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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bradys Beyond Their Depth, by Anonymous
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Bradys Beyond Their Depth
+       The Great Swamp Mystery
+
+Author: Anonymous
+
+Release Date: October 14, 2008 [EBook #26925]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BRADYS BEYOND THEIR DEPTH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Stanford
+University, SUL Books in the Public Domain)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Secret Service
+
+Old and Young King Brady, Detectives.
+
+_Issued Weekly--By Subscription $2.50 per year. Entered as Second
+Class Matter at the New York Post Office, by Frank Tousey._
+
+No. 95.    New York, November 16, 1900.    Price 5 Cents.
+
+
+
+THE BRADYS BEYOND THEIR DEPTH;
+OR
+THE GREAT SWAMP MYSTERY.
+
+BY A NEW YORK DETECTIVE.
+
+[Illustration: The two desperadoes were completely surprised by the
+sudden appearance of the two noted detectives. "The jig is up, boys,"
+said Old King Brady, as he covered his man.]
+
+
+
+
+Good Watch for One Dollar!
+
+A STEM WINDER AND STEM SETTER.
+
+A Splendid Chance for "SECRET SERVICE"
+Readers to get a good Time-piece.
+
+This Watch usually retails for $3.00, but owing to the immense quantity
+we have contracted for we procure them at such a low figure that we can
+afford to dispose of them to readers of our publications at the
+extremely low price of $1.00.
+
+THIS IS A FAIRLY GOOD DESCRIPTION OF THE WATCH, ALTHOUGH IT HARDLY DOES
+IT JUSTICE.
+
+It is an American watch that _will keep accurate time_, and will not
+get out of order. _This we guarantee._ _The Case_ is strongly made and
+carefully fitted to exclude dust. It is _Open Face_ with heavy polished
+bevel crystal. Case is heavily nickeled and presents a handsome
+appearance. Weight of watch complete 4-1/2 oz. _The Movement_ combines
+many patented devices, including American Lever, Lantern Pinion, Patent
+Escapement, and is a stem winder and stem setter, the same as any
+expensive watch. The cut, which falls far short of doing it justice,
+exactly represents the watch three-fourths size.
+
+HOW TO GET ONE OF THESE WATCHES.
+
+A coupon will appear on this page of "Secret Service" every week. Cut
+out _five_ of these coupons from any numbers of "Secret Service" and
+send them to this office with $1.00 in money or postage stamps and we
+will send you the watch by return mail.
+
+THIS IS THE COUPON.
+
++-----------------------------------------+
+|    "SECRET SERVICE" Watch Coupon.       |
+|                                         |
+|Send us five of these Coupons cut from   |
+|any number of "Secret Service" and $1.00 |
+|in money or Postage Stamps and you will  |
+|receive the watch by return mail....     |
++-----------------------------------------+
+
+
+Address your envelope plainly to ...
+
+FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher,
+24 Union Square, New York.
+
+
+
+
+SECRET SERVICE.
+
+OLD AND YOUNG KING BRADY, DETECTIVES.
+
+_Issued Weekly--By Subscription $2.50 per year. Entered as Second
+Class Matter at the New York, N.Y., Post Office, March 1, 1899.
+Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1900, in the office
+of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D.C., by Frank Tousey, 24
+Union Square, New York._
+
+No. 95.    NEW YORK, November 16, 1900.    Price 5 Cents.
+
+
+
+
+THE BRADYS BEYOND THEIR DEPTH;
+
+OR,
+
+The Great Swamp Mystery.
+
+
+BY A NEW YORK DETECTIVE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+CAUGHT IN THE ACT.
+
+
+"Help! Police! Murder!"
+
+It was a dark, rainy night in March when this thrilling cry, in a man's
+voice, came from a house in West Thirty-sixth street, New York.
+
+Two detectives were passing along from Seventh avenue, toward Broadway,
+when the wild appeal brought them to a sudden pause.
+
+"Hark, Old King Brady!" one of them exclaimed. "Did you hear that cry?"
+
+"Somebody in distress, Harry," replied the tall, gaunt old man, as he
+shot a keen glance around. "This is a dangerous neighborhood."
+
+The stylishly-dressed youth of twenty nodded, felt to see if he had a
+revolver in his pocket, and pointed at an undertaker's wagon standing
+in front of one of a row of houses opposite.
+
+"Queer hour for that fellow to be doing business!" he remarked. "There
+isn't a light in any of that row of houses, yet the undertaker must be
+in one of them."
+
+"Help! Help!" came the mysterious voice in smothered tones once more.
+
+This time the Secret Service men located the sound.
+
+It came from the house before which the wagon stood.
+
+"By Jove, the undertaker must be making a job for himself!" exclaimed
+Old King Brady, pushing his big white hat back, and exposing a
+strong-featured, smooth-shaven face, in the light of a street lamp.
+
+He unbuttoned the old blue frock-coat he wore, disclosing a standing
+collar and stock, drew out his watch and fob, and added:
+
+"It's just eight o'clock."
+
+"Shall we go over and investigate those cries?" asked Harry Brady, the
+youth.
+
+"No, not yet. Get in this area. I see the house door opening."
+
+They glided swiftly into the area of a flat house, and keenly watched
+proceedings.
+
+Old and Young King Brady, as the pair were called, were the two most
+celebrated detectives in the Secret Service. They were not related.
+
+On the contrary, they came of different families. But, since the time
+James Brady took an interest in Harry, and taught him his profession,
+they had been partners, and made themselves dreaded by all evil doers.
+
+Both were shrewd, brave and daring to a fault, and Harry's ambition
+made him strive to excel his tutor in every way.
+
+The boy was first to catch view of a man in the open doorway opposite,
+and he dimly observed that he was tall, thin, dressed in black, wore a
+high hat, and had a mustache and a pair of bushy side-whiskers.
+
+"Looks like an undertaker," Young King Brady commented in a whisper.
+
+"He's carrying something," added the old detective. "Ah--it's a coffin,
+ain't it?"
+
+"A wooden box shaped like one. There's another man on the other end of
+it," said Harry, whose interest was aroused. "They're coming out."
+
+The second man was a short, roughly-clad negro.
+
+As they staggered under the weight of the box, the detectives inferred
+that it was heavy. The Bradys could now see a rope tied around it.
+
+The two men carried it down to the wagon, the back doors of which stood
+open.
+
+Just as they shoved the box into the vehicle, Old King Brady darted
+across the street, and tapped the tall, thin man on the arm.
+
+He gave a start, a cry of alarm, and wheeled around, glaring at the
+officer.
+
+"What have you got in that box?" demanded the detective, abruptly.
+
+"My dear sir, really, that is none of your business," replied the
+other.
+
+"You are mistaken," said Old King Brady, exhibiting his badge. "I am an
+officer. We heard cries of murder emanate from that building, and this
+is a singular hour for an undertaker to be removing a corpse."
+
+The tall, thin man nodded, and smiled blandly.
+
+Taking something from his pocket, he handed it to the officer.
+
+"My card, sir," he said, politely. "Name of Solomon Gloom. This is a
+case of smallpox. House has been quarantined. Here's my Health Board
+permit to remove the corpse. The rule is to take 'em at night."
+
+He handed over a permit, but it was too dark for Old King Brady to read
+it.
+
+"Well," said the officer, hesitatingly, "that part may be all right.
+Who is dead?"
+
+"Albert Reid, the old cotton broker, sir. Got him in a metallic casket
+in this box. Going to take him to the crematory at Fresh Pond."
+
+"Did he live here?"
+
+"Yes, sir. You can get the particulars inside, if you like."
+
+"How do you account for those yells for help?"
+
+"Came from old Reid's crazy son. He didn't want us to cart away the
+body. Had a regular fight with him to drive him away. He yelled and
+fought like a tiger. Really, I thought he'd arouse the whole
+neighborhood. Had to lock him in a closet."
+
+"Who's in the house with him?"
+
+"No one. We are coming back later, to release him."
+
+"Just wait here. I'll go in and question him."
+
+"Certainly, my dear sir, certainly. Sim, wait in the wagon for me a
+moment and I'll go up and show the gentleman in. But really, sir,
+you're running a great risk. It's a contagious disease, and----"
+
+"Oh, I'll chance it," quietly said Old King Brady, as he took a chew of
+tobacco, and eyed Harry, who was still lurking in the area, opposite.
+
+"As you please, sir. Come ahead," said Mr. Gloom, and as they went up
+the steps into the big front yard, the man called Sim swung himself up
+on the driver's seat, and took the whip and reins in his hands.
+
+Beside the undertaker, Old King Brady mounted the front stoop.
+
+Mr. Gloom seized the knob, pushed open the door and said, affably:
+
+"Go right in, sir. The hall is dark, but----"
+
+"Oh, I ain't afraid of that," said the old detective. "I've got
+matches."
+
+He stepped into the gloomy vestibule ahead of the undertaker, when Mr.
+Gloom suddenly struck him in the back with both hands.
+
+The old detective was knocked forward, plunged into the hall and fell
+upon his hands and knees.
+
+Quick as a flash the undertaker darted back, slammed the door shut,
+fastened it with a key already in the lock and rushed down the steps.
+
+"Go like fury!" he cried, as he sprang upon the wagon.
+
+But Harry had seen him lock Old King Brady in the house, and was at
+that moment rushing across the street toward them, crying:
+
+"Stop, you scoundrels, or I'll shoot you!"
+
+He had his pistol in his hand.
+
+The undertaker saw him and whipped a revolver out of his hip-pocket.
+
+"Perdition! There's another of them!" he hissed in tones of alarm.
+
+The next moment he aimed his weapon at Young King Brady and fired.
+
+Bang!
+
+The shot echoed loudly through the silent street.
+
+Up went Harry's hands, and he fell prostrate, with blood streaming from
+a wound on the side of his head.
+
+The driver lashed the horse furiously.
+
+With a snort, the galled beast sprang forward and raced madly along the
+street toward Broadway, from whence a policeman was running.
+
+"Hello!" yelled the patrolman. "Who fired that shot?"
+
+"Man lying wounded up the street!" shouted the undertaker.
+
+Away dashed the policeman to investigate and the wagon kept on to Sixth
+avenue, swung around the corner and dashed downtown, under the elevated
+road.
+
+In the meantime, Old King Brady had risen to his feet.
+
+Realizing that he had been victimized by Mr. Gloom, he tried to open
+the door.
+
+Finding that it resisted all his efforts, he lit a match, and going
+hastily into the house, he was astonished to find it empty and
+untenanted.
+
+In the middle of the parlor floor lay a curious-looking dagger, which
+looked as if it had been buried in a human body, and the bare boards
+were stained with the same life fluid.
+
+"There's been a murder committed here," flashed through the detective's
+mind, as he picked up the knife and put it in his pocket, "and those
+men have carried away their victim's body in that box!"
+
+He rushed to one of the parlor windows and flung it open, just in time
+to see Harry get shot. The sight made Old King Brady frantic with fury.
+
+"They've killed the boy and escaped!" he roared.
+
+Then he sprang out the window and landed on his feet in the yard.
+
+It only took him a moment to reach his pupil's side, and lifting the
+limp form in his arms, carried him to the sidewalk, under the
+lamp-post.
+
+Here he examined Harry's wound very carefully.
+
+It was only scalp deep, and the rain beating down on his face revived
+him.
+
+Before the policeman reached the boy, he had regained his senses, and
+found Old King Brady wiping his face and sticking court-plaster over
+the cut.
+
+Most of the neighbors had their heads out their windows to see what
+caused the pistol shot, and the policeman came up panting.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, recognizing the detectives. "It's the Bradys."
+
+"Yes. We had a fuss with the driver of an undertaker's wagon," the old
+detective explained. "Harry got shot, but it's only a flesh wound."
+
+"I see. How are you feeling now, Young King Brady?"
+
+"A little sore, but otherwise all right," replied the boy, pluckily
+suppressing a faint feeling, and getting upon his feet. "Where are
+they?"
+
+"I saw that wagon swing into Broadway and dash downtown," said the
+policeman.
+
+"Are you able to pursue it, Harry?" asked Old King Brady, in restless
+tones.
+
+"I think so," the boy replied. "Ride, if you can. It's a suspicious
+case, Old King Brady. They wouldn't attempt murder to prevent us from
+prying into this affair, unless they had a powerful reason for it. The
+policeman had better search that house while we are gone."
+
+"Come on then, my boy. I've got evidence that a dark crime was just
+committed in that empty house. We'd better verify my suspicions."
+
+And they hastened over to Broadway, boarded a car and were rapidly
+carried to Fourteenth street, where they alighted to make inquiries.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE BODY IN THE BOX.
+
+
+A cabman was standing beside his horse at Union Square, and the old
+detective approached him and asked, hastily:
+
+"Did you see an undertaker's wagon just go by here?"
+
+"Oi did, sor, tin minutes ago," promptly replied the driver.
+
+"In which direction did it go?"
+
+"Turned inter Broadway, an' wint downtown."
+
+"Drive us after it as fast as you can."
+
+"Yis, sor. Get in."
+
+They entered the cab and were driven to Courtlandt street, as different
+people they spoke to said they had seen the undertaker's wagon as far
+as that point.
+
+A policeman was seen on the corner, and Harry accosted him with:
+
+"Hello, Bob!"
+
+"Why--Harry--how are you? What are you chasing?"
+
+"After an undertaker's wagon."
+
+"One just left a box in the baggage room at the Pennsylvania depot."
+
+"Look like a coffin?"
+
+"Yes," replied the policeman. "I just came from there. Two men had it.
+I'll describe them."
+
+And he gave a good description of Sim and Solomon Gloom.
+
+"Thanks. That's the gang we're after," said Harry, when he finished.
+
+And away went the Bradys to the Pennsylvania depot at the foot of
+Courtlandt street.
+
+It was a suspicion of the Bradys that the mysterious box would be
+shipped out of the city by rail, that led them to see if the wagon had
+gone to the depot.
+
+They did not find the box in the baggage room.
+
+But they learned that a man answering Solomon Gloom's description had
+checked it through to Savannah, Georgia, and it had been sent over the
+river and was put in the baggage car.
+
+"How soon does that train leave?" asked Harry, quickly.
+
+"The connecting boat goes in three minutes, sir," replied the porter,
+glancing at his watch.
+
+"Old King Brady, we must go out on that train," said the boy, quickly.
+"It's our only chance to find out what's in that box."
+
+"Run for the ticket office, then," said the veteran, promptly. "Mr.
+Gloom is evidently going out on the train with it. If there's any
+crooked work going on here we may be able to arrest him."
+
+They rushed to the office, procured tickets, and just had time to jump
+aboard the boat as it pulled out of the slip.
+
+Reaching the Jersey side, they boarded the train.
+
+Seeing nothing of Mr. Gloom in that car, they sat down to map out a
+course of action, as everything had hitherto been done on the spur of
+the moment.
+
+Just then the train started.
+
+"This is a most singular case, Harry," the old detective exclaimed. "We
+may be on a wild-goose chase, or we may be on the eve of exposing a
+revolting crime. Everything up to the present moment leads me to
+believe in the latter idea. We can only verify our suspicion by opening
+that big box and looking at the contents. This I intend to do."
