The Secret Toll

by Paul Thorne and Mabel Thorne

  CHAPTER XIX--FACE TO FACE

  It was bright moonlight when Forrester left the house and walked southon Sheridan Road. He had decided to walk to Lucy's, believing that hewould attract less attention, both on the way and after reaching hisdestination, than if he used his roadster. Though wayside trees castgreat shadows across the road, and the gloom near bordering hedgerows,or the underbrush of vacant tracts, afforded partial concealment,Forrester looked with apprehension upon the brilliancy of the night.Fortunately for his plans, large clouds began shortly to drift over themoon. The gloom was more intense during these moments of darknessbecause of the transition from periods of strong moonlight.

  The night was unusually still, undoubtedly because of an approachingstorm, and few people seemed to be abroad. Only two motor cars passedhim during the journey between his home and Jasper lane. One of thesepassed at a time when the moon was shining brightly and Forrester wassure that it was Melville's limousine. At the moment, he was walking inthe deep shadow of a high hedge and was probably invisible to theoccupants of the car. It was a providential circumstance, for to bestopped and questioned at this time would not only cause delay, butmight attract undesirable attention.

  Reaching Jasper lane, Forrester kept to the grass at the side, andwalking slowly, succeeded in approaching the oak tree without any soundthat would be audible to others than himself. He paused, listening longand intently. The silence seemed almost palpable, its noiseless fingersclutching at him from the darkness. A momentary flash of the moon gavehim his bearings. During the succeeding darkness, Forrester, stoopinglow, carefully felt his way past the tree and down the path towardLucy's cottage. Unless the colored woman had secured another dog,Forrester was sure that he could reach her door unnoticed. It was thenhis purpose to tie her fast and either frighten her into some helpfuladmission or else discover for himself some clue possibly overlooked bythe police.

  The cottage stood dark and silent in its little clearing. Forresterreached it without hearing a sound, but he had a momentary feeling ofuneasiness when the moon shone full upon him as he crossed the clearing.At the door he paused to consider. Was the woman away? Or had sheretired for the night? If the latter, then he would probably be able tosurprise her while she slept. Forrester placed his hand on the doorknoband turned it slowly and quietly. Then he exerted a gentle pressure, andwas gratified, though astonished, to find that the door opened. Fearfulof squeaking hinges Forrester moved the door inward an inch at a time,and entering, closed it in the same careful way. There was no key in thelock, but running his hand along the edge of the door, Forresterdiscovered a bolt which he softly pushed into place.

  Forrester took out the muffler and wound it about his neck and faceuntil only his eyes were exposed. Then he pulled his cap down so thatits vizor shadowed even these. With intermittent and cautious flashes ofhis pocket lamp he found that the room was unoccupied and the doorleading to what he believed to be Lucy's bedroom closed. This heapproached with wary tread and opened the door slowly and softly. Aflash of his light showed that the bedroom was also deserted. Lucy wasnot at home! It was a wonderful opportunity that might be interrupted atany moment, so Forrester worked fast. He considered it immaterial whatthe woman might discover after he was gone. Any disorder she wouldprobably attribute to another visit by the police.

  Forrester tore the coverings from the bed and scattered the contents ofdrawers on the floor. His search was unrewarded. There was not a line ofwriting anywhere; no concealed arms, Bolshevik literature or suspiciousbottles; absolutely nothing to form the slightest clue. He then carriedhis search into the sitting room with equally unsuccessful results.Forrester received an uncomfortable shock as he turned his pocket lampinto the aquarium and saw the slimy bodies of the snakes writhe uneasilyunder the glare of the light.

  Thus far the search had been fruitless and discouraging, but the sightof the snakes in their glass prison started Forrester's mind to working.What was the real purpose of these snakes? Their uncanny, loathsomebodies were repellent to the strongest man. _Repellent!_ The word wasilluminative. Was not one of its definitions "drive back"? Was this theactual purpose of the snakes?

  Forrester fixed the button on his pocket lamp to keep the light steady,and laid it on the center table to illumine his work. Lifting the standon which the aquarium rested he placed it near the middle of the roomand pulled aside the heavy rug.

