AT FACE VALUE

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 133, 7 June 1910, Page 8

AT FACE VALUE

BY NICHOLAS CARTER,

Author of "A Fatal Falsehood,-'. "Kendriek's Pledge," "An Elusive Knave,"

"The Crime;of a Countess," "Sealed Orders," etc

CHAPTKR-XIX. ?i :vCAUGHT DT A COKNER. - Trust a woman to be the-first to-<sus-I pect a. man. L<?t her to-seize H upon any advantage to be«derived, from ' her suspicions. H In how far the aboveaapplies to Gertie i>. Lodge, and what she said to Martin I Coie and confederates that night, will I" s'ppear in-what; befell Chick Carter a few I hours later, while.iiick "was engaged as , already described, and Patsy and Ida I Jours languished Tinder-'the 'Watchful eyes of one or more- of thergangsinto w-hose i hands they hnd-rfallen. i'cllowing the instructions Nick~"had I given him, Chickv-easily learned that an : att-ornev named JSJarshall was theexecu- - tor of the will of the-deceased-architect, : - Roland Sampson, and a, call- at -the law- - y-er's office had the desired result. Mar;^—shall readHyconsesited toJoanCNick Car- ';. xer the plans he. wanted. '". It was necessary to make- a visit to the Samrpaon residence, howeser, in a long seareit-iuhrongh- iChe-efiects that had been transported iroim*ihis-' i l>U3iness-offiee L ; after his death. It was -well into the afternoon, therefore, =when. Chick Carter, having neatly folded in his pocket two ■;- sheets of blue prints,.-sbcnving- the baseinerJ.' and ground floor ofthe Horton.re- \ sidence, was rea.dyto-start-ons-the-«ecQnd i mission assigned 3iim-— learning something about--the firm;r. of Carrigan and Cole. ; ft was, in fast, neaTlyrfcorr o'clock ■when Chick appeaached the- building in , which ths business, office -of .the firm was I located. Having in mind tie nature of Nick's suspicions, and knowing it might ": be a. disadvantage, if he-w-as-seen. and ie- :- cognised by- eitherofthefixm, Chick:j)ut on a simple, disguise before- • entering the- :' building t-o ibegin his inquiries. As he was approaching the- elevator, I however, he noticed a man hurriedly descending tbesnearest starirway, wearing : - on this dark face -a look -of mingled un- -"" certainty arid misgivings,, that at once led Chick -to change his plans. The man was Tom Balltster, just-com-ing from, the -ofnee-of Canigan and* Cole, where he twice had-wainty called to see them since morning. In response to a late telephone message from Carrigaji, however, the occasion of which he instinctively attributed to- Gertie Lodge, he was now hastening>iQ--jom. .the-gang at Cole's shore house. "By Joys! he's got something weighty on his mind;" thought Chick, quick to read Biliiiter's clouded face. "It may ' result from hide's call on.him this moraine There's something up, as sure as I'm a sinner., and I reckon I'd better seewhere he's heading." Chick, did not find it very difficult to fc'_."shadow the- rascal. trip through Harlem, a trolley ride of about two miles, a quarter-hour tramp over a country road .and a woodland lane diverging* from it, .brought Chick to the edge ""of clearing, and in sight of the isolated house, justein time, to-sec Tom Ballister enter it. Though the darkness of early evening had beffun to gather, one glance at the lonely 'dwelling, the- shuttered -jvindows and the closed doors,"the deserted grounds running to rank grass and weeds, convinced Chick that he- had tracked Ballister either to a headquarters of the gang, or to a*, place to which -their knasish opexationsuled them. to_ resortT-temporarily. '-' '■ ~~ '-".. j " -Sizing-up tTje-surxbundings, I — vwth arJaewto might safely approach' the house. "Chick discovered the tracks recently left by an 1 -"-"automobile, leading, to" thfc _.closed-~dopr I of a-stable. somewhat apart from the house. "The car must be still'there, ior there's only one line of tracks," he quickly rea- ~ "soned. '"It's odds, then, that a.number - of the gang are out here, and possibly : , * this is where they have brought Patsy | ; and Ida. 11l find out who's here and ; ~"wiat ; s-:aQUig;;:by.".Jov:e'. -takes a ' :jeg?'":.'~'-"' rr.:.:r'"zz. : " — Tn the. deepening twilight he. continued - I to watch the house, at two of the shut- -~ tered windows of which a light presently \:. appeared. It was. revealed only through a round hole, about six inches in diameter and near the top of «ach shutter, • made for the admission of a little sunlight during periods when "the. house was closed.. . " ...,.l.' .; The. dusk quickly deepened-jnto.dark- : ness. The two circles of; light'glowed . brighter in the increasing gloom. A myriad of stars came out in the purple 1 eky, while the solitude and stillness were ; broken only.by a salty sea air through the trees., and the occasional distant cry of some night bird circling overhead: Chick waited until he telt reasonably safe from detection, then left his concealment and stole across the clearing. ■ As" he drew nearer the house, he dia- ■ covered a dim light at a small window in one of the foundation walls, to which he cautiously crept and peered through one of the dusty panes. ■An ordinary basement met his gaze, (Bmlv lighted by a lantern standing on a box. Ina chair near by sat a man, Pete - Hodman, half asleep, yet alert for any sound from beyond the closed and padlocked door of a -coal cellar near him. A revolver lying, beside the lantern was a sufficient index to the occasion for his solitary vigil. Chick Carters eyes had an ugly gleam. 7_ when be crept away from the low window. He felt sure he had discovered where Patsy and Ida were confined, that most of the suspected gang were then in tli is house, and that it devolved upon him to learn precisely who they were and to discover their secrets, if not to Arrest them single-handed, that very 2 night. The only- lighted room that he could see was nearer the front of the house. To get into the latter unheard seemed at - that time, at least, next to impossible. Instead of attempting to do so, Chick jjs crept to the nearer of the two windows and began a close inspection of the wooden shutter. ■ He found that both of them fitted "- --" tfglftly, and were' secured "inside. Through no crack or crevice could he peer into the room., yet he could indistinctly hear the sound of - voices from within. The only opening in either shut_:ter : "was 'tne' rbiind hole near the top of ."each, and both were fully ten feet above ."the ground/ '.. ..'I must contrive in some way to look .JTiii" 'there, '*■ "Chick muttered, after vainly _ feeling for a foothold on the window sill, :arid searching-:the ground 'for something Jiwith -which toTieaeh. one of the openings. :: Til try the- opposite side,of the house--2f~l can find • Ah,- by gracious, this ...^.. jaay .serve." . ZZ .0 . j Unnoticed, untiLthen, in. the- darkness, -"-.".Chick, had discovered "fouT"wooden" steos

