its hand-ring was a strong, sharp iron
hook, to facilitate its being hung up almost any.
where at hap—hazard.

“ A windfall!” exclaimed Hawk.

Quickly detaching the hook, he made it fast to
one end of the rope.

Then two or three casts over the dividing wall
were sufficient to make the hook catch firmly on
its edge.

“ Up with you, Nixey!” said Hawk: “ and
when you get up, make the ro e securer.”

Nixey grasped the rope, an , notwithstanding
that it was wet and s ippery, went up, hand
over hand, with the agility of a squirrel.

After securing the rope, he peeped down over
the ledge. '

“ Who next, boss?” he cried.

Seagrave was sure he couldn’t climb the rope,
so Hawk Heron went up next.

“ Make the prisoner fast,” he called down,
after he had reached the top.

“ What?” cried Seagrave; “ will you take this
rascal up there i”

“ Of course! What good is a. hostage if you
let him out of your grip?”

Without another word, Sea rave fastened the
r0 around the prisoner, and e was drawn up.

Then, performing a like service for himself, he
preiently stood beside his friends on the brewery
r00 . .

He had hardly got there before there were in-
dications of another raid upon the roofs they had
just deserted.

“ Down with you !” ordered Hawk, in a hoarse
whisper. “ Keep out of sight!”

The had no sooner crouched behind the ledge
than t 6 second invasion of the roofs below took

place.
The forei ers came trooping up in swarms.
They were etter armed than before, and more

enterprising. But as no enemy was any longer
in si t, and they did not seem to think it possi-
ble t at an esca e could have been effected over
the dividingmw , they evidently concluded that
their rey d somehow slipped down into the
street y one of the scuttles.

At all events, after running about in the rain
and filling the air with their curses for afew
minutes, they gave up their quest, and disap-

ar .

The storm, after a brief lull, was now more
furious than ever.

The rain descended in torrents, the force of
the wind was terrific, the thunder crashed over-
head, and the electric flashes were almost con-
tinuous. '

The tower was about thirty teeth high. With
the exception of a narrow, railed balcony, near
the top, over which a clock-dial had formerly
looked out from four sides, it was an uninter-
rupted column all the way up, as straight,
smooth and bare as a factory chimney.

The entrance up into this tower was evidently
altogether from inside and below.

The bare shaft of wood contained not a win-
dow, not a loophole, not a projecting ledge; in
fact, nothing that wculd afford a catch for a
grapnel, or a foothold for the most enterprising
clamberer.

But up above the balcony, from what had
be? the clock-chamber, there streamed a pale

‘ t

“Olga is up there, in Kotzka’s power!” said
the detective, solemnly. "' She must be rescued
to—nightl It is now or never!”

Nixey surveyed the tower hopelessly, while
Seagrave moodin cast down his eyes.

At this juncture, they all became aware of a
light, tapping sound on the roof, that was barely
distinct from the poundinfiof the rain.

Nixey drew nearer to awk, and ointed to
where the gagged and bound prisoner ay, a few
yards away.

“Hist, boss !” he whispered. “That snoozer is
signalin’ to somebody down through the roof!”

“ Hush I” said Hawk, in the same tone. “Let
us watch Without appearing to notice him.”

He then called his companion’s attention to
the tower, and appeared to wholly bus himself
with attempting to cast the improvise grapnel
9% that it would catch on the little balcony so far
a ove.

While thus ostensibly engaged, he noticed
that the prisoner, While coping up the tapping
signals, had stealthin rolled himself down the
sloping roof to a spot between the line of two
chimneys.

Suddenly this spot opened inwardly, like a
huge trap-door, a. flood of light rushed out, and
then the head and shoulders of a powerful,
swarthy ruflian appeared through the opening,
and grasped the captive, to drag him away.

Unexpected as, was the movement, the three
fineigds were sufficiently on the alert to baf-

e i . .

While Seagrave and Nixey ew themselves

I

 

x;—

upon the hostage, Hawk leaped over his bod ,
and dealt the new-comer a tremendous blow in
the face with his revolver.

The very bones were heard to craCk.

The rufiian dropped out of sight, without a
groan, like a dead man, but the trap flew back
with a spring, there was the click of a catch-
bolt, and the aperture was as seCurely closed as
before.

Hawk cocked his revolver, and pressed the
muzzle between the prisoner’s eyes.

“Look on!” he hissed between his clinched
teeth. “ 5 there to be any more signaling—any
more attempts to escape?”

The prisoner turned pale, as he shook his head
vigorously. °

“Good enough, then!” said the detective,
dragging him far up the roof. “Take heed of
your promise, less you be silenced much more
effectually than at present!”

The storm had now reached a fury that would
have terrified any one else from the task that
was under way, but it only seemed to inspire
our hero with renewed energy.

After several more attempts, he managed to
1ciastlthe hook upon the railing so that it held

rm y.

He grasped the rope, and was about to ascend,
when Seagrave interposed, respectfully but
firmly.

“ Heron—Hawk! you must not go up to her,”
said he, in a voice hoarse with emotion. “ That
is my duty!”

Hawk was turning upon him angrily, when
he suddenly recollected that Seag'rave was in
love with Olga.

“ Don’t be unreasonable, my friend,” said he,
in a low voice. “In the first place, you could
not possibly climb this rope, while I can. Then
again, it is not Olga, but Clarisse, that I am in
love with.” '

Recognizing the force of his words, Seagrave
bowed his head, and drew back.

Then, tossing about in the storm like a
mariner in the main-top with but a rope-splice
between him and the rolling waves, Hawk began
the perilous ascent of the tower.

CHAPTER XIX.
mn rowan.

As he slowly made his way up the rope, his
comrades watched his progress with intense
anxiety]. .

A fa would costhim his life, without a saving
chance. ' '

The roof below was so steeggdhat, in that event,
nothing could prevent his y bounding over
the giddy edge.

At last, however, he succeeded in grasping the
railing, he clambered over it, he was in the bal-
cony, the dangerous goal was won!

The clock-dials had all been boarded over
except the one facing our hero.

This also had been built up, but a narrow,
grated window had been left in the center,
through which the dim light was streaming.

A g ance into the interior showed a comfort-
ably furnished little sitting-room.

It was unoccu ied.

But a small amp was burning on a table.
The light of this revealed the door of an inner
apartment, doubtless a bedchamber.

It likewise revealed the head of ‘a stairwa ,
that wound down through the interior of t e
tower.

The former clock-room had been cunnineg
improvised into a strong-room. , '

his, then, was the tower prison of the beauti-
ful Olga! ' .

Standing outside in the beating storm, With
the thunder crashing overhead, Hawk, now that
he had attained his prayed-for object, gazed into
the empty room with mingled timidity and dis-
appointment. _

Olga was doubtless in the inner room, her
wrongs and troubles buried for the time being in
the hol oblivion of slumber.

Shou d be dare disturb that sacred sleep, even
in the interest of her deliverance?

And yet might not her jailer appear at any
instant, to thwart thls plan for her rescue?

While he was debating with himself, the divid—
ing door 0 ened, and Olga herself appeared on
the thresho d.

Hawk’s heart bounded.

She was fully dressed. Her face was _very
pale, her eyes were swollen and haggard. Wlth a
terrified, hunted look in their depths, and yet he:-
youthful beauty seemed to have beenonly inten-
sified by the persecution she had endured.

Sitiiddenly she perceived Hawk’s face at the
gm :1 . _ _

She gmade an alarmed, shrinking motion.
Then, doubtless reflectin that danger was not
to be apprehended from t t quarter, she rushed
to the window, and threw up the sash.

She recognized him. . .

“Ah, my friend, my deliverer 1” she exclaimed,
seizing his hand with impulnve ea erness. “ Do
I dream? Can I behave my eyes?

“It is no dream, Olga,’ said Hawk.
here to rescue you i” _

“But cannot you come in here out of that
terrible storm? How did you reach this dizzy
night“! Oh, I am so happy! Did any one ac-
company you? How W111 you rescue me?”

 

“I am

 

 

 

 

-. If

\

Ha.ka _

 

She was greatly excited, putting one question
after the other with nervous haste. I

“My first move shall be to_ get rid of these
bars as quickly as possible,” said Hawk, answer-
ing the last query first, as he set to work on the
grating With his fine saw. “ Then. if I don’t go
in there to you, it will be because you Will come
out here to me. Yes; some one did nccom iany
me. He is a worthy, handsome young fellow,
very much in love with you, who is waiting on
the roof below.”

Olga colored, and then looked greatly trou-
bled.

“I do not understand,” she faltcred, as the
work on the grating proceeded. “I have no
lover.”

“ Can’t you recall the name of Seagrave?”
said Hawk.

“ Seagave? No. But wait. Was not that
the name of the young man who so permstently
attended all my performances at the Thalia,
always occupying the same seat?”

“Like enough.” .

“ A medical young man, tall, dark, w1th wavy
hair and soft eyes?”

4‘ Yes.”

“ I remember now. He told me his name—-
Seaorave, that was it!” .

“ e has no other.”

“ Ah! I once rmitted him to escort me
home, when Mr. l chmidt had failed me, and my
mother was too 111— But, ah heaven! I must
not think of her, or I shall go mad. Yes; the
young man accompanied me to my door. But
he was so silent, so gentle, so respectful, I never
dreamed—” , ' _ _

She used, coloring again, this time deeply.

“0 course not i” said Hawk, sawing away
energetically. “Girls never do, even when a
young fellow is dying with love for ’em.”

“ Don’t say that,” murmured Olga. ,

“But I must, for, if it hadn‘t been for Sea~
grave, you would doubtless have been buried
alive.”

“What is that you say?”

Seeing that she was growing interested to the
obvious improvement of her spirits, Hawk gave
her a highly wrought account of Sea ave’s in-
strumentality in her rescue from t e under-
taker’s hands. ‘

“Ah! how can I ever suflimently thank the
young man?” Olga murmured, w on he had
finished. .

“ Easily enough, if your heart is engaged to
no other, ’ said Hawk, with a muttered anathe-
ma upon his work, which was progressmg but
slowly. _

“ I love no one—I have’never loved,” s1ghed
Olga. “Besides, I cannot but remember that
you. sir, were my actual pi‘eserver from that hor-
rid fate, though I do not even know your name.”

“ Hawk Heron. a poor detective, at your ser-

vice. oun lady.”
g What an odd name! And

“ awk germ?

et so si i cant!’ x
y “ Donigt‘forget, though, that but for Seagrave
the man who loves you to adoration, I ooul
never have preserved you.”

“I shall not for at. Ha l”

She started hac ' as there came a sudden gust
of the storm, accompanied by a Llindin flash
and a tremendous thunder-clap, that mig t have
torn Hawk from his foothold had he not clung
to the grating. - _

“ Don’t worry about the storm, please,” said
Hawk, resuming his task, “ but pray answer
such uestions as I shall put.”

“ ith all my heart, Slr.” .

“How did you disappear from the room in
which I laid you after taking you out of the

H
cofifilinhardl know myself. You .had hardly
been gone ve minutes,I could still hear you
moving about in the adgoming room, when a
noise at the wiDdOV‘Alfieygl‘ where I lay caused me
to turn in head. .

She coered her eyes, as though to shut out an
awful recollection. ,

“Pray, go on i” exclaimed Hawk.

“A man—an immensely powerful maul—had
just stepped through the window as stealtlnly as
3 ant er.

I‘)‘ Had you seen him before? Did you recog-
nize him i”

“ Yes, yes!”

“Was it Kotzka—the same man who had
haunted you at the theater, who had subsequent-
ly abducted you, who afterward brought you
here?” ”

“ Ah, Heaven, the same!

“ Go on I” / I

“Before I could make an outcry, I was in
his terrible grasp, with a saturated handker-
chief pressed over my mouth and nostrils.”

“ And then?”

“ My senses deserted rue—I knew ,i’io more
till I found myself alone in this prispn.

“ You have been here ever Since?

“Yes.” ,.

“ No visitors?”

 

“ Oh yes! Twice a day a man brings me
food. hen once I have been visucd by a” lady ,
—-oh such a sweet, such a lovely creature!

“ Her name?” ’ ,

“ She told me to call her ‘ Clansse. ” l

“ Ah! the object of her viSiti”

 

19

 

“ To coudole with me, like a sister, in my mis-
fortunes.”

“ Anything else?”

“ Yes; to warn me that, though my captivity
is necessary for the welfare of some secret
cause that she would only mysteriously hint of,
I should turn a deaf ear to all of Kotzka’s
threats and iniportunities.”

"Threats? immortunities? Heavens! does the
monster dark”

“ Alas! he is my only other visitor—he gives
me his hateful presence twice a. day.”

“ For what purpose?”

“ To beseech me to end my misfortunes by
marrying him.

“ Marry him .9 Oh, heavens!”

“ That is, he begins with enti‘oaties, and ends
with the most mysterious and horrible threats
upon finding me obdurate.”

“ Why, this is the quintessence of fiendishness!
Is the monster mad? Marry him, the destroyer
of your peace, your own mother’s mur—”

“Ah! don’t speak it—don’t recall the awful
scene! Besides. how can I know ’twas he?”

A wild terror seemed suddenly to have pos-
sessed her.

With two of the iron bars nearly severed,
Hawk paused in his work, and looked at her
with amazement.

“ Child, your words are an enigma!” he ex-
claimed.

“ Ah, speak not a ain of that scene!"

“ But 1 must spea of it! When I have effect—
ed your release, it will be necessary for you to
testify as to that terrible tragedy.”

“ Ah! but if I cannot?”

“ You amaze me! Cannot testify to what you
actually witnessed?”

“ She implored me not to.”

“Who did i”

“ My mother.”

Hawk could only make a gesture of continued
astonishment.

“I give it up!” he muttered, rip ing out one
of the bars. " Olga, you are ine icable!”

He then resumed his work, an , seeing that
she was greatly distressed, changed the subject.

“ Let me continue my questions,” said he.

“Yes, sir,” was the submissive reply.

“Have you any recollection of your infancy
in a. foreign land?’

“ Only of my mother distinctly. All the rest
is shadowy—unreal. 1’ was not four years old
when I quitted it. 7’

“ Can you recall your father?”

“But vaguely—as in a dream. My mother
told me he died a. martyr to liberty. Kotzka,
since I have been here, has told me the same,
adding that my father bequeathed me to his
char e.”

” e lies!”

“ 1 rejoice to know it I”

" Any recollection of Kotzka himself in those
earl, days?”

“ ut a dim one—even less distinct than of
my father. And yet!” sheput her hand to her
forehead, with a strained, troubled expression;
“ and yet, I seem to recall him at times more
distinctly—the form and face of one whom my
father liked and my mother feared—together
withhgnother, a much younger man, a. mere

on. . .

“ Ah! that other? Try to restore him in your
memory—only try !”

She tapped her forehead once more, and knit-
ted her brows, but ended b shaking her head.

“I cannot! I but re dreamin a youthful
face and figure that was somehow mysteriously
associated With Kotzka—nothin more.”

Hawk pressed his face through the opening he
had effected, and regarded her eager] .

“ Scrutinize my lineaments well, ’ said he.
“ Do they not assist your memory, Olga? Have
you no place for them amid those indistinct
vistas of the est?”

She regar ed him long and earnestly. At
last, as a change was cree in into her face, a.
change. that might mean the go
memorial intelligence, there came such a. tre-
mendousparoxysm of the tempest, followed by
a deafening crash of thunder, that he started
back With a. scream.

“ Ah, you will be blown away!” she ex-
claimed. “ This is awful—I can feel the tower
rock!” _

"Fear nothm ,” said Hawk, almost through
with the second or. “ Do you recall no others
once familiar—no brother, no sister?”

“None, though my poor mot-her was In steri-
ously reticent on that point. Ah! thank eaven
your work is nearly complete!"

“ Yes: but a few moments more, and I will be
in there with you.”

“ And then?”

“Then you must prepare to go with me.”

“ B the way you came here?”

“Ygs; there is no other. You will not be
sorry to esca out of Kotzka’s vulture clutch?”

“ . i h, Hooveu! with what eagerness
I shall fly with you!”

Here the second bar yielded to Hawk’s wrench-
ing grasp.

“ But not with more eagerness ” he cried,
springing into the room, “ than I
you grimy, out of that arch-fiend’s power for-
ever!

sired revival of ,

 

“ Ha, ha ha!” roareda familiar and demoniac
voice. “What! are on so sure of baffling the-
vulture’s clutch my ialcon foe?”

Then Kotzka himself leaped into view, rising
over the staircase landing with a terrible aspect,
a cooked revolver in each hand.

Olga shrieked. while, covered as he was with:
the pistols, Hawk could only start back in ino-
nientary confusion.

“ Ha, ha, ha !" roared the villain again.
“ What! would my pretty dove abandon her'
faithful vulture for a younger and a falcon,
wooer? But two can play at the game of ti'each-~
crv, and—”

He was interi‘u )tcd by a fresh paroxysm oi'
the storm, then the structure quiver-ed to its.
foundations, there was a dazzling flash, a ter-
rific cal and the tower was in flames.

It ad been struck by lightning!

Kotzka was the first to recover from the stun—
ning effects, and dropping his pistols, he hurled
himself 11 n the detective, while the latter was
still daz and half-paralyzed.

“ Ha, ha, ha! A clever second-thought!“
roared the giant. “ Marplot, whom nothing
will seem to kill! let us try the hangmaii’s noose‘.’
Thou shalt dance on air before thy time!”

With that, he drew up the rope by which
Hawk had ascended, and knotted the end secure--
ly about his neck.

Olga shrieked and seized his arm.

He thrust her back with an oath, and raised the
detectivo’s helpless form high over his head.

The next instant he had cast it far out over
the balcony of the blazing tower.

CHAPTER XX.
“ alumnus AND TONGS!”

FOR the moment, it looked as if it was all up-
With the career of Hawk Heron, the Falcon:
Detective, beyond all mortal hope. v .

His friends on the roof below had only recov-
ered from the effects of the thunderbolt, to look
up and behold the entire upper part of the tower
in flames.

Then their horror and consternation had been
completed by beholding their beloved chief
hurled over the balcony railin with the rope
tiglitened into a. hangman’s 0t about his
nee .

But the flames, that illuminated this awful
spectacle, proved the salvation of our hero.

They had spread along the balcony, burning
away the fastening of the rope, b which he
Won (1 otherwise have been strangle with evcn
more than the conventional jerk.

Thus he fell 'into the arms of Nixey and Stow
grave, who succeeded in preventing him frtm
rolling down the roof, and the dashing rain sccu
revived him, in spite of the tremendous shaking—
up he had undergone.

“An ax or a hatchet—quick!” sped the in-
domitable detective, tearing the empen noose»
from his neck. “Olga will be burned to death,
if we do not chop our way through the tower!
Hark! hear you not Kotzka usmg an ax up
'onder? Search our hostage for some sort of
1m lement to our pprpose!” '

engrave and ixey had already pounced
upon the bound captive, vhen, as if in answer to
his rayer, an ax, robably escaping from

Kot a’s grasp, came ying out of the tower-top,

and fell at Hawk’s feet.

To appropiiate it as a godsend, and attack the
base 0 the tower like a madman, was the work
of an instant. '

The great chips flew from the wooden frame—
work in showers at every blow.

“Walt. Hawk!" said Seagrave, coming up to
him. “ The rain is rapidly putting out the
flames.”

“So much the better!” said Hawk, without
pausin in his labor; “ but we can cut our way
throng to the staircase before Kotzka. can
make his way down it with his prisoner!” i

“ Boss,” said Nixey, also coming up, “it can‘t;
be} 1:1: in: t ” d

0 ing‘ 6 rying an we, a the
detective between his strokes).y ‘yWhEtsd’ied you
find on our prisoner?” ’

“Only these,” said Seagrave, holding up an
open tin box, packed with round, oblong tubes
0 a dirty brown color. “I can’t imagine what,
the are.”

awk made along enough pause to examine
them hastily. ,

“I can,” said he, resuming his work. “ They’re-
dynamite cartridges.” ‘

"‘What!” exclaimed Scagrave, nearly drop—
ping the box. “There must bedanger in even

aEdsllii11g item 1”!) thi j tur
ot mm a ove at a mic e erforated
the brim of his hat. p

They all looked up.

Kotzka, pistol in and, and getting ready for
another shot. was leaning over the half-burned
balcony railing, with a. face like a fiend.

The flames of .the still burning tower-roof
were sending their red tongues high up in the
airz gargbove hisfhcad.1

a. your in erna picture!" elled N'x‘e
in a sudden fury of boyish rage;y“d‘ye tlhinyk’
you can have all the murder an’ arson on you?

shall bear ' side forever?”

Then, hardly knowing what he was about and
beiorelhe could be prevented, he seized one of

heron, the Falcon betective.

:

 

a, E"... .

 

 

 

 

20

Hawk, Heron, the Falcon Detective. I 

 

the explosives, and hurled it up at Kotzka's
hL-ad.

’ ‘he cartridge missed its mark, but (low far up
into the topmost ilaiiies, where it exploded with
La deafening noise and ll. tremendous jar.

Kotzka was seen to be crushed down onto the
balcony in a squatting posture. .

It was even all the three friends could do to
keep their feet, the entire building trembling to
its foundations.

“Hurrah!” cried Hawk, i‘edoubling his blows
with the ax; “we‘ll yet cut them off at the
staircase!”

Elated by his dangerous experiment, Nixey
sprung to his aid, tearing away large chips and
.splinters as fast as loosened.

The framework was of pine, old, and in many
places rotten.

In a few minutes more a breach was effected
almost large enough for a man to crawl through.

The staircase was in sight.

Suddenly Olga appeared upon it, her olden
hair streaming over her shoulders, her ands
outstretched wildly toward them.

“ Save mel” she shrieked. .

At that instant, however, an unlocked-for ap-
parition interposed between the maiden and her
would-be rescuers. ,

It was that of the hostage, who had mysteri-
ously freed himself of his bonds.

Dashing them aside, with an appalling yell,
he snatched a handful of cartridges from the
box in Seagrave’s hands, and plunged head-
foremost through the breach.

They saw him 'asp Olga roughly, and drag
her below, just as otzka, white and dazed—look—
ing, was making his way down behind.

Seagrave fairly gnashed his teeth.

“ Villain!" he cried, leveling his revolver'
“ you at least shall only follow her as a co sel’;

Toint'blank at the ruffian’s breast be red,
but apparently without a particle of effect.

“ Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the giant, as be dis-
appeared; “ foiled again, fools, idiots that you
are!” _

Then the cartridges that had been snatched
from the box were hurled far up through the
hollow space toward the expiring flames at the
top of the tower.

‘ Back1 back for your lives!” shouted Hawk,
dragging his companions along the roof.
“ Down on your faces, flat down, I tell you 1”

They had barely obeyed, throwing themselves
.‘flat on their faces behind a short, thick chimney
not far away, when the second explosion oc-
curred.

It was twenty times more deafening, jarring
and disastrous than the first.

There was a rumbling roar, a blaze, a stupend-
ous concussion. \

«, Then the entire tower was seen to spring up
bodily into the air, and crumble back in ruins.
. Then, as though in sympathy with the com-
motion below, t e tumult of the elements re-

. .. ldoubled overhead.

. The lightning flashed, the thunder crashed,

, 'ani the rain descended more torrentlike than

ever.

. ‘,‘ Come, my friends l" said Hawk, fastenin the
rope, which he had still retained, to thee im-
ney, and throwing the free end over the divid-
ing wall; “ we must beat a temporary retreat at

ast.

.“ Whither away now i” said Seagrave

“ To term. fir-ma.”

“ What then?” .

“ If Kotzka is driven out of the brewery

‘, buildin , we may head him off with his cap-
' ,tive in ’ ,

e street. d h. teeth

Seagrave,groun is .

“The villain doubtless wears a bullet-proof
shirt next his skin,” he muttered. “ If I get an-
other go at him, it will be with a knife l”

“His nob shall be my next mark!” said Nixey.
“ I’m bettin’ I’ll ring the bell on it at my next

sh l”

Then, one after the other, they followed
. Hawk, who had already preceded them, down
the rope to the adjoming roofs.

So violent was the rainfall that even the ter-
rible explosions so near at hand had called up

.‘ , but few of the tenement-dwellers as yet.

Dashing through such as had ventured on the
roofs, the three friends plun ed into one of the
furtherinost scuttles that _ been left open.

With but little interrupltion on the way, they

succeeded in speedily reac ing the street.
‘ Here a bustling and tumultuous scene pre-
sented itself. _

Though, thanks to the rain, the roof of the
brewery had not caught fire it was smoking
and the startlin nature of the explosions
culled forth the re department in force.

The narrow street was, moreover, Jammed
with sightseers. I

Nevertheless, a coupe had just driven upbe-
fore a small door in the brewery building.

The three friends, from their momenta

' . "pause on the tenement stoop, could mark this

much over the heads of the surging crowds.

- Hawk and Nixey, at least, recognized
- u

ipage and driver on the instant. ,

t was a mud-sputtered black-aud-yellow ve~
' hicle, drawn by a powerful dap le-gray horse,
. and its driver was a heavy-set s ort man, with
,mutton-chOp whiskers, wearing no livery.