+
+"Our safest course will be to capture Solomon Gloom first, and then
+confront him with the contents of the box," replied Harry. "If we find
+a corpse there, we may learn whose it is and why the man was killed."
+
+"Very true," assented Old King Brady, with a nod, as he pushed his
+white hair back from his massive brow. "And if we don't find a corpse
+in the box we'll have the satisfaction of arresting Gloom for shooting
+you."
+
+"The man lied outrageously to you, in order to fool you," said Harry.
+"So there isn't much reliance to be placed on anything he said, till we
+prove it."
+
+"Let's see his business card," said the old detective, "now that I've
+got a light."
+
+He drew the pasteboard from his pocket and glanced at it.
+
+To his surprise he found that it really was the business card of one
+Solomon Gloom, undertaker, of Seventh avenue.
+
+"This seems to be all right," he remarked.
+
+"How about the permit from the Health Department?"
+
+Old King Brady drew the paper from his pocket and glanced at it keenly.
+
+Once more he was surprised to discover that it was a genuine printed
+form stating that Mr. Gloom was permitted to remove the corpse of
+Albert Reid from the Thirty-sixth street house to the Fresh Pond
+Crematory. The permit added that the broker had died of small-pox.
+
+"We can't say he lied about this, either," commented the old detective.
+
+"But how about the gory dagger you said you found in the empty house?"
+
+"Here it is. And it's a very unique weapon."
+
+Old King Brady held up the knife.
+
+It had a double-edged blade, eight inches long, as thin as paper, and
+was embossed with the initials P. V., in frosted letters.
+
+"What an ugly-looking weapon!" Harry commented, with a shudder.
+
+"It's an oddity," replied the old detective. "But it isn't a certainty
+that these are the initials of the person who last used it."
+
+"You'd better keep those three things," advised Harry, thoughtfully.
+"They may come in handy if this case amounts to anything."
+
+"If they serve us no better purpose, we can show them to our chief when
+we get back to New York, so he will have evidence of what we are
+doing," said Old King Brady, with a faint smile.
+
+"He expected a report from us to-night, on the case he put us on, but
+he won't get it," said Harry, grimly.
+
+The boy referred to some work they had been doing before they stumbled
+upon the Thirty-sixth street affair.
+
+Information had reached the Central Office that Oliver Dalton, a Broad
+street broker, suspected his nephew, Ronald Mason, of robbing his mail.
+
+The detectives had gone to the broker's house in West Thirty-eighth
+street to get the particulars privately. But the man's daughter,
+Lizzie, told them her father had not yet come home. They waited for him
+till nearly eight o'clock, and as Mr. Dalton did not appear, they were
+going back to headquarters when they stumbled upon the suspicious case
+already recorded here.
+
+Old King Brady smiled at Harry's remark.
+
+"There's no great hurry about that case," he remarked.
+
+"Well," said the boy, "are you ready to go through the cars on a hunt
+for Solomon Gloom? We must make sure of our man before he has a chance
+to alight at a way station and elude us."
+
+Old King Brady bent nearer to Harry, to reply, when suddenly a cloth
+was thrown over their heads by a man who sat behind them.
+
+The cloth was saturated with chloroform.
+
+While the detectives were struggling to extricate their heads, they
+inhaled the deadly fumes and were overcome by the drug.
+
+Not until they were fast asleep did the man remove the cloth.
+
+No one had seen the deed, as they occupied the last seats in the aisle
+and not an undue noise had arisen to attract attention.
+
+Seeing the detectives stupid from the drug, a low chuckle escaped the
+man, and he rose to his feet and muttered:
+
+"Sleep, you dogs! Tracked me, eh? Well, it won't do you any good.
+You'll be snoring long after we reach Georgia. And when you do arouse
+yourselves, you'll find the box gone from this train. This must be a
+mighty good disguise, if you failed to recognize Solomon Gloom in
+it--really, a very clever disguise."
+
+And he chuckled again, glanced at the gray suit and bicycle cap he
+wore, felt of the false beard covering his face and walked into one of
+the forward cars where he had a chance to remain until the opportunity
+came for him to alight at his destination.
+
+The lightning express train went thundering along over the rails and
+the Bradys slept on until mid-day.
+
+When they aroused themselves, the cars had left Charleston.
+
+Their fury knew no bounds, and Old King Brady said, bitterly:
+
+"It must have been Gloom who did that."
+
+"If it were, he was cleverly disguised and must have been the fellow
+who sat behind us apparently reading a newspaper," replied Harry.
+
+"Perhaps he's on the train yet."
+
+"If he is, we'll find him."
+
+"All I want is to get my hands on the rascal!"
+
+"Are you ready to search for him?"
+
+"Come ahead," replied Old King Brady, rising to his feet.
+
+They passed slowly through the car, carefully studying each passenger.
+
+There were two more passenger coaches, a smoking car and a baggage car
+ahead, and the detectives searched them thoroughly for the undertaker.
+
+But to their disgust he was not found.
+
+They paused on the platform of the baggage car and Harry exclaimed:
+
+"He must have checked the box through on a ticket he bought for
+Savannah, and then hid somewhere on this train."
+
+"Which shows what a foxy gentleman we have to contend with," muttered
+Old King Brady, grimly. "He feared pursuit."
+
+"No doubt of it."
+
+"Here comes the conductor. We can explain matters to him and open the
+box."
+
+They had no trouble to persuade the conductor of the importance of
+seeing what the box contained, and they all had a talk with the baggage
+master.
+
+He held them off until nightfall.
+
+As the Bradys promised to have him absolved from blame, he finally gave
+his permission to them to open the box.
+
+Harry cut the rope that bound it and Old King Brady pried off the lid
+with an axe taken from one of the racks.
+
+The conductor held a lantern over the box.
+
+As the lid fell off, they were startled to see the body of a man lying
+in the box.
+
+His face was partly averted, as he lay upon his side.
+
+But the detectives saw that he was a man of about fifty, his portly
+form clad in a dark suit of clothes. His head was partly bald on top
+and his hair was gray. There was a closely-trimmed mustache of the same
+color on his upper lip, and his flesh, although pallid, had not yet
+changed to the waxen hue of death.
+
+It was evident that he was a victim of foul play, for his hands were
+bound behind his back, and his ankles tied together, while a gag was
+secured over his mouth as if to stifle his outcries.
+
+The detectives had no chance to observe any more, just then, for there
+suddenly sounded a quick danger signal of the locomotive's whistle.
+
+The engineer shut off steam, put on the brakes, and the startled
+conductor rushed from the car with the lantern, leaving the place in
+gloom.
+
+"What can be the matter?" muttered Old King Brady.
+
+"There's a fire on the track ahead!" said Harry, peering out the side
+door.
+
+"Where are we?" queried the baggage master, hastily.
+
+"Next to a big swamp," replied Harry. "And, by Jove--see--see! There's
+an obstruction--a heap of sleepers piled across the rails beyond the
+bonfire."
+
+"What the deuce can that mean?" muttered Old King Brady. "Bandits
+trying to rob this train? It don't seem possible, in this
+neighborhood."
+
+The train paused and they all alighted.
+
+Some of the brakemen ran ahead, and under the conductor's direction
+they removed the obstructions from the rails.
+
+The fire seemed to have been built where it was to show the engineer
+the pile of sleepers, and the brakemen scattered it, when the barrier
+was removed.
+
+As the bell rang, every one got aboard and the cars slowly went ahead.
+
+The Bradys and the baggage master returned to the latter's car.
+
+"We'll finish our examination of that body," said Old King Brady.
+
+"Yes," said Harry, "and----Good gracious! Where's the box gone?"
+
+Box and body had vanished.
+
+Every one was astounded.
+
+Then, like a flash, the truth suddenly dawned upon Harry's mind, and he
+cried:
+
+"Now I see through it. Those obstructions were put on the rails to stop
+the train at this point so that the body could be removed from this
+car."
+
+"By whom?" demanded the startled baggage master.
+
+"Accessories of the villain who killed that man!" cried the boy.
+"They've carried the body off in the swamp to hide the evidence of
+their crime. Come, Old King Brady, alight here and see if we can trace
+it."
+
+The detectives made a rush for the door and leaped from the train.
+
+They landed beside the roadbed, and the cars went on without them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE GREAT SWAMP MYSTERY.
+
+
+Heavy banks of dark clouds were flying across the lowering sky.
+Occasionally the big silvery moon burst from the rifts and flooded the
+landscape with its mellow light.
+
+During one of these intervals the two detectives gazed around.
+
+The train had disappeared in the distance.
+
+Not far away from where the Bradys stood they saw the big box lying
+beside the track, turned over on its side.
+
+They ran back and hastily examined it.
+
+"Empty!" ejaculated Harry, in some surprise.
+
+"What has become of the man it contained?" asked Old King Brady.
+
+"Search. He may have fallen out."
+
+They carefully examined the ground within a wide radius.
+
+But they found nothing of the missing body.
+
+"Mysterious, what became of him!" Old King Brady exclaimed.
+
+Harry was completely at his wits' end.
+
+"I'm afraid we are beyond our depth, Old King Brady," he remarked.
+"This mystery keeps growing all the time, and we can't seem to fathom
+it."
+
+Just then the moon appeared again.
+
+It showed them a river on one side and a broad expanse of gloomy swamp
+land on the other.
+
+Night insects were chirping amid the weeds, and frogs were croaking
+dismally among the waving reeds and rushes.
+
+Off in the centre of the swamp were some tangled trees and bushes,
+heaps of rocks overgrown with moss and trailing vines, and an object
+which had the dim outline of being an old rookery of some sort.
+
+It was a dismal, lonesome scene.
+
+Young King Brady moved along the edge of the boggy ground with its
+little pools of water, tufts of coarse grass and tracts of black,
+oozing mud.
+
+An old, rotten board walk from the railroad bed to the trees, caught
+his view and he suddenly called to the old detective:
+
+"I see a light among those trees. Here's a path. Let's follow it into
+the swamp."
+
+"Be cautious!" warned the old detective. "If those rascals have carried
+the body from the box to the midst of those trees, they will be on the
+lookout for any possible pursuers and may give us a warm reception."
+
+"We need not let ourselves be seen," replied the boy.
+
+"How are you going to avoid it?"
+
+"By creeping along the path on our hands and knees. The reeds on each
+side will hide our bodies from view."
+
+"Go ahead, then."
+
+They went down on their haunches and crept along in single file, out
+into the dismal swamp, and drew near the oasis.
+
+In a few minutes they reached firm land.
+
+From behind a clump of bushes they beheld an old wooden shanty, in the
+windows of which there glowed a dim light.
+
+The detectives keenly watched it, hoping they might catch view of some
+human beings about the place.
+
+At the end of quarter of an hour, they were suddenly startled by
+hearing a wild, piercing cry in human tones, of:
+
+"Help! Police! Murder!"
+
+The Bradys were intensely startled.
+
+It was the same voice, using the very same words they had heard the
+night before in West Thirty-sixth street, New York!
+
+"Good gracious! That's queer!" exclaimed Old King Brady, in tones of
+intense astonishment. "Did you hear it, Harry?"
+
+The boy was thinking.
+
+A startling idea flashed across his mind and he muttered:
+
+"That cry was uttered by the same person we heard in New York, and I'm
+convinced that it was the man called Albert Reid."
+
+"But he was murdered----"
+
+"You only suppose so. There was circumstantial evidence that he was.
+But after all he may yet be alive."
+
+This was a startling view to take of the matter.
+
+Old King Brady shot a quick glance at Harry and exclaimed:
+
+"You may be right. The man in the box may not have been dead after all.
+Perhaps he was alive, under the influence of a drug. The man who
+drugged us may have drugged him, too, you know.
+
+"Hark!"
+
+A chorus of fierce cries came from the hut.
+
+There was the noise of a scuffle, then a voice which sounded very much
+like that of a negro roared in furious tones:
+
+"Keep still, or I'll kill you!"
+
+Old King Brady rose to his feet, very much agitated.
+
+"I can't stand this much longer, Harry!" he muttered.
+
+"Come on to the hut and we'll investigate the row," replied the boy.
+
+Casting aside all caution, they rushed toward the old building.
+
+Not half the intervening distance had been covered, when suddenly the
+noise ceased and the light went out.
+
+The detectives halted.
+
+"Were we seen?" panted Harry.
+
+"Perhaps. Listen a moment."
+
+They remained perfectly still and the trees cast a dark shadow over the
+scene which the moon could not dispel.
+
+Five minutes passed.
+
+Hearing and seeing nothing unusual, Harry said:
+
+"Come on."
+
+"Wait till I light my lantern."
+
+"I'll stand guard with my pistol."
+
+Old King Brady drew out a match and lit his bull's-eye.
+
+Moving forward, they reached the hut and made a circuit of it.
+
+The door was wide open.
+
+They boldly entered the building.
+
+It contained only one room, and to the amazement of the officers, it
+was empty.
+
+Staring around, Old King Brady observed that there was only one door
+and the two windows they had been watching--one at the rear and the
+other at the side of the little building.
+
+The door was at another side.
+
+"Gone!" ejaculated the old detective.
+
+"Where?" asked the astonished boy.
+
+"Heaven only knows."
+
+"Search outside."
+
+Old King Brady dashed out the door.
+
+He saw by the moonlight that the little island on which the hut stood
+was in the midst of the swamp.
+
+If any one left it, he was bound to see them.
+
+But not a soul met his view.
+
+No one could leave the hut, cross the swamp and reach the mainland so
+quick that he could not see them escaping in such a short space of
+time.
+
+Yet he failed to see any one in the swamp.
+
+That convinced him that no one left the oasis.
+
+And nobody was on the solid island of earth.
+
+He could not have failed to observe them if they were there.
+
+"What the deuce does this mean?" he gasped in bewilderment.
+
+Then he finally returned to his partner.
+
+"See any one?" eagerly asked the boy.
+
+"Not a soul. And you?"
+
+"I've searched this place, but no one is here."
+
+"Then where did they disappear to so mysteriously?"
+
+"Blessed if I know."
+
+"You heard two human voices here, didn't you?"
+
+"Of course I did."
+
+"Have you thoroughly examined this place?"
+
+"Every inch of it, and couldn't find them."
+
+Old King Brady made a round of the room and came back.
+
+He plainly saw that the walls were not double, and that the floor was
+merely covered with common dirt.
+
+There was not a piece of furniture nor a lamp in the place.
+
+Yet the detectives had seen a light distinctly.
+
+"They ain't here, sure enough," said the old detective, "and they
+didn't leave here. Now, how could they vanish, and where did they go?"
+
+"I'm completely rattled. Beyond my depth entirely."
+
+"So am I. This mystery is too much for me to solve."
+
+"See! Daylight is breaking."
+
+"Let's search the place again."
+
+They went at it with renewed zest, and spent two hours vainly searching
+for the means those speakers employed to drop out of sight.
+
+Finally they desisted.
+
+The great swamp mystery was too much for them.
+
+By this time the sun had risen and flooded the scene, dispelled the
+vapors that hung over the bog and lighted up the surrounding country.
