CHAPTER XIII.
A MASTER ROGUE.
"As I said before," resumed Grattan, "I admire clever people. Goldsteinis not clever. I send a letter to him at New York and tell him to cometo Purling, ask for Pryne at the general store, and bring money enoughto buy the Eye of Buddha. His covetous soul prompts him to defy thelaw, buy the ruby for half its value, and cheat Bunce and me. He rushesinto the trap. I tell you he is as big a fool as Bunce--almost."
"Mercy!" begged Goldstein. "Oh, Mister Grattan, don't rob me! Der priceof diamonds has gone off, and I lose much money----"
"Silence!" thundered Grattan.
Goldstein fell whimpering back against the wall.
"It was only by a chance, Motor Matt," went on Grattan, "that Idiscovered your trick in exchanging a letter of your own for one ofmine in the ancient mariner's cap. Bunce did not know I was harboredin this old sugar camp. Pryne knew it, and also my sister, who happensto be Pryne's wife. No one else knew it. Bunce and I had discoveredthat we were being trailed by a San Francisco Chinaman, and that he wasfiring telegrams back to the slope for Tsan Ti. From Catskill I camehere to wait until the ruby could be exchanged for Goldstein's money.Bunce went around the vicinity of Catskill keeping watch for the spyingChinaman, and for Tsan Ti. He didn't find the 'Frisco hatchet boy, buthe did discover, this forenoon, that the mandarin was staying at thehotel on the mountain. Bunce was traveling around in an automobile, andhe had my letter asking him to come to Purling, which I had mailed tohim at the Catskill post office. When he found Tsan Ti was staying inthe hotel, Bunce thought he would hurry to Purling and take his chanceof finding me. On the way down the mountain, as ill luck would have it,he passed you and the mandarin. Then came that exchange of notes. WhenBunce discovered that, his panic was still further increased. The roadhe took to Purling passed along the foot of this hill.
"I was out taking my constitutional, at the time, and fate threw Bunceand me together, for I hailed him as he was passing. The driver of theautomobile was a man we both knew we could trust. Bunce and I had atalk, and I read the letter you had put in his hat in the place of theone I had sent. The circumstances attending the exchange of that noteconvinced me that in you I had an uncommonly clever person to dealwith. I guessed that you would use the note and try to find out whereI was. I didn't want you to do that, but I arranged with Pryne, if youdid, to bring you out here. I also sent Bunce on the rightabout backto the mountainside, and told him to make away with your motor cycles.That, I hoped, would keep you from Purling by giving you something elseto hunt for instead of the Eye of Buddha. But I didn't know you--Ifailed to do your cleverness full justice.
"Bunce went into hiding at the roadside from the mountain top, knowingyou would have to come that way. When you sped down the road in anautomobile, with your chum and Tsan Ti, Bunce was rattled. He had beenexpecting you on motor cycles, and had framed up a little plan whichhe worked so successfully later. However, he put a bullet into one ofthe automobile tires and caused a smash. The fool! He came near gettingus into the toils of the law so deep we could never have escaped. Hisfolly continued, however, when he skulked close to the burning machineto note the extent of the ruin he had caused. He had a close call whenyou took after him. More by luck than by any good judgment, he got awayfrom you, and was close enough to see and hear what went on when theowner of the wrecked automobile met and talked with you in the road.
"Bunce hunted up the driver of the car, who had been waiting for him ina convenient place not far from the road. The two went into hiding inthe brush, spotted your motor-cycle lamps, captured your machines, andthe wheels are now handily by to help us in our getaway."
Matt had listened to this talk abstractedly. He was waiting andlistening for McGlory and the re?nforcements. Why didn't they come?They had had ample time, and Matt was positive they would pick upthe trail he had left and follow without difficulty. McGlory was agood trailer, and he would be quick to understand the sifted line ofmiddlings when he saw it.
"Shipmate," said Bunce, "you haven't given me my proper rating. Itwasn't all luck an' touch an' go with me. I done noble, I did."
"You mean well, Bunce, but you're not clever," said Grattan.
"My eye! Wasn't it clever the way I put on them scarecrow fixin's inthe cornfield?"
"And then lost your nerve and ducked while Motor Matt and his chum werelooking at you? Oh, yes, that _was_ clever."
There was scorn in Grattan's voice.
Matt had heard enough to realize that Grattan was a master rogue. Hewas playing a bold game, and with consummate skill. He was willing totalk, to lay bare the innermost details of his work, for he had plannedescape and felt sure he would get away. Matt wondered if he would notsucceed in spite of McGlory and the men he was to bring with him.
