by Various
"I think I can throw some light on the matter," said Dick at this point.
All hands looked at him.
"Here's a piece of gum which I saw that man throw into the street afterpicking something out of it," he said, handing the gum to the manager."It evidently held the diamond, for it bears a clear impression of afive-carat stone."
"It does, indeed!" said the manager.
"The lady who was in the store looking at rings when you sent me on theerrand came up to that man and handed him that piece of gum. It wasthe singularity of their meeting that aroused my suspicions and causedme to watch and then follow them to this place, particularly after Ipicked the gum up and saw the impression of a diamond in it. I judgedat once that the man must have hidden the stone in the gum and leftit somewhere about the counter where the lady found it afterward andbrought it to him."
Dick's words seemed to make the matter quite clear to the manager, whowas familiar with many of the tricks adopted by diamond thieves to plytheir vocation without detection.
"The gum business is an old trick," said the manager. "It's a wonder itdid not occur to you," he added, looking at the salesman. "When a thiefcomes into a store he sometimes carries a piece of adhesive gum likethat," he explained to the policeman. "The first thing he does is toattach it to the bottom of the showcase, out of sight. Then he watcheshis chance, and if he is a sufficiently expert sleight-of-hand artist,he manages at some time during his inspection of the stones to convey adiamond to the gum and force it into it. When the diamond is afterwardmissed he cheerfully submits to a search, for the stolen stone is noton his person. Later he sends a confederate into the store to get thegum, under cover of an intention to make some kind of a purchase, otherthan diamonds, at that counter. In this case, it is quite clear to methat the lady was the man's confederate. I think I am fully justifiedin demanding that fellow's arrest at our risk. It is too bad that thewoman got away, but I guess we'll be able to find her. You have herdescription, Dick," he said to the office boy.
"Yes, sir. I'd recognize her on sight."
"Now, officer, you may arrest that man and take him to the policestation. We will go with you and make the charge," said the manager.
"All right," said the policeman. "Come on, my man, you'll have to gowith me."
That settled the case as far as the pawnshop was concerned, and theparty directly interested started with the officer and the prisoner forthe Brooklyn Bridge station. The charge was made against the man, whogave his name as Jack Hurley, and he was locked up pending his removalto the Tombs prison. The manager, salesman and Dick then returned tothe store. The former complimented the office boy on his smartnessin bringing the thief to justice, which would result in the ultimatereturn of the valuable diamond to the store. Mr. Bacon, who had beeninformed of the theft of the stone, was duly put in possession ofDick's clever work toward its recovery and the punishment of the thiefand, it was hoped, his accomplice. He sent for his office boy andadded his compliments to those of the manager.
"You're a clever boy, Dick," he concluded, "and I'll see that you losenothing through your devotion to my interests. That's all."
Dick got up and returned to his duty.
CHAPTER VI.--Knocked Out.
Of course, the robbery of the diamond and Dick's brilliant roundingup of the thief got into the afternoon papers. All the merchants andclerks of the jewelry district downtown were talking about it beforeclosing-up time. Dick Darling, the boy in the knickerbockers, was votedan uncommonly smart lad, and people who knew Mr. Bacon told him so.One of Bacon's clerks after reading the story in the paper called Dickover and showed it to him. Dick bought a couple of papers on his wayhome and read both accounts. When he got to the house he handed one ofthe papers to his mother and called her attention to the story. Sheread it and was, of course, much surprised. Dick supplied her with manyadditional particulars not in the paper.
"Mr. Bacon must be greatly pleased with you," said Mrs. Darling.
"Yes, mother, I dare say he thinks I'm all to the good."