'■" What steps do you mean?"

leading up to a side door of the house. The door was about five feet from one of the windows, and above the steps and nearly on a leved -with the top of the window projected a narrow shingled portico, sustained only by sin ornamental wooden bracket at each side. Chick saw at once that he might see through the opening in the shutter by •lying flat on this portico and then stretching out to the window and supporting himself by a narrow cornice above it. "It's worth trying," he said to himself. "I may then be able to hear as well as see." Moving cautiously, he tested the strength of, one of the brackets, then drew himself up until he could grasp t_e edge of the portico, to which lie quietly climbed. It was about five feet long, but less than two feet wide, and Chick had some little difficulty in so twisting himself around in the darkness that he could lie flat upon it without rolling off. He finally succeeded, however, and then wormed himself toward the window, grasping for support the cornice mentioned, until he could bend his head and gaze through the round opening and into the lighted room. As he had hoped, he now found that he : could both see and hear, and he steadied himself on his hazardous perch to watch

it J ll3 * Ule dill ™g-room already desc«bed. At one end of the table Carrt gan acd Cole were seated. Near .b 7 were gathered Andy Stark, Dick Vose and Joe Oilman, with Gortie LoaW •perched on a serving table near the wall. Jier eyes were fixed with a gleam of malieious.safcisfact.ion on the frowning face of lorn Ballister, who occupied a chair at one side of the long table. That the latter was out of sorts that he resented having been called out there on such business as evidently had been under discussion, was at once obvious to Chick Carter. Though he had heard nothing that had been sa-id up to this time, thai which followed, taken with his own knowledge of the case, enabled him to rightly determine the occasion of this interview. "You fellows seem to think that 1 may prove treacherous, that I may srive you the worst of it in some wn-v," Ba.l--listeT was saying; when Chide settled himself io listen. " What have 1 done that you should get that idea?" " Thafs not the idea at all," said Martin Cole, with an air of one speaking for all. " It's not what has been done by you, Tom, nor by any of us, but what should be done now in view of the existing situation, and to protect the interests of all of us." "'I fail to see at what yon are driving, ilarUn, Out with it plainly." "You'll admit. I suppose, that this job hasn't turned out as satisfactory as we hoped." " Not quite, I confess. The difficulty, however, can be remedied." "Not only can be, but must be," Cole forcibly rejoined. " Otiherwise, we shall go to the -wall, one and all of us. I'm saying no less of us than of you, for we are all in the same boat." " Come to the point," Ballister impatiently growled.

