NICK CARTER STORIES
New Magnet Library
_Not a Dull Book in This List_
ALL BY NICHOLAS CARTER
Nick Carter stands for an interesting detective story. The fact that the
books in this line are so uniformly good is entirely due to the work of
a specialist. The man who wrote these stories produced no other type of
fiction. His mind was concentrated upon the creation of new plots and
situations in which his hero emerged triumphantly from all sorts of
troubles and landed the criminal just where he should be--behind the
bars.
The author of these stories knew more about writing detective stories
than any other single person.
Following is a list of the best Nick Carter stories. They have been
selected with extreme care, and we unhesitatingly recommend each of them
as being fully as interesting as any detective story between cloth
covers which sells at ten times the price.
If you do not know Nick Carter, buy a copy of any of the New Magnet
Library books, and get acquainted. He will surprise and delight you.
_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_
901--A Weird Treasure
902--The Middle Link
903--To the Ends of the Earth
904--When Honors Pall
905--The Yellow Brand
906--A New Serpent In Eden
907--When Brave Men Tremble
908--A Test of Courage
909--Where Peril Beckons
910--The Gargoni Girdle
911--Rascals & Co.
912--Too Late to Talk
913--Satan’s Apt Pupil
914--The Girl Prisoner
915--The Danger of Folly
916--One Shipwreck Too Many
917--Scourged by Fear
918--The Red Plague
919--Scoundrels Rampant
920--From Clew to Clew
921--When Rogues Conspire
922--Twelve in a Grave
923--The Great Opium Case
924--A Conspiracy of Rumors
925--A Klondike Claim
926--The Evil Formula
927--The Man of Many Faces
928--The Great Enigma
929--The Burden of Proof
930--The Stolen Brain
932--The Magic Necklace
933--Round the World for a Quarter
934--Over the Edge of the World
935--In the Grip of Fate
936--The Case of Many Clews
937--The Sealed Door
939--The Man Without a Will
941--A Clew from the Unknown
948--A Mixed-up Mess
945--The Adder’s Brood
947--For a Pawned Crown
949--The Hate that Kills
951--The Needy Nine
953--Outlaws of the Blue
955--Found in the Jungle
957--Broken Bars
958--A Fair Criminal
959--Won by Magic
960--The Plano Box Mystery
961--The Man They Held Back
962--a Millionaire Partner
963--A Pressing Peril
964--An Australian Klondike
965--The Sultan’s Pearls
966--The Double Shuffle Club
967--Paying the Price
968--A Woman’s Hand
969--A Network of Crime
970--At Thompson’s Ranch
971--The Crossed Needles
972--The Diamond Mine Case
973--Blood Will Tell
974--An Accidental Password
975--The Crook’s Double
976--Two Plus Two
977--The Yellow Label
978--The Clever Celestial
979--The Amphitheater Plot
981--Death in Life
982--A Stolen Identity
983--Evidence by Telephone
984--The Twelve Tin Boxes
985--Clew Against Clew
987--Playing a Bold Game
988--A Dead Man’s Grip
989--Snarled Identities
990--A Deposit Vault Puzzle
991--The Crescent Brotherhood
992--The Stolen Pay Train
993--The Sea Fox
994--Wanted by Two Clients
995--The Van Alstine Case
996--Check No. 777
997--Partners in Peril
998--Nick Carter’s Clever Protégé
999--The Sign of the Crossed Knives
1000--The Man Who Vanished
1001--A Battle for the Right
1002--A Game of Craft
1003--Nick Carter’s Retainer
1004--Caught in the Tolls
1005--A Broken Bond
1006--The Crime of the French Café
1007--The Man Who Stole Millions
1008--The Twelve Wise Men
1009--Hidden Foes
1010--A Gamblers’ Syndicate
1011--A Chance Discovery
1013--A Threefold Disappearance
1014--At Odds with Scotland Yard
1015--A Princess of Crime
1016--Found on the Beach
1017--A Spinner of Death
1018--The Detective’s Pretty Neighbor
1019--A Bogus Clew
1020--The Puzzle of Five Pistols
1021--The Secret of the Marble Mantel
1022--A Bite of an Apple
