The Only 5 Cent ‘Library of Detective Stories.

finiered According to Act of Congress, in the Year 189%, b

y Street & Smith, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.
Entered as Second-class Matter at the New Yor kc, N. Y., Post Office,

August 8, 1891. Issued Weekly. Subse ription Price, $2.50 per Year. January 30, 1892.

 

 

 

No. 26. STREET & SMITH, Publishers, NEW YORK,

 

31 Rose St., N. Y. P.O. Box 2734, 5 me Se

 

Hick Garter in San Francisco

OR, UNEARTHING CRIME IN CHINATOWN.

BY PAs a : - me er i

 

 

 

NICK, UNCONSCIOUS OF IMPENDING DANGER, DREW NEARER TO THE HIG HBINDER » WHO WAS WAITING TO MURDER HIM.

 
SJ

yee

‘ OS SN
% aN
er oO I

Nic

k Carter in San Francisco;

OR,

UNEARTHING GRIME IN CHINATOWN,

BY THE AUTHOR OF “NICK CARTER.”

CHAPTER I.
THE “SUEY SING” AND “SUEY ONG” TONGS.

 

Francisco were both shocked and
erime in China-

The people of San
outraged by the constant recurrence of
town.

The police seemed utterly powerless to cope with the
stealthy murderers who struck down their victims with
knives, or sent bullets crashing through their bodies in
the public streets.

Many, indeed the greater part of these murders, took
place in broad daylight, and in localities that swarmed
with humanity. .

Yet the assassins defied not only the law, but the officers
who were appointed to enforce it.

One after another, nearly a dozen murders had been
eonunitted, instigated by one of the Highbinder societies,
or tongs.

To follow and discover a criminal was next to an impos-
aabitity for the police.
__alf aymurder was coyginitted in one of the many noisome
alleys of Chinatown, bs
aaw it would betray the murderer. ;

This reticence was due to two causes, sympathy and
fear.

Kither the witness was one who approved of the killing, |

|
ar he knew that his own life would be forfeited and taken, |

without hesitation or remorse, if he should be indiscreet |
enough to talk.

Vainly the police strove to unearth the criminals; they
were without success.

Wainly they endeavored to induce the Mongolian to give
them information.

He always refused, retiring behind an expression of
meekness that was utterly inscruitable with the low mur-
mur:

“Me no sabe.”

Threats, promises, expostulations, and bribes were of no
avail.

“No gabe,” was all that could. be discovered, and the
murderers continued undeterred.

A member of the Suey Sing Tong waylaid and murdered |
a member of the Suey Ong Tong, named Gund Leung.

Hiss corpse was found in a basket, covered with a sheet, |
in Bull Rum Alley, on the morning of November 2d, and |
not the slightest trace of his assassin was discovered.

Then a member of the Suey Sing had to die to even,
thimgs up, and so it went on, or continued to go on, until |
tire famous detective, Nick Carter, appeared upon the
scene,

Chief Crowley, of the San Francisco police, was at his |
wits’ end. |

He had' tried every expedient that a wise and experi-
enced’ police officer could think of.

But, the murders continued, and whenever the officers‘

 

 

NIOK CARTER LIBRARY.

RM, one of the many Chinamen Who |

No. 26.

 

 

appeared in Chinatown in search of a criminal, they were
laughed at and jeered in derision.

Something had to be done.

Suddenly, the well-known chief remembered Nick
Carter.

He recalled the great detective’s wonderful facility at
disguiges ; he remembered his remarkable versatility in
the matter of languages, for Nick’s duty had carried him
twice to San Francisco when he was pursuing that strang-
est and most wily of criminals, Dr. Quartz.

“T]]1 send for Carter, anyway,” mused the chief ; and
he did.

One week later, just as Chief Crowley was ascending
the front steps of his own residence, early in the evening,
he was met by a pompous-looking, middle-aged), gentle-
man, attired in broad cloth, and wearing a glossy silk hat.

“TJ believe I have the honor of addressing Chief Crow}
ley, of the San Francisco police,” he said.

~Yes; that is my name,” replied the chief.

“T would like to have a few moments’ private conversa-
tion with you, chief.”

“Upon what subject?”

“ Chinatown.”

66 Eh qv

“ Chinatown.”

“What do you——”

He paused and smiled.

“Ah!” he continued. “Step right in, sir.”

“Nick Carter,” he continued, when they were in the
library together, “‘you are certainly a marvel; but why _
you should come to me in a disguise is more than I can,
say.”
~*” Simply because it is one of birondbe
cautions that I always take,” replied Nick.

“But why ?”

“ Beeause, chief, I think that much of the success which
is credited to me on the ground of phenomenal ability is
due instead, to the fact that I am, in one sense, a phantom
to the criminal fraternity.”

The chief smiled.

“JT can hardly be classed as a member of that brother-
hood,” he said.

“Oertainly not; nevertheless, they keep a sharp eye
upon every move that you make.”

“You think that while the police are watching the
Chinamen, for instance, they are watching the police.”

“T have not a doubt of it.”

“Nor I, Nick.”

“They know every detective who is connected with your:
force, as well as you know them yourself.

“ Just now, I believe that if I had come here openly, as a
known detective, within an hour, the Suey Sing, Suey
Ong, and, in fact, every tong in Chinatown would have
learned that I was here, and would have taken measures
either to outwit me, or murder me.”

“No doubt.”

“As itis, lam amystery. I come and go in so many
shapes and characters, that none except intimate friends
have an idea where I may be.”

“Hxactly.”

“Tf a Highbinder has been detailed to keep an eye upon
you, for instance, it is already known that you meta
gentleman in front of your house to-night.”

“Does not that amount to the same thing?”

“Certainly not.”

66 Why 9g)

-

 

mingly useless pre- *.<!”
NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

No. 26.

2
7

 

 

“Your manner, when you met me, plainly indicated
that I was a stranger. When I leave, I will be followed,
not by one, but by a dozen or more Mongolians, who will
change so often that I will not see the same man twice,
and therefore will not know that I ain followed.”

“Well 2?”

“They will accompany me to my hotel. To-morrow
morning they will see me take the train to leave town, but
they will not know that I shall return from some little
way station, a full-fledged Chinaman.”

2 (79 Ah 2)

“Their interest in me ceases the moment the train leaves
the depot. They will have no interest in knowing where
I go, or whether I return, unless I again seek an audience
with you, which [ certainly shall not do.

“From the moment that I leave you to-night, chief, I

-.shall not see you again, to speak to you, until I can give

you the information that you want, ane am ready to re-
turn to New York.”

“You’re a queer fish, Nick.”

“Exactly.”

“You want some information from me, I suppose.”

“Not very much.”

“Eh? Why not?”

‘*Because you know very little yourself.”

“True.”

“The whole story is, that murder after murder has been
committed in Chinatown, and that although vou occasion-
ally capture a criminal, itis only when he is taken red-
handed, that you can succeed in convicting him.”

“That’s it, Nick.”

“You don’t want me to look for the perpetrator of any
particular crime, as (jjunderstand the case.”

“No; unless you light on one.

“Exactly. What do you want me to do?”

‘Hind out the true cause of these murders.”

“They are evidently the result of a conspiracy, or rather

Neng

. of numerous conspiracies.”

“Without doubt.”

“Well?!

“Nick, do you understand Chinese ?”

“The language?”

“Yes. As well as a Chinaman.”

“ And speak it as well?”

“T think I would have no difficulty in deceiving one of
them.”

“Good! They are shrewd and cunning, though, Nick.”

“T know it, chief.”

“There is no need of asking youif you can make up a
perfect disguise.”

at No? AY y

“What will be your method when you are made up?”

“JT shall join both the Suey Sing and Suey Ong tongs
societies.”

“Be careful, Nick.”

“Of what?”

‘‘Of joining those societies.”

66 Why ? 9”)

‘“‘Because I fear that no matter how Hioroueh ¥ your dis-
guise, they will penetrate 5.7’

Nick laughed.

“Tt is no laughing matter,” said the chief.

“Perhaps not.”

“T grant that you might fool the Ghinsmen regarding
your appearance; that you might go among them and
converse with them on the streets and in their shops, day

 

after day, without ever creating a suspicion that you were
not what you seemed.”
‘‘What, then, do you fear for me?”
“‘The initiations into their societies.”
6 Ah! 4»)
“Nobody knows to what ordeal they may subject you.”
“Certainly not.”
“No matter how perfect your disugise, it would then be

discovered.”

“Doubtless.”

“Then——” 5

‘“Wait, chief. Although I shall join both of those soci-
eties, I shall not undergo an initiation in either.”

The chief stared.

“Fact,” said Nick.

‘*How in the devil——”

. “My dear chief, there is always more than one way out
of the woods as well as into them. Jam a very fair Suey
Sing now. Ere long I will be a Suey Ong. Instead of be-
coming a Chinaman, I shall become two Chinamen; in
fact, before you see me again, I shall have perpetrated
three of the Mongolians.”

CHAPTER II.
TO THE CHINESE SECRET SOCIETY.

We will not take up the time and space which should be
devoted to the remarkable events of this story, by detail-
ing the conversation which took place between Chief
Crowley and Nick Carter; nor will we enter at present
into the plans which were agreed upon at the interview
just mentioned.

They will, be cited as the story developes..

On the following day, shortl@™ fter noontime, Nick
Carter descended from a train, which was just in from
Sacramento, although he had not come from a point so
distant.

Nick’s disguise was thatof a Chinaman; and it was
perfect, as his disguises always were.

No one, who knew Nick Carter, would have suspected
that he was concealed beneath that perfect disguise, for
the Celestial was admirably represented.

The olive skin, the almond-shaped eyes, the long, braided
cue which reached nearly to his heels, the fantastic shoes
and queer dress were perfect. °

Not a detail, however slight, had been omitted.

Nick Carter was transformed into a Chinaman, pure
and simple, and was, in every sense, prepared for the
perilous work in hand.

As soon,as he descended from the train, he started rapidly
away toward Chinatown, serenely looking about him as he
went, as though the scenes that he was passing, were new
to him. b

No one spoke to him.

He was a stranger to the Mongolians that he met, and
the police looked upon him as simply one of the thirty
thousand Chinamen who infested the city of which it is
calculated that, at least, two thousand are professional
murderers.

Think of it!

Two thousand professional murderers in one city.

Nick continued on his way until he reached Chinatown,
which is located in the oldest part of the city of San Fran-

-cisco, and where, in a space that could not possibly ac-

commodate more than four or five thousand Americans,
over thirty thousand Chinese are huddled together.

 
No. 26.

 

 

NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

 

Nick did not stop until he reached the corner of Waverly
place and Clay street.

There, he was in the very heart of the district that he
_-was seeking, and the sidewalks and door-ways around him
were seething with humanity, jabbering in a language,
which to the uneducated ear, sounds more like monkey-
talk than anything else.

But Nick’s ear was educated.

He understood the language as well as his own, and
could speak it as well as any of the jabbering crowd
around him.

