OSCAR MAKES GOOD HIS PROMISE AND AIDED BY CAD METTI, THE
WONDERFUL FEMALE DETECTIVE, PERFORMS ONE OF THE GREATEST FEATS
IN ALL DETECTIVE RECORDS.
Like a night sprite Cad glided away and Oscar fell to the shadow of the
man Redalli. He followed him to the Hoboken ferry, crossed on the same
boat with him, and saw him enter a house situated in the midst of a
large plot of ground covered by lines of trees.
The detective was satisfied. He had the meeting-house, as he called it,
located. He had Redalli located, and he started back toward the ferry
and had gone but a few squares when he was joined by Cad and another
detective. Cad was in her ordinary garb as a well-dressed young miss,
only that she wore a veil drawn down over her face.
"It's all right," said our hero. He was jubilant, and he proceeded to
relate all that had passed while he sat listening in the Credo eyrie.
It was well on toward three o'clock in the morning when the party walked
on board the boat to return to New York, and they had just seated
themselves on the boat when a party of roughs, numbering seven or eight,
entered the cabin. The men were very boisterous and ready for a muss, as
the saying goes. They talked loud and laughed violently, and soon their
eyes rested on the three detectives. The two males as they were gotten
up did not look like very formidable individuals, and the fact that Cad
was veiled attracted their attention. They ranged themselves on the
seats directly opposite to where the three detectives were located and
our hero at once detected that there was going to be a jolly row--jolly
as far he and his companions were concerned--for both the men were
athletes and boxers, of the first order. To them the knocking down of
two or three ordinary men was a mere pastime, and as our readers know
the wonderful Cad was not much behind when it came to a shindy. She
could have given the famous strong woman who a few years ago appeared on
the stage points in many athletic feats. One of the men looking over
toward Cad said:
"There's a beauty."
The detectives exchanged looks.
They had taken the measures of the rowdies.
"How do you know?" asked one of the men.
"I'll bet on it."
"You will?"'
"Yes."
"How will you prove it?"
"I'll prove."
"How?"
"That's my end of it."
"You'll bet she is a beauty?"
"Yes, I will."
"How much?"
"A bottle."
"And you are to prove it?"
"Yes."
"I'll take the bet."
The fellow who had offered to make the bet immediately rose, crossed the
cabin to where Cad sat and said:
"Say, miss, you've heard the bet. Raise your veil and let me win. I know
you are a beauty."
The men all laughed. They thought it evidently the joke of their lives;
to them it was immense.
It was so destined to turn out. Immense was no name for what followed,
and it is very unfortunate that similar roysterers do not run up against
a like party.
"Come, miss," urged the man, "I've paid you a compliment. You ain't
a-going to let me lose my bet?"
Cad paid no attention to the fellow, and his companions jeered. One
said:
"She daren't raise her veil, or she'll make you lose, sure."
The man who had bet exclaimed:
"You've lost; I've got a bottle on you."
"Not yet; come, miss, you won't see me lose."
All this time the two detectives had sat silent. They knew what would
follow, and just when to come in with the sledge hammer part of the
farce. Yes, they were ready in good time to play the anvil chorus on the
heads of the lively gang of insulters. It was just their pie, as the
slang phrase has it.
"You've lost," cried the better.
"Come, come, miss, do you hear what he says? I know you're a beaut.
Raise your veil and give me the laugh on him."
Cad sat mute, and finally the man said:
"I can't lose; I've got to see your face if I lift your veil myself."
"Yes, yes, raise and expose her mugg," cried one; "if she were a beaut
she would'nt let you lose that way. Lift her veil."
It was time for Oscar to interfere and he said:
"That will do, young fellow."
"Will it?" cried the man in a fierce tone.
"Yes."
"What have you got to say about it anyhow?"
"This lady is in my company, under my protection."
"Oh, is she?"
"She is."
"Well, here goes."