His sisters nearly always read the evening paper on their way home. Thediamond theft having been given an important position on the first pageof the papers they bought that afternoon, it attracted their attentionright away. When they saw that the theft had taken place at the storewhere their brother was employed, they read on with added interest.Then when they saw Dick's name in cold type they became still moreinterested. As he proved to be the chief figure in the story, nextto the thief, they grew quite excited over the story. Had they beentogether, their exclamations and talk would have attracted attention inthe car, but they seldom came together on the same car or train, and sothey waited till they reached home to loosen up their tongues. And whata jabbering there was in the little flat when they arrived within a fewminutes of each other. They surrounded their brother and plied him withquestions, till he broke away, declaring that they made his head ring.Their excitement lasted all through supper. The sum total of theiropinion was that Dick was a regular hero, and they were awfully proudof him. The morning papers repeated the story with a few additionaldetails, and Dick read it over again. Then he turned his attention tothe other news.
He generally saw everything that was in the papers, though he didn'tread everything, because he hadn't time to do so. A paragraph, however,caught his attention this morning which interested him. It told of theescape of Bulger and Parker from the Carlin jail. The jail was an oldone, and they had been lodged in a cell the window bars of which provedto have become defective. At any rate, during the short time they werelocked up there, they managed to loosen two of the bars so they couldbe removed during the night. From the window they reached the jailyard, scaled the tall wall with its rusty spikes, and got away. Theirescape was not discovered until morning, when officers were at oncesent out to look for them.
Dick wondered if they would succeed in getting clear off. About eleventhat morning Dick, the manager and the diamond salesman, went to theTombs police court to appear against Jack Hurley, the diamond thief. Hewas represented by a cheap lawyer, who employed browbeating tactics inhis client's behalf, but did not succeed in shaking the testimony ofthe witnesses. Dick being the chief witness, the lawyer spared no painsin his efforts to tangle the boy up. Finally he moved that his clientbe discharged on the ground that there was no real evidence connectinghim with the theft of the diamond. The magistrate, however, refused toaccept his view of the matter, and remanded Hurley to the considerationof the Grand Jury. During that month the store was closed at three onSaturday afternoon. On the Saturday following the events narrated theclerks were getting ready to leave, after having been paid off, when aconsignment of cases containing silverware arrived from the pier of oneof the Sound steamboats. The goods had been shipped by the factory inRhode Island the previous day, and had reached the city that morning,but the truckman had not been able to fetch them to the store untilthat hour.
As the manager had gone home, Mr. Bacon decided to stay himself and seethe cases taken in, and detained two clerks to attend to the work alongwith the porter. An hour before, Dick had been sent up to the secondfloor, which was used in part as a sample room, to arrange some of thesamples and move others out of the upright cases standing against thewalls. There was no clock on that floor, and Dick, forgetting it wasSaturday and that the house closed early, gave no attention to theflight of time. The cashier, thinking he was out on an errand, left hispay envelope on Mr. Bacon's desk, and the proprietor seeing it there,also concluded that the manager had sent Dick out before he left. Whenthe truck came up, two rough-looking men were lounging on the oppositeside of the street. They were not there by accident, and since theycame there they had been watching the Bacon store in a furtive way. Thecases of goods were taken off the truck and sent down into the cellar.
While this work was under way one of the men strolled across thestreet, and, watching his chance, sneaked into the store. He made hisway to the back and looked around. Seeing no one there, he walkedupstairs and found himself
in the sample room. The sight of numerouspieces of choice silverware of all kinds and sizes made him anxious,and he made up his mind to get away with several of the least bulkyones, which he could successfully conceal in his clothes. He approacheda case with the view of helping himself when he suddenly came uponDick, who was kneeling on the floor behind a table. The boy looked upand uttered an exclamation, for he recognized the intruder as Bulger,whose escape from the Carlin jail he had read about. Bulger recognizedhim at the same moment, and, with an imprecation, seized him.
"So I've got hold of you again," he said. "Me and my pal have beenwaitin' an hour to get a sight of you. We want to settle accounts withyou."
"More likely you'll be settled yourselves," said Dick pluckily. "I'veonly to call out and some of the clerks will come up and take charge ofyou."
"You won't do any callin' out if I can help it," said the rascal,seizing the boy by the throat and choking him hard. Dick struggled invain to free himself from the burly man's grasp, but he was taken at adisadvantage, and found himself quite powerless. He gasped for breath,and was turning black in the face, when Bulger, not intending to killhim, eased up a bit. The sight of the silverware within his reach hadput different thoughts into the fellow's head, and seeing the door of acloset standing ajar, he dragged Dick to it, tied his wrists togetherwith a piece of cord, in a rough way, shoved him into the closet, andshut the door tight.