Joining the group that had collected upon the corner, he
found that they were agrily discussing a raid that the
police had just made upon the meeting places of their
societies.

‘One, who seemed more intelligent and less excitable
than the others, Nick presently drew to one side.

He addressed him in the Chinese tongue, which we will
render in good English.

“What is the matter?” he asked.

The Chinaman told him, and then asked who he was.

“Wah Ming,” replied Nick. “I have just come here
from New York.”

“Have you come here to live ?”

‘Ves, 2

‘* Where?”

“T do not know, yet.”

“J will board you at my house.”

Nick’ thanked him in the choicest Chinese, and then
covertly made a rapid sign of the Suey Sing society.

The Chinaman, whose name was Sam Ling, smiled with
genuine approval, svhgy he saw -the-sign,-and-immediaiely
made a rapid reply, si.owing that Nick had been success-
ful in his first venture.

Had Sam Ling been a Suey Ong, the actect oe would
have been obliged to alter his disguise at once, for there
is nothing that the members of these Chinese societies
hate so implacably, as accession to the ranks of their op-
ponents, from out of town.

But he had found a Suey Sing.

It may occur to the reader as me that Nick:

should already be acquainted with any of the signs and
tokens of that society, but a brief explanation will in-
form him.

The great detective often assumed the disguise of a
Chinaman, and upon one occasion he saved the life of a
member of the Suey Sing, in Pell street, in New York.

For the sake of informing himself, Nick took the Mon-
zolian home with him, and had him tenderly cared for.

Ultimately, however, the poor fellow died, but Nick had
taught him to believe in Christianity in the meantime, and
as recompense for the light thus given, he had posted Nick
thoroughly regarding the secrets of the Suey Sing society.

By piecemeal, the Chinaman whom Nick so fortunately
met in Waverley place, asked questions and made signs
until he was not only satisfied that his new friend was a
Suey Sing, but was high up in the order.

Sam Ling offered to take Nick to board at his house.

A price was agreed upon, and Nick accepted.

By careful questioning, the detective speedily discov-
ered that Sam Ling was a prominent officer of the Suey
Sing, being next to the highest in the lodge.*

*For the benefit of the reader, we will use American terms precept
‘where others are necessary.—AUTHOR. —

 

 

Nick had never seen a lodge of a Chinese society in ses-
sion, of course.

By a judicious exhibition of cash, and iubounded liber-
ality with his new-found friend, he succeeded, in the
course of the day, in inducing him to vouch for his New
York friend, Wah Ming, at the meeting of the lodge that
night.

It was exactly what the detective wanted, and, from
that moment, he saw his course clearly before him.

His proverbial luck did not desert him, even in China-
towr.

American societies meet at or near eight o’clock in the
evening, as a rule.

Chinese societies meet, invariably, at midnight.

During the evening, Sam Ling undertook to introduce
Wah Ming to his friends, and to show him around China-
town. -

From place to place they went together, Nick every
where establishing a reputation for remarkable generosity,
and so winning the hearts and confidences of those he
met.

He created the impression that he had made a fortune
in New York, and was on his way home to China, mean-
ing, meanwhile, to spend a few months, perhaps a year, in
the city of the Golden Gate.

His fluency in the Chinese language; his porieet ease in
the disguise he wore, and his thorough acquaintance with
the signs and tokens of the Suey Sing Tong, more than
anything else, convinced all whom he met of his genuine-
ness.

He was asked many embarrassing questions regarding
the society in New York, but he managed to reply to Hem

w-satisfactorily. ~~ — Buty

He played fan-tan during the yenine’ ; he drank tea
with some, and to those he met, whom he became. satis-
fied were more or less influential, he made judicious pres-
ents of opium, of which he had taken pains to provide
himself with the very best. }

At eleven o’clock, Sam a said :

“Come! We will go now.’

“Where do you meet, since the headquarters have been
discovered ?” asked Nick.

“Where the police can never find us.”

“Good! let us go.”

The block which is surrounded by Dupont, Clay, Stock-
ton, and Washington streets is a perfect bee-hive of seeth-
ing humanity, gs well as a net-work of alleys, hall-ways,
underground passages, and hidden recesses.

It was to that locality that Sam Ling conducted Nick.

They entered what had once been an imposing residence
on Stockton street, going in boldly by the front-door.

“The members of the Suey Sing getin by overa hun-
dred different doors,” said Sam Ling in Chinese, as they
entered, ‘and no policeman could suspect a meeting- pee
here.”

“Good!” replied Nick.

They passed through the main hall-way of the house,
and ascended the stairs to the second floor.

There they entered a room, which seemed to have no:
means of egress other than the door by which they had
entered.

But Sam Ling was posted.

He raised two boards.in the floor, by removing certain
fastenings which had been devised with all the cunning of
a Chinese mechanic.

Before them was a black hole with a rod, such as ‘fire-

 
NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

5

 

—

 

 

 

men use in engine houses, descending into the darkness
below.

Sam Ling pointed to the rod, and, without a word, Nick
seized it, and slid rapidly out of sight.

Down, down he went, until at last he struck bottom,
where he knew he must be far below the surface of the
street. | ; dee.

He had scarcely landed and. stepped aside, before Sam
Ling was with him.

The latter opened a concealed door, passed through a.
long passage, which smelled damp and earthy, and after |.

making several turns, finally ascended a flight of steps,
opened another secret door, and emerged in a stifling tomb-
like place, in which a single and very dingy lamp was
burning.

Before them was a door with a wicket.

Sam Ling struck the door just once, and waited.

Presently a faint sound was heard in reply, also made
w by a single blow.

Then the Chinaman seized a little box with a sheep-skin
eover, which hung from the ceiling.

He drew it down to him, and whispered a few words into
the strange telephone. |

Then the door swung open, and they were admitted.

CHAPTER III.
THE CHINESE GIANT.

It was, perhaps, the first time in the history of the
world, when a person not born a Chinaman, or a Tartar,
had been admitted to one of the meetings of a Chinese
tong. ;

Nick felt very much as though he had suddenly stepped
into a den that was filled with wild beasts, which, by rea-
son of some ocular /delusion, imagined for the moment
that he was one with them.

At any moment, the veil might be pulled aside, and then
all the detective’s skill, all his weapons, all his strength
and agility, would avail him nothing against the horde of
outraged beings who would rend him limb from limb.

But it was too late now to think of danger, even had
Nick been one who would have considered it.

Before him was the mystic temple of the Suey Sing, if
a cavernous cellar, twenty feet beneath the surface of the
street, could, by any stretch of the imagination, be termed

~a temple.

Never were the detective’s wits so keenly upon the alert!

as at that moment.

He knew that the least mistake on his part would be-
tray him; and betrayal meant death.

A brief description of the sanctum of the Suey Sing
Tong may not be uninteresting. Nick Carter is the only
white man who has ever seen one, and the author has the
facts directly from him.

“When the door opened, Nick and his conductor, Sam
Ling, were admitted into a room which was forty feet
long by twenty feet wide.

The roof of the strange place was supported by numer
ous pillars, and against each of them was fastened a lamp.

_ The air was simply stifling.

. Indeed, upon first. passing the door-way, it seemed to
the detective that he could not breathe, but he gradually
became accustomed to the closeness, and as keenly observ-
ant as ever.

Tn that small room there were crowded at least two hun-
dred Chinamen. .

Their usually impassive faces were lighted up with eag-
erness and subdued excitement, and instead of the chat-
tering which usually went on when a number of them
were together, they were strangely silent and expectant.

At the further end of the strange room was a platform
raised about eighteen inches above the level of the floor,
and upon that was a rudely carved figure of a Chinese
god.

If hideousness was a criterion of excellence, this par-
ticular god must have been above all others. .
Every talent had been exercised to make him as ugly as -
possible.

In one extended hand’ he held a hideous, grinning skull,
and in the other, a murderous-looking knife.

Immediately in front of this monstrosity, cross-legged,
and tailor-fashion, sat a Chinaman, who was the high
| priest of the god behind him, and therefore the chief per-
' gonage or master of the lodge.

At the right and left of this individual were two others,
with the difference that they were squatted upon the floor
at the base of the pedestal, with their backs to the audi-
' ence.

Sam Ling left Nick alone as soon as they entered the
place, and walked rapidly forward to the platform, which
he mounted, taking a seat behind the ugly god, which
they all worshiped.

He was the assistant high priest, or second in authority,
and the two who sat with their backs to the body of the
‘house, were the servants of the high priests.
| Nick dropped upon a bench in the back part of the room,
' where he was entirely free from observation, and waited.

Ten minutes passed in absolute silence.

Then, suddenly, from the altar, behind the idol, there
sounded a furious beating of tom-toms, and a wail, which
‘might have done credit to an.old-fashioned Irish wake.

The wailing grew momentarily louder and louder, until
‘it developed into a veritable pandemonium of shouts and
| screeches, yells, and shrieks, enough to terrify a person
'who heard it all for the first time.

From immovable beings, the Chinamen. became a mass
of leaping, shouting, gesticulating, writhing humanity,
like a thousand reptiles intertwined, and struggling to be
| free.
| Every individual in that great throng became wild,
| maddened with excitement.
| Some leaped upon the benches, waved their weapons

 

 

aloft, and almost foamed at the mouth in the excess of
_that strange ecstacy.

| Just as the excitement had reached a point where it
‘seemed impossible to control it; where Nick (who was
‘taking sufficient part in the performance to prevent notice
| being taken that he was not as enthusiastic as the others)
‘began to thirk that they would end by falling upon and
rending each other limb from limb, a sharp report came
from behind the altar.

It was the report of a pistol, and its effect was both re-
markable and instantaneous.

The very second that it sounded, every Chinaman in
that frenzied throng sank instantly upon his bench, and
became as immovable and silent as before the furore began.

Then the high priest arose, and in the Chinese language
said :

“My children, Yo Fung Gang Lo is good to us.”

“Ge is good,” replied the audience.

“Vo Fung Gang Lo protects the Suey Sing.”

“Ha protects us.”

 

w

 
 

 

“Yo Fung Gang Lo provides us with sacrifices, POR

‘‘And Huang Gee kills.”

“T, your high priest, am Huang Gee. I am commanded
to kill to-night. Yo Fung Gang Lo has said it. I obey.”

“ Huang Gee obeys.”

eS Yo Fung Gang Lo has sent us our victim from afar.”

“To the arms of Huang Gee!” shouted the throng, be-
ginning to show some excitement.

Nick began to grow uneasy.

Had he, after all, only walked into a well-laid ba: by

-which his life was to pay the forfeit, and in such a manner
that his fate would never be known?

Was it to him that they referred as the sacrifice whose
life was to be given up on the altar before the insatiable
god, Yo Fung Gang Lo?

He did not allow a muscle of his face to move, for two
hundred heads were turned, and every eye in that throng
was fixed upon him.

Although he preserved his stolidity, outwardly, his
mind was actively engaged in working out some plan of
escape, if the worst came to the worst, and his life should
really be in peril.