The man grabbed Cad's veil and raised it, disclosing her really lovely
face, and at the same instant he uttered a yell of triumph, but the next
moment he roared forth a yell of pain and rage, for Oscar had leaped to
his feet, dealt the man a clipper square on the nose and over he went.
The rest of the gang immediately set up a yell, leaped to their feet and
made a rush, and the next instant there followed a regular young riot,
but the fun of the thing was all on one side. The other officer also
leaped to his feet and started in on the tattoo act. He just swung
around like a revolving wheel with distended cogs, and every time he
revolved down went one of the men, and Cad just stood up on the seat and
laughed. The laugh in fact had bounded over to the opposite side of the
cabin from where it first started. As the men who were downed attempted
to regain their feet they got it again, and got it good. The two
detectives having dropped the rascals with their fists gave them the
balance of their dose with leather, and they did leather them well,
kicking them over the floor of the cabin like stuffed bladders. The deck
hands heard the noise, ran to the doors, and taking in the situation
remained aloof. They were glad to see the rowdies get a whacking; glad
that for once the assailants had run up against the wrong crowd. The
rowdies bled and yelled, bled for their impertinence, yelled in dismay
and terror, for they feared they would be beaten to death. They pleaded
for mercy, and all the time the ferry boat kept on its way; and about
the time our friends had fun enough the boat slid into her slip, and
with a merry good-night to the discomfited and bleeding insulters Oscar
and his friends proceeded ashore.
On the day following the incidents we have recorded our hero, Wise, the
special, and several other officers held a consultation. To Wise alone
did our hero reveal the importance and extent of the information he had
secured, and a plan was arranged.
At the time named Oscar met the woman Libbie and he played her
well--played for time, for his whole plan had been changed. One thing
had led up to another, and the one little racket he had at first
intended to work had been put aside for a new one under the latest
developments.
He parted from the woman, threw her and her friends off his track and
lay low for a fresh "shadow" on Redalli, and in due time he got on the
track of his man.
Several days passed, and Cad and Oscar followed their lead. Our hero
several times met the woman Libbie Van Zant and made her feel very good.
He played the dupe to perfection; let it appear that he was dead gone on
the siren; pretended to reveal everything to her, while in fact he was
just getting his points from time to time and keeping her friends under
close observation through her. He had constant access to the secret room
in the house of Credo, listened to a great many consultations, and at
length learned just the right facts for making one of the greatest hauls
in the history of crime. He trailed to the delivery of the counterfeit
goods at the house in Hoboken, and had every reason to believe that the
plates also were all stowed away under one roof. Indeed, it appeared in
plain words as though he were destined to capture not only all the
manufactured stuff, but the complete outfit of the counterfeiters, the
labor of years.
On the night when the great raid was to be made Dunne met Wise and his
assistants. All the plans were completed and Wise said, at a proper
moment:
"Dunne, you are the detective of the age."
At the proper time the detectives one by one stole over to Hoboken. They
took up their station, waiting for signals. Oscar had fallen into the
wiles of the siren. She had arranged with him to take him to the
house--she had played as she supposed a great card. She believed she had
the name of every detective engaged on the "shadow" and she became
bolder; told our hero she had in the interest of her brother and the
detective beguiled one of the gang; informed him that she could
introduce him into the house where the whole gang was to meet; that she
would be able to identify every man of them. She even professed to have
fallen in love with Oscar, played the alluring siren to perfection, and
it was in her company that our hero proceeded to Hoboken to be
introduced into the house and hidden at a point where he could see and
overhear. In talking to Girard the woman had said:
"I've got him dazzled. The man believes in me as he does in his own
mother. He is like wax in my hands. I can do with him as I choose."
"Are you sure he is not fooling you?"
"Am I sure? Yes, I am sure. I will have him in that house to-night. You
will discover him and drag him forth. The plan will be carried out: At
the proper time the riot will commence and in the mêlée down he goes."