 

“ The same turnout in which Olga was first ab-
ducted!” exclaimed Hawk, dashing toward it
through the crowd.

“The same as brought the big man to the
Briii‘nswickl” cried Nixey, darting ofl? inhis‘
Wu 0.

“My assailant in Melton place—our hostage
of a few moments agol” muttered Seagravc, fol-
lowing.

They had nearly succeeded in forcing their
way to the equipage, when Kotzka’s towering
form issued from the brewery door.

He was enveloped in a voluminous cloak, and
he carried in his arms a slender, graceful figure,
a - glimpse of whose unconscious face was sufli-
cicnt to identify it as Olga’s. ‘

“Stop that maul” yelled Hawk, fighting his
way forward like a madman. “ He is an ab-
ductor—an assassin—a fugitive from justice!”

The crowd gazed at him stupidly, while mak-
inrr way for him. .

ut before this was done Kotzka had sprung
into the vehicle with his burden, slamming the
door behind him, and the driver had lashed the
big horse into movement.

ut by this time Hawk was hanging at the an-
imal’s head, Nixoy was clinging behind the box
like a monkey in a hippodrome, and Seagrave
with one foot on the carriage-step, was gluei
again st the door, dashing his armed hand through
the glass panel. ‘

Brought to a sudden halt, the equipage was
instantly the center of a surging, exasperated
crowd, most of whom seemed to imagine our
hero and his followers as desperate highwaymen.

“ Kill ’eml” “Arrest ’eml” “ Save the big
gent an’ the gal 2” “Where’s the police?” “ Club
the robbers I”

These and similar expressions were vociferated
from every side, and a general rush was made
upon the center of the disturbance.

Taking advantage of the tumult, the driver
suddenly dropped the lines, jumped from the
box, and disappeared.

Another rush overturned the vehicle, and
brought the horse to a stand-still, snorting and
trembling.

The threatening cries continued.

“Shut u your noise!” shouted a. big police-
man, shoul ering his way throu h the crowd,
followed by several firemen. “ ere ain’t no
robbers here. Yonder chap is Hawk Heron, the
Falcon Detective.”

Hawk and his comrades were now grouped
about the overturned coupe. ,

“ Nevertheless. Mr. Ofl‘lcer,” said he, “ there is
crime on foot. My friends and I have fortu-
nately stopped the flight of a villain in the act
of carrying 011’ a young lady.”

“ Where is he?” asked the officer.

“ Here, inside the coupe I”

The policeman wrenched open the carriage
door and then, after peering in, burst into a

Jan .
Tie coupe was empty!

CHAPTER XXI.
A COUNCIL or WAR.

“COME come, Mr. Hawk I” said the police-
man ch ngly; “ you’re out for once, at least,
in your claws.”

But many of the bystanders, who had seen
Kotzka enter the coupe with Olga in his arms,
were quite as much nonplused over his myste-
rious disappearance as were Hawk and his
friends.

They did not hesitate to support the latter in
what they had to offer, who was guardedly
brief, as to the extraordinary circumstance.

The policeman grew thoughtful.

“ At all events,” said he at last, when the
vehicle had been r' btcd “ I’ll take charge of the
turnout, an’ see w t the captain has to say
about it.” -

He clambered on the box and drove away.

It having been decxded that there was no fire
about the brewery building, the firemen were
likewise getting ready to quit the scene, and the
idle throngs began to disperse.

Hawk signaled his followers and mingled with
the crowd. -

, As he was about to emerge upon the neighbor-
ing avenue. he felt a paper sli ped into his hand.

Turning swiftly, he was on y in time to catch
a glimpse of amufiled and graceful female figure
ere it vanished in the crowd.

Five minutes, later, when he and his friends
were speeding down-town in an Elevated train,
he examined the paper. .

It bore the followmg words, hastily pencfled:

“ Iliad given you up for lost, but thank Heaven
you are safe! ut now I have~ horrible fears for
Olga. To-morrow at the house in Melton place. an
hour before dusk. Don’t faill CLARISSE."

He communicated the contents of this note to
his friends. V ’

It was now two o’clock in the morning.

“ Where are we going now?” asked Seagrave,
who was greatly dispirited.

“ Down-town. to an odd nook I know of.
where we can confer without interruption,” said
Hawk. “Before we seek the sleep and rest of

 

 

 

which we are in such great need, I deem it best
we should perfect our plans for the morrow.
Don’t you agree with me?”

Bot-h Seagrave and Nixey acquiesced. though
alppearing half-dead from fatigue and want of
s so 7.

' awk alone, notwithstanding all he had
undergone, seemed of iron.

“I am coming to think,” said he, “that to-
morrow we had better separate on several
quests, all tending to the same end, to meet
again afterward at some stated time and place.”

“ But why go so far down-town for our con-
ference?” asked Seagrave.

Hawk hit his lip and remained thoughtful for
a moment. .

“ I must confess, though with a sense of
shame,” he said, at last, “ that, after all that has
passed, I have come to suspect myself as being
shadowed by that ubiquitous fiend Kotzka, or
by one or another of his instruments, at almost
over turn.”

“ e’s a terror, boss!” said Nixey. “ The last
time I was in bed I dreamt he had me on a
pitchfork over a otful of b’ilin’ grease, 'an’ I
wollre pp with my air standin’ on end like tooth-

ic is.

“ The villain wears concealed armor; of that
I am satisfied." said Seagrave. “ He seems
capable of anything, like a sorcerer of old!”

hey were thus a reed that their new precau-
tion was being wise y taken.

“ By the way, boss,” said Nixev, presently,
“ I’vea confession to make that I’ve been hinder-
ed from makin’ up to this minute.”

‘f What is it?”

“ You remember when I shadowed Mr. Blith-
ers, accordin’ to your orders, after he left you
an’ me in your sleepin’-room, when I had got
Chl‘flgived ’down the Brunswick elevator—shaft? ’

‘ es. '

“ You remember the report I brought you 0
his movements boss?”

“ Certainly.’

b “ Well, I did soniethin’ more than shadow him,
oss.

“ What else did you do?”

“ I picked his pocket, boss.” ‘

Hawk turned upon the lad in astonishment and
indi nation.

“ old on, boss, before you fly off the handle,”
continued bixey. “You know how I’ve never
taken much stock in that Britisher? Well, I only
picked his overcoat pocket of a letter, what
reads sort of queer, 1111’ I’ve kept for you ever
since.”

He handed Hawk an enVelope, with letter in-
closed, as he spoke.

“ I’ve also something to add in the document-
ary line,” said Seagrave. “ Here are some
things I snatched out of the coupe the second
time I dashed my fist through the glass. Like
enough Kotzka lost them out of one of his
pockets before effecting his last disappearance
with his captive.”

He handed Hawk 9. crumpled envelope and a
torn piece of writing.

The detective wou d have examined all these
papers on the 5 ct, but just then they reached
the terminus o the Elevated road at the Bat-

terv.

“ Come along!” said Hawk, buttoning his over-
coat over the papers; “_ we can presently consider
these matters at our leisure.”

0n descending from the railway station, they
found that the rain had been superseded by a
furious Windstorm. '

The air had, moreover, turned freezing cold,
and everything exposed to it was covered with a
glare of ice.

Hawk led the way across the lonely Battery
Park, and through several narrow, dismal and
deserted streets. _-

At last two colored Iain 5, flanking the de-
scent into an obscure, mean- ooking saloon, with
tall, partly-lighted buildings on either side.
were escried toward the end of a particularly
narrow. steep and gloomy street, they were
traversing.

“ Is yonder our destination?” asked Sea grave.

“ I’m fly _to the crib,” interposed Nixey.
“It’s the Pig an’ Whistle’—a roundyvoo for
sum .glers, wharf-rats an’ river thieves. ’

“ It is sort of crooked,” assented Hawk, a lit-
tle apologetically. “ but it is our destination for
all that and we’ll be, safe from interruption
there. The deuce!”

He narrowly missed a fall on the narrow
slippery walk at the concluding interjection, on
his friends were momentarily disturbed in as-
sisting his equilibrium.

At this juncture, a short, mufled man brush.
ed iioiselessly past them, after giving theme
piercing loo of scrutiny, and sappeared in
the direction they weregoing. .

“By J ovel that fellow’s figure seemed famil-
iar,” exclaimed Hawk. '1, .

“He had mutton-chop whiskers, sure pop!”

said Nixoy. ‘ .

“Our hosta Kotzka’s minion—the driver
of ,the coupe .” said Seagrave. “I’m sure of
itl’

They all felt uneasy ovar this supposition, but
there was now no help for it, the man having
vanished. .

It was as though Kotzlza’s baleful influence

 

.2:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi ‘HaWk' Heron”, the

Falcon Detective.

"Wm.

21’

 

 

 

haunted them everywhere, and was in the very
air the athed.

As t1¥egr§pproached the Pig and Whistle the
fury of the wind increased. '

There was a general ban ng of shutters and
siO'n-boards, and it seem a wonder that the
11;ng and chimneys should withstand the fierce

sts.
gu“ What are these tall buildings on either side?”
asked Seagrave, as they were about entering the
saloon.

“ The one on the left there,” said Hawk, is oc-
cupiezl by telegraph, telephone and other oil-ices.
This other one, with the steam occasionally is-
suing from the basement, is the great Steam
Heating Company’s headquarters.”

“ What the people is so mad against,” supple-
mented Nixey, “from the way their pipes u’st
now an’ then, makin’ rock an mud volcaners of
the middle of the streets.” _

The saloon they now entered was a miserable,
grimy dive, thron ed with suspicious-looking
characters, who ey the new-comers With scowl-
in and forbidding lances.

fiut a significant Eook from our hero was more
than sufficient to conciliate the proprietor. .

In a few minutes the three friends were in-
stalled in a snug little private room under the
sidewalk, with a substantial lunch and smoking
cups of coffee before them.

After disposing of the refreshments, Hawk
first examined the letter which Nixey had sur-
reptitiously obtained from Mr. ‘ Blithers ’.

On the envelope was the latter‘s New York
address, written in a round oflicial hand.
There was no post-mark, so that it had doubt-
less been delivered by a public messenger or
private hands.

The inclosure contained but a few lines, with-
out date or personal signature.

It was to the following effect:

“If on can really gn've such information to His
Excel cncy as shall lead to the arrest or destruction
of the miscreants as an organization. the reward. as,
well as your own unconditional pardon, shall be
secured to you. But His Excellency mu t first have
absolute proofs of your good faith. SECRETARY.”

The crumpled envelope. which Seagrave had
snatched out of the coupe was also without

est-mark, and bore the address. “Adolphe De-
lhncourt, 32 Melton place, New York.”

“Here’s a coincidence,” said Hawk, when
these things had been duly considered by the
trio. “ In the first place, both these_ addresses
and the letter are in the same handwriting.” .

His companions assented, and looked at him
ex ctantly. _ .

‘ In the next place,” he continued, hesztatm 1y,
“Adol he Delancourt is doubtless one of . otz-
ka’s agiases. In fact, I remember hearing a.
woman ”—he could not bring himself to mention
Clarisse’s name in such criminal connection——
“ address him as her ‘ sweet Adolphe.’ ”

“What do you deduce from all thisi” asked
Sea ve, at length.

“ bus far, that both Blithers and Kotzka are,
31‘ have been, in fiommumgiation githhsoni’e official
apartment, per apswi some oreign ureau.

‘ With the same end in view?”

“ Impossible! Blithers is also interested in
running Kotzka to earth, by reason of the for-
ei forgeries.”

‘I’m sorry you think so, boss,” said Nixey,
wagging his head. “I dont take no stock in
that big Britisher.” _

“ Never mind, my lad. My supposition being
granted, what more likely_than for Blithers to
communicate with a. foreign bin'eau—say the
Russian Consulate-inasmuch as Kotzka is a
Nihilist conspirator, as we have seen?” .

“ But wherefore l” askedfieagrave.

“Why for assistance in securing his man,
and obtaining at the same time the reward which
the Russian Government 11:18.43“ have OfleEed for;
the disru tion of the anarc i or anfl'lon 9
which thzka is the undoubted anaead in this

7’ .
003913363,” said Seagrave; “but 'why should
,‘ Secretary’ speak of granting him, Blithersfi
an unconditional pardon, besides the reward?”

“I confess that stag ers me conSiderably,
said Hawk, knitting his rows; “though Blith-
ers may have actually joined the conspirators,
for the express purpose of betraying them, thus
rendering a sub uent pardon desirable.” .

“ What? From e _C_zar’s Government, for m-
stance and for a British subject on American
soil? l’rcposterousl” I

Hawk made an impatient gesture.

“I confess it is a mysteI‘Y. though I still be-
lieve in Blithers, With certain reservations,"
said he. “ But come, let us consider olir re-
maining document.” .

He spread it out before him. _ . i

It was the left-hand half of a piece of writing
that had been irregularly torn down nearly
through the middle. The writing proved to be
in the Russian language, and was submitted to
Seagrave for translation, as being the only one
familiar with that dialect._ _

While Seagrave was writing out the transla-
tion on a. fragment of paper made to resemble
the original, he said:

“This seems to have belonged to a_ rough
draft of something afterward copied, or intend-
ed to be copied."

 

This was the translation:
“ wa Y
“ 20 His Exonuunor
“ Comer RU
“ Russia
“Honoann
“ I am fully
information con
tion of Revolution
City, but I must f
the promised row
the Czar’s uncon
and subseque
the vengeance
“I am so high
the conspirators
tion can be implici
proceeding from its
“ Answer with
cautions as hereto

This was the mysterious fragment which the
friends red over for some moments in silence,
and wit but little satisfaction.

“ In the first place,” said Hawk, at last, “ we
will take for granted that the handwriting is
that of Kotzka.” '

“ What then?” asked Seagrave.

“Just this: That, if we only had the other
half of this fragment, and the entire reading
would prove the contemplated treachery of
Kotzka to his revolutionary associates, as this
fragment su gests, our task of bringing him to
justice woul be virtually accomplished.”

“How?”

“Can you ask? The ven cance of the con-
spirators would be awful. he only difficulty
would be to prevent them tearing him limb from
limb, rat r than delivering him bound and
helpless into our hands.”

‘ True for ou, boss!" chirped Nixey.

“ Ah!” sai Seagrave; “ but the other half of
the writing we have not got.”

“ But we must et it!” exclaimed Hawk; “and
youlshfill search or it, Seagrave.”

?

“Yes. Listen now to our programme until
next we meet. You, Seagrave, shall trgr to
track the missing fragment of manuscri t. on
had better first look for it in the cou w 'ch the

oliceman wok ssession of. I wi give you a
ew lines that Will serve as Iyour passport with
the police. You, Nixey, she once more shadow

Mr. Blithers. I shall keep my ap intment with

Clarisse. Let us meet again in t is place when
the tigegit midnight arrives. Now we will sop
ara .

He returned the papersto his pocket and arose.

As the trio were ascending out of the Pig and
Whistle, the furious wind almost lifted them
from their feet.

“ It’s a reg’lar snorterl” exclaimed Nixey,
dancing about on the sidewalk to keep warm
while a few parting words were being said.
“ We’d better all be in our beds than out—”

He was interrupted by a tremendous clatter
overhead. '

They had barely time to spring into the mid-
dle of the street before an immense sign-board
came crashing down from the top of the adjom-

in building.
t struck on the ve spot just deserted by the
trio and was shiver into a hundred pieces.

“Heavens, what a narrow escape l” exclaimed

ave.

“ a chunk chap with the mutton-chop whis-
kers!” cried ixey, with a sudden inspiration.
“ He had 6. hand in that—I’m bettin’ on it!”

They were standin in front of the Steam
Hea Company’s es blishment.

Haw. glanced u the front of the other tall
buildm , from wh oh the si -board had fallen.

“It oes look .suspiciousl’ he muttered. “And
that rascal, if his was the deed, might long be-
fore this have telephoned or telegraphed to his
principal in villain as to our whereabouts."

The words had 1y escaped his lips when
there was a terrible subterranean explosion.

Then the street-bed, almost under their very
feet, spruaiiig into the air.

Th y h . just time to seek the shelter on the
opposite side, as the mass of stops, earth and
ice, which had been thrown aloft higher than
the adjacent roofs, fell back in a crashing
shower. I \

A hissmg sound accompanied the eruption, and
for a. few moments the air was obscured by
dense clouds of escapin_ steam.

Then the 31% and W istle disgorged a motley
crowd of .Slg t-seers, while several workmen
rushed exc1tedly out of'the Steam Heating Com-
pany’s cellar.

“ Thieves! treachery!” shouted one of the lat-
ter. “Did any of you notice a man run up out
of the cellar just now?"

“ What kind of a man?” asked Hawk.

“An awfully big man, in a long dark cloak.
He was nosing around the engines a while ago,
pretending to examine the machiner .”

“ What of that?”

“Then he disappeared. But he must have
Skulked in under t 9 street, and tampered with
the pipes Didn’t any of you see him come run-
nin out? .

u 0‘” said Hawk. “ Neither my friends nor I
noticed any such person you describe.”

3,, exchanged a significantlook with Sea-
grave and, Nixey, and the trio forthwith sepa-
rated.

 

CHAPTER XXII.
A ms HORROR.

AN hour before dusk on the following evcnin g1,
Hawk Heron was on his way to keep his appoint—-
ment with Clarissa Letours in Melton place.

He was invigorated after along restful slum»
ber, followed by a hearty meal, and felt hinxsiil’

ual to any fresh adventure.

e had, moreover, just had an interview with.
his chief of the Detective Bureau, in which he-
had reported rogress.

By way of isguise, he was attired in abraml-
new fireman’s uniform, and wore a false set of"
close-clipped crispy heard all around his face,
both of which became him well, while sufl‘cicnt~
ly concealing his identity.

Turning briskly into Melton place, he came
suddenly upon old Mr. Schmidt, the illusion
teacher, whom he had not met since the Gotham
Flats fire. ,

“ Ah, mynheer! well met,” cried Hawk, slap--
pin the old man on the shoulder.

r. Schmidt had recognized the voice in spite
of the fireman’s dress.

“ Ah, Mr. Heron! but I am glad to meet you
again,” said be, quite cheerfully. “ I have been
pining to learn the particulars of that horrible:

re that ruined me.

“ Gad!” said Hawk, bursting into‘ a laugh ;.
“ I must say you look decidedly contented for a.
ruined man, my friend.”

“ I was insured, Mr. Heron,” said the good old
entleman, managing to pump out a sigh. “ I
out mind telling you that I was even liberally

insured.”

U.  1”

“ Yes, Mr. Heron,” and here the sigh was un-
forced, “but that has not restored to me mv
pets, my beautiful birds, that were destroyed. I

don’t care so much for my musical instruments, .

most of which were old and worn out. But my
birds, my lovely pets 1”

“ The scene of the murder—the Ashcombe data

—was entirely wiped out, I have heard?”
“ Yes; not a trace of it left.”

Hawk then related the particulars of the fire, ‘

and asked Mr. Schmidt w ere he was living.

“ Close at hand," was the reply. “I have a.
nice third floor in a private house, my friend.”

“ But where?”

“Here in Melton lace, No. 34.”

Hawk started. his was the number adjoin—
ing Clarisse’s residence. '

‘ I hope you have a nice landlady,” said he).
with assumed indifference.

“Yes, my friend; a worthy but home] old
soul, who has seldom anything to say, an who
alwags has the face-ache.”

“ h! and you therefore see little of her fea-
tures?”

“Never anything, my friend, but the upper
part, and that is so homely as to leave no desire

or a fuller view. Ahl how different from the
beautiful widow Ashcombe, who was wont to
take an interest in my comfort, and—”

“ Stow that for the present.
on besides yourself ’1"

" None other, my friend.”

“ How did on happen to hit upon such an out—

of-the-wagi p ace?” 4
“Ah, i was very odd, my friend. On the
morning after the fire, I was stupid] gazin at.
the fire, when a. nice man, my presen landlafiy'
husband—”

“ So, she has a husband?”

“Yes, my friend, though he is seldom at home. ‘

and I have never seen them in each other’s com-

n I”
pa“Iunderstand. He divined your difficulty, I.
suppose, oflenn you lodgings in his house, and‘

on 'um at 's offer.”
y “ Iil’ pedfricnd, I never jump at anything. I

o m
‘am too’olil’forthat. But he seemed so pressin ,
so verytggsmng, that I should examine a ‘

rooms
them.’ - .
“Very ressing eh? Whatishis name?”
“Mr. old bupont. He is a foreigner,
speaking all the continental languages, which
will be agreeable for me.”
“ What is he like?”

I consented, and presently hired

“A short, thick-built man, my friend with a: ‘

tum-up nose, determined lips, and. those n lish-
looking whiskers at the sides of tho‘c ks
“finch you Americans call side-boards or mutton-
c o . .

awk started again. Indeed, it was all he
could do to keep from betraying his astonish-
men '

covering himself.
new quarters when you least expect me.”

The old gentleman said he would always be A

welcome, and went on his way.

“ More mystery!” muttered Hawk, as he bur.
rled to his destination. “To think of Kotzk'a.
having that simple old German already in his
power! The man is as deep as he is diabolical,

Clarisse’s basement shutters seemed to be se-

curely fastened, and there was no responseto .

our hero’s re ated rings for admittance.

Then, finding to his surprise that the street-
door was unfastened, he entered the house.

A stran
nameless .
pervade the empty interior.

Any other lodg- .

t.
“ ell, good-afternoon. mynheer," said he, “'3- 3 ,,
“I may call on you at your ' »

feeling came over him. An air of I
orror and abandonment seemed to "

 

 

 

 

22

Hawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.

 

 

He called aloud upon the young woman’s name,
flint there was no answer.

He hastily explored every apartment above
the basement floor.

All were bare, as on the former occasion, ex-
cept the one room out of which “ Blithers ” had
appeared, and which he had been forbidden to
enter.

This room he now entered.

l It was richly furnished, but all the furniture
was in the utmost confusion, as though having
been searched or rifled by some one who had
taken himself off in frantic haste.

Hawk did not stay to investi ate.

Full of a strange foreboding, e hurried to the
basement and knocked on Clarisse’s door.

No answer.

He pounded, but with no better result.

Then he broke down the door, groped his way
through the interior, threw open a sash, and
flung wide a. shutter for the admission of light.

Bis premonitions had not been for nothing].

The room was suggestive of a recent and or-
:rible crime.

Chairs were overturned, the drawers of the
dressin —case pulled out, their contents scatter-
»ed, the disordered, ornaments smashed.

A knife, ruddin stained, lay in the middle of
the floor.

Red blotches and gents were upon the walls,
and tresses of long, beautiful hair, as though
torn out by the roots in a struggle for life with
:a merciless assailant, were scattered about the
room. _

Hawk staggered into a seat, horrified beyond
mafisure'eod" h asped “Cl ' h bee

, y ! e g ; arisse as n
murdered, and by that fiend, Kotzkal I see it
all. Infuriated by her love for me, or her pro-
tection of Olga, perhaps her growing luke-
warmness in his accursed political projects, he
has at last made way with her l”

Sprin 'ng to his feet, he lighted a lamp and
follow the trail of the sanguinary traces.

.This led him out into the basement-hall, down
the last flight of steps into the sub-cellar.
, Here his worst fears appeared to be con-

firmed.

In the middle of the cellar a long trench—long
enough for a newly-made grave—had recently
been filled in and stamped down!

He leaned against the damp wall and contem-
plated this awfully—suggestive spot with inde-
scribable feelings of horror and dismay.

Then he started, and listened. .

1 Hp had heard the street-door opened v10-
ent y.

Then came the sound of heavy footste tram-
ptling through the main hall and descen ' g the

airs.

CHAPTER XXIII. I
A niran SECRET DISENTOMBED.
APPALLED as he was at the thou ht of Clar-
isse’s violent death at Kotzka’s ban 8, our hero
was for the moment incapable of action or even
intelligent deliberation. -
Nearer and nearer, lower and lower, approach-
ed the tramplin feet.
At last they escended the cellar ste , and a
face—the face of Kotzka agrin with 'abolical
trium h and joy— red at him through the
semi arkness.
“Ha, ha, ha!” roared the terrible, never-to-
be—forgotten laugh. “What! are we bereaved?
are we mournin for our beautiful Clarisseil
Dig, gig, my 15 con, if you would find her,
peace and at rest! Falcons are ‘ven tosoar-
mg, that I know, but now there mus be delving if
the false, fair dove is to be seen and fondled yet
once more! Ha, ha, ha!” .
The hateful voice roused our hero to his wont-
cd energy and dauntlessness.
Extingishing his lamp, and casting it away,
he drew his revolver, and dashed at Kotzka,
who at once took to fli ht.
“Murderer! un leled monster!”‘ shouted
Hawk, sprin ' g u the em in pursuit, and
firing shot a ter 8 0t at t e huge fugitive;
' “do you bear a charmed life? Are you, in-
deed, bullet-proof?"

It seemed ve like it, at all events.

HeedIeSS of t _e shots that were ured, to all
sgpearances, directly .into his road back,

otzka bounded up stair after stair with sur-
prisin agility.