But he knew even then, that there was no way of escap-
ing from that cellar-like place, which bid fair to be his
tomb.

The door by which he had entered was so cleverly con-
cealed that it was not visible from within the room, and
Nick knew that it would be futile to attempt to find it in
the short space of time that would be afforded him, if he
sought to escape.

Escape was out of the question.

Nick Carter had been in many a tight place in his time.
He had probably taken bigger chances than any other man
living, and he had always come out unscathed.

When surrounded by danger, nobody knew better than
he did, how to speculate upon the chances of escape, and
he, therefore, knew when there was no chance left.

Here was a case of the kind.

He saw plainly that there was absolutely no chance for
him to avoid the consequences of his presence at the secret
meeting of the Suey Sing Tong.

Nick was well armed, and the reader who has followed
his adventures in preceding numbers of this library,
knows that he was a quick and sure shot.

Immediately following the last response of the audience,

every eye in the hall was turned upon the detective, and :

he knew that they referred to him.

Then, as they looked at him, they began a wild chant,
which cannot be rendered into English.

In substance, however, it was as follows:

“Oh, thou, who has come to us from afar to furnish the
sacrifice for our Yo Fung Gang Lo!

“Oh, thou, whose strength may be greater than the ele-
phants and yet be weak, so weak!

“Oh, thou, who hast suffered thyself to be ne on the
mighty test; who bravest the anger and who cravest the
love of Yo Fung Gang Lo!

“Advance! be ready; be prepared.

“Look well upon the knife!

“Look well upon the skull!

“He, whose body it once adorned, was consumed in the
holy fires of Yo Fung Gang Lo!

“He was mighty; his muscles were like the wall of
China; his heart the heart of a lion.

NICK CARTIR LIBRARY.

"No. 26,

 

“Yet he. was vanquished, he was ee yonder, ig —
his skull.

“Huang Gee vanquished him as he will vanguish thee.

“Huang Gee, our high priest. Huang Gee, the chosen;
Huang Gee, the offspring of Yo ie Gang Lo.

‘Advance, then !

“ Advance !

‘Huang Gee bids thee !”

Nick saw that something was expected of him.

From the words:of the strange chant, which is very
crudely and imperfectly translated here, he at once real-
ized that he was supposed to know the ceremony that was
about to be enacted.

They called upon him to buen to the altar.

For what? To meet death?

To offer himself as a voluntary sacrifice to their super-
stitious zeal ?

‘Not much,” thought Nick. '

“ Possibly their reference to being vanquished has somes”
thing to do with the case,” he muttered. “If there is to be
a trial of strength, I do not fear any two of them.”

Almost involuntarily, he began to move slowly toward
the aJtar, as though influenced by the magnetism of two
hundred pairs of eyes that were fixed upon him.

Intuition, rather than knowledge, told him, that he was
acting for the best.

Passively, he allowed the intense eagerness depicted
upon every Mongolian face, and concentrated in every
Asiatic brain, to influence him.

Every muscle in his body, every nerve in hig being,
évery sinew of his frame, was upon the alert.

He was ready, upon an instant’s warning, to leap aside,
to draw his weapons, to fight to the last gasp, one against
twa hundred.

“Fhe readiness for such a deed aha the forced compos-
ure of his manner, gave him a dignity that was new and
unknown to the ae who regarded him.

A low murmur of approval began to fill ee room.

A whisper reached his ear.

“You will win! You will not be the sacrifice !” it said.

A flood of light burst upon his brain,

He saw at once the meaning of it all, and he smiled with
confidence in his own powers.

As he advanced, Huang Gee descended from the plat-
form, while Sam Ling and the two altar servants stood
near him with folded arms.

Suddenly Huang Gee threw aside his robes of office and
stood revealed, naked to the waist, ready for the trial of
strength and skill that was about to come.

Then, when the crowd saw that Nick did not offer to re-
move a garment, but smiled with disdain upon the prep-
arations made by Huang Gee, a great shout of ane
went up, and they chanted :

“ He has eaten of the tiger in the jungle. Les Huang Gee

| beware !”

But as Nick gazed, he saw that he had no mean antagon-
ist to battle with. Huang Gee was a giant in muscular de-
velopment.

‘

. CHAPTER IV.

A TRIAL OF STRENGTH,
It was a weird scene.
Imagine it if you can. reader.
A cellar, far beneath the surface of the street, a cellar

 

«lighted by a score or more of lamps with blackened chim-.,

 

 

 
 

No. 26.

NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

 

 

neys, and crowded beneath them fully two hundred China|
men bending forward with eager longing, to witness
what was to be a fight to the death.

other or not, Nick did not yet know, but that one of them
must become a sacrifice to the god. Yo Fung Gang Lo, he
did know, and whoever should be vanquished in the ap-
proaching contest would become the victim.

He saw that he had already gained the sympathy of the
crowd, even against their high priest, Huang Gee.

His dignified bearing, his evident contempt for the
powers of Huang Gee, who was a giant when compared to
the others who were present, won them over to his side.

The high priest was proportionately angry.

For a long time he had been the ruler of the Suey Sing,
and now to be treated with utter contempt, for so the
Chinamen construed Nick’s acts, by a stranger from New
York, was more than he could bear.

_. Whatever the preliminaries were, he did not wait for
them to be enacted.

With an exclamation of rage, he bounded forward to
seize the detective in his grasp and to conquer him at once.

But if he was a giant in strength, so also was Nick
Carter.

The great detective had never yet met his match for
strerigth and agility, and he did not believe that he would
find it in a Chinaman.

He waited when Huang Gee leaped forward:

He permitted the angry Chinaman to seize him. —

For amoment they strained and tugged, and then the
detective executed a trick in wrestling that the high priest
had never seen before.

He pressed suddenly forward, while they still held each
other, and then as suddenly leaped back.

Then, with a quick twist, bringing all his. mighty mus-

cles into play, he thfew “the Chinaman clear over his head,

releasing his hold as he did so.

Huang Gee was agile.

He described a circle, which may be called a “cart-
wheel,” and which would have floored any ordinary man.

But not Huang Gee.

He alighted upon his feet, and kept them, too.

The applause was deafening.

Whether it was produced by the exhibition of Nick’s
great. strength, or by the fact that in spite of it, Huang
Gee alighted upon his feet cannot be said.

The high priest was not yet vanquished.

He returned to the fray more determined than ever, and
with the advantage that he knew something of the
strength of the man with whom:he had to deal.

Where he had been bold before, he was now wary.

He faced Nick, but kept out of his reach, watching for a
chance to dart in and seize some favorite hold.

Nick saw what he wanted, and unhesitatingly gave him
the chance that he coveted.

He left an opening, and the high priest rushed into it.

He seized the detective around the body in what is known
as the “ back-hold.”

But Nick shook himself free from that by a mighty
effort, and changed to the “ side-hold.”

There, the “Little Giant” was at home.

Then they strained again, both men almost down upon
the floor. But Nick had another trick in store for Huang
Gee, and it was a good one.

He suddenly gave the Chinaman what aha © be an
advantage.

 

The high priest fell into the trap, and threw all iin
strength into one effort to floor his antagonist. |

It was futile.

Another surprise was the result.

Again he found himself thrown high in the air.

But, agile as ever, he saved himself from falling in a
most unexpected manner.

He was hurled violently against one of the supporting
pillars of the place, and he seized it and clung to it.

Then, while the applause was deafening, he slid down
to the floor upon his feet.

Again was Nick denied the victory; again had Huang
Gee saved himself, and again he came forward to renew
the contest.

i.

Whether the combatants were to attempt to kill each!

It was a bloodless battle, but a severe one.

Nick was getting tired of it.

The air, or rather the want of air in the cellar, rendered -
the place stifling.

He resolved to settle the contest without delay.

Huang pursued his old tactics.

He warily dodged in and out, watching for an opening.

But Nick was no longer acting upon the defensive.

He cemmenced to be aggressive, and he made several
attempts to seize his adversary.

At last he succeeded, but in such a way that Huang Gee
gained the advantage that he had all along been seeking.

He secured the ‘“ back-hold.”

It was the Chinaman’s favorite manner of wrestling, and
Nick saw that he must exert himself to win at once, ¥ at
all.

For several moments they caened. neither gaining an
advantage.

Then it could be seen that Huang Gee’s back was ey,
but surely yielding.

Over, farther over, he bent, still struggling manfully.

But hope for him was past.

Victory was to perch upon the banner of the detective.

Suddenly there was a loud snap, that could be heard all
over the room, and Huang Gee slipped from Nick’s grasp
into a heap upon the floor.

His back was broken.

“Tt was his life or mine,” muttered the detective, witiz
contrition, as he gazed upon his fallen adversary, while
silence, like the stillness of death, fell upon the throng.

“What am I expected todo next, I wonder?” thought
Nick. Pe
The crowd waited, and so did he.

Suddenly aloud shout went up. _

Huang Gee was struggling to his feet.

Nick watched him with no idea of what he was about to
do.

He dragged himself to the altar at the feet of the god,
Yo Fung Gang Lo.

Then, by clinging to it, he raised himself, until he could
reach up and seize the knife from the god’s grasp.

Nick prepared to dodge, for he expected that the. van-
quished high priest was about to throw the knife at him.

Not so, however.

“Wah Ming,” he cried, addressing Nick in the Chinese
tongue, “thou art mightier than I; thou hast vanquished
me. Iam foresworn and doomed, while thou art raised to —
the place I filled.

“Thou art great, Wah Ming, for by thy silence thou hast
given me a bcon that I, myself, have never granted to
others.

 
     

*

8

 

NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

   

No. 26.

 

 

 

“1 thank Pee Wah Ming, and I perform the last duty
of my sacred office.”

Ashe ceased speaking, he raised the knife. and then,
with a sudden plunge, he buried the gleaming blade deep
in his own heart, and fell forward upon the floor, dead.

Then the audience broke again into a wild chant, in
which they recited the greatness of their new high priest,
and applauded the victory that he had won.

Sam Ling seized the robes which ‘Huang Gee had dis-
carded before the contest of strength, and threw them
over Nick’s shoulders.

The detective did not know what was next expected of
hira, and on the impulse of the moment, he did the very
best thing that he could have done.

He took the robes from his own shoulders, and threw

' thera upon those of Sam Ling.

tie saw instantly that the act was equivalent to that of

ealling an inferior officer to the chair in an American as-
sembly.

“He took Sam Ling’s place behind the god, and listened

‘and watched while the latter, apparently overwhelmed by

the honor that had been conferred upon him, continued
the meeting.

Portions of the body of Huang Gee-were given to each
member, and one by one they came forward and claimed
them.

The sight was sickening, the stench nauseating.

There were chants and weird dances. One Chinaman
came forward and inflicted torture upon himself, receiv-
ing the heart of Huang Gee as recompense ther efor.

Then two members of the rival tong, the Suey Ong, was

eondeimned to death, and three members of the Suey Sing

were named by Sam Ling as the executioners,
And then the meeting dispersed.

