THE SIGNAL WHISTLE.
The door of the shadowed house on Euclid Avenue opened and two bearded
men came out. As they descended the steps they mumbled in low tones to
each other. Neither of them saw certain shadowy figures lurking in the
dark places, nor suspected the fact that the house was under
surveillance. Nor did they become aware of the fact that they were
followed as they walked away. These men were the ruffians, Sam and Bill,
who had kidnapped the hunchback boy. From the house they proceeded to a
saloon several blocks away. Entering this saloon, they sat down at a
table in a little back room and ordered drinks.
“Well, pal,” growled Bill, “we’ve got our coin.”
“Yes, we’ve got it,” returned the other, “and I suppose we ought to be
satisfied.”
“Are you satisfied?”
“I call it a measly, bum price for the job we done.”
They drank the liquor placed before them and ordered cigars.
“At the very least,” declared Sam, “the gent should have paid us a
hundred apiece.”
Bill nodded.
“You’re right about that, pal. He was right eager to git his paws on
that kid. I wonder just what he wanted hunchy for?”
“No telling. I dunno; but I do know he wanted him a heap bad.”
“Lemme whisper something to yer, pal. I have heard a little something
that aroused my suspicions. I reckon the kid is some lost heir, or
something of that sort, and the gentleman what wants him is the
individual who will profit by it if hunchy disappears from the face of
the earth. That being the case, it is dead certain we might have
squeezed the old guy for twice the money he paid us.”
At this both the men growled, and one of them struck the table with his
clinched fist.
“Dern these false whiskers!” grated Sam, as he gave a jerk at them. “I
am going to take mine off.”
“Don’t do it here, pal,” cautioned Bill. “Somebody may see yer. What
will they think if ye do? You came in here wearing whiskers, and you
can’t go out clean-shaved without attracting attention.”
“All right,” said Sam; “I’ll keep the things on till we mosey out of
here, but I’m going to get rid of them at the first opportunity.”
“I’ve been thinking of something, pal,” nodded Bill. “I’ve been thinking
we got out altogether too easy. We should have hit the bloke up for
another fifty. I opine we might have frightened him into coughing up.”
“Did you ring, gents?” inquired one of the bartenders, thrusting his
head into the room.
“Naw, we didn’t ring,” said Sam.
“We didn’t,” agreed Bill; “but you may bring us two more whiskies.”
“Got ter talk kinder low and quiet-like here,” said Sam. “They are nosey
around this place. Notice how that chap looked at us?”
“Mebbe he didn’t like the cut of our whiskers.”
The bartender soon returned with the drinks, which were promptly paid
for, and he departed.
“Sam,” said Bill, having dashed off his drink at a single gulp, “have
you the nerve to stand by me?”
“Nerve? What do you want? What do you mean?”
“I mean that I am just about ready to go back there, and light on that
gent all spraddled out, and squeeze him hard. If you back me up we’ll
go, and I’ll bet we will make him cough up fifty plunks to each of us.”
Sam’s eyes gleamed a little.
“Do you think it can be done, Bill?”
“We can make our bluff. I’ll threaten him if I have to.”
“That might be dangerous.”
“Go on! He has only one other chap and that old woman there in the house
with him. What if we go back and tell him we will peach if he doesn’t
crack down the extra coin? What if I tell him I know something about the
kid?”
“The game might work, Bill.”
“Well, if it doesn’t work, it is worth playing. Are you with me?”
“Sure thing! Let’s have another drink and I’ll be ready.”
Again they ordered drinks, which they disposed of.
“Wait here a minute for me, pal,” said Sam. “I will be right back.”
He then left the room, and Bill sat puffing a cigar, while he revolved
in his mind the scheme of getting more money from the man who had
employed them to kidnap the hunchback. At length Bill grew impatient
because of Sam’s delay in returning.
“What’s the matter with him?” he growled. “He acts as if we had time to
burn. If we’re going back there, the sooner we go the better it will
be.”
Still his companion delayed about reappearing, and finally Bill rose to
his feet in a huff.
“Let him go!” he growled. “I’ll go back alone! I’ll get the whole of
it!”
But as he started toward the door the other man reappeared.
“Well, where yer been?” Bill angrily demanded. “Did yer think we had a
month to do this little trick in?”
“Oh. that’s all right, Bill,” was the husky reply. “I ran into Sheeny
Joe out here and had hard work to shake him.”
“Well, come, Sam; if yer going to stick by me through this thing, let’s
get a move on!”
Together they left the saloon and turned their steps toward the house on
Euclid Avenue.
As they reached the steps of the house Sam huskily whispered:
“Mebbe we can’t git in, pal.”
“I will get in,” vowed Bill. “I know the signal. If he refuses to answer
I’ll kick the door down.”
But the signal was answered directly by an old woman, who peered out
suspiciously from the partly open door. The sound of a chain told the
two ruffians that it would be useless for them to attempt to force the
door open.
“Who is it?” demanded the woman.
“Let us in, Mag,” said Bill. “We’ve important business with the boss.”
“Go ’way from here!” rasped the old hag. “He can’t be disturbed any more
to-night.”
“Well, he better be disturbed!” said Bill. “If he knows what’s good for
him, he’ll see us! We’re dead onto something that means a heap to him.
The police——”
“The police?” hissed the woman.
“There’s something doing, Mag, and the boss should know about it. It’s
for his good we’ve come back here. You know he trusts us, so unhook that
chain and let us in quick before we are seen here.”
After a little pause the chain rattled again, and then the door swung
open.
“If you know anything the boss better know, why, all right,” mumbled the
old woman; “but if you’re lying, look out! That’s all!”
“Take us to him!” ordered Bill.
