Show I HE DlnMOND BUYYON I I gn rrN i I f Nis i I I FROM THE DIARY OF A LAWYER AND THE NOTE N ft BOOK OF A REPORTER f I By BARCLAY NORTH d x Copyrighted 1889 by O M Dunham Published by Special Spe-cial Arrangement through the American Press Association CHAPTER XXXIH THE SETTING OF THE TRAP I 11tJ 1r = = if J C HE noise which had startled the party was made by the return of tho detective who had accompanied H o 1 J brook and Annie They are safely off in a carriage he said Heavens cried Tom he didnt take her on the street 4 Yes thats what lie Old replied the chiefs assistant What imprudence I I didnt want him to do that Ho might have been seen by the parties who abducted her I dont think they were He ran her up to tho next corner and caught tho cab there and was off in a jiffy They attracted at-tracted attention from nobody I was behind be-hind them all tho way JJ1 right if the alarm has been given it cant be helped now I say chief iK station two men at each door opening J from the outside Let each man take y his shooter and one have a bulls eyo t ready for use You and I will take our places at the middle door one in each room Shadow you run down into the street and slip up into the hall outside there so as to give us plenty of warning if any one comes upstairs I cant the stairs aro enclosed and the door locked replied the Shadow I had forgotten that said Tom Pick it cant you said the chief Heres a set of skeletons The Shadow took them and disappeared disap-peared Now said Tom to place the table and chairs where they were When this was done ho added Now to your places and out with tho light They were in total darkness what light there was came from the dormer windows and the broken skylight They waited some time in silence relieved re-lieved only by the breathing of the men Presently they heard a light tread on the outside of the door then a scratching scratch-ing sound Is it you Shadow asked Tom Yes All right Conceal yourself and dont let the man see you when he comes Ill make sure of that Then there was a longer wait and a f longer silence This was broken by the quick patter of bare feet on the roof and a voice Hes acomin up de street now Give it to im good It was the imp who had constituted himself a skirmisher on the outside at the skylight Tom could not restrain a laugh All public service is performed through selfish self-ish consideration lie thought In a moment more a scratching was heard on the door Some ones coming whispered Tom Watch both doors Then they heard a hasty stumbling on tho stairs a heavy step in the hall the door opening into the rear room was tried and then further steps and the front room door was tried I must have left that stair door open myself was heard in a rough voice with an oath A key was inserted the bolts drawn and the door opened The owner of the voice advanced into the room closing the door behind him and shutting a bolt from the inside So my ladybird yer didnt light the lamp I pervided yer with hey A light flashed in his face from tho chiefs bulls eye and the barrel of a revolver re-volver was presented full in his face 1l Down on your knees cried the chief Death and d cried tho man starting back He turned with the evident purpose of seizing something for his arm was outstretched out-stretched in a wild reaching out Another bulls eyo was flashed in his face and another revolver presented at his head Thats what it is if you dont drop said the man who presented tho second bulls eye Ho swept the revolver of this man away with a quick motion of Ills arm and made a wild rush at the chief Tom who had entered from the adjoining ad-joining room felled him to the floor by a quick blow on the head with the butt end of his revolver Before the man who was stunned by Sf the blow could recover himself one of tho assistants at a word from the chief clapped a pair of handcuffs upon him Search him said the chief A pair of deft hands went through his clothes Nothing of consequence was taken from him except a slip of paper on which was written in a plainly disguised dis-guised hand tho words At half past 10 Be ready Give the drug at 10 If not taken quietly make sure Want no chance for screaming Be sure the right amount not too much I Must be no injury done Want no accidents acci-dents Tom puzzled over it The man sitting zz tno loot loccea at nun sullenly tm did not speak The meaning of the words flashed upon Tom Some one was coming at half past ten and she was to be drugged so that she could not make a disturbance He looked at his watch It was nearly ten Where is the drug he asked The man was taken off his guard and his eyes turned to a shelf in the corner of the room Tom crossed to the place thus indicated indi-cated Behind a pile of papers he found a bottle It was filled with a colorless liquid Ah ha ho cried Well my fine fellow you wont make sure tonight will you Shes not here She has left Nevertheless well be ready The man turned upon him a look of bitter malignity and opened his mouth as if to speak when ho was prevented by a cry of surprise from the chief Han ford I Hello Hello Why boys this is a capture