CHAPTER V.
A TARGET FOR TWENTY BULLETS.

It cannot be denied that Nick Carter had accomplished
a wonderful result in an incredibly short space of time.

He had been in San Francisco scarcely twenty four
hours, and yet he had a oy gained apoint which the
police had vainly soug* afierfor years.

He was a member of th ve Suey Sing.

Ay, more! He was its high priest, its ruler, and he had
gained the distinction by reason of a chain of circum-
stances which could not..possibly have been foreseen or
ealcnlated upon.

His proverbial luck had much to do with it, but his skill
and proficiency as a detective had more.

First, he had presented himself to Sam Ling as a
stranger who sought affiliation with his “tong.”

Without knowing that he was doing so, he had offered
himself as a sacrifice iu case the high priest should prove
to be a more powerful man than he.

An inflexible rule of the Suey Sing was that the member
who was the strongest man, the best wrestler and fighter,
should be its high priest.

Any member at any time had the right to challenge him
to a contest of strength and skill, and whoever should
eome out second best in the contest, should be at once
offered as a sacrifice to the blood-thirsty god, Yo Fung
Gang Lo.

Tt was the duty of the victor in the contest to perform
the sacrifice, thus condemning the victim to one hundred
and nine years of darkness.

But he could waiye that. right and permit the victim to
kill himself, if he was magnanimous enough, and the un-

fortunate was then supposed zo take his proper place at.

enee in the celestial regions.

Nick Carter was only human after all, and his remark-
able success dazed him for the moment.

He realized that he had leaped at once into prominence
in Chinatown, and that he wasa marked man so far as
recognition in that quarter went.

Like a prominent politician, everybody would know
him, and the next act in the drama would be made much
more difficult for him to perform.

But only a quarter of his work was done.

He had yet to become a member of the Suey Ong, and to

‘ae evidence by which both societies could ‘be indicted.

for conspiracy against human life.

It was true that certain members of the Suey Ong had
already been sentenced to death by the Suey Sing, and
that persons connected with the latter organization had
been appointed to carry out the sentence.

But how prove it?

The four officials remained near the idol, while the
others left the place.

At last they were alone together, and the two altar ser-
vants stood in respectful attitudes, as though awaiting
some order from him.

Not knowing what else to do, he presently waved his
hand with a gesture, which might mean anything.

Seeing it, they darted away.

Nick waited for some sign from Sam Ling.

But he made none, and in a few moments-the altar ser-
vants returned bearing in their hands a tray upon which:
was a plate of raw and bloody meat.

Nick looked at it in disgust.

“Will the high priest, Wah Ming, eat of the mountain
lion?” asked Sam Ling.

Nick shuddered.

He knew of the Chinese superstition that to eat of the
flesh of a wild beast, was supposed to give the person, so
eating, all the strength, ferocity, and tenacity of the ani-
mal eaten.

“No,” he replied, solemnly. ‘I have held the wild tiger
in the jungle while I tore strips from his body and swal-
lowed them. Shall I defile my being with the carcass of
a jackall ?”

The three men bowed low.

‘Will he permit his servants to eat of the portion that
was saved for him?” tremblingly asked Sam Ling.

“Kat!” returned Nick, shortly.

They seized the raw flesh with avidity.

In a moment it had disappeared.

Then, with low obeisances, the three men turned as if to
leave.

He motioned to Sam Ling to wait.

“Who are the men of the Suey Ong oy were condemned
to-night?” he asked. J

, ‘Men Gee and Sing Foy.” i ‘

“Do you know them 2” PO

“SY es. 9

“Where do they live?”

“In Stockton street.”

‘Their business 2”

“They are storekeepers. ” =

‘Who are the executioners ?”

‘‘Lung Chang and Sing Hoy.”

‘When do they do their work ?”

‘“At once.”

‘Show me the faces of the condemned men.”

(<9 Now QY? Z

Ge Yes.”

“Come.”

There was a marked difference in the demeanor of Sam
Ling toward Nick since the latter had become high priest.

He seemed to consider it a great honor that the power-
ful one, who was supposed to be in direct communication
with Yo Fung Gang Lo, should look to him for advice,
and he swelled with gratified vanity.

“Come,” he repeated.
They left the foul,
outer air by means of a narrow and winding stair-way
made with staves, which Sam Ling rolled up and hid away

in a secret recess, when they reached the top.

The air of the street, though foul at its best, was like a
draught of wine to the detective.

The time was nearly three o’clock in the morning, but
Chinatown seemed as full of life and activity as ever.

Sam Ling led the way at onee to the stores in Stockton
street where the two condemned men did business.

Upon the oppesite side of the street, waiting with
Mongolian patience, were two Chinamen. :

Sam Ling pointed to them silently.

‘*Who are they?” asked Nick.

‘Lung Chang and Sing Hoy.”

 

“ Ah, the executioners?”
“Yes,”

 

cellar-like place, and sought the

    
       
   
   
 

    
       
       
 

        
     
       
       
       
     
     
   
   
     
     
       
     
       
       
       
       
       
   
     
   
   
      
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
    
 
  
   
   
   
  
   
    
  
 
 

 

 

{
1
if
i
{
i
t
j

     
 

No. 26,

 

‘*They have lost no time.”

“They are hungry.”

“For blood, yes.”

“For food, Wah Ming, the high priest, knows that they
es ee eat nor sleep until Men Gee and Sing Foy are

ea DP]

true,”

~The doors of the stores where the two condemned men
were supposed to be were closed, and the curtains were
drawn.

Behind them, however, glowed lights, and Nick could
see shadows passing and repassing beyona the curtains. °

“Fan tan,” muttered Sam Ling.

“Yes. Let us go in.’

“Tn there 2” ©

ee Yes. eed.

Sam Ling looked at Nick in utter astonishment.

“Wah Ming knows that it is not permitted,” he said,
slowly ; “unless——”

“Unless what?”

“Unless it is ordered by the spirit of Yo Fung Gang Lo.”

“Am I not the spirit?”

[ ehh Yes. %

“T order it. Come!”

“We will be killed.”

“Have I not eaten of the tiger ?”

74 Yes. 99

‘T will protect you. Come!”

There was an expression of absolute terror on the face
of Sam Ling, but 1t was evident that he did not dare to
disobey.

Nick walked boldly up the steps to the door, and mo-
tioned to Sam Ling to rap upon it.

He did so.

A moment later the door was opened, and Nick and his
new friend passed through.

He found that he was in the presence of a score of
Chinamen, who looked as unconcerned as though they had
not been engaged in gambling when the summons came.

They did not know Nick, but angry glances were bent
upon Sam Ling ; glances which meant murder, as the de-
tective plainly saw. )

He was sorry that jhe had compelled the Chinaman t,
enter with him, but Ji was too late to retreat now.

Instead of the ustial chatter which was invariably the
rule where a number of Chinamen were gathered together, |
they were greeted with absolute silence.

Every Chinaman there placed one hand inside his blouse,
as though to grasp 1 concealed weapon. —

“We have come to play fan tan,” said Nick, coolly.

Men Gee, who was the proprietor of the place, pointed
to the door.

“Go out; go away,” he said.

Nick shook his head.

Then, with a quick motion, he drew his revolver Ss, one
in either hand.

He believed that he could intimidate him, but he in-

-gtantly saw his mistake.

Every Chinaman there was armed, and they were al-
most as quick with their weapons as the detective.

Instantly a score of revolvers leaped into view, and al-, :

most at the same moment they were fired.

But for Nick’s wonderful presence of mind, both he and.

Sam Ling must have been killed.

As it was, he saw the motion which threatened them,
and by marvelous quickness avoided the danger.

Quicker than lightning he threw out one foot and trip-
ped Sam Ling, so that he fell to the floor, sinking down
himself at the same instant.

The score of bullets passed harmlessly above them, and
the Chinamen, believing that the two had been shot,
leaped pell-mell for the door to escape.

But Nick was instantly upon his feet.

He seized Men Gee, who was nearest to him, and, rais-_

ing him bodilv from the floor, hurled him with all his
strength at the retreating crowd.

The shock was too great for them to stand, and they
went down like the figures in a Jacob’s ladder, pitching
headlong from the door into the street, heaped upon each
other in a writhing mass.

But Nick followed up his success by seizing another,

NICK CARTER: LIBRARY, -

bes
one serving him in the same manner. In two minutes
Sam Ling and Nick were the only persons left.in the store,
and the former was nearly dead with fright.

 

CHAPTER VI.
THE MURDER OF MEN GEE.

In what manner Chinaman disappear, so quickly and
mysteriously, has always been an unsolved mystery.

The well-known agility of the flea cannot be compared
with John Chinaman.

When you put your finger on him, he decidedly isn’t
there, and none of his neighbors or friends have any idea
what ‘has become of him.

When Nick and Sam Ling went to the door, atter put-
ting out the lights so that they would be sheltered by the
darkness, Stockton street was deserted.

Not cne of the score of Chinamen who had been in Men
Gee’s store was In sight.

If the earth had conveniently opened and swallowed
them, they could not have disappeared more quickly.

They were gone, and the coast was clear.

- Nick looked at Sam Ling.

He was diligently feeling about his body as though in
search of something.

“ What are you looking for?” asked Nick, in Chinese.

“For the holes.” ~~

“What holes ?”

“The holes made by the bullets as they pierced my body.
I was murdered by the Suey Ong. Five bullets pierced
me. Ifelt them. Now, I am alive, and the bullets have
left no holes. Was it Yo Fung Gang Lo who saved me, or
was it the high priest, Wah Ming?”

“Never mind,” replied Nick, smiling,
Go, now, and leave me here.”

The Chinaman fell prostrate upon the floor.

He bowed his head until his forehead rested upon Nick’s
feet.

“Wah Ming is great,” he cried.

Then he sprang to his feet and departed.

Nick was left alone in ihe store of Men Gee, the con-
demned. :

““How soon will the prophieiar bohinn? ?” he ruined:
'“ Anyhow I will be ready for him when he does come.” __
| Then, in the darkness, the detective began to work one
of his marvelous changes.

Though still retaining the outward semblance of a
Chinaman, he altered his dress, the length of his queue,
his apparent age, and the expression of his face, so that in
ten minutes from the time when Sam Ling left had he re-
turned, he would have met a perfect stranger.
| Then Nick sat down to wait.

_A half-hour passed, and then he heard somebody ap-
oe the door.

Still he. kept silent, and a moment later a pair of al-
hae shaped eyes peered around the casing and endeav-
ored to examine the interior.

“Men Gee has returned,” muttered Nick to himeelf,
‘‘and now to work my racket on the Suey Ong.”
| Per ceiving no motion in his store, Men Gee grew bolder.

He stepped forward and started to enter his place.
| For an instant his body was outlined in the door-way,
and then——

“You are saved,

 

| There was a flash and aloud report from the opposite

side of the street.

Men Gee uttered a piercing scream, and fell forward
‘across his own threshold dead.

