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_
850--Wanted: A Clew
851--A Tangled Skein
852--The Bullion Mystery
853--The Man of Riddles
854--A Miscarriage of Justice
855--The Gloved Hand
856--Spoilers and the Spoils
857--The Deeper Game
858--Bolts from Blue Skies
859--Unseen Foes
860--Knaves in High Places
861--The Microbe of Crime
862--In the Toils of Fear
863--A Heritage of Trouble
864--Called to Account
865--The Just and the Unjust
866--Instinct at Fault
867--A Rogue Worth Trapping
868--A Rope of Slender Threads
869--The Last Call
870--The Spoils of Chance
871--A Struggle with Destiny
872--The Slave of Crime
873--The Crook’s Blind
874--A Rascal of Quality
875--With Shackles of Fire
876--The Man Who Changed Faces
877--The Fixed Alibi
878--Out with the Tide
879--The Soul Destroyers
880--The Wages of Rascality
881--Birds of Prey
882--When Destruction Threatens
883--The Keeper of Black Hounds
884--The Door of Doubt
885--The Wolf Within
886--A Perilous Parole
887--The Trail of the Finger Prints
888--Dodging the Law
889--A Crime in Paradise
890--On the Ragged Edge
891--The Red God of Tragedy
892--The Man Who Paid
893--The Blind Man’s Daughter
894--One Object in Life
895--As a Crook Sows
896--In Record Time
897--Held in Suspense
898--The $100,000 Kiss
899--Just One Slip
900--On a Million-dollar Trail
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
931--A Titled Counterfeiter
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
938--Nick Carter and the Green Goods Men
939--The Man Without a Will
940--Tracked Across the Atlantic
941--A Clew from the Unknown
942--The Crime of a Countess
943--A Mixed-up Mess
944--The Great Money-order Swindle
945--The Adder’s Brood
946--A Wall Street Haul
947--For a Pawned Crown
948--Sealed Orders
949--The Hate that Kills
950--The American Marquis
951--The Needy Nine
952--Fighting Against Millions
953--Outlaws of the Blue
954--The Old Detective’s Pupil
955--Found in the Jungle
956--The Mysterious Mall Robbery
957--Broken Bars
958--A Fair Criminal
959--Won by Magic
960--The Piano 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
980--Gideon Drexel’s Millions
981--Death In Life
982--A Stolen Identity
983--Evidence by Telephone
984--The Twelve Tin Boxes
985--Clew Against Clew
986--Lady Velvet
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
1012--Among the Counterfeiters
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
1058--The Murray Hill Mystery
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
1065--The Price of a Secret
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
1070--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. Quartz, 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 King 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
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, 1926.
1187--Crossed Wires
1188--A Plot Uncovered
To be published In August, 1926.
1189--The Cab Driver’s Secret
1190--Nick Carter’s Death Warrant
To be published In September, 1926.
1191--The Plot that Failed
1192--Nick Carter’s Masterpiece
1193--A Prince of Rogues
To be published in October, 1926.
1194--In the Lap of Danger
1195--The Man from London
To be published in November, 1926.
1196--Circumstantial Evidence
1197--The Pretty Stenographer Mystery
To be published in December, 1926.
1198--A Villainous Scheme
1199--A Plot Within a Plot
Following a Chance Clew
OR,
NICK CARTER’S LUCKY FIND
BY
NICHOLAS CARTER
Author of the celebrated stories of Nick Carter’s adventures,
which are published exclusively in the NEW MAGNET LIBRARY,
conceded to be among the best detective tales ever written.
[Illustration]
STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
PUBLISHERS
79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York
Copyright, 1899, 1900 and 1904
By STREET & SMITH
Following a Chance Clew
(Printed in the United States of America)
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
languages, including the Scandinavian.
FOLLOWING A CHANCE CLEW.
CHAPTER I.
ON A SEPTEMBER NIGHT.
“Nathan Lusker.”
Nick Carter read the sign over the jeweler’s store on Eighth Avenue and
stopped to glance critically at the place.
He noticed that the “regulator” indicated midnight.
His thoughts flew back to another midnight earlier in the week, when
Lusker’s store had been cleaned out by burglars.