At With a parting roar of demoniac
laughter, he disappeared into one upper furnish-

. alparth. ment, closmg and fastemn’ g the door he-

in im.

But Hawk was now at the fever-heatithat
mocks at obstacles. his six

Pausing but a moment to c
shooter with fresh cartridges, he hur ed himself
8“” t the iiitoor like an avalanchefik be.
u as was it ave wa ' epaper
fore the fury of his onsgt. y
Then he came to an exasperated pause in the
mgdle of {:3 room. M ed
otzka ain ' !
But where? figwl pm
, Eggs windows were closed and fastened on the
e.
The only remaining door opened into ashal-
low closet, which was empty.
The sole remaining aperture was the fire-

 

place, and the slenderest bo could not have
crtlaft u its narrow, rubbish-c oked flue.
aw sounded the walls after the manner of

an expert, but without detecting the slightest
indication of a secret door or panel.

Wholly at a loss to account for the disappear-
ance, he at last reluctantly retraced his steps.

Obtaining another light in the basement
chamber of horror, he returned to the sub-cellar,
whose environments were even more appallin .

Partly resolved to open the grave, if grave it
were, be searched the cellar for some implement
to assist him, but without finding any.

“ The murderous fiend 1” he muttered; “ he
seems to have forgotten no precaution.”

Hawk was, however, none the less certain that
Clarissa had been murdered and buried in that

t.
pli‘or the first time, though but for a moment,
helpermitted himself to indulge his 'ef.
rief as had been the growth of is passion,
he had come to love the strangle; and beautiful
Clarissa with a great and absor ‘ng love.

Only a short time before she had seemed to
reciprocate that love, and dreams of a rosy fu-
ture had peopled his peril-hardened, danger-
tried, but still suSCeptible heart.

And now!

Dead, ruthlessly murdered—perhaps losing her
life through the very love for him which he had
evoked—cut off in her glorious womanhood, her
transcendent beauty!

It was indescribably terrible!

A well-remembered sound aroused him out of
his horror-woven spell.

It was a sad sound, a. sound between a sigh
eggs. groan, accompanied by the clanking of a
c n.

Hal the invisible prisoner at the mouth of the
tunnel!

’Was the solution of this mystery already in
his grasp, after baffling him so long and repeat-

edl ?

gas: he would investigate it at once, and the
work might in some measure distract him from
the thought of his murdered love.

Proceeding to the mouth of the tunnel, be
careful] scrutinized a portion of the masonry,
gglided y the sounds which continued at inter-
v

3.

At length he found a round iron button, im-
bedded in the masonry near the ground.

He pressed it with his thumb.

Instantly a narrow door, in cunning imitation
of the stone-work framing it, sw1mg slowly open
in obedience to a secret spring.

It disclosed a short, cram d passage, with a
door, part] ajar, at the furt er end, from which
rays of lig t were issuing, as well as the sounds
he had heard.

After studying the nature of the secret sprin -
lock with a. practiced e e, Hawk entered is e
passage, closing the door hind him.

He then crept alon noiselessly, and peered
through the ha f—open oor.

What he saw riveted him to the ground for a
moment with intense astonishment. As be con-
tinued to look, this ex ression gave way to one
of recognition, in whic there was also joy, hope
and a world of pity.

This is what he saw:

First, the interior of a large, well-furnished,
well-warmed prison cell, with even a brisk little

ate-fire rkling in one corner, and lighted
g; an iron racket-lamp, but with no window,
loophole or other opening than the door of en-
trance.

Next, an old man seated listlesst at a table.
His hair and beard were white as snow, the lat-
ter fallin far down upon his breast. He was
comforts. 1y clad, and appgently well cared for
but his eyes indicated 1m any. rhaps atotal
loss of memory and even consc ousness of his
surroundin . Strong, but not heavy chains
shackled h wrists and ankles. ' fregll‘lfilllt
movement of those members caused the cla g
sounds and he often sighed moumfully. I

Hawk drew a long breath, and his eyes lis-
tened in a way that he would not have ad
noticed. '

Then setting down his lam , he ghded into
the cel , and placed his ban on the captive’s
shoulder. .

The latter looked up apathetically, and mut-
tered somethin in a foreign tongue.

“Speak Eng ish or French!” said Hawk, in his
clear, incisive tones.

“Eh? what?" muttered the old man, survey-
ing him with indifference. “Who are you?
What do you want? I want Clarisse!‘f
f A spasm of pain shot over the detective’s stern

ace.
The old man had uttered the name tenderly—-
almost like a little child pining for its accus-
tomed nurse.

“ Alas!" thoughtHawk, “ the poor old captive
is to be envied in this, that he Will hardly ap-
preciate her death.” .

Then he bent his lips, and whispered a. name—
the prisoner’s own name, or one that he had
once possessed.

“ h? Who aks'i” he cried, suddenlystart—
ing up as if wit the limmerings of an almost
faded intelli once. ‘ Who calls me by the old
strong title? !

“ I, Hawk Heron! Come, stir up the embers

/, r ,.

 

of ypur memory, my friend! Do you not recall
me

But the momentary luster faded out of the
plaintive gaze fixed upon him, and the prisoner
released into his apat y.

“ o, fgo!” said he, pettishly; “the man on
speak 0 is dead—long dead—his name a ost
echo! I want Clarisse!

The detective made more efforts to awaken
the dormant faculties, but with no better suc-

cess.

At last he hissed into the old man’s ear:

“ Clarissa can come to you no more! But
would not another answer in her place—Kotzka,
for instance?”

The effect of that name was magical.

Fire leaped into the dim eyes, the sunken
breast heaved tumultuously, mingled rage and
fear distorted the aged face.

“ Kotzka!” the old man almost screamed.
“No, no, not him! The traitor, the renegade,
the fiend! ’

“ Ha! renegade, traitor? Could we but prove
as much!”

“Not him, not him! I would kill him—I
would tear him to pieces—or he should kill me!”

The utterance was more feeble now, but the
eyes still blazed, and the shriveled fingers were
working convulsively.

“ Now try to recall in features,” said Hawk,
impressively. “Seize t is awakening of your
smoldering faculties ere it fades again! Study
me well l”

The prisoner obeyed. A troubled look came
into his face, he placed his hand to his forehead,
but that was all.

The detective fixed his soul-burning, pene-
trating gaze into those aged and troubled eyes.

Then, slowly baring his breast, he presented
to their view the emblem inefl’aceably delineated
there—~the proud falcon striking down his vul—
ture enemy in mid-air.

“ Look, call up the past, remember!” be ex-
claimed, in his Ppiercing whisper. “ Do you not
recall me now

The test was successful.

. The troubled, clouded look slowly faded, giv-
ing‘ way to a startled, 'oyous expression.

hen, struggliugto is feet, the old prisoner
threw his arms around the detective’s neck and
burst into a flood of tears.

“ The st gives up its dead l” he sobbed.
“ Hawk eron! my son, my son, the child of my
adoption!”

Before the prisoner relapsed into his imbecility,
which was not very long, many revelations
passed between him and the detective.

The departure of the latter was scarcely
noticed, but Hawk promised himself that the
old captive should henceforth be his special care.

“ Clarissa, my murdered love,” he murmured,
“ thy gentle ministrations to this old man must
henceforth be my task.”

CHAPTER XXIV.
THE was YET wnavme.

RETURNING to the horror-haunted cellar, the
detective was seized with a fresh fit of indeci-
5101:.

Even had the re uisite tools been at hand, he
could not have t ought again of opening that
new—made grave, if ave it were.

What then should e do?

Notify the police?

No, not that!

He still _had a. feeny limmering hope that
Clarissa might not have u really murdered.
after all: that these sanguinary traces had
inerer been cunnineg contrived to deceive

 

1m.

Besides, he clung stubbornly to his original
vaunt of clearing up this tissue of mysteries and
horrors sing! , or at least without an iota of aid
from his pro essional brethren.

He would stand or fall alone. _

After coming to_ this determination, be 108
no more time in allntlilng the accursed house.

Having found 6 streetrdoor key on the inside,
he made the entrance fast and put the key inhis

pocket. .

It was about eight o’clock.

He was sauntermg past the adjoining stoop
when a female figure, whose face was muffled
almost out of sight, passed up the steps and be-
gan fitting a key to the door.
~ “ Oho! Mynheer Schmidt’s odd landlady ”

ought Hawk, slippin into a place of conceal
ment. “ Let us want a it.”

Before the old woman could eflect an entrance.
Mr. Schmidt himself came along, and ascended
the 

flaw could readily hear whatpassed between

em.

“Ah, Madame DuPont, is it you?” said the old
German, genially. ‘ And may I exist madame
in fitting the key?” . . . .

The woman mumbled an unintelligible answer
and then the lock yielded.

“ I hope monsieur likes his axiartments,” the
old woman then said, while 0th remained
standin on the top step. “ If anything more
can be one for monsleur's comfort, monsieur
has but to speak."

The accent was a. strongly foreign one, and
the voice a deep guttural.

Mr. Schmidt rubbed his hands. His new

i
i
I
I
l
l
I
!

 

Hawk Heron, the Falcon’Deteotive.

23

 

 

'n were ever hing he could desire, lie
 8%:1 he could o’htly ho e that madame was
equally pleased with her 10 ger. _

“ Monsieur plays upon many instruments,”
said the old woman. “ MonSieur does not retire
until ver late.”

Mr. Sé‘limidt hung his head like a scolded
schoolboy, and began a rambling apology.

She cut him short. Monsieur’s musical exer-
cises did not annoy her, but her poor husband!
He mostly came home very late, and undis-
turbed sleep was indispensable to him.

Would monsieur kindly say what time he
usually found forgetfulness in slumber! Then
niadaine’s poor husband could regulate his retire-
ment to something like an accustomed hour.

Mr. Schmidt rubbed his hands afresh, and
smiled all over.

He was happy to inform madame that by two
in the morning he was usually folded in the
arms of Morpheus. " _

That was well; and was nionsieur in the habit
of sleeping soundly? .

Oh, yes; Mr. Schmidt thanked Heaven, his
age and fine digestion that, once fairly asleep, u.
cannon-shot’s concussion on his ear-drum would
hardly avail to arouse him. .

That was yet better; madame realized by her
chronic face-pains that sound sleep was an ini-

ea rable blessin .
mThse1 old German? went into the house, still
smiling benevolently, but the other remained
standing in the doorway, looking up and down
the street. .

“ You’re a deep one, old lady!” said Hawk to
himself. “ What can be brewin a aiiist the
simple old German, and what we (1 not give
for a study of your features?"

He was about to slip away unobserved when
heavy footsteps were heard aggproaching rapidly.

The old woman manifes expectation, and
then a powerful figure passed under 9. near
street-lamp.

“ Blithers, by all that’s wonderful!” murmured
Hawk, resuming his watch. “Come, come; it
grows interesting.”

The old woman’s manner was obsequious, and
that of the Scotland Yard detective gruff to in-
civility, as he ascended the steps. ,.

“ Any news?” he asked in French.

“ None,” was the reply in the same language.

“ The old German?”

“ All is satisfactory.”

“Have you procured me the missing names
for my list?” ,

u Yes. 7,

“ Without exciting suspicion?”
H Yes.”

“ The German’s room is accessible?”

“It will be later.”

“ Eh bien, let us 0 in.”

They entered the ouse, closing the door.

“ Short and sweet l” commented Hawk, coming
out of his concealment. “ Oho Mr. Blithers, my

ess as to your deep game is doubtless correct!

on are maneuvering to sell out these lotters
to the Czar’s Government, as the price or et~
ting your detective’s grip on Kotzka and t us
icapturin both the Russmn and the English re-
wards. ut let us wait and see who will first
run him to earth, the British bulldog or the
American bloodhound!” .

In fact, Hawk could not abstain from a sense
of admiration of what be imagined as Bli-
thers’s deep game.

Then he found himself confronted by a. coun-

r reflection.
ta“ True.” he muttered, “but how account for
the pardon oflered in the Secretary’s letter, in
addition to the reward?”

Finding this too hard a nut to crack, he turn-
ed his thoughts elsewhere. _ '

“What can old Schmidt have in his posses-
sion that Kotzka covets?” he thought. “Let
me See; at all events I should be on hand; at two
in the morning, to look after his safety.’

He re-entered what had now become_a house
of horror, and made his way to the rear yard.

A narrow extension ran along‘ the first story
back of all the houses in the bloc . _ i

A light was shining from Mr. Schmidt’s third
story window adjoining, and present] the notes
of a flute came out upon the cris nig t air.

Hawk discovered that he cou cl easily, on oc-
casion, make his way along the extension roofs,

/ andthence, by the waterspout and other foot-

holds, up into the old German’s rooms.

He was about to retrace his stops, when a
second story Wipdow of the Dupont domicile
was softly raised, and a. burly figure slipped out
on the extension roof. _

It was Kotzka, a revolver in one hand, a dag-

‘ other. . .
'geiahgdhlei light issued from the Windows above
to enabfia Hawk to recognize him.

“ Heavens!” thought the latter, as he crouch.
red near the fence while re arding the rifle
movements. “can Blithers now of his ngex-
—his close proximity to. the” dangerous man
whose betrayal he is plotting? . _ ,

He drew his own pistol, and Sighted the giant 5
head for a t, but his sober second thought
withheld his ger at the trigger, though the
1cm tation was a powerful one. _

“$10, no!” he murmured putting up the
weapOn; “though the blood of Charisse now

 

swells the cry for vengeance on his head, I must
take him alive, alive! His doom must be the
scaffold, the gibbet and the throttling cord!”

Kotzka only remained on the extension roof
a few moments.

He seemed to bend his gaze inquiringly on the
lighted windows above.

Suspicion and distrust were in his manner
and attitude.

Hawk felt sure that if the old German had
ventured to thrust out his head at that moment,
it would have cost him his life.

He therefore felt relieved when Kotzka slip-
ped back through the window.

“How did the villain get throu h the divid-
ing wall, out of that room into whic I cornered
him?” thought our here, as he made his way
back to the street. “That is a mystery yet to
be solved.”

He had hardly issued from the door, when he
shrunk back.

A hackney coach had just driven up to the
adjoining house.

“ Oho!” thou ht Hawk, with his eyes peeled;
” what a pity t iat it isn’t our black—and~yellow
coupe, with our Monsier Dupont on the box, and
the big dapple-grayl That would cap the cli-
max!”

But it was an altogether different species of
turnout.

A moment later, Blithers ran hurriedly down
the adjoining stoop, sprung into the coach, and
was driven off.

Hawk made a movement to start in ursuit.

But at that instant, a small, active figure
darted into view and leaped behind the vanish-
ing vehicle with the agility and stealthiness of a

monkey;
Haw had recognized the figure.

“My faithful henchmanl my own little
Nixe !” he muttered. “ Like a young but true
sleut hound, he‘s fastened to his trail.”

Hawk had some more business at Police Head-
quarters before keeping his midnight appoint-
ment with his associates.

He therefore hurried away in his turn from
tllie decidedly sensational precincts of Molten
p ace.

 

CHAPTER XXV.
TANGLED THREADS.

HAWK and Seagrave were on time at the Pig
and Whistle rendezvous, but Nixe arrived ten
minutes late, lookin considerably low-n.

“ How are we wit our reports?" inquired the
detective, as they took their seats in the little
private room. '-

Seagrave shook his hepd, while Nixey looked
radiant.

“ Well, bad news first. Hcave ahead.’Ralph.”

“ I have failed to find the missing half of the
Russian manuscript ” said Sea ve. “ That’s
the long and short 0 it, Hawk.’

“ It had not been left in the black-and-yellow
cou‘p‘Ie, then?”

‘ ot having the felicity of searching, or even
seeinfithe black-and-yellow coupe, I can’t say.”

“ at do you mean?”

“ It disappeared five minutes after being
driven to the recmct station by the policeman.”

“ What e anation was ofleredi”
“Ilgone. e officers Were as much mystified
as .

“ This is very extraordinary!”

“ I should say so. There was a commotion at
the station entrance, it seems, at the time the
coupe was driven there. A bunch of drunkards
was being taken in. The policeman having the
coupe in charge 51th the box for a few min-
utes, to assmt his fellow-ofi‘lcers. When he re-
turned to look for the turnout, it was gone.”

“Have you tried to trace it?”

:: Eigeryviiheiée, lint]; in vain.”

, we on t essthe scra of r would
not paévelbeen it? it, aftfrpall.’Pape ,
ee sure l we could on] have searc -
ed the interior.” ' y h
is Why?”

“Because, from the feel of things, I obtained
the fragment in our possession by tearin it
from the rest, which had somehow got wedgged
in between the seat-cushion and the upholstery
at the Side.”

H Oho I” - ‘

“Yes; and I am su that the missing
fra out has remained there, unperceived even
fig: 9 coupe may been occupied a dozen times

ce.
“ Good! Then the coupe must be found.”
“ It has been found, boss.” '
Nixey interpolated this, very quietly, but with
his impish grin. _
“Ha!” exclaimed Hawk, both deli hted and
surprjsfid. “Are you there, my li tle true-
nn
pe“ es, boss; an’ it’s no fault of Mr. Sea ve’s
that he couldn’t track the black-an -ye]1er

cou%"
“ ell, it’s your turn, my lad.”

Nixe was quite ready with his re re.

“I d dn’t get out of bed, boss, ti the middle
of the afternoon. Then it was nigh on to
dusk before Icaught on to Mr. Blithers. It
was in the Brunswmk vestibule an' I had tough
work keepin’ out of sigilliyvhil’e keepin’ him in
sight At half-past eig a district memenger

 

brought him a note. There wasn’t any reply.
Then Mr. Blithers skipped away in a hurry.’

“ You still shadowed him?”

“ Straight to Melton I‘lplace and on foot, boss.
He disappeared, not in iss dlarisse’s house, but
in 34, next door, after chinnin’ a. little with an

old gal on the steep.”
“ rue.”

“Then a fireman vanished into the next house,
boss that I now see must have been yourself."

n True.”

“ Then, in less than ten minutes, a. public
coach drew up to 34. When it druv away, Mr.
Blithers was inside an’ I was behind, boss.”

“ True again; I saw on.”

“Mr. filithers druv to 890 Madison avenue, a
handsome, bang-up private residence.”

“ Aha! we must find out who lives there.”

“ I have found that out, boss.”

“ Who, then?” ‘

“ Count Rudovoski, the Russian Consul."

Both Hawk and Seagrave gave a surprised
start. while the former quickly produced the
torn fragment that had been trans ated.

“ See I” exclaimed Hawk. “The letters
‘ dovoski ’ would inst fill out this third line,
making the who e read, ‘ Count Rudovoski.’
Truly, we’re in luck. Go ahead, Nixey.”

“Mr. Blithers stayed in that bang-up crib a
long time,  He was then druv to the big
old brewer buildin’ with me still at his back.
He stayed in there a long time, boss; maybe he’s
there yet.”

“ How so?”

“Because I didn’t see him come out again,
boss; but, after a long time, somebody elso came
out in his stead."

H Who?” ‘

“ Kotzka.”

“ You astonish me."

“ It astonished me, too, boss: you might 'a’
knocked me down with a feather.”

“ Well, did Kotzka get into the coach Blithers
had occupied?”

“ The coach had druv off, a minute or two be‘
fore, boss, and the black-an’-yeller coupe taken
its lace.’

‘ What! with the original driver?”

“ The identical, Simon Pure, original Jacobs,
boss side-whiskers included.”

“ sol Well, what then?”

“ Kotzka. jumped into the coupe, an’ was driv-
en elf.”

“ And you?”

“ I was hangin’ on behind like a postagestamp,
boss, though it was all-fired tough work, there
bein no foot-hold, an‘ I was mi hty glad when
they came to the next stoppin’-p ce.’

“ Where?”

“One hundred and tenth street. corner Sev-
enth avenue, at the top of Central Park.”

“At what sort of house?” ,.

“ None‘at all, boss. There was empty lots on
one side, the Park on the other.”

“ Well?” e
"Kotzka jum out, an’ said to the driver,
says he, ‘ You’ll at the house I told you of an

hour before sunrise?’ ‘Yes,’ says the driver;
‘Will it be best,’ says Kotzka, ‘ to cross at Ful-
ton Ferry, or by the bridge?’ ‘ By the brid ,’
salys the driver. ‘ Don't fail then,’ says K0 3.
‘ II have the young lady in readiness.’ That
Was all, boss." ‘ ' ,

Both Hawk and Seagrave had been workedup

to a hi h pitch.

“Al !" echoed the former. “But what fol-
lowed?” - =

“The coupe whipped ofl’, boss, while Kotzka.
cut across some empt lots, with me athis heels.

Fast as I ran, he ran aster. I lost-track of him,

an’ here I am, boss.”

“ How long ago was this?”

“ Less’n an hour, boss. Havin’ lost in man,
1 made tracks for the Third Avenue E evated,
an’ here I am.”

“ Well and good!” said the detective, rubbin
his hands. “This is better, far better than
had hoped for.”

“ What do you infer from it all?” asked Beau

V9.
graWhy, it is obvious. Kotzka has Olga fem:

Borerin in hidin somewhere in Harlem. But
e has also provi ed some securer place of con-

finement for her over in Brooklyn. The trans.»

for is to be effected this war mornin . The
coupe will cross the Brooklyn ridge, wit Kotz-

.ka. and his prisoner inside, at say half-an-hour

after sunrise. That is, the attempt to do so will
be made. We must be on hand to prevent i or
at least to rescue Olga, say midway on the bri go
roadway, without attracting undue attention
from the police."

“ Ay ” exclaimed Seagrave, “and rhaps re-
cover e missing half of the tth paper at
the same time i” i

“Certainly.” ‘

“ Kotzka will make a hard fight for the young
lady,” su ested Nixey.

‘ That nds to reason,” said Hawk. “But

can we ask for anything better than a. fair fight
with him on open ground?”
“ Not .I, for one," growled Seagrave. “ His
head can hardly be so bullet-proof as his body."
“ I owe him one for flrin’ me down the hotel

elevator,” said Nixe . “ The Short Tails always ,-
gets even sooner or ter.” '

. ,  ..... 3“...  ._,..

mamfiwWW-é iM-

so; can". .fmmm'

 

. “This shall be our programme, then,” said
Hawk. “Let us now separate, to meet at the
Brooklyn Bridge entrance at sunrise. This will
give us time to perfect our plan."

N“ Why do you leave us now, boss?” asked

me .

“ Iiyitermediate duties call me back to Melton
place,” said Hawk.

He then told them brieflv of the thrilling dis-
coveries be had made at No. 32 Melton place.

His companions were scarcely less horrified at
the recital than he had been making the discov-
cries.

“ Come, we’ll think no more of this at res-
ent," at last said the detective; rising. “ nly
we shall henceforth have the murder of poor
Clarisse, as an additional incentive to our

zen .

They quitted the Pig and Whistle in each
other’s company, passing around the yawning
street excavation made by the steam e losion
of the preceding morning, when Haw once
more separated from his friends.

The weather had Ion before this cleared off
beautifully, the ice he. disappeared, a balmicr
atmosphere had succeeded t 6 cold storm, and
the sky was studded with stars.

Hawk had two objects, as the reader may re-
collect, in returning to Melton place.

He wished, first, to visit once more the aged
prisoner of the tunnel-cell, and devise some
means for his speedy removal thence.

After that it was his intention to climb over
the extensmn roofs at the rear, gain one of the
back windows of old Mr. Schmidt’s new apart-
ments, and look after the occupant’s safety, and
perhaps have a secret interview with him, for
the purpose of putting him on his guard.

He ought to effect this latter object, in view of
what he had overheard, by two o’clock at the
fittest, and it was now pint one. .

Arriving at No. 32 elton place, his former
sense of horror took possession of him. .

It was the deadcst, the darkest, the most
solemn hour of the night.

He thought of the scene of horror in the base-
ment, the ghastly trench in the cellar, the appall-
ing surroundings through which he must once
mOi-e pass in order to reach the old captive.

- A momentary sense of faintness seized him,
. his knees smote each other, he could hardly
place the key in the lock.

He recovered himself by a great effort.

“ This is childish!” he muttered. “ Is not the

’ future care of this poor, forlorn old captive a.
dot that I owe to the memory of Charisse?"

e strode into the house, lighted a lamp
which he had left convenient to his hand, and
closed and fastened the door behind him.

He first made a thorough examination of all

, the upper rooms, and assured himsolf that this
time there was no lurking foe in that quarter.

Descending to the basement, he skirted the
room of horror, not without a shudder, and
made his way again into the sub-cellar.

He forced himself, however, to examine the

, trench once more, to note if its surface might
. Ihave been disturbed since his first visit.

It was well that he did so.

Not only did the surface show that it had
been dug over, at least in part, but a. spade was
standing in the fresh-trampled earth.

Wrapped about its handle was a piece of

white paper. I . I
Fall of frightful antiCipations he snatched it,
’ and read the following words, mscribed in a
‘ coarse, scrawling hand:
' “ There are two sleeping below here now. Dig. if
" ' you dare!“ _
- What could'it mean?

Hawk suddenly dropped the paper, gripped
his lamp more tightly and flew to the tunne en-
trance.