The bullet, fired by one of the appointed assassins, whom
Nick had for the moment forgotten, had done its deadly
work, and one of the men who had that very night been
condemned by the Suey Sing was already a corpse.

The detective’s plan was nipped in the bud, for that
night, at least, and he realized that the best thing that he
could do would be to make himself as scarce as possible

around that region.

He did not care to be arrested as the murderer of Men
Gee.

Although he would have no trouble in proving his inno-
cence, in order to do so, he would be obliged to reveal his

 
io

(NICK CARTER LIBRARY. |

No 26.

 

 

identity. and he preferred that nobody bud Chief Crowley
should know of that, at least, for the present.

In order to leave the store, he was obliged to pass di-

rectly over the body of Men Gee.

He stepped forward, prepared to leap out and get away,
when he heard the noise of approaching footsteps, made
by men in the act of running.

They were coming nearer, too.

‘““The officers!” muttered the detective. “They have
just made up their minds that there is trouble here.”

He listened for an instant without moving.

‘I’m in for it, sure!” he muttered, presently.

Then he drew back into a dark corner of the shop and

- waited.

Soon a policeman dashed up to the door-way.

A glance told him that he had found the scene of the
crime; as well as its victim.

A shout brought the others to his aid, and three police-
men reinforced him.

Two of them leaped over the body and entered the store.

In an instant they discovered Nick, crouching, the seem-
ing picture of terror, in one corner.

They seized him.

“ Aha!” exclaimed the officer, who grasped him.
you, have I?”

“ Allee samee like smoke,” replied Nick, with chattering
teeth.

“What did you kill that feller for, John?” asked the
other policeman.

“Me no killee.”

“Don’t lie, John.”

‘Me tellee tlufe, allee samee like lofficel, like copee,
sabe ?” ;

The officer grinned.

“I guess we'll have to shove you through for this, John.
Who is the dead one, hey 2?”

“Men Gee.”

“That’s the name on this door.”

“Allee samee, Men Gee.”

“Why did you shoot him 2”

‘Me no shootee. \Man shootee flom oder side stleet, allee
samee bang, dlop, sabe ?”

“Ves; butit’s too tha, John.
him out.”

‘“Copee tellee one allee samee damlie, sabe ?”

“Eh? What’s that, you infernal heathen 2”

The policeman raised his club threateningly, as though
he was about to resent the insult that had been offered ;
but he evidently thought better of it, and did not.

“Me plove me no shootee Men Gee, ” said Nick.

ce How a

““Copee big foolee.”

“Look here, confound you. If you wantto get out of
this scrape, you’ve got to talk differently, you yaller cur.”

“Um! allee samee,” said Nick, imperturbably. “Why
copee no lookee at Men Gee?”

‘What d’ye mean ?”

“Men Gee shootee in backee.”

‘“ He’s right, Jim,” said the man at the body.

“Him lie on him facee.”

‘‘That’s right, too.”

“Me inside shopee. Me fliend of Men Gee. Me waitee
for Men Gee. Men Gee come to dool; him stan’ in dool.
Cusee on oder side stleet shootee Men Gee in backee. No
sabe who shootee. Mescart. Me lun an’ hidee. Thinke
me be shotee, too, allee samee like Men Gee. Bimeby
copee come; copee ‘lest me. Me tellee tlufe allee samee
like copee; sabe?”

“You don’t know who shot Men Gee, eh?”

“No sabe; no.”

“Can you find out?”

“No sabe.”

“Come, Jim!” interrupted one of the others, “take the
heathen in and have done with it. More than likely he
killed the fellow himself.”

“Come along, John!” said the officer, who was called
Jim.

He seized Nick by the arm and dragged him toward the
door.

One of the officers was left in charge of the place where

“Got

You’re the feller that iaid

 

the murder was committed, and the other three started

| with Nick for the station- house.

The detective had no intention of going so far, however. —
He preferred to escape from them and to run the risk of
being shot, rather than be forced to explain everything
that he had done, as he would be, if he was once taken |

into the presence of the captain of the precinct.

There was an officer on either side of him.

Each grasped his arms, while the third policeman, who
was Jim, walked in front of them.

They. went along Stockton street to Washington, and
were about turning the corner, when the brave detective
saw his opportunity,

Close beside them was an open door-way, which seemed
to lead into an alley-way between two buildings.

No better place for his escape could be found.

Suddenly he gave a violent jerk, and thus wrenched
himself free from the grasp of the two men.

Quickly stooping, he seized them both around the legs, .
and toppled them over as easily as though they had been
wooden men.

They both cried out with astonishment when they found

themselves falling, and the officer, who was in advance,»

turned with upraised club, to see what the matter was.

He never knew exactly what did happen, just then, and
to this day he believes that the Chinaman struck him
with brass knuckles.

At all events, he was struck, and he fell in a heap be-
side his companions, while the Chinaman, who had been
their prisoner, darted into the narrow alley- way and dis-
appeared.

Fifty Chinamen suddenly loomed up from fifty different
places.

They wondered what had happened, and chattered
about it.

When the officers tried to question them, all the satis-
faction they got was:

‘No sabe.”

Entirely monplused, they continued on their way empty
handed, little dreaming that they had questioned the very
one who had upset them, and that he was the one who was
more ignorant of what had happened jthan all the others.
pagiick had simply gone far enough into the alley to be
alone.

There he had discarded the character that he wore, and
reappeared as Wah Ming.

As the officers withdrew, he turned and hastened away
toward Spofford’s alley, where he thought he could, find
Sam Ling, and from him learn the name of the man who
had killed Men Gee.

But a surprise of which he little dreamed awaited him,
and although dawn was breaking, he was yet to meet
with another adventure before the sun rose over San
Francisco.

CHAPTER VII.
A SPY OF THE SUEY ONG.

Spofford’s alley is known to everybody who is at all
familiar with Chinatown in San Francisco, as being a
favorite resort of the Highbinders.

The term “Highbinder” is applied to the members of
those secret societies, which make war upon each other,
being a sort of Chinese mafia or assassination association,
and “ Highbinder feud” means simply war between two
Chinese tongs.

We have already seen in what manner members of one
association are condemned to death by the other.

Spofford’s alley, Bull Run alley, Waverley place, Shag
alley, and other places of the same character, were and
are favorite resorts of the Highbinder, because he can
there more successfully elude the officers after committing
a crime.

When Nick entered the alley above mentioned, day was
just beginning to dawn.

The alley was narrow and dirty.

Heaps of debris and filth of all kinds filled the place
from curb to curb.

Odors which should have penetrated to the health de-
partment of the city, almost nauseating in their ee
and pungency, entered his nostrils.

 
®

No, 26.

NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

 

 

There were but two persons in sight when he turned
into the alley, and one of them was, by chance, Sam Ling.

He was coming toward Nick, and was about two hun-
dred feet away, when the detective discovered him.

Behind him, not ten feet farther off, was another China-
man. ;

As Nick looked, he saw the second one raise his right
arm. —_
The hand held a weapon, and it was aimed at Sam Ling.
Nick shouted with all his strength, and the doomed man
sought to escape. :
He leaped aside just as the murderer pulled the trigger.
He was too late.
The bullet, obeying the deadly aim that had been given
to it, sped upon its message of death.
It crashed into Sam Ling’s skull, and, with a groan, he
pitched forward upon a pile of debris near him, killed in-
_ stantly.
The murderer, as soon as he had firéd, leaped into a door-
way that was close beside him.
Nick pulled his revolver and fired, just as he was disap-
pearing. ea
A loud ery of pain followed the detective’s shot, and
Nick smiled grimly as he dashed forward in pursuit of
Sam Ling’s assassin.

“T didn’t hurt you much, I’m sorry to say,” he thought ;
“but all the same it will be several days before you will
sit down again with comfort.”

He dashed into the door-way, where the assassin had

disappeared. | a

There was no sign of him, however. {

Still Nick pushed on. -

Every house in that section isa maze of passages—a

net-work of loopholes of escape. :

Near a stair-way was crouched one of the meek-faced

devils.

Nick seized him and choked him until his tongue pro-
truded.

“Where did he go?” he demanded in Chinese, loosening
his hold so that the frightened Mongolian could reply.

“Who?” asked the man.

“The one who just}killed Sam Ling.”

“Ts Sam Ling deagt?”

“ Angwer me, where did he go?”

Ge Who an

Nick drew a knife from his pocket.

“Tf you don’t answer me, I’ll cut out your tongue,” he
said, savagely. ‘Where did he go?”

The Chinaman pointed at the stairs.

“Up there?” asked Nick.

66 No. >?

“Where, then?”

Again the Chinaman pointed as before.

Nick was exasperated. —|

He held the knife before phe man’s eyes, and repeated :

‘Where did he go?”

For answer the Mongolian seized the bottom step of the
flight.

Several stairs came up instantly in his grasp, exposing
an aperture beyond which all was darkness.

“Through there?” asked Nick.

a Yes. bb)

“Where does it lead ?”

“No a hundred different places.”

Nick knew that the words were probably true.

He resolved to try another tack, since he had found a
Chinaman who would talk.

“What was his name?” he asked.

The fellow shook his head.

Again Nick exhibited the knife.

“What was his name?” he repeated.

“Song Lee.”

“ Are you sure?”

Ss VYoas.? :

“A Suey Ong?”

oe Yes. 22.

“Are you 2”

“Yes.”

“Where do you live?”

“Here.”

my

“Do you know me?”
“Veg .

“Who am I?”

“Wah Ming, the giant.”

“Good! You know more than I thought you did.

do you know me?” |

“T was in Men Gee’s store when you came in.”
“Ah! With Sam Ling?”

(9 Yes. ”

“Ts that why Sam Ling was killed ?”
ae Yes. 99

“Am I to be killed also?”

“Yes.” ;

“By whom?”

“By me.”

“What is your name?”

“Fing May.”

“Do you want me to kill you?”

oe No. oP

“Do you want money ?”

ob Yes. >)

“Will you serve me?”

“You are a Suey Sing.”

‘‘T will become a Suey Ong.”
‘‘Then I will serve you for money.”
“Will you make me a Suey Ong?”
“Yes.”

“When ?”

“At noon.”

“Where ?”

“Here.”

“Show me where to meet you.”
“Come !”

Nick released: his hold, and followed the Chinaman
through a door into a little room not over six feet square.

“Do you live here, Fing May?” he asked.

cc Yes. bh)

“ Alone ?”

oe Yes. bh

“ And you wil] serve me?”

“For money, yes.”

_“Won’t your friends kill you, if they find it out?”
“Yes; but they will not know.” ;—
“Why not?” 4 a
“You said you would become a Suey Ong.”
oe Yes. 27
“Then Wah Ming will disappear.”

“True.”

“T will tell the Suey Ong that I killed him.”

ac Yes. be)

“T will be a great man. You, Wah Ming, have only just
come, but already everybody in Chinatown know abouts
you. The Suey Ong fears you. Itis known that you are
the high priest of Yo Fung Gang Lo. Every Suey Ong is
sworn to kill you. A hundred bullets have been aimed at
you since you were in Men Gee’s.”

