A SHOT IN THE DARK.
That afternoon dragged itself slowly away.
I left Carnes in our room, and went below to note the movements of the
two crooks.
They were both upon the piazza; Blake smoking a well-colored meerschaum
and seemingly half asleep, and the Dimber, with his well-polished boot
heels elevated to the piazza railing, reading from a brown volume, with
a countenance expressive of absorbed interest.
I seated myself where I could observe both without seeming to do so, and
tilting my hat over my nose, dropped into a lounging attitude. I suppose
that I looked the personification of careless indolence. I know that I
felt perplexed, annoyed, uncomfortable.
Perplexed, because of the many mysteries that surrounded me. Annoyed,
because while I longed to be actively at work upon the solution of these
mysteries, I could only sit like a sleepy idiot, and furtively watch two
rascals engaged in killing time, the one with a pipe, the other with a
French novel. Uncomfortable, because the day was sultry, and the piazza
chairs were hard, and constructed with little regard for the ease of the
forms that would occupy them.
But there comes an end to all things, or so it is said. At last there
came an end to my loitering on the warm piazza.
At the proper time Carnes came lumbering down-stairs seeming not yet
sobered, but fully equipped for his journey. He took an affectionate
leave of the landlord, receiving some excellent advice in return. And,
after favoring me with a farewell speech, half maudlin, half
impertinent, wholly absurd, and intended for the benefit of the
lookers-on, who certainly enjoyed the scene, he departed noisily, and,
as Barney Cooley, was seen no more in Trafton.
A few moments later, "the gentleman in gray" also took his leave,
bestowing a polite nod upon one or two of the more social ones, but
without so much as glancing toward Dimber Joe or myself. He walked
sedately away, followed by the hotel factotum, who carried his natty
traveling bag.
Still Dimber read on at his seemingly endless novel, and still I lounged
about the porch, sometimes smoking, sometimes feigning sleep.
At last came supper time. I hailed it as a pleasant respite, and
followed Dimber Joe to the dining room with considerable alacrity.
Dr. Bethel came in soon, looking grave and weary. We saluted each
other, but Bethel seemed little inclined to talk, and I was glad not to
be engaged in a conversation which might detain me at the table after
Joe had left it.
Bethel, I knew, was much at the house of the Barnards. The shock caused
by the loss of her husband, together with the fatigue occasioned by his
illness, had prostrated Mrs. Barnard, who, it was said, was threatened
with a fever, and Bethel was in constant attendance.
As yet there had been no opportunity for the renewal of the
conversation, concerning the grave robbery, which had been interrupted
more than a week since by Mr. Brookhouse, and afterwards effectually cut
off by my flying visit to the city.
When the Dimber left the table I followed him almost immediately, only
to again find him poring over that absorbing novel, and seemingly
oblivious to all else.
Sundown came, and then twilight. As darkness gathered, Dimber Joe laid
down his book with evident reluctance and carefully lighted a cigar.
Would he sit thus all the evening? I was chafing inwardly. Would the man
do _nothing_ to break this monotony?
Presently a merry whistle broke upon the stillness, and quick steps came
down the street.
It was Charlie Harris and, as on a former occasion, he held a telegram
in his hand.
"For you," he said, having peered hard at me through the gloom. "It came
half an hour ago, but I could not get down until now."
I took the envelope from his hand and slowly arose.
"I don't suppose you will want my help to read it," he said, with an odd
laugh, as I turned toward the lighted office to peruse my message.
I gave him a quick glance, and then said:
"Come in, Harris, there may be an answer wanted."
He followed me to the office desk, and I was conscious that he was
watching my face as I perused its contents.
This is what I read by the office lamp.
4--. H, c, n, c, e, o, g, k, i, m, b--s, i, a--.
A cipher message. I turned, half smiling, to meet the eye of Harris and
kept my own eyes upon his face while I said:
"I'm obliged to you, Harris, your writing is capital, and very easily
read. No answer is required."
The shrewd twinkle of his eye assured me that he comprehended my meaning
as well as my words.
I offered him a cigar, and lighted another for myself. Then we went out
upon the piazza together.
We had been in the office less than four minutes, but in that time
Dimber Joe had disappeared, French novel and all. Much annoyed I peered
up and down the street.
To the left was the town proper, the stores, the depot, and other
business places. To the right were dwellings and churches; a hill, the
summit and sides adorned with the best residences of the village; then a
hollow, where nestled Dr. Bethel's small cottage; and farther on, and
back from the highway, Jim Long's cabin. Beyond these another hill,
crowned by the capacious dwelling of the Brookhouse family.
