CHAPTER IX.
IN THE BLACK HOLE.
Where had Shadow gone to?
At the instant that the murderous crew rushed at him, he quietly sankto the floor.
The first one to reach the spot where he had been standing struck hisbody.
The cry of surprise on his lips was changed into a death-groan, as theman nearest him grabbed at and stabbed him, under the impression thatit was the strange, and to them, unknown person whom they had detectedspying on them.
Shadow had seen us and knew that we would now take care of the gang,and he had edged toward the door communicating with the hall, and haddisappeared unseen by my men, deeply interested just then in anotherquarter.
The villains were marched away and locked up, and to make a long storyshort were properly punished in due course of time.
The bank officials, grateful at having been saved a heavy loss, votedme a handsome sum in reward for my services.
This, I felt, belonged entirely to Shadow, and I kept it about me inthe shape of a check, to be given him at the first opportunity.
From the fact that he had not been found anywhere around, I was assuredthat he had escaped, although the manner of it was then a mystery to me.
And I fully expected to hear something from or see him within a veryfew days.
But I did not.
He seemed to have disappeared from the face of earth.
I went around among the dens of the east side, but could neither seenor learn anything of him.
Again and again I made the tour of the dives, but always with the sameresult.
Then, put to work on a case, I plunged into it, became interested, andShadow slowly faded from my mind.
It was a murder case.
The murder had been committed under peculiar circumstances, and I hadnot been long at work before I became convinced that it had been doneby the hands of a regularly organized gang of evil-doers.
At last I struck a clew.
I became convinced that I knew the very individual who had committedthe bloody deed, but I delayed arresting him, as by this time I hadgained an inkling of greater work to be done at the same time.
I was ambitious of entrapping the whole gang, instead of this solitarymember of it.
I laid my plans accordingly.
Disguise was always a forte of mine, and I proceeded now to conceal myidentity as thoroughly as possible.
My next step was to ingratiate myself with a member of the gang.
I picked my man, and proved an apt student of human nature when I didso, for perhaps of all the gang he was the only one who could have beenso easily gulled.
His confidence gained, I knew the rest would be easy enough.
By him I was made acquainted with several others belonging to the samegang, and on his guarantee of my trustworthiness, they talked freelybefore me.
One day Shadow was brought forcibly to my mind by a chance remarkdropped by one of my new friends.
"Have you seen the young chap we've got in the Black Hole?"
This was the remark.
Could they mean Shadow?
At once I pricked up my ears.
"No," was the reply. "I want to see him, though. What does he looklike?"
"A young fellow with a smooth face, not more than eighteen, and slenderas a girl."
It tallied with Shadow's appearance.
"None know him?"
"So it seems; leastways, none as has seen him yet ever saw him before.We had Dick Stanton come in and take a peep at him, and Dick says heain't a detective--that is, a regular detective, at any rate."
"He was caught nosing around, though?"
"Yes."
"Had he tumbled to anything much?"
"That we don't know, for he won't say a word--aye, yes or no."
"And what does the cap'n mean to do with him?"
"I give it up. One of the boys told me that in the end he meant to havehim knifed."
"The best thing to do. 'Dead men tell no tales,'" remarked the other.
Here they let the thing drop.
I wanted to find out where this Black Hole was, but dared ask noquestions, nor press the subject of the young fellow's captivity.
For the present I was compelled to adopt a waiting policy, or run therisk of killing the confidence I had already gained, by the asking oftoo many questions.
Still, it was a horrible thought to me that, while I was doing nothing,Shadow (otherwise Mat Morris) was in captivity in the Black Hole, aplace whose name implied nothing but the horrible, and in hourly dangerof being butchered like an animal.
In this dilemma I changed my disguise and took to tracking these mento find out where their head-quarters were, presuming that it would bethere where the Black Hole would be found.
I tracked them finally to an old and ruined brick building near theEast River.
It had once been a sugar-house, but had burned out, leaving only itswalls standing.
The remains of the building had been turned to advantage--its wallssquared on top and roofed over, leaving a structure in some places onestory high, in other places two stories.
It was for the most part occupied by old junk and chain men, and amongthem were several well-known to the police, and suspected of beingreceiving shops for the "swag" of the river pirates.
Was the Black Hole only one of the vaults of the old sugar-house?
Was it located here?
I would have given a thousand dollars to have been sure of this.
In the dead of night I again drew near this old sugar-house, andstretched myself out alongside of a big piece of dock timber thatchanced to lie in a good position.
About two o'clock I heard footsteps approaching from the direction ofthe river, and when the persons drew nearer I recognized one voice asthat of the individual whom I had thus far bamboozled.
The scent was getting "hot."
They were carrying several heavy coils of rope, the result of theirdepredations on the river during a few preceding hours.
They passed me and approached the building, and I heard one of themwhistle twice, very softly.
Then a peculiar knock was given on a particular door, which at oncepromptly opened to give them ingress.
At once a desperate scheme flashed across my brain.
I wanted to save Shadow, but still I did not wish to make a descent onthe place with a body of officers, as it would make it impossible forme to carry out my original plan of bagging the whole gang.
I had heard mentioned the name of Dick Stanton. He was a detective,and, as I now knew, a false one, through whom had leaked out theintentions of the police on several occasions, rendering well-laidplans fruitless; so that the police had found empty nests when theyexpected a bag full of game.
I arose and went forward.
I whistled thrice, and knocked at the door as I had heard the othersknock.
As the door opened I glided in.
The guard spotted me as a stranger at once, and laid his hand on hisrevolver.
"I am sent by Stanton," I promptly said. "He gave me the points, andtold me to carry a message of warning to 'cap.'"
Closing the door, the guard conducted me into a large room, wherewas gathered an immense quantity of old junk and rigging of alldescriptions.
"Cap!" he called.
"Yes," came from the distant side of the room, where a lot of men weregathered about a lantern.
"Somebody to see you," with which the guard went back to the door,leaving his lantern beside me.
A slight noise caused me to look around, and I was startled at seeinga human hand protruding up through a crevice in a junk pile. The handheld a bit of paper, at which I blankly stared, thinking it held by adead hand.
But no--the fingers stirred, the note was shaken. It was clear that itwas intended for me.
I took it.
Cap had not yet started toward me. I read the few words on the note bythe aid of the guard's lantern.
"Fly! Although the guar
d does not know--Stanton is here! Your first word will betray you. SHADOW."
Here was a fix.
How could I pass the guard on the portal? Yet I must go.
Shadow, the Mysterious Detective Page 9