"I hope it is as you say. I would not chance even on your positive
assurance, but Redalli says it is all right, and he is the boss. He
takes the responsibility."
As intimated, Oscar started for Hoboken in company with the siren and
two trusty men followed his steps. Our hero was determined that there
should be no miss. He had provided against every possible contingency.
He arrived at the house. Oscar had been seemingly persuaded that the
siren's brother was to be their guide, that she had fooled him for his
own eventual good. Arrived at the house the siren signaled and a young
man, supposed to be the woman's brother, opened the door. The woman
asked:
"Have they arrived?"
"No one has arrived yet."
"Then I can secrete my friend."
"Certainly; but, sister, remember, I am trusting you and believe it is
for your and my eventual good that I consent to act in this matter."
"You can trust me."
"If not you, whom can I trust?"
"I am acting for your good."
To Oscar the woman explained after they had entered the house that she
had her brother deceived on a false "steer," but she added: "You know it
is to save him."
"Oh, certainly."
Oscar was led down the stairs, led to the basement and then to the
cellar. A lantern was produced and a door was disclosed, showing that an
excavation had been made and a room built under the yard of the house.
All the arrangements were very cunningly made. When the door was opened
our hero hesitated and the woman asked:
"What is the matter?"
In a tone of fearfulness Oscar said:
"I have been betrayed."
"Betrayed?" repeated the woman.
"Yes."
"By whom?"
"_You_."
The woman laughed and said:
"But I thought you were a man of courage. Go on; I will go with you."
Oscar delayed a moment, making some remark, until he heard a signal--a
very tiny signal, but it was big and loud in its suggestions to him. He
stepped into the passage and a moment later a second door opened. The
secret room was disclosed and at least a dozen masked men who had been
seated at a long table arose. At the instant, as our hero recoiled, the
cold muzzles of two revolvers were placed on either cheek and a voice
said:
"Go ahead; you can't back out now."
It was a supreme moment of peril. Our hero had friends at hand, but
alas! ere his friends could announce themselves the deed of horror might
have been perpetrated. It was indeed a critical moment, but Oscar was
cool. He stepped forward and was pushed toward a seat, and the men
gathered at the table. All sat down also.
There followed a moment's silence. Oscar looked around. Near him stood
the siren who had allured him into the den, and her whole expression of
countenance had changed. She looked like a beautiful fiend as her eyes
gleamed with delight and the red glow of triumph flushed her features.
She was proud. She had promised to deliver the detective into the hands
of his intending assassins, and she had made good her word.
"So you have betrayed me," said Oscar.
"Yes," answered the woman, "I have betrayed you."
"The story about your brother was a lie."
"All these gentlemen are my brothers."
"And what now, woman?"
"You have just five minutes to live. You were set to destroy us; we will
destroy you."
"Poor creature," said Oscar in a tone of deep commiseration.
The woman glared, for there was a terrible significance in his tones,
and she shouted:
"Down him and make sure."
Alas! the arrangements fortunately were run on seconds, not minutes, or
our hero would have been a dead man. As the woman shouted "Down him!"
there came a second, voice, stern and commanding:
"Hold! don't let a man move or every soul of you dies."
There was a tableau at that moment such as never has been equaled on the
stage under all the complexity of colored lights. It was a scene never
to be forgotten by any of the witnesses, a scene awful in its intensity
of dramatic effect. The woman suddenly appeared to become frozen with
horror. The men removed their masks in their excitement and their pale
visages shone like so many corpses as all leaned forward and listened
and looked.
In the doorway stood two men, armed with repeating rifles. Behind them
crowded others, and at that instant every one of those wretches know
that defeat and capture stared them in the face. All their labor, all
their cunning and their skill had come to naught. All realized that the
greatest detective feat on record had been accomplished. All knew that
there was no escape, unless quickly with their own hands they freed
themselves through the grave.