Which way had Dimber gone?
It was early in the evening, too early to set out on an expedition
requiring stealth. Then I remembered that Joe had not left the hotel
since dinner; probably he had gone to the post office.
Harris was returning in that direction. I ran down the steps and
strolled townward in his company.
"It's deuced hot," said Harris, with characteristic emphasis, as he
lifted his hat to wipe a perspiring brow. "My office is the warmest hole
in town after the breeze goes down, and I've got to stay there until
midnight."
"Extra business?" I inquired.
"Not exactly; we are going to have a night operator."
"Ah!" The darkness hid the smile on my face. "That will relieve you a
little?"
"Yes, a little; but I'm blessed if I understand it. Business is
unusually light just now. I needed an assistant more in the Fall and
Winter."
"Indeed," I said, aloud. Then to myself, "But Carnes and I did not need
one so much."
Our agency had done some splendid work for the telegraph company whose
wires ran through Trafton; and I knew, before requesting a new operator
in the town, that they stood ready to oblige my Chief to any extent
compatible with their own business. And my Chief had been expeditious
indeed.
"Then you look for your night operator by the down express?" I
questioned, carelessly.
"Yes; they wired me that he would come to-night. I hope he'll be an
obliging fellow, who won't mind taking a day turn now and then."
"I hope so," I replied, "for your sake, Harris."
We had reached the post-office, and bidding him good night, I entered.
A few tardy Traftonites were there, asking for and receiving their mail,
but Dimber Joe was not among them.
I went slowly back to Porter's store, glancing in at various windows as
I passed, but saw not the missing man.
How had he eluded me? Where should I look for him?
Returning to the hotel, I sat down in the seat lately occupied by the
vanished crook, and pondered.
Was Dimber about to strike? Had he strolled out thus early to
reconnoiter his territory? If so, he would return anon to equip himself
for the work; he could not well carry a burglar's kit in the light suit
he wore.
Suddenly I arose and hurried up the stairs, resolved upon a bold
measure.
Hastily unlocking my trunk, I removed a tray, and from a skillfully
concealed compartment, took a pair of nippers, some skeleton keys, and a
small tin case, shaped like the candle it contained. Next, I removed my
hat, coat, and boots; and, in another moment, was standing before the
door of the room occupied by Dimber Joe. I knocked lightly and the
silence within convinced me that the room was unoccupied.
The Trafton House was not plentifully supplied with bolts, as I knew;
and my nippers assured me that there was no key in the lock.
Thus emboldened, I fitted one of the skeleton keys, and was soon within
the room, making a hasty survey of Dimber Joe's effects.
[Illustration: "Thus assured, I fitted one of the skeleton keys."--page
279.]
Aided again by my skeleton keys, I hurriedly opened and searched the two
valises. They were as honest as they looked.
The first contained a liberal supply of polished linen, a water-proof
coat and traveling-cap, together with other articles of clothing, and
two or three novels. The second held the clerical black suit worn by
Dimber on the evening of his arrival in Trafton; a brace of linen
dusters, a few articles of the toilet, and a small six-shooter.
There was nothing else; no concealed jimmy, no "tools" of any
description.
It might have been the outfit of a country parson, but for the novels
and the revolver. This latter was loaded, and, without any actual motive
for so doing, I extracted the cartridges and put them in my pocket.
In another moment I was back in my own room, baffled, disappointed, and
puzzled more than before.
Sitting there alone, I drew from my pocket the lately received telegram,
and surveyed it once more.
4--. H, c, n, c, e, o, g, k, i, m, b--s, i, a--.
Well might Harris have been puzzled. Arrant nonsense it must have seemed
to him, but to me it was simplicity itself. The dispatch was from
Carnes, and it said:
"He is coming back."
Simplicity itself, as the reader will see, by comparing the letters and
the words.
"He is coming back." This being interpreted, meant, "Blake Simpson is
now returning to Trafton."
Was I growing imbecile?
Blake Simpson had departed in the daylight, doubtless taking the "tools
of his trade" with him, hence the innocent appearance of his partner's
room, for partners, I felt assured, they were.
He was returning under cover of the darkness; Dimber had gone out to
meet him, and before morning, Trafton would be supplied with a fresh
sensation.
How was I to act? How discover their point of attack?
It yet lacked more than two hours of midnight. Trafton had not yet gone
to sleep.