, No need to’ press on secret spring nowl
.. The door was already open. '
He threaded the passage, and gamed the cell.
«, , It was empt l y
Moreover, t are were signs of another des-
perate gle
'» As in the chamber of horrors above, the walls
were stained with ruddy gouts and blotches,
and the floor was strewn With locks of hair as
if torn out by the roots. only the hair was t in
.., and white, instead of thick and bright.
:/ ' For a moment the detective was once more
I "_' unnerved. ' 1'
. “God of vengeance!" he , sta germ
back: “is there no limit to fiend otzkas
ini uity?”
en rushin back into the cellar he set down
his lamp, andiegan to dig up the trench like a
. . madman. ‘
' ‘ He had not a doubt that continued. labor
-would disclose the murdered form of the old
-. ' ca ive, as well asthat of Clarissa.
' ut be presentl encountered a layer of very
lhard and compac earth, and came to a breath-
ess use. ‘
a i .In this pause he suddenly bethought himself
of his second duty in that appallingyicinity—
- . his watch and ward over the o d mumcieacher.
‘ 7, He consulted his watch.
' ' v Five minutes past two!
" Heavens, the sleeping German might already
=17" be in the tails of foes. .
:l ./ " Not altogether sorry, however, for the pres-
.1 i' I V , i . I

 

I

| ing duty that called him from the ghastlly
1 before him, he threw down the spade, pic
1 the lamp, and passed up the stairs.

Entering a rear room on the second floor, he
extinguished the lamp, and climbed out upon
the extension roof.

A dim light shining out of a top room of the
adjoining house indicated that as the one in
which Mr. Schmidt most likely slept.

The windows below it emitted no light.

Gliding noiselesst along the extension roofs,
Hawk examined the waterspout fastenings.

They seemed secure.

“A moment later, he was making his way slow-
ly and laboriously u the rear wall of No. 34,
but without making t ic least noise.

afforded him a stanch foothold.

He drew himself up carefully, obtained a half-
sitting posture on the ledge above, and peered
through the panes into the interior. ,

Yes; he had guessed aright.

Mr. Schmidt’s apartments were three in num-
ber, communicating directly with oar-h other,

was his sleepin room.

The light, a orded by a lowercd lamp stand-
ing upon a wash—stand, was sufficient to disclose
the sim 1e interior.

The s coping form of the old German, snugly
tucked in his bed, was the first object Hawks
Eyes rested on, and it gave him much satisfac-

ion.

“So, I aui still in time,” he muttered. “As
I can’t maintain this osition vcry long, I had
better slip in there and) give him warning.” v

He paused, however, with his hand on the

sash.

A stealthy figure had just crept into the room,
by its passage-door, and was regarding the
sleeping man with a steadfast and distrustful

gaze.

It was Mr. Schmidt’s landlady, and in one
hand she gras ed a longland gleaming knife.

Hawk coul not see t e face belonging to the
figure at first.

But when it was at last artly turned toward
him, the accustomed ban ages had been strip-
ped away, and the features were revealed to

1m.

1mHe gave a gasp of surprise as he recognized
em.

So great was his astonishment, that he just
saved himself from losing his balance and fall-
ing headlong from his perch.

 

CHAPTER XXVI.
rim MUSIC-TIMCHER’S SECRET.

WHY had the suddenly revealed physiognomy
of Madame Dupont, the old German’s landlady,
so astounded the Falcon Detective?

Because there was no landlady, no Madame

Dwnt.

ere was only a fictitious landlady, a pseudo
Madame Dupont, in the person of Monsieur Du-
pout, the thick-bodied, side—whiskered driver of
the black-and—yellow coupe.

He was now observed to engage in a. systematic
search of the apartment, after first assuring
himself of the genuineness and soundness of the
old man’s sleep. .

It was equal y evident that he had only carried
the knife as a. precautionary measure.

The stealthy search was gradually extended to
the sleeper’s garments, which la upon a. chair
by the bed, and final] to the itself.

In the latter place t seemed to prove success-

ful.

He drew from under the bolster a bundle of
documents, apparently yellow with a .

These be inspected carefully, holding them
close to the light.

f They were evidently what he had been looking

or. -
A smile of satisfaction came into his face, and
he vanished with them as stealthin as he had
ap ared. _

hen Hawk gently raised the wmdow, and
stelpped into the room.

6 felt sure that the thief would not return,
and he had had his own reasons for not inter-
rupting his proceedings.

y using great caution, he managed to arouse
Mr. Schmid Without any noise, and explained
the situation in a low tone.’

When the old Gennan had sat u in bed, and
recovered from. his surprise, besi es mastering
the state of afl’au's, he smiled, and seemed to ac-
cept his loss With much equanimitg'.

H ‘ Vlgere not the papers valua 1e?” inquired

aw .

“ o, my friend,” was the smiling reply, “for
they were only duplicates, more copies, which I
had prepared for Just such an emergency.”

“ Duplicates?”

“ Yes, my young friend.”

Mr. Schmidt opened the bosom of his night-
gnd displayed a d'ngy buckskin belt about

is . .

“ Theyreal, the original documents are here,
next my heart,” said he. “ I can afford to leave
the shame in the ourloiner’s pOSsession, my son.
That will render the real ones more secure.”

 

“ Capital! May ask what they refer to?”
“Certainly, my _ _. They are the proofs of

l .
‘  , "I

The top of one of the lower shutters presently ‘

and this one into which our hero was peering .

-7Ha.wksvHe‘rOn. the Falcon Detective. -

task 3 my beautiful, murdered Olga’s paternity and.
ed up  antecedents.

 

r
l

 

Alas! she will need them no more,
but I have treasured them.”

Hawk made a gesture of astonishment.

For the moment he had lost sight of Mr.
(Si-.hmidt’s delusion as to the death and burial of

a.
e recollected himself.

Should he disturb that illusion now?

NO' safer to wait.

“ Where did you obtain these docunicnts, myn-r
hear?” he asked.

“ They were drawn up, and legally attested. by
the poor widow Ashcombe a fortnight before
her barbarous death. ”

H Ha I"

“Yes, my young friend. I have worn them
next to my heart ever since.”

“’I thought you had implicit confidence in
me.

“ Why, my son, so I have.”

“ Then why did you not tell me of three impor~
tant apch before?”

“ o what end, my son? Had Olga only
lived——"

“ True, true; I had forgotten.”

“ Forgotten Olga’s death l”

' “ No, no; but—let it pass! Why, thcn, have
you reserved the papers so religiously?“

“ b! they might be of benefit to another—to
zine other still living, for all I know to the con-

rai'y.

Hawk had become intensely interested.

He tip-teed to the passage-door, securely fast-
ened it, and returned to the bedside.

“ Will you let me examine the documrnls?”
said he. “It is of immense importance that I
should do so—of more importance than I can ex—
plain just now.”

Mr. Schmidt hesitated a. moment.

Then taking off the buckskin belt, he reduced
some pa rs from amid its folds, an handcd
them to awk.

The papers were three in number, two of
which were very old, and with foreign seals
affixed, while the other was of recent construc—
tion.

The detective devoured their contents with
en er and glistening eyes.

hey were, as he had hoped, of immense im—
portance, not only to Olga, but to another, still
lVlI] .

“Tell me the history of your obtaining these
Bficeless papers.” said Hawk, returning than to

r. Schmidt, who secured them as before.

“ That may be briefly told, my son,” said the
old German. “ It was after the widow began
to fear that Kotzka was on her track that she
thought of makin this provision for Olga’s fu—
ture in the event 0 her own death.”

“About a fortnight prior to the—tho tragedy
you say?” .

“ Yes; or about the time she must have got an
inkling of the gigantic stranger attending Olga’s

rformances so persistently and ominously.

“ But two of the documents are foreign and of
very old date.”

“Yes; but you will have observed that they
were newly attested by her before a notary.”

H True” .

“ The same notary drew up the remainin ‘
document, which chiefly relates to the history 0 ‘
the older ones, at her dictation. It is signed by
her, and her Signature is duly attested.”

“ Yes; the documents are thoroughly legal.”

“You may well say that, my son; but little
good can they now do the unfortunate Olga."

“ How came you to think of having copies, or
facsimiles, of the documents made out?"

“ It was the good widow’s precaution, not:
mine. Ah, she was a wise, a wonderful woman!
Then she solemnly intrusted all the papers to my
care. The event of this night has confirmed the
wisdom of her precaution.” I . _

“ Indeed, it has; and the precmus originals are-
now safer in your custody than ever before.”

“ Ahl I am now at my case.”

Hawk reflected a moment.

“There is another thing, mynheer.” said he at,
length. “ that still surprises me greatly.”

:‘l‘yhat is itl’. .t fl st

our equaniml v on my r apprising you
of your pseudo landlady being a man in female-
di? Erie} rtl edf e"
: was pa re r or i .

“Since when?” p pa

“Since a. short time before retiring to my bed.
Wait a little.” '

Mr. Schmidt arose and partly dressed him-

sel .
He then took the lamp and led the way into an
ad'ji‘oining room. . _

,his was a small 1and dark intermediate a art-
ment, between the bed-chamber and the mm:
room, which the old gentleman had devout! to
the purposes of a sort of lumber room.

It contained a fireplace, covered by an irrnr '

flreboard, and in the middle of this fizol card
was a hot-air register, the skis of which were
now closed. ‘

Mr. Schmidt set down the lamp, and pointed
to the register. _ '

“ Last night, at about midnight,” saidxhe, in a
whispe
some of this old luggage, which I brou ht here
only yesterday from the place where it ad long

r, “ I'chaiiced to be in here looking over, .

 

 

 

 

 «7-.- — - ,7

 

 

4

.«s

. the 9006‘ (lhtPREe-gray is rapid of gait.”

 Hawk Heron, th V sheave?”

been stored. The slats of that register happened
to be open.”

“ Ah, I begin to understand.”

“Yes, my friend. Presently I heard, by
means of the register flue, low voices in earnest

conversation in the room below.”

“ \Vas one of the voices Kotzka’s?”

“Having never heard that monster’s voice, to
the best of my recollection, I cannot say, my son.
But I have an impression that neither voice was

his.”

This impression was borne out by Hawk‘s re-
calling Nixey’s report, which made itimpossible
that the voice should have been Kotzka’s at that
particular time.

“ The other voice, however,” continued Mr.
Schmidt, “ I had no difficulty in recognizing.”

“ Aha! the lady’s of the incurable face-ache,
your worthy landlady’s?”

“The same, my son, and yet in such unguard-
cdly masculine tones that I more than half
divincd the secret of her disguise.”

“ What were they talking about?”

“ That I could only make out in part, for I
could not distinctly overhear all their words.”

“ IVhat did you infer from what you were
able to overhear?” . ‘ _

“That the pair were to 30m in some sort of
expedition that was to be set on foot at a later
hour. I heard the words ‘ bridge’ and ‘ferry’
repeated several times. as if the exact route had
not been decided upon.”

Hawk gave a joyful start.

“ What else?” he demanded.

“ Nothing more that I could make out, my
son, save that the man talking to Dupont was to
rejoin him at a later hour.”

‘How long did they converse together?”

“Only a few minutes. They then both went
away. After hearing the street door open and
shut, I peeped out of one of my front windows,
and saw the two men hurry away.”

The detective glanced at his companion for
.some moments in a peculiar way.

“ So!” said he at last. “After making this
discovery, together with the suggestions it must
have prompted, you could coolly seek your
couch at your usual hour, and compose yourself
to the oblivion of slumber?”

“Certainl , my son.”

“ And wit out even fastening your doors?”

“ It has never been my habit to fasten myself
in my rooms, my friend.”

This with unaffected simplicity.

“ But, after what you had overheard, did not
the thought occur to you that your rooms might
be feloniously entered while you were asleep?”

Mr. Schmidt smiled ingenuously.

“ Ah, yes, to be sure, said be. “But what
else might a thief find, my son, but'the duplicate
pa ers that were in readiness for him?”

he detective softly but emphatically slapped
him on the back. I

“Bravo, mynheer!” said he. “ You have a
cool courage I would scarcely have given you
credit for.”

Mr. Schmidt was about to respond, when he
paused, listening intently. '

Then he softly stooped to the register, and
opened the slats of it With the utmost caution.

He arose, holding'up his fin r warningly. _

“ Hush!" he whispered. “ be two are again
together in the room below. We may overhear
what they say.”

CHAPTER XXVII.
TRAPPED AGAIN.

next instant both Hawk and the old Ger-
mEiliifvere bending their ears before_ the tell-tale
register, eagerly listening for what it might dis-
close.

They had not long to wait. _

At first they could only hear footsteps movmg
about the room below, with an occaSional mono-
syllable or two. _ _

Then a harsh, guttural voice which the 115-
teuers ascribed to Dupont, made some remark
in a foreign tongue.

This was responded to by a softer, deprecat-
ing voice, in the same language. .

After that the interchange proceeded in bro-
ken EngliSh. the purport of which was for the
most part distinctly overheard.

“But that doesn’t explain Why on are so
late,” said Dupont. “Should the aster learn
of. your tardiness, Rudolph, he would be furi.
ous.”

“ t m dear Arnold ” responded the voice
of $315193: as he had been addressed, “ you
surely will not be so unkind as to notify the
Master,” th. k so?”

. m ‘

“  litnine be sure of it! Besides, I am not
so late, after all.” _ ”

“ You should have come earlier. .

“But it is still nearly two good hours bef‘a
sunrise.” _

“Think where we have to driVB to, though,
before rescuing the bridge.” _

“I know—away up yonder in Harlem. But.

“ 3', bu arder to drive than ever. since

hardly steal him from the police station, and he
has been nervous ever since."

“Is the Master still furious over that affair,
Arnold?”

“ Yes: but more about the missing memoran-
dum than anything else.”

“ Was it so very important?”

“ You would think so if you could have no-
ticed the change that has come over the Master
since its loss.”

“ How is he changed?”

“ Oh, in fifty ways. He has grown alarmed
and haggard. Ho falls into moody reveries,
and starts out of them with looks of affright.”

“Fright in connection with the great Kotzka?
That is odd.”

“ It is none the less true, Rudolph. One
would imagine that the lost paper might cost
him his life.”

[“ So it would, if entire,” thought our hero.
“ Oh if we had but the missing half of itl”]

“ Have you any idea of the nature of thedost
papilr, firgold?" pursued Rudolph’s voice.

‘ o .

“ Yet you might have—”

“ Enough of this! Would I dare meddle with
the Master’s private affairs?”

“ But where does he think he lost it?”

“ Somewhere in the crowd when the coupe was
upset.” '

“ Might be not have left it in the coupe 2’"

“ NO‘ I have looked through the vehicle with-
out fln ing a trace of it.”

[“ Ah!” thought Hawk again, “ if I only might
make a search there.”]

“ I say, Arnold.”

“ lVell, Rudolph?”

“ What if that missing paper might have
fallen into certain other bands at the time of the
upset?”

“ Whose, for instance?”

“ Those of the man whom the Master seems to
fear more than aught else in the wide world,
and yet has a strange liking or leniency for—
this Hawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.’

“ Hush l” exclaimed Dupont’s voice, with an
inflection of terror. “Do not even hint such a.
thing. Rudolph.”

“ Vherefore?”

“ Lest these very walls might hear and report
your words to the Master.” '\

H uh”

“ Hush, I say! That dreadful supposition has
already occurred to tho Master—I am sure of it
‘——and it sets him into a frenzy.”

“ Of fear?”

_ “ Of fear or rage, or both. How should I de-
termiue?”

“ Still, one would think—”

“ No more of this, I tell you! Not another
word!”

There was an interval of silence, after which
Rudolph’s voice took up another thread.
“Where is this house to which we are todrive
for our load ?” it inquired.

“In Harlem.”

“ I know that, but whereabouts in Harlem?”

“ You will know when we get there.”

“ You don’t say so!”

“ I thought I did.”

“May I ask another question?”

“ As many as you like, since I can anwer or
not, as I choose.”

“Since you have heretofore always driven the
coupe alone, why am I now ordered to accom-
pany you?”

“Because you are so ordered.”

“ But I can’t imagine why. ”

“ It isn't necessary that you should; but I
presume you are to assist me in event of an
emergency.”

“ What emergency could possibly arise?”
“ Hasn’t many a one clustered around the old

'black-and-yellow Vehicle before this?”

“ Yes; but now, at this lonely hour?”

“ Ah! well. The young lady might make out-
cries. _ Then again. why might not that infernal

detective and his subordinates intercept us again?

Hint fellow is a chameleon with a charmed
i e.

“True. One more question.”

“ Ouf ! still another?’

H Yes‘ ”

“Well, out with it.”

“ Is our destination distant after we cross the

bridge l” .

“ Yes; an isolated house far back in Brooklyn,

bordering on Prospect Park. I have only been

there once. The uilding was formerly a, pri-

vate Insane Asylum, I have understood. ' /
[Hawk rubbed his hands} ‘

“Is everything in readiness for our reception

there?” Rudolph’s voice went on.

“ Never fear. Does the Master ever do any-

thing half-way 3” _

“ No; and yet this is very strange."

“ What is l’

“ That he should go so far away from our So-

ciety’s head-quarters.”

“Does he intend to live over there, you fool?”

“ Doubtless not; but I wouldn't have thought

,he would have chosen any new retreat so far

awa .”
“ Herhaps he couldn’t hel himself.”

 

that upset in front of the old brewery. I could

 

“Aha! Like enough. ow, do you know,
Arnold, it is my habit——-” ,

125'!

x

“ Hist!”

The interruption was in a guick, alarmed tone,
and then there was a long si once.

The eavesdroppors were beginning to fear that
their game was suspected. when the conversation
was resumed where it had broken off. I

It was accompanied bya sound of movements,
as though Dupont might be dressing for his ex—
pedition, with his com union's assistance.

“ There, that will ( 0,” said Dupont‘s voice.

“ Don‘t tie it any tighter. What were you .
about to say?” A

“l was on the oint of saying that it is mostly
my habit, Arnold) to mind In ownprlvate af-
fairs exclusively, but that this doesn't prevent
other folks’ affairs sometimes becoming both in-
teresting and roblematic.”

“ 0h, indc Whose affairs do you particu-
larly refer to?”

“ The Master’s.”

“ Beware, Rudolph!”

“Yes, yes; but I can’t help thinking that he
had better have fewer private affairs, and de-
vote himself more exclusively to the aflairs of
our Order.”

“ Beware, I tell on.”

“But there’s a p enty of the brethren of my
wa of thinking.’

‘ Dare they?”

“Yes, and a great deal more, Arnold, let me
tell you that.”

“ What do they1 think?”

“They think t at Kotzka’s manners and ac-
tions are daily growing more incomprehensible,
not to say suspicions, to the brethren. There
are those, indeed, who dare to hint that he
mi ht be meditating—” .

he rest of the sentence was inaudible to the
secret listeners.

“ Impossible !” eitclaimed Dupont’s voice.
“Even Kotzka would not venture upon such a,
thought. A vision of the Order’s vengeance
would paralyze such an idea in its very germ!”

“ One would think so, and yet—” ‘

“ No more of this—we are on dangerous
ground. Now, Rudolph. to change the subject,
Just run down into the basement, and find my
whip for me. We must be off shortly.”

There came the sound of a door opening and
shutting, and this was followed by a pro ound ..
silence.

The two listeners retained their kneeling pos-
ture at the register in breathless supense to hear

more.
Suddenlg' the two doors, front and rear, were‘
closed wit a bang and locked upon them. ,
Tlllien a mocking laugh sounded outside of
one . i '
“We’re entrapped!” exclaimed the detective,
s ringing to his feet. “Heavens! I see it all.
ur presence was discovered after that first in-
terruption—their subsequent conversation was
designed merely to lull us into a false sense of
security.” ‘ ,
“Truly, my son, it must be as you so ,” said . ' »
the professor, lugubriously. “ But you stoned
the door between the passage and the rear
room?” '
“Yes, but what would that have availed
against such rascals? Besides, does not another .
pafis%ge-$loor open into the front room?” ‘ ‘2'
es

“ The deuce l” ‘
Then the mocking laughs were repeated,
finfl there was heard the sound of shooting .
0 ts.
Then retreating steps were heard, the opening ,
and closing of the street~door, and the rattle of "
a. vehicle being swiftly driven away. , .

"
l
I

 

WILD WORK. - , ‘

Tim detective‘ exerted his tried door-bras. - .,
ing force against each fastening, but without . ' ;
success. . a ,

“Alas, my son!” exclaimed the old German; ‘  ‘
“you heard them bolted, as well as looked.” »

u True.” ‘ »

“ And I have noticed that all the doors are of
great thickness. We must remain here till lib- , :
erated from the outside." . “

Hawk consulted his watch. :

Onl an hour before‘svjnrise. y ' f- 4

f‘ T at mi‘glit suit you in nheer, but not me,” ’
saidahe. “ hich door is t e least secure, think

on ,

“This one, leading into the front room, if my _ 1

memor is not at fault.” ' ‘ 

Haw coolly drew his revolv r. I v-'V '

“0h, in young friend! w at would you
do?” crie

his companion. “You have no ’-.“

enem here.” ‘2' ‘
“ on are mistaken, mynheer. That door is 
inst now my enemy, and it is indispensable that u ,.

h should quit this house inside of a quarter of an x i <
our. ‘
With that he began to shoot away the oppos-
ing'lock and bolts. l , ,_
ortunately, the closeness of the room deaden-
ed the sound of the shots. ' f,
It was a task that required the repeated red' ' ._
loading and emptying of every chamber of ‘, :g
his revolver. :
Luckily, it was of heavy caliber and‘there

 

 

 

was no lack of cartridges.
_‘ The last fastening finally yielded, and, bush-

    

' baseman} man‘me ..

 

;. k» kw! as.

Hawk Heron, the Falcon/Detective.

 

26

ing open the perforated door, he strode into

the front room.
“Bring ill the lump, inynhecr: let us take a

 

look around.”

As the old man obeyed, Hawk examined the
door leading lllm) llAU passage.

This had also been secui‘cd.

“ I have no more ammunition to spare for
this sort of warfare,” said Hawk. “Escape
b these front windows is my only remaining
c aucc.”

“ But that will be impossible,” said the profes-
sor, setting down the lamp. “It is more than
thirty feet to the sidewalk.”

“ ‘ Impossible’ is a word not in my dictionary
when duty calls,” muttered Hawk.

He threw up a sash, and looked down into
the deserted street.

It was, indeed, a. deep plunge.

Far too deep to risk a jump, and there was
no chance of clainbering down the front of the
house.

Neither was there any tree—top into which
he might have leaped with safety, as he had
leaped ere this.

None; but there were some telegraph wires,
and the nearest post stood before the next
house but one.

But thouin on a level with the window-
sill, the wins followed the line of the curl)-
stone below, with the breadth of the sidewalk
between.

Nevertheless, Hawk resolved to avail himself
of these wires.

“ Let me have your handkerchief, mynheer,”
said he, while mutfling his right hand in his
own, for he had no gloves.

Mr. Schmidt, who now comprehended the
attempt about to be made, handed him an-
other handkerchief.

This served the doteetive’s left hand in a
similar way, and,v thus prepared, he made a
gesture of farewell, and began crawling through
the window.

“ Wait a moment, my friend,” said Mr.
Schmidt. “ Tell me one thing first.”

“ Never fear for your own safety,” said
Hawk. “ I’ll hear your situation in mind.”

“Oh, it isn’t that, my son. I know I have
nothing more to fear now that those rascals
imagine they have the coveted documents in
their hands.’

“ What is it, then?”

“ Satisfy my curiosity on one point.”

“ Certainly, if I can.”

“Why, think you, did Dupont, in the con-
Versation we overheard, make no allusion to the
wars of which he had robbed me such a short

' ebefore?”

“ The deuce! Can on not guess?”

“ No, my son, else would not ask.”

“ \Vhy, the rascal doubtless deemed the theft
too important to give away to his vulgar as-
sistant. It is a. precious niorsel of intelligence
fit only for the ear of the monarch of criminals,
the great Kotzka himself.”

“ Ah, do you really think so? ’

“I am sure of it. Good-by.”

Hawk now straightened himself up on the
outer window ledge, with his back to the sashes,
and'his face toward the wires.

The intervening space was all of twelve feet,

- and, should he miss his flying grasp, the stones

below would be pitiless.

But the leap was indispensable.

I Calling every physic and nerve force to his
aid, he at last made it.

The attempt was successful.

As he clutched two of the wires in his pro-
tected hands, his weight together with the mo-
mentum of his fall sagged them down so far
that he had no need of making his wa along
the line to the adjacent pole, as he had rst in-

tended.

He had mere] to drop, which he did, landing
on the sidewal inastanding position, and re-
ceiving something of a shaking up, but no ma.-
terial injury. '

With a parting esture toward the old pro-
fessor, who was st“ 1 looking down at him from
the window, Hawk hurried away. v

The light of a new and cloudless day was
broadening in the eastern sky as he boarded an
Elevated train a few minutes later, and there
was every prospect of his reaching the Brooklyn
Bridge entrance on time. I

But it often hap us that man proposes while

V corporational neg igence disposes of this work-

a-day world.
An accident on the Elevated track brought
train to a stand-still, whlch threatened to be a,

‘ serious detention, at the Grand-street station.

