A MASTER ROGUE.
"As I said before," resumed Grattan, "I admire clever people. Goldstein
is not clever. I send a letter to him at New York and tell him to come
to Purling, ask for Pryne at the general store, and bring money enough
to buy the Eye of Buddha. His covetous soul prompts him to defy the
law, buy the ruby for half its value, and cheat Bunce and me. He rushes
into the trap. I tell you he is as big a fool as Bunce--almost."
"Mercy!" begged Goldstein. "Oh, Mister Grattan, don't rob me! Der price
of diamonds has gone off, and I lose much money----"
"Silence!" thundered Grattan.
Goldstein fell whimpering back against the wall.
"It was only by a chance, Motor Matt," went on Grattan, "that I
discovered your trick in exchanging a letter of your own for one of
mine in the ancient mariner's cap. Bunce did not know I was harbored
in this old sugar camp. Pryne knew it, and also my sister, who happens
to be Pryne's wife. No one else knew it. Bunce and I had discovered
that we were being trailed by a San Francisco Chinaman, and that he was
firing telegrams back to the slope for Tsan Ti. From Catskill I came
here to wait until the ruby could be exchanged for Goldstein's money.
Bunce went around the vicinity of Catskill keeping watch for the spying
Chinaman, and for Tsan Ti. He didn't find the 'Frisco hatchet boy, but
he did discover, this forenoon, that the mandarin was staying at the
hotel on the mountain. Bunce was traveling around in an automobile, and
he had my letter asking him to come to Purling, which I had mailed to
him at the Catskill post office. When he found Tsan Ti was staying in
the hotel, Bunce thought he would hurry to Purling and take his chance
of finding me. On the way down the mountain, as ill luck would have it,
he passed you and the mandarin. Then came that exchange of notes. When
Bunce discovered that, his panic was still further increased. The road
he took to Purling passed along the foot of this hill.
"I was out taking my constitutional, at the time, and fate threw Bunce
and me together, for I hailed him as he was passing. The driver of the
automobile was a man we both knew we could trust. Bunce and I had a
talk, and I read the letter you had put in his hat in the place of the
one I had sent. The circumstances attending the exchange of that note
convinced me that in you I had an uncommonly clever person to deal
with. I guessed that you would use the note and try to find out where
I was. I didn't want you to do that, but I arranged with Pryne, if you
did, to bring you out here. I also sent Bunce on the rightabout back
to the mountainside, and told him to make away with your motor cycles.
That, I hoped, would keep you from Purling by giving you something else
to hunt for instead of the Eye of Buddha. But I didn't know you--I
failed to do your cleverness full justice.
"Bunce went into hiding at the roadside from the mountain top, knowing
you would have to come that way. When you sped down the road in an
automobile, with your chum and Tsan Ti, Bunce was rattled. He had been
expecting you on motor cycles, and had framed up a little plan which
he worked so successfully later. However, he put a bullet into one of
the automobile tires and caused a smash. The fool! He came near getting
us into the toils of the law so deep we could never have escaped. His
folly continued, however, when he skulked close to the burning machine
to note the extent of the ruin he had caused. He had a close call when
you took after him. More by luck than by any good judgment, he got away
from you, and was close enough to see and hear what went on when the
owner of the wrecked automobile met and talked with you in the road.
"Bunce hunted up the driver of the car, who had been waiting for him in
a convenient place not far from the road. The two went into hiding in
the brush, spotted your motor-cycle lamps, captured your machines, and
the wheels are now handily by to help us in our getaway."
Matt had listened to this talk abstractedly. He was waiting and
listening for McGlory and the reënforcements. Why didn't they come?
They had had ample time, and Matt was positive they would pick up
the trail he had left and follow without difficulty. McGlory was a
good trailer, and he would be quick to understand the sifted line of
middlings when he saw it.
"Shipmate," said Bunce, "you haven't given me my proper rating. It
wasn't all luck an' touch an' go with me. I done noble, I did."
"You mean well, Bunce, but you're not clever," said Grattan.
"My eye! Wasn't it clever the way I put on them scarecrow fixin's in
the cornfield?"
"And then lost your nerve and ducked while Motor Matt and his chum were
looking at you? Oh, yes, that _was_ clever."
There was scorn in Grattan's voice.
Matt had heard enough to realize that Grattan was a master rogue. He
was playing a bold game, and with consummate skill. He was willing to
talk, to lay bare the innermost details of his work, for he had planned
escape and felt sure he would get away. Matt wondered if he would not
succeed in spite of McGlory and the men he was to bring with him.