Blake was coming back, but how?
My telegram came from a village fifteen miles distant. Blake then
must have left the train at that point, and Carnes had followed him. He
had followed him until assured that he was actually returning to
Trafton, and then he had sent the message.
Blake might return in two ways. He might hire a conveyance and drive
back to Trafton, or he might walk back as far as the next station, a
distance of five miles, and there wait for the night express.
It seemed hardly probable that he would care to court notice by
presenting himself at an inn or livery stable. He would be more apt to
walk away from the village, assume some light disguise, and return by
the train. It would be a child's trick for him to drop from the moving
train as it entered the town, and disappear unnoticed in the darkness.
Carnes might return by that train, also, but we had agreed that, unless
he was fully convinced that Blake meant serious mischief, and that I
would need his assistance, he was to continue on his journey, as it
seemed important that he should be in New Orleans as soon as possible.
After some consideration, I decided that I would attach myself to
Dimber, should he return, as it seemed likely that he would, it being so
early. And if he failed to appear, I would lie in wait for the night
express, and endeavor to spot Blake, should he come that way.
Having thus decided, I resumed my hat, coat and boots, extinguished my
light, locked my door and went down-stairs.
The office lamp was burning its brightest, and there underneath it,
tilted back in the only arm-chair the room could boast, sat Dimber Joe;
his hat hung on a rack beside the door, a fresh cigar was stuck between
his lips, and he was reading again that brown-covered French novel!
I began to feel like a man in a nightmare. Could that indolent-looking
novel reader be meditating a crime, and only waiting for time to bring
the hour?
I went out upon the piazza and fanned myself with my hat. I felt
discomposed, and almost nervous. At that moment I wished devoutly that I
could see Carnes.
By-and-by my absurd self-distrust passed away, and I began to feel once
more equal to the occasion.
Dimber's room was not, like mine, at the end of the building. It was a
"front room," and its two windows opened directly over the porch upon
which I stood.
I had the side door of the office in full view. He could not leave the
house unseen by me.
Mr. Holtz came out to talk with me. I complained of a headache and
declared my intention to remain outside until it should have passed
away. We conversed for half an hour, and then, as the hands of the
office clock pointed to half-past ten he left me to make his nightly
round through kitchen, pantries, and dining-room, locking and barring
the side door of the office before going. And still Dimber Joe read on,
to all appearances oblivious of time and all things else.
A wooden bench, hard and narrow, ran along the wall just under the
office window, affording a seat for loungers when the office should be
overfull, and the chairs all occupied. Upon this I stretched myself, and
feigned sleep, for a time that seemed interminable.
Eleven o'clock; eleven loud metalic strokes from the office time keeper.
Dimber Joe lowered the leg that had been elevated, elevated the leg that
had been lowered, turned a page of his novel and read on. The man's
coolness was tantalizing. I longed to forget my identity as a detective,
and his as a criminal, and to spring through the window, strike the book
from his hand, and challenge him to mortal combat, with dirks at close
quarters, or pistols at ten paces.
Half-past eleven. Dimber Joe stretched his limbs, closed his book,
yawned and arose. Whistling softly, as if not to disturb my repose, he
took a small lamp from a shelf behind the office desk, lighted it
leisurely and went up-stairs.
As he entered the room above, a ray of light, from his window gleamed
out across the road. It rested there for, perhaps, five minutes and then
disappeared.
Had Dimber Joe closed his novel to retire like an honest man?
Ten more long minutes of quiet and silence, and then the stillness was
broken by a long, shrill shriek, sounding half a mile distant. It was
the night express nearing Trafton station.
As this sound died upon the air, another greeted my ears; the sound of
swift feet running heedlessly, hurriedly; coming directly toward me from
the southward.
As I rose from my lounging place and stepped to the end of the piazza
the runner came abreast of me, and the light streaming through the
office window revealed to me Jim Long, hatless, coatless, almost
breathless.
The lamp light fell upon me also, and even as he ran he recognized me.
Halting suddenly, he turned back with a quick ejaculation, which I did
not understand.
"Long, what has happened?"
The answer came between short, sharp breaths.
"Carl Bethel has been shot down at his own door! For God's sake go to
him! He is there alone. I must find a doctor."
[Illustration: "Carl Bethel has been shot down at his own door! For
God's sake go to him! He is there alone. I must find a doctor."--page
286.]
In another instant he was running townward at full speed, and I was
flying at an equal pace through the dark and silent street toward Dr.
Bethel's cottage.