The Doctor's Stratagem.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 165, 12 July 1907, Page 6

The Doctor's Stratagem.

By NICHOLAS CARTER

'■<■/".' CHAPTER VII. y" - ■ .-■■> 'THE GHOULS. The three Italians left the train at Dudley-street and separated, only to keep within easy view of one another, with Derosa leading the way. Each had turned his coat-collar up above His ear 3, and Chick Carter, not once losing sight of them, easily guessed the reason. ' "They're approaching the place where they're going to get to work," he said to himself. '"They are ■becoming more cautious. \ I wonder if they're going there afoot. In -that case, they cannot tie after tlie girl's body. They would need'a team to carry it a-way." ■.Chick was not left long in doubt, however. — —

Derosa quickly Ted the way from Dud- .■... ley-street, heading for a lower and --darker district of the suburb; and be arrived at a narrow alley, just -within the entrance of which stood ■ a covered waggon in charge of a man. .„. . Clearly enough, this was a rendezvous, for Derosa quickly mounted to the seat. while his companions clambered into the body of the •waggon, and the driver at - -once gave his horse the reins.

From the gloom of an alley into which

lie had stepped Chick sized up the team iaa it passed. It -was a cheap affair, the. horse being lank and scrawny, while the waggon was old and faded, bearing no name or license number. ■ i • __"I?H gamble I can trot as fast and far as that old rack," thought'Chickv as he T.esume'd the pursaiit. "They'll not attempt to drive fast, moreover, for fear of attracting attention.' ,- Though he was Tight, there was little danger of the last, :for it was then nearly midnight, and the streets through, which, the waggon was driven were almost deserted.

The driver evidently knew Ms 'way, .'moreover, for he qinckly headed for ah unsettled part of the suburb, and presently followed a narrow road making •toward what at first sight appeared, to be 1 an extensive wqodland-

_■_ • That it was something more, however, :~ --Ghick very soon learned. For the wagr ■ >gon finally came-to a stop under some - - trees overhanging a high fence made of •wooden palings, through, which. Chick .--■ -icould see innumerable gravestones and V. monuments, standing white and ghostlike -' :iii' "thY starlight. Breaking the stillness, while he stood watching his quarry and waiting their next move, Chick heard the bell on a , distant ehivzch strike the midnight hour. ■Otherwise, the solitude and silence was fairly oppressive. Not a sound was to be .heard; not a light was to be seen; not a person was visible to the watching detective, except the four ghouls preparing for ,''■-"■; their' iniquitous work. • / ■""We are "at the rear of some vast cemetery," thought Chick, crouching close to the fence, some fifty feet from the mo.tionless waggon. "There's no mistaking ..the designs of these rascals, now, and Til see the affair to a finish." Evidently the Italians had previously visited the place and paved the way for l.,..;their job, for they proceeded with despatch. The driver of the waggon was the fourth confederate of whom Derosa had spoken, Giuseppe Lepore, and he sprang down from the seat, and prepared to -ivatch the team and guard against de- , ,-tection. Maggi and Pasquale .Gallo had scrambled out behind, dragging after them several spades and a long iron hook, with which they hastened to join Derosa at the fence. - The latter had already removed three " of the wooden palings previously loosened, and a moment later the three men passed through the opening made, and entered the sacred precincts of the graveyard. Chick Carter lingered only briefly to size up the situation. He quickly decided that there was nothing to be gained by attempting to arrest the grave-rob-bers, while he still was ignorant of their identity, as well as their motives. By 'deferring their arrest, he felt sure that % he" could discover both and secure all hands. ;*TU follow them, however, and locate the grave they desecrate," he said to himself.: "That dago on the team is evidently, thereto stay, so I'll keep an eye-on the others." . ■ •,;' ' • Selecting a point of the fence- where overhanging branches would "hide him from observation, Chick quietly clamber-, ed over and dropped lightly to the ground within.