  _Directly beneath the spot where the aquarium stood was a squaretrapdoor in the floor!_

  Forrester stooped, placed two fingers in a hole, evidently provided forthe purpose, lifted the section of carefully fitted flooring and set itto one side. Taking his light from the table and turning its rays intothe opening Forrester saw a ladder leading into a cellar beneath thecottage. Swiftly he dropped his legs through the hole and descended.

  The underground room in which he found himself was smaller than thespace covered by the cottage. The walls were of large rough stones,showing evidence of dampness. Along these walls was piled litter of avaried nature--old barrels, boxes, empty food tins and the brokenremains of furniture. Against the front wall, at a point almost underthe entrance door, stood an old, dilapidated sideboard. It attractedForrester's attention because he could not conceive how such a largeobject had been brought into the cellar through the small trap. It wasthe only thing in the cellar that could be readily moved, and Forresterhad an inspiration to look behind it. At the first effort the sideboardswung out from the wall on smooth-running casters that strangely hadapparently not been affected by the dampness of the cellar.

  Moving the sideboard disclosed a small, rough-board door in the wall.This Forrester opened and flashed his light into the space beyond. Itseemed to be a narrow passage, the floor a little below the level of thecellar. Forrester dropped into the passage and started along it,throwing his light about him and studying its formation. The floor wassandy, the walls of solid rock, and the roof appeared to have beenformed by a multitude of interlacing tree and plant roots. The averagewidth of the passage was about five feet and its height somewherebetween ten and twelve. Forrester's trained eye saw instantly that itwas the work of Nature, not of man. At some remote period a cleft hadbeen riven in the solid rock and the intertwined roots above preventedthe caving in of the surface soil.

  A momentary sparkle on the ceiling caught Forrester's eye. He thendiscovered that electric lights were hung from the roof at regularintervals. They were beyond his reach, and as no connection or switchalong the walls had been discovered, Forrester concluded that the lightscould be operated only from some point inside the cottage.

  Presently Forrester came to an indentation in the wall on his right,forming a sort of shelf. On this rested two bright steel cylinders aboutthe size of the small fire extinguisher he carried in his car. To one ofthe cylinders was attached a five-foot length of a slender rubber tubingwhich connected it with one of the rubber death masks he knew only toowell. Here at last was evidence beyond dispute. Forrester did not meddlewith the cylinders. The slightest mistake made by one unaccustomed tothem might release the deadly gas he had reason to believe theycontained. In that confined space its action would be swift and sure.

  Continuing along the passage Forrester finally came to the end. At thispoint it widened out slightly into a small chamber. At one side a ladderled up into a mass of tangled tree roots that hung in fantastic shapes,which gave Forrester an uncomfortable feeling that he had stumbled intoa veritable den of snakes. Forcing back this feeling of revulsion heclimbed the ladder.

  Here the handiwork of man was in evidence. He was ascending into a spacethat had been hollowed out of the heart of a tree. Above his head was asmall wooden trapdoor held in place by a wood slide or bolt. Releasingthe bolt allowed the door to drop silently downward on hinges formed ofstiff leather. A package fell into his hands, followed by a draft of airladen with the scent of summer woods. Pushing up his light Forresterrecognized the hollow in the oak tree. He saw also that the upper sideof the trapdoor was so prepared that it would seem like part
of the treeto anyone investigating from above.

  At last the most vital secret of the "Friends of the Poor" was in hishands--the method by which they had so mysteriously secured their tollunder the very eyes of the detectives.

  Forrester examined the small, flat package in his hand. Someone hadplaced a contribution in the tree that night. Then Forrester shivered.The scoundrels would come to collect at any moment! He was shut in atthe far end of a narrow passage, the only way of escape leading backthrough the cottage where they would enter. If they met him here his endwould be sure and his disappearance a mystery forever. Hastily heclimbed down the ladder and was about to go when several objects drewhis attention. The temptation to investigate these before he left wastoo strong to resist and Forrester lingered a moment or two longer.