indeed And who do you think this is bending down and peering into the handcuffed mans face Who asked Tom Scar Top Johnny of all men in the world This is a good nights haul Twentyfive hundred dollars reward for this bird Hes been wanted these eighteen eight-een months for the stealing of the child of that rich man near Hartford With this he took the mans head in his hands and parting the hair showed a deep scar on it An old acquaintance Tom I gave him this scar myself six years ago when he and a gang were robbing express cars in the west The man had evidently determined teat wnatever else might occur speech from him would not and he contented himself with bending a look of deep hatred on the jubilant chief Tom who had been looking on this scene with great interest said to the manYou You didnt abduct this girl on your own accord You were hired to do it An expression on the scoundrels face showed him that be had hit the truth closely This time he spoke I didnt abduct her Oh you didnt You simply took care of her after abduction This time Tom had hit the truth squarely and the mans face showed it Who was the man who hired you Scar Top Johnny regarded Tom with a contemptuous sneer Well said Tom you can answer or not as you please We can wait for the I halfpast ten man Hell tell The face of Scar Top Johnny lit up with a passing thought and an expression expres-sion of resolve passed over it Tom interpreted it accurately but before be-fore he could act upon it tho Shadow gave warning of another comer and afoot a-foot was heard stumbling in the darkness dark-ness The chief however had also penetrated penetrat-ed the purpose of his prisoner and pressing press-ing the muzzle of his revolver against Scar Top Johnnys head he said If you utter a cry or make an alarm Ill blow your brains out The reward is dead or alive Tho next moment there was a knock at the door Tom who was closely watching tho I face of the villain on the floor saw an expression of surprise flit over it and saw him turn his head toward the door with a look of curiosity The chief called out in a loud voice Enter I The door swung open and in walked Harry Fountain I He was dressed in the same kind of a suit as that the U S Ts had made their uniform CHAPTER XXXIV THE TRAP IS SPRUNG OUNTAIN could not have been 1 It more astonished when he viewed 1 i4I the scene before him than was Tom Tom was sure also that the man on the floor was I quite as much astonished r as-tonished as the rest Evidently he was not expecting ex-pecting Fountain Foun-tain and it was also clear that he did not know who he was Take that man into the other room said Tom and dont let him utter a sound Gag him Then well make sureHo was obeyed The man attempted I to make resistance but he was quickly overpowered and forced into the other room where the gag was applied Fountain looked upon tho scene with undisguised amazement Tom waited for him to speak Finally having recovered re-covered from his astonishment he said May I ask the meaning of thisstrango scene Mr Bryan May I ask the meaning of this strange disguise Mr Fountain retorted Tom pointing to his l clothes Fountain blushed but did not reply I will relieve your astonishment continued Tom sternly after a moments silence This is a rescuing party These men aro detectives A girl was abducted in broad daylight this morning and confined here She has just been I taken away having been rescued by myself my-self and friends Her name Mr Foun tam is Annio Templeton sister of the murdered Templeton Fountains faco expressed neither alarm nor fright nor anything else but intense surprise and interest Wo are now waiting for tho abductor abduc-tor added Tom I If thats the case Mr Bryan it were I better that I retire Ho turned to go to the door Tom made a sign to the two detectives They stepped forward Pardon me Mr Fountain you cannot can-not do that All who enter hero are under un-der arrest Light broke in on Fountain and with it intense anger He turned on Tom his eyes blazing 11 under arrest Youll find that I am not to be trifled with Tom interrupted him in a hard cold metallic voice low in tone No heroics Mr Fountain You are my prisoner until you can explain your presence here in this den on this particular partic-ular night You can frighten no one here were used to just such haughty scoundrels as you are just as we are to vicious rascals like the one lying in there Hes twice as dangerous as you can ever be The cold self possession and master fulness of Tom was irritating in the highest degree to Fountain and if ever his boasted self command was needed by him it was at that moment Appearances Appear-ances were so strongly against him that angered as he was he could not fail to realize it By a violent effort he put a curb upon his passion and in a moment ho said You think I am the abductor I dont think it Im certain of it You are mistaken This was said in a tone as cold and as firm as that Tom had used Indeed said Tom Perhaps you can explain this enigmatical note Ho handed to Fountain the slip of paper which had been taken from the pocket of Scar Top Johnny Fountain read