" Here's the situation, then, in a nutshell," Cole proceeded. "We have two of Carter's assistants in safe keeping, which is good enough as far ac it goes. We have on our hands a white elephant, in the shape of.a girl -vciho should not have figured in our affairs at air. who meant us no harm, but whose life is now a menace to our safety. To insure the latter, Ballister, all three must be silenced, and there's only one effectual way of doing that. Brutal though it may seem, it must be their fate, or our own." "Well, admitting all that?" said Ballister inquiringly.

" There is even more, something far more to be feared," Cole replied. "Nick Carter and his chief'assistants are still lon the case, possibly on our track, and they are the worst of the lot."

"We can get them, Martin, sooner or later."

"I hope so, for our safety may depend upon it," Cole earnestly returned. "The possibility exists, however, that we may not succeed in so doing, and that's the one contingency that "warrants our insisting that certain precautionary steps, imperativo to tie interests of each of us, should be taken at once."

"To begin with, Ballister, the plunder we secured, and which you have since had in charge, should be brought here without delay, and equally divided. Then, if we should be hard pressed later, and compelled to bolt for safety, each -would have his part of the stuff and could shift for himself."

" H'm," Ballister grunted. "There's something in that. Since you feel that way, it will be entirely satisfactory to mc." 'I advise it only, as a safeguard for each, in case that Nick Carter accomplishes more than we expect. You know his record as well as I, and men as capable as we have gone under when he goz after them." " I repeat," said Ballister, nodding indifferently, "It will be entirely satisfactory to mc." "Where is the plunder?*' asked Carrigan, when Cole nodded approvingly. "Concealed where we left it." 4i Can it be brought here bo-night?" "Tour automobile is out here?" " Yes." ' 4 With that, then, I can go and return in an hour." "■Will you. do so?" "Certainly, if it's the wish of all hands." "That is their wish, Tom, and it should be done at once," Cole -asserted. "Ddek Vose can go with you and run the car." "I can run the car, Martin, and it vrill be much safer for mc to go alone," Ballister firmly insisted. "You do not, of course, fear to trust mc." His dark eyes swept a searching glance from one to another, with an expression in them that plainly showed that he meant what he said. Several shook their iieadsi and Cole quickly answered: "Not for a moment, Tom, on my ■word." "I should hope not." '"■YV c know you'll do what's right and stand by us through thick and thin," Carrigan put in confidently. "Por the reason stated, however, a division of the plunder should be made without delay." "That suits mc," Ballister quickly cried, starting up. 'took sharp, Dick! Run-out the car, and Til head for inoma at once."

Dick - Vose sprang to lis feet and started for-the side door, quicHy-foflow-•ed by Andy Start and CJairigan.

"Soly - smoke!" thought Chick. 'Theyie coming ont IKb -way. Here's trop-ble, if Fm discovered." . .. j

In an instant or so it seemed to ■Chick, his situation became most threatening. Jle had no time to wriggle back on the jiortico and drop unheard to the ground. liefOTe he could even attempt it he heard the quick tread of Vose and Carrigan in the hall, the opening of the side door, and 'both men appeared on the steps directly under him. any help?" Carrigan shortly asked. "No," Vose answered. "I'll run her out alone." "Go ahead, then. 11l wait here." Vose sprang down the steps and ran toward the stable. "Wait here, be hanged!" thought Chick, now as anxious to get down from the portico as he had been to get up. "Go out there and help, you long-legged rascal, and give mc a chance to vamose." Instead, Carrigan remained on the steps, tail and gaunt, so tall that his bullet-shaped head nearly touched the narrow projection on which the detective wais lying. Adding to the threatening aspect of the situation, Ballister and the rest of the gang came trooping through the hall at that moment and joined Carrigan on the steps, to wait there until " Vose should bring the automobile. Flat on his narrow perch, Chick Carter remained mute and motionless, holding his breath, with nerves tense and every muscle taxed by the effort to partly support himself by means of the slender cornice over the near window.

"Thundering guns!" he grimly thought, with an eye on the group below him. "Here's a mess and a mix-up, no mistake, if the lfeht from that automooile hits mc and these rascals look up. It's a thousand to one I'm booked for bother!"

As a matter of fact, Chick had set the odds too small. He might well have said a million to one—as he presently learned.

(To be continued daily.)

The Auckland Ministers' Association met yesterda3 r to consider the report of the Itev. A. Miller on the Bible in Schools and the Nelson system. After a lively discussion, it was decided that t-he Revs. H. Knowles Kempton. G. Bond, Isaac Jolly, and A. Miller be a deputation to wait upon the Auckland Education Board to urge the desirability of introducing the Nekon system.

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