OUR HERO GOES TO THE LONE HOUSE ON THE MARSH--HE
MEETS THE DESPERATE-LOOKING MAN AND SOME VERY FINE
DIPLOMACY FOLLOWS, ALSO STRANGE AND WEIRD
SUGGESTIONS.
The girl did not speak another word following her remark, or rather
command, as recorded at the close of our preceding chapter; and soon she
turned aside to take the path through the marsh, and for the first time
spoke. She said:
"That is the house where you see the glimmer of a light."
"I thought that light was on some vessel in the bay."
"No, it is a cabin, and there is not another dwelling within a mile and
a half at least."
"You have been very kind to warn me."
"Yes."
"Is the man's name Argetti whom we are to meet?"
"He will answer for Signor Argetti."
"He is a gentleman, I suppose."
At that moment the girl stopped short. She faced our hero and said:
"You have not kept faith with me."
"I have not?"
"No."
"How have I failed?"
"You have brought others with you. I tell you frankly I will warn
Argetti."
"On my honor, I have not brought any one with me."
"We have been followed."
"Then our follower is the real foe of Argetti."
"Do you know him?"
"I do not."
"I shall warn Argetti."
"Do so."
"And you are willing that I should warn him?"
"Yes."
"I will tell him my suspicion."
"Very well, do so; there is no deceit in my visit to Signor Argetti."
The girl hesitated a moment and then said:
"Very well, I am but obeying orders all round. We will proceed."
Our hero was very handsomely attired, and he looked like a very
effeminate young man--one who possessed neither courage nor stamina.
Indeed, from his appearance, a resolute, sturdy man might expect to deal
with him as he would with a mere boy. But our hero was one of those who
expanded in a crisis.
The girl upon reaching the cabin rapped on the door and from the inside
came the demand:
"Who's there?"
"I am here."
"Alone?"
"No, the gentleman is with me."
"Come in."
The girl pushed the cabin door open, and our hero entering found himself
in a dimly-lighted apartment and in the presence of a villainous,
dark-faced man. The latter eyed his visitor by the aid of the dim,
flickering light shed abroad in the room by a sputtering candle.
"Be seated," said the man, and he spoke in fairly good English.
Our hero obeyed and expected the girl would tell the man that his
visitor had not visited him unaccompanied, but she said nothing beyond
asking:
"Shall I go?"
"Yes, you can go."
A moment later and Argetti, as the man chose to be called, and our hero
were sitting face to face under the dim light of the sputtering candle.
Argetti fixed his glittering eyes on our hero as though he would read
him through and through, and at length, in a quick, sharp tone he said:
"You desire to see me?"
"Yes."
"Well, what is your purpose?"
"That's all," answered our hero coolly.
"That's all?"
"Yes."
"What do you mean?"
"What I say."
"But you desired to see me?"
"Yes."
"And I repeat why did you desire to see me?"
"I wanted to see what you looked like."
"And you have no special business with me?"
"No."
"Then why did you come here?"
"I wanted to see you, that's all."
"On what business?"
"No business. I merely desired to gratify my curiosity."
"Are you a fool or do you take me to be a fool?"
"Neither."
"Your conduct is so strange I do not know what to think."
"Can I trust you?"
"Yes."
"I am using you as a guy. I am seeking to fool a man."
Argetti stared with an amazed look upon his face, and our hero
continued:
"Yes, I am using you as a decoy. I find I _am_ being 'dogged,' by a
certain man. He is on my track to-night. He was on my track this
afternoon and I wished to act very mysterious and fool him, so when the
girl asked my business this afternoon I told her I was looking for a
gentleman named Argetti. My answer was a 'steer,' but the girl said she
knew Argetti. I had invented the name and was surprised, so I conceived
a desire to see the individual. I had, as it appears, individualized,
for I knew no Argetti until the girl said she knew the man. Is your name
Argetti?"
"Permit me, please, to think over what you have said, and to ask you a
few questions."
"Good. I will answer your questions like a little man."
Argetti appeared more and more amazed, and he sat for a long time eyeing
our hero without speaking one word. The interview would appear to have
been very embarrassing. When Argetti spoke there was a depth of
suppressed passion in his tone.
"Have you come here to amuse yourself at my expense?"
"Yes," came the bold and really insulting answer.