it and handed it back to TomI I know nothing of it Tom was somewhat dumfounded Then he recollected tho reputation of the man for coolness and nerve Fountain in turn took from his vest pocket a slip of paper and handing it to Tom said Please react that and compare it with the scrap you have Tom read If Mr Fountain desires to see Marian and talk with her he must come to No Mott street attic floor at 11 sharp to christ Tom took the other slip from his pocket pock-et and compared the two the writing was in the same disguised hand he compared com-pared the two scrapsevidently they were torn from the same piece of paper Tom was puzzled You are an hour before your time he said I read it ten said Fountain Let me look at it Oh I seo how I made my mistake Then he continued Thisis very mysterious You and I should have an understanding Mr Bryan Will you step aside with me They went to tho dormer window I am here said Fountain in obedience obe-dience to that writing Where you obtained ob-tained the other paper I dont know From the pockets of that scoundrel lying on tho floor in the other room replied re-plied Tom If you will permit me I will explain I am here in this dress because of the place I was to visit and the part of the town I was to pass through For sometime some-time I maintained a relation with a young woman whose name was Marian Summers This relation was continued until I became the affianced of a young lady whom you doubtless know byname by-name but who should not be mentioned in this place and in this connection When that took place the relation with Marian became an impossibility The girl was loathit is a mild word for her feelingto break up the relation rela-tion and we parted in high passion but she had secured certain papers of mine of exceeding great value and of great damage to me in any other persons per-sons hands I have tried again and again to obtain them She has sent me several messages of this kind and it was to go into the strange places she led me to I that I bought this suit 1 have never met her though I have responded in each instance I had little hone of seeing see-ing her tonight but these documents were of such value to me that 1 did not dare to miss tho chance You have the whole story without reservation except as to the character of tho papers As to those I can only say they were letters to my mother and a written statement of hers which can now only concern me1 meTom Tom thought he saw it alL Mr Fountain he said with this statement of yours now 1 think I know more about the matter than you do I think I see through it all I think I could even tell you the nature of your mothers statement You are the victim of the same plot which has the murdered I Templeton and the abducted girl for victims vic-tims It touches the effort to secure old Piersons I The Shadow put his heal in the door i and said i Hist Some one is coming up tho stairs I He went back closing the door after himGo I Go into the other room ilr Fountain Foun-tain Quick Dont say a word or utter a sound whatever you hear Fountain obeyed impelled by the energy en-ergy of Tom Tho lights were put out and Tom hastily lit the candle in the back room and placed it behind the door There was a knock ComJ in said tho chief in a gruff voice its unlocked The door opened and a man entered You should have kept the door locked lock-ed said a voice Its unsafe to leave it so Is she ready Tom flashed a bulls eye on the newcomer new-comer Before tho man could comprehend what was going forward the two men at I the door through which ho had entered i seized him by the arms and bent them behind his hark I Tom moved up to discover who the I newcomer was R CHAPTER XXXV I MANY FISH TO THE SET I b ° f T WAS George I1r Parker the attorney J attor-ney neyHo II Ho ho cried v Tom gayly Why wo aro going go-ing to have quite lI a party tonight I I Good evening Mr Parker You see now why I couldnt meet you this evening I had this engagement But since wo have met let us exchange our confidences now Mr Parker What in tho namo of all the fiends do you mean by this outrage cried the old man throughly enraged Release meNo No said Tom wo cant do that Were too glad to seo you We aro afraid you would leavo us Boys to make sure of his staying and spending the evening with us puta pair of handcuffs on him I This was done at once Now said Tom with ineffable sweetness sweet-ness shall we have our exchange of confidences Give tho gentleman a chair boys Take a seat Mr Parker 9 The old man fairly fumed with rage Sit down said Tom The old man refused Tom pushed him down saying When I offer courtesies to a gentleman gentle-man I intend he shall accept them I am sorry Miss Annie Templeton could not await your coming She had pressing engagements elsewhere She has gone I with Mr Holbrook Had she only known the tender srlicitude you manifested toward her I am not quite certain but she would have remained The old man was speechless withrage Your other friend is here however Mr ScarTop Johnny But just now he is with two of my friends in an adjoining adjoin-ing room They are engaged an argument argu-ment on