“Why have I not been killed?”

“The Suey Ong men were afraid to shoot.”

66 Why O72

“They fear Yo Fung Gang Lo.”

ee Ah Ve

“They say that bullets cannot kill you.”

“Indeed !”

“Every Suey Ong has sworn to use the knife upon you.”

“That’s pleasant,” thought Nick.

“Tf you disappear, Ican say that you are dead,” con-
tinued King May.

“Well?”

“T will bea great man. You will give me money, and I
will be arich man. You will become a Suey Ong, and I
will be a fortunate man, for you will not curse me.”

“F suspect that you are a scoundrel,” thought Nick,
“who will betray all that you know for a price.”

“Listen!” he said, aloud. ‘Do you know why I would
become a Suey Ong ?”

46 Yes. 99

oe Why 02)

“To betray it to the Suey Sing.”

“Qorrect. That means death to the Suey Ong.”

 

ce Yes. ”

 
NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

 

 

“What will become of you, then?”

“T will be in China.”

“Oh! You will be killed there, just the same.”

te No. oe ‘

be Why a

“In China, I am a Suey Sing.
They do not know me. Fing May will die.
breathe for him.”

“What a villain!” muttered the detective.

Aloud, he said :

‘“You know me to be Wah Ming?”

Yes

“You fear me?”

6 Yes. 39

“Have you a pistol 2”

ae Yes. oF

“'W here is it?”

“*Here.”

‘Draw it, aim at my heart, and fire.”

The Chinaman grew visibly pale.

“Obey !” said Nick. Then he thrust his hand into a

I have another name.
Another will

pocket and seized an unused bullet from a cartridge that.

had fallen loose.

The Chinaman raised the weapon.

“Point at my heart,” said Nick.

Fing May obeyed.

Fire !”

He pulled the trigger.

The flash and report followed.

Nick did not move.

He only smiled.

Then he extended the hand which held the bullet.

“Here,” he said. ‘‘Take this and tell your friends that
it is the bullet with which you killed Wah Ming.”

Fing May was overwhelmed.

He fell upon his face, and groveled at Nick’s feet.

“Do not curse me!” he cried, in seeming agony.
your servant, your slave.”

“You are more,” said Nick, coldly; “you are a spy of
the Suey Ong. You were present last night at the tong of
the Suey Sing. Speak!”

“T am

CHAPTER VII.
CHINA¥OWN DANGERS.

The happy thought of conquering the treacherous China-
man by means of his superstitious terror had occurred
suddenly to Nick.

He saw by the way in which Fing May talked that he
was a spy, and was in all probability affiliated with both
societies, betraying one to the other for the sake of the
money that he could get for his nefarious work.

No matter how thoroughly corrupt he might be, he was
a slave to superstition. All Chinamen are. ;

Through that fear, which was even stronger than his
avarice, the detective conquered him absolutely.

But while he terrified the man by handing him the bul
let, which was supposed to have passed through his body
without harm to the intended victim, he brought him still
farther into subjection by letting him know that he recog-
nized him as a spy.

That was, in reality, only a shrewd guess; but it hit the
mark, and Fing May spoke truly when he proclaimed him-
self to be the slave of Wah Ming, or, in other words, Nick
Carter...

“Save me! Save me!” he cried.

“Serve me, and you need not fear,” replied Nick.

“I will serve you. Will you still pay me money ?”

‘No, not until your work is done.”

“And then——”

“Then, if you have been faithful, I will pay you. If you
are unfaithful, beware.”

“Wing May is your slave.”

“Mind you do not forget it.”

“JT will remember.”

“At noon I will be here.”

“Fing May will wait.”

“You will not know me.”

“T will know you, Wah Ming.”

64 How O17

_ “IT will tremble when you approach.”
“Nick smiled.

“Remember,” he said.

Then he turned and went away.

He passed from the house and turned toward the
entrance to Spofford’s alley, past the spot where Sam Ling
had fallen when he was so suddenly shot down.

Much to his astonishment, the body had disappeared.

Somebody had spirited it away in the short time that
the detective had been absent from the strvet.

He gazed around him for a moment.

There was not a person in sight. ;

The firing which had occurred only afew moments be-

{fore had frightened the people into their holes, like so

many rodents.

Then he continued on his way toward the street.

But in a door-way not far ahead of him, and sheltered
from view by the bricks behind which he stood, or rather,
crouched, was a figure which Nick could not see.

There was a gleaming knife in his hand, and his eyes
shone with cruel malignity as he waited for his victim to
approach.
He was waiting for Wah Ming, whom he had been

ordered to kill with the knife. a

He had seen him in the alley, for he was the same one
who had shot Sam Ling, and then fled.

There was blood dripping from his garments, where the

himself, as well as to carry out the sentence of death that
had been imposed.

Meanwhile Nick, all unconscious of the impending dan-
ger, drew nearer to the concealed Highbinder, who was
waiting to murder him.

But we have seen that Nick was protected in an unusual
way.

When he undertook the expedition into Chinatown, he
well knew the perils that he would have to encounter.

Bullets from concealed hall-ways. the knives of hidden
assassins, and unexpected attempts upon his life would be
the rule.

He prepared for the ordeal by donning his shirt of Milan
steel, and thus it was that the bullet of Fing May had been
rendered utterly harmless. 4 :
~is Nick drew nearer, the assassin Nee still lower.

He was like a panther, preparing to, spring.

At last the detective reached the required spot.

Like a cat, the Chinaman leaped upon him.

Quick as Nick was, had it not been for the shirt of mail,
he must have been killed.

But that saved him.

The blade struck just over his heart, and the force of
the blow was so great, that the steel snapped short off at .
the hilt, and fell clattering at their feet.

As the blow fell, Nick whirled around.

The Chinaman, perceiving that he had failed, and over-
awed by the sudden and convincing proof that Wah Ming,
the giant, was proof against knives as well as bullets,
tried to escape.

Vain effort.

The detective’s hands closed upon him like a vise, and
he found himself as helpless as a babe.

- As Nick whirled him around, he saw
clothes and be- traced it until he
struck.

“Ah!” he exclaimed, in Chinese: “ you are the mur-
derer of Sam Ling.”

The prisoner maintained a sullen silence.

Suddenly the detective remembered the fear that Fing
May had evinced, of being cursed by the priest of Yo Fung
Gang Lo.

‘“*Do you know me?” he demanded.

“Yes,” admitted the Chinaman.

“Who am 1?”

“Wah Ming.” ;

“Tam Wah Ming, and I will cause my curse to fall upon
you and blight you and e

‘““No—no—no! Wah Ming, do not curse me !”

““Confess then.”

“T will.” cs

“You would rather be hanged, than be cursed: by Wah
Ming ?” pe

the blood upon his
saw where the bullet had

 

 

detective’s bullet had cut him, and he wanted to revenge
No, 26. -

 

NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

13

 

 

“Much rather.”
“Come !’ said Nick, “ you shall confess by and by.”
“Where will you take me?”
4 “You shall see.”
3 The assassin offered no resistance.
Indeed, had Nick loosened his hold and bade the China-
man follow, he would have been obeyed.

He did not put it to the test, however, but led the man
away.
eae was broad daylight, and the streets were beginning to

Nick, however, took the shortest route out of the region
known as Chinatown, and hurried his prisoner straight
toward the nearest police-station.

It was soon reached.

The sergeant at the desk witnessed the unusual spectacle
of one Chinaman bringing in another as a prisoner.

Nick, preserving his character in every point, marched
his prisoner up to the rail in front of the desk.

“Sabe Sam Ling?” he asked of the sergeant.
you think you’ve got Sam Ling there, you-—

“Sam Ling dead,” interrupted Nick; * dead, allee samee
likee door-nail.”

“Whew ! you don’t say 80.”

“ce Um se °

‘“Who killed him ?”

“Gabe this man?”

oe Yes. 9”?

“Him shootee Sam Ling. Me catchee.”

“Bully for you. What’s your name ”

“Wah Ming, sabe?”

oe Yes. ”

“This man\shootee Sam Ling. Sam Ling die. Man who
killee Sam Ling, bang, allee samee high up.”

“ Look here,” said the sergeant to the prisoner,
hear what Wah Ming says?”

‘““Me healee apna

os
“You bet,” was the reply ; “but I don’t sabe you, and if
9

“do you

‘Is Sam Ling deak?”

a Um V2 f

“Who killed him ?

“J killee him.”

“What with?”

“ Pistol.”

“ Where is the pistol ?”

“Me gotee him.”

“Give it to me.”

The revolver was produced, and handed over.

“You shot him, eh?” repeated the sergeant.

“Yes. Me shotee him.”

“Kill him ?”

“Me nevel miss.” - \

‘“Well, this beats me!” exclaimed the sergeant.

-“'Whatee beat you? no sabe,” said Nick.

‘(To have a Chinese murderer come here and confess.”

“No sabe that?”

“Blowed *f I do!”

4 Bim ‘flaid.”

“What's he afraid of ?”

“°Hlaid o? Wah Ming.”

“You?”

“ Um p

a Why 2?

“ Me pliest, sabe. Me putee cuss over him, if he no ’fess
climee, sabe? Pliest cussee muchee worse hangee, sabe?
no sabe? Copee big chumpee. No sabe nothin’; sabe
that?”

The sergeant laughed in spite of himself.

He was a big, good-natured fellow, who seldom lost his
temper.

“All right, Wah Ming,”
body 2”

“Sam Ling’s?”

ce Yes. ”

“ Ask him.”

The question was asked of the prisoner, and he surprised
even Nick by saying:

“Me takee you find him. Me
Me hangee, but no be cussed.”

“Well, I'll be cussed if you don’t hang!” growled the

he said. “Now, where’s the

*fess over body Sam Ling.

 

 

sergeant, and then he ordered three men to accompany the
self-confessed assassin.

“Me go now,” said Nick, after they had departed.

“No you don’t, Wah Ming. You stay.”

It was the sergeant who spoke, and he came toward
Nick who had edged near to the door.

“ Copee lie like blazee,” said Nick, coolly.

He turned to leap through the door, and sprang straight
into the arms of a patrolman, who was just entering.

But he was equal, even to that.

He seized the officer before that individual had a chance
to grasp him, and, whirling quickly, he sent him spinning
like a top along the floor.

He collided with the sergeant, and both men went down
together in a heap, while Nick, with a loud laugh, sprang
through the door and darted away, as a dozen policemen
sprang after him.

Nick turned a corner, and when, a moment later, the
policemen dashed after him, they saw nobody but an Italian
bending over an ash-barrel.

They asked him if he had seen Wah Ming.

“Si” signores,” he said; “he runna lika mad, like
streaka lighta amarilla.”

Then he darted at the barrel again, and they did not
dream that the Italian and Wah Ming were one and the
same.

CHAPTER IX,
MENACED ON ALL SIDES.