The Italian leaped to his feet exclaiming:
"You miserable little fool, I'll wring your neck as I'd wring the neck
of a squab."
Oscar did not move or betray any fear or nervousness. He merely laughed
his "hee, hee, hee!" and said soothingly:
"Now don't become violent, old fellow; don't become violent, even if I
am having a little fun at your expense."
"You dare tell me you are here to have fun at my expense?"
"Certainly," came the brazen answer.
The very boldness and indifference of the detective appeared so paralyze
to the Italian.
"Do you know the risk you take?"
"Certainly."
"You think I am a mere puppet for your amusement?"
"Certainly, but don't get violent, for I am an awful fellow when I get
roused. Sometimes I have a spell come over me--yes, a strange sort of
spell--and then I become very, very violent. So don't arouse me and
bring on one of those spells. Just sit down and let me amuse myself at
your expense. This is a very novel amusement for me. The idea of facing
a terrible man right in his den and enraging him. Why, it's just jolly."
The Italian's eyes glowed like coals of fire as he said:
"You are lying; you came here with a purpose; you came back with friends
whom you think you can summon at a moment's notice; but they will never
come; I have taken care of them, and you are at my mercy. I have a grave
all prepared under this flooring, and unless you give a satisfactory
explanation of your visit here _you_ will occupy that grave."
"Well, well, you are very amusing. You act just like some terrible
brigand. I guess you were a brigand in your own country."
The words had just escaped our hero's lips when with a yell the Italian
leaped upon him. Oscar was prepared for the spring. He leaped to his
feet in time to meet his assailant, and in true fistic style, as the
man attempted to seize hold of him, our hero let fly and caught his
dark-faced assailant on the chin and over the man went. But with a yell
he leaped to his feet, drew a poniard and made a rush; but here our
hero, cool as an icicle, was prepared for the would-be murderer. He had
drawn a club, dealt the Italian a blow on the hand which knocked the
knife from his grasp, and then dealt him a powerful stroke on the head
which brought him to his knees, and at the same instant the door opened
and the Italian girl peeped into the room. She immediately withdrew. Our
hero had the so-called Argetti laid out. The man was not only dazed by
the force of the blow, but he was paralyzed with surprise. Here he, a
great, powerful bull-necked man, had been knocked down with perfect ease
apparently by an effeminate dude, and when he had drawn his knife he was
disarmed and brought to his knees with blows from a club in the hands of
the same dude in appearance. The Italian recovered from his surprise and
curses fell from his foaming lips. He looked like a raging demon, so
great was his anger--he leaped to his feet and sought to seize hold of a
stool, but ere he could do so he received a second rap on the head which
knocked him face foremost to the floor; then Oscar sprang forward,
rolled the man over and clapped a pair of darbies on his wrists, and
having his man thus helpless he coolly returned, took his seat and
waited for the man to arise and speak. The man rolled over and lay on
his back and glared at his conqueror.
"Well, Argetti," said Oscar with his "hee, hee, hee!--you have come to
grief. Well, you are a very violent man. I warned you--hee, hee--yes, I
told you I was bad when aroused; that I was subject to strange spells.
You believe me now, and please just lie still and let me amuse myself.
You have given me more amusement than I expected. I like to knock men
down and bring them around--it's real fun."
"You will pay for this fun."
"Yes, certainly, I intend to give you half a dollar, and--hee, hee,
hee--that's an awful big sum of money for just a little amusement. I
once gave a dollar for the privilege of beating a man almost to death,
but I nearly killed him, you know, and I've only hammered you just a
little--yes, just a little--I did give you one hard rap, though--yes,
one hard rap--hee, hee, hee!"
The agonies expressed in the face of Argetti are indescribable. He
glared and writhed, and his face worked as though in a convulsion, but
when he managed to calm himself sufficiently to again speak he said:
"Now, I am at your mercy, why am I arrested?"
"Arrested?"
"Yes."
"Who said anything about arrest?"
The man held up his manacled hands.
"Ah, that is a part of my amusement; but here, let's see if you know
anything? Are you acquainted with Alphonse Donetti?"
A look of abject terror succeeded the former expression of rage and
disappointment that had distorted Argetti's face, and when our hero saw
this change to a look of terror there came a rapid beating of his own
heart.