The detectives filed into the room, but the siren had recovered her
nerve. She saw and realized that she had not played but had been played.
Quickly she drew a revolver, aimed at Oscar and fired, but our hero's
quick eye detected her movement. It was not the first time he had dodged
a bullet. The woman fired but the one shot. The next instant the darbies
were on her tender wrists, and we will add that no resistance was
offered. The men, as intimated, were well up in their trade. From the
first instant they knew that in plain, vulgar language, their "jig was
up." Every man quietly submitted. Life was dear to them. Every man had
been behind prison walls. A surrender meant a return to jail; resistance
meant death. They, as stated, all accepted the situation and quietly
surrendered.
Immediately the detectives set to work to gather up their spoils and
learn the full value of their wondrous victory. It proved to be a
complete victory indeed. All the manufactured stock was secured, the
flood of counterfeits was averted, for the well-being of the business
community. The plates even that had cost thousands and thousands of
dollars were captured. They were never buried in the cellar to be found
by some future archæologist. To conclude it was the greatest capture of
counterfeiters' outfit ever made, and to Cad Metti and Oscar belonged
all the credit; and from the profession and the government they received
it. Dudie Dunne went up to the top as a great officer, and in a future
narrative we will relate where these two wonderful people once more
entered the field and accomplished great results. We will also tell the
romance of the life of the bright, beautiful Italian girl who from
choice became a female detective strategist.
THE END.
"OLD SLEUTH'S SPECIAL" SERIES.
The following list contains _the very latest_ and best books in the
detective story line, all of which are written by "_Old Sleuth_," the
best detective story writer of the age. Each book contains from 200 to
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PUBLISHING COMPANY, 57 Rose Street, New York._