Those balls, those balls of Ptah! They appeared to be the key that was
to help Grattan through the coil of the law.
"I am rewarding you, Motor Matt, for your cleverness," pursued Grattan,
"and for the narrow escape Bunce gave you in that automobile. The
reward is the Eye of Buddha. I sell it to Goldstein for the money he
has in that satchel; then, while Bunce and I are safely out of the hut,
I break one of the balls of Ptah by hurling it through the open door;
you and Goldstein become unconscious; you recover and make a prisoner
of Goldstein; and, finally, by due process of law, you recover the ruby
for Tsan Ti. Very simple. So far as I can see, Goldstein is the only
one to suffer."
Matt was still listening, listening. Where in the world was McGlory?
Grattan turned toward the shivering Jew.
"Goldstein," said he sternly, "how much money have you in that satchel?"
"Mercy, Mr. Grattan!" implored the diamond merchant. "I have lost much
money by der decline in----"
"How much have you in the satchel?" repeated Grattan.
"Only a little, Mr. Grattan. I dit not bring much."
"Didn't you bring enough to pay a good price for the ruby?"
"How was I to know vat der ruby was worth? Fife thousand dollars is
what I brought----"
"Five thousand! Five thousand to pay me for two years of planning, and
the risk! You have brought more than that."
"Where is der ruby, Mr. Grattan?"
"Where you'll not find it until I see how much money you have in the
satchel. Give it to Bunce. Bunce, you open the grip and count the
money."
"Don't do that, please, Mr. Grattan! I have lost much money by der drop
in----"
"Take it over and give it to Bunce."
Tremblingly, Goldstein got up with his precious satchel. His face was
pallid, and he seemed scarcely able to move. He started toward the
sailor; then, suddenly, when he was close to Pryne, he whirled and
grabbed at the exposed revolver.
The satchel dropped, and Goldstein, with the fury of desperation,
fought like a madman. It was his money he was fighting for--money that
was, perhaps, dearer to him than life itself. Nothing else could have
goaded him into such a mad attempt to escape from the hut.
Bunce sprang toward the struggling pair at the door, and Grattan also
arose and stepped toward them.
This offered Matt a chance for a daring _coup_. Unseen in the
excitement, and unheard because of the noise of the scuffle, he glided
to the table and opened the box. Deftly he extracted one of the balls
and allowed the box-cover to fall into place. The ball passed into his
pocket.
While he stood by the table, Grattan suddenly caught sight of him.
"Go back to your bench, Motor Matt!" he ordered. "You have everything
to gain and nothing to lose by sitting tight and obeying orders. Get
back, I tell you."
Matt backed to the bench and sat down. Bunce and Pryne flung Goldstein
to the floor, and while Pryne kicked him toward his seat Bunce regained
his own place with the satchel.
"I did not think Goldstein had it in him," laughed Grattan. "When
you take his money, you touch him in a vital place. Be sensible,
Goldstein," he added. "We've got too strong a grip on you."
The Jew lifted himself to the stool, bruised and battered. His head was
bowed and he presented a pitiable sight.
"Now, then, Bunce," said Grattan, "look into the satchel. Let's see how
much Goldstein brought with him for purposes of barter. I didn't expect
to get anywhere near what the Eye of Buddha was worth, but----"
There came a pounding on the door. Instantly all were on their feet,
consternation written large in every face but Grattan's and Matt's.
Grattan believed that, even with intruders at hand, he was master of
the situation. Matt, armed with one of the balls of Ptah, was inclined
to dispute the question with him.
"Open up!" cried a voice.
There was a bar across the door and Pryne stood with one hand on the
fastening to make sure it held against the attack. Grattan fluttered a
hand for silence.
"Who's there?" he demanded.
"Porter, the constable, from Purling, and five other men."
Grattan leaped to the table and caught up the box. Holding it in
front of him, the buckthorn cane under his arm, he whispered to his
confederates:
"Bunce, you and Pryne stand ready to leave the room. When I give the
word, go--and go quick."
Then, lifting his voice, Grattan added:
"Open the door, Pryne, and admit the constable from Purling and five
men."
Pryne bent to the bar.
"Stop!" cried Matt.
Pryne raised himself quickly. He and Bunce, Grattan and even Goldstein
stared at the king of the motor boys.
Matt was standing on the bench, his right hand lifted, and one of the
shimmering spheres in his hand.
"Don't come in here yet, McGlory!" shouted Matt. "I'll give the word
when I want you to come. You see, Grattan," he added, "I'd a little
rather have my friends stay on the outside until they can come in here
_after_ I break the glass ball."