Hawk deserted the train, intending to make
the rest of the way on foot. _

Another obstacle presented itself.

A fire was in progress 01050 at hand, and
the street corners were so ked with noisy
fighbseem as to be almost impassable.

Our hero was so exasperated that he half-
ascribed theso interceptions, in his excited im-
agination, to some new and occult machinations
on the part of his arch-foe.

He instantly banished this impression as wholly
unworthy of him.

' But presently an incident occurred that serv-
' d‘ to give it both color and body.

 

As he was forcing his way slowly through the
crowd, two men, both of whom he fancied he
(lime recognized, objected to his wedge—wise
tactics, and, turning upon him, assailed him
with a torrent of abuse in a foreign tongue.

“ Keep your tempers, my friends!” said Hawk,
doing his best to keep his own. “ It is absolute-
ly necessary that I should get through—a case
of life and death—and I do not mean to incon-
venience any one.”

A fresh volley of outlandish curses was the
answer, and one of the men flourished a cudgcl
over his head.

f This was taxing the detective’s patience too
ar.

Ho promptly knocked the fellow down, and
proceeded to give his companion a lesson on the
most approved scientific principles.

But if the ruflians had purposed to delay his
progress, this was effected.

By the time Hawk had polished off his second
antagonist, a. dense crowd had collected about
them, and a policeman put in an appearance.

Not chancing be acquainted wit l the officer,
an elaborate exp anation was re uired to pacify
him, which was none the more s ortcncd by its
being corroborated by the majority of the by-
standers.

In this way much valuable time was lost.

Then, again, Hawk had no sooner disengaged
himself than his late antagonists darted past
him, and he overheard one of them say to the
other in Italian: “ Never mind; we’ll get another
chance to interrupt him!”

“ We’ll see about that!” thought our hero, and,
as they had taken his direction, he started in
pursuit.

Away they sped, down the Bowery. under the
Chatham Square Elevated station, down Chat-
hain street, to the very entrance of the bridge.

Here Hawk lost his fugitives. but brought up
himself almost in the arms of Seagravo, who,
true to agreement, was patrolling the entrance
to the right-hand roadway.

“ Two foreigners, bearded and swarth , one
with a bloody nose?” gasped Hawk. “ nick!
did {pa see them?”

“ es; but you are too late. They passed in,
and are well out on the promenade ere this.”

Hawk stamped his foot, but did not continue
the ursuit.

“ t would be no use,” he growled.
only hope they are not in Kotzka’s pay.”

“ What is the matter?”

Hawk briefly related his last adventure.

Seagrave was disposed to make light of it.

“ Where is Nixey?” said Hawk. _

Seagrava pointed to a lofty telegraph-pole at
$18 kjunction of Center street and City Hall

ar .

Perched on its summit was the irrepressible
street-arab, who waved his hand airin as an in-
dication that he was on the lookout for the big
dapple—gray and the black-and-vellow coupe.

‘ Good enough!” commented Hawk. “ I shall

“I can

'follow the vehicle by the roadway, while you

and Nixcy take the promenade to the middle of
the bridge. There you will clamber over the
intervening railway, and gain the roadway in
advance of the dapple-gray.”

“What! the middle of t 9 bridge?”

“ Certainly; there will be less likelihood of po-
lice interference there.”

“ But if one of us should chance to be tossed
over the rail i”

Hawk Heron laughed.

“What then?” said he. “ It is only a. matter
of twp hundred and thirty feet to the river’s sur-
fafieAh 1”

“ But of course such an anticipation is not
agreeable, so We’ll drop it. Above all, be on
your guard against a flanking attack from those
two rascals w 0 just eluded me.”

“ Make yourself easy, Hawk.” said Song-rave.
“ Let me only get a grip] on the dapple-graly’s
bridlerein, revolver in and, and Nixey an I
will perform our part of_ the programme.”

This was said in a_ quietly resolute way that
was encouraging in itself.

It was a clear and beautiful morning, and the
sun .was' just trembling on the rise.

The southern roadway was as yet almost desert-
ed. But numerous teams were coming over from
Brooklyn by the opposite side the promenade
was already thronged with its living tide, coni-

almost wholly of youn working-people,
all setting in one irection, ew-Yorkward. in
obedience to labor’s niornin summons, while
fresh girlish faces and tnstefu costumes dotted
the press that was pouring out of the gates.

In the shadow of the arched approach nestled
the smoky roofs and narrow, awa ening streets,
while far out under the lofty and superb span
from here to shore sparkled the broad waters of
East riverbwith the varied craft upon their
breast, the tallest—masted of which failed to
brush the web-like beams and girders of the
structure so airin but stancth arching them.

Hawk had crossed the mouth of the south
roadway, and was talking to a policeman of his
acquaintance, in order to prepare him for the
scene that Was aboutto be enacted, when Sea-
grave called to him.

‘_‘ lflixe is signaling,” said the latter, asHawk
rejomed im.

 

Hawk glanced toward the lad, who was now
seen descending in great haste from his lofty

ierc .

“Ay!” said he; “ the tug of war is at hand.
Don’t forget my instructions.”

At this moment they were joined by Nixey.

“ It’s hcailin’ for us, boss,” said he.

“ From what direction?”

“Down Center street, but there’s two coves on
the box, boss.” '

“ Never mind. Go with Seagravc. He has
the instructions. Lose no time.”

Then, as his subordinates darted through the
promenade gates, he slipped behind the Elevated
railroad stairway, and waited.

Three minutes later, the black-and-yellow
coupe was trundling over the deserted roadway.

; With our hero in hot pursuit.

The middle of the brid e was reached.

Seagrave and Nixoy a ready had the dapple-
gray by the head, w ile covering the men on
the box with their pistols, and Hawk, likewise
revolver in hand, was tearing open the door of
the coupe.

He already had his left arm about Olga, and
was thrusting the muzzle of his pistol into
Kotzka’s month.

At this instant, however, the two ruflians
who had intercepth Hawk at Grand street
clainbcred over the railway to their chief’s assis-
tance, swearing like troopers and brandishing
their clubs.

Kotzka and the men on the coupe took advan-
tage of this diversion—the former to dash aside
the pistol, dra back his prisoner, and then It 81.)
after Hawk w 0 had just received a stunning
blow from behind, while Dupont and his com-
panion leaped from their seat and made them-
selves active.

Several shots were fired, and the struggle grew
desperate.

Dazed as he was, Hawk flew at Kotzka’s
throat, when another dastardly blow from be—
hind completed his momentary helplessness.

Before he could recover from it he was in
Hogka’s herculean grasp, and being whirled
11-0 .

“Ha, ha, ha!” roared the giant. “Let us see
if ou escape this time, my falcon beauty!”

Vith that he hurled the detective far out
over the outer rail—out, out over the yawning
river-gulf !

 

CHAPTER XXIX.
LIGHT AHEAD.
FATE again. interposed to rescue our hero
from the all-but certain death that seemed to
awn for him after being hurled from Brooklyn

ridge.

It chanced that a great clipper ship, whose
exceptionally tall topmasts nearly scraped the
lower edge of the arching span, was being towed
under the bridge at the instant Hawk was
launched into space.

Into the loose~flapping main-royal of this
providential vessel he accordingly fell, with just
sense and strength enough to grasp with the
tenacity of despair several ropes that came to
his hands. ‘

Here he remained almost helpless till assisted
to the deck by some sailors, for his miraculous
escape had been thnessed not only by those on
board, but also by many others.

The air had greatly revived him.

He was almost his old dauntless self again
upon reaching the deck.

Without pausing to more than thank the offi-
cers and crew of the Flying Send, as the vessel
was named, Hawk hailed a passing tug, clam-
bered into it. and made an offer to be put ashore
on gig Brooklyn side, which was promptly ac-
ce ) .

anding at the foot of Washington street,
Hawk hurried up the hill toward the bridge tar-
minus.

Midway he met Ra! h and Nixey.

They were sorro ully bent on making in—
quiries as to the discovery of his dead body.

The ryfulness of the unexpected meeting can
better e imagined than described.

d‘l‘ A miracle i” exclaimed Seagrave, 'delighto
8 Y- . .

“Hooray!” cried Nixey, fairly dancing a jig
around our hero, when the latter had briefl re—
lated the manner of his escape. “Hawk eron
hereafter ag’ln’ fire an’ flood!”

“How dld you two make out on the bridge?"
asked Hawk, leading the way into a small hotel
private room near at hand.

“ They were too many for us, boss!” said Nixey,
hapfinihis head. ‘

a .

“Yes boss; they got away with the young
lady. Hut Mr. Seagrave here got on to some—
thing good.”

Hawk turned eagerly to Ral h.

“I’ve got the missin hal of the Russian
manuscript!" cried the tter, shaking a paper
ovg his head. /

“ Ha! It was then in the coupe ?”

“ Yes; stuck fast between the inside cushions,
as I had thought. I secured it in the fight on
the bridge.”

Hawk signed them to draw upto a writing-
table, and produced thefirst half of the manu.
script, with the translation Seagrave had made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heron, they- 

2'7

 

 

“Quick!” he exclaimed, with sparkling eyes.
“ Translate afresh, Ralph; and then for the
comparison 1” .
The translation of the newly-acquired fragment
reduced the following:
p can, October 12, 18—.
DOVOSKI,
ii Consulate,
New York City.
Sm:—
ahle to give the desired
CCI‘lllllI: the organiza-
ary Martyrs in this
ii-st be assured of
ard, together with
dit ional pardon
nt protection against
of the Society.
in the councils of
that my informa-
tly relied on as
fountain head.
the samopre-
fore. “ Ix.”
This translation, pieced on to that presented
to the reader in Chapter XXI, made the follow-
ing complete communication:
“ New YORK, October 12, 18—.
“ To His EXCELLENCY,
“COUNT Runovosm,
“ Russian Consulate. _
“ New York City.

.. ._
3C'Ilma.odiflfti)iEvian.hle to give the desired information

C’nnccriiing the Organization of Revolutionary Mar-
tyrs in this city, but I must be assured of the prom.
ised reward, together With the Czar s unconditional
pardon and subsequent protection against the ven-
gcance of the _Soc_icty. . .

“ I am so high in the councds of. the cons ll'ators
that in information can be implicitly rehe on as
proceeding from the fountain head.

“ Answer with the same precautions as herettliéqra

This having been effected, Hawk secured the
several papers and sprung to his feet with a
radiant face.

“Come!” he exclaimed; “no time is to be
lost. This night we shall have run down our

“ What?” cried his companions, in one breath.

“Ag, my friends; this very night Kotzka
shall a in irons, and the murderer of Olga’s
mother, Clarissa and the old captive shall be on
the high road to the scaffold!”

“ This very night?” repeated Ralph.

"' Ay, for I have discovered that the Brother-
hood, of which Kotzka is the chief, are then to
assciiiblo again in the cellar—hall of the old
brewery.”

“ \Velll”

“ Kotzka will of course be present,  continue
his treacherous scheme of betraying his own as-
sociates to the Czar’s representative.”

“ Well?”

“We shall also be present, our knowledge
of the grips and passwords affording us en-
trance.” .

“ W'cll!” _ , _

“We shall have policemen With us, in dis-
guise.”

“ What more i”

“ Zoundsl Can you ask? I shall denounce
Kotzka to his associates, producing these docu-
mentary evidences of his contemplated treach-
ery, together with such others as 1 can obtain
from the Russian Consul himself.”

“ You will, then, confer With Count Rudo-
voski?” .

“ With no more delay than it will take to ef-
fect a suitable change in my appearance," said
Hawk, looking down over his re laddies um-
form, “After that, With the full proof of
Kotzka’s designs in my possession, can you
doubt of the effect upon his fellow-conspira-

an
toRSNO n cried Ralph. “It will be immense!”

“ Théy’ll foam at the mouth an’ chaw things i”
said Nixe .

“ I shode sa so! We all know the desperate
character of those oath-bound fanatics. Their
revengeful fury will be like that of Wounded
tigers. God! if we shall only succeed in re-
serving Kotzka for the hangman’s noose, I s all
be satisfied.” _ I

The friends were now equally enthusmstic over
the decisive measure in prospect.

They ordered a. substantial breakfast, and,
while eating it, considered the best manner of
dividing the work before them.

It was finally decided that, while Hawk was
looking after the Russmn Consul, Seagrave and
Nixey should discover the new retreat to which
010a had been carried, and telegraph the result
toahiin at the Police Head uarters in New
York, after which a. fresh rcn ezvous would be
mWi‘éhrthis understanding they SQ umtOd- .

About an hour later, as Hawk eron, fitting
1 attired, emerged from his head uarters’

essina'q‘ooyn he received _word that t e chief
of the ‘Detective Bureau Wished to speak With

Hawk was no sooner alone with his superior
than be perceived him to be in an illjhum‘or.

“SO,” said the chief, peremcptorily; ' what
have you to report with, i‘cgar to your specml
case?”

Hawk hesitated but an instant before reply- I

hag, withquiet confidence:

 

“ It will be wound up tonight, captain.”
“ What?” .
“ My man shall then be in custody, and I

shall have the evidence to secure his conviction." .

The chief’s manner softened perceptibly.

“I am really glad, Heron, to hear you speak
thus confidently,” said he. “ In spite of the
short time allotted us to run down the murderer
of the widow Ashconibe and her daughter, the
public and the newspapers are abusing us un-
mercifully.”

“ i know it, captain; their abuse shall cease
after tO-lll‘rht.”

“ Good!” Do you require anything?”

“Yes. Alettcr of introduction, if you please,
to Count Rudovoski, the Russian Consul such as
will cause him to respect my authority.’

The chief looked surprised, but at once set
about framing the desired letter, Without making
comment.

“ There you are,” said he, at length.

Hawk was about taking his departure when
his superior riveted him with a peculiar look.

“How about Mr. Blithers?” said he.

Hawk with difficulty concealed a tell-tale start
of surprise.

“ He knows more than I do about Blithers,”
he said to himself. “ Let me be careful lest I
show my ignorance.”

He then winked gravely in response to the
ghief’s peculiar look, but kept an immovable

ace.

“What about him, captain,” said he, dryly.

“That is what I want to know of you, sir.
Anything peculiar about Mr. Blithersi”

“ Yes, infernally peculiar,” said Hawk, hiding
his bewilderment under an assumption of intense
cunning. “ I was going to tell you about that a
little later on.”

The chief looked a little disappointed, like one
who has unavailingly sprung a trap from which
he promised himself a piece of satisfaction.

“ All right, Heron,” said he terminating the
interview with a gesture. “ have also found
out something oddly peculiar about Blithers.
Return here in an hour or two, and we may com-
pare notes to advantage.”

Hawk replied with another solemn wink as he
quitted the room.

“What the deuce is up?” he thought, on his
way out of the building. “ By Jove! I would
run up to the Brunswick and interview Blithers
at once, if I had time.”

“ Telegram just come for you from Brooklyn,
Mr. Heron,” said an officer coming up from the
telegraph office in the basement.

“ What, from Seagrave, and so soon?” thought
Hawk, hurrying down into the office. “ This
augurs well.” -

The dispatch awaiting him was, indeed, from
Seagrave.

It was as follows:

“ Twneru PRECINCT. BROOKLYN, 9:80 A. M.

“Have spotted the house. Nixe will bring you
word an hour hence. All goes WP . Five minutes
ago our game started for New York, alone, and in
red-hot haste. Sammy's."

Hawk looked at his watch.

It wanted a quarter to ten.

“ These foreign swells are apt tobe late break-
fasters,” he thou ht. “I shall first seek my
Russian count at is Madison avenue residence.
What if I should come face to face with Kotzka
therefl So much the bettefl” -

He lost no more time in hurrying to the Rus-
sian Consul’s house. »

CHAPTER XXX.
THE BEGINNING or THE END.

HALF an hour later. Hawk Heron was in
earnest conference with Count Rudovoski, at
the latter‘s up-town residence.

“ The consul’s private secretary, Herr Gruben,
was also present. .

A meditative silence had followed an animated
discussion.

Count Rudovoski, a. highly intelligent, courtly
gentleman, of middle age, sat facing the detec-
tive, With a half-frown on his face, and some
manuscripts in his hands.

He was the first to break the silence.

“ You then assure mo, Mr. Heron,” said he,
slowlly, and With but little foreign accent, “that
this van Kotzka is bent on deceivin, me.”

“ Certainly,” said Hawk. “ He is nt on ob-
taining the twent thousand rubles reward, to-
gether with the zar’s pardon, at the expense of
his miserable assoc1ates. That is all.”

“ And those associates?”

“ Are wretched, unimportant adventurers
and fanatics, information with regard to whom
can be of no value whatever to your govern-
ment.”

“ Prove this to me.”

“I shall do so at once.”

To meet this emergency, Hawk had already
obtained from a brother detective a list of hair-
brained, windy socia ists and anarchists, many
of them Russians, which he thought would ass
muster as belonging to the Brotherhood of w ich
Kotzka was the head. _

He now produced this list, and handed it to
the consul.

The latter merely glanced over the names,
and then cast the list impatienl y away.

“ Preposterousl” he exclaimed. “ The names

I of mere nobodies—rapscallions, boobies and?
i idlers, of no account!”

; “True” said Hawk. “And it is the sur-
render o the secrets of such obscure illlpf)lt‘lll:~?
, by which Kotzka hopes to win your money and
. a pardon for his own )olitical offenses.”

“I see it all now. at lot as come to a full
understanding.”

“ B all means.”

“You engage, then, with the possession of
these proofs of Kotzka’s treachery which 1 il( id
in my hand, to have him taken in (rusted y, aid
speedily brought to the gallows, under the u‘iiizi- '
nal laws of this community?”

“ I do.”

“But can you also engage that the Brother» .
hood which he seeks to betray. but of which lie»
is now the controlling spirit, >hall cease to exist.
as a secret olitical organization?"

Hawk pomted to the discarded list.

“ You see of what material its ranks and file»
is composed,” said he. “ A brotherhood of refu—
gees and vagabondsl What adhesiveness can.
such an organization possess when deprived of.‘
its master spirit?” '

“ Well answered. But there is, besides Kotzka,
another controlling spirit—a oungand remarkw
able woman, as beautiful as s e is dangerous.”

A sudden and profound melancholy fell upon:
our hero.

“ You allude to Clarissa Letours,“ said he.

Li Yes.”

“I have reason to believe her dead.”

H Dead g”

“ A z and by the murderous hand of this same! '
fiend in human form, Kotzka.”

“ This is important. Explain, I beg of you!”

Hawk did so, with terrib e succiiictncss. with—7
out even omitting the kindred circumstances;
that pointed likewise to the murder of the old
captive.

‘This is both wonderful and horrible!” cxw
claimed Count Rudovoski. “ Of the unfortu»
hate 'oun woman I know next to nothing.
But t e 01 captive~what if he might have 130(1)
the Baron Tauchnitz himself, Whom Kotzka v. as;
suspected of having murdered in Hungary for
his estates?” .

“And who, it has since been m’ore generally
supposed, died in Siberian exile?”

“The same. Such was the story circulated
abroad by Kotzka and his agents. It was, how—-
ever, false. Tauchnitz was never sent to Si»
beria. After his disappearance, he was eagu'iy
sought by the Imperial Government for anotln I"
and most benign purpose.” .

' IItdwas now the detoctive’s turn tobe aston
is e .

“For what purpose?” he exclaimed, breath»
lessly.

“ His innocence had been established, and Us
estates in Russia restoredto him. The lattcraie
even now awaiting his heirs, if such are living.
The search of the Government was ineffectual-
Tauchnitz had disappeared; so had hiswife and! ‘
children.”

“Should the heirs or but one of them, be pro"
duced, would the Tauchnitz estates be forth—,
coming?”

“ Assuredly, togetherwith an immense sum in
ready money, the steadily-accruing interest fir
many years past. I have the papers relatirgr
to that vast estate here in my possession. But
explain yourself fully, sir. Is it possible that
you know of an heir or heirs?” ‘

“I think so, at I cannot answer fora oer»
tainty till, say to-morrow morning. In the
mean time, however, I can assure you that the
old captive, who has doubtless been murdered.
by Kotzka. was the Baron ’l‘auchnitz.”

“ Hal Will you prove it?”

“Yes; at the same time I produCa the heir, or
heirs. Now, Count Rudovoski, will you give»
me those papers?"

“With confidence ” said the count, handing -
them to him, “and Heaven prosper your under— '
takin l” ‘ ‘

“T anks. One more question, count.”

“A dozen if you like.”

“ Kotzka has called on you in person?” /

“Yes; and in disguise. ’

“ Ah, I understand—as Adolphe Delancourt,
a French artisan?”

U Yes.” ,
“Now let me ask you if you know a Mr-
\Jack Blithers, 8. Scotland Yard detective from v

London?” .

The official looked at him with a peculiar
smile. but made no answer.

At that instant an (quipagc was heard to-
drive up hurriedly to the front of the house.

is a Sign from his superior, the secretary

stop ed to the window.
. ‘ t is Kotzka himself,” said the latter, peer—V
mg between the curtains. _ '

Count Rudovoski gave an order in Russian.

The secretary then conducted Hawk into the
entrance passage, and,th as the door-bell was
rung, 1gently forced him into a curtained recess
near t a foot of the stairs. r

 

' ike enough discover why ~
His Excellency did not deem it worth while to
re ly to your ast question." ,
1e then let the curtain fall, leaving our hero .
considerably mystified.

. ~__.._ mum...“

*fiwmw~‘~.~a-w..—. u... ...‘..‘ ,M-u- -W..... _.....n  . . .

mmw..

i

.
~ 
r
f

. .‘- 1'
~

“Remain here. sir observantly,” he Whisper—, . 
Md, “and you will 'i

 

 

1, longer as Count Kotzka, t
bluif and blonde Jack Blithers, of Scotland Yard.

    

28,

 

Hawk Heron,‘the Falcon Detective. ‘ I '

 

 

He, however, peered out into the hall, and
"was all attention while the hated Kotzka was
being admitted into the passage, and thence into
Count lludovoski’s presence.

At the cud of about five minutes. Kotzka
came out of the drawing—room, unattended, and
with a countenance expressive of much satisfac-
tion.

Before going out by the street-door, however,
'he stood before a hat-rack mirror, with his back
to Hawk, and, drawing seine articles from the
bosom of his coat, proceeded to effect a self-
transformation with the expertness of a. light-
ning-change performer.

When he again turned toward Hawk’s place
of concealment, in quittinor the house, it was no

1he Proscribed, but as

As Hawk stepped out of his hiding— lace, with
a half-stupcfied expression, Count udovoski
looked out of the drawing-room with his peculiar
smile rather emphasized. ‘

Hawk understood it perfectly now.

He merely masked his sense of humiliation un-
der a profound bow, and hurried away.

The equipage had already disa peared.

“lVel , we 1,” muttered Haw grindin his
teeth while making a bee—line for the Hotel
Brunswick; “poor Clarisse rather understated
the case, after all. She said that Kotzka had a
passion for disguises, when she should have said

a genius’, ‘ a stupendous genius’, for them!
"The man is almost a nccromancer!”

Hawk was, therefore, not greatly surprised to
learn at the hotel that “Mr Blithers” had dis-
ap ared the night before, leaving his baggage
begiend him, and without paying his bill.

“ New for another bout with my worthy
superior.” thought Hawk, assuming his most
.s'phinxdike expression, as he once more betook
himself to Head-quarters. “ If the chief thinks
he has got dead-wood on me, I fancy he’ll find
himself mistaken.”

-“ Well, Heron,” said the chief of the Detec-
tive Bureau when Hawk was again alone with
him, “ how did you get along with the Russian

Consul?"
“ Capifally,” was the reply. “ I shall nab my
man to-night.”
“ Good! With Blithers’s assistance eh?"
Hawk stared, and then burst into a laugh.
“ What!” he exclaimed; “is it possible you

don’t know who Blithers really is?”

The chief looked disap ointed.

“ I know that he isn’t lithers at all, for that
matter,” he growled.

Hawi: waved his hand a little contemptuously.

“ Oh, that has stood to reason all along!” said
he. “ The bogus Blithers, Count Kotzka, Max
Steinman, et cetera, are one and the same.”

“ The deuce you say!”

Hawk smiled and chuckled knowingly. He
felt it a rail pleasure to get back at the chief in
that way.

“Of , urse,” said he, olf-handedly. “ But all
his personations will be melted in one when I
get my hooks on him to-night."

“ But how do you imagine he got possession of
the real Blithers’s papers and baggage, so as to
personate him so successfully?”

Hawk imagined boldly, and with the best of

H.1uk.

c

“ Ah, Kotzka must have at in fine work
there,” said he, admiringly. ‘ In the first place,
'he doubtless got secret word from London as to
Blithers’s personal appearance, and the probable
date of his arrival here.”

“ Yes: and what then?”

“ In the next place, the real Blithers must
have been a big, portly, florid man, very much
«of Kotzka’s build.

“ Right again; what next?” ,

“Gad! isn’t it plain as the nose on your face,
Cap? Why, Kotzka must have murdered him on
the lonely ier landing at daybreak, assumed his
character orthwith, and taken possession of his
papeis and baggage.”