1 MALCOLM; or, A Ten Day's Mystery.
2 WITCH OF MANHATTAN.
3 THE Ex-PUGILIST DETECTIVE.
4 TRUE BLUE; or, The Romance of a Great Special.
5 MURRAY, The Detective.
6 OSCAR, The Detective.
7 KEFTON; or, The Wonder of the Age.
8 A LADY SHADOWER; or, A Detective's Stratagem.
9 NIGHT AND MORNING; or, A Detective's Shadow.
10 THE KING'S DETECTIVE.
11 A PUZZLING SHADOW; or, A Detective's Enigma.
12 SETH BOND. A Lost Treasure Mystery.
13 A WEIRD SEA MYSTERY. A Detective Story.
14 THE TWIN ATHLETES. A Detective Story.
15 A SINGLE CLUE. A Detective Story.
16 A ONE NIGHT MYSTERY. A Detective Story.
17 A MAN OF MYSTERY. A Detective Story.
18 A REMARKABLE FEAT; or, Great Detective Work.
19 TALES FROM A GILDED PALACE. Illustrated.
20 A FINAL TRIUMPH; or, A Lady Bachelor.
21 MAGIC DICK, THE DETECTIVE; or, A Phenomenal Trail.
22 THE VENTRILOQUIST DETECTIVE; or, Nimble Ike and Jack the Juggler.
23 THE OLD MISER'S WARD.
24 A DETECTIVE'S DAUGHTER.
25 A WEIRD COURTSHIP.
26 WINNING A PRINCESS.
27 NORVAL, The Detective.
28 VAVEL, The Wonderful Treasure Seeker.
29 FUNNY BOB; or, In and Out of Everything in New York.
30 A LITTLE CONFEDERATE; or, A Southern Boy in New York.
31 NIMBLE IKE, The Trick Ventriloquist.
32 THE GIANT DETECTIVE; or, The Feats and Frolics of an Athlete.
33 THE COWBOY DETECTIVE. A Great Story of Mystery.
34 THE BICYCLE DETECTIVE; or, Smart Jim.
35 DICK, THE BOY DETECTIVE; or, Out of the Streets of New York.
36 AGGRAVATING JOE, The Prince of Mischief.
37 JACK THE JUGGLER'S ORDEAL; or, Tricks and Triumphs.
38 JACK THE JUGGLER'S TRAIL. A Story of Magic.
39 A FEMALE VENTRILOQUIST; or, A Pretty Girl's Magic Feats.
40 A DESPERATE CHANCE; or, Desmond Dare.
41 DETECTIVE PAYNE'S "SHADOW"; or, A Remarkable Search.
42 TWO WONDERFUL DETECTIVES; or, Jack and Gil's Marvelous Skill.
43 SAVED BY A DETECTIVE; or, A Beautiful Fugitive.
44 THE MYSTERY MAN; or, Fire-Bomb Jack.
45 THE FATAL RESEMBLANCE; or, A Marvelous Escape.
46 NIMBLE IKE, THE DETECTIVE; or, Solving a Mystery.
47 BERTIE BLAND, THE DETECTIVE. A Tale of Curious Tricks and Surprises.
48 THE WEST POINT LIEUTENANT; or, Arkie, the Run-away.
49 FROM THE STREETS TO THE FOOTLIGHTS; or, Snap and Jenny.
50 THE DETECTIVE TRIO; or, The Story of Three Daring Country Lads.
A $2.00 Book for 25 Cents!
Old Secrets and New Discoveries.
Containing Information of Rare Value for all Classes, in all Conditions
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[Illustration: The mesmerist and his subject.]
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It Tells how to make persons at a distance think of you--Something all
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It Tells how you can charm all those you meet and make them love you,
whether they will or not.
It Tells how Spiritualists and others can make writing appear on the arm
in blood characters, as performed by Foster and all noted magicians.
It Tells how to make a cheap Galvanic Battery; how to plate and gild
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OLD SECRETS AND NEW DISCOVERIES is worth $2.00 to any person; but it
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J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
Box 767. 57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.
[Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors in the original
text have been corrected.
In Chapter I, a missing period has been added to the sentence "Criminals
as a rule are fond of race betting."
In Chapter II, a missing period has been added to the sentence, "The
rogues had struck a lead and so had the two sharp-eyed detectives who
were playing such a neat game." A missing quotation mark has been added
to the sentence, "It's a good thing, sis, to locate a rogue."
In Chapter IV, in the sentence "He knows how to take advantabge of the
slightest incident when he is playing a game," the word "advantabge" has
been corrected.
In Chapter VI, in the sentence "He is a terrror," the word "terrror" has
been corrected.
In Chapter VII, an illegible smudge at the beginning of the sentence
"moment the beautiful lady meditated and then said:" has been corrected
to "A". In the sentence "I will arrrange with you to go to your home,"
the word "arrrange" has been corrected. In the sentence "He learned from
her that she had met a lady at the typewriting school where Miss Lamb
was a substitute teacher, and Miss Lamb had really referrred the lady to
our hero upon gaining her confidence, and having learned that she had
need of a detective in a very delicate affair, the nature of which had
not been revealed to Miss Lamb," the word "referrred" has been
corrected. A colon has been added at the end of the sentence "There came
a look of relief to the Italian girl's face as she said in a less sharp
tone".
In Chapter VIII, an extraneous period has been removed from the sentence
"And what was your conclusion?." In the sentence "I know you are brave,
strong, and valiant, but they have arrranged a plan against which
courage and cunning count as naught," the word "arrranged" has been
corrected. In the sentence, "There must be no mistake made, no failure,
or it it will cost my brother's life, and I also may become their
victim," the extra "it" has been removed.
In Chapter IX, a missing period has been added to the sentence "The idea
of honor among thieves is a myth".
In Chapter X, in the sentence "Yes, yes, raise and expose her mugg,"
cried one; "if she were a beaut she would't let you lose that way," the
word "would't" has been corrected. In the sentence "She saw and realized
that she had not played but had been played," a comma has been corrected
to a period."]