  All the paraphernalia that had made possible the ghostly illusions,which had frightened others and puzzled him, now lay revealed as nothingbut mean claptrap. On the wall hung a group of rusty chains, a smallmegaphone for throwing the voice and an old locomotive bell. In onecorner stood a tin similar to a paint can. This, Forrester found,contained a preparation commonly known as phosphorescent paint and anearby glove, which smelled strongly of the substance, solved the riddleof the flaming hand which had impressed even the phlegmatic Green. Thegreatest curiosity of all, however, was a black tube standing againstthe wall. Forrester instantly remembered the appearance of something ofthis kind in Humphrey's photograph. On examination it proved to be ahomemade periscope. By pushing it up into the opening in the oak tree itwas probably possible for a person in the cave to ascertain what wasoccurring on the surface. Forrester did not wait to experiment, for hewas sure that on the night of the Italians' visit someone was taking inthe scene and the projecting end of the periscope had been picked up bythe camera.

  Forrester now hurried down the passage. Unquestionably he had lingeredlonger than was wise, and a quick escape was imperative. As he passedback through the passage Forrester's engineering training caused him tonote certain things about him. Though the rocky walls and the sandbeneath his feet were now dry, he saw indications that the cleft mustserve as a drain for the neighborhood. In the winter it was probably awell; full of cold, stagnant water, which, he surmised, accounted forthe peculiar inactivity of the "Friends of the Poor" after the winterrains and snow fell.

  Before he reached the end of the passage Forrester was startled to heara grating sound, followed by a slight thud.

  Like a flash the truth came to him. Someone had discovered the movedsideboard and open door and surmising that the visitor was still in thecave had shut him in.

  Forrester paused to reflect. It would be useless to try and force hisway out. Even if he could get through the door, which he doubted, therewas no telling how many of the band were in the cottage. Forrester wasunarmed, as he had expected to deal only with Lucy, and a battle withmore than one man would be an unequal struggle. To make matters worse,his electric lamp, which had been in constant use since he entered thecottage, now gave out. The bulb still glowed, but with a dull light thathad no power. Forrester flung the lamp down and felt his way back towardthe tree. He reasoned that as a package had been placed in the tree itwas more than probable that detectives were concealed nearby. To climbinto the opening in the tree, attract their attention by shouting, andthen give directions for reaching him, seemed the only solution.

  Continued calls, however, brought no response. Either there were nodetectives there, or else his cries for help, which necessarily had tobe subdued, were acting on superstitious minds and accomplishing justthe opposite of what he intended--driving help away. Forrester ceasedhis calls and climbed slowly down into the cave once more.

  Suddenly the place was brilliantly illuminated by the turning on of theelectric lights over his head. The meaning of this was clear. The timehad come when he must fight for his life and Forrester looked about fora weapon. There was nothing that would serve his purpose. Then herecollected the cylinders. Who knew better than these men theirdeath-dealing power? With these cylinders in his hands would it not bepossible to hold his assailants at bay--even to overcome them? Forresterdashed down the passage to reach the cylinders before his enemies. Itwas too late! As he rounded a slight curve in the rocky cleft he saw thefigure of a man only a short distance away. Still there might be time.He could see the depression where the cylinders rested and the man wassome distance on the other side. Forrester kept on, but his hopes fellas he saw the man reach the spot first and stop.

  Forrester also came to a halt and the two men surveyed each other insilence. Completely covering the man's head and shoulders was a blackhood. Through two slits Forrester could see the sparkle of his eyes.Forrester recalled Prentice's description of the two hooded men who hadattacked him and realized that at last he was face to face with the"Friends of the Poor."

  The man moved forward. As he approached, his body slightly crouched likea wrestler waiting for his opening, Forrester took heart. If it wassimply to be a hand to hand contest and the men came only one at a time,then there was some hope.

  Forrester kept the man off at first with his fists, but at length theyclosed and a desperate struggle began. Back and forth they tugged andpulled, neither man seemingly gaining any advantage. All at onceForrester saw the cylinders at his side and suddenly realized thatthroughout the struggle the man had been slowly dragging him alongtoward these death machines. And with the realization he saw the manreach out and seize the one with the rubber mask attached.