He had noted the direction taken, byDerosa and his companions, and by following several devious paths, now crouch 7 ing behind clusters of shrubbery and hedgerows,, now availing himself of the - • deeper gloom under the trees, or of the J._., shelter of some gravestone or a larger. monument, he presently located the men at a point some fifty yards from the

fence. They vrere in a part of the cemetery that was by no means crowded, and were standing above a somewhat.isolated, new-ly-marle .grave. ..Both Maggi apS- Gallo had removed their coats, andDerpsa appeared to be quietly giving fhein'instructions. ,•■'•.• ■ . ■ : i■ V - ."He's evidently the boss of this ratty - gang," thought Chick. "I must"get-near ; V'enbugh to overhear Iheir remarks. , ',... '. •] / By- creeping across the damp' greens• "Ward of an intervening lot, Chick xeaehT 1-; -ci a' tall grave stone of white v marble', about thirty feet from the group, , and back of this he crouched to watch .and .. listen. Then he heard Gallo inquire: "Are you very sure this is the.one. Derosa?""." ." ' . . .•* '"Perdita! 1,-what a question," growled the burly, Italian. "Are you mad, my Gallo? "Did-;I not make sure by.asking the' superintendent himself." ,;;.,. "I don't'want to digsix feet of ground for nothing," Gallo,-pointedly.; "The ground is.loose. It will be easy digging.". . _ "Poreco Dio! it is never easy to dig a grave." . "You're not to dig one, my Gallo, but ■undig it," growled Derosa, with a low laugh. "Sapristi! that is'different, Derosa/' ' "Much different. And I know, my Gallo. that the body was laid here this : morning. - Di-. 1 I not have the word of ths j superintendent, and the name of-tha- . dead?" . ..'': : ,'. v ,-- ■r~; "May the she devil and--her/, master; ihave gone to hell!" Maggi interposed, -with a fierce snarl of" hatred." --"If. her body is here, end your chatter and; help • . I'Pag it out. Each needless jninute here ■is a minute of added danger;"- • ".. - _ "Dig quietly, quietly, my Maggfc criea ~a, as his two .confederates : s^tvto their spades. "A dank ofcttie feon-against a lock beteaK%: and - ■ .. ■ • ■ : r''.'--"-"-"-i'" : ■■. ■

"Holy smoke! what has happened?"

Autlwr of » The Silent Partner," « Under Cover of Mc Law; , "Sealed Orders, , * " Caught in a Web," "The Price of a Secret" etc.

bring watchmen or the police, Gently, my. Gallo, till your spade is well buried." The two men, one at each end of the grave, had set Ho work with a will.' Under Derosa's instructions they worked quietly, yet rapidly, and the mound above the grave disappeared, while the new mound beside it steadily grew. There was a vague, uncanny fascination about the gruesome scene, like that of a horrible spell, and Chick Carter crouched lower and watched the labouring men intently.

Chick was so : deeply absorbed;-in fact, that he had no eyes nor ears" for a figure that presently approached from behind him.

For- some jeason, the occasion for which. Chick had hot anticipated and was never to know, Guiseppe Jvepore had left the waggon, and was coming to join his confederates. With the instinct of one conscious of doing evil, he was approaching stealthily, with his eyes and. ears alert, and he carried in his hand a short iron bar, with which the palings of the fence had been removed.

Suddenly, he beheld, outlined like a black silhouette against the white gravestone, the crouching .figure of the watching detective.'

Lepore did not run run away nor cry out. He halted for a moment, and madft sure that the figure he saw was that of a man, and that the man was a spy. Then his swarthy face grew darker, and a scowl settled.upon it. The nerves of hiis lithe, muscular figure grew tense. His grip tightened around the iron bar, and he glanced sharply in every direction, with ferretrlike swiftness, to be sure that only one spy was about.