+
+"We'd better get out of here," said Old King Brady. "I see a fine old
+residence over there on the mainland. Let's get over there and get our
+breakfast. I'm going to keep at this swamp till I solve that mystery."
+
+Crossing the board walk, they made a detour and reached the house.
+
+It was a fine country residence with many acres of ground, part of
+which was formed by the swamp.
+
+They Saw a big negro in overalls standing at the gate and Harry asked
+him:
+
+"Say--who lives here?"
+
+"Oliver Dalton, the Broad street broker, sir," replied the colored man.
+
+This reply startled the detectives, for the owner was the very man
+whose case of mail robbery had been placed in their hands.
+
+They glanced significantly at each other, and that look spoke volumes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MR. DALTON.
+
+
+"See here, my friend," said Old King Brady to the darky, "do you know
+anything about that little hut standing out there in the swamp?"
+
+"Dat hut? Sho'. Nobuddy nebber go in no mo'. Useter be fo' Massa Dalton
+when he go out shootin' reed birds."
+
+"Then it isn't in use any more?"
+
+"No, sah."
+
+"Does Mr. Dalton live here all the year round?"
+
+"Golly, no. Only in de winter. Comes heah wif Missy Lizzy an' his
+nephew, Ronald. Me an' my ole gal keep de house fo' dem de rest ob de
+time."
+
+"I see. Then you don't expect them here for a long time, do you?"
+
+"Dey only jes' lef' heah las' month, an' went back to York. But Lawdy,
+whut should Massa Ronald do but come back all ob a sudden las' night
+wif dat ornary niggah cuss, Sim Johnson, an' git bilin' drunk, an' dey
+gwine out an' didn' come back till de roosters crowed dis mawnin'."
+
+"Who is Sim Johnson?"
+
+"Massa Dalton's valet."
+
+"And does the broker know his nephew drinks?"
+
+"Mah goo'ness, no. If he did, dey would be a fight sho's yo' bo'n,
+sah."
+
+"Is Ronald Mason in the habit of going on sprees with his uncle's negro
+valet?"
+
+"Nebber done seed dem so thick befo'."
+
+"Does he intend to remain here long?"
+
+"Spec's not, kase dey didn't bring no luggage."
+
+"Did they explain why they came back so unexpectedly?"
+
+"Not to me."
+
+"I'd like to see Mr. Mason."
+
+"Better come back later, sah. He am too full now."
+
+"Very well. What's your name?"
+
+"George Scott."
+
+"Can you tell me where we can get our breakfast?"
+
+"Right heah, if yo' like, sah."
+
+"Thanks. We'll accept and pay you for your trouble. Is there a town
+near?"
+
+"De railroad station ob Swamp Angel, two miles down dis road."
+
+"I suppose we could find board there?"
+
+"Yassah. Dar am a little hotel neah de depot. Come in, sah--come in."
+
+He led the detectives up a path to the house and when they were seated
+in the kitchen, his big, fat wife, Dinah, bustled around and soon had a
+savory breakfast set before them.
+
+The detectives praised her cooking and paid the old servants so well
+for their attention that the faithful pair voted them as fine
+gentlemen.
+
+Soon afterward the detectives started for Swamp Angel.
+
+"The action of Ronald Mason in coming here so oddly with his uncle's
+valet strikes me very strangely," remarked Old King Brady, as they
+trudged along the road toward the station. "In fact, it is a most
+singular proceeding. He evidently poses before his rich uncle as a
+paragon of virtue. Behind the old man's back he is evidently a high
+roller."
+
+"Then he must be a deceitful man," said Harry.
+
+"Of course, for he's deceiving his trusting uncle."
+
+"You are suspicious of him, ain't you?"
+
+"Well, yes. It takes plenty money for a young man to lead a riotous
+life. If Mason draws a big salary in his uncle's office, where he is
+employed as a clerk, he may be able to afford it. If he is poorly paid,
+he may be at the bottom of the mail robberies we were called upon to
+investigate. See the point?"
+
+Harry nodded and smiled; then he thought for a moment.
+
+"You're pretty keen," he remarked. "It's a fair presumption, though."
+
+"I think we had better keep an eye on that frisky young gentleman when
+we return to New York," continued the old detective, wisely. "It may
+lead to a solution of the problem we are so anxious to solve for the
+broker."
+
+"Are you going back to Dalton's to see him?"
+
+"Yes, this afternoon. I merely wish to size him up."
+
+"How long do you intend to remain here?"
+
+"I'd like to unravel the great swamp mystery before we go."
+
+"Perhaps we may in a few days."
+
+"Well, we'll give the matter a fair trial, anyhow."
+
+Upon reaching Swamp Angel, they soon located the little hotel and there
+turned into bed for a few hours' sleep.
+
+It was late in the afternoon when they returned to Dalton's.
+
+Here they met the old negro again and he said:
+
+"Yo's come back too late, gemmen."
+
+"How so?" asked Old King Brady, in puzzled tones.
+
+"Massa Mason an' Sim done gone an hour ago."
+
+"Where to?"
+
+"York."
+
+The detectives were keenly disappointed.
+
+However, they did not complain, and went away to search the swamp again
+for some trace of the missing body.
+
+No success crowned their efforts.
+
+In fact, after a useless search, covering a period of three days, they
+at length gave up the hunt in despair and returned to New York.
+
+It was useless to remain prowling around that bleak swamp trying to dig
+up a mystery that baffled all their ingenuity.
+
+"We went beyond our depth," said Harry, when they reached New York.
+"The game was too hard to solve. The mystery of the murdered man in the
+box must remain unsolved. It can go on record as one of the many
+strange cases that have baffled the detectives before. It's our duty
+now to report the matter to our chief, drop it, and resume our attempt
+to locate the broker's mail thief."
+
+"Then come to headquarters at once," said Old King Brady, as they left
+the cars.
+
+They met the chief in his office and he smiled pleasantly, and asked:
+
+"Well, where have you two been keeping yourselves hidden during the
+past week? I haven't seen or heard from you lately."
+
+The Bradys told him what they had been doing.
+
+He listened attentively, with a grave look upon his face, while they
+were giving him the facts, and said when they finished:
+
+"Then that murder mystery was too much for you, and you went beyond
+your depth trying to solve it, eh? Well, it's just as well you let it
+drop."
+
+"Anything new going on?"
+
+"Yes. Something relating to your mail robbery case."
+
+"Indeed! What was it?"
+
+"Oliver Dalton has disappeared."
+
+"Where to?"
+
+"Nobody seems to know."
+
+"That is very strange."
+
+"You had better go up to his house and get the particulars from his
+daughter. She is frantic to find her father. Some points might be
+gained in the broker's Broad street office."
+
+"We'll follow your advice, sir," said Old King Brady.
+
+The chief did not seem to have many facts in relation to the case, so
+the detectives finally left him.
+
+Going to the broker's office, they found it occupied by half a dozen
+clerks.
+
+Having asked for Mr. Dalton, the office boy said to them:
+
+"You'd better see Mr. Mason about that matter, sir."
+
+"Is the broker's nephew in?" asked Harry.
+
+"Yes. He's the boss here now. Got your card?"
+
+Harry handed him a business card and he carried it into a private
+office in the rear. A few minutes later he came out, with a smile on
+his face, and said to the detectives:
+
+"Mr. Mason says for you to come in."
+
+He ushered the Bradys into the private office and they there beheld
+Ronald Mason, the broker's nephew, sitting at his desk.
+
+About thirty years of age, his tall, thin figure clad in stylish
+clothing, Ronald Mason was a clean-shaven individual, with hard
+features.
+
+He had cold, gray eyes, and a haughty, overbearing appearance.
+
+When the detectives came in, they saw him bending a queer, searching
+look at them, and he then asked in low tones:
+
+"Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you to-day?"
+
+Neither of the detectives were favorably impressed with his appearance.
+
+They had seen the odd look he gave them, and set him down for a tricky
+and dangerous man to deal with.
+
+Old King Brady took him in hand by saying:
+
+"You are Mr. Mason, I believe?"
+
+"That is my name, Mr. Brady."
+
+"We have heard that your uncle has mysteriously disappeared."
+
+"That's correct. We've reported the matter to the police. I presume you
+are here to get information about him, ain't you?"
+
+"Yes. What do you know about the case?"
+
+"Simply this: Last Monday he left this office at five o'clock and
+proceeded to the Union Club. At about eight o'clock, after his dinner,
+a telegram was brought in to him. He showed some agitation, put on his
+hat, took his umbrella and hastily departed. No one seems to know where
+he went. That was the last we've seen or heard of him since. We
+informed the police and nothing has yet come of it."
+
+"Did he have any domestic or business trouble?"
+
+"None that I'm aware of."
+
+"Ever speak of suicide?"
+
+Mason assumed a very mysterious air, bent near the detectives and
+replied:
+
+"Yes! Several times. And I fear he has kept his threat at last."
+
+The Bradys were startled at this unexpected reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE PICTURE ON THE WALL.
+
+
+Ronald Mason was keenly watching the effect his words produced upon the
+detectives, and he noted their looks of astonishment.
+
+When Old King Brady recovered from the shock, he demanded:
+
+"Can you tell me why your uncle contemplated suicide?"
+
+"Yes. He was afflicted with an incurable disease. He never told any one
+about it except me. He had the consumption."
+
+"I see," said the old detective, nodding. "It made him despondent?"
+
+"Yes. He sometimes had no desire to live, only to perish in the end of
+a lingering malady, which was bound to prove fatal, anyway."
+
+"Didn't his daughter know anything about it?"
+
+"Not a thing. He kept it a secret from her so she would not worry."
+
+"Presuming he killed himself, who would benefit by his death?"
+
+"His daughter and I. We are his only relatives."
+
+"You are his nephew, I believe?"
+
+"Well, yes. By adoption, but not by blood."
+
+"How do you mean?"
+
+"I was his dead sister's adopted child. Legally, I'm his nephew."
+
+"Since he vanished, have you been conducting his business?"
+
+"Oh, yes. I'm capable of doing it. In fact, even when he was here I've
+been in the habit of attending to most all of it. He recently hasn't
+done much more than sign checks."
+
+"Since he vanished, have you been here every day?"
+
+"Certainly I have."
+
+"Haven't been out of town at all, eh?"
+
+"I had no occasion to."
+
+"No?" asked the detective, with a smile.
+
+"No!" retorted Mason, sharply.
+
+"Do you know Sim Johnson, your uncle's valet?"
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+"Are you in the habit of going on sprees with that colored man?"
+
+A startled look flashed across Mason's face, an expression of deep fear
+shone for an instant in his cold eyes, and he sprang to his feet.
+
+By an effort of will he subdued his alarm, a dark frown mantled his
+brow and he glared furiously at the detectives and demanded:
+
+"Do you mean to insult me?"
+
+A chuckle escaped the old detective and he replied, blandly:
+
+"Insult you? By no means."
+
+"Then what do you mean by asking such an impertinent question, sir?"
+haughtily demanded Mason.
+
+"Only this," replied Old King Brady, calmly. "We were down at your
+uncle's place at Swamp Angel, in Georgia, the other night, and learned
+there that you and Sim Johnson were on a toot there together."
+
+"It's an infernal lie!" yelled Mason, losing his temper.
+
+Old King Brady smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Perhaps," he assented. "But if it isn't, I'll tell you how you may
+know that we were aware of it. My partner and I are the two who called
+there to see you, and couldn't, as you were then supposed to be
+sleeping off your jag."
+
+Mason had a queer expression upon his face.
+
+He looked puzzled, angry and curious, and finally asked:
+
+"How did you happen to go way down there to my uncle's place in
+Georgia, looking for me, I'd like to know?"
+
+"Important business brought us to that neighborhood, Mr. Mason."
+
+"May I inquire what it was?"
+
+"You may, but we won't tell you."
+
+"Insolent!" exclaimed the young man, bridling up again.
+
+"Your question was worse!"
+
+"Well, to bring this interview to a close, I deny your ugly
+insinuation, and declare that I was not out of New York since my uncle
+vanished. Now, if you have nothing to say except to cast aspersions
+upon my character, I will wish you good-morning, as I am busy and my
+time is valuable."
+
+"That's a polite hint for us to go, I presume?"
+
+"I'll be frank with you. It is."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Mason. We'll trouble you no further--for the present."
+
+And bowing low, the detectives walked out of the office.
+
+A cab was awaiting them out in Broad street and they entered it, and
+were driven rapidly uptown on the west side.
+
+"You've got him guessing," laughed Harry, as they sped along.
+
+"He knows I've caught him in a lie," Old King Brady answered.
+
+"Going to the broker's house now?"
+
+"Yes. I wish to question his daughter and the valet."
+
+"Did you notice anything peculiar about Mason?"
+
+"His face, and voice, and actions seemed strangely familiar to me."
+
+"That's what I mean, exactly."
+
+"Haven't we met him before?"
+
+"Well," said Harry, "if he were dressed like an undertaker, wore false
+side-whiskers and called himself Solomon Gloom, don't you think he
+would resemble the villain who shot me in Thirty-sixth street?"
+
+"Thunder!" ejaculated Old King Brady, slapping his knee with his hand.
+
+The keen boy's discernment startled him.
+
+What Harry said was the truth.
+
+Mason certainly bore a startling resemblance to the man who had shipped
+the box of human remains to Georgia.
+
+Harry laughed, and asked:
+
+"You notice the resemblance then, do you?"
+
+"I do, indeed. It's startling."
+
+"Do you think he's the same man?"
+
+"The Lord knows. It's hard to say. But I suspect he is. If he and Mr.
+Gloom were the same person, what possible object could he have had in
+putting that man out of the way?"
+
+"We may find out later on."
+
+The cab brought them to the palatial residence the missing broker had
+occupied, and a ring at the bell brought a negro flunky to the door.
+
+He stared at the detectives, and they stared at him.
+
+Then he uttered a startled cry, and retreating into the hall, he made a
+movement as if he were going to close the door in their faces.
+
+Harry was too quick for him.
+
+The boy sprang in and caught him by the throat.
+
+Despite the fact that the coon now wore a dress suit, the detectives
+recognized him as the driver of the undertaker's wagon, whom "Mr.
+Gloom" had addressed as "Sim."
+
+A gurgling cry escaped the black man.
+
+"Let me go!" he gasped.
+
+"I've got you now, you villain!" cried Harry, grimly.
+
+"Fo' de Lawd sakes, what yo' doin'?" groaned the darky.
+
+"You are the undertaker's helper. We know you."
+
+"No, I ain't, boss. No, I ain't!" protested the man in alarmed tones.
+
+"Don't you lie to me! We know you, I tell you, and by Jove we are going
+to make you tell who that man was you murdered!"
+
+The negro was terribly frightened.
+
+In fact, he was so scared he could hardly speak.
+
+Seeing this, Harry went on in excited tones:
+
+"It was Ronald Mason with you, disguised. We know that. You and he were
+down at Swamp Angel together, on a spree. We know that, too. And now,
+you black scoundrel, we want to know who that man was you murdered,
+blast you! We saw the box and body stolen at the swamp near Mr.