‘ By J ove. Heron, you’re a regular magician!
That is 'ust the way the villain must have work-
ed it. be real Blithers's dead body has just

' been brought from the river-bottom at the foot

of the pier and identified.”
“Poor fellow! but the discovery was only a
question of time. Stab or bullet wounds on

,“l‘l’either. The garroter’s twist.”

“ SO' I might have guessed it.”

“ W ither are you ed to now?”

321:0 Brooklyn. Th1 is the beginning of the
on .

“ Glad to bear it.” ,

“ Can I have six men,.in civilian’s dress, at/
the entrance of the old brewery building this
evening?”

“ An entire sqiuad, if you like.”

“ Thank you.’ I

And Hawk set out at once for Brooklyn, only
stopping on the way to obtain old Mr. Schmidt’s
company. ‘

 

CHAPTER XXXI. ’
ONCE MORE IN THE TOILS.

“ BLESS me my young friend!” said the good
old German; ‘you have hurried me along with
you so rapidly that I seem scarcely yet to have
recovered my breath.” : .

 

He moppcd his brow with his great pocket-
handkerc ief as he spoke.

Hawk Heron, his companion, smiled sadly.

The were crossing the loneliest part of Pros-
pect ark, Brooklyn, and were consequently
nearing their destination.

But while their arrival there might restore the
beautiful Olga to the good old music-teacher’s
heart, what of the yct lovelier Clarisse, the
doubtless forever-vanished Clarissc, the an-
ticipation of whose radiant pr; scnce would have
caused the Falcon Detective’s bosom to bound
with tumultuous joy?

“ One should not complain of uihlue haste,
mynlieer,” sighed the young man, “ when a great
joy ierchance is awaiting him.”

“ loin Gott! what do you mean, my son?” ex-
claimed Mr. Schmidt, struck b the other’s
strange significance of tone. “ ut you have
not yet told me where we are going.”

Hawk hit his lip. He was sorry to have hint-
ed this mucb, but at the supreme moment Olga
might be again mysteriously snatched away, in-
stead of being restored to them. .

They were entering an unfrequented spot,
near an unfinished excavation, and bordering a
small lake, half-embosomed in trees.

“ Yonder is our destination,” said Hawk

inting over the tree-tops to a tall, isolated

uilding on the further side of the Park. “ And
we”th exercise great caution in approaching
it.

“But wherefore, my son?”

“ Because I forgot to wait in New York for
Nixey‘s message before coming here, and there
may be danger in the air.”

“ Danger?”

“Yes, but let us be patient. Nixey is doubt-
less following us hither, and Seagrave cannot be
far away.”

They were now proceeding slowl under a.
precipitous bank, with the lake to t eir right,
and the old excavation in their rear, Hawk
being in the lead.

“ at, my son, your words are mysterious,”
said the old man.

“ They will soon be explained, mynheer. Come
along!”

“ But what danger is to be feared?”

“ None, I hope.”

“ But what great joy can be in store for me in
yonder grim old house?"

Before Hawk could reply, two armed radians
started up in the path before them, as if by

mggic.
awk’s revolver was out in an instant.

But a startled exclamation from his com an-
ion caused him to likewise hazard a swift 00k
to the rear.

Two similar ruflians—wild—eyed, foreign-look-
ing rascals—were making toward them from
the direction of the excavation, in which they
had doubtless been lying in ambush.

“Courage, mynheer!” said Hawk, cooll
thrusting a spare revolver in the old German s
grind. ” “ Back to back is the word for the time

ein ! ~

“ ave no fear for me, my son,” said Mr.
Schmidt, accepting the situation with unex»
pected coolness. “ I was an Austrian soldier in
111% younger days.”

he rufilans were advancing from either side,
brandishing their bludgeons and knives. and
vociferating in various foreign tongues: “ Here
are the accursed spies who would betra us to
the Czar’s minions! Kill them! It is t e Mas-
ter’s order! Show no mercy !” or other words to
the same effect.

Nevertheless, they seemed to advance with
some hesitation andto glance up along the steep
bank over our friends’ heads, as if half-expecting
some sort of flanking assistance from that
quarter.

Without understanding their hesitation, Hawk
deemed it advisable to take advantage of it in
the interests of peace.

“Look here!” he called out in French; “we
are not the spies on take us for. Give us the
chance and we Will prove it. ”

Then Mr. Schmidt spoke to them, successively
iiéGetrman, Hungarian and Italian, to the same
e co . , -

The rufilans continued their hostile demon-
strations, though less violently than before, and
one of them, whom Hawk now reco%ized as
Arnold Dupont’s coach-companion, udolph,
seemed more than half-disposed to parley.

“Nonsense!” cried this man; “ you are our

sworn enemy. What can you prove?”

“I am not our enemy—1 swear it!” replied
Hawk, earnest “ Your real enemy—the ser-

nt 5 y in the osom of your Order—is Kotzka

imse f I” ~ ‘

Most of the rufiians seemed infuriated, or
rather appalled, by this charge, but Rudolph
still wavered.

“ Prove it!” he cried. a

Hawk was nonplused for the time being.

He could not rove Kotzka’s perfldy to his as-
sociates then an there, without giving away his
plot for the arch-ruflian’s overthrow and capture
at the forthcoming conclave.

Suddenly he recollected his masts? of the
Order’s secret signs, grips and passwor 5.

He made a swift sign, which was hesitatingly
responded to by Rudolph. '

 

But at that instant there was a crashing,
plun ing sound overhead like the rush of a de-
scen ing avalanche.

“ Look out! crouch in under the bank I” yelled
Rudolph. “But it is too late. You are both
doomed!"

But Hawk and the German had heeded the
warning in time.

Just as they had ensconced themselves under
the overhanging bank, an immense bowldcr, se-
cretly loosened from the side of the prec1pice by
the ruflians’ confederates, came bounding down
the slope.

There was a cloud of dust and gravel, and
then the huge fragment disappeared into the
water with an awful plunge.

“Quick, mynheer!’ whispered Hawk, seizing
his companion’s arm; “ now is our chance!"

Before the dust of the debris had wholly
cleared away, he had hurried the old man bark
along the narrow path, and into the excavation.

But this was only out of the frying-pan into
the fire.

The at once found themselves surrounded by
a perfect swarm of ruflians, who dashed the pis-
to 5 out of their hands, and almost in an instant
had them at their mercy.

Rudolph at this juncture put in an appearance
at the head of the original attacking party.

“ Parleying is out of the question now,” he
whispered, as Hawk and his companion were be-
ing gagged and bound with scant ceremony.
“ at be of good heart. You are not gomg to
be killed right off.”

With this comforting assurance, the captives
were hurriedly carried toward a small rough-
built sort of disused tool—house at the further ex-
tremity of the excavation.

Overgrown with bushes and surrounded by
great rough-hewn blocks of stone, which con-
cealed it from the adjacent path, it was a for-
lorn and lonely spot.

“In with them!” growled, in German, one of
the ruflians who seemed to exercise more au-
thority than Rudolph, and be unlocked the door
of the shanty as he spoke. “ Let them rot here
along with the others till the Master’s wishes
can be known. At all events, the Sibyl will be
herepresently."

The captives were hurried into the dimly-
lighted interior, and cast helplessly in a corner.

Then, if their gags had not prevented, they
would have uttered an exclamation of astonish-
ment and despair.

No wonder Seagirave had not yet co-opeiated
with Hawk, and ixey, as a messenger, was not
likely to be disappointed, as Hawk had feared.

Two other prisoners, similarly gagged, bound
and helpless, were already occupying the oppo~
site corner of the shanty.

They were Seagravo and Nixey!

Dull despair be an to fill the hearts of all our
friends, but at t is moment the door again
opened and a tall female figure, voluminously
cloaked and veiled in black, abruptly entered.

However, this mysterious visitant afforded no
ray of hope.

Ier estures were menacing, her eyes glittered
throng her vail like those of an angry ytho—
ness, and her voice, as she spoke, seemed hke the
rasping of a file.

“Hence! the Master awaits you!” said she,
addressing the now obsequious rufiians with
harsh authority. “But first, carr off all the
captives but this one. With him I ave urgent
business, and without witnesses.”

She half-spurned our hero’s prostrate form
with her foot as she spoke, and at the same in-
stant he perceived a half-concealed dagger,
glistening in her right hand.

Her orders were at once obeyed.

The door again opencd and closed behind the
disappearing rufiians and their human burdens.
Hawk was left alone with the vailed woman.

“What new female coadjutor has Kotzka
here?” thought Hawk, with an inward shudder.
“ Some sort of . desperate Virago, or vailed mur-
deress, after his own heart, most probably.”

But here the woman, towering to her full
hight, suddenly divested herself of her cloak and
vail, and shook aloft her glistening poniard.

The revelation was astounding.

In spite of the gag between his teeth, a real:
and terrible cry burst from Hawk Heron‘s ips.

CHAPTER XXXII.
HEATING HEARTS AND BUSY BRAINS.

BUT the cry that our hero had uttered was
only one of immense, overmastei-ing joy.

“ Clarissa!”

Such was the next exclamation framed by his
quivering li s.

It was in eedshe!

The cloak and vail had fallen only toreveal
the graceful yet majestic form, the youthful and
radiant yet queenly features of Clarisse Letours.

She indeed waved aloft her listening dagger,
but it was only to sever his onds With keen,
flashing strokes.

“ Hawk, my beloved 1”

Even the counterfeit harshness of her voice
melted into the velvety natural tones that were

 

‘ such delicious music to his ears.

And could a woman’s voice, this side of Para-
dise, be tenderer than hers at this supreme mo-
ment? For were they not ,murniuring that the

 

 

 

 

 

 

v. w) [m

 


E
g,

 

%.

Hawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.

 

rich jewel of her glorious love was to be his cor-

onal foreverniorol . _
Yes; the hours for modest evasmn, for maid-

v enly coyuess were of no longer avail at the dis-

solvinrr stroke of the arch—eiich'antcr’s wand, iii
the prgsence of Love the omnipotcnt, Love the
divme! I

The next instant they were in each othcr’s

arms.

A breathless embrace—~“a kiss, a long, long
kiss of youth and lovo”—und then for a few
blissful moments they wero wrapped in the de-
lirious lieai‘t-to-heart hush, in which

“ Love took up the glass of time, and turned it in his
glowing hands,

Every mipute, lightly shaken, ran itself in golden
Sallt 9‘

Love took up the harp of life, and smote on all the
chords with might,

Smote the chord of Self which, trembling, passed in
music out of sight."

But, their first transports over, the lovers were
,not long in recalling the more critical, if less ro-
mantic, exigencies of their Situation.

“ My beloved, my angel!" murmured “Hawk.
“Now God be praised, for I deemed you in your

aw i” . -
g1“ In my gravel” repeated Clarissa, With genu-
ine wonder. “ Speak, my darling! . I was, per-
haps, prepared for—for your astonishment and,
joy at this revelation of my heart 5 secret springs
—she blushed beautifully-“ but why should you
have deemed me dead, rather than merely gone

3”
a‘wHae told her of his discoveries at the house in

. Melton place, the sanguinary indications in the

basement rooms, the seeming grave, or rather
double-grave, in the sub-cellar. _

“ Cheap melodramatic shams, dev1sed by
Ivan Kotzka for your special bcuefitl” exclaimed
Clarissa. “ Ah! Kotzka was ever nothing if not
sensational, as well as bloody. Some red paint
and the shreds of a couple of his own disguismg
wigs would have answered his purpose in effect—
ing his hideous shams while of. course the now-
made grave was a part of his scheme. But I
knew nothing of his subsequent deSigns when I
consented to hurriedly quit _tho placeheven at
the cost ofoblreakin in appomtment With you,

olel for a s sa 6.
s “  yoE tell me that?” said Hawk takin
her again in his arms, and kissing her. ‘ Wou]

you willingly have caused me the anguish I have

suffered?” '

“ Never, my own!” and she responded to his
endearment. .

“ Tell me about your departure With the old

risoner of the secret cell—with the unfortunate
Baron von Tauchnitz. '
Clarisse started. , _
“Whatl you know the poor old mans iden-
‘ an
tn“That, and more; far more than you can con-
ceive Clarissel’

She, gave him a startled look.

“Can he be other than the _ r Baron von
Tauchnitz, who has incurred the ifs-long resent-
ment of our Order i” she asked. .

“ Not other, but more than he,” replied the
detective], mfinglyi” “Ask me no more at

resent c on _
p “ But, when many? I am all in a whirl—half-
'lderedl”
be‘v‘mSoonmperha in a few hours all shall be
brought to 1i h . Be content to know that it
will be a startgling illumination, but not an un-
asant one.”
p1‘gl‘he troubled look in her eyes gave way to a,
i ht. .
hill-“E; gnot your beloved now?” said she, gen.
tly. “Wherefore should I not remain con-
mfit?” t I”
ownes own _ .

Andy once more he folded her to his breast.

“Now let us exchange explanations, my dar-
ling,” Said Hawk. “ I have told you of my ad;
ventures since last we met. _ What are yours?

“ Kotzka had no dificulty in persuade me to

uit the Melton place house to make ready for

lga’s recgption at the retreat near here, where
she arriv an hour after daybreak, as on
know. I took the r old baron in a c 056
carriage with me. otzka must have prepared
his ghastly mummery for your jal homfica—
tion soon after our departure. 9 has treated
Olga indiflerently well since taking her from the
tower prison of the old brewery, at least, not
with brutality. I have looked out for that But
Kotzka is terribly depressed. He seems to have
a great shadow on his mind. ’

“He may well Seem”so. It is the shadow of
his a proaching dooml ” a»

“What! are you so sure? _

“ The proofs of his treachery to his fellow.”
archists—his heretofore dupes—are 1n mypw.
session. You will see him unmasked 1n the
midst of his confederates this very night. ” Be-
hold, Clarissel read and Judge for yourself. _ ‘

With some other e lanatory words he exhib-
ited to her the piecede-agments of Kotzlia’s cor-
reSpondent-e with the User’s representatiye.

“ God of Vengeapcewirfi’tfixgrelaunbcid Clarissa. ex-

'nin the r00 9 m in _eagerness;
grilld filave alt one time  int is man’s de-
votion to the» cause in which my sire laid down

his life i“

y

 gun”-.. Ammunmmm. ,. no.  ,- - . --

._,.....‘......- ,.;.- ' 'h‘ ‘

 

“And I, too, Clarissa, in the distant past and
other clinics, when this fearful man was my
mentor and my friend—when the Baron von
’l‘auchnitz knew and loved me, and your noble
niothcr.— But what am I saying?"

She looked at him in astonishment.

“ M y mother?” she faltei'od. “ Explain—what
mean you?”

“ No more now,” said he, with a depreciating
gesture. “The revealing hour has not struck,
though it is near at hand. No more. I beseech
youi Continue, Clarissa. What of Kotzkai’f

“ Oh, the diabolism, the unparalleled iniquity
of the traitor 1" she exclaimed, as he re ossessed
himself of the pa ers. “ He has defi the ven-
geance of the Or er. Let the bolt fall 1”

She was magnificent in her righteous wrath.

“It will fall, Clarissa. Fear not!”

“ Oh, I see it alll” she went on. “ Why have
I suffered my enthusiasm, my exaltation to bhnd
me for so long? He, and he alone, could have
murdered Olga s poor mother 1”

“Without a shadow of a doubt; and apart
from any interests of the Order, for the basest
personal and mercenary ends—to secure to him-
self the estates that would otherwise have fallen
to his victim and her daughter upon the mere
presentation of their claims thereto!”

“ Heavens! what can you mean'l The widow
Ashcombe was then—”

“ The Baroness von Tauchnitz—the wife, but
who deemed herself the widow, of the poor, ini-
becileflold prisoner who has so long been in your
care!

“And Olga his daughter? I am bewildered.
It seems an impossibility.”

“ I have the proofs, obtained from the Rus-
sian Consul, together with the assurance that
the vast Tauchuitz estates, once confiscan but
soon afterward restored, are at this hour await-
iii0 the rightful owner's claim.”

t‘Annd you have the proofs of Olga‘s pater-
ni y?

“ Of that, and of yet more i”

“ Hawk, my love, tell me all i”

“ No, by my faith i” cried Hawk with a laugh,
but embracing her anew. “ This one bright
morsel of reve ation shall abide the supreme hour
followin u on Kotzka’s overthrow.’

“ Crue l at I am submissive."

“ Now to the work in hand. When were Sea-
grave and Nixey captured?”

“ An hour after their discovery of nga’s
present cage.”

“ And by the same miscreant ruflians to whom
the old German and I are indebted for a like
service?"

“ Yes: but rather call them credulous tools,
fprhtsthey are honest, according to their
ig . ’

“Where is Blithers—I mean Kotzka—at this
moment?”

“ Ah! you have found out that?”

“At last. The bed of the real Blithers—
murdered by Kotzka— been brought to light
from its water grave.”

Clarissa shu dered. ,

“I feared as much,” she faltered, “but tried
to dismiss the suspicion.”

“ Is Kotzka now at Olga’s new retreat?”

“ Yes and likely to remain there till the hour
for to-'n ht’s conelave. Between his own fears
and his Jealous guard over Olga, he is likely to
be suflciently occupied.”

“ He once more trusts in on im lieitl 1”

f‘ Absolutely, though orce. ere tether-
Wise, I would not now be here.”

“ Surely.”

“I have the outer guards solely under my
authorit while Kotzka is within doors,” con-
tinued larisse. “I personally instigated the
capture of Seagrave and Nixiy, or they would
have penetrated too far—to eir own death,
perchance.”

“ And Mr. Schmidt and I are equally indebted
to your efforts?”

‘ Can you doubt it? Oh, my love, I wanted
you especially and so dearly 1”

Time $268861}, but space was yet snatched for
another ss and embrace.

“True,” explained Clarissa, “I ordered your
capture, but not the attack that receded it.
Heavensl you might have been k led." And
again she shuddered.

“Faith, and the big flankin bowlder came
precious near to wiping out b0 the professor
and me in short order 1” said Hawk with a

laugh. “But pgrhaps it is for the best that
Kotzka should kept out of our way for the
present.”

“Out of mine, as well!” said Clarissa her
shape] hands instinctively clinching. “ now-
ing whatnI now do, I would mistrust my self-
control in his resence."

“Still, we s ould notbe debarred improvin
our acquaintance with Olga and her other,

Hawk. “We deserve that much and poor
Ralph Seagrave is almost as much in love as I.”

qfidfif led.h b t d t

j o ‘amustt an ego ri of orthetime
bein ,” continued Hawk.

:zTEtthOW?” d btl be

' acan on ess arran . Have
Nixey sent to me. He is near at find, I .pre-
sumo.” _

Cl  7)

 

 

CHAPTER XXXIII.
“ALL GOOD FRIENDS rooiiriiim."

CLARISSE stepped to the door of the hut, and.
gave a low shri 1 signal.

One of or uncouth followers made his up—
pearancc from among the surrounding bushes;
and debris.

At a whispered word, he darted away, rean-

peared, accompanied by the wondering Nixoy, ‘

unbound and alert, and again vanished.

At the up earaiicc of Clui‘isso, alive and even -

fnililing, the d had emitted a cry of amazed dc»
i it.
gShe motioned him to Silence, and conductcd.
him to the detectivc's presence, where sufficient.
ex lanations were vouchsafed.

Iawk had been writing a telegraph dispatch,
which was as follows:

“ Relurn hither without an instant’s d, lay. Conn’.
R— insists on ampler details of preliminary inform
motion. Will require your constant presence here.
till evening. Delay not.”

This was dated as comin from the house of
the Russian Consul, was a dressed to Kotzka,
and bore the secretary’s signature.

Clarisse looked up approvingl ' after riadiug
the message, which her over ha placed in her
hands. '

“It will answer,” she said.

Hawk incloscd the message in a note of ex—
planation to the consul’s secretary, and dis—
patched Nixey with it to 890 Madison avenue.

“ It will be a good hour before Kotzka can.
receive the dispatch,” said Hawk, glancing win--
{lully at a rude seat that stood at one side of the

ut

“'Yes,” said Clarisse, demurely.

“It would hardly do for us to show ourselves
abrgad till the enemy shall have taken himself
off

“Hardly.”

“ I wonder if our remainng friends are coin»
fortable—released of their ga ‘ and bonds, I
mean, yet still guarded against imprudent mania
festations on their part.”

“I have seen to that. They are in another
cabin but a few paces away.”

“ Ah! and we have a whole hour to our-
selves.”

l‘ Yes. H

“Shall we find it very monotonous, think
you, Clarissei”

She raised her downcast e es, and there was
a subdued but happy li ht in or face.

Given but a miserab a hut, with but a rude.
bench for a lover’s seat, and security from in-
terruption for two newly-plighted hearts, that
are beatin beating beating, throbbing, throb—
bing, thro hing to but one tune, that of love,
love love, and evermore just love alone, and
then hint of monotony in connection with one
fleeting, golden hour! ‘

Profanation of love’s melting speech, were it
other than playful badinage in love’s behalf!

“There is one item of mystery I would have-

explained to me,” said Hawk, after man mo—
ments of blissful communion such as overs
have. “ And to ask it, we must; think again of
Kotzka.”

“ And why not, since our
ended yet?” said Clarissa.
do you allude?”

“ To the secret passage that must exist be-
tween that upper room in the Melton place
house and the one adjoining.” ,

“ Of course, it is there.”

.“ But I sounded the wall thoroughly, without
discovering the secret.”

Clarissa smiled. ,

“ Even the shrewdest of detectives may be at
fault occasionally,” said she.

‘ I should
being hoodwinked, dumfonnded, bound hand
pad 1,foot, body and soul—especially when in
ove
b1Shhe smiled again, and this time with a happy

us .

f‘ The secret was not so much in the hearth,”
said she. “ It was one of Kotzka’s most ingenl
ions contrivances. A pressure of the foot upon
a certain spot in the hearth 0 rated a power-
ful spring,  caused- the en re fire-place and
chimneytoswm noiselessly o 11, thus giving
admittance into he ad 'oining ouse.”

“That is well wort '
Hawk. “ I shall attend to it at my leisure.”

sently a messen er, whom. Clarissa had
sent to watch Kot-zka s whereabouts returned.

A telegraph dispatch, he reported, had been
brought to the bouso, and, a few moments.
later. Kotzka had hurriedly summoned his ir-

rils are not wholly
‘To what mystery

evitable black and yellow cab, and been driven ' V

away in hot haste.

The coast was clear. ,

Clarissa and Hawk lost no time in rejoining
Sea ve and the old professor.

“games over the astonishment of the two,
letter at beholdi’ng Clarissa, and the explana-
tions that ensued.

The lovers had resolved to kee their own
counsel as to the relationshi exis in between
the old Baron von Tauchni and (fly; tilla.

later hour. ,

 had also before this exerted her
author ty to et rid of her foreign subordinates.
so that now are was nothing in the way of the

|

- l

L a 

. ...... .-J}-4-;W‘

.1... ., - ... ._. m... . ..

say so,” admitted he; “besides”

an examination,” said

, .

“5'1: s-‘.‘

.‘

 

'30

Hawk Heron, the Falcon Detective.

 

 

Kotzka had hired in the vicinity, and this was
done at once.

Olga had at last been left with but one guard,
in the person of a resolute and rather stupid
female revolutionist, who was, however, ob-
soquiously submissive to the superior authority
of Clarisse.

. The sorely—tried young girl was accordingly
Vleiiabled to enjoy the society of her rescuers
, without restraint.
The most ecstatic joy manifested by either of
' the new-comers at meeting her, without even ex-
cc ting that of Ralph Seagrave, was naturally
exhibited by her old music teacher, Mynheer
Schmidt, who had until that moment deemed
her dead and buried in the same grave that
had closed over her hapless mother’s breast.
In truth, the good old German seemed well-
'ni h beside himself with delight.
e clasped her in his arms again and again.
He laughed and wept by turns. Ho repeatedly
demanded the story of her restoration to life,
and as often interrupted the recital with the
homely expressions of fatherly endearment he
, had been wont to lavish on her as a child. He
3 raVed. chatted sun laughed and danced his
' joy, until finally larisse only succeeded in
moderating his transports by sending out for
an unlimited supply of lager beer, with which
he was diligently (plied until in a somewhat less
obstreperous moo .
But the lovely Olga had not been averse to her
i old mentor’s ruptures, though it was only when
' v they had in a measure subsided that she found
' . her society principally monopolized by Ralph
' A 'Seagrave, who lost no time in making himself
' .as agreeable as might be.
v Then the whilom mysterious risoner of Mel-
ton place, the long sufferer of evolutionist re—
sentment, or of Ivan Kotzka’s persecution, the
poor old imbecile Baron von Tauchnitz, though
'r' of those present only Clarissa and Hawk knew
’ him by that title for the time being, was brought
2 out of his reiirement, and made one of the cheer-
| . ful gathering.
‘, To besura, he seemed but dimly conscious of
, his surroundings, beyond a vague and perhaps
~ pleasurable sense of expensive kindliness, sym-
, ‘ athy and sociability, to which for man years
, he had been a stranger. But occasional g impses
' were afforded of smoldering intelligence and
' ‘ memory that might reqtgire but time and gentle
1, ‘ treatment to fan in pristine wer and
*’ " . warmth, and his companions made 1: 0 most of
5? their opportunities to cheer and brighten that
wronged, world—worn and much-bruised human
heart. ‘
i ' ’ Nixey did not put in a. reappearance till
almost nightfall, but then it was with such en-

 

: . tardiness. .
5 , “ The bi’g ’un has got his hands full,” was his
graphic way of putting i .

v t
' , ' “ Have you shadowed Kotzka, my lad?” asked ,
' {heaven’s artillery in the climax of a great

,' Hawk.