1023--A Triple Crime
1024--The Stolen Race Horse
1025--Wildfire
1026--A Herald Personal
1027--The Finger of Suspicion
1028--The Crimson Clew
1029--Nick Carter Down East
1030--The Chain of Clews
1031--A Victim of Circumstances
1032--Brought to Bay
1033--The Dynamite Trap
1034--A Scrap of Black Lace
1035--The Woman of Evil
1036--A Legacy of Hate
1037--A Trusted Rogue
1038--Man Against Man
1039--The Demons of the Night
1040--The Brotherhood of Death
1041--At the Knife’s Point
1042--A Cry for Help
1043--A Stroke of Policy
1044--Hounded to Death
1045--A Bargain in Crime
1046--The Fatal Prescription
1047--The Man of Iron
1048--An Amazing Scoundrel
1049--The Chain of Evidence
1050--Paid with Death
1051--A Fight for a Throne
1052--The Woman of Steel
1053--The Seal of Death
1054--The Human Fiend
1055--A Desperate Chance
1056--A Chase in the Dark
1057--The Snare and the Game
1059--Nick Carter’s Close Call
1060--The Missing Cotton King
1061--A Game of Plots
1062--The Prince of Liars
1063--The Man at the Window
1064--The Red League
1066--The Worst Case on Record
1067--From Peril to Peril
1068--The Seal of Silence
1069--Nick Carter’s Chinese Puzzle
1070--A Blackmailer’s Bluff
1071--Heard in the Dark
1072--A Checkmated Scoundrel
1073--The Cashier’s Secret
1074--Behind a Mask
1075--The Cloak of Guilt
1076--Two Villains in One
1077--The Hot Air Clew
1078--Run to Earth
1079--The Certified Check
1080--Weaving the Web
1081--Beyond Pursuit
1082--The Claws of the Tiger
1083--Driven from Cover
1084--A Deal in Diamonds
1085--The Wizard of the Cue
1086--A Race for Ten Thousand
1087--The Criminal Link
1088--The Red Signal
1089--The Secret Panel
1090--A Bonded Villain
1091--A Move in the Dark
1092--Against Desperate Odds
1093--The Telltale Photographs
1094--The Ruby Pin
1095--The Queen of Diamonds
1096--A Broken Trail
1097--An Ingenious Stratagem
1098--A Sharper’s Downfall
1099--A Race Track Gamble
1100--Without a Clew
1101--The Council of Death
1102--The Hole in the Vault
1103--In Death’s Grip
1104--A Great Conspiracy
1105--The Guilty Governor
1106--A Ring of Rascals
1107--A Masterpiece of Crime
1108--A Blow for Vengeance
1109--Tangled Threads
1110--The Crime of the Camera
1111--The Sign of the Dagger
1112--Nick Carter’s Promise
1113--Marked for Death
1114--The Limited Holdup
1115--When the Trap Was Sprung
1116--Through the Cellar Wall
1117--Under the Tiger’s Claws
1118--The Girl in the Case
1119--Behind a Throne
1120--The Lure of Gold
1121--Hand to Hand
1122--From a Prison Cell
1123--Dr. Quarts, Magician
1124--Into Nick Carter’s Web
1125--The Mystic Diagram
1126--The Hand that Won
1127--Playing a Lone Hand
1128--The Master Villain
1129--The False Claimant
1130--The Living Mask
1131--The Crime and the Motive
1132--A Mysterious Foe
1133--A Missing Man
1134--A Game Well Played
1135--A Cigarette Clew
1136--The Diamond Trail
1137--The Silent Guardian
1138--The Dead Stranger
1140--The Doctor’s Stratagem
1141--Following a Chance Clew
1142--The Bank Draft Puzzle
1143--The Price of Treachery
1144--The Silent Partner
1145--Ahead of the Game
1146--A Trap of Tangled Wire
1147--In the Gloom of Night
1148--The Unaccountable Crook
1149--A Bundle of Clews
1150--The Great Diamond Syndicate
1151--The Death Circle
1152--The Toss of a Penny
1153--One Step Too Far
1154--The Terrible Thirteen
1155--A Detective’s Theory
1156--Nick Carter’s Auto Trail
1157--A Triple Identity
1158--A Mysterious Graft
1159--A Carnival of Crime
1160--The Bloodstone Terror
1161--Trapped in His Own Net
1162--The Last Move in the Game
1163--A Victim of Deceit
1164--With Links of Steel
1165--A Plaything of Fate
1166--The Key Ring Clew
1167--Playing for a Fortune
1168--At Mystery’s Threshold
1169--Trapped by a Woman
1170--The Four Fingered Glove
1171--Nabob and Knave