+Dalton's winter residence, and we know now that you and Mason were at
+the bottom of that mysterious piece of rascality. What does it all
+mean, confound you?"
+
+Harry's excited voice brought a beautiful, stylishly-clad young girl
+down the stairs, and there was a look of surprise in her big, dark
+eyes.
+
+"Sim Johnson," she cried, "what does this mean?"
+
+"Oh, sabe me, Miss Lizzie, sabe me!" implored the frightened coon.
+
+"Gentlemen----" she began.
+
+"Pardon me, Miss Dalton," interrupted Old King Brady. "We are officers
+of the law. This man is mixed up in a suspicious case. We want him to
+confess his villainy. Don't interfere, please."
+
+"But I protest!" cried the young lady in angry tones.
+
+"It is useless. We must do our duty."
+
+"Why, what has Sim done? Now I remember you. You were here a week ago."
+
+"Been away several days with Mason, hasn't he?" asked Harry, with a
+nod.
+
+"Yes. Out West they told me----"
+
+"And lied. They were at your father's place in Georgia."
+
+"My gracious! I hope they have done nothing wrong."
+
+"Well, they have. We are bound to find out about it, too."
+
+"Can you tell me what this all means?"
+
+"Of course we can. But we are going to arrest this man."
+
+"Come into the parlor so the neighbors won't hear you."
+
+They dragged the darky into the parlor.
+
+The crayon picture of a man hanging on the wall met Harry's glance, and
+pointing excitedly at it, he cried:
+
+"See, Old King Brady! There's a photograph of the murdered man we saw
+in the box this coon was handling!"
+
+Old King Brady was startled.
+
+He noticed that Harry had made no error about it.
+
+Lizzie Dalton quickly glanced at the picture.
+
+"Why," she exclaimed, "that's my father's likeness!"
+
+The Bradys glanced at each other in amazement.
+
+"Then Oliver Dalton was the murdered man!" Harry muttered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+TRACING SOME CLEWS.
+
+
+When Old King Brady heard what Harry said, he felt convinced that the
+boy made no error. He plainly saw that the crayon portrait was an
+excellent picture of the man whose body vanished in the swamp.
+
+Lizzie Dalton overheard Young King Brady's remark.
+
+Her face turned as pale as death, and she sank into a chair, gasping:
+
+"Was my father murdered?"
+
+"Such is our suspicion," replied the old detective, gently.
+
+"But you are not positive of it?"
+
+"No," answered Old King Brady, shaking his head.
+
+"In that case, you may be mistaken."
+
+"Yes. There's some doubt about it."
+
+"Will you kindly tell me what made you believe he was dead?"
+
+"Certainly. Listen. Here's what happened in the past few days."
+
+And he recited all that transpired from the time they first heard that
+cry for help in Thirty-sixth street, up to the present moment.
+
+The girl listened intently and when he finished, she said, in tones of
+relief:
+
+"Then you have reason to believe that the man was alive when you heard
+his voice coming from that old hut in the swamp?"
+
+"Just so," assented Old King Brady, admiring her fortitude and cool
+judgment.
+
+"And you believe my cousin Ronald and this negro were at the bottom of
+the whole thing?" continued the girl.
+
+"We do. It's our opinion that Mason sent your father a decoy telegram
+to the Union Club, and lured him to the empty house in Thirty-sixth
+street. We believe he and Sim Johnson arranged to attack and drug him
+there. We think, when they either killed or drugged him, they packed
+him in the box and shipped it by rail to Georgia. The fact that some
+unknown party on the cars chloroformed us leads us to suppose it was
+Mason, who may have been on the cars disguised. We also think they had
+accomplices at Swamp Angel to stop the train so they could steal the
+box and hide the body of the man it contained in the swamp. The fact of
+Mason and the negro being there at the time, confirms this suspicion of
+them being at the bottom of the job."
+
+"Your suspicions seem to be well founded, sir, but it may be only a
+theory on your part, after all," said the girl.
+
+"Miss Dalton, you can weaken or strengthen our suspicions."
+
+"In what way, Mr. Brady?"
+
+"By showing us a motive for such crooked work."
+
+"How can I?"
+
+"Simply by answering my questions."
+
+"Nothing would give me more pleasure."
+
+"First, then, were your father and Mason on friendly terms?"
+
+"Very."
+
+"Didn't they ever quarrel?"
+
+"Never, to my knowledge."
+
+"Then revenge is out of the question. Now for love."
+
+"I don't quite understand you, sir."
+
+"Wasn't Mason in love with you?"
+
+The girl's cheeks flushed and she averted her glance.
+
+Both detectives noticed the tell-tale glow and smiled at each other.
+
+Finally, after some consideration, Lizzie said, with an effort:
+
+"Mr. Mason did profess to be in love with me."
+
+"Wanted you to marry him, didn't he?"
+
+"Yes. But I didn't return his affection."
+
+"Did you tell him so?"
+
+"Several times. I told my father about it, too."
+
+"How did he seem to take it?"
+
+"Well, he forbade me marrying Mr. Mason and told him the same thing."
+
+"Then with your father out of the way, so he could no longer object,
+Mason might have figured that he would have better success winning
+you."
+
+"No matter what he thought, it wouldn't do him any good, sir."
+
+"So I presume. However, it shows an incentive to get rid of your
+father. Now, there's another consideration. I refer to money."
+
+"How could he gain money by killing my father?"
+
+"Well, he told us your father's fortune was to go to both of you."
+
+"Then he did not tell the truth," said the girl, contemptuously. "My
+father often told me that every cent he had was willed to me
+exclusively."
+
+"Have you seen his will?"
+
+"Yes. He once showed it to me."
+
+"Then you know what you said to be true?"
+
+"Of course I do. Mr. Mason had no claim on my father's generosity."
+
+"What lawyer drew up the will?"
+
+"Oh, he's been dead several years. His name was Evan D. Russell."
+
+"Where was the will kept?"
+
+"Hidden. No one but papa knows where."
+
+The Bradys questioned her closely for a while longer.
+
+While this was going on, Young King Brady had been holding the negro by
+the arm. But they became so interested in what Lizzie was saying that
+neither one paid much attention to him.
+
+Sim soon observed this.
+
+Filled with a desire to escape, he suddenly wrenched his arm free.
+
+Quick as a flash he seized a chair, swung it around and knocked Harry
+down.
+
+Old King Brady heard his partner's warning cry and turned around, but
+ere he could do anything the chair crushed down upon his head and he
+fell upon his back in the middle of the floor.
+
+The delighted negro rushed to the open window and leaped out.
+
+Up scrambled the chagrined detectives.
+
+Both smarted from the blows, but were otherwise uninjured and they
+rushed to the window and jumped out into the front yard.
+
+Rushing out to the street they gazed around, but failed to see anything
+of the fugitive valet.
+
+He had hidden himself so completely that they could find no trace of
+him, although they scoured the neighborhood for an hour.
+
+When they met again, both looked very much disgusted and Harry said:
+
+"He has eluded us, it seems."
+
+"Completely," Old King Brady answered, angrily.
+
+"We may as well give up hunting for him."
+
+"Yes. It's a waste of time at present."
+
+They returned to the house and told Lizzie the bad news, and the old
+detective said:
+
+"I expected to pump some valuable information from him about Ronald
+Mason. But that hope is gone. We shall have to watch out for that pair.
+In the meantime, if you wish us to recover your father's body, dead or
+alive, you must maintain the utmost secrecy of what we said, Miss
+Dalton."
+
+"You can depend upon my discretion," replied the girl, quietly.
+
+The detectives promised to exert every effort to find her father, and
+finally took their leave of her.
+
+On the following day the Bradys went to the office of Solomon Gloom,
+the undertaker, on Seventh avenue, and met him in his office.
+
+He looked nothing like the man who personated him.
+
+It was just as the Bradys suspected.
+
+Having described the man who had the wagon and carried off the body,
+Old King Brady asked the undertaker:
+
+"Did you give that man one of your business cards?"
+
+"I certainly did," replied Mr. Gloom.
+
+"And rented out your wagon to him?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I also got them a Health Board permit for small-pox, so they
+could remove their relative's body. The party died of small-pox."
+
+That satisfied the Bradys to the means the abductors employed to
+personate the undertaker and carry out their plot.
+
+The officers next went to the Union Club and made an effort to secure
+the telegram which brought Mr. Dalton from the clubhouse the night he
+was summoned away and vanished from view.
+
+The steward found it in the rubbish-basket and gave it to them.
+
+The message was worded as follows:
+
+    "Oliver Dalton: Meet me secretly, nine to-night, in house No. --
+    West Thirty-sixth street, about mail robberies.
+
+                                                Old King Brady."
+
+Here was a startling surprise for the detectives.
+
+"Did you send that message?" asked Harry, of his partner.
+
+"No. It's a forgery!" declared the old detective.
+
+"I thought so."
+
+"Whoever sent it knew the broker was going to have us run down the
+thieves who were robbing him."
+
+"As Ronald Mason admitted to us that he practically ran the business,
+he must have known that we were going to work up the case. Our chief
+told Mr. Dalton we would. Therefore it must be another example of
+Mason's perfidy."
+
+"Come to the telegraph office. We'll see if we can trace the party who
+sent this despatch."
+
+They hastened from the Union Club.
+
+By dint of diligent inquiry the Bradys learned which office the forged
+despatch had been sent from, and went there.
+
+Showing the message to the girl operator, Old King Brady asked:
+
+"Do you remember sending this message?"
+
+"Distinctly," she replied, "on account of the odd signature."
+
+"Can you describe the party who sent it?"
+
+"Oh, yes. I'm acquainted with the gentleman."
+
+"Indeed! What was his name?"
+
+"Mr. Ronald Mason."
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Yes, indeed."
+
+The Bradys thanked the girl and departed.
+
+"Gradually we are getting at the bottom of this affair," said Old King
+Brady.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE MISSING MAN FOUND.
+
+
+The Bradys kept Ronald Mason closely shadowed for several days. They
+saw that he was living the mechanical life of a sober business man.
+
+He was at his desk every morning at nine o'clock, and departed at five
+in the evening for home, in a cab. He did not depart from the house
+during the night, and received no callers there.
+
+But the detectives did not relax their vigilance.
+
+They had a deep-rooted suspicion that Mason had been working a plot to
+get rid of his uncle so he could inherit part of Mr. Dalton's money,
+and win the broker's daughter for his bride without any opposition.
+
+Old King Brady figured that he was bound to show his hand sooner or
+later.
+
+Nor did his judgment err.
+
+At the end of the week a telegraph boy delivered a message at the
+broker's residence, about nine o'clock at night.
+
+Within a few minutes after the lad departed the front door opened and a
+man in shabby clothes, with a beard on his face, cautiously emerged.
+
+He carried a big bundle under his arm.
+
+He glanced up and down the deserted street and seeing nobody, he
+hastily ran down the steps and stole rapidly away.
+
+Safely hidden in the area of an empty house opposite, the Bradys
+observed him, and a smile crossed Harry's face as he nudged his partner
+and whispered:
+
+"There's Mason, now!"
+
+"Very clumsily disguised!" Old King Brady commented.
+
+"If he were not up to some mischief, he would not be so careful to
+conceal his identity," Harry remarked, drily.
+
+They let the young man get some distance ahead before they ventured out
+in the street. Then they separated, to avoid attracting special
+attention.
+
+Mason walked down Eighth avenue to Thirty-fourth street and boarded a
+horse-car going east. The detectives followed it afoot until they
+reached Broadway, and at Herald Square they secured a cab.
+
+The chase then became comparatively easy.
+
+Mason rode to the East river before he alighted and finally made his
+way afoot along the river front until he reached a pier.
+
+The detectives were close behind him, as yet unseen.
+
+Going out on the pier, Mason paused and whistled.
+
+Instantly a man climbed up over the string piece from a rowboat in
+which sat a solitary individual, close to the piles.
+
+As it was a clear night, the detectives had no trouble to see that the
+man who joined Mason was a negro.
+
+And then they recognized him as Sim Johnson, the valet.
+
+For a few moments the pair held a whispered conversation, and then
+climbed down the piles and got into the rowboat.
+
+Creeping nearer, the Bradys now caught a good view of the boatman.
+
+He was a little old man, in a blue blouse and felt hat, and his face
+was covered by a gray beard.
+
+When Mason and the negro were aboard, the boatman rowed out on the
+river, shipped his oars and let the skiff drift with the tide.
+
+The Bradys reached the end of the pier and watched them keenly.
+
+There was something towing behind the skiff by a rope.
+
+As the skiff paused, the three men pulled it into the boat.
+
+It was a large object, but the detectives could not make out at that
+distance what it really was.
+
+They saw the three men working over it for a while, and finally push it
+overboard again so the boat could tow it.
+
+When this was done the light craft was rowed down the river and the
+detectives lost track of it altogether.
+
+They felt rather disappointed.
+
+"What the deuce were they doing?" Harry asked.
+
+"Blessed if I could tell," replied Old King Brady, in perplexity.
+
+"Let's go back to Mason's house and wait for him to come back."
+
+Old King Brady assented.
+
+They returned to the West Thirty-sixth street residence.
+
+An hour later, as they stood on the corner, the man they suspected as
+Mason came along, and Old King Brady stepped in front of him.
+
+"Hold on there, my friend!" he remarked.
+
+"Let me pass!" growled the other in low, ugly tones, as he shot a
+savage glance at the old detective, and made an effort to go by.
+
+"Wait a moment!" persisted the officer.
+
+"I ain't got any time."
+
+"Tut-tut!"
+
+"Well, what do you want?"
+
+"I've taken a violent interest in your whiskers, sir."
+
+"Come, now, none of your guying----"
+
+"Oh, I ain't fooling. I've taken such a huge interest in your whiskers
+that I'd like to have a handful as a keepsake."
+
+And so saying the detective grabbed them.
+
+A slight pull dislodged them from the man's face, causing him to
+recoil, giving utterance to a smothered cry of alarm.
+
+Old King Brady chuckled.
+
+Holding up a false beard, he glanced at the man.
+
+"Why," exclaimed Harry, "it's Mr. Mason!"
+
+"Bless my heart, so it is," added the old detective, feigning to be
+very much astonished at the discovery. "How strange! Why, Mr. Mason,
+what in the world are you going around masquerading this way for, at
+such a late hour of the night?"
+
+The broker's nephew was furious over his exposure.
+
+He knew it was useless to pretend he was not the man they mentioned and
+he swore at them, and cried, fiercely:
+
+"That's none of your infernal business."
+
+"How angry you are. My! My! Keep cool, Mr. Mason. Wrath isn't going to
+mend matters for you in any way."
+
+"Get out of my path, you old meddlesome fool!"
+
+"Now, don't get excited," laughed Old King Brady. "You must know, sir,
+that we are engaged upon very important business. Some time ago we saw
+you come out of that house, and thinking you were a burglar we followed
+you down to the East river."
+
+"You followed me?" gasped Mason, with a guilty start.