The robbery had been charged to a mysterious crook known as Doc
Helstone, who was supposed to be the leader of a clever gang of
lawbreakers.
Nick had been asked to break up this gang, which had baffled some of the
best men of Inspector McLaughlin’s staff. A proposition had been made to
him that day, and he had promised an answer on the morrow.
Probably he would have decided to refuse the job, for he had a lot of
work on hand; but, as he strolled up the avenue on that September night,
an adventure was waiting for him which was to alter his purpose, and set
him upon the track of a remarkable scoundrel.
Lusker’s place was nearly in the middle of a block. As Nick turned his
eyes away from the window, he noticed, on the street corner beyond, a
group of about a dozen men and women.
There was nothing unusual about them except that they were all looking
one way. Their attention had evidently been strongly attracted by
something which was taking place on the side street, to the westward.
Suddenly they all hurried in that direction. Other persons, attracted by
this movement, joined in it.
All whom Nick could see were hastening toward this center of
interest--all, except one man, who was walking the other way.
This man came out of the street wherein the crowd was gathering, and
turned up the avenue. Nick saw him for only a moment, and at a
considerable distance, but he remembered him.
When Nick came to the street corner, he saw, about forty yards from the
avenue, a considerable crowd, upon the downtown side. He quickly made
his way to the midst of it.
There he saw a young man kneeling on the sidewalk, and supporting upon
his arm the head of a woman.
The man seemed considerably agitated. The woman’s face, indistinct in
the dim light, was white and rigid.
“Do you know this woman?” asked Nick, quickly, of the young man, after
he had cast a single glance upon the unconscious figure.
“No; I never saw her before.”
“Do you know a tall man with a light brown beard parted in the middle, a
dark suit of----”
“Why, that’s the man who has gone to ring for an ambulance,” was the
reply. “This lady was with him when she was taken sick.”
Nick did not wait to hear any more. He slipped through the crowd like an
eel, and darted away.
He was on the track of the man whom he had seen walking away from the
spot to which everybody else was hurrying.
The avenue was brightly lighted, but the man was not in sight. By rapid,
clever work, Nick traced him to Forty-first Street, where he had entered
a carriage.
A hackman, who had seen this, did not remember ever to have seen the
carriage or the driver or the passenger before.
“Was the man looking about for a carriage when you first saw him?” asked
Nick.
“No; he knew where to find one,” was the reply.
“Did he give any directions to the driver?”
“He held up his hand in a queer sort of way, and the driver nodded.
Nothing was said.”
Evidently the carriage had been waiting, and the coachman and the
passenger knew each other well. They would be harder to trace on that
account.
For the moment Nick gave up the chase. He returned to the crowd around
the unconscious woman.
She still lay where Nick had last seen her. A policeman had come, and
had rung for an ambulance.
The young man who had been supporting the woman’s head had relinquished
his burden, and just as Nick came up he was edging away through the
crowd. He seemed to desire to escape further observation.
Nick touched him on the arm, and the young man faced about.
“Don’t try to get away,” said the detective. “You won’t help matters by
that.”
“Why shouldn’t I go away?”
“Because,” said Nick, calmly, “you will direct suspicion toward
yourself.”
“Suspicion! Suspicion of what?”
“Murder!” replied the detective, in a low, steady voice.
This sinister word produced a tremendous effect upon the young man. But
he came out of it in a way which showed he had plenty of nerve.
Nick had drawn him into a doorway, and the two were almost unobserved.
“Look here,” said the young man, “I’m no fool, and I begin to see that
something is wrong here. But when it comes to murder, I don’t believe
you’re right. That lady isn’t very sick.”
“She isn’t sick at all,” said Nick; “she’s wounded.”
“Wounded!”
“Yes. I saw at a glance that she was suffering from a blow with a
sharp-pointed instrument. She has been stabbed, probably, with a
stiletto.”
“Then it was that man----”
“Either that man or yourself,” said Nick, interrupting.
“But I swear by all that I hold sacred that I never set eyes on the
woman before this evening. I was passing along the street when I saw her
ahead of me.
“The man whom I described to you had just overtaken her, and they were
talking. At that moment a drunken man pushed violently against me. I
looked around. He lurched away.