The various experiences and the exciting episo¢es, which
had been Nick’s portion since his conversation with Chief
Crowley, had been sufficient to thoroughly tire him out.

Therefore as soon as the officers had gone their way in
search of the Chinaman who had so unexpectedly eluded
them, the detective agan changed his disguise.

He at once took his way to a distant part of the city,
where he had secured lodgings in a quiet neighborhood,
and there he sought a few hours’ rest,.

‘His appointment with Fi & May was, at noon, but he
knew that the Chinaman, fetringy nim ‘as he did with
superstitious terror, would ndét dare to leave the place of
meeting until he came, even though he should be many
hours’ late.

It was noon when Nick awoke, and he at once sat down
and wrote a note to Chief Crowley, of which the following
is a vopy:

“My Drar Cuter :—You have probably heard before this, that a
Chinaman named Men Gee was murdered at the door of his place of
business, this morning, about an hour before daylight.

“Tf you will have two officers concealed in the door-way of the little
brick house with dormer windows, on Waverley place, just off of Clay
street, at seven o'clock to-morrow night, I will so arrange that the
murderer will confess to the crime within their hearing.

“Inform them that no arrests can be made until the person who ex-
torts the confession shall have left the place.

«It so happens that I was present when the plans for the murder
were laid. I intended to prevent the crime, but could not, although I
stood within twenty feet. of Men Gee when he was shot.

“T am progressing very favorably in my work, and will, I think, suc-
ceed in furnishing the necessary information for breaking up the
gangs of highbinders, inside of thirty-six hours more.

EN

He mailed the letter to the chief, and then, having re-
sumed the diszuise of a Chinaman—although one in which
he had not before appeared—he took his way toward Spof-
ford’s alley.

Entering the place where he was to meet Fing May, he
found the rascal awaiting him, althougk he was three
hours late.

As he had predicted, the Chinaman did not know him,
and looked very much astonished when a total stranger
walked unceremoniously into his room.

“You are Fing May,” said Nick, sternly.

“Yes.”

“Are you a Suey Sing, or a Suey Ong?”

“JT am Fing May.”

‘You are a traitor,
society.”

“To whom?”

“To Wah Ming.”

for you have agreed to betray your

 
14

NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

No. 26.

 

 

“Are you Wah Ming?”
“Yes,”
“Then you speak truly.”
.“ Have you told anybody of this meeting ?”
re 4 No. 9
“Have you heard anything since we parted 2?”
Veg?
“What?”
“T have heard that Wah Ming cannot be killed. with
knives any more than with bullets.”
OAH (2?
“Song Lee tried to stab you with a knife?”
FeV ae)
“The knife was broken.”
“it was.”
“Are Wah Ming’s ribs made of steel ?”
“Perhaps.”

“Song Lee has confessed to the murder of Sam Ling.
He took the officers to the place where the body had been
thrown and confessed all over the dead man. He has gone
to prison and to the rope, to escape your curse.”

“That is true.”

‘The Suey Sing is triumphant.”

66 Yes. ”

“Its members boast that Wah Ming is the impersonation
of Yo Fung Gang Lo, and that the Suey Ong will soon be
swept from the face of the éarth.”

“What say you?”

‘“‘Fing May does not care.”

“ Not care ?”

& No. ”

66 Why oie

“If I please Wah Ming, I willbe happy; if I fail to
please him, I will be accursed.”

“ You are right, Fing May.”

“What would you have me do?”

“ Reveal to me all the secrets of the Suey Ong.”

“Don’t you know them now ?”

“It is for you to answer, not to ask questions.”

Then for two hours Nick kept the Chinaman busy, in-
structing him in thes or ag of the Suey Ong. '

Nick had alieady@arneh enough by his experience in
the Suey Sing to préfit by every word that fell from the
lips of Fing May, and, at the end of two hours, he felt
that he was proficient.

The Suey Ong was to meet that night, and he compelled
Hing May to take him to the place where they held their
meetings, and to show him all the secret passages con-
nected with it, so that he would have no difficulty in get-
ting in or out.

At midnight he descended through a hole in the floor,
arranged on much the same plan as that by which Sam
Ling had taken him to the meeting of the society of which
he was now the high priest.

This time, however, he went alone.

At last he reached the door, where a tassel hung sus-
pended over his head.

He pulled upon it and waited.

Presently the door opened, and he was bidden to enter.

He obeyed, and found himself in an underground hall,
not unlike that in which he had had the conflict with
Huang Gee.

It was larger, however, and there were fully twice as
many Chinamen there as in the former place.

He was purposely a little late, and when he entered, a
large, intelligent looking Mongolian was haranguing the
audience.

Instantly he discovered that the subject of his discourse
was the dreaded Wah Ming himself.

It was the high priest. who was talking, and his voice
rang out clear and decisive as he instructed his followers
that they must neither eat nor sleep until Wah Ming was
dead.

Suddenly he paused.

His eyes roamed over the audience until they’ rested
upon Nick.

“My children,” he said, “you will not have long to fast,
nor need you pass the balance of this night in wakefulness.
Wah Ming is here.”

* Ki—ki—ki!” yelled the crowd.

| within a few feet of the officiating }

 

 

Nick felt as though an icicle had been drawn along hig
spinal column.

‘Wah Ming is here,” repeated the high priest.

‘ Ki—ki—ki!” echoed the crowd.
“ How the devil did he know that?” muttered the deve

| tive.

Then, like a flash, it all came to him.

He had allowed himself to become the victim of a clever
trick by Fing May.

He had been decoyed by the cunning of a Chinaman into
the very midst of a throng of men who sought his life, and
they would not hesitate tc kill him.

In fancy he could see them clamoring over bits of flesh
cut from his own dead body, or afterward playing fan tan
with strips of his flesh for collateral.

The thought was horrible.

He turned toward the door by which he had entered, but
already fifty Chinamen barred the way.

They did not offer to molest him, and yet he knew by
their demeanor, that they would every one sacrifice his
life before the threshold of that door, rather than perinit -
him to pass. é

“Wah Ming is here,” cried the high priest for the third
time, and every eye in that throng was turned curiously
upon him. :

There was no way of escape. Nick knew that absolutely.

He must face the music, and it was better to do that
with a bold front and calm demeanor than to cringe.

He knew that every Chinaman who had heard his name,
already stood in awe of him.

His wonderful strength and almost magic skill had won
their fear, as well as engendered their dread.

Therefore, when Nick heard his name called the third
time, he folded his arms, and strode boldly. forward up
the aisle. jf

His head was erect, his carriage firm and dignified, and
he looked the high priest squarely in the 4ye. a

“Wah Ming is here; you are right?” he said. “What -
would you want with him ?” /

He did not pause until he stood_glose by the altar, and
riest and the hideous
OE i

“Why are you here, Wah Ming?”

‘Because I sought to come.”

‘“Why did you seek to come here 2”

“That I mignt know the workings of the Suey Ong.”

‘You know what your fate will be.”

HNO. 1 do not.’

“Death ‘and distribution of your flesh.”

‘Bah !” cried Nick; “ you cannot kill me.”

‘No? Why ?”

“The bullet is not made, nor the knife ground, which
will kill me.”

“Wah Ming is over-bold. Here, he is not under the pro-
tection of Yo Fung Gang Lo. Being here, Wah Ming, you
must die.”

‘Who will be my executioner ?”

66 1. 9?

66 How ie

“With this knife?”

Nick took a step nearer.

“Where will you strike?” he asked.

“Through your heart.”

“Strike, ther ; I am ready.”

The priest lunged forward. He struck a quick, sharp
blow, and one that would certainly have ended the detec-
tive’s life then and there had it not been for the shirt of
mail that he wore.

As it was, the blow was turned aside.

The blade broke half-way to the hilt, while the wonder:
ful, the incompréhensible Wah Ming smiled placidly upon
his would-be executioner.

Suddenly Nick felt a blow from behind.

He turned quickly, and saw that it was Fing May, who
had crept stealthily up behind him, and endeavored to
stab him in the back.

Now, the whole crowd seemed to be aroused, and they
surged forward, clamoring loudly for his death.

 
NICK CARTER LIBRARY.

 

 

CHAPTER X.
BREAKING THE BACKBONE,

The moment was acritical one. There were, at the least
calculation, four hundred Chinamen in that hall, who were
urged on by three powerful motives to take the life of
Nick Carter. ;

But Nick acted quickly, and in a way that thoroughly
astonished them.

He seized Fing May, even as he attempted to slink away
after the cowardly attempt at murder, and raising him
high over his head, flung him with terrific strength into

he very midst of the swaving crowd of Chinamen. —

‘Then he turned and seized the high priest.

The motion was so sudden that it was entirely unex-
pected, and, before the dignitary at the altar realized what
had happened, he found himself flung on his face, upon
the floor, and felt that his priestly robes had been torn
from his shoulders. :

In an instant Nick wrapped them about himself, and
then, with blazing eyes, he faced the swaying throng,

while with one foot resting upon the neck of the high |

priest, he held him where he had thrown him upon the
floor.

The multitude was awed. The stories that had been told
to them.of the wonderful powers of Wah Ming, had been
embellished, rather than lessened, in the repetition. —

They looked upon him as something supernatural, for
his strength*and daring were both greater than they had
ever believed tovexist in the heart of a Chinaman.

For one instan\ they paused and hesitated, and in that
brief interval Nic&knew that he could control them.

It was the power\ofymind over matter; of indomitable
intelligence over bry yr eneth and ferocify.,

With a gesture thdt a king might have envied, he ete
a sign which told them that they must disperse.

For an instant they seemed to hesitate.

Then he repeated the sign; and, with a sudden spring,
he leaped to the platform beside the idol, seized it, bore it
from its pedestal, and laid it across the figure of the fallen
high priest.

A howl of terror went up from the throng, but Nick did
not heed it.

Instead, he took his place in the position where the idol
had stocd, and then, for the first time, noticed that a trap
door was beneath his feet, and thatit was held in its
place by a bolt.

Why it was there he did not know, unless it was for the
purpose of facilitating the priests when they did their acts
of juggling with the idol.

The heads of the throng were bowed in terror at the
desecration of their god.

_. For the instant it seemed to Nick that not an eye was
upon him. ;

With a quick motion he kicked the bolt from its place,
and, swifter than thought, he disappeared from view
through the hole left by the falling trap.

‘He went down ten feet or more, alighting upon his feet,
‘but with a violent shock that for a moment dazed him.

The darkness was irrtense.

In his pocket, however, was his trusty little bull’s-eye
Jantern, which he instantly brought into use.

He touched the spring and threw a glare of light around
him, discovering that he was in a narrow passage-way be-
neath the hall, and which, he had no doubt, connected
with the means of egress from the meeting-place of the
Suey Ong.

_ Over his head he could hear tramping feet, shouts, cries,
and chattering, as though a million monkeys had sud-
- denly been turned loose together.
“As he hurried toward the point where he knew he could
find a way out, if any there were, the chattering changed
to angry cries, and then the sound of a volley of pistol-
Shots smote upon his ears.

