THE ADVENTURES OF NICK VAN WOLTER.
“Wolf, you have been a thorn in my path,” said Nick Van Wolter, as the
Belle stood down the lake.
“Do you regard me as the author of your misfortunes?” I inquired.
“Certainly I do.”
“You are mistaken. You are the author of them yourself, Nick.”
“I don’t think so. Everything was going very well with me till you came
up here,” he added, bitterly.
“I did not instigate you to rob the bank.”
“No; but I should have got off if you had not turned up.”
“You don’t seem to think that your crimes are the cause of your
misfortunes, Nick. If you had been an honest and upright young man, I
could not possibly have done you any harm.”
“That may be true, but you have upset all my calculations.”
“You should not have had any such calculation as the robbing of a bank.”
“Well, I suppose it will not make any difference now. This is the end
of me,” he replied, as the tears filled his eyes again. “Ten or twenty
years in prison is not a pleasant thing to think of.”
“You ought to have thought of that before you robbed the bank.”
“Of course I had, but I didn’t. I hadn’t the least idea that I should
be detected. I didn’t think it was possible; and it wouldn’t have been,
if you had kept out of the way.”
“You were blind, Nick. Murder will out. Those who commit great crimes
are almost always discovered. I don’t believe a man who commits a crime
has more than one chance in a hundred of escaping the consequence of
it, even in this world,” I added, warmly.
“Do you think any one would have suspected me of robbing the bank if
you had been out of the way, Wolf?”
“I think it would have come out. There is always a screw loose
somewhere in this kind of business. You did not know I was near the
hotel till Mr. Overton introduced me.”
“Yes, I did; I saw you yesterday afternoon, when you landed at the
grove. I saw Waddie coming towards the place when Miss Dornwood and
myself were walking. I was afraid he would see me, and I told the lady
I would get a team and drive her along the shore road, if she would
wait where she was.”
“We saw you hastening towards the hotel,” said Waddie.
“I heard Miss Dornwood scream, and saw the bear before her, but I could
not return because you were there. I stepped back into the grove, and
saw all that passed.”
“And you expected to marry Miss Dornwood?” I asked.
“Yes, I expected to do so, though she refused me once. Mr. Overton
assured me he could make it all right, and I had no doubt he would. The
girl was pretty and interesting.”
“Did Mr. Overton know you were not what you represented yourself to
be?” I inquired, finding that Nick was disposed to be communicative.
“Of course I never told him who I really was; but, after the talk
we had together at Cape May, I think he understood the matter well
enough. It was very fine for him to call me an impostor, after we had
understood each other for a month,” replied Nick, sourly; and he seemed
to be as much disgusted with Mr. Overton as with me.
“You had an understanding with him, then?”
“It was not in black and white; but I knew what he meant, and he knew
what I meant.”
“What did he mean?” I asked.
Nick hesitated, and looked in the bottom of the boat, as if considering
whether he should answer the question or not.
“I think Mr. Overton has used me in a shabby manner,” said he, at last.
“He did not even offer to help me out of my trouble, but called me an
impostor. I don’t know that I am under any obligation to conceal his
tricks.”
“If he means any wrong towards Miss Dornwood, you ought not to conceal
it,” added Waddie.
“She is a good girl, and I liked her. I don’t wish her any harm; and
that is what Mr. Overton means. He intends to rob her of her fortune.”
“Are you sure of that, Nick?”
“I am. I’ll tell you the whole story, Wolf; and if you have a chance to
do me a favor, I hope you will do it.”
“I shall be glad to do anything that is right for you,” I replied.
“I don’t want to be paraded through the streets of Centreport, and
stared at by all the folks I used to know,” said Nick, glancing at the
constable, as though he knew him well enough to understand that he
would make the most of his victim.
The prisoner evidently expected me to save him from this painful
exhibition, and I was willing to do so if it was in my power.
“I don’t owe Mr. Overton anything, certainly,” continued Nick. “I could
have choked him when he introduced you to me, Wolf.”
“Didn’t he speak to you beforehand about me?” I asked.
“Not a word. Do you think I should have showed myself to you? Not at
all. If I had known you were in the house, or anywhere near it, I
should have taken myself off. When I came back in the morning, Mr.
Overton told me your boat was gone, and he could not find any of the
party who belonged to her. This made me perfectly easy. I was going to
New York this afternoon, and I had no more idea of seeing you than I
had of meeting the Queen of England.”
“By the way, Nick, how did you get back to the hotel?” inquired Waddie,
who had been much mystified on this subject. “We sent two men by the
upper road, and Captain Synders and myself came by the shore road.”
“When I met Cutter last night--”
“Who?”
“Cutter--the man who went down to Centreport with me.”
“Schleifer,” I added.