1172--The Broadway Cross
1173--The Man Without a Conscience
1174--A Master of Deviltry
1175--Nick Carter’s Double Catch
1176--Doctor Quartz’s Quick Move
1177--The Vial of Death
1178--Nick Carter’s Star Pupils
1179--Nick Carter’s Girl Detective
1180--A Baffled Oath
1181--A Royal Thief
1182--Down and Out
1183--A Syndicate of Rascals
1184--Played to a Finish
1185--A Tangled Case
1186--In Letters of Fire
1187--Crossed Wires
1188--A Plot Uncovered
1189--The Cab Driver’s Secret
1190--Nick Carter’s Death Warrant
1191--The Plot that Failed
1192--Nick Carter’s Masterpiece
1193--A Prince of Rogues
1194--In the Lap of Danger
1195--The Man from London
1196--Circumstantial Evidence
1197--The Pretty Stenographer Mystery
1198--A Villainous Scheme
1199--A Plot Within a Plot
1200--The Elevated Railroad Mystery
1201--The Blow of a Hammer
1202--The Twin Mystery
1203--The Bottle with the Black Label
1204--Under False Colors
1205--A Ring of Dust
1206--The Crown Diamond
1207--The Blood-red Badge
1208--The Barrel Mystery
1209--The Photographer’s Evidence
1210--Millions at Stake
1211--The Man and His Price
1212--A Double-Handed Game
1213--A Strike for Freedom
1214--A Disciple of Satan
1215--The Marked Hand
1216--A Fight with a Fiend
1217--When the Wicked Prosper
1218--A Plunge into Crime
1219--An Artful Schemer
1220--Reaping the Whirlwind
1221--Out of Crime’s Depths
1222--A Woman at Bay
1223--The Temple of Vice
1224--Death at the Feast
1225--A Double Plot
1226--In Search of Himself
1227--A Hunter of Men
1228--The Boulevard Mutes
1229--Captain Sparkle, Pirate
1230--Nick Carter’s Fall
1231--Out of Death’s Shadow
1232--A Voice from the Past
1233--Accident or Murder?
1234--The Man Who Was Cursed
1235--Baffled, But Not Beaten
1236--A Case Without a Clew
1237--The Demon’s Eye
1238--A Blindfold Mystery
1239--Nick Carter’s Swim to Victory
1240--A Man to Be Feared
1241--Saved by a Ruse
1242--Nick Carter’s Wildest Chase
1243--A Nation’s Peril
1244--The Rajah’s Ruby
1245--The Trail of a Human Tiger
1246--The Disappearing Princess
1247--The Lost Chittendens
1248--The Crystal Mystery
1249--The King’s Prisoner
1250--Talika, the Geisha Girl
1251--The Doom of the Reds
1252--The Lady of Shadows
1253--The Mysterious Castle
1254--The Senator’s Plot
1255--A Submarine Trail
1256--A War of Brains
1257--Pauline--A Mystery
1258--The Confidence King
1259--A Chase for Millions
1260--Shown on the Screen
1261--The Streaked Peril
1262--The Room of Mirrors
1263--A Plot for an Empire
1264--A Call on the Phone
1265--Nick Carter’s Convict Client
1266--The House of the Yellow Door
1267--Nick Carter’s Round-up
1268--A Masterly Trick
1269--For a Madman’s Millions
1270--The Four Hoodoo Charms
1271--The Man in the Auto
1272--The Jeweled Mummy
1273--The Vanishing Emerald
1274--A Live Wire Clue
1275--The Vampire’s Trail
1276--The Crimson Flash
1277--The Vanishing Heiress
1278--The Red Triangle
1279--Nick Carter’s Subtle Foe
1280--Nick Carter’s Chance Clue
1281--A Master Criminal
1282--The Silver Hair Clue
1283--Written in Blood
1284--Bandits of the Air
1285--Nick Carter’s Last Card
1286--The Taxicab Riddle
1287--A Stolen Name
1288--A Play for Millions
1289--The House of Whispers
1290--The Woman in Black
In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say that the books
listed below will be issued during the respective months in New York
City and vicinity. They may not reach the readers at a distance
promptly, on account of delays in transportation.
To be published in July, 1930.
1291--Nick Carter’s Egyptian Clue
1292--The Connecting Link
1293--A Woman of Mystery
To be published in August, 1930.
1294--The Dead Accomplice
1295--Nick Carter’s Counterplot
To be published in September, 1930.
1296--The Seven Schemers
1297--The Mysterious Cavern
To be published in October, 1930.