 

 

“They are at it,” he mused, “and I will lea
Come what will. they do not believe that Wal
betray them to the police, and, to-morrow ni}
both societies meet, I can guide one force here, a
to the Suey Sing, and then this unpleasant job wil

“That was a tight fix, though, for a few mon
wonder how I would have gotten out of it, if it
been for the fact that I moved the idol and found #
door.

‘‘I mustn’t brag too soon, however, for I’m not out ye’

Nevertheless he succeeded in getting out, and that with-
out being seen by a single Chinaman.

“Luck sticks to me,” he muttered, when he was again
upon the street, ‘‘and I think it will be a cold day when I
let another heathen hoodwink me as Fing May did.”

But Nick was not suffered to escape from the locality
without one more adventure.

He passed through Stockton street to Ellis, and there
turned toward Larkin.

He had just reached the most notorious portion of that
section of the city, when he was suddenly startled by
hearing a series of shrill screams, apparently uttered by a
woman in great distress.

As he turned to see from whence the sound proceeded, a
door was thrown violently open, and a young girl leaped
forth, pursued by two men and a woman.

With one bound she reached the pavement.

“Help! Help!” she cried. ‘Save me! oh, save me!”

“You bet I will!” thought Nick.

If the girl saw him, she took no notice.

He was only a Chinaman, and could not be expected to
manifest interest in anything that surrounded him.

Nevertheless, she ran directly past him, and, as she did
so, he caught her.

“Wait, young lady, I will protect you,” he said.

“Who are you?” she cried, noting, even in her fright,
that he spoke English as well as she could.

“Hush! I am 2 detective in disguise,” he said.

Those in pursuit saw him seize the girl, and 'miscon-
strued his motive.

‘That’s right! Hang on, John; it;
bill to you.” le 4

“Me holee on. tightee,” said Wick#Rs the man yeame up,
and reached out his hand to seize thle girl. :

She shrank away from him, and closer to the Chinanian.

“Come, come, John, here’s a V for you,” said the man.
“Tl take charge of the girl now.” —

“No wantee V; keepee golee instead,” said Nick, in
pigeon English.

“Confound you! What d’ye mean?”

““Meanee this, allee samee like blazee!” cried Nick. |

As he spoke, he leaped forward and struck two, quick,
terrific blows—one*with either hand.

Both men went down as though they were shot, for both
were knocked senseless; and the woman turned and fled.

“Come !” said Nick to the girl; “you are safe now.”

Her story was simple. She was a stranger in the city,
and had lost her way. She inquired of aman whom she
met upon the street, and he had volunteered to show her.
Had Nick not happened along at the right moment, she
would have been forever lost.

At seven o’clock on the following evening, Nick, in his
original disguise as Wah Ming, paused before the door of
the little brick house in Waverley place, where he had di-
rected Chief Crowley to have two men in concealment.

He had been there only a few moments when two China-
men approached.

They came straight to where Nick was standing, paused.
and made respectful salutations.

‘‘Speakee in Melican tongue,” said Nick.

Thev nodded.

“"Whichee Lung Chang?” °

One of them responded.

‘An’ you Sing Hoy?” asked Nick of the other.

ea.

“Lung Chang an’ Sing Hoy were tellee to go killee twe
men; sabe?”

6 Ye’. ey

“What two?”

‘‘Men Gee an’ Sing Foy.”

“Men Gee dead ?”

orth a five-dollar

 
NICK CARTER LIBR

 

ee 2”
e; me—Lung Chang.”
vy
potee flont shopee. Lung Chang killee Men Gee.”
Oy dead ?”

kiilee ?”
Hoy.”
Sing Hoy?”
Allee samee.”

“When killee Sin

* To-night.”

‘Just now, hey ?”

a“ Ye’. 2

“Where ?”

“Flont shopee.*

‘Shootee ?”

oe Ye’, bh

“Me go now,” said Nick.
come to Suey Sing to-mollow nightee. Yo Fun
speakee to ’em.”

Then he turned and went hurriedly away, leaving the
two Chinamen rather bewildered as to the reason for their
summons there. te

But they were not long left in doubt.

Two forms leaped from the door-way, and Lung Chang
and Sing Hoy were speedily made prisoners, and led
aWay.

Nick's work was about done in Chinatown.

He had secured evidence sufficient to indict the secret
societies of Chinamen for conspiracy.

But the first move was to make a raid upon them, and
capture the proper officers.

Such a thing as rooting out the existence of such soci-
eties, was, of course, impossible, but the members could be
so intimidated by wholesale arrests, that they would cease
the mafia-like war that they had been Waging, and the
occupation of Highbinders as professional murderers would
be gone.

On the following day, Nick was for a long time in con-
sultation with Chief Crowley.

The gallant (ci ve Ea detailed plans, and Gave

g Foy”

g Gang Lo

minute directivity 2 Me Oo ry ABOVE.

The Sucy Sing sud“Aic Suby Ong were both to meet that
night, and both were to be raided at once.

At midnight, it seenied as though Chinatown swarmed
with policemen. A,

The entire reserve force was employed, for nothing awes
a Chinaman so much as a show of force.

The meeting room of the Suey Sing was entered pre-
cisely as it had been by Nick when he was first taken
there by the lamented Sam Ling.

Nick was officiating as high priest when the officers
broke in the door, and entered.

He avoided bloodshed, by ordering the members of the
Suey Sing, in the choicest Chinese, not to fight.

But the raid on the Suey Ong was not so fortunate.

Several policemen were badly wounded, and three
Chinamen were killed before the lodge could be captured.

Victory, however, was with the officers, and the High-
binder feads were broken up for a while, at least, while
the backbone of these blots on San Francisco was forever
dismembered.

All owing to Nick Carter.

Chief Crowley thanked hi
dented services, and his m
secrets of the Chinese tongs.

4

asterly way of learning the

“Nick CARTER IN CniIcaGo,” by the author of “Nick
Carter,” will be published in the next number (27) of the
Nick CARTER LIBRARY.

“Lung Chang an’ Sing Hoy N

m publicly for his unprece- |

 

AY.

No. 26,

Nick Carter Library.
THE ONLY 5 CENT LIBRARY OF DETECTIVE STORIES,

 

ISSUED EVERY SATURDAY.

The phenomenal success of the Nick Carrer Lrprary is the best
proof in the world that the boys have been waiting for a first-class 5
cent Detective Library. We know that the Nick Carter stories are not
only the cheapest, but the best, in the market. They have been writ-
ten by a master hand, and represent actual experience in the life of
the great detective whose name has been identified with the Library
and has proved a talisman of success.

Below will be found a list of the first twenty-seven numbers,

No. 1—NICK CARTER, DETECTIVE. Tux Souvution oF A Rz-
MARKABLE CASE. By a Celebrated Author.

2—NICK CARTER’S QUICK WORK; Or, A QuEEn or CountzEn-
FEITERS. By the Author of ‘‘Nick Carter.”

3—A MILLION DOLLAR CHECK: Or, Tax Lirriz Grant A’
Worx. By the Author of ‘Nick Carter.”

4—ONE AGAINST TWENTY-ONE; Or, Toe Rancn Rossery.
By the Author of ‘Nick Carter.”
5—THE CIPHER LETTER; Or,
By the Author of “Nick Carter.”

6—NICK CARTER IN PHILADELPHIA; Or, Tas Nigar Hawgs
OF THE QuakER Crry. By the Author of ‘Nick Carter,”

7—OLD THUNDERBOLT, LOCOMOTIVE; Or, Tue Packace 1x
THE Mipnicur Mart. By the Authur of “Nick Carter.”

8—NICK CARTER BEFORE THE MAST:
By the Author of “Nick Carter,”

9—A MAN WITH FOUR IDENTITIES; Or, Tux Lirrnrz Giant's
Prosiem. By the Arthur of ‘Nick Carter.” ft

- 10—NICK CARTER’S DOUBLE GAME;
Ravenswoop Hovuss. By the Author o

No. 11—NICK CARTER IN BOSTON:
Vatthy ScoEeme. ~By the Author of Nig

No. 12—CHECK No. 777: Or, Huntixe +
the Author of “Nick Carter.”

13—3,005 MILES BY FREIGHT; Or, Tae Mysrery or a Piano
Box. By the Author of ‘Nick Carter,”

. 14—THE THIRTEEN’S OATH OF VENGEANCE; Or, A Crm.
inaL Compact. By the Author of “Nick Carter.”

No. 15—THE FATE OF DOCTOR QUARTZ; Or, THe Murper mw
tHE DissecTinc Room. By the Author of “Nick Carter.”

. 16—PACKAGE ‘17 A;” Or, Tux Szcre
the Author of “‘Nick Carter.”

. 17—NICK CARTER’S GREAT PERIL; Or, A Prisoner ror Lirg
Wirn tHE Deap. By the Author of ‘Nick Carter.”

.18—THE GREAT DETECTIVE DEFIED; Or,
Fimate Fienp. By the Author of ‘Nick Carter,”

.19—THE LITTLE GIANT’S TASK: Or, Nick Carrer’s Won-
DERFUL Nerve. By the Author of “Nick Garter.”

. 20—BROUGHT TO BAY AT LAST; Or, Ovrwirrren, Ovr-
GENERALED AND OuTpong. By the Author of “Nick Carter.’

21—NICK CARTER AT WESTERN UNION JUNCTION; Or,

Tue Sr. Pavr Tramy Ropsery. By the Author of “Nick
Carter.”

22—-NICK CARTER’S CELEBRATED CASE; Or, THe My
or GotHam. By the Author of “Nick Carter.”

23—THE LITTLE GIANT ON DECK ; Or, Taz Great Appvue-
TION Case. By the Author of “Nick Carter,”

24—NICK CARTER AT GLENDALE; Or, Tux Ropsery or THE
‘Frisco Nicut Expruss. By the Author of ‘Nick Carter.”

25—YOUNG HERCULES, NICK CARTER’S ASSIST ANT; Or, A
Man or MusciE anp NERVE. By the Author of ‘‘Nick Carter,”

26—NICK CARTER IN SAN FRANCISCO ; Oy, Unrartuine
Crime in Cutnatown. By the author of ‘Nick Carter.”

27—NICK CARTER IN CHICAGO; Or, Tue Crore or tax LAKE
City. By the author of “Nick Carter.”

For sale by all newsdealers at five cents per copy, or sent postpaid.
on receipt of price.

STREET & SMITH, Publishers.
P, 0. Box 2734. 3! Rose Street New York.

Nick Carrer’s Iron Nerve.

Or, A Sxa-Mysrmry. .

No.

No dr, THe Guosr or

. Nick Carter.”

|; A Crever Foremr’s
ter.”

HE Same Man Twice. By

No.

T OF A Famry Feup. By

ZELMA, THE

 

No.

No. STERIES
No.
No,
No.
No.

No.

 

 

PRICE FIVE ceni® te