Then he stole neater, crouching as a leopard crouches when approaching his prey, moving with caution augumented in every step, though each was as stealthy and noiseless on the greensward of the-graveyard as those of a cat.

Presently the iron bar in the hand of the miscreant rose and fell—and the crouching man'fell with it, as if stricken down by a thunderbolt.

Chick Carter never what hit him, When he regained consciousness, hours, afterward, the sun Was shining, and he was still lying on the greensward where he had fallen.

In his mouth and throat was the after tingle of whisky, and his head and face were dripping wet; while upon the grass near-by a man was kneeling, holding a liquor-flask and a knife. With the latter he had cut the ropes with which the letective had been bound hand and foot, quite a needless addition to the blow dealt him.

"Coming to, eh ?" cried the man, when Chick opened his eyes. "Good for you, sir! You've a hard head, or the crack you got from some rascally-hand would have split it. How are you feeling?" More than the douche of water and the whisky administered, the voice of the stranger brought Chick to himself. Though his head ached'as if splitting, he arose quickly to his elbow, and oried:

"Ah, that sounds well'," laughed his companion. "You're worth a-'dozen dead men, after all." "Who are you?" asked Chick, looking sharply at him. "One of the cemetery hands. My name is Hirdy." "Did you find mc lying here?" "Rather." »■ "Bound hand and foot, was I?" asked Chick, glancing at the severed ropes. "That's what." "What time is'it?" "Seven o'clock." "In the morning?"

"Yes, of course," laughed Hardy. "Will you have another drop of whisky? I forced a little into you to bring you to time,"

"That was very good of you," said Chick, now quite himself. "I need ho more, thank you."

"What's your name?" "Carter.". "You're not Nick are you?" demanded Hardy, with a start. "JJo," said Chick, evasively. "I thought you were, perhaps., when you mentioned that name." "Why so ?" * "Because I judged you, might be a de'te'etive, since T found you in this shape- after the infernal job attempted, last night."

Hardy pointed to'a mound of yellow earth before an open grave while he spoke, and for the first.time Chkk now

recalled the work in which he was engaged, and the scene he had:' been so intently watching, when the gloom of absolute -insensibility fell so- suddenly upon him.

"Thunderation!" he exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and staring at the open grave. . "L remember now, Mr Hardy. So the miscreants got away with the girl's body, did they?"

"Not much!" Hardy, exclaimed, with a grin.

''Ah, then they: were caught, eh?"

"Not unless you caught them, Carter, and I judged that the boot was on the other leg."

"Cut it out!" said Chick, with a growl. "What do you mean?" "Just wbat I say." "Didn't the rascals get the body?" "No. sirt" '"But the grave is empty." "I know it." . f "Then who got the corpse?" "Nobody." "Nobody!" echoed Chick perplexedly. '"How in thunder can that be?" "Simply enough," said Hard}', smiling. "There wasn't any . corpse j n the grave." "No corpse in it?" cried Chick, with amazement. "How was that?" '"'We expected one, and had the grare dug but we were afterward notified that it would not be required," explained Hardy. '"Is that so?" "Sure." "Do you know for whom the grave was intended?" "Some girl from New York, named. Etta Sheldon." "But where's her body?" "Give it up—l don't know," laughed Hardy. "It wasn't brought up here." "I say!" exclaimed Chick, forcibly. "are you absolutely sure of this, Mr Hardy ?"

"I ought to be. I filled in the empty grave."

Chick turned again and stared into it, thrusting his hands into his pockets. He was puzzled, as ivell he might be, in his ignorance of the railway accident. ".

As "Sick had been floored on his 1-ne of investigation, so Chick was now floored his.

"Well., by thunder, this heats mc!" ihc presently muttered. "Grave-rcb-bers fooled into opening an empty grave! A body shipped from New York. y<?t not received in Boston! Holy smoke! I reckon I'd better up sta'-es, and communicate with Nick. For hero's a curious mess and mix-up, for fair!"'

(To be continued flaily.)