DANIEL BAMBO IS STUBBORN.
When Neka entered the jail at Ithaca it was with the firm
determination to make Daniel Bambo tell all he knew concerning his
earlier history, and where to find his sister.
That his former taskmaster knew all he now felt certain, for Hank
Maul had had no object in telling aught but the truth, for his
release from custody depended upon the aid given to the young Fire
King.
When Neka faced Bambo the ex-circus manager and fakir scowled
viciously at him.
“I don’t see why yer can’t leave me alone!” he snarled.
“Bambo, I have come to have it out with you,” said Neka, quietly, but
firmly. “I want you to make a full confession.”
“Ain’t got anythin’ to confess.”
“But you have, and it is folly to beat about the bush.”
“All right--if you know better’n I do why do you come here?”
“I want you to reveal the past--to tell me all you learned from Mrs.
Gilderoy and old Jerry Brown.”
At the mention of the two names Daniel Bambo started. Then he settled
back and drew up his lips.
“You are in a bad hole, Bambo,” went on Neka, “and unless you do all
you can to right matters, it will go mighty hard with you.”
“Maybe it will.”
“I know it will. Abduction is no light offense, to say nothing of
your other crimes.”
“You’ll have to do a lot of proving first.”
“I can easily do that. Hank Maul has confessed, and will give all the
evidence against you that is necessary.”
“Hank confessed!” Daniel Bambo started back as if shot. “I don’t
believe it.”
“He has, though. And I have come here to get my sister’s address from
you,” added Neka.
Had somebody struck Bambo in the face he would not have been more
astonished.
He fell back and became deadly pale. Then with a mighty effort he
collected himself.
“I never knew you had a sister,” he faltered.
“You lie, Daniel Bambo. You do know, and I want you to give me her
address instantly.”
Daniel Bambo drew a long breath. Then he shrugged his shoulders.
“Neka, I’ve had a terrible time with you, and it looks like I have
lost. But you shan’t git the best o’ me. I won’t tell you a thing.
Now git right out.”
At these cruel words the young Fire King could scarcely control
himself. He had the greatest inclination in the world to leap at
Bambo’s throat and force the wretch to speak.
But he held back, while his face took on a look of deepest scorn.
“Bambo, do you know what your refusal means?”
“You can’t prove anything!” howled the former proprietor of the
circus. “Now I don’t want to talk any more. Is Hank Maul in jail?” he
added, suddenly.
“Yes.”
“Well, let him talk. He planned your abduction, it wasn’t me. And as
for a sister and all that, I know nothing about it, so there!”
And Bambo turned on his heel in his cell and threw himself down on a
bench, as if to end the interview.
But Neka would not give in so easily. He threatened, coaxed, and
pleaded, but all to no purpose. Daniel Bambo had made up his mind,
and when this was done he was one of the most stubborn men on earth.
At last Neka had to give it up, having already spent more time with
the prisoner than the regulations of the prison allowed.
He at once went to Longfellow Wadsworth and told the elocutionist the
particulars of what he had learned. Neka’s partner listened with deep
interest.
“It’s a shame you can’t force him to confess, Neka,” exclaimed
Wadsworth. “But as you can’t, better do the next best thing. Hire a
first-class detective to take up the case. He ought to be able to
strike some clew through Bambo or Maul, or in Cleveland.”
Neka thought this good advice, and on the following day a detective
was engaged, and he immediately set to work to unravel the mystery.
In the meantime the trials of Bambo and Maul were postponed for three
weeks.
From Ithaca the Neka-Wadsworth Specialty Company went to Binghamton
and then to Carbondale, Pittston, and Wilkesbarre. These stops
occupied a week and a half, and during that time Neka had hard work
to do his turn at each performance, so anxious was he to hear from
Peter Rumley, the detective who was working on the case.
Rumley wrote to Neka at the end of the second week that he had traced
matters to Cambron, the very place where Neka had saved Mary Breston
from being burned to death. He had learned that Daniel Bambo had been
in the neighborhood on some private business and strongly suspected
it was in connection with Neka’s unknown sister.
Another week passed and again the trials of Bambo and Maul were
postponed. Maul chafed under the confinement, but strange to say,
Daniel Bambo was as stubborn as ever.
“I’ll tell all on one condition,” he said to the detective once.
“That is that I be let free and given a thousand dollars for
speaking.”
This offer made Neka angry.
“He won’t get a cent out of me,” he said. “I’ll remain an unknown
till I die before I consent to any such arrangement.”
And there the matter rested until several startling things occurred
which changed the whole course of Neka’s life.