+
+"Oh, dear, yes. And we saw you meet Sim Johnson on the pier, and we saw
+you get into the rowboat with your bundle, and we saw the little old
+man with the gray beard row you out on the stream, and then we saw you
+all pull up the object you had towing astern, take it into the boat,
+work over it a while, toss it back, and row away."
+
+Mason's face had grown deathly pale.
+
+He eyed the detectives with such a vindictive look that they could see
+he would have knocked their heads off if he dared.
+
+Finally, though, he regained his composure a little and asked:
+
+"What object did you see us pull out of the water?"
+
+"Really, I can't say. You were too far from the dock for us to
+distinguish exactly what it was. But it looked something like the
+corpse of a man."
+
+"You must be crazy, Brady!"
+
+"Do you think so? We don't. But you've aroused our curiosity about that
+mysterious trip on the river and we'd like to know what it all meant."
+
+"You'll never learn from me."
+
+"Oh, I suppose not--voluntarily. Anyway, you ought to tell us why you
+are so intimate with your uncle's negro valet----"
+
+"You make me sick!" exclaimed Mason, wearily. "Sim told me all about
+your looney suspicions about he and I making away with my uncle. But I
+defy you to prove any of your crack-brained theories. You are on the
+wrong trail, Brady. And I advise you to leave me alone, or by jingo,
+I'll defend myself and make it very warm for you."
+
+"Got a big political pull?" laughed the old detective.
+
+"No, but I carry a gun in my pocket!" hissed Mason, furiously.
+
+"Oh, pshaw! That don't scare me a bit, my boy. Then you won't
+confess----"
+
+"I'll tell you nothing of my personal affairs!" roared Mason. "Clear
+out! Mind your own business. Leave me alone! I don't want to have
+anything to do with you fellows! Do you understand?"
+
+And he scowled and stamped his foot on the pavement and rushed past
+them and hastily entered his house.
+
+The Bradys laughed and walked away.
+
+"He's getting afraid of us," said Harry.
+
+"Yes. We are wearing on his nerves. He knows we are watching him, and
+it makes him very uneasy. However, when we get good proof of his guilt,
+we'll nail him, and that will end his rascality."
+
+They felt confident that Mason would not come out again that night and
+therefore went home.
+
+On the following morning a great surprise awaited them.
+
+Harry was reading the daily paper and caught view of this item:
+
+    "The missing man found. Oliver Dalton, the well-known Broad street
+    broker, found drowned in the East river. At ten o'clock last night
+    Martin Kelly, an old junk dealer, picked up the mutilated corpse of
+    a well-dressed man in the East river off the foot of East
+    Forty-second street. He towed it behind his skiff to the morgue,
+    and turned the corpse over to the authorities, with an account of
+    his ghastly find. The body had been in the water so long it would
+    have been unrecognizable if it were not for some private papers
+    found in the pockets, by means of which the man's identity was
+    established. A reporter was the first one to bring the news to the
+    dead man's daughter, etc."
+
+When Harry read the item aloud, Old King Brady cried:
+
+"Harry, had Mason's trip on the river anything to do with finding that
+corpse?"
+
+"Let us go down to the morgue and get the facts."
+
+Old King Brady nodded and they hastened across town.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+WHAT THE BROKER'S WILL SAID.
+
+
+When the Bradys entered the morgue they found Lizzie Dalton there,
+bitterly weeping, and the keeper showing her the body said to be her
+father's.
+
+The man's head was gone, as if it had been severed by the wheels of a
+passing boat. The hands were nearly destroyed and the clothing was in a
+good state. The keeper was asking the girl:
+
+"An' yer recognize him as yer father?"
+
+"It must be," replied Lizzie, with a sob. "On the finger is a ring
+which I know belonged to him, the clothing certainly is his and the
+keys, papers and penknife found in the pockets belonged to him. As you
+can see, the envelopes have his name and address on them."
+
+Just then the girl saw the Bradys.
+
+They bowed to her and Old King Brady said, in kindly tones:
+
+"We hope you will make no error, Miss Dalton. Let the identification be
+complete. Everything depends upon your verdict."
+
+"Oh, I am positive it is poor papa," said the weeping girl, "for no one
+but he could have had the things found on this corpse."
+
+The detectives examined the body and the effects.
+
+They then left the Morgue with the girl.
+
+She was deeply affected and they brought her home in a carriage.
+
+When they left her at her door and departed, the Bradys were in a
+bewildered state of mind and the old detective said:
+
+"Harry, I'm completely puzzled again."
+
+"On account of the girl's positive identification of that body?"
+
+"Yes. If it wasn't Dalton's corpse she would not declare it was."
+
+"But how about the body we traced to the swamp in Georgia? Could it
+have been brought North again and thrown in the river here?"
+
+"Such a thing might have occurred."
+
+"It seems improbable, though."
+
+"Very true. But there's no way to account for the finding of this body
+here unless that's what happened."
+
+"Then we are beyond our depth again."
+
+"So it appears. We may be deep enough to solve an ordinary mystery, but
+the depth of this one seems to be too much for us. At first we imagined
+we had the whole thing thoroughly sifted out. Now we've received a
+severe setback. It brings us to where we started, practically. All our
+theories may have been wrong. Sim Johnson and Ronald Mason may be
+innocent men. Perhaps we wronged them by unjust suspicions based upon
+circumstantial evidence."
+
+"Then you think we had better drop the case?"
+
+Old King Brady nodded, and replied:
+
+"I don't see what else we can do now. If the man found in the river is
+Dalton, the body is in such a state that it will be utterly impossible
+to tell whether he was a victim of foul play, suicide, or accident.
+There is absolutely nothing about the body to indicate what the cause
+of his death was."
+
+"I don't fancy giving up the case."
+
+"Well, we never before found a job we couldn't finish successfully,"
+said the old detective. "But how we are to unravel the mystery of this
+man's death is beyond my power of thinking."
+
+Harry pondered a few moments in silence.
+
+Several ideas passed through his mind and he finally said:
+
+"Will you stick to the case a while longer if I do?"
+
+"Certainly. Why did you ask that question?"
+
+"Because we haven't satisfied ourselves about what Mason and the black
+valet were doing on the river with that boatman. If we find that the
+old gray-bearded fellow was the one who brought the body to the morgue,
+it would seem to indicate that Mason and the coon know something about
+how Mr. Dalton may have met his doom. Remember the object they had
+towing behind the boat may have been the old broker's corpse. We can
+find out by attending the coroner's inquest and gaining a glimpse of
+the man who picked up the body."
+
+"Then we shall do so."
+
+On the following day they went to the morgue again and there found the
+coroner and his jury.
+
+The inquest was in progress.
+
+As the boatman who found the body was the only witness present the
+Bradys saw him the moment they entered the building.
+
+It proved that their suspicion was correct.
+
+He was the same little old man whom they had seen rowing Mason and
+Johnson out on the river.
+
+Satisfied of this and having learned his address, the detectives left
+the building with renewed hope in their hearts.
+
+Outside, Harry said to his partner:
+
+"It's the same fellow, sure enough."
+
+"No doubt about it, Harry. But then, he may have found the body long
+before he met the negro and Mason. He may have learned whose corpse it
+was and telegraphed to Mason to come down to the river and identify
+it."
+
+Harry shook his head.
+
+"I don't agree with your view," said he.
+
+"Why not? It's plausible."
+
+"No, it ain't. It don't account for Johnson being there ahead of
+Mason."
+
+"By Jove, I didn't think of that."
+
+"I tell you, Old King Brady, the whole circumstance is so suspicious
+that I'm yet of the opinion that the whole thing is a deep-laid plot,
+and I'm convinced that we will get at the bottom of the mystery if we
+keep a watch on the foxy Mr. Mason."
+
+"It won't do any harm to try a while longer."
+
+Harry looked pleased to hear this, and they went downtown and put their
+plan in operation at once.
+
+Within the next few days several important events occurred.
+
+The body was taken from the morgue and was buried from Mr. Dalton's
+house, Lizzie and Mason being the chief mourners.
+
+The Bradys had found out who Mr. Dalton's lawyer was.
+
+Having called on him and explained their suspicions of Mason, they
+asked him if he had seen Mr. Dalton's will.
+
+He told them that Mason had given it to him that morning, with a
+request that it be read at the house that afternoon.
+
+It was then sealed up and according to Mason's story, had been in Mr.
+Dalton's safe a long time, in the Broad street office.
+
+"We must hear the contents of that will," said Old King Brady. "As Mason
+is an unscrupulous man, we fear he may have tampered with it."
+
+"You might disguise yourselves and go with me," suggested the lawyer.
+"I could tell Mason you were called on as witnesses."
+
+"Very well. What time are you going there?"
+
+"I'll leave here at four o'clock."
+
+"We shall be on hand to go with you."
+
+With this understanding they separated.
+
+The Bradys went home and disguised themselves.
+
+Both were expert at such work, and quickly made such a wonderful change
+in their outward appearance that they could safely defy recognition.
+
+Harry was made up as a stylish young woman, and Old King Brady, in a
+black wig and beard, looked like a minister.
+
+The lawyer did not know them when they returned to his office, and
+laughed heartily when he found out who they were.
+
+"I never saw such skillful disguising done before," he exclaimed,
+admiringly, "and I can assure you that Mason will not know who you
+are."
+
+They proceeded to Mr. Dalton's house and were introduced to Lizzie and
+the broker's nephew as two witnesses to the reading of the will.
+
+Neither Mason nor the girl knew the detectives.
+
+When all were seated and the lawyer had made a few remarks about his
+business, he opened the seals on the will and read it aloud.
+
+By this paper the old broker left a fortune amounting to half a
+million, most of which was invested in stocks, bonds and mortgages.
+
+But it was a peculiar will.
+
+After speaking of the high regard in which he held Ronald Mason, the
+broker went on to say that he earnestly desired his daughter to marry
+the young man. If she did so she was to receive half the fortune. If
+she failed to do so, every cent was to go to Mason.
+
+The brokerage business was left to him to do with it as he pleased.
+
+When the lawyer ceased reading, Lizzie Dalton was as pale as death.
+
+Rising to her feet she bitterly denounced the terms of the will, and
+said:
+
+"I don't believe my father ever wrote such a will. He always was
+opposed to Mason marrying me. So was I. And what is more, if I forfeit
+every dollar coming to me, I'll never marry that man!"
+
+She pointed at Mason.
+
+His clean-shaven face was convulsed with anger.
+
+"So!" he sneered. "That's your answer, is it?"
+
+"Yes!" she cried, hotly. "I hate you, Ronald Mason, and you know it."
+
+"Oh, you'll regret your hasty decision."
+
+"Never! Never!"
+
+"Then if you reject the terms of that will you are entitled to nothing,
+and therefore you can clear out of here. This house and everything is
+mine. I am the master here now. You get out!"
+
+"Hold on, there! I've got something to say about this," said Old King
+Brady, as he flung off his disguise and seized the disputed will.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+FLIGHT OF THE GUILTY MAN.
+
+
+When Ronald Mason saw that the supposed minister was his enemy, Old
+King Brady, a tigerish expression leaped to his eyes.
+
+He recoiled a few steps and gasped, hoarsely:
+
+"What! You here?"
+
+"You can see for yourself!" replied the detective.
+
+"What is the meaning of this trickery?"
+
+"I denounce this will as a forgery!" thundered Old King Brady.
+
+For an instant there was a deep, oppressive silence in the room.
+
+The detective's words startled every one and the lawyer finally asked:
+
+"Upon what ground do you make that remarkable statement, Mr. Brady?"
+
+The old detective held up the will.
+
+"In the first place," said he, forcibly, "the provisions of this
+instrument are entirely unnatural. Who ever heard of a kind, indulgent
+father disinheriting his only child for not marrying a man whom we all
+know he formerly refused to accept as a son-in-law? Who would believe
+Oliver Dalton criminal enough to leave his tenderly-nurtured daughter
+an absolute beggar, dependent upon the cold charity of the world? What
+has this girl done to forfeit her birthright? What has this man done
+that Dalton should leave his daughter penniless, for his sake?"
+
+"It does look rather queer," assented the lawyer.
+
+"Queer? Why, it's utterly ridiculous!" cried Old King Brady, in tones
+of supreme contempt. "It's beyond reason. Only an insane father would
+be guilty of such a deed. Moreover, I have my doubts about the
+signature attached to this paper. It looks similar to Mr. Dalton's
+signature which I have appended to a letter now in my pocket. But there
+are certain formations in the letters that lead me to suppose this
+signature on the will is a rank forgery. I'm going to prove that idea
+by giving the will and some of Mr. Dalton's signatures to a handwriting
+expert. He will magnify them and throw the image of the enlarged
+signatures on a screen by means of a magic-lantern. Any one can then
+tell at a glance if this signature is a forgery or not."
+
+"You'll do nothing of the kind!" yelled Mason, furiously.
+
+"Won't I? You'll see, sir. I shall."
+
+"That will shall be filed for probate with the surrogate."
+
+"So it shall," grimly answered Old King Brady. "So it shall. And this
+lawyer will contest it on behalf of Miss Dalton, and baffle your design
+to rob her. And if it is proven that the will is a forgery, you can
+rest assured that I'll arrest you for the crooked work the moment I get
+my hands on you!"
+
+Mason gave a hollow, mocking laugh.
+
+"Fool!" he hissed. "I don't fear you."
+
+"But you shall----"
+
+"Bah! Shut up! You make me sick!"
+
+And snapping his fingers at the old detective, Mason rushed from the
+room, put on his hat and left the house.
+
+When he was gone, Harry hastened after him.
+
+Left alone with the girl and the lawyer, Old King Brady held a
+conference with them and settled upon a plan of legal action.
+
+In the meantime Mason had gone downtown, with Young King Brady
+carefully shadowing him at a safe distance.
+
+He entered Mr. Dalton's office and remained there until long after all
+the clerks had gone home.
+
+Harry remained outside the building on the watch for him, and at about
+seven o'clock saw him emerge.
+
+He dropped a letter in a lamp-post letter-box and rapidly strode across
+town and entered a liquor saloon.
+
+Young King Brady divested himself of his disguise in a hallway.
+
+While waiting for his man to emerge from the saloon, the boy made a
+bundle of the disguise and wrapped it in a newspaper.
+
+Half an hour passed by.
+
+Getting uneasy over the prolonged absence of the man, Harry strode into
+the saloon, glanced around and failed to see Mason.
+
+"He must have given me the slip!" thought the boy, ruefully.
+
+"Looking for any one, sir?" queried a bartender who was watching him.
+
+"Yes. What became of a fellow of this description who came in here half
+an hour ago?" said Harry, and he minutely described Mason.
+
+"Why, he went out the side door after getting a drink of whisky," said
+the bartender. "He seemed to be in a hurry to catch a train."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Well, he asked me what time the train for Savannah left, and as I told
+him he only had a few moments to catch it, he hurried out."
+
+Harry thanked the man and left.
+
+"The villain is heading for the South again!" flashed across the boy's
+mind. "I'll see if I can verify this idea."
+
+He went over to the railroad ticket office and closely questioned the
+agent, who admitted that a man such as the detective described had
+bought a ticket for Swamp Angel and gone.