  From that moment the battle changed. Forrester's one thought was to keepthe mask away from his face, while the man's main effort was evidentlydirected toward placing it there. Presently Forrester detected thepeculiar odor of the gas. Either the cylinder had been accidentallyopened in the struggle or the man had intentionally released the gas. Asthe mask was directed toward Forrester, and only a few inches from hisface, he received the full effect of the fumes, while the man waspartially protected from its effect. Forrester felt himself weakening,as he had on the night of the battle in Jasper lane.

  With a last despairing effort he tripped his antagonist and as they fellForrester managed to come down on top. Slowly he forced the mask overthe man's hooded face and just as he had it in place Forrester sank downunconscious.

  CHAPTER XX--THE INVISIBLE DETECTIVE

  Forrester awoke to find himself in the same bedroom in which he hadrecovered consciousness after the attack made upon him in Jasper lane.The recognition of his surroundings was a shocking stimulant. Like aflash the whole scene in the underground passage was recalled.

  That he should again have been rescued by the girl possessed asignificance which permitted of no alleviating doubt. Mary Sturtevantwas unquestionably hand and glove with the "Friends of the Poor."Forrester closed his eyes and groaned. He loved her--would have redeemedher from their clutches--but she had not listened to him. _Now the wholeterrible secret was within his grasp and yet that love for her must holdhim back!_

  How could he expose the "Friends of the Poor" and drag her down in thecrash? Bolshevik they _might_ be--murderers they surely were. Publicopinion, aroused now to fever heat, would see that not one escaped thefull penalty. Unless the girl were part and parcel with the organizationand knew their inmost secrets--their every move--she would never havebeen close at hand to save him from that hidden passage where no oneknew that he had gone.

  Suddenly he felt a cool, soft hand upon his forehead. He opened his eyesand turned his head. Mary Sturtevant sat by the bedside, gazing down athim with bright eyes as she gently stroked his head.

  "Mary," he whispered, reproachfully, "I can't believe it!"

  "Oh, Robert," she exclaimed, "are you feeling all right again? I havebeen so worried. It is two days since we brought you here. Each time youawoke you were delirious and we had to give you sleeping powders to keepyou quiet."

  Then she seized his hands in her own and held them close to her."Robert," she murmured, "now that it is all over, I can answer you. _Ilove you!_"

  He drew
her hands back to him and pressed them to his lips. "All over?"he queried, at last. "What do you mean?"

  "I know it is against the doctor's orders to excite you," she answered,"but I cannot stand this dreadful suspense any longer. There is a manwaiting downstairs who can explain all. I have made him stay close athand every day so that when your mind became clear you could know thewhole story immediately. I will bring him up now," and Mary Sturtevantwithdrew her hands from Forrester's clasp and ran out of the room.

  In a few minutes she returned, followed by a tall, broad-shouldered man,with kindly brown eyes and streaks of gray in his thick, dark hair. Hesmiled down reassuringly at Forrester as the girl introduced him.

  "This," she announced, happily, "is Mr. Keith Marten, whom I call theinvisible detective."

  Marten took Forrester's hand and held it for a moment with a warm,friendly clasp, as he said, "I am very glad to meet you face to face,Mr. Forrester. I have known you well for weeks, but chiefly from somedistance. As Miss Sturtevant says, I have endeavored to remaininvisible."

  Marten then drew a chair near the bed and sat down.

  "Do either of you mind my smoking?" he asked, taking a cigar from hispocket. "Tobacco is my principal failing--one, however, which I believeI share in common with all who must draw deeply upon nervous force intheir work."

  Both urged him to smoke, and while Marten lighted his cigar, MarySturtevant explained his connection with the case to Forrester.

  "Mr. Marten was in the Government Secret Service for many years, and hashad his own investigative service for some time.

  "You probably noticed that the majority of the men victimized by thissupposed band of extortioners were prominent in banking circles. Thatconstituted a direct assault upon the banking fraternity. While peopleoutside of banking circles did not know of it, this persecution wasgradually bringing on an actual financial panic. When it was rumoredthat a banker had given up a large sum to this supposed society, or hismurder was reported, a mild run resulted at the bank with which he wasassociated. If there had been only one or two cases this would have hadlittle effect, but as numerous banks were brought into the matter therewas a tendency to spread this fear and the germs of a panic wereinsidiously gripping financial circles. The matter was finally taken upat a special conference of the _Midland Bankers' Association_.