Those balls, those balls of Ptah! They appeared to be the key that wasto help Grattan through the coil of the law.
"I am rewarding you, Motor Matt, for your cleverness," pursued Grattan,"and for the narrow escape Bunce gave you in that automobile. Thereward is the Eye of Buddha. I sell it to Goldstein for the money hehas in that satchel; then, while Bunce and I are safely out of the hut,I break one of the balls of Ptah by hurling it through the open door;you and Goldstein become unconscious; you recover and make a prisonerof Goldstein; and, finally, by due process of law, you recover the rubyfor Tsan Ti. Very simple. So far as I can see, Goldstein is the onlyone to suffer."
Matt was still listening, listening. Where in the world was McGlory?
Grattan turned toward the shivering Jew.
"Goldstein," said he sternly, "how much money have you in that satchel?"
"Mercy, Mr. Grattan!" implored the diamond merchant. "I have lost muchmoney by der decline in----"
"How much have you in the satchel?" repeated Grattan.
"Only a little, Mr. Grattan. I dit not bring much."
"Didn't you bring enough to pay a good price for the ruby?"
"How was I to know vat der ruby was worth? Fife thousand dollars iswhat I brought----"
"Five thousand! Five thousand to pay me for two years of planning, andthe risk! You have brought more than that."
"Where is der ruby, Mr. Grattan?"
"Where you'll not find it until I see how much money you have in thesatchel. Give it to Bunce. Bunce, you open the grip and count themoney."
"Don't do that, please, Mr. Grattan! I have lost much money by der dropin----"
"Take it over and give it to Bunce."
Tremblingly, Goldstein got up with his precious satchel. His face waspallid, and he seemed scarcely able to move. He started toward thesailor; then, suddenly, when he was close to Pryne, he whirled andgrabbed at the exposed revolver.
The satchel dropped, and Goldstein, with the fury of desperation,fought like a madman. It was his money he was fighting for--money thatwas, perhaps, dearer to him than life itself. Nothing else could havegoaded him into such a mad attempt to escape from the hut.
Bunce sprang toward the struggling pair at the door, and Grattan alsoarose and stepped toward them.
This offered Matt a chance for a daring _coup_. Unseen in theexcitement, and unheard because of the noise of the scuffle, he glidedto the table and opened the box. Deftly he extracted one of the ballsand allowed the box-cover to fall into place. The ball passed into hispocket.
While he stood by the table, Grattan suddenly caught sight of him.
"Go back to your bench, Motor Matt!" he ordered. "You have everythingto gain and nothing to lose by sitting tight and obeying orders. Getback, I tell you."
Matt backed to the bench and sat down. Bunce and Pryne flung Goldsteinto the floor, and while Pryne kicked him toward his seat Bunce regainedhis own place with the satchel.
"I did not think Goldstein had it in him," laughed Grattan. "Whenyou take his money, you touch him in a vital place. Be sensible,Goldstein," he added. "We've got too strong a grip on you."
The Jew lifted himself to the stool, bruised and battered. His head wasbowed and he presented a piti
able sight.
"Now, then, Bunce," said Grattan, "look into the satchel. Let's see howmuch Goldstein brought with him for purposes of barter. I didn't expectto get anywhere near what the Eye of Buddha was worth, but----"
There came a pounding on the door. Instantly all were on their feet,consternation written large in every face but Grattan's and Matt's.Grattan believed that, even with intruders at hand, he was master ofthe situation. Matt, armed with one of the balls of Ptah, was inclinedto dispute the question with him.
"Open up!" cried a voice.
There was a bar across the door and Pryne stood with one hand on thefastening to make sure it held against the attack. Grattan fluttered ahand for silence.
"Who's there?" he demanded.
"Porter, the constable, from Purling, and five other men."
Grattan leaped to the table and caught up the box. Holding it infront of him, the buckthorn cane under his arm, he whispered to hisconfederates:
"Bunce, you and Pryne stand ready to leave the room. When I give theword, go--and go quick."
Then, lifting his voice, Grattan added:
"Open the door, Pryne, and admit the constable from Purling and fivemen."
Pryne bent to the bar.
"Stop!" cried Matt.
Pryne raised himself quickly. He and Bunce, Grattan and even Goldsteinstared at the king of the motor boys.
Matt was standing on the bench, his right hand lifted, and one of theshimmering spheres in his hand.
"Don't come in here yet, McGlory!" shouted Matt. "I'll give the wordwhen I want you to come. You see, Grattan," he added, "I'd a littlerather have my friends stay on the outside until they can come in here_after_ I break the glass ball."
Motor Matt's Mandarin; or, Turning a Trick for Tsan Ti Page 13