" “ Like his own double, boss, man
' he’s had,” was the reply, “ from t 6 time he
‘! bolted into the Russian nabob’s roost, in answer
i to the telegram, to where I last left him.”

“ Where was that?”

I: “ In the back room of an east-side beer-mill,

of ’em as

'5 boss. not far from the old brewery in the classic ‘

precincts of the Short Tail’s old-time stampin’
. ; ground.”
, ’ _ “ Oho!” _
 “ Yes, an’ surrounded by a whoopin’  gang
_ V of foreign thronesmashers, all hoorayin t to
z ,’ split for which Kotzka was settin’ up the lush
i, " by the barrel. Oh, they seemed to be getting
. , primed for a lively night, boss. They were
, makin things jump.”
‘ ‘ Haw arose. .
'i “ Come, my friends,” said he, gravely, “we
, 4 must beipreparing for the crowning busmess at
. , hand. his is the beginning of the end.”

i  CHAPTER XXXIV.
:i ~ RETRIBUTION. .
‘ ' ’ Tun Revolutionists were once more in secret

session.

The great underground hall of the old brewery
building was brilliantly illuminated and densely
'thronged as upon the occasion of the readers
former glimpse into the interior. '

t The banners and mottoes upon the walls seem-
ed even redder, wilder, more flamboyant and
more incendiary than before.

Fanatical enthusiasts of both sexes, all a es,
‘man nationalities, every grade and cough. 'on
in l' e, and all phases of revolutionizig‘pohtick
Socialists, Communists, Anarchists - lsruption-
ists, Nihilists—disturbing, or would-be disturb-
ing forces from all quarters of Europe,_as earn-

. est and sincere as the were Impractical and
dangerous~fllled the all with their. closely-
seatfld, eager-faced, serried and gesticulatmg
ran

7“)!

A vast breeze of ap lause was ruflling the sea
of faces turned tower the stage.

Count Ivan Kotzka, the controlling head of
these ‘wild-brained, emotional, heterogeneous
"human elements, and heretofore almost their
idol, had just finished one of his characteristic

melodramatic style.

 

-: , couraging news as to more than make up for his ,

harangues, in his. most vivid, picturesque and A,

whole party proceeding to the house VVlliChl

 

 

The harangue had been an unequivocal suc-
cess.

Still glowing with his oratorical effort, mag-
nificently dressed as was his wont, the grand
double-dyed arch—conspirator was just bowing
his )owerful and colossal personality off the

latforin amid a tumult of plaudits that must
have been as music to his ears.

At this instant a heavily-bearded, athletic
young man, in an artisan’s working dress,
sprung upon the platform, waving some papers
which he held in his hand.

As no one seemed to recognize him, the unex-
pected boldness of this proceeding at once chal-
enged and obtained renewed attention amid a
breathless silence.

The new orator was swift to avail himself of
the opportunity.

The first ringing sentence he gave utterance
to thrilled through the assemblage like an elec«
tric shock.

“ That man who has just addressed you,
Count Ivan Kotzka,”lie cried “isa foul and
perlidious traitor, who has this day sold you out
to the Czar’s representative in this city, and I
am prepared to prove what I char 9, by docu—
ment’ary and other evidence, right ere on the
5 0t!

The effect of these words was indescribable.

A tremendous tumult was the result.

Kotzka, thunder-struck, had started back,
anltfi turned pale, but instantly recovered him-
se .

“The charge is false !—ridiculous as it is.
false!” he thundered. “ Ha, ha, ha! Who is
this unknown scoundrel that dares to make it?
I recognize him if you do not. Behold him in
the person of Hawk Heron, the pseudo detec-
tive, whom I have so often held up to your
scorn and resentment as a hired Russian spy!”

Hawk, for it was indeed he, tore off the false
beard from his face, and stood self-confessed!

“Comrades, I am no spy, as ou shall present-
ly acknowledge,” he cried, in is clear incisive
tones. “Let me read to you one of the docu-
ments, in Kotzka’s familiar handwriting, that I
hold in my hand, and if you are not satisfied of
his treason, his perfidy—”

But here his voice was drowned in a storm of
angr dissent. The vast majority were still
Kotz a’s credulous and purblind dupes. Threat-
ening demonstrations against the stranger were
not wanting.

Hawk strove again and again to make him-
self heard, but in vain.

Kotzka made a significant gesture.

A hundred wild fl ures were already on their
feet, some even rus ing toward the platform.
Here and there a deadly Weapon saw the light.

The roar was deafenin , but terrible expres-
sions, such as “ Kill him!’ “Tear him to pieces!”
“Pulverize him !” “ Cut out his heart!” “Down
with the spy!” “Tram le him to death!” here
and there made themse ves distinguishable above
it, as individual detonations above the war of

thunder-storm.

It looked very much as if our hero was
doomed.

But a sudden diversion was caused by a tall,
graceful and superbly—attired figure struggling
out of the seething mass, like a mist-sprite out of
the fury of a cataract, and gliding somehow to a
commanding position on the rostrum like a rain-
bow on the tempest’s brow.

It was Clarisse!

Needless to say that; but with a familiar and
controlling influence over those wild spirits that
was su rior to even Kotzka’s, she swept out her
arm With an im rious gesture; her eyes flashed,
her lips parted, er lonous bosom rose and fell;
and the maddened uman sea relapsed into re-
spectful and attentive ’calm as at the stroke of
an enchanter’s wand.

“ Brethren,” she cried, “ do you believe in my
truth, in m fidelity?”

A roar o assent was her answer, and Kotzka’s
quivering lips wore a triumphant smile.

“ Then I swear to you that the charges made
by Hawk Heron against Count Kotzka are true!”

The current changed as if by magic. It was
Kotzka’s turn to start back appalled at the furi-
ous storm directed‘against him.

Clarissa still managed to make herself heard.

“ I have seen the proofs of his treachery in his
own handwriting!” she cried. “They are un—
mistakable. Not only has Kotzka bargained for
your betra a], in consideration for the Czar’s
pardon an the Czar’s gold, but his other
oflenses a ainst our. Order are equally foul!
He has su served our interests to his private
ends. The Baron von Tauchnitz, so long your
life-captive under Kotzka’s charge, is innocent,
and he has always known it! I also brand him
as the ruthless destroyer, in his own mercenary
behalf, of that poor risoner’s wife, the Baroness
von Tauchnitz, and t e abductor of her daughter
Olga! He is the so-called widow Ashcombe’s
midni ht murderer! The proofs against him are
overw elming and indisputable! Let him deny
it, if he dare!”

She would haVe gone on, but she had already .

loosened the whirlwind.

Kotzka. backed against. the platform wall,
knife in hand, foaming at the mouth, gnashing
his teeth, was already confronting a hundred, of

 

his enraged dupes, trooping down upon him like
wolves.

Seagrave, Mr. Schmidt and Nixey, tccefln-
with Rudolph and others who had bcni lit iiilo
the secret beforehand, were rushing to Ban k‘s
support, as the latter was now, having signakd
the police in waiting, chiefly intent upon pro-
pcrving the baited monster for the talons of the
aw.

Olga, also present under Clarisse’s protection,
had reached the latter’s side, frightened and
trembling.

It was as Hawk had feared, now that the ex-
posure had come, the main difiiculty “as in eav-
iiig Kotzka from being torn to iieces.

Again the clarion voice of ‘larisse rung cut
above the din with terrible (listiiicincss.

“ He is the widow Asliccnzbe’s mm dcreri” sLe
iterated. “ Let him drny it, if he‘darei”

“Deny it? I deny nothing!” yelled the cor-
nered giant, now fighting for his life—snarling,
lashing out and struggling tooth and nail, like a
monarch of the jungle in the hunters’ toils.
“ Kotzka denies nothing! It is all true, and
more! He dies, as he has lived, unpitying and
unpitied! Dupes, fools, miscreants, :cum oi the
cai‘th—l’

But neither his secret armor nor his super-
human cunning, neither his giant strength nor
his magnificent cot'i'age, avaih (1 him now.

In another instant, the thirstch for his life
swept over his pm siraie and ii a nipled body.

It was only by the efforts of a platoon of police,
who at that nicment swept into the hall in
obedience to Hawk Heron’s signal, that he was
finally rescued from the mob, bruised, bleeding
disfigured and half-stripped of his clothing, an
carried off to prison,

The monster had been caged at last.

 

CHAPTER XXXV.
“ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.”

LATE on the afternoon of the following day
there was a joyous gathering in the isolated
Brooklyn house which had recently become the
temporary domicile of Olga, Clarisse and the
Baron von Tauchnitz.

The secret of relationship had been made
known to both Olga and the. old baron.

Yes, to even the baron himself, who was sit-
ting in an easy-chair before the roaringflre. with
the soft light of a new happiness and a slowly
but surely awakening intel igence stealing over
his countenance as he held his new-found daugh-
ter’s hand in his.

A tender light of happiness was in Olga’s
sweet eyes, though subdued by the fresh recol—
lection of her recent terrible bereavement.

Ralph Seagrave, quietly contented, was also
at her side, and from the hopeful look on his
face it was evident that he meant to aspire to
the hand of Olga von Tauchnitz with as much
encouragement as he had striven for the heart
of Olga Ashcombe, when only the beautiful but
obscure Singer of the Thalia Theater.

Clarisse and Mr. Schmidt were in earnest con—
versation over some formidable-looking docu—
ments, which had been Sent to the house a short
time before, with the compliments of Count
Rudovoski, the Russian Consul.

These papers were the certified indentiflcation
of Olga’s father as the real Baron von Tauch-
nitz, setting forth his pardon for past political
offenses by the Czar.fogether with the details of
the princely estates in southwestern Russia and
elsewhere which had long been awaiting his
c aim. x

Hawk and Nixey alone, of the group who have
chiefly figured in our pages, were absent.

The former, however, presently arrived, and
Clarissa hastily arose to greet him with a charm-
ing blush in her beautiful face.

ut the detective was serious, as well as cor-
dial, and there wasag'ravity in his manner as he
responded to her joyful welcome.

‘ What is it?” said she, while the others also
looked up expectantly. “Have you fresh tid-
ings for us?”

“ Tidings of both joyand sorrow,” said Hawk.
kissing her. “But let the joy come first. It is
another revelation, Clarissa.

“ Yet another?”

“ Yes; you have told me that you have no re-
collection of your mother?”

“me 5’

“ You were taken away from her at an early
age by your father, whom you only remember
as Monsieur Letours, the sometime companion
of Kotzka, the wanderinierevolutionury agent,
who, you were taught to lieve. finally met an
exile’s death amid the wastes of Siberia. after
which you became the protegee of the Order, the
daughter of the Cause for which he had—disap-

red?”

“ For which he laid down his life, you mean.
All this is true, but—”

“Strange.” interrupted her lover, half-mus-
ingly. “Strange that your we could have
deemed it advisable to lead that mysterious
double—life—now with his devoted wife and
younger child in 1115 ancestral home—then wan-

‘ dering aimlessly, or in the interests of a Secret
1' propaganda, and with his other, his eldest child,
ignorant of his real name, as the sole companion
of his perils!” .

 

 

. a. _ l
v

31'

 

 

 

“What mean you?”

“ Can you not guess?”

“No. I am bewildered.”

“Clarisse I have told you that in the Old
days, when was the friend of the Baron Von
’l‘auclinitz, and the boyish pupil of the terrible
Kotzka, it was my wont  (lance the infant
Olga. on my knee, and rojon'o in her noble ino-
ilior‘s friendship. ’

Lt ’1‘rue-7Y

“Well, in the same old days, though in differ—
ent places, was it my wont to fondle you, her
elder sister by a. year, though it has escaped
your memory.”

“ Her elder sister? those—I—Olga‘s?”

“ The same. I swear it! The proofs are in
Mr. Schmidt's possession. Monsieur Letours
was never sent to Siberia, but, through Kotzka’s
machinations, finally had his porsoiialit .re-
merged into that of the Baron von Tauc nitz,
when the latter, falsely accused of treachery to
the Order was torn from the active world in
your childhood, to become the secret prisoner
under Kotzka’s care.” I

“Oh, Heavensl can this be true?” gasped
Clarissc, while Olga had likOWIse started to her
feet, claspiug her hands. ’

“ As true as God’s white truth!” said the dc-
tective, solemnly. “ Letours and 'l‘auclinitz

.7 r’ Hawk Heron. the [Falcon Detective.

has permanently relinquished the study of medi-
cine.

Young men with young, loving, beautiful and
immensely rich brides could scarcely be expected
to turn out otherwise.

Soon after the knots were tied, the couples set
out with the old baron to help him take posses-
sion of his hereditary estates, accompanied, we
may he sure, by the honest old music-teacher
and the irrepressible graduate of the Short Tail
Gran .

W hen last heard from, they were all happy in
their stately home beyond t 6 sea: but not the
less have both Hawk nand Seagrave, together
with their Wives, signified their determination
of ultimately returning to make their permanent
home in the land of the free and the home of the
brave. _

“ Once Americans, always Americans”. IS
doubtless their patriotic motto; and, Jud mg
1) their past careers, it is one that they wi 1 be
li ely to live up to until the end.

THE END.

 

Beadle’s Dime Library.

1 A HARD CROWD. B Philip S. Warne........  10c

   
 

102 THE liIAstD BAND. By George L. Aiken .. 100
103 MEILLE, TIIE MUTINEER. Col. P. Ingralinin.. 10c
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108 THE DUKE or DIAMONDS. By Fred. hittaker. 100
109 CAPTAIN KY1). By Col. Prentiss In ralmm .. 100
110 TIIE SILENT RIrLiciIAN. B H. W. lerbert . 10c
111 THE SMCGCLER CAPTAIN. y Ned Buntline. 10c
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115 THE SEVEnI-in HEAD. By Capt. F.Wliittaker. 10c
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P.1ngriiliam ..  ,.  .. .. me
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116 TIIE BURGLAII CAPTAIN. By J. H. liigrnham. 100
119 ALABAMA JOE. By Joseph E. Badger. Jr.... 100
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122 SAUL SABBERDAY. By Ned Buntlliie..  .
128 ALAPAHA, TEE SQUAW. By Francis Johnson. 100
121 AssowAUM. THE AVENGEn. Francis Johnson. 10c
125 THE BLAcKsmTE OIITLAw. By H. Ainsworth. 10c
126 THE DEMON DUELIST. By Col. T. ll. Monstery. 100
127 SOL SCOTT. TEE MAsKED MINER. By Badger. 100
128 THE CHEVALIER CORSAIR. By the author of
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129 MISSISSIPPI lilosn. By Edward Willett..... 100
130 CAPTAIN VOLCANO. By Albert W. Aiken. .... 10c
131 BUCKSKIN SAM. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham“ 106
132 NEMO, KING ON THE 'l‘RAMrS. By Capt. Fred.

.‘ ' r ._ . w _ . ,. 1 H “.10 Whittaker.... ..  ..  100
were one and the same; 011111559 and Olga “19 §  6) 1:36;), 3v}? vanfiglksiii“  h 10: 13‘; Raw, THE ROVER. ‘ By William Carleton... 10c
sisters!” , , 4 TIIE KInNArPER. B Pliili S. Warne.. Inc 1:34 DAR-Km D‘N- BY (“01- m'?““59 Ingrah‘m-n 10“

The sisters rushed into each other 5 arms, and 5 THE FIRE FIENDB' 3y A. ). Morris I t _ _ N 100 1.35 THE BUSH RANGER. By Francis Johnson. . .. 100

a moment later, still embracing, they were
kneeling and sobbing at the knees of their com—
mon father, Whose tears were lilieWise flOWIng,

 

6 Wane” Boa. By Edward L. Wheeler. . .  1
7 DEATII-NOTCII, TIIE DESTROYEE. Oll Co:Ines.. 10c
6 THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN. By Mayne Reid... 16c

136 THE OUTLAW<HUNTEIL By Francis Johnson. 106
137 LONG BEARD, THE GIANT SPY. By Oll Coomes.‘ 100
138 THE BORDER BANDITS. By Francis Johnson. 100

4 . , ( . y 139 FIRE-EVE TIIE SEA HYENA. B Ingmth 10¢
a athetlc tl‘lbute ‘50 the 3"? that he “’35 n°t yot 18 $3,223; fig?p§g§§¥lgg$g$'  min's'el'f:  140 THE THREE SPANIARDS. By Georye Walker.. 100
f“ 1 ' able to undersmnd' . ll MIDSEIPMAN EASY. By Capt. Maryatt . . . . . . .. 100 141 EQUINOX TOM- By Joseph E- B“ 891‘. Jr- - »~ 100

“ t has been 9- 1011gy a comphcated and Pain" 12 THE DEATH-SHOT. B Capt. Mayne Reid... . 10c “2 cm‘m CWKSON- BY Mil-lo“ Dan “field Bu" 10°
ful mystery but the solution has come at last, 13 PATHAWAY. By Dr. .H. Robinson . . . . . . . .. 10c “3 THE 01““ S 5“- By T1105. H- .Onste’Y---~ 10"
and all’s well that ends well.” said Hawk, after 11 TIIAYENDANEGEA. THE SCODEGE. Ned Buntline. 100 144 HUNCHBACK 01" NOTRE'DAMEv View“ H1180" 100

a long pause. “ Now comes the evil news to top
the good. Our peril is not wholly ended."

They all looked up at him.

“ Kotzka has escaped l”

Escapedl

There was a chill of fear, from which no one
in the room was exempt.

With that flend in human form once more at
liberty, no wonder that there was a fresh sensa-
tion of dread and insecurity.

Hawk went on to give the details of the intel-
ligence as it had come to his knowledge a few,
hours previously at Police Head-quarters .111
Mulberry street, after which he had burned
away to attend to another pressing affair, leav-
ing Nixey to gather fuller particulars.

Kotzka’s genius for disguises had once more
served his turn. Early that morningi a strange

the prison authorities, succeeded in Obtaining,
.admissionto Kotzka’s cell. She was doubtless

15 TIIE TIGEE SLAYER. B Gustave Aimard.... . 100
16 Tax: WHITE WIZARD. y Ned Buntline.. .
17 NIGHTBHADE. By Dr. J. H. Robinson.
13 THE SEA BANDIT. By Ned Buntllne. .. .
19 RED CEDAR. By Gustave Aimard . . . . . . . . . . . ..
20 THE BANDIT AT BAY. By Gustave Almard... 10c
21 TIIE TRAPPER’S DAUGHTER. Gustave Aimard . 100
22 WEITELAw. By Dr. J. H. Robinson. ..
23 THE RED WARRIOR. By Ned Buntllne
24 TEE PRAIRIE FLOWER. By Gustave Al
25 TEE GOLD GUIDE. By Francis Johnson .
26 TEE DEATH TRACK. By Francis Johnson
27 TKE SPo'i'rER DETECTIVE. ByAlbertW.Aike .
‘28 TEREE-FINGERED JACK. Joseph E. Badger. Jr. 100
29 TIGER DICK, TEE FARO KING. P. S. Wariie . 100
30 GOSPEL GEORGE. By Jose 11 E. Bad or. Jr . 10c
81 THE NEW YORK SHARP. yAlbert .Aiken.. 10c
32 B‘EOVS or YALE. By John D. Vose . . . . . . . .. 10c
33 OVERLAND KIT. Bv Albert W. Aiken...  . 100
34 ROCKY MOUNTAIN Ron. By Albert W. Aiken.. 100
35 KENTUCK. TEE SPORT. B Albert W. Aiken. 10c

   

   
  
   

88 VELVET HAND. By Albert W. Aiken. . . 10c
39 THE RUSSIAN SPY. By Roderick Whittaker. me

145 PISTOL PARDS. By Wm. B. Evster .. .  .. me
116 THE DOCTOR DETECTIVE. By George Lemuel 10c
147 GOLD SPUR. By Col. Prentiss lngraham.... 100
148 ONE-ARMED Air. By 011 Coomes .. . 1
119 THE BORDER RIFLES. B Gustave Aimard.. 10c
150 EL RUDIO BRAVO, TIIE ING or run SWORD-

nEN. By Col. Thomas HtéyerMonstei-y.... . 100
151 THE FREEBOOTERS. B ustave Aimard.... 100
152 CAPTAIN IRONNERVE. g Marmaduke Day. loo
153 TIIE WHITE SCALPER. y Gustave Aimard. 100
151 JOAQUIN, THE SADDLE KING. By J. E. Badger. 100
155 THE CORSAIR QDEEN. By Col. P. lngraham.
156 VELVET FACE. By Major Dangerfield Burr. 100
157 MOURAD THE MAMELCKE. By Col. Thomas

Hoyer Monstery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 100
158 THE DODMED DozEN. By Dr. Frank Powell... 100
159 RED RYVDIGER. By Ca . Fred'k Whittaker.. 100
160 Sow HAND, SEAEP. y William R. Eyster..
161 THE WOLVES or N Ew YORK. gyA.W. Aiken. 160
162 TEE MAD MARINER. By Col. .Ingraham.. 10c
163 BEN BRION, TEE TRAPPER CAPTAIN; or,RED-

S
o

p:
O
O

. . AVENGER. B Dr. J. H. Robinson. 10c
woman of exceptionally large an powerful 86 12mm DICK. By Albert .Aiken .. . .' .... .. .. 10c ,64 $§$fi§gs FOOL B  D. Clark  10c
11‘ frame, had, by a suspiciouslanty on the part of 8’? HIRL, TEE HUNOEEACK. By J. H. Robinson... me 165 JoAQm’ THE Tannin. By Jos- E_ Badger” we

66 OWLET. TEE ROBBED. PRINCE. By Septimus

_ . 6 v A R. Urban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
one of his sin faithful male adherents 1.“ dle 3?$§h%fi.flii§321b§t“€izatefitiidiil’ffi lit 16? Tu MAN or STEEL Bv A. 1% Morris ----- ~ 10°
ise, At all events half an 110111‘ later It was 42 THE CALIFORNIA DETECTIVE. A. W. Aiken... 10c 168 WILD mu" “’3 PET“ DE“) SRO" 35’ C°L
iscovered that Kotz a had slipped through the 43 DAKOTA DAN. By Oil Coomes . . . . . . . . . . . .  10c Prentiss I“ m ~ - - - I ‘ ~ ' ' ~ - ~ ~ ‘ - ’ - - ‘ ~ ' ' " 10°

rison gate, after investing himself in his vis-

44 OLD DAN RACKBACK. By 011 Coomes. . ..

  
   

 

 

169 CORPoiiAL ANNON. ByCol.Monstcry...

 

I . 170 SWEET WILLIAM. By Jos E. Bad er Jr . 100
’ owedb the 45 OLD BULL’S EYE. By JOE L. Bad er. Jr . 10c ,. . -. Q . .
“f’lfinwefimf :gpgfiglijfigffgggnas to ($1158 46 BOWIE-KNIEE BEN. By Oil Coomeg . . . . .. _ me 111 €G§%.PICI‘{. {VIE  or THE IRON BEAM.
V15 3 . g l . - ’ k a 47 PACIFIC PETE. 13v JCS E. Badger, Jr.. 100 y £19 5' ame- ~ ~ - - ' - ‘ - - - - - - -- 10"
some he dement 1.” the slupld gate' eeper s 48 IDAHO Ton. By 011 Coomes. . . .. ..  10c ‘72 TEE LUCK PIRATE- By Col. Ingraham..«... 10o
mind, but no dowan ht uspicion asto the real 49 T3,, Wu“. Dmom By Albert w_ Aiken  me 1Z3 CALIEORNIA JOHN. B Albert W. Aiken.:.... 10c g
state of the case unti it was too late to be rem- 50 JACK Mum By Jos_ E. Badger J, 10c 1‘4 PHANTOM KNIGHTS. Capt. F. Whittaker“ 10c
13¢ . . 51 RED Ron “m Bog, Rubin“. (5n cdéhié's‘; me 175 WILD BILL’S TRUMP CARD. B_y Major Burr. 100
Since then a. general alarm had been given, the 52 DEATH "33- By Wm- F. Cody .........  10c 1;? k“)? g“?“‘- BByccgplg-rlgagk Yntonfin -v i130
ubl‘ic already greatly excited over the news of 53 SILVER SAM. BY 001- Dene .sam-~'~-' - 10° 178 D0N BALLO' y lg ' M n “SB Sn 11am“- 0°
t'k’ " rrest were wild with ahundred‘ru- 5" ALW‘“ °" Hm“ By Philip 3- warm-um 100 179 Cm Ausfion.‘ y nggrs'G-‘ld “51'  €00
0 L as a " - - 55 THE SCALPHU’NTERS. B Ca t.Ma eReid... loc “firmirml WWW"- ‘0- - l 9“ 90W- 00
mors connected With his escape. 56 Tm, 1ND,” Maw“. Evy Alger, . Aikenuu me 180 OLD 49. By Joseph E. Badger. Jr.. 10c

Such were all the particulars Hawk had
brought, but even while he was reciting them
there came a sharp Tim at the door-bell.