  "Shortly before you were selected as a victim, the M. B. A. engaged Mr.Marten to solve the riddle of the 'Friends of the Poor,' and the secrettoll which they were imposing upon bankers. Mr. Marten has been theinvisible detective, working behind the scenes in this case. Just how heaccomplished his great work I shall leave to Mr. Marten to tell you."

  "Your story will certainly interest me," declared Forrester, smiling atMarten, and elated at the thought that Mary Sturtevant had been workingin a good cause. "I had about lost faith in the supposed abilities ofdetectives."

  "There are many able detectives," replied Marten. "You made your firstmistake in not going to a high-class detective agency. You cannot judgethe ability of all detectives by ex-policemen like Green, or by theaverage city men. To become a city detective, a man must put in longservice as a policeman; and even then he has no guarantee that he willever be promoted to the detective section. The peculiar type of brain,the scientific turn of mind, and the education which make an efficientdetective, naturally render long preliminary service as a policemanabhorrent to the men who make the best detectives. Moreover, thephysical requirements of the police department shut out many brilliantthinkers. Consequently, the best detective material seldom, if ever,reaches city police departments.

  "The whole principle is wrong, and until some other system isestablished we will continue to see fine specimens of physicaldevelopment, whose very appearance advertises their calling, trying tosolve intricate criminal cases by muscle-power instead of brain-power.It is analogous to placing a prize fighter in the chair of highermathematics at some university.

  "Forgive me, Mr. Forrester, if I bore you with these extraneouscomments, but it is a subject that takes up much of my leisure time. Ihope, by educating influential men like you, that the system will bechanged; that eventually we will have a great central department likeScotland Yard, or that the detective bureaus of large cities will beseparate from the regular police departments."

  "You do not bore me, Mr. Marten," returned Forrester. "On the contrary,I am deeply interested; especially because of what happened in thepresent case."

  "Well, enough of that," said Marten. "Now for the story I came here totell.

  "Unlike police detectives, I do not immediately ascribe a crime to thelower criminal classes. I _know_ that criminal tendencies extend upwardthrough every stratum of society. My first effort, therefore, is toplace the possible social standing of the criminal, and thus learnapproximately _where_ to look for him.

  "In the present instance I took all the available data and analyzed thesituation. Two points impressed me at once. One, that for approximatelya year not a single clue had been discovered. Second, the enormousamount of money which had been extorted. This had reached the sum ofnearly a quarter of a million dollars."

  "I considered those points," said Forrester, "but they gave me no clue."

  "Ah, because you lacked two things," returned Marten. "Experience andthe outside viewpoint. Now, in analyzing the first point, I seriouslydoubted the existence of a _group_ of men as implied by the name'Friends of the Poor.' When a gang is operating it is difficult to holdthe men together. Something slips sooner or later, just as in the caseof those West Side Italians who were caught by the police. I becameconvinced that we had to deal _with one man only_. I was even moreconvinced of this when I considered the amount of money involved. Tohave attempted to split so vast an amount in an equitable way among anumber of ordinary criminals would eventually have led to dissensionsand exposure.

  "Then, in considering this second point by itself, I saw that we had todeal with no ordinary criminal. It was a vast sum, and the ordinarycriminal type does not think in such large figures. The result of thisanalysis gave me two clues: first, that we probably had to deal with notmore than one man; and second, that this man was a much higher type thanthe common malefactor.

  "Another point to consider was the manner of death of those victims whofailed to make their payments. These men were all asphyxiated. I did notknow the exact method at the time, as I know it now, but the principleremained the same. To accomplish this asphyxiation, I reasoned that thevictim must be lured to some place for the purpose. If only one man wereengaged in the work, it was obvious that he was not only acquainted withthe victims' habits, but probably sufficiently well acquainted with thevictims themselves to possess their confidence. All this pointed to aman of high social position.