+
+Young King Brady was puzzled over Mason's actions.
+
+He could not understand why the man was running away from New York so
+soon after the incident at Dalton's house.
+
+"It looks as if he had a guilty conscience and feared exposure,"
+muttered the boy, as he made his way home.
+
+Old King Brady was there ahead of him and Harry told him about Mason's
+flight to the South.
+
+It made the old detective laugh.
+
+"Guess we've frightened him," he remarked.
+
+The Bradys remained up late that night discussing their plans.
+
+On the following morning a letter reached them from Mason, worded in
+the following manner:
+
+    "Messrs. Brady: By the time this reaches you I shall be so far from
+    New York that you'll never catch me. I know very well that you are
+    going to find out that Dalton's will is a forgery. If I remain
+    you'll put the screws on me. So I'll baffle you by going in good
+    season. Moreover, you will find out later in the day that all the
+    funds in Dalton's business are missing. I've got the stuff, as I
+    need it to get away. If the time ever comes for me to get even with
+    you for all the trouble you've caused me, I'll make you pay dearly
+    for your accursed interference.
+
+                                                 "Ronald Mason."
+
+"So he's gone," said Harry.
+
+"In good season."
+
+"And he left a black record behind him."
+
+"We probably haven't heard the worst yet, Harry."
+
+"Let's go to the office and see how much he stole."
+
+Old King Brady was eager for the facts, and they passed out together.
+
+In half an hour they reached Dalton's office and found a policeman in
+charge, all the clerks frantic with alarm, and the safe open.
+
+"There's been a robbery here," said the policeman to the detectives.
+
+"How much was taken?" asked Harry.
+
+"Thirty thousand dollars in cash and bonds."
+
+"Well, we know who did the job. The clerks must go, and we must close
+and lock the doors after I secure a few papers."
+
+They had a talk with the chief clerk, got all the details, and the
+place was then vacated and locked up.
+
+Returning to the street the detectives strode down Broad street toward
+the Battery, and the old sleuth remarked:
+
+"He made quite a rich haul."
+
+"As we know about where to find him," answered Harry, "we may be able
+to recover the booty when we go after him."
+
+Just then a little old man with a gray beard came waddling out of
+Bridge street, clad in a blue jumper and an old felt hat.
+
+The moment Harry saw him he sprang forward, clutched him by the arm,
+swung him around, and said:
+
+"Martin Kelly, the junk man!"
+
+"Gosh!" exclaimed the old fellow. "Ther detectives."
+
+"Yes, and we are going to arrest you, Martin, for your connection with
+the case of the drowned man you brought to the morgue."
+
+"What fer?" tremulously asked the old man, beginning to get frightened.
+
+"Oh, we saw you, Ronald Mason and the coon fooling with that corpse in
+your boat on the river before you brought it to the morgue, and we want
+to know what you were up to."
+
+"I'll tell, if yer don't jail me, Mr. Brady."
+
+"That's a bargain. Out with it, then."
+
+"Well, that there nigger was aboardin' with me. The other night him an'
+me was on ther river carryin' some scrap iron from a boat where I
+bought it an' we found that dead body. As soon as ther coon saw it, he
+tied it to ther boat an' said he an' his boss would palm it off for
+somebody else. So he went ashore an' telegraphed to Mason to fetch down
+a suit of Dalton's clothes an' things to make it look as if the body
+was Dalton's. When Mason come, we rowed out on the river, stripped the
+corpse, put on him the things Mason brought, chucked him overboard and
+I set them ashore down the river an' towed the body to the morgue where
+I left it. They paid me ten dollars to keep my mouth shut about what
+they done."
+
+The Bradys were amazed.
+
+His story cleared up a great deal of mystery and left the real fate of
+Oliver Dalton a matter of doubt again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+WHAT THE HANDWRITING EXPERT SHOWED.
+
+
+Realizing the importance of Martin Kelly's confession, Harry now turned
+to his partner and said, significantly:
+
+"We'd better get what he says in the form of an affidavit."
+
+"By all means," assented the old detective, eagerly.
+
+"Say, yer ain't a-goin' ter do nuthin' to me, are yer?" demanded Kelly.
+
+"Oh, no; merely going to make you swear to the facts you gave us."
+
+"I'll do that willin' enough, sir."
+
+They brought him before a notary public, and having written out his
+statement and secured his signature and oath, they let him go, after
+learning that Johnson did not return to his house since the body was
+found.
+
+The Bradys were delighted.
+
+When they reached the street, Harry cried:
+
+"That Mason was a clever schemer. But we've foiled his plan to palm off
+a stranger's body for that of the missing broker. We must let Lizzie
+Dalton know how she was duped. There's every possibility yet that her
+father is still alive. With this doubt pending, the will need not be
+probated yet."
+
+"Steps have already been begun to test the signature," said Old King
+Brady. "By this afternoon we shall know positively whether that
+signature to the will is a forgery or not."
+
+"And if it is?"
+
+"We'll have to run down Mason and make him pay the penalty of his
+crime," replied the veteran detective, decisively.
+
+They then went up to the Dalton house.
+
+Lizzie was at home and heard what Kelly confessed.
+
+Her joy and astonishment knew no bounds, and she cried:
+
+"Then there is some probability that my poor father yet lives!"
+
+"Yes, indeed," replied Harry, "and it is our belief that he is still
+concealed down South in the big swamp on his estate. We are going back
+there to investigate the matter."
+
+"And I sincerely hope you will be successful in finding him," fervently
+replied the girl. "In fact, I am so anxious about the matter that I
+shall go down to Swamp Angel myself as soon as I can get my affairs so
+regulated here that I can go away."
+
+"Then we shall meet there."
+
+"I hope so. And if your work is going to keep you in the vicinity of
+our place, I want you to make your headquarters there."
+
+They thanked her for the invitation and after some further talk they
+left the house and headed for the writing-expert's office.
+
+The professor was located on Broadway near Chambers street.
+
+He was in when they called.
+
+They had furnished him with several check-vouchers, and other specimens
+of Mr. Dalton's handwriting procured at his office.
+
+He greeted them warmly and asked, with a smile:
+
+"I suppose you are curious to learn the result of my labors?"
+
+"We are," assented Old King Brady, taking a chew of tobacco.
+
+"I've finished my investigations."
+
+"And what is the result?"
+
+"That signature is a rank forgery."
+
+"A poor one?"
+
+"Very."
+
+"Let us see."
+
+"I'll magnify the writing."
+
+He had a projecting machine, and, lighting it, he placed the signature
+on the will and several more signatures of Mr. Dalton in the machine.
+
+The names were reflected on a sheet, in enormous proportions.
+
+Three were exactly alike, but the fourth was entirely unlike them.
+
+Magnified, the finest lines of the writing were now as coarse as a
+broom handle, so that every little mark was plainly visible.
+
+"Explanations are useless here," said the expert, smilingly. "You can
+easily see for yourself all I could tell you. The three signatures
+which are alike are taken from a check, a letter and a bill. You will
+notice there isn't the slightest deviation in any of the lines from the
+fixed method Mr. Dalton had of signing his name. The odd-looking
+signature is the one affixed to the will. Here you will see that the
+loops, straight lines, curves and angles are all entirely unlike the
+original; the width of the lines and shading are different, and the
+angle at which the letters are set is not the same as that in the
+others."
+
+The Bradys saw all this and more, too.
+
+In fact, they had every evidence before them that the will was a base
+forgery and they were well satisfied.
+
+With this fact established, they went to the Central office.
+
+Here they encountered their chief.
+
+Old King Brady detailed to him all that transpired, and he listened
+very attentively until the detective finished.
+
+Then he pondered a moment, and said:
+
+"The whole thing is a big plot on Mason's part to get his uncle's money
+and daughter at one swoop."
+
+"We've clearly established Mason's guilt, sir."
+
+"Very true. He's a bad egg. Capture him and you may find out what he
+has done with Oliver Dalton."
+
+"I've become convinced of another fact since finding out what a villain
+that fellow is," said Old King Brady.
+
+"To what do you allude?"
+
+"Well, you recollect that when we began this case it was for the
+purpose of finding out who was stealing money from the broker's mail,"
+said the detective.
+
+"I'm aware of that."
+
+"In view of all that happened, it begins to look as if Mason was the
+guilty party the Federal Government is after."
+
+"It wouldn't surprise me a bit if you brought home that crime to his
+door," said the chief. "If, as you say, he had such extensive control
+of the business, he must have handled all the mail. It would then have
+been an easy matter for him to purloin the contents of many of the
+envelopes without being detected."
+
+"The misfortune now is that he's gone so we cannot set a trap to catch
+him in the act," said Old King Brady. "If anything now is found out
+about the matter, it will only be learned from Mason himself making a
+clean breast of the crooked work."
+
+"Convict him of his other misdeeds," said the chief, lighting a cigar,
+"and you'll have evidence enough to send the villain to jail for a long
+time. If Mr. Dalton is dead, you can lay the crime at his door, for he
+was the only person in the world who hoped to be benefited by the
+demise of his benefactor."
+
+It was late when the Bradys took leave of the chief.
+
+On the following afternoon they were ready to depart from New York, and
+they each wore a clever disguise.
+
+While Old King Brady in boots and whiskers might have passed for a
+respectable old farmer, Harry had every appearance of being a typical
+Texan cowboy.
+
+They proceeded downtown by separate routes.
+
+Harry crossed over to the west side of the city and boarding a Belt
+Line horse-car, he paid his fare and glanced around.
+
+The boy's picturesque costume and fierce big mustache attracted the
+attention of all the passengers.
+
+He returned their curious stares with interest, and looking from one to
+the other, his gaze finally rested upon a negro sitting in a corner of
+the car with a big black-enamel valise on his lap.
+
+Young King Brady could hardly repress a start.
+
+The negro was Sim Johnson!
+
+"Great Scott!" he muttered. "It's Mason's friend, the valet. Where is
+the black rascal going with that big valise? Shall I put the nippers on
+him? What is he doing over here on West street?"
+
+He thought it over.
+
+Harry's first impulse was to arrest the man.
+
+Cool second-thought restrained him, however, and he muttered softly:
+
+"No. I'll shadow him and find out where he is going. It will be time
+enough to arrest him when I find he's trying to get away."
+
+He kept a wary eye on the coon after that.
+
+Johnson rode down to the foot of Liberty street and alighted.
+
+To Harry's astonishment he saw the darky buy a ticket for Swamp Angel,
+and then the truth flashed across the boy's mind.
+
+"He's going to the very place I'm heading for," thought the boy, "and
+he must be doing that at the request of Ronald Mason. In that case he's
+sure to meet the man. What a good decoy duck he will make! By Jove,
+I've only got to shadow him and he will lead me right to the very place
+where his employer is concealed. Then we'll be enabled to arrest Mason
+right away."
+
+The coon crossed the river, with Harry on the same boat.
+
+Old King Brady met Harry on the Jersey side and Young King Brady told
+his partner about Sim.
+
+A smile of intense satisfaction crossed the old detective's bewhiskered
+face, and he strode along behind the valet and saw him board the train.
+
+The Bradys followed.
+
+Shortly afterward the cars started.
+
+On the following night they all alighted at Swamp Angel and the negro
+took to the railroad track and started to tramp in the direction of the
+swamp where Mr. Dalton's body had disappeared.
+
+There was plenty shelter from the negro's gaze for the detectives, and
+they silently and stealthily sped along in pursuit of their decoy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+IN THE QUICKSAND.
+
+
+"Halt, or you're a dead man!"
+
+It was a stern command, in a rough voice.
+
+The Bradys paused near some rocks and saw two rifle barrels aimed over
+the top of them, in the hands of two masked men.
+
+Hearing the voice, Johnson had come to a sudden stop and glanced
+around.
+
+Just as the detectives were about to reach for the revolvers they
+carried, the same rough voice sang out, quickly:
+
+"Hands up!"
+
+The sharp click of the rifle hammers followed.
+
+It would have been sheer folly to disobey that command, for the masked
+men had a bead drawn on the officers.
+
+In that lonely place no one would know they got killed.
+
+They felt chagrined over the careless way in which they walked right
+into the ambuscade, and raised their hands.
+
+"Goldurn yer!" cried Old King Brady. "What on airth dew yer mean by
+holdin' up a feller citizen this way?"
+
+One of the masked men emerged from behind the rocks.
+
+He was nicely clad, wore a big felt hat, had long hair hanging down on
+his shoulders and a brown mustache on his upper lip.
+
+This man looked like a southern planter.
+
+A hideous half mask of black hid the upper half of his face and the
+Winchester he carried was aimed at the officers.
+
+He intently studied Old King Brady's face a few moments, then asked:
+
+"What were you skulking along after that negro for?"
+
+The moment the officers heard his voice they recognized him, despite
+his disguise, as Ronald Mason.
+
+Affecting an indignant air, Old King Brady growled:
+
+"Goldurn it, who wuz afollerin' that nigger?"
+
+"You were."
+
+"No, we wuzn't!"
+
+"I'll find out about that! Hey, Sim!"
+
+"Am dat yo', Massa Ronald?" cried the coon, running back.
+
+"Yes, and here are two fellows sneaking along on your trail."
+
+"Wha' fo'?" demanded the darky.
+
+"Hanged if I know. Look at them."
+
+"Fo' de Lawd sakes, dey was on de train wif me, sah."
+
+"They were, hey? That's suspicious."
+
+"Oh, go 'long!" said Old King Brady. "Can't a man walk along here
+without bein' held up like a burglar by you chaps? Gosh durn it, if
+it's robbery yer up ter, it's mighty little money you'll find on me."
+
+"We ain't thieves."
+
+"Wall, I'm blamed if yer don't look like it."
+
+"Sim, take a good look at those gents and if you happen to find any
+guns about their clothes just relieve them of them."
+
+"Yassah," said the coon.
+
+He got so close to Old King Brady that he suddenly detected the fact
+that the detective was wearing a wig and false beard.
+
+The cunning negro did not let on what he had seen.
+
+But he suddenly grabbed them and pulled them off the old detective.
+
+It effected a startling change in Old King Brady's appearance, and
+Mason recognized him at once, and roared furiously:
+
+"I'll be blest if it ain't those cussed detectives again!"
+
+"Lawd amassy!" groaned Sim, all his courage departing, and he made a
+sudden dash for the swamp and rushed away, spattering up showers of mud
+and water.
+
+The Bradys swiftly drew their pistols.
+
+It was clear that a fight was imminent.
+
+The man with the rifle pulled the trigger, intending to shoot the old
+detective, but his weapon missed fire.
+
+"Run!" yelled his companion behind the rocks, and he shot at Harry just
+as Mason made a dash for shelter.
+
+A bullet whistled by dangerously close to Young King Brady's cheek, and
+he discharged a shot at the running man.
+
+It carried off his hat.
+
+The next moment the three rascals vanished.
+
+Harry and his partner made an effort to find them, but failed.
+
+All hands had gone plunging among the weeds and shrubbery, and in an
+instant were swallowed up by the verdure.
+
+"A warm welcome, Harry," said Old King Brady, when they met on the
+railroad track five minutes later.
