CHAPTER XIII.
A HUMAN SHIELD.
It was a beautifully furnished bedroom and the girl smuggler sat by thewindow reading a novel when the detectives rushed in at her.
She was a cool, level-headed girl, and seemed to possess a remarkable setof nerves for she did not look at all startled by their entrance.
Meeting the detectives' look with a cool stare, she asked, quietly:
"Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you?"
Then seeing the astonished servant lingering at the door, she added:
"You may go, Hattie."
The servant closed the door and vanished.
Old King Brady strode over to her and exclaimed:
"We want those smuggled diamonds."
"Really, you are provoking. I have no smuggled diamonds."
"But you know where they are!"
"Do I?"
"Yes. You fooled us once, very cleverly, by passing them to the hotelhall-boy, but you shan't do so again, I can tell you."
She laughed as if enjoying a good joke.
"Well," she said, finally, "evasions are useless I see."
"Perfectly!"
"Do you want me to be frank with you?"
"My dear young lady, lies ain't going to do you any earthly good."
"The gems you are after are in my father's possession."
"We know that much already."
"To get them you must first get him."
"That's manifest."
"As for smuggling them onto American soil, none of us did that."
"But you caused one of your spies to do so for you."
"Admitted."
"And you have them now."
"So we have."
"That makes you as guilty as if you did the work of smuggling yourself."
"So I presume. We connived the trick, for our own benefit, to cheat theCustom House. We ain't denying that. In fact, it's going to be a big thingfor us. Now, we don't wish to be pestered with your persecutions anylonger."
"I don't see how you can help yourself."
"We do."
"How?"
"Name your price to quit."
"You mean to bribe us off, eh?"
"That's about the size of it."
"We are not to be bought."
"Humbug! I never knew a Custom House officer to refuse."
"We ain't of that stamp, young lady."
She looked at him incredulously a moment, and saw by the stern look in hisdeep gray eyes that he meant what he said.
It seemed to unnerve her for a moment.
She reflected and finally asked:
"Are you determined?"
"Absolutely!"
"You are bound to hound us?"
"We are, until we gain our point."
"This is astonishing."
"Are you aware that we have your mother in jail?"
A look of alarm swept over her face, the color fled from her cheeks and sheslowly rose to her feet and asked in strained tones:
"What! My mother in prison?"
"Yes, and you are going to join her in a few moments."
"Mr. Brady, you are very much mistaken."
"Why am I?"
"I'll show you, sir."
She gave utterance to a cough. It was a signal. Instantly the door of anante-room flew open. In the opening stood four men. They were the spies.
Each one was armed with a revolver.
These weapons were aimed at the Bradys and the girl laughed outright whenshe saw the involuntary expressions of astonishment that swept over theirfeatures.
"Quite a surprise, isn't it?" she asked in grim tones.
"We are in a trap!" Harry muttered.
"That's the situation!" said the girl, quietly. "If you move hand or foot,you'll get shot. Those men never miss their mark. At such short range theycould kill you even if they were not expert shots."
The Bradys saw the force of her reasoning.
In a word, they were helpless.
Neither attempted to draw a weapon in self-defense.
To do so would be to seal their doom.
An awkward silence ensued.
Old King Brady finally asked in gruff tones:
"Well, what are you going to do about it?"
"Make prisoners of you and hold you until we have disposed of thediamonds," quickly replied Clara.
The detectives looked disgusted.
"Shall we resist?" muttered Harry, desperately.
"No. It would be folly to attempt it," his partner replied.
Old King Brady was not so fiery and impetuous as the boy; he was more slow,deliberate and cool in the face of danger.
He saw that the smugglers had concluded to throw off the mask and make nofurther pretenses.
That meant bitter warfare.
He had no plan to suggest, and the girl exclaimed:
"Come in and bind them, Jean."
One of the men entered.
He was the man who had done the smuggling.
Walking over to the detectives, he said to them in low tones:
"If you resist, my friends will fire."
"We don't intend to," replied Old King Brady.
"Then I'll relieve you of your own handcuffs to secure you."
He felt in the old detective's pocket, brought out the steel bracelets andsnapped them on the detective.
Young King Brady was very restless.
To submit without a fight was more than he could bear.
His obstinacy suddenly got the best of his good judgment, and he made uphis mind to give them a tussle.
Leaping beside the girl he seized her, swung her around between himself andthe other men and cried:
"If you fire, you'll hit this girl!"
Clara gave a shriek.
"Harry!" roared Old King Brady in some dismay.
The men in the doorway dared not fire.
Jean, fearing an attack, plunged across the room in tending to get out ofdanger in the hall.
"Let me go!" gasped the girl.
"Give up my advantage? Never!" panted the boy, a reckless, daring lightgleaming in his eyes.
He was close to the open window.
At a glance he saw a way to escape.
Unaided, he could not expect to arrest these men and the girl, for Old KingBrady was rendered powerless.
The yard was only eight feet below.
"Can you jump out the window?" he asked his partner.
"They'll fire if I budge."
This remark was certainly true.
While Harry had the advantage of using the girl as a shield, the fourCanadians held the old detective at their mercy.
Harry drew his pistol.
The girl began to struggle to get free.
"Keep still!" said the boy in threatening tones. "If any harm befalls mypartner, I'll put a bullet in you, young woman!"
The terrible earnestness of his voice alarmed her.
"You wouldn't injure a lady, would you?" she asked, appealing to hismanhood. "No gentleman would do that."
"You are only a criminal," he replied coldly, "and as it's a case of ourlives or yours, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot you to save ourselves."
Detectives are not sentimental.
On the contrary, their work makes them harsh.
Harry wanted to scare the girl and he succeeded well, for she remainedpassive, and burst into tears.
The boy quickly saw his advantage and cried:
"Now, if any of your gang attempts to injure us, I'll kill you!"
As he spoke, he placed the muzzle of his pistol against her head, turnedher around and backed over to Old King Brady.
"Come!" he whispered. "We'll use her as a shield and back over to the door.They'll bitterly rue it if they fire!"
The four spies looked desperate and one of them spoke to the girl in Frenchas the detectives retreated, holding her between them and their enemies.The girl replied in English, saying:
"Never mind me. We must not let them es
cape. Tackle them."
Obeying her, they rushed toward the officers.
Harry aimed his pistol at them and fired twice.
"Go for the door!" he yelled.
And hurling the girl against the four Canadians, he and his partner rushedout into the hall. The door was locked.
The Bradys and the Girl Smuggler; Or, Working for the Custom House Page 13