1298--The Crime of a Century
1299--The Man with a Crutch
To be published in November, 1930.
1300--Out for Vengeance
1301--The Poisons of Exili
To be published in December, 1930.
1302--A Double Identity
1303--The Babbington Case
1304--The Midnight Message
If your dealer cannot supply you with the S. & S. novels, write to the
publishers.
STREET & SMITH
79 Seventh Avenue New York City
The Babbington Case
OR
Nick Carter’s Strange Quest
By NICHOLAS CARTER
Author of “A Double Identity,” “The Poisons of Exili,”
“Out for Vengeance,” etc.
[Illustration]
STREET & SMITH PUBLICATIONS
INCORPORATED
79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York, N. Y.
Copyright, 1911
By STREET & SMITH
The Babbington Case
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
languages, including the Scandinavian.
Printed in the U. S. A.
THE BABBINGTON CASE.
CHAPTER I.
A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR.
“A man and a woman together; then a man alone.”
Nick Carter thought this remark rather than uttered it in words, as he
came to an abrupt pause in his walk and looked down upon the tracks in
the snow.
There were no other tracks than those anywhere visible, save only his
own, which he had made in his approach to the spot, and he was careful
not to approach too near while he made the examination which only his
curiosity suggested--for there could have been no other reason at the
moment than curiosity to attract him.
But before him was a huge iron gate between two enormous posts; a gate
which had the outward appearance of not having been opened in a long
time, and, indeed, upon it now, as the detective looked at it, there was
a formidable padlock, with its heavy chain, to hold the great barrier
against all comers.
Nick Carter could see from where he stood that the lock was securely
locked, that the chain had been drawn tightly around the spindles of the
iron gate, and, therefore, that the man who had come out of the place
alone, after having passed inside with the woman not very long before,
had locked it.
There were the tracks he had made when he had turned about to fasten the
gate when he came out alone, and there were his tracks when he walked
away from the place.
But where was the woman? and why had she not come again with the man?
These were perfectly natural questions which the detective asked
himself; natural, because he knew something about the grounds upon which
those gates opened, and also something about the house within those
grounds.
Still more, he knew something about the people to whom the magnificent
residence and grounds belonged.
He remembered also that the light flurry of “sugar” snow which now
covered the ground like a white sheet of tissue paper--and it was
scarcely thicker than that--had fallen within the last hour.
So it followed that those tracks must have been made within that hour.
Within an hour a man and a woman had entered the grounds of
Pleasantglades--for that is the name by which the magnificent estate was
known, or, at least, it is the one that we will use here to represent
it--within an hour the two had entered together, and the man had come
out alone, locking the gate after him, and, therefore, leaving her
there.
And Nick Carter knew that the great house was unoccupied; that there was
not even a caretaker there, so----
Why had two gone in and only one come out?
Curiosity gave place to interest; and as he studied the footprints with
still more care, interest became absorbtion.
Both persons had been well shod. The woman daintily so, for, as the
detective looked even more closely, he came almost to the opinion that
she had been wearing slippers.
And the tracks of the man suggested dress shoes, even pumps, if one was
to call upon one’s imagination just a trifle.
The hour, be it said, when the detective discovered the tracks in the
snow, was between two and three o’clock in the morning, and a hundred
feet away from the gate an arc light glowed brightly. Otherwise, the
place would have been intensely dark, for, although that flurry of snow
had lasted but a few minutes, it was still cloudy and threatening.
If Nick had approached the gate from the opposite direction, he might
not have noticed the tracks at all; but, as it happened, he had
approached toward the light, and had looked directly down upon them,
plainly revealed.
The place was quite near to New York; near enough so that the detective
had gone there in his car since dark that night.
The business that had taken him there had nothing to do with this thing
that now interested him, and, if it seems strange to the reader that he
should have been strolling along such a thoroughfare alone at that hour
of the morning, we need only to say that that is quite another and
different story.
What would be your impulse, reader, if you made just such a discovery as
this one?
Would it not be to follow the footprints of the man without delay, to
find out where he had gone, and with the probability of learning his
identity? Probably. And yet Nick Carter knew at once how fruitless such
a pursuit would be, since at the next corner toward the direction the
man had taken, which was approximately three hundred feet distant, two
trolley tracks passed, and it was upon a thoroughfare where there was
considerable travel; the tracks left by this strange man, therefore,
would be quickly lost at that point, even if he had not succeeded in
stepping upon a trolley car, and being borne away in one direction or
the other.