It was the faithful ixey who then burst into
the room, flauntin the latest edition of an even-
in paper, and wit a glowmg face that trans-
mitted its radiance and warmth to the rest of
the group. . _ .

“ All up with the big ’un this time, an’ nofie—
prieve i” bawled the lad in his excitement. “ But
the allows iS cheated. Found dead in a Harlem

57 THE SILENT HUNTER. By Perc B. St. John... 100

SrLVER . By Dr. J. H. obinson . . . . . . .. 10c
59 THE MAN mom TEXAS. Bv Albert W. Aiken. 100
60 WIDE AWAKE. By Frank Dumont .........  10c
61 CAPTAIN SEAWAIE. B Ned Buntline..
62 LOYAL HEART. By ustave Aimard ...... ..
63 TEE WINGED WEALD. B AlbertW. Aiken... 10c
64 DOUBLE SIGHT. By Jo . .Badger Jr.  10c
65 THE RED RAJAH. By Capt. Fred. Whittaker. 10c
66 TEE SPECTER BARQUE. By Capt. Mayne Reid... 100
67 THE BOY JOCKEY. By Josep E. Badger, Jr... 10c
68 THE FIGETING TRAPPER. By J. F. 0. Adams. 10c

 

lSl TEE SCARLET SCEOONEE. By COLIngTaham. 100
182 HANDS UP. B Wm. R. Fysl’el‘... .... .. 10c
183 GILBERT, TEE UIDE. Bv (‘. Dunning Clark. 100
184 THE OCEAN VAMPIRE. Col. P. Ingraham. 100
185 MAN SPIDER. ByA. P.1l oriis  ..  100
186 THE BLACK BRAVO. By Buckskin Sam . . . . .. 10c
187 THE DEATE’s-HEAD CUIRASSIERE. Whittaker. 100
188 PHANTOII MAZEPPA. Majorllaiizeifield Burr. ICC
189 WILD BILL’S GOLD TRAIL. By P. In aham. 10c
190 THE THREE GUARDSMEN. By Alex. umas.. 10c
191 TEE TERRISLE TONKAWAV. By Buckskin Sam. 10c
192 TEE LIGHTNING SPORT. By Wm. R. Ster. 100

1% THE MANIN RED Ca t. F. Whit aker. 10¢
lum er-yard with flft stab-wounds on his cor- 69 T“ In“ cm‘m' B Cum F'Wmm'ker' me 194 DON SONBRERO BY Caplalli Mark Wilton - 100 -
a Y . . 70 HYDRABAD. By Dr. J. . Robinson . . . . . . . . . .. 10c 195 ,1. l I ES G _
£1151 slimmed to have been 111111ch by the 71 CAPTAIN COOL BLADE. By JOSE. Badger.Jr.. me 196 “ 1°“ “R fimfia- B Buqkakin Sam- 10¢
hrone—upsetters whom he would have betrayed. 72 THE PEANTOE HAND. By Albert W. Aiken. . 10c W, Ruvmonmn°ggh J 1"“ EAlken - ' - - - - N 9°
Here’s the perticulars, folks; read ’em for your- 73 THE KNIGHT on- THE RED CROSS. By Dr. J. ' ' Y 0591’ ~ Badge“ Jr-u‘ 0°

selves.”

Such indeed, were the latest details as set
forth b the newspaper reporter, though doubt-
less in C Clear, if less picturesque, language than
our little friend Nixey employed.

This, then, was the end of the long mystery,
the varied though headlong gi‘ilrsuit, and the
cruel murder of the Gotham ats was at last
aven ed. r

Bull little remains to be told that cannot be
readily anticipated Without the telhiig.

There were no consequent marriages until the
Baron von Tauchnitz was adjudgedto have been‘

H. Robinson . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . .  . .
74 CAPTAIN or TEE RIrLEs. Capt. Ma. De Reid. 100
75 GENTLEEAN GEORGE. By Albert . Aiken... 10¢
70 TEE DEEN’S MUSKETEERS. {Iv Goo. Albany.. 100
77 THE SE or FRISCO. By bert W. Aiken. 10c
78 THE MYETERIOUS SPY. By A. M. Granger. .
'79 JOE PEENIK. By Albert '
80 A MAN or NEEvE. BK
Bl TEE HDEAN TIGER.
82 IRON WRIST. By 001.
88 GOLD BULLET SPORT.

    

1
8.5 THE CRETAN ROVER. By CO]. P. Ingraham.  10c
86 THE BIG HUNTER. Author of “Silent Hunter." 100
87 THE SCARLET CAPTAIN. B COLDelle Serum. 10c

198 THE SKELETON SCIICONIR. By P. lngraham. ICC
199 DIAMOND DICK. By Buckskin Sam. .. .. . 100
200 TEE RIELE RANGERS. By Capt. Mayne Reid. 100
201 THE PIRATE OE TEE PLACERS. B Badger. 100
202 CAcruS JACK. By Captain Mark Wilton. . . ..
g 'll‘znn FPOUBL$ D ,
IG ooT ALLACE. B Buckskin Sam.  100

206 TEE GAEELER PIRATE. yCol. P. Infiraham. 100
ONE EYE. THE CANNONEER. By Whi taken. 10c

20‘! OLD HARD HEAD. BfiPhillp S. Wanna... 
208 TEE WKITE CEIEE. y (Sept. Mayne Reid. 100
209 BUCK FARIEY. ByEdwar Willett ........ .. 10c
‘210 BUCCANEIR BESS. By Prentiss Inmaham. .. , 100
211 TEE UNKNOWN SPORT By Ca t. Whittaker. 100
2‘2 TEE BRAzos TIGERS. ByBuc 'Skin Sam... . 100

- 213 TEE WAR TDAIL. ‘ By Ca Bl!) Ma no Reid. 1013
almost completely restored to mental and bodily g E; GEOR$.PRB}yC~Los¢§thCo-LBI§IG 8!" JI‘a-xh-l-   214 THE Two COOL SPORTS. Wm E “an we
health. _ 90 Wm,I Iwmrlm BV Buckskin Sam __________  100 215 PARsoN JIM. By Captain ed. Whit aker. 100

This was in the ensuing Februa , and on a 9, THE WINNING OAR By Albert w. Aiken  me 216 Tim CORSAIR PLANTER. B (‘01. I _ahnm. 100
certain old_fime anniversa in t 13 month, m 3mm 3m" By Major Dangerfield Bun." me 217 THE SERPENT OFEL PASO. Bucks nSam. 100

which was none other than 1). Valentine’s Day,
Hawk Heron the Falcon Detective, was hap Ily
married to Clarissa, the beautiful elder dang ter
01 the baron, and a companion ceremon served

93 CAPTAIN Dicx TALBOT. By Albert W. Aiken. 10c
94 FREELANCE. TEE BUCCANEER. By Ingraham.. 100
95 AznoET. TEE AquN. By Anthony P. Morris. 10::

96 DOUSLE DEATH. By Capt. Fred. Whittaker. .. 10c

218 THE WILD HUNTRESS. By Ca t. Mayne Reid. 10c
219 THE SconPION BROTHERS. y Capt. Wilton. 100

A new  every Wednesday.

- 97 BRONZE JACK. By Albert W. Aiken . _ . . . . .. 10c Beadle’s Dime Library IS for sale by all
for the 9W1 0f Olga, the no 195.510ve Yalster’ 96 THE ROCK RIDER. AB Ca t. F. Whittaker. . . 10c
13° Ralph seagmve- 99 THE GIANT RIFLEMANY B? 011 Coomes .. .. 10c Newwealers' ten cents per mpy’ or gem by Ml on

,It is hardly necessary to add that Hawk is no
longer a professional detective, or that Ralph

 

.f/

 

100 THE FRENCH SPV. By A. P. Morris . . . . . . . .. 100
101 mm FROII NEW YORK. By A. W. Aiken. 10c

’ .
i ' ‘

l y / ‘A

 

receipt of twelve cents each. BEADLE 8: ADAMS
Publishers. 98 William Street. New York.

ETECTIVE. By A. W. Aiken.. 10c ,

 

 

 

 

-jl

The Brazos Tigers. By Buckskin Sam.
The IVar Trail. By Ca )t. Mayne Reid.
The Two Cool Sports. y Win. R. Eyster.
5 Parson Jinn, mm: of the Cowboys. By
Captain Frederick Whittaker.
16 The Corsair Planter; or. Driven to
Doom. By Col. Prentiss lngrahain.

217 The Serpent of El Patio; or, Frontivr
Frank, the Scout of the Rio Grande. By Buck-
skin Sam.

218 The “’11:! Iluntrcss; or. The Biz: Squat-
ter‘s Vengeance. By Capt. Mayne Reid.

219 The Scorpion Brothers: or, Mad Tom's
Mission. By Captain Mark Wilton.

220 The Specter Yacht. By Col. P. Ingraham.

221 Desperate Duke the Guadalonpe “(ia-
loot.‘ By Buckskin m.

222 Bill, the Blizzard. By Edward Willett.

223 Canyon Dave.th Man of the Mountain.

or.

B Ca tain Mark ilton.
224 lac Beard, the Buccaneer; The
Curse of the Coast. By Col. P. lngrahnm.
225 Rock Mountain Al. By BuckskinSam.
226 The ll ad Hussurs' or, The 0’s and the
Mac's. By Gag. F. Whittaker.
' 227 Buckshot en, the Man-Hunter of Idaho.
By Ca t. Mark Wilton.
228 The aroon. By Capt. Mayne Reid.
229 Cu tain Cutslccvo}; or. Touch-Me-Not, the

Litt e Sport. By Wm. Eyster.

230 The ll‘l it"; Dutchman of 1880; or.
Who was underder-ken. By Capt. Whittaker.

231 The Kid Glovo lllincr' or, The Magic
Doctor of Golden Gulch. B ' ol. Inmham.

232 Orson Oxx. the Man of mu; or, The River
Mystery. By Isaac Hawks.

283 The old Boy of Tombstone; or.
Wagering: a Life on a Card. By J. E. Badger.

23-1 £1.13: Hunters, Feast. By Capt. Mayne

v ei .

235 Red Lightning, the Man of Chance. By
Col. Prentiss lngraham.

236 Chain ion Sam. By Col. T. H. Monstery.

237 Long." aired Max. By Capt. M. Wilton.

238 Bank Hound, the Crescent City Detec-

‘ tive. By Anthony P. Morris.

239 The Terrible Trio. By Buckskin Sam.

240 A Cool Head; or, Orson Oxx in Peril. By
Isaac Hawks.

241 spittlre Saul. King of the Rustlers. By
Joe. E. Badger. J r.

242 The Fog Devil; or, The Skipper of the
Flash. By Capt. Prod. \\ hittaker.

243 The Pilgrim Sitar I. By Buffalo Bill.

244 Merciless Mart, t e Man-Tiger of Mis-
souri. By Buckskin Sam.

245 Barranca Bill, The Revolver Champion.
By Captain Mark Wilton.

246 Queen Helen. the Amazon of the Over-
land. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham.

247 Alligator Ike ' or. The Secret of the Ever-

gllade. By Capt. red. Whittaker.
248 out-"a Nat. the Lion of Last Chance
Camp. By Edward Willett.
249 Elephant Tom of Durango; or, Your
Gold-Dust or Your e. By Joe. E. wger, r.
250 The Rough Riders; or. Sharp- ye, the
Seminole Scourge. By buckskin Sam.
251 Tiger Dick vs. Iron Despard; or,
Every Man Has His Match. By P. S. Wame.
252 The Wall Street Blood; or. Tick Tick,the
‘ Telegra b Girl. By Albert W. Aiken.
253 A Van ee Cossack ' or, The Queen of the
Nihilists. By Capt. erick Whittaker.
254 Gisknt Jake, the Patrol of the Mountain.
ewton M. Curtis

255 he Pirate Priest. By 061. P. Ingraham.
256 Double Dan. the Dastard; or, The Pirates
of the Pecos. B Buckskin Sam.
257 Death-Trap iggingv or. A Hard Man
from ’Way Back. B Jose 1’: E. Badger, Jr.
258 Banal Head. t 6 Co orado Bravo. By
Captain Mark Wilton.
259 Cutlassgand Cross. By Col. P. Ingraham.
.260 The Masked Mystery. By A. P. Morris.
261’ Black Sam, the Prairie Thunderbolt; or,
The Bandit-Hunters. By Col. Jo Yards.
262 Fighting Tom, the Terror of the Toughs.
By 01. Thomas Boyer Monster .
263 Iron-Armed Abe, the
. stroyer. Captain Mark Wilton.
264 The Crooked Three. By Buckskin Sam.
265 old Double-Sword' or Pilots and Pi-
rates. By Capt. Fred. Whittaker.
266 Leopard Luke the King of Horse-Thieves.
By Ca tain Mark Wilton.
267 The hite Squsnv. By Capt. Mayne Reid.
268 Magic Mike the Man or Frills: or. Bad
Ben‘s Bad Brigade. By William. R. Eyster.
269 The Bayou Bravo. By Buckskin Sam.
.270 Andros, the Free Rover; or, The Pirate’s
tighter. By Ned Buntline.
271 Stoneflst. orBig Nugget Bend; or Old
etchum’s Tug of War. By Capt. Mark Wilton.
272 Seth Slocum Railroad Surveyor- or. The
Secret of Sitting Bull By Capt. r. Whittaker.
273 Mountain Mose, the Gorge Outlaw. By

Buckskin Sam. -
274 Flush Fred the Mississippi 8 r1: or,
Tough Times in ennessee.. By Ed. 1Villett.
275 The Smuggler Cutter. By J. D. Conroy.
276 Texas Ch ck, the Southwest Detective.
By Captain Mark Wilton,
277 The- one Jane, Privateer. By Capt.
l Frederickw ittaker. '
I 278 Herculesfloldspur, theMan of theVelvet
Hand.» By Ch taln Howard Holmes.
, 279 The Gold- rngon. By Wm. H. Manning.
280 Black-Hons Ben ' or, Tiger Dick‘s Lone
Hand. By Philip 8. Warm. '

unchback De-

 

lEJE | A l I? l .19 1 1'3. [SH Di I‘MlEHi-fl. FLIJEBVA

281 The Sea Owl. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham.
282 The lllcrcilcss lllaruudcrs; or, Chap-
arral Carl‘s Revenge. By Buckskin Sam.
283 Sleek Sam, the Devil ot the lliiiws; or, The
Sons of tin-- Fiery Cross. By Joe. E Badger. Jr.

284 The Three Frigates; or, Old Ironsldcs‘
Revenge. By Capt. Fix-d. \\'hitiaker.

285 Lightning” Bolt the Canyon Terror; 01',
The Mountain Cat’s 

286 Pistol Johnny. By Joseph E. l adgvr. Jr.

287 Dandy Dave and l is Horse, White Stock—
ing; or. Ducats or Death. By Buckskin Snin.

288 Electro Pete, the. Man of Fire: or. The
Wharf Rats of Locust Point. By A. 1’ Morris.

2S9 I’iush Fred’s Full [land ' or. Life and
Strife in Louisiana. By Edward Willett. ‘

290 The Lost Corvette; or, Blakelt-y‘s Last
Cruise. By Capt. Fred. Whittaker.

291 Horseshoe flank, the Man of Big Luck.
B Capt. Mark Wilton.

292 ll oke Ilorncr, the Boss Roustabont. By
Joseph E. Badger. Jr. ,

293 Stampede Sieve. By Buckskin Sam.

294 Broadcloth Burt, the Denver Dandy. By
Captain Howard Holmes. .

295 old (‘ro-s-Eye the Maverick’Hunter. By
Capt. Frederick W’hittaker.

296 Duncan, the Scasnivcr; or, The Coast
Vultures. By George St. George.

297 Colorado Rube, the Strong Arm of Hot-
spur City. By Wm. H. Mannin .

298 Logger Lem ; or. Life am Peril in the
Pine Woods. By Edward Willett.

299 Three of a Kind. Tiger Dick. Iron Des-
pard, and the Sportive Sport. By P. S. \Vnrne.

300 A Sport in Spectacles. By Wm. R. Eyster.

301 Bou'ldcr Bill; or, The Man from Taos.
By Buckskin Sam.

302 Faro Sn til, the Handsome Hercules; or, The
Grip of Steel. By Jose 11 E. Badger. Jr.

303 Top-Notch Tom, tie Cowboy Outlaw; or.
The Satanstown Election. By Capt. Whittaker.

304 Texas Jack the Prairie Rattler: or, The
Queen of the Wild Riders. By Bnflalo Bill.

305 Silver-Plated Sol, the Montana Rover. By
Capt. Mark Wilton.

306 The Ronghs of Richmond' or, The
Mystery of the Golden Beetle. B A. Morris.

307 The Phantom Pirate. By 01.1ngraham.

308 Hemlock Hank, Tough and True. By
Edward Willett.

309 Bay hold, the Battling Ranger. By
Buckskin Sam.

310 The Marshal of Satanstown. By
Capt. Frederick Whittaker.

311 Heavy Hand, the Relentless. By Captain
Mark Wilton.

312 Kinkioot Karl, The Mountain Scourge;
or. Wiping Out the Score. By Morris Redwin .

313 {alark ll agic, Detective. ByAnthony

orns.

314 Lafittc' or. The Pirate of the Gulf.~ By
Prof. J.  lncraham.

315 Flash Fred’s Double; or, The Squat-
ter’e League of Six. By Edward Willett.

316 Laiitte’s Lieutenant; or Theodore, the
Child of the Sea. By Prof. J. H. In%aham.

31 7 Frank Lightfoot the Miner etective;
or. Following a Blind Bead. By J. E. Badger.

318 The Indian Buccaneer ' or. Red Rovers
on Blue Waters. By Col. Prentiss In 'aham.

319 Wild Bill, the Whirlwind of the Vest. By
Buffalo Bill

320 The Genteel Spotter. By A. W. Aiken.

321 California Claude, the Lone Bandit. By
Ca tain Howard Holmes.

322 'I‘ e Crimson Coyotes. By Buckskin Sam.

323 Hotspur Hugh; or. The Banded Brothers
of the Giant’s Arm. By Captain Mai k Wilton.

324 old Forked-Lightning, the Solitary;
or Every Inch a Man. By Joe. E. Badger r.

325 The Gentleman Pirale; or. The er-
mit of Casco Pay. By Col. P. lngraham

326 The Whitest Man in the Mines; or.
The Dog-Town Crowd. Py Ca t. F. Whittaker.

327 Terrapin Dick the Wil Woods Detec-
tive. By Edward “3mm.

328 King out; or, The Bandits of the Bason.

'liy Buckskin Sam.

329 he League of Three; or, Buffalo Bill’s

Pledge. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham.

330 Cop Colt, the Quaker City Detective. By

~ Chris. Morris.

331 Chispa Charlemtbe Gold Nugget Sport; or,
The RockfiMountain Masks. By J. E. Badger.

332 Spring- eel Jack. By Col. Monstery.

333 Derringer Deck, the Man with the Drop.
By Wm. B. Eyster.

334 The Cipher Detective. By A. P. Morris.

335 Flash Dan, the Nahob; or. The Blades of

‘ .Bowie Bar. By Capt. H. Holmes.
336 The Magic 5111 . By Col P. Ingraham.
337  tGabe, the ountain Tramp. By Ed.
' e t.
338 Jack Sands, port. By Philip S. Warne.
339 9 road Eagle Sam the Hercules Hide-
unter. By Joseph E. Badger, r.

340 Cool Conrad. the Dakota.
Ca t. H. Holmes. .

341 T to Sea Desperado. By Col. Ingraham.

342 Blanca Bill, the Mustang Monarch. By
Buckskin Sam. _

343 The Head Hunter; or, Mark Magic in
the Mines. By A. P. Moms.

344 Double Shot Dave of the Leit Hand.
By Wm. R Evster. '

345 Masked Mark. the Mounted Detective.
By Joe. E. Badger. Jr. '

346 ocean Gum-villas; or. The Planter Mid-
shipman. By Col. Prentiss Ingrabam.

J
Detective. By

rudgc. By Mark \\iltnn. 4

 

 

347 Denver Duke, the Man With ‘Sandf or.

Centi ede Sam's Lone Hand. By L‘apl. How—

ard I oimes.

Dan Dillon, King of Crosscut: or. A “'0-

man‘s Wild Work. By Edward \\ illrtt. "

Lion-Hearted Dick,the Gentleman Road-

Agent. By Albert W. Aiken.

[flash Falcon, the Society Detoctiw.

\\ eldon J. Cobb.

Nor, “'rst Nick, the Border DE‘lPClin: or,

Dan Brown's Fight for Life. By J E. Budgw.

'l‘he Desperate Dozen. ivy Cap. Howard

Holmes.

Barb Brennan, the Train “'rtcker.

John Cuthbert.

Bed Richard ' or. The Brand of the Crime

son Cross. By Alhert \V. Aiken.

Stormy Steve, the Mad Athlete. By JOE. E.

Badger, Jr.

'l‘hrco Handsome Sharps. By Wm. R.

Eyster.

357 Jack Simona, Detective: or.

. \\'olvesof Washington. ByA.P.Moriis.

358 'Sl‘hc Prince oi‘l’au-Out. By Buckskin

1111’].

Yello‘v Jack, the Mestizo: or, Tiger Dick

to the Rescue. By Philip S. “arne.

360 Jumping Jerry. the Gamecock from Sun»
down. By Jos. E. Badger, Jr.

361 Tombstone. Dick. By Nsd Bnmlire-

362 Bull‘an Bill’sGrip. By Coi.P. Inprahum.

363 Crou’ningshield, the Sleuth; or, Pitiless
as Death. By Albert W. Aiken.

364 The Sea Fugitive. By Col. P. Ingraham.

365 Keen Kennard. the Shas’a Shadow: or,
The Branded Face. By Capt. Howard Holmes.

366 The Telegraph Dcicctivc' or. The Dy—
namite League. By George Henry Morse.

367 A Royal Flush; or. Dan Brown‘s Big‘
Game of Freeze-Out. ByJos. E. Badger. Jr.

368 The Canyon King. By Edward Willetc.

369 The Coast Corsair. By Col. P. Ingrahnm.

370 The Dusky Detective. By Albert W.
Aiken.

Gold Buttons; or. The Upannge Pnrd -

By Buckskin Sam.

Ca tain Crisp; or,TheMan WithaRecud.

By 03. E. Badger. Jr

The Sailor of Fortune; or. The Bnc»

caneers of Barnegnt Bay. By Col. P. Ingrahem.

Major Blister the Sport of Two Cities.

By Capt. Howard oimes.

Royal George, the Three in One. By Wm.

R. Eyster.

376 The Black Beards; or. The Hi. h Horse
on the Rio Grande. By Albert W. A1 ten.

Afloat and Ashore; or, The Corsair Con-
spirator. By Colonel Prentiss Ingraham.

John Armstrong, Mechanic; or. From
the Bottom to the Top of the Ladder. By
Capt. F. Whittaker.

3 79 Bowling Jonathan' or. The Terror from
Headwaters. By Joe. E. Badger, J .

386 The Golden Serpent; or, Tiger Dick’s.
Pledge. .By P. S. Warne.

381 The G s Genticmam or. Nick ch.
the Being: getective. By Al cm W. Aikin.

382 The Bonanza Band or. Dread Dnr, of‘
the Cool Clan. By Capt. ownrd Holmes.

Silver Sam Detective- or. The Rustlors of‘

383 Butte City. 3} Mai. Dan el Boone Damont of.
the U. S. A.

4 In uu Dick Detective: or, Tracked from

38 t e ockies to Lew York. By Albert W. Aiken-

38 5 Wild Dick Turpin, the Lion of Leadvillc.
By

348
349

350 By

351
352

353 By

54
35'
356
The

359

371
372
373
374
375

377

378

Wm. H. Manning.

38,6 Hawk Heron the Falcon Detective. By-
Jackson Knox, (Old Hawk.)

387 Dark Durg; or. The Ishmael of the Hills-
By Joe. E. Badger. Jr.
The Giant Buccaneer or. The Wrecker»

388 Witch of Death Island. By‘Col. P. Ingrnhnm.
Ready March 81.

389 Colonel Double Edge, the Cattle King‘s
P . By Ms . Daniel Boone Dumont of the
U. B. A. R y April 7. I

390 The Giant Ci: id; or Clbnta. John‘s.
Great Jubilee. By . C. Cowdrick. »
Ready April 14.

l The Decov Detectivc' or Joe Phcnix‘s: .
39 snu Hunt. By Albert w. Aiken.

Ready April 2 .

A new issue every Wednesday.

Beadle’s Dime Library is for sale by all.
Newsdealers. ten cents per copy, or sent by mail on
receipt of twelve cents each. BEADLE & ADAMS,
Publishers, 98 William Street, New York.