the value of silence The argument argu-ment is enforced by my friends and Mr ScarTop Johnny is just now a living exponent ex-ponent of its truth And also there is Mr Fountainhe is here too Fountain at ten said tho old man completely thrown off his guard I know I know said Tom with elaborate politeness You wrote eleven but you should write more plainly He read it ten The error on his part was excusable The old man saw he had made a fatal admission He revenged himself by saying say-ing Curse you foran impudent dog Oh thank you thank you returned Tom bowing You arc entirely too complimentary Then dropping his bantering tone he I said fiercely I Throw up your hand you white haired rascal I know your whale game Youve got a deal to answer for but youve got this consolation that your punishment for tha greater crime will make that for tho rest impossible Oh indeed I tho old man at last found voice to say Youn tj will you tell me why you maltreat me thus Tell you Yes if you will tell me why you maltreated Annie Templeton by abducting her I Oh I think you will have to prove I that These gentlemen do not seem to be officers of the law Perhaps you will show me your warrant for these proceedings proceed-ings I am afraid young sir you will find it difficult of proof that I have abducted ab-ducted any young lady Tom was staggered by the coolness of the old scamp It was true that the last man he expected to see there was Parker Only that morning ho had proved to his own satisfaction that Parker was not concerned in the plot and had won Holbrook i Hol-brook to liia way of thinking Ho had leaped to the conclusion he now entertained enter-tained on seeing Parker enter While lie wa certain he was right still the thought flashed across his brain that the wily old man had procured the abduction abduc-tion while covering his own tracks Ho rallied however in a moment and all tho more quickly as he saw from the I sneer and tho look of triumph in the wicked old eyes that Parker had realized real-ized what was passing through his mind My old man returned Tom Im not at loss for reasons for taking you to the police If not for tho abduction why then for falsely personating a clergyman and marrying an assumed Mr Fountain if not for that then for falsely person sting clergyman again andmarrying the assumed Mr Fountain under the name of Simpson to another woman In the name of all tho fiends how do you know all this boy screamed the old man And then continued Tom there la the blackmailing of Mr Pierson for years The old man glared at him I And then there is tho fraudulent affidavit affi-davit and subornation of perjury in the claim of Preston against the Pierson estate I Tho old man quailed before Tom The accumulation of charges was beginning to tell I Then there is the abduction of Mrs Templeton Stop stop cried the old man have you got her too I It was as easy to find her replied Tom unblushingly as to find the daughter And then I Stop stop I cried the old man overwhelmed over-whelmed Havo pity on a poor misguided mis-guided old man Thero is just ono thing more I should like to mention I Stop stop moaned the old man And that is tho murder of Temple tonTho I Tho old man looked upI j up-I never did that Heaven knows that is the truth I never did that I I confess the rest 1 confess tho abduction abduc-tion of Annie Templeton and hoc mother I abut blood has never stained these hands No it was not until after the I death of Templeton not until after I I had heard of it and knewwhat its effect was that I conceived the idea of seizing and concealing these women and pressing press-ing Prestons claim No Im not guilty of that You old rascal dont lie to me cried Tom angrily I know the whole plot Why you hoary headed villain if we could o back to the dark days ol English vefceance and not only hang but draw and quarter you you would not get half the punishment you deserve de-serve Tho old man lifted his hands appealingly appeal-ingly Dont I know the whole story continued con-tinued Tom You wero a tool of Pier sons you knew his previous life his change of names that the Templetons were the rightful heirs that by killing one and imprisoning the othersthe two defenseless womenyou could begin to make that old drunkards claim good and divide the property in equal shares onehalf for yourself You old rascal you have tho agreement drawn and signed now in your possession You aro the devil incarnate whimpered whim-pered the old man Then you feared that Mrs Fountains son could raise a good claim and so you enticed him here tonight with the intention in-tention of doing him too No no Heaven hear and help me I have never committed murder I only meant to confine him until I could get the matter settled and disposed of He was interfering Oh that was all you I Through the open door came the musical mu-sical voice of a man ascending tho stairs singing When girls ore kind and wino is warm Oh theres the harm oh wheres the harm Thetf waists to squeeze their lips to press The old man lifted his head quickly and murmured The fools been drinking drink-ing again Ho attempted to call out but by