Nevertheless, after a moment of thought, Nick ran along the street to
that corner, for it had occurred to him that possibly the two, the man
and the woman, had come to that point in a motor car, and if that were
so there would still be evidence of the fact that such a car had stopped
there.
He found that much evidence, too, but no more.
There, beside the curb in this same street upon which the gate was
located, were the plain tracks in the snow, showing where the car had
pulled out after the man had returned to it, although there were no
tracks to show its approach.
And this demonstrated the undoubted fact that the motor had arrived
there just about at the beginning of the fall of snow.
Nick remembered that it had continued to snow not more than ten or
fifteen minutes at the most, and so it was at once apparent to the
detective that the car had arrived at the corner just before the snow
began to fall; that the two had remained in the car for several moments
thereafter, probably discussing the trip from the car to the house, and
had finally left it while the snow was still falling rapidly.
Well, all that was not important save to demonstrate that one of the
persons, probably the woman, had not left the car to go to the house
willingly, but that persuasion of some sort had been resorted to.
If the car arrived at the corner before the snow began to fall--and Nick
knew that it had done so--and if the snow had ceased to fall while they
were midway of the distance of three hundred feet, it followed that they
must have remained talking together in the car for at least eight
minutes, and, at the most, thirteen minutes.
And yet there was no evidence anywhere to be seen that the woman had not
accompanied the man willingly enough.
It was apparent that she had walked along by his side even without
clinging to his arm, for the tracks were not close enough together to
suggest that; there was no place where it appeared that she had made any
effort to turn back; there was no suggestion anywhere, that the
detective could see, save the one of the hesitation, while still in the
car, that the woman had not gone willingly enough.
The car itself, upon leaving the corner, had been driven upon the
trolley tracks where it had been turned southward toward the city.
It must not be supposed that the detective wasted any time in making
these discoveries. A glance at the tracks in the snow as he ran to the
corner, then at the tracks left by the car, was all that was needed to
inform him of the points already made, and he turned and went toward the
great gate again, thinking.
Plainly, as a humane man, if not as a detective, it was his duty to
enter the grounds of Pleasantglades and to find out what had become of
that woman who had entered there with a man, at or soon after two
o’clock in the morning, and who had not come out again.
He decided, as he again approached the gate, to go inside.
To decide to go inside, and to get inside were quite two different
things.
Nick decided that the top of the wall was quite fourteen feet above the
pavement where he stood. He could see that it was guarded by that most
effective of all means for such a guard--by broken glass set in cement.
The gate between the two high posts was a double one, which opened at
the middle, and the tops of the highest spears were nearly as high as
the posts themselves, while the shortest ones were only a trifle lower
than the walls.
Plainly the only method of entering the grounds was by opening the gate,
and that meant that he must either pick the lock, or file through the
chain that held the two gates together, for, although he had his
nippers with him, they were by far too small and delicate to bite
through a chain of that size.
And his picklock, which he was never without, had not been intended for
locks of that sort, for he found when he examined it that it was of the
most complicated pattern of padlock, and that it had probably been made
to order for the owners of the place.
Indeed, as he examined it more closely, he found it to be one of those
rare locks which require the use of two, and sometimes three, keys, to
open them.
His picklock was therefore out of business for once.
But he had his pocket case of delicate tools with him, and among those
tools was a file which would eat through that chain, or any other one,
in short order; and so, at last, he took it from the case and adjusted
it.
It was the last extremity to which he resorted, for he disliked the idea
of filing his way into the place, necessary as it seemed to be, that he
should enter. He would greatly have preferred to scale the wall, or to
pick the lock if either had been possible.
He did not like the idea of leaving the place unguarded even
temporarily, when he came out again, for, after all, there was no
certainty that he would find anything wrong, and it was quite possible
that there might be a plausible and logical reason and explanation for
all the things he had discovered that had interested him so greatly.
But he had decided that he would go inside, and, therefore, he went
inside with no more delay than was absolutely necessary.
That little file of his, no larger than the blade of a penknife, and not
much longer, ate through the chain cleanly and rapidly, and, although we
have taken so much time and space to describe his discovery of the
tracks in the snow and to explain his reasonings upon that discovery, it
is doubtful if more than fifteen minutes had actually elapsed after he
first saw the footprints, until he opened one of the gates, passed
through, and closed the gate after him.
Then, having rearranged the chain again with great care so that it would
not be noticed that it had been tampered with, he turned to follow the
tracks in the snow, that led toward the great mansion.