HOW JOHNNY GOT THE RING
The first red streaks of dawn were appearing as Johnny sat down on the
beam of a railroad bridge a quarter of a mile from the wreck.
It had been a strange, wild night. Many startling things had happened;
many mysteries had been solved. Now that these mysteries were uncovered
he had come down here to think.
Tom Stick was not one of the counterfeiters; he knew that now. Neither
was the steam kettle cook, nor the conman with the ragged ear. The real
culprits had attempted to cast the guilt upon them, that was all. The
arch criminal, Black McCree, was dead. Jo-Jo, the elephant, had thrashed
the life out of him when McCree had attempted to murder his master, the
midget clown. The fat accomplice of Black McCree had confessed that his
partner was that notorious criminal. He had denied having any knowledge
of the working of that strange color-photo camera. Black McCree had
chosen to take that secret with him to the other world. Pant had turned
the whole matter over to two of his assistants and had disappeared. That
the remains of the camera could be pieced together was doubtful.
In the struggle with Black McCree, Tom Stick had been beaten into
unconsciousness, and had suffered severe bruises, but would be back at
his work in two or three weeks.
The twins had been taken to a near-by farm house, where they were safe
for the night. Fortunately, their ponies had come out of the wreck
uninjured. In an hour or two Johnny would accompany them to their
grandparents' home. Should he return to the circus? He doubted it. The
mystery of the whereabouts of the diamond ring was yet unsolved. Gwen had
had it. So had Millie. He half blamed himself for not demanding the right
to keep it when it was in his own hand. But Gwen was such a good sport.
He had hoped a more appropriate time might come. Now he believed he would
go to his former employer and make the best of an unbelievable story. He
made a wry face at thought of it.
But Pant? He had disappeared again. Johnny had not seen him after the
fight with the black cat. Mother Kelly had dressed his wounds, which were
slight, and he had vanished.
At thought of Pant, Johnny dug into his pocket and drew forth the mass of
wires, tubes and instruments which he had picked up on the spot where the
cat had attacked Pant.
He toyed with this mass musingly. He thought it had dropped from Pant's
pocket. "Some part of the counterfeiters' equipment," was his mental
comment. Twisting the wires about, he turned a thumb-screw here, pushed a
tiny lever there, pressed a bulb--when, of a sudden, his eyes were struck
by a blinding flash of blood red light.
His unnerved fingers released the mass of wires, tubes and instruments,
and the next instant his startled eyes saw it disappear beneath the muddy
waters of the river.
"The crimson flash!" he moaned. "And I had the secret of it here within
my grasp!"
For a time he considered the possibilities of recovering it, then
dismissed the thought as futile.
Then for a while he sat there speculating on the strange phenomenon of
the crimson flash. How had Pant achieved these wonders? Where had he worn
this mass of delicate instruments? There were times when the flash had
come and gone with the speed of the blink of an eye. Perhaps the switch
had been attached to Pant's eyelid. Such things had been done. Yet, all
this was speculation. Johnny shook his mind free from it. Speculation is
always futile.
He was about to rise and return to the wreck, which was even now assuming
the appearance of a train again, when he heard footsteps approaching.
It was Gwen. Johnny rose to meet her as she came toward him.
"Sit down, Mr. Clown," she smiled. "I want to talk."
"You're a good old clown," she smiled again, as they seated themselves,
"even if you did come near breaking your neck."
"Somebody fired the balloons with arrows shot from an air rifle."
"What!"
"Sure. I thought it was Tom Stick, but it wasn't. He saved my life last
night. Guess someone must have stolen his air rifle to pull the trick."
"As I was about to say," continued Gwen, "you're a good old clown, and
just for that I want to give you something. So, 'open your mouth and shut
your eyes, and I'll give you something to make you wise.'"
"Steady there," warned Johnny, as he cupped his hands solidly together.
"If it's of any value don't drop it. I've lost one secret in the river
already."
"It's valuable, all right."
Johnny felt something touch his hand. The instant his fingers closed upon
it, he knew what it was.
"The ring!" he exclaimed.
"Yes; that's it," she laughed. "The twins told me all about it last
night. Of course we didn't know it was yours, or we wouldn't have kept
it. When we first found it, we three girls thought it was glass. When we
discovered it was a real diamond, we were already in Chicago and didn't
know what to do, so we just kept it, and took turns wearing it. But
Johnny, when you had it in your hands that day, why didn't you keep it?"
"That's what I don't know," smiled Johnny. "I guess you were such a good
sport I hated to lose you as a friend, and I hoped a better time would
come."
"It has come, Johnny; but something tells me I am the one to lose a pal.
You'll leave the circus?"
"Yes," Johnny admitted reluctantly. "I guess I'm going to do that."
"It's always the way with a person who is used to living in a house,"
sighed Gwen. "The circus is for circus people. Anyway, I can wish you
good luck!"
They rose. She put out her hand. He gripped it heartily.
"And Johnny, if ever the big top calls to you, just remember the outfit
I'm with, and there'll be a job waiting for you. I'll want you for my
clown."
She turned and walked rapidly away.
Johnny watched her for a moment, then, crossing the bridge, made his way
toward the farm house where the twins were awaiting him. He would escort
them back to a safe dwelling place; the ring should be returned to them,
and if possible, he was resolved that the circus career of the
millionaire twins should be a secret shared only by those to whom it was
already known.
* * * * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
--Copyright notice provided as in the original printed text--this e-text
is in the public domain in the country of publication.
--Typographical errors were corrected without comment.