A few moments later the two ruffians stood in the presence of a man with
iron-gray hair and mustache and deeply furrowed features. The eyes of
this man were sharp and restless, while his right hand was small as that
of a woman and white as snow.
“What’s this stuff Mag tells me?” he demanded, in a cold, hard voice.
“Why are you two back here?”
“We come back here for your own good, Mr. Jarvis,” declared Bill. “Eh,
Sam?”
“Sure, Bill,” nodded the second ruffian.
“For my own good? You said something about the police.”
“That’s what we did, Mr. Jarvis.”
“What did you mean?”
“You tell him, Bill,” urged Sam, backing off a little and standing in
the doorway of the room.
“What ails yer?” growled Bill in disgust. “Are you afraid? Well, I’m not
afraid of the Old Boy himself.”
Instantly the suspicions of the man with the corpse-like hand were
aroused.
“What are you two rascals up to?” he demanded harshly. “Speak up, both
of you!”
“Look here, Mr. Jarvis,” said Bill, wagging his head. “We opine we’ve
done a good turn for you to-night.”
“You were paid for it.”
“Paid!” snarled the disguised desperado. “Paid for that job! Well, I
should say not! Why, Mr. Jarvis, we know a thing or two—eh, Sam?”
“Sure, Bill,” agreed Sam from the doorway.
“We know that kid is a heap valuable to you. We know he is a lost heir
and he can make you a lot of trouble.”
The face of the man called Jarvis hardened and his eyes grew dangerous.
“You fools!” he said in a low tone. “What are you trying to do? What do
you want?”
“We want more money,” asserted Bill gruffly. “And we’re going to get it,
too!”
“Are you?”
“You bet your boots we are! We wasn’t half paid for that job, and you
have to crack down as much more coin!”
“So you’re trying to intimidate me, are you? I am a bad man to try that
trick on. I made a bargain with you, and stood by it. You have been
paid, and that ends it!”
“Not by a blamed sight!” cried Bill. “Either you pay us what we ask, or
else——”
“Or else—what? What will you do? Be careful!”
“Well, we were speaking of the police. It’s a right easy matter to put
them onto your track. It’s a right easy matter to tell Mr. Frank
Merriwell where the kid is. He is some dangerous, and you know it. Let
him get started after you and he will give you a whole lot of trouble.”
“So you threaten me?” said Jarvis in a voice that was now soft and
smooth. “So you come back here for the purpose of forcing me to give up
more money to you? I am afraid you don’t quite know me. You fool! Do you
think I am alone in this house—alone with old Mag? Not by any means!
There are others who will answer the call if I press that button.”
“But you won’t press it,” asserted Bill. “Will he, Sam?”
There was no answer, for Sam had retreated and disappeared into the
adjoining room.
Jarvis laughed softly.
“You are a great bluffer, Bill, but Sam hasn’t the nerve. The chances
are that he is already on his ways to the street. He knows better than
to try to carry this thing through with me.”
“Here, Sam!” savagely called Bill. “Come back here!”
Still there was no answer.
“Go!” commanded Jarvis in a sudden terrible tone, pointing toward the
door. “Go at once, and never trouble me again! If you do, I’ll put you
where the dogs will not disturb you!”
But Bill was a stayer, and he declined to be baffled in such a manner.
“I have come for more money, and I’ll stay here till I get it,” he
declared.
Jarvis took a step toward the push button.
“Don’t touch it!” grated Bill, also stepping forward, and at the same
time thrusting one hand into his bosom. “If you do I’ll cut your heart
out!”
Jarvis seemed to hesitate, and the ruffian fancied he was intimidated.
“I mean business,” Bill asserted. “You cough up, or I will carve you!”
“Oh, very well,” Jarvis finally said. “I presume it’s the easiest way to
get rid of you. Sam gets nothing, but I will pay you. I have the money
here.”
He thrust his hand into his pocket, but when he drew it forth a revolver
gleamed in his fingers and the muzzle was turned on the disguised
desperado.
“Put up that knife, you dog!” he commanded; “or I will blow a hole in
you! You threatened to betray me to the police! Why, you idiot! You
would not dare show your face to the police of this city! They want you,
and they would nab you the moment you appeared before them! You can’t
bluff me!”
Bill uttered an oath.
“Here, Sam, you infernal coward!” he called. “Where are you?”
“I am here,” was the answer, and Bill’s companion once more appeared in
the doorway. His eyes surveyed the scene.
“What did you sneak for?” hissed Bill. “You gave him a chance to pull a
gun on me! Had you remained here——”
“It would have made no difference,” asserted Jarvis.
“Perhaps not,” said Sam, as he lifted his fingers to his lips.
From those lips suddenly came a clear, shrill, peculiar whistle that
caused Bill and Jarvis to start in astonishment.
“What the devil does that mean?” Jarvis demanded.
“The boy knows,” laughed Sam in a singularly changed voice. “He heard
the whistle, and he is not the only one. Mr. Jarvis, the police are at
your door. Listen! They are in this house now.”
“A thousand furies!” snarled the astonished man. “What have you done?”
“I opened the door for them!”
“You—you opened the door? Why, you fool! You will go to prison
yourself—you and your dog of a pal here!”
“Perhaps he will go,” said Sam; “but not I. They are not looking for
me.”
“Not looking for you? Who are you?”
Like a flash the false beard was torn from the face of the man who had
given the signal whistle, and at the same time he cried:
“I am Frank Merriwell! Surrender, both of you, for you are trapped and
cannot escape!”
Even as he uttered these words, mingled with the distant wailing of the
violin came the sound of rushing feet. Behind him appeared several men,
one of them wearing a long, dark overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat.
“Ah!” cried Bial Keene. “I see you have your birds, Merriwell.”