“He has as many names as a Spanish Infante,” said Nick. “When I met
him, we changed our plans. He was to go to Middleport as quietly as he
could, and took a canal-boat, so as not to let many people see him.
You know how he happened to come ashore here. I was to meet him on the
wharf at Middleport, as soon as everything was still, and I intended
to drive down after dark, so that no one could see me. After Miss
Dornwood came back to the hotel, and Mr. Overton had locked her into
her room, I went down to the bar to get a glass of wine, for I was
alarmed, and wanted something to raise my spirits. I met Cutter there,
and he decided to ride with me to Middleport.
“I took a team, and told the stable-keeper I should not be back till
late, if I returned before morning. I drove to Highlandville, where we
put the team up at one stable, and hired a horse and buggy at another.
At Middleport, where we arrived at half past eleven, I put the team in
the shed at the store near the head of the wharf. I knew just where to
find a boat, and we started to cross the lake. In the darkness I made
out a sail-boat, going through the Narrows. She was close aboard of us
when I discovered her. Then the sail-boat kept away a little, and ran
into us.”
“Did you know what boat it was?” asked Waddie.
“I did not. I knew the Belle was up the lake, and it did not occur to
me that it was she, even when the fireworks blazed up. We ought to have
given up the job then, but Cutter said it was all right. We got out of
the way as quick as possible. We walked over to the Institute, and soon
saw the sail-boat go down the lake. We were satisfied then, and went
to the bank. We approached the building by the back way, and did the
job. It took so long to cut the hole through the door, that we did not
finish till nearly daylight; and even then we heard the porter in the
building.
“In a few minutes there was a commotion, and we realized that our
work had been discovered. I led the way to the steam-mill by the back
alleys, hoping to find a boat there. We were disappointed, and as there
was no one in the way, we hastened to the steamboat wharf. I jumped
into the tender of the Grace; but Cutler said he would not leave the
Raven, which lay there, for some one to use in following us. We decided
to separate then, in order to divide and bother our pursuers. I pulled
across the lake, and got my horse at the shed. I took the upper road;
but the horse was not fast, and I soon heard the rattle of a wagon
behind me. Seeing a road into the woods, I drove in, taking care to
remove the tracks of the wheels and the horse, so that they might not
attract the attention of my pursuers. I suppose they had not heard the
rattle of my vehicle, for presently they passed my hiding-place at a
furious speed.
“Resuming the road, I continued on my way, and reached Highlandville
without seeing any person. Returning the horse I had hired here, I
obtained the one I had driven from the hotel, and went leisurely back
without seeing any of the pursuers. I believed I was all right then;
and I should have been, if Wolf had not crossed my path.”
“Did you divide the money?” asked the constable.
“No; we each took what we happened to have. Cutter carried the gold
in his bag. We were to meet in New York, and make a fair division,
expecting the newspapers to tell us how much the bank had lost, so that
neither could cheat the other.”
“Where have you been since we parted above Hitaca, Nick?” I inquired,
in order to bring him back to the Overton business.
“I went to Philadelphia first. I meant to go into some kind of
business, and save the money I had; but, while I was at a hotel in
the city, I met Cutter, who persuaded me to visit a gambling saloon,
where I lost about half of my money. I found that Cutter was employed
by the establishment to visit the hotel, and bring in customers. I had
wit enough to stop playing when I found it was a losing game. Cutter
took a fancy to me, and put me in the way of making a little money at
this gambling house. I was employed as ‘a young gentleman from the
country.’ When any one came in, I was allowed to win largely, for the
encouragement of other young men from the rural districts, but of
course my winnings went back to the banker.
“As the season advanced, a gambling house was opened at Cape May, and
Cutter and myself went down to influence customers. I did not like the
business, and he was dissatisfied with his salary. He informed me that
he had been a machinist, and through many stages the conversation went
on till he told me he meant to make a grand strike by emptying the
vault of some bank. He talked to me about the plan for weeks before
I would consent to have anything to do with it. Then I suggested the
Centreport Bank. All this time we boarded at the best hotel, and no one
except an occasional victim knew who or what we were. We bathed in the
surf, danced, dined, and flourished in the drawing-rooms.
“There was a rumor about the hotel that an English lord, _incog._, was
staying there. Every one wanted to penetrate the mystery; but, if there
was any lord there, he kept his own secret. As a joke, Cutter whispered
confidentially to some of the guests that I was the lord. I soon found
that I was treated with great consideration, though, as my friend
had not told me what his was about, I did not understand the reason.
Fathers and mothers introduced me to their daughters, and I was a lion
in spite of myself. Among those to whom Cutter had imparted the great
secret was Mr. Overton, and I made the acquaintance of Miss Dornwood.
Will you give me a drink of water, Wolf? I feel quite faint,” said
Nick, who was really very pale.
I brought him some water, and also some crackers and cheese, for I knew
he had not been to dinner; but he would not eat.