reason rea-son of his emotion or something else his throat refused to give forth sound Before he could clear it Tom sprang to him and placed his hand over his mouth Gag him he said to a man who came to his assistance It is my own son said the old man He is not to blame for anything let him go free Well see about that said Tom Take him into the other room while we receive the new visitor Take that candle back again CHAPTER XXXVL AT LAST It Il I 1 y IT If I i OUNTAIN had come from the adjoining t4 room and his usual impassive 7r im-passive faco bore the evidence of his agitation over the marvels he had heard f I The Shadow in giving giv-ing the warning of the approach o f another comer had closed the door after him The owner of tho musical voice was not disposed to knock much less to use his hands to open the door for ho gave it a vicious kick The lock was a good one and did not yield Open the door I he cried Open it yourself responded the chief and come in The door was pushed open and a young man strode in As soon as ho stepped within the room he was seized by the two men stationed at the door With an oath he tried to struggle free and was nearly successful for he was avery a-very powerful man Tom turned the light upon him He did not know him It was not to be wondered at but he was in fact tho young man who had chloroformed and abducted Annie in the morning Good evening Mr Parker Jr said TomWho Who in great God Alive Tom had been startled by tho look of wild terror and horror that came over the young mans face and ho saw that it was caused by the sight of Fountain Do the dead rise again Alive You Fountain alive Am I dreamingor mad Alive I killed you in Union square and yet alive Tho man was evidently horror stricken and did not know what he was doing Fountain replied 1 am alive you did not kill me But they buried you I Put the handcuffs on him ordered Tom Wo have the murderer at last You arc a great man Tom cried Chief Hanford jubilantly Once more Tom Bryan the keenest newspaper man in New York and Hanfords Detective agency beat thin regular police No said Tom not heeding tho chief You did not kill Fountain but you did Templeton But how can you have continued con-tinued to believe that it was Fountain you killed said Tom much confused when the papers announced the death of Templeton The young man had recovered sufficiently suffi-ciently from the fright and consternation consterna-tion into which he had been thrown on seeing Fountain and began to realize what ho had been sayingthe confession lie had madeand so would not reply Tom repeated the question but received re-ceived no answer The chief Hanford said All right my man but youve confessed and silence si-lence wont save you now Well said tho murderer doggedly 1 thought Templeton was his right name and Fountain a false one he used inn t1n nla I By Joel said TomI thought I of it before Do you know Mr Fountain I there is a strong resemblance between you and Templeton I I have heard it noted before said Fountain It is not strange the same blood ran in our veins The old man Parker had been struggling strug-gling and making unintelligible sounds in the other room Tom ordered the removal of the gag He struggled to his son Unhappy boy t What made you commit com-mit that crime I dont know that your hands are so whites that you can afford to throw dirt dirtOh Oh ho reproaches meme Reproaches you yes Shut up We played a big game for a big stake and weve lost Well stand game to the last But this murder boy this murder that was not in the game No it wasnt replied the son with a hitler laugh It was a side issue of my own That man Fountain curse him stole my girl from me Marian and I had it in for him Thats all Now that Im done for Id give every day I yet have to live to get at him once Marian What Marian The Marian who lives in Hudson street now The same said the son What tangle is this moaned the old man Sho has tho girl Annies mother in her keeping now and she herself is a daughter of James Preston The number in Hudson street please said Tom Theres little use in concealing anything any-thing now Its No Let me handle that part of the case please asked Fountain Ill guarantee to return Mrs Templeton safely As you will said Tom You will do well to take some of tho chiefs men with you Wo can spare two Fountain departed with them at once Now chief said Tom I think it would be well to take our bag of game to tho Central office The play is over and tho lights are out The three prisoners would be far more welcome if some one else than ourselves were to bring them sardonically sardon-ically remarked the chief Undoubtedly But let us go Handcuff Hand-cuff them all together Come let us set out Shadow and one man in front You I and another man behind As they moved out in this order a disappointed dis-appointed voice commented Dey only hit him onct At the Central office the three prisoners prison-ers were arraigned and Tom said briefly I charge this man Parker with having hav-ing murdered Henry Holroyd Templeton on the morning of the 18th of last August Au-gust by his own confession I charge this man George