+
+"I'm sorry Mason caught us shadowing the valet."
+
+"It gave our presence here away, and will put them on their guard."
+
+"Can't be helped. We know Mason is really here, however. He's desperate
+now, and won't hesitate to murder us if he can, to avoid arrest."
+
+"Who was the other masked man, I wonder?"
+
+"Must be the party who helped him to get the box off the train, and
+carry the body of Mr. Dalton to the house in the swamp."
+
+"Oh, Mason hadn't a hand in stealing the box from the baggage car. He
+got off before the cars reached this point of the swamp, I'm sure."
+
+"Then that fellow must have had other helpers, as he could not very
+well have done the job unaided," said Harry.
+
+"Let us get around to the board walk, and try to reach the hut. If they
+are heading for that building, we can meet them there."
+
+"Here's a quicker way," said the boy, pointing at a boat.
+
+It was a crude affair, half hidden in the reeds.
+
+They embarked, and rowed out through the lagoons.
+
+The water was mostly quite shallow, but there were places where the
+detectives could not see bottom.
+
+In a short time they reached the island in the swamp, and, leaping
+ashore, they ran over to the hut.
+
+One glance inside was enough for them.
+
+"The place is deserted," was Harry's comment.
+
+"Wait for them. We may have headed off the rascals."
+
+"If they saw us coming here, they will shun the place."
+
+"There was no way to conceal our movements."
+
+An hour went by quietly enough.
+
+Not a soul ventured near the place, and Harry grew restless.
+
+He made a circuit of the island, scanning every section of the swamp,
+and finally returned to his partner, and said:
+
+"We've had our labor for our pains."
+
+"No sign of them, eh?"
+
+"No. Could they have gone to the Dalton residence?"
+
+"More than likely. As Mason is skulking about this neighborhood, he, of
+course, must be living in the big house."
+
+"Come on over there then."
+
+"Get in the boat. It will save us making a detour of the swamp."
+
+They saw numerous channels by following which they could reach the
+mainland quite close to the big house.
+
+Gliding slowly over the water, the boat finally touched the shore, and
+the two detectives debarked and pulled the punt up on the bank.
+
+There were rocks, trees and bushes all around.
+
+As they stood looking for a path, a voice reached their ears, saying:
+
+"Sim, where are you?"
+
+Then the negro answered:
+
+"Near de sho', Massa Ronald."
+
+Old King Brady held up his finger warningly.
+
+"There they are!" he whispered.
+
+Just then Mason's voice was heard again:
+
+"Keep on shouting, Sim, so I can locate you."
+
+"Dis way! Dis way!" cried the darky.
+
+The detectives glided in the direction of the voice, and, passing
+through the shrubbery, they parted the bushes, and entered a clearing.
+
+A little brook was gushing from the midst of the verdure, and emptied
+its waters into a shallow pool, the bottom of which was composed of
+pure white sand.
+
+Pausing on the brink of this pool, the detectives glanced searchingly
+around, and heard the negro laughing amid the shrubbery.
+
+"He's over there!" said Harry, pointing across the pool.
+
+"Watch a moment, and we may locate him," Old King Brady whispered.
+
+Standing stock still, they listened intently.
+
+In fact, they were so absorbed in looking for the negro that they did
+not see two men crouching in the bushes close behind them.
+
+They were the two masked fellows who first assailed them.
+
+As stealthily as tigers, they crept from their covert.
+
+When but a few feet separated them from the Bradys, they made a
+combined rush, with their hands outstretched.
+
+The alert detectives heard them coming, and glanced around.
+
+Before they could defend themselves, however, the on-comers struck them
+heavily, and knocked the detectives into the pool.
+
+Too late the Bradys realized that the negro had been decoying them
+purposely to that dangerous place.
+
+For, the moment they fell into the pool, they sank in the sand.
+
+Trying to scramble to their feet, the Bradys found their legs going
+down in the treacherous sand rapidly.
+
+Then the truth flashed across their minds, and Harry cried:
+
+"By Heavens, they've thrown us into a bed of quick-sand!"
+
+"Try to reach the shore--quick!" panted Old King Brady.
+
+They made the most desperate efforts, but only floundered around
+helplessly, and each moment got caught more firmly in the deadly sand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+AN UNEXPECTED FRIEND.
+
+
+The moment Ronald Mason and his companion hurled Old and Young King
+Brady in the bed of quick-sand, they ran away.
+
+Dodging behind the rocks, they hid themselves.
+
+By this time the sun was rising.
+
+Finding it impossible to extricate themselves from the deadly grip of
+the treacherous sand, the detectives ceased their struggles.
+
+"It's useless, Harry," said the old sleuth, despairingly.
+
+"If we remain passive, we'll soon sink beyond our depth, and perish."
+
+"Yell at the top of your voice. Some one may hear us."
+
+"Help! Help! Help!" shouted Harry.
+
+They were shouting this way when Mason came from behind the rocks,
+pulled off his mask, and grinned sardonically at them.
+
+Finally he said in sarcastic tones:
+
+"Well, how do you like dying by inches?"
+
+"This was cowardly of you, Mason," said Old King Brady, bitterly.
+
+"It's my way of gaining revenge."
+
+"Why don't you give us a fair show to fight for our lives?"
+
+"Because you are so dangerous you might beat me."
+
+"Help us out of here, and act like a man."
+
+"I won't. See all the harm you've done me. In the first place, you've
+cheated me out of a fortune. In the second place, you prevented me from
+getting the girl I loved. In short, you've baffled me at every turn,
+after I made the most elaborate preparations to succeed."
+
+"We did our duty."
+
+"Oh, that be hanged! You'd kill me to do your duty, and I'm justified
+in ridding myself of such enemies as you two are."
+
+"If you hadn't done wrong you would not have had us after you."
+
+"Well, I know that very well. It's stale news. But I had an object in
+what I did, and you interfered and foiled me. I didn't do any one much
+harm, and----"
+
+"You robbed Oliver Dalton and put him out of the way."
+
+"Robbed him?"
+
+"Yes. You pilfered money from the mail."
+
+"How do you know I did?" asked Mason, with a startled look.
+
+"Dalton employed us to expose you, and we'd been at his house on the
+night you and Johnson were posing in Thirty-sixth street as
+undertakers."
+
+"The deuce! I didn't know Dalton knew."
+
+"You admit, then, that you did rob his mail?"
+
+"No use denying it now," laughed Mason. "I freely admit that I did get
+away with thousands of his dollars in that way. No use trying to
+conceal it. You'll never get out of there alive to prosecute me. And
+even if you do, you've got enough other evidence against me to send me
+up as high as a kite."
+
+Despite his peril Old King Brady felt triumphant.
+
+They now knew who the mail thief was.
+
+By this time the Bradys were sunk in the quick-sand to their hips, and
+were unable to move in any direction.
+
+They kept sinking every moment with horrible rapidity.
+
+"Well, we can't arrest you now for that crime," said Old King Brady,
+"but I've got a feeling that we shall do so yet."
+
+"Humbug! You are getting dopy. You can't escape from there."
+
+"Are you going to abandon us to our fate?"
+
+"Yes; I wish you a merry voyage over the River Styx!"
+
+And with a mocking bow and a jeering laugh, he strode away.
+
+The Bradys began to shout for help again, and Mason paused, and,
+darting an angry look at them, he shouted threateningly:
+
+"If you don't shut up we'll shoot you!"
+
+"So much the better," replied Old King Brady. "It will end our misery."
+
+"Oh, we won't shoot to kill," growled the scowling rascal, "but we will
+riddle your carcasses with painful wounds."
+
+"Mason, you're a fiend."
+
+"Am I? That's a compliment."
+
+And with a short laugh he disappeared in the bushes.
+
+Once more the detectives began to call for assistance, for they now
+were sunk to their armpits in the sand.
+
+Their voices sounded hoarse and smothered, and a despairing feeling was
+creeping into their hearts, but they kept on shouting.
+
+Presently Mason shouted at them from the bushes in angry tones:
+
+"Are you going to shut up?"
+
+"No!" roared Old King Brady.
+
+"Then I'll pepper you!"
+
+And bang! went his rifle, and a bullet whistled by their heads.
+
+"Keep on yelling, Harry!" gasped the old detective.
+
+"Help! Help!" shouted the boy, obediently.
+
+Bang! went Mason's rifle again.
+
+The ball grazed Harry's cheek, and stung like a bee.
+
+Just then the shots and yells were heard by an old track-walker of the
+railroad, and he rushed around the swamp shouting:
+
+"All right! I'm coming!"
+
+This unwelcome voice to Mason caused a look of alarm to flit over his
+pale features, and, fearing arrest, he sped away.
+
+The villain calculated that the detectives would be buried out of sight
+long before assistance could reach them.
+
+But the Bradys were cheered up wonderfully.
+
+They kept on shouting, and the track-walker finally found them by being
+guided by the tones of their voices.
+
+Only their heads stuck above the water.
+
+He stared at the pair in astonishment a moment, and cried:
+
+"What in thunder are you doing in there?"
+
+"Buried in quick-sand!" gasped Harry. "Help us--quick!"
+
+The old fellow was startled and rushed in among the trees.
+
+For a minute the detectives thought he deserted them. But he soon
+reappeared with a sapling he had cut with his pocket-knife.
+
+Standing on the embankment, he reached out the end to Old King Brady,
+who lifted his hands above the water and grasped it.
+
+"Pull!" gasped the detective.
+
+The track-walker used all his strength, for the sand clung to the old
+detective tenaciously, and dragged him up.
+
+Around him the sand stirred up and the water bubbled and eddied as it
+rushed into the opening left by his body.
+
+After a fearful struggle Old King Brady was dragged free of the sand,
+and drawn to the shore, panting and drenched.
+
+Harry had sunk to his chin.
+
+It was only by keeping his head thrown back that he kept his mouth
+above water, and his two hands were raised.
+
+Quick to act, and paying no heed to his own exhaustion, Old King Brady
+grasped the pole and thrust it out to the boy.
+
+Half gone, Harry took hold.
+
+Between the old detective and the track-walker he was hauled up and
+pulled ashore in a half-fainting condition. It was some time ere he
+revived.
+
+But when his faculties returned, and the old track-walker had been
+thanked, the boy told their benefactor all that had happened.
+
+He was surprised and indignant.
+
+"That man Mason is a devil!" he exclaimed.
+
+"We'll make short work of him for this terrible deed," said Harry.
+
+"And I wish I could help you."
+
+Shortly afterward the track-walker departed to resume his lonely tramp
+along the road-bed with a sledge over his shoulder to replace any spike
+or frogs dislodged by the passing cars.
+
+Left alone, the Bradys glanced at each other, and Harry remarked
+softly:
+
+"Our time hasn't come to perish yet, partner."
+
+"I felt sure of that, even before that man came to our rescue."
+
+"We've found out now what a desperate man Mason is."
+
+"And we'll have to resort to drastic measures to get the best of him."
+
+"How do you feel?"
+
+"In a good humor to fight."
+
+"Then let's go up to the house and tackle him."
+
+"He will be surprised to see us alive."
+
+They were thoroughly rested now, and, having examined their pistols and
+found them in working order, they proceeded up the hill.
+
+Within a short time they reached the house, and rang the front door
+bell for admittance.
+
+George Scott, the big negro whom they had met at the gate when they
+were there before, opened the door and grinned at them.
+
+"Hello, George!" said Harry. "How are you?"
+
+"Right smart, sah, thank you," chuckled the darky.
+
+"Is Mr. Mason in?"
+
+"Good Lawdy, no," replied the colored man. "An' de blame rascal better
+not come in dis yere house, or I'll blow de roof ob his head off, sho's
+yo's bo'n. I done know all he's been a-doin', I does."
+
+"Why, who gave you the news?" asked Harry, in surprise.
+
+"Missy Lizzie, sah. She arrive heah ter-day, bress her heart, an' she
+seen yo' a-comin', an' done tell me fo' ter ask yo' right inter de
+parlor. She be downstairs in a moment, Massa Brady. Come right in,
+gemmen, come right in."
+
+And he led the detectives into the parlor, flung open the blinds, and
+left the room.
+
+In a few moments the door opened and Lizzie Dalton stepped into the
+room and approached them, with a smile and extended hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+NICK WIFFLES EXPLAINS A MYSTERY.
+
+
+"So you found Ronald Mason prowling around the swamp, after you traced
+Sim Johnson down here from New York?" asked the broker's daughter,
+after the first salutations were over, and all were seated.
+
+"We were under the impression that he had been making this house his
+abode," replied Old King Brady, in some surprise.
+
+"No, indeed. George, the caretaker, declares that nobody but he and his
+wife have been in this house since you two gentlemen were here last."
+
+"That is very strange," said the old detective.
+
+"Why do you think so?" asked the girl, curiously.
+
+"It puzzles me to account for Mason haunting the swamp and never coming
+near this house. Why is he hanging around that dismal swamp? What is
+the attraction that keeps him there with no friends or companions but
+those two negroes?"
+
+"Was the other masked man a negro?"
+
+"Yes. I saw the rascal's black skin plainly."
+
+"Perhaps he is in the swamp to avoid arrest."
+
+"No, no. He would not select such a malarious hole when there are so
+many pleasanter places for him to abide in. There is a deeper reason
+behind it. We must find out what it is."
+
+"When he learns I am here, Mr. Brady, he may take it into his head to
+continue his persecutions."
+
+"Not while we are here to protect you."
+
+"Then you will be my guests?" eagerly asked the girl.
+
+"Nothing would afford us greater pleasure."
+
+"That makes my mind feel much easier."
+
+"If your father should yet be alive and they should have him concealed
+somewhere around this swamp, it might account for their presence here."
+
+"Yes, yes," she assented, eagerly. "You've proven conclusively that my
+poor father was not the man found in the river."
+
+"In view of the fact that the game is up, so far as Mason is concerned,
+I can't fathom any object he may have in keeping your father a prisoner
+any longer. That is, of course, presuming he really has your father
+alive and imprisoned anywhere."
+
+"Well," said the girl, reflectively, "I cannot give an opinion on that
+point at all. I can only keep on hoping that you may soon find my
+father, dead or alive. It would end this dreadful suspense and
+uncertainty about his fate."
+
+At this juncture George's wife stuck her kinky head in at the door and
+announced that dinner was awaiting them.
+
+The Bradys were shown to their rooms.
+
+Having washed and made their toilets as best they could, they went down
+and joined Lizzie in the dining-room.
+
+After that, several days and nights of hard work ensued.
+
+The Bradys abandoned their disguises, merely wearing their top boots,
+and thoroughly scoured the swamp.
+
+Not a trace of Mason or his two negroes was found.
+
+It nettled the detectives, and finally drove them to the conclusion
+that the rascally trio had gone away.
+
+Assured of this, the Bradys searched Swamp Angel.
+
+No one there had seen anything of the men in question.
+
+It therefore seemed quite evident that they cleared out of that
+neighborhood entirely, and assured of this, the Bradys started for home
+afoot that night.