“Then I turned toward Eighth Avenue again, and at that moment I saw the
woman fall into the man’s arms, with a low cry. I didn’t see him stab
her, and I didn’t see any weapon. I ran up to offer assistance, and he
said: ‘This lady is ill. Take her for a moment while I summon
assistance. I will ring for an ambulance. It will be the quickest way to
get a doctor.’
“I took the woman out of his arms because I couldn’t let her fall on the
sidewalk. He hurried away. You know the rest.
“Now, then, I maintain that you have no right to detain me. I’m going
home.”
“Do you suppose that you could do so, even if I consented? I tell you
that a detective has his eye on you at this moment, though you do not
see him. Do you think that policeman would have been stupid enough to
let you get away if he hadn’t known that somebody was on hand to look
out for you?”
“And who are you?”
“I’m a man who may believe in your innocence and help you to prove it,
if your conduct justifies it.”
The young man looked at Nick as if he meditated making a break for
liberty, but something in the detective’s glance restrained him. The
stronger mind prevailed.
“What would you advise me to do?” he asked.
“Go back and stand near the policeman,” said Nick. “Be on hand when the
ambulance surgeon makes his examination.
“You will be taken to the police station. When you get there tell your
story as you’ve told it to me. If there’s anything else, save it till
you see me again. What is your name?”
“Austin L. Reeves. I live at ninety-two West Thirty-ninth Street.”
“Very well. Here comes the ambulance.”
Though fully twenty minutes had elapsed since the woman had received the
injury, her condition had not changed in the least. Nick had felt
certain that the night was so warm that no harm would result from her
remaining outdoors. Otherwise he would have taken her to a drug store or
into one of the houses.
The others, expecting the ambulance every minute, and failing to
perceive the real nature of the woman’s trouble, had not thought of
doing anything.
When the ambulance surgeon bent over her, he saw at once that she was
suffering from a serious stab wound.
Not a drop of blood was visible, which showed that the weapon used must
have been as fine as a needle.
The surgeon whispered a word in the ear of the policeman, who instantly
whistled for assistance. Then, by Nick’s order, he placed young Reeves
under arrest, and took him to the station house.
The other officer who had responded to the whistle, tried to secure
witnesses. He could find nobody.
Nick, a thousand times more skillful, had been engaged in that search
for some minutes, but when the ambulance rolled away with the wounded
woman in it, he had not succeeded in finding a single person who could
throw any light upon the matter.
Apparently nobody but Reeves had seen the woman pass along the street,
or had noticed the man who overtook her.
To be sure, there was the drunken man, of whom Reeves had spoken, but,
accepting Reeves’ story as true, the supposed drunkard was doubtless a
pal of the murderer, and was there to distract the attention of any
person who might be likely to interfere.
The blinder the case the more anxious Nick was to follow it up. He saw
in it one of the most fascinating murder mysteries which he had ever
encountered.
It was probable that at the hospital something would be learned which
would be of value, but Nick could not wait for it. There is nothing like
following a trail when it is warm, and so Nick stuck to the ground.
After about an hour’s hard work, his efforts were rewarded. By this time
the rumor that the case was a murder had begun to spread in the
precinct.
The local detectives were out on it, and they dropped a word here and
there which was taken up and borne along.
In the course of Nick’s search he worked along the cross-town street
toward Ninth Avenue, finding out what every person knew.
At last, just in the doorway of one of the large apartment houses he
found a man and woman talking about the case. Both of them were known to
the police.
The man was a hardened young rascal, not long out of the penitentiary.
The woman was known as “Crazy Mag,” though she was not really insane.
She was somewhat intoxicated, and was talking loudly. Nick entered the
hall and pretended to be looking for a name on the bell rack.
“Shut up, Mag,” he heard the young tough whisper. “You’ll get yourself
into trouble.”
“What’s the matter with you?” she exclaimed, roughly. “I saw the woman
come out of No. 349. Why shouldn’t I say so?”
“I’ll tell you why,” said her companion. “Because that woman was put out
of the way by Doc Helstone’s gang, and if you talk too much you’ll
follow her.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised if you were right,” said Nick to himself. “At
any rate, this clew settles one thing--I take the contract to trap Doc
Helstone’s gang.”