"I never heard the name. It is another name of your invention, I think."
The detective laughed and said:
"How strange it is that I so readily invent names of real personages.
Why, I really begin to suspect that your name is truly Argetti."
"Why did you ask about Alphonse Donetti?"
"Then you do know him?"
"No, but as you have mentioned that name it may aid me in explaining
some grave mistake that has been made in my arrest."
"Oh, there is no such person as Donetti. I was fooling you--hee, hee,
hee--but don't you know why the irons were put on you?"
"I do not."
"You have a short memory."
"My memory don't aid me in that direction."
"It don't?"
"No."
"Then you must forget that without provocation you set to murder me, and
you have the cheek to ask why you are arrested, and intimate there has
been a mistake. No, no, there has been no mistake. You were arrested for
an assault upon me--an attempt to murder me."
"But you are an intruder in my house--you may be a robber."
"I beg your pardon, I was introduced into your house, and you rather
inveigled me here. I didn't know before, but now I begin to suspect that
you are a very bad man. It is possible that you have committed a very
serious crime in Italy, or you wouldn't be so infernally sensitive--hee,
hee, hee!"
When our hero made an allusion to a possible crime in Italy the man
actually groaned, but said nothing.
Our hero had his prisoner, and the question arose, What should he do
with him? He had started out alone; he had no one to aid him. For some
time he meditated. It was necessary to have some charge upon which to
arrest the man, and he determined to carry out a bold proceeding. He
tied and bound his man, so he could not move. Indeed, without assistance
it would have been impossible for him to get free, and during the
process, Argetti, as we will call him, said:
"You will regret what you are doing. I am a person of some quality, and
you will be held to a bitter responsibility."
"Very well, I like to hold responsibilities, that will just suit
me--hee, hee, hee!"
Having secured and gagged his man our hero slipped forth from the
cottage. He looked around for the Italian girl. He did not see her, and
he muttered:
"Hang it! I am anchored here; that girl will steal in and release the
man." Even as our hero spoke he heard a shrill scream, and it was the
voice of a female and not very far distant. He started at a run in the
direction from which the scream had come and quickly arrived at a point
where he beheld a man struggling with a woman. Oscar dashed forward, the
man saw him, released the girl, and our hero saw her fall to the ground.
He believed a murder had been committed and he ran past the girl to
secure the murderer. The latter proved fleet of foot, and most
mysteriously disappeared. He vanished as completely as though he had
been suddenly dissolved into air.
"Well, that gets me," he ejaculated, and after standing for some minutes
looking in every direction, he returned to where the girl lay. He
expected to find her dead, but as our hero approached she rose to her
feet.
"Thank heaven!" ejaculated Oscar, "I thought you had been murdered."
"I believe he intended to murder me and he might just as well have
succeeded--my life is forfeited now."
"Your life is forfeited?"
"Yes."
"Why do you say that?"
"Those men suspect me; you have given my life away."
"I have given your life away?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"By your assault upon Argetti. I did not suspect that were an officer.
They will claim that I knew--that I was in league with you, and led
Argetti into the trap."
"Is that man's name Argetti?"
"No, but that is the name you gave him. We will speak of him as
Argetti."
"You know his real name?"
"I do."
"What is his real name?"
"I dare not tell you. I have already forfeited my life."
"Who is the man you were struggling with?"
"One of Argetti's confederates--one of the gang."
"You need not fear to confide in me. You have not forfeited your life.
You shall be protected at all hazards."
"Ah, you do not know."
"Do not know what?"
"The desperate character of these men."
"What relation do you bear to these men?"
"I am an orphan; my parents died in an English poor-house. This man
Argetti adopted me as his child. I have traveled all over the world with
him, but now I must flee away and hide somewhere."
"You need not flee away. Argetti, as we call him, can do you no harm. We
will take care of him."
"But his confederates. Already one of them has made an attempt to
strangle me."
"Who was the man?"
"I did not recognize him. Probably Argetti had him as a reserve after he
had settled you. Oh, how unfortunate I am, to be associated with these
men, and yet I have never committed a crime. I have no proof concerning
any particular crime they have committed, and yet I am sure they are
criminals. But see there!" suddenly exclaimed the girl, pointing to a
shining object lying on the ground.