Dick, though not wholly unconscious, was fast becoming so from theeffect of the choking, added to the lack of air in the closet. Bulgerquickly opened a case, abstracted several small pieces of silverware,concealed them about his person, and hurriedly left the sample room,sneaking downstairs and making for the front door. Mr. Bacon and theclerks were so busily engaged with the cases of goods that they did notnotice the rascal slip out of the door and walk down the street, aftersignaling to Parker, on the other side, to follow.
As soon as the goods had all been placed in the cellar, Mr. Bacon andthe two clerks re-entered the store. The merchant went into his officeto get a small package he was going to take home. Then the sight ofDick's pay envelope on his desk made him remember the boy.
"I wonder where he was sent?" he asked himself.
It occurred to him to ask the clerks if they had any idea where he was.He stepped outside where the young men were washing their hands andputting on their coats.
"Does either of you know where Dick is?" he inquired.
"He's gone home," replied one of the clerks.
"That can't be, for his pay envelope is here waiting for him to claimit."
"Is that so?" said the clerk.
"Yes; the cashier handed it to me and said he believed Mr. Dale hadsent him out on an errand."
"He might have done so, but he would have got back long before this,for he knows that the store closes at three on Saturday."
"When did you see him last?"
"Something over an hour ago. He was then up on the next floor makingsome changes in the sample cases."
"He might be up there yet."
"It isn't likely, for he would come down after his money when he saw itwas getting close to closing-up time."
"There's no clock up there, and, besides, he isn't a boy who watchesthe clock, like some employees do for fear they will work a minute morethan they're paid for it. Dick is always interested in his work. I'venoticed that, and it is just possible he might have overlooked the factthat it is Saturday. I am going up to see if he is there," said Mr.Bacon.
The clerks followed him, curious to see if the boy was really still atwork. They found no sign of the office boy on the floor.
"He is not here," said Mr. Bacon. "Mr. Dale must have sent him on anerrand and he has been delayed."
The three were standing near the closet as the merchant spoke. It wasat that very moment that the subject of their thoughts finally becamesenseless. Dick's head, falling forward when he lost consciousness, hitthe door, and the sound attracted the attention of the proprietor andhis two clerks.
"What's that?" exclaimed Mr. Bacon.
He pulled the door open and the office boy fell out.
CHAPTER VII.--Dick and His Eldest Sister.
To say that Mr. Bacon and his clerks were both astonished and startledwould be stating the case quite mildly.
"My gracious!" cried the merchant. "What does this mean?"
One of the clerks stepped forward and raised Dick up.
"Why, his hands are bound!" he ejaculated, in surprise.
That fact was apparent to the others.
"Great heavens! How came he to be in this state?" cried Mr. Bacon. "Cuthim loose as quick as you can. Jones, run down to my office and fetcha glass of the cognac you'll find on a shelf in the closet. This iscertainly a most singular occurrence. Somebody bound the boy and shuthim up in the closet. Nobody connected with the store would do such athing as that. And yet how could a stranger have got up here unnoticed?A thief would not attempt to carry anything away before the clerks inthe store. I don't understand it at all."
Clerk Jones returned with a glass partly filled with cognac. WhenDick's head was lifted the clerk noticed the marks of Bulger's fingerson the boy's throat. He pointed to them and said:
"Look there; he's been choked."
"My goodness! so he was," said the merchant. "This is a very strangeaffair. But we'll be able to learn all about it as soon as he recovershis senses."
The brandy was poured little by little into Dick's mouth, and as ittrickled down his throat it revived him and brought on a coughingspell which ended in his opening his eyes. As soon as he was somewhatrecovered, Mr. Bacon said:
"Now tell us what happened to you, my boy. We found you in the closetwith your wrists tied together. It was by the merest accident that wediscovered you there. Your body fell against the door and made a noise.But for that we should not have known you were there, and you wouldhave been locked up in the building until Monday morning."