Parker I with having been tho aider abettor and I instigator of the abduction of Annie Templeton and her mother this day by his own confession I charge this man Scar Top Johnny other name to me unknown as being the aider and abettor of the abduction of Annie Templeton and of having kept her in confinement contrary to her will And I said Chief Hanford charge I him l with being the abductor of a child in Hartford and claim the reward of 2500 offered for him But said the officer what are the details Lock them up inspector and read The Sol tomorrow morning said Tom I cant wait its after 11 now and Ive a long story to write I Tom enjoyed his beat hugely and was for several days the hero of his I office the wonder of his competitors and i tho envied of the detective force One thing on the morning of publication I publica-tion marred Toms full enjoyment He had announced the rescue of Mrs Tem pleton without knowing it to be an absolute ab-solute fact Accordingly he early sought Holbrook to learn the result and was told that Fountains expedition had been crowned with success He had also recovered his papers the girl Marian having delivered them over as the price of her liberty Tom said Holbrook the regular police had the true theory after all Templeton was killed under the belief he was some one else True replied Tom but wo caught the murderer and they didnt they had no conception of the great story behind it alL Yet Holbrook your theory was not so far wrong after all Except in the essential thing laughed Holbrook The motive of tho murder had nothing to do with Piersons property What a queer case it was commented com-mented Tom If those two women hadnt been conveniently abducted we wouldnt have hit on the murderer after all To tell the truth it was a lucky stumble as most great discoveries are Then to think that Fountains chore amie Marian should have turned out to be his cousin The sins of tho father shall be visited etc Do you notice that not a clew proved worth a snap I say Tom what about the diamond button buttonAn Ah what How much we expected from it and how little came of it Ken Noble tho owner says that on the night of tho murder ho was passing from Fourth avenue to Broadway through Twentysixth street and when midway of tho Madison Squaro Garden a man rushed across the street grasped him by the arm and pulled him to the light and then dropped it saying Youro not the man Afterwards when ho found his button gone he thought it was robbery rob-bery It was young Parker watching for Fountain The button was probably detached tached in the struggle to be carried away unintentionally in his clothes to be lost in Union square Probably Four years have passed since thee the-e e ts occurred recorded in our narra tie iveMrs Mrs Templeton is dead She never recovered from the exposure and tho nervous shock received on the day of the abduction of herself and Annie fol lowin so closelyupon the murder of her son But she did not die until she had faithfully carried out every expressed wish of her father James Preston speedily realized the benign be-nign hope of his brother and drank himself to death insixmonths young Parker was never brought to trial Five days after his arrest he was found dead in his celldead by poison supposed to have been supplied by one of his brother members of the U S Ts of which he was a popular member His father and Scar Top Johnny are serving long sentences in the state prison Wcssing is still living in Philadelphia prosperous and respected and does not dream that he was ever suspected by Holbrook and Tom of having committed a murder or that he was in danger of arrest The origin of the birth of Fountain has never been made public He and Flora Ashgrove were married two years ago and his friends and acquaintances have ceased wondering over his mysterious mysteri-ous accession to a fortune They count Mr and Mrs Holbrook as their dearest friends So Mr Holbrook is married To Annie An-nie Of course Could there have been any other result after the scene at tho rescue in Mott street Married too before be-fore Mrs Templeton died Two children a boy and a girl make music in the house The namo of the boy is Thomas Bryan Holbrook There is another boy in tho house whoso name is Maurice McNulty whom Mrs Holbrook loves with all tho wealth of her affectionate nature There has been some difficulty in civilizing civ-ilizing the boy but he begins to show the results of the humanizing and refining refin-ing influences he is surrounded by Indeed In-deed the onlytime he shows any of his old savagery is when a rollicking rattling rat-tling young man with a cheery smile and bright blue eyes and who is welcomed wel-comed with great shouts and warm kisses and who is greeted as Undo Tom makes his appearance which is nearly daily and wants Maurice to tell whether he has that day wholloped any one right up and down and gin him black eyes I gollyl And Tom O h Tom is still the old Tom of superhuman energy and intense enthusiasm still the keenest newspaperman newspaper-man in New York as when he led the search for the owner of The Diamond Button THE END |