+
+"We shall have to leave here to-morrow," said the old sleuth, "and get
+upon their track elsewhere, Harry."
+
+"It's a question how to find their trail," the boy answered, dubiously.
+
+"As they more than likely went by rail, we could easily make inquiries
+of the passing train crews for some tidings of them."
+
+Just then the pounding of horses' hoofs upon the road reached their
+ears, and they rushed behind a heap of rocks.
+
+Parting some bushes growing there, they peered out.
+
+The moon was rising in the cloudy sky, lighting up the dusty road, and
+the detectives caught view of two men on horseback.
+
+They were coming from the direction of Pine Creek, the next railroad
+station beyond Swamp Angel, and carried bundles of provisions.
+
+As Harry's glance fell upon the pair, he grasped Old King Brady's arm,
+and muttered in low, excited tones:
+
+"It's Mason and Johnson, or some other negro."
+
+"Hush! Keep quiet!" muttered Old King Brady.
+
+Up came the horsemen, blissfully ignorant of the fact that the
+detectives were watching them, and Mason was laughing and saying:
+
+"The fools were searching the swamp for us during the past three days,
+Nick, and they couldn't find a sign of us."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha," laughed the negro. "'Specs dey am not so smart as dey
+fink dey am. An' what's mo', dey nebber find us."
+
+Just then the detectives sprang from their covert.
+
+Landing in the road in front of the two startled men, they grasped the
+horses' bridles at the bits, and the frightened beasts paused and
+reared up.
+
+"Whoa!" yelled Mason. "What's that? Whoa!"
+
+Old King Brady aimed a pistol up in his face.
+
+"It's me!" he cried.
+
+"Thunder!" roared the man.
+
+"You throw your hands up."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"Because we want you!"
+
+A sneering laugh pealed from Mason's lips.
+
+He dug spurs into his horse's flanks, and the brute sprang forward,
+maddened with pain, and knocked the old detective down.
+
+Over him bounded the horse, and the next moment it went galloping away
+into the woods a few yards ahead, and vanished.
+
+Harry had been more fortunate.
+
+As soon as he stopped the negro's horse, the black man raised a stick
+he carried and aimed a blow at the boy's head.
+
+"G'way f'om dar!" he yelled.
+
+Harry bounded out of reach of the blow.
+
+The descending stick hit the horse and it gave a sudden leap that
+dismounted the man, and went plunging away at a furious rate.
+
+The negro landed on his back on the ground.
+
+In a moment Harry pounced upon him.
+
+Pushing his pistol in the man's face, he cried:
+
+"Surrender, you black fiend, or I'll bore you!"
+
+"Don't shoot, boss!" roared the coon, frantically.
+
+"Are you going to submit?"
+
+"Yassah, yassah!"
+
+"Without a fight?"
+
+"Fo' sho' I is."
+
+"Roll over on your face."
+
+"Ober I go! Don't fire!" said the coon, turning over.
+
+"Now, put your hands on your back."
+
+"Heah dey am, boss!"
+
+And the negro did as he was told.
+
+Out came Harry's handcuffs, "click!" they snapped on his wrists, and in
+another instant the man was a prisoner.
+
+When Old King Brady reached the boy he was pulling a big navy revolver
+out of the man's hip pocket.
+
+"Got him, Harry?"
+
+"Safe, Old King Brady."
+
+"Get him upon his feet."
+
+They raised the man, and now got a good square look at him.
+
+He was a short, heavily-built fellow, clad in rags, and had as
+villainous a face as any they had ever seen.
+
+The man was trembling with fear.
+
+It was plain he was an arrant coward.
+
+When the detectives looked him over, Old King Brady asked him:
+
+"Say, what's your name?"
+
+"Nick Wiffles."
+
+"Where do you live?"
+
+"In de swamp."
+
+"Ain't you the man who built a bonfire on the railroad track some time
+ago, to stop a train from running into an obstruction?"
+
+"I is."
+
+"And you did it to stop the train?"
+
+"He done telled me ter do it, boss."
+
+"So you could steal a box containing Mr. Dalton's body from the baggage
+car during the confusion?"
+
+"Dat's about de size ob it."
+
+"And you got Dalton's body out of the box and carried it into the
+swamp?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"Into the hut?"
+
+"Yassah."
+
+"Were you alone?"
+
+"All alone."
+
+"When you got the body in the hut, what did you do with it?"
+
+"I ain't a-gwine ter tell yer."
+
+"All this was prearranged between you and Mason, wasn't it?"
+
+"Yassah."
+
+Old King Brady smiled. He had cleared up another mystery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+EXPOSING THE SWAMP MYSTERY.
+
+
+The Bradys were surprised at the prompt manner in which the negro
+answered the questions put to him. But they presently observed that he
+was keeping a wary eye upon their revolvers, and evidently feared to
+get shot if they caught him lying to them.
+
+Moreover, Old King Brady showed plainly by the questions he asked that
+he was familiar with the true inwardness of the things he accused Nick
+of. It made the darky think the old detective knew more about the case
+than he actually did know.
+
+Seeing his advantage, Old King Brady said:
+
+"Now, see here, Mr. Wiffles, you know we are detectives, don't you?"
+
+"Ob c'ose," admitted the coon, in gloomy tones.
+
+"You tried to shoot us, and you tried to kill us in the quick-sand.
+That gives us the right to put you on trial for your life, charged with
+attempted murder. You are in a pretty bad fix, old man. I wouldn't give
+two cents for your life. You know what little evidence is required here
+to hang a Georgia nigger. Therefore you can realize what your fate will
+be."
+
+Nick began to cry.
+
+Big tears rolled down his cheeks.
+
+Falling on his knees, he cried in despairing tones:
+
+"Oh, massa officer, hab mercy on me!"
+
+"We are inclined to pity you, as you were merely an ignorant tool in
+the hands of a very wicked man. But of course you can't expect us to be
+lenient unless you aid us to capture Ronald Mason, and recover Mr.
+Dalton, either dead or alive."
+
+"What yo' want me ter do, boss?" eagerly asked the miserable coon.
+
+"Tell us where to find Mason."
+
+"He lib in dat hut in de swamp."
+
+"Why does he live there?"
+
+"So's he kin watch his prisoner."
+
+"Who is that--Mr. Dalton?"
+
+"Yassah."
+
+"Oh! Then he's got Dalton in the swamp, eh?"
+
+"Fo' suah, boss."
+
+"In the hut?"
+
+"Dat's whar he was."
+
+"Why is Mason holding him a prisoner?"
+
+"Dunno. But I 'spects it's kaze he am a-tryin' fo' ter git de ole man
+ter sign a paper, an' de broker won't do it."
+
+"What sort of a paper?"
+
+"A bank check."
+
+"I see. He wants to get a genuine signature to it."
+
+"Wants all ob Massa Dalton's balance what am left in de bank."
+
+"How much does it amount to?"
+
+"Ober $75,000."
+
+"Dalton refuses?"
+
+"Obstinate as a mule."
+
+"I don't blame him. Now, where is Dalton kept hidden?"
+
+"Dat I can't say, boss. Somewheres in de swamp."
+
+"Is Mason forcing Dalton?"
+
+"Torturing de ole gemman."
+
+"What a shame! Now, tell me: On the night you got Dalton from the box,
+was the old gentleman drugged?"
+
+"Only tied hand and foot an' gagged."
+
+"Then he was uninjured?"
+
+"Only half starbed."
+
+"When you carried him into the hut, he fought with you?"
+
+"Fearful! Yo' see, he had worked his hands free from de bonds. Done gib
+me a strong tussle when I was a-gwine ter take him into--into----"
+
+"What?"
+
+"His prison, sah."
+
+"If you don't tell where it is, we shall shoot you, sir!"
+
+As Old King Brady made this threat he pushed his revolver against
+Nick's forehead, and the coon gave a wild yell of terror.
+
+"Fo' hebbin's sake," he groaned, "doan fire!"
+
+"I'll solve the mystery of this swamp, or I'll murder you!" fiercely
+cried the old detective. "Do you hear me, sir?"
+
+A cold sweat burst out all over the darky.
+
+He gazed around in alarm, and gasped hoarsely:
+
+"If I tell, will yo' gib me away?"
+
+"To whom?"
+
+"Massa Mason."
+
+"Of course not."
+
+"Den listen. Dar's a tunnel under de flo' ob dat hut."
+
+"Where does it lead to?"
+
+"A big cave under de island in de swamp."
+
+"How do you reach it?"
+
+"Froo a trap-doo' in one corner, covered wid earf."
+
+"And that's where Mason is keeping his prisoner, eh?"
+
+"Yassah. We free lib dar."
+
+"Is that where you carried Dalton on the night you took him from the
+cars?" demanded Old King Brady.
+
+"Ob co'se," replied the coon. "An' if Mason find out dat I done tell
+yo' about it, 'spect he'd kill me like a dog."
+
+"No doubt he would," said the old detective. "He is capable of doing
+almost any kind of villainy. Where were you to-night?"
+
+"Bringin' food fo' de cave, as our supply ran out."
+
+"I thought as much."
+
+Just then Harry muttered:
+
+"Well, the great swamp mystery turns out to be a very simple matter,
+now that we fully understand it, Old King Brady."
+
+"This man may be lying, Harry."
+
+"We can easily prove what he has told us."
+
+"Yes, indeed. And if we find Mr. Dalton kept a prisoner it will go
+mighty hard with Mason when we capture him. I'm glad to hear that the
+old broker had the nerve to resist his demands, for it looks to me as
+if his nephew were trying to amass all the money he can get his hands
+on in order to escape from here as soon as possible."
+
+They questioned Nick for a while longer.
+
+Then they brought him to the town, and had him locked up.
+
+Returning to the Dalton mansion, and meeting Lizzie, they told her what
+they discovered by pumping the negro.
+
+She was, of course, delighted to learn that her father was alive, and
+was eager for the detectives to go to his rescue.
+
+"We'll make the attempt to-morrow morning," said Harry.
+
+"I don't see why you are putting it off so long," exclaimed the girl,
+petulantly. "I can get you all the help you may need."
+
+"Let us work our own way," quietly answered the boy. "Knowing that
+we've captured Nick, and may have pumped him, Mason will very likely be
+on the lookout for us, and meet us with a hot reception. By waiting, it
+will lead him to think we don't know anything about his subterranean
+abode. Then, when we attack, we will have a better chance of taking him
+by surprise."
+
+The girl pondered a moment.
+
+Cool reflection showed her the wisdom of Harry's plan.
+
+"You are right," she admitted, reluctantly. "I'm so anxious to have
+something done for my poor father's instant relief that I can hardly
+suppress my impatience, though."
+
+"We understand your feelings in the matter," replied Old King Brady,
+quietly. "But we know best how to handle your cousin. If you will leave
+the matter to our judgment, we will stand a better chance of making a
+success of our plans."
+
+It required no argument to convince the girl, and she sighed, and said:
+
+"Very well, Mr. Brady. Do as you think best. All I ask is that you will
+not lose any time about going to my father's rescue."
+
+They discussed the matter fully that night.
+
+In the morning the detectives returned to the swamp.
+
+A careful examination was made of the dreary waste of mud and water,
+but they failed to see any signs of their men.
+
+It was a bright, sunny day, but a dense vapor hung over the marshy
+land, and the officers went through it to the island.
+
+They expected by coming so early in the morning to catch their enemies
+sleeping. But a discovery Harry made dispelled this idea.
+
+He caught view of a tiny stream of smoke rising from some rocks.
+
+Upon examining the spot, he found a natural chimney coming up through
+the ground, out of which the smoke was pouring.
+
+When he returned to his partner and told him about it, he said:
+
+"That's evidence enough that there's a cave under the island, and the
+column of smoke shows that Mason and the valet have started a fire to
+cook their breakfast. When we get in, we are likely to find them at
+that occupation. Are you ready for the attempt?"
+
+"Certainly," assented Young King Brady.
+
+They walked over to the hut, and entered.
+
+Nick had explained where the trap was located, and they soon found a
+cunningly hidden ring, and pulled it upward.
+
+A door, covered with earth, was raised.
+
+It revealed a flight of damp stone stairs.
+
+The Bradys drew their pistols, got their dark lanterns ready for use,
+and descended the stairs for a distance of fifteen feet.
+
+They found themselves in a big natural cavern, and as they flashed
+their lantern lights around in the gloom, a cry of the most intense
+astonishment burst from their lips.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE PRISONER IN THE CAVE.
+
+
+"Harry, this is the most astonishing place I ever was in in all my
+life."
+
+"It certainly is wonderful, Old King Brady."
+
+The detectives were gazing in amazement where the lights of their
+lanterns rested, and beheld a wonder of nature very seldom seen.
+
+In the first place, they were in a huge cavern of circular shape.
+
+The flight of stairs wound around one of the walls, and beside the
+bottom step there was a yawning hole in the ground fifty feet in
+diameter.
+
+It seemed to go straight down into the earth.
+
+Harry picked up a big stone and dropped it into the opening.
+
+They listened intently, but failed to hear it strike bottom in the pit.
+
+"This hole must be of enormous depth!" the boy exclaimed, "else we
+would have heard that stone hit the bottom."
+
+"Look at the church organ rising up from the depths against that side
+of the abyss," said Old King Brady, pointing across the chasm.
+
+His light rested upon a number of stalactites forming what looked
+exactly like the pipes of an enormous organ.
+
+Beneath them was a bank of keys.
+
+The silence of death prevailed.
+
+Nature had wrought a wonderful formation there.
+
+The entire interior of the cave was pure white, looking like camphor.
+
+Huge pendants like great icicles hung from the ceiling, and similar
+formations rose from the floor.
+
+In some cases the ends of the pendants nearly touched the points of the
+stalagmites rising from the bottom, and not a few were dropping pure,
+clear water, which formed little pools that ran in rivulets to the
+great well, and there vanished in the bowels of the earth.
+
+It was quite cold there, yet there was a strong, fresh, invigorating
+taste to the air, which was agreeable to the lungs.
+
+At various parts of the walls were other natural formations, and among
+them, in a niche, the figure of a woman holding a child.
+
+"For beauty, the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky cannot compare with this
+place," said Young King Brady, in tones of delight.
+
+"We are forgetting our object," said the old officer.
+
+"True. But no one is in this place."
+
+"Let us see if there are not adjoining caverns."
+
+"Explore those openings in the wall."
+
+He pointed at an arched aperture, and they crept into it on their hands
+and knees, and went ahead a dozen yards, then paused.
+
+They were on the brink of another chasm.
+
+A rift split the passage in two crosswise.
+
+It looked as if some convulsion of nature had ripped the earth apart,
+and they crept back to the main cavern and tried another opening.
+
+It was possible to stand upright in this place.
+
+The passage wound and zigzagged.
+
+Following it for some distance, they suddenly caught view of a lurid
+glare ahead as they turned an abrupt bend, and halted.
+
+"Put out your light," whispered Old King Brady, in warning tones.
+
+"See them?" asked the boy, complying.
+
+"No, but they must have kindled that fire."
+
+"Advance carefully now."
+
+They got down on their hands and knees again, and went on to the spot
+where the passage opened into a