Dick instinctively put his hand to his throat, for he felt the aftereffects of the impress of Bulger's fingers. With some difficulty atfirst, which wore off as he proceeded, Dick told his story.
He explained that the man who attacked him and put him out was oneof the two rascals he encountered down in New Jersey, and whom histestimony had materially helped to fasten the crime of the burglary ofMr. Mason's house upon. The men, he said, had escaped from the Carlinjail within a day or two of being locked up, and it was now clear thatthey had not been recaptured, but had made their escape to New York. Itseemed strange, he thought, that Bulger should have the nerve to enterthe store in quest of him, as his few words had indicated he had. Itshowed what a vindictive and desperate scoundrel he was. Dick wound upby asking if he had stolen anything, for it seemed likely that he wouldnot go away without helping himself to some of the valuable articlesthat were within his easy reach.
That caused the clerks to examine the showcases, and they reportedthat some of the small samples in the case nearest the closetwere missing from their place. Dick got up and confirmed theirstatement, for he knew exactly what was in showcase at the time hewas attacked. An inventory of the loss showed that it was not veryconsiderable--probably not over $100. Mr. Bacon went downstairs tonotify the police department over the telephone about the affair,acquaint them with the amount of the loss, and the fact that therascal who was implicated in the job had escaped, with his pal, fromthe Carlin jail a few days before, and furnish Bulger's name anddescription. Dick got his pay envelope, and by that time felt allright again. The store was then locked up by the porter and all handsseparated for their homes. Bulger and Parker were caught that nightat a low resort frequented by men of their stamp, and Mr. Bacon wasnotified by a policeman who called at the store on Monday morning.
Dick was sent up to headquarters to identify the men, which he had notrouble in doing. The Carlin authorities were notified of their arrest,and of the charge made against Bulger of assault and grand larceny, onwhich the New York authorities proposed to hold him until the grandjury returned an
indictment against him. The Carlin authorities at oncestarted extradition proceedings in order to get the two men back tostand trial for the robbery of Mr. Mason's house. In the end when thepapers were served on the New York police department, the indictmentagainst Bulger was pigeonholed for future use, and the men weredelivered to representatives of the Carlin police. They were tried forthe burglary almost immediately, and Dick appeared as a witness againstthem. They were convicted, Bulger, on account of his record, gettingten years, while Parker, as it was his first offence, was let off withfive years. Dick was given a vacation of two weeks at the time, as hehad received a pressing invitation to stay with the Mason family.
He would have got a week's vacation, anyway, as it was the month ofAugust. The Masons treated him as an honored guest, and he spent mostof his time in the company of Madge Mason, who was a very pretty andcompanionable girl.
As an evidence of his appreciation of Dick's services, Mr. Mason deededto Mrs. Darling, in trust for Dick, a five-acre piece of ground, worthabout $250, which had come to him some years before as part of a dealhe made, and which he had no use for. Dick visited the place, whichwas fenced in and was rented as a pasture to a farmer whose propertyadjoined it. Mr. Mason told Dick that some day he might be able to sellit to a small farmer for twice its present value. At any rate, he couldeasily hold it as long as he chose, for the taxes on it were light, andit could be kept rented at a profit over all expenses.
The boy was delighted to come into possession of a piece of realestate. His ambition had always been to own property when he grewup. He thanked Mr. Mason for his gift, and took the deed home withhim when he returned to New York. He handed it to his mother, as theproperty stood in her name, and was so recorded at Carlin, but the deedcontained the trust clause which practically settled the ownership ofthe ground on her son. The trial of Jack Hurley came on about the timeDick got back to the city. The woman, who proved to be no relationof the thief, had been found and held in the House of Detention forWitnesses, as she agreed to appear against the man in consideration ofthe charge as a confederate being withdrawn. The result of the trialwas that Hurley got three years up the river. After the convictionof the rascal, Mr. Bacon presented Dick with $100. With that sum hestarted a bank account in his own name.