  "My next step, therefore, was to make a list of the victims and alltheir business and social acquaintances. I then compared these lists toascertain the men known in common to all, or the majority of thevictims. In this way I discovered a certain number of men known to allthe victims. The lives and habits of these men were investigated insearch of a possible clue. No definite results. Finally, pondering overthe case one day, the initials of one man impressed themselves upon me.His initials were F. P.--the same initials that would stand for 'Friendsof the Poor.' Such a clue might seem fantastic. In criminalinvestigation, however, clues are often the result of inspiration, and Icould not afford to let this coincidence pass. I made a more thoroughinvestigation into the history and actions of Frederick Prentice."

  "Frederick Prentice!" gasped Forrester, starting up in bed.

  "Exactly," returned Marten, "the supposed first victim."

  "Our families have been friends for years," groaned Forrester. "Hisdaughter, Diana, and myself were childhood companions. How could heattempt _my_ life?"

  "The man was mentally unsound," explained Marten. "The successfuloperation of his scheme excited his weakening brain until it became anobsession with him. Although he had achieved his original purpose ofrecuperating his broken fortunes, I believ
e he continued his threats andkilling for the sheer insane joy of playing with his victim and thenkilling him. Possibly, the attendant mystery and notoriety also appealedto some perverted side of his nature."

  "Go on with your story," said Forrester.

  "These were the facts which I discovered about Prentice," continuedMarten. "His mother died years ago in a private sanitarium for theinsane on Long Island, New York. This showed a possibility thatPrentice's mind might be affected, and in its weakness assume a criminaltrend. I found that Prentice's father had willed him a certain amount ofmoney, and that Prentice had lost approximately this amount in the stockmarket. That showed a possible reason for his step, for Prentice had arather expensive wife and daughter to maintain, and he knew absolutelynothing of business. Prentice's father also willed him the piece ofproperty upon which the oak tree stands. A few weeks before the affairstarted, Prentice ostensibly sold this property to a man named HansEckmeier, who in turn quickly sold it to a colored woman who lived in asmall cottage on the property--a woman, by the way, without visiblemeans of support, and without any financial resources which could belocated. This unquestionably indicated preliminary preparation designedto eliminate any connection of Prentice with the property. There wererumors, too, that this woman had murdered her husband. Rumors are hardlyto be considered as evidence, yet this story offered a possible basisfor Prentice having a hold over the negress.

  "Further investigation revealed the fact that Hans Eckmeier had receivedconsiderable financial assistance at different periods from Prentice,and was under obligation to him. Moreover, this man, who was a chemist,had invented a deadly poison gas, the formula of which he sold to theGerman Government just previous to the war. Here, Mr. Forrester, were aremarkable series of clues.

  "If we could back these with a few pieces of actual evidence, our casewas closed. That was the problem; how to get the evidence. I dared notappear in the case myself, nor have ordinary detectives come intocontact with Prentice, without the danger of arousing his suspicions;yet it was imperative that someone possessing investigative instinctsshould come into close association with this man.

  "During the war, while I was engaged in secret service work in New York,Miss Sturtevant, like many other women of her station in life, was ofgreat assistance to the Government. Because of her social position itwas possible for her to take her place in Prentice's social set withoutarousing any suspicion as to her purpose. It was arranged through theM.B.A. for her to rent the Bradbury house for the summer. This house waslocated sufficiently near the tree for her to watch it, and also withineasy reach of Prentice's home. The M.B.A. arranged for Miss Sturtevantto receive letters of introduction to Chicago people who would be mosthelpful to her. The stage was completely set for our work just about thetime you received your notice, and we hoped, through Prentice's attackupon you, to get the definite evidence we desired. That explains, forexample, the telephone calls you received. I attempted to find out aboutthe time you would place the money in the tree so as to make properarrangements. When you refused the information Miss Sturtevant obtainedit for me. We expected Prentice to go to the tree, and Miss Sturtevantwas placed in a very fortunate position to watch him that night by beinginvited to a dinner and dance at his home; his family, of course, beingentirely ignorant of his schemes. I received a report from her onPrentice's lawn, shortly after you left, and hurried to the tree. I wasstanding only a short distance back of the tree during the whole affair.

  "You are familiar with the fiasco which the city detectives broughtabout that night. The package mysteriously disappeared, and as I learnedlater through Miss Sturtevant that Prentice left the dance forapproximately three-quarters of an hour, he undoubtedly secured it. Wewere absolutely sure then that Prentice was the chief conspirator,probably being assisted by the chemist and the negress, Lucy. But we hadno actual evidence.

  "Our next opportunity was furnished by the Melville incident."

  "Tell me one thing," interrupted Forrester. "What was Mary's connectionwith that affair?"

  "I can explain that, Robert," replied the girl. "I knew that Mr.Melville was in danger when I saw Prentice there. After going to theconservatory with his son, it suddenly occurred to me that I might findsome evidence in Prentice's car--particularly as I now knew about thegas and the mask through your adventure. Knowing that my next danceswere with you, I felt that no special attention would be drawn to myabsence, so I excused myself and slipped out. In the compartment underthe front seat of Prentice's car I found one of the gas cylinders withthe mask attached. Hoping to avert another murder I tried to stuff myhandkerchief into the tube. The handkerchief was too large, so I tore itin half and then succeeded."

  "And," completed Marten, "the gas being forced into the cylinder underpressure, it naturally blew out the handkerchief when released; amechanical condition which did not occur to Miss Sturtevant. Yourcurious suspicions of Miss Sturtevant, by the way, made it very hard forher at times. We dared not let you into the secret, because a hot-headedyoung man like you might have upset our carefully laid plans. It shouldbe unnecessary now for us to explain in detail the various littleincidents which aroused your suspicions of her. With your presentknowledge of the case you can easily understand the underlying cause ineach instance.

  "Incidentally, Mr. Forrester," added Marten, soothingly, "I want tocompliment you upon some of your amateur detective work. You frequentlyshowed fine detective instincts, and it was entirely due to you that wediscovered how the money was obtained from the tree. Without your visitto the cottage, that point at least might have remained a mystery."

  "But you have not told me how the case finally worked out, Mr. Marten,"reminded Forrester.

  "I was coming to that," returned Marten. "We had definitely decided thatthe money was obtained from the tree in some way through the agency ofLucy. It was arranged with Melville to make a pretense of putting moneyin the tree. Miss Sturtevant managed to convey the information toPrentice that Melville would do this on a certain night--the night ofyour visit, to be exact.

  "Then, instead of watching the tree, as all had done before, _we watchedthe woman's cottage_. At the time you entered, the cottage wassurrounded by my men and Miss Sturtevant and I were close at hand. Youmay be sure you gave us a shock, but we planned to let all who wished todo so, enter the cottage, but none would be allowed to leave. You werethe first. Later, Lucy appeared, and it is assumed that she discoveredyou in the cave. When Prentice arrived, Lucy warned him, and betweenthem they hastily prepared the hood with which he disguised himself.Yes," added Marten, noting Forrester's astounded expression, "that wasPrentice with whom you fought. We entered the passage just as youconquered him."

  "And you have captured them all!" exclaimed Forrester.

  "On the contrary," replied Marten, "they are all dead--but the case issolved."

  "Dead!" repeated Forrester.

  "Yes," said Marten. "You killed Prentice with his own gas. Lucy escapedand went to warn the chemist. He, probably realizing that escape wasimpossible, killed both Lucy and himself with the gas. We found theirbodies when we went to his place. The most intricate case of my career,therefore, has been satisfactorily solved and a terrible menaceremoved."

  "And Prentice's family," murmured Forrester. "What about them?"

  "Mrs. Prentice turned everything over to the M.B.A. She had a smallprivate income, however, which the association refused to touch. She andher daughter, Diana, left this morning to go to Europe, where they willremain indefinitely.

  "Now," terminated Marten, rising, "I am sure that I have cleared MissSturtevant of any suspicion in your eyes, and I will leave you twotogether to solve any further problems you may have in your own way."

  Marten shook hands with Forrester and Mary Sturtevant and left the room.A minute later they heard the thrumming of the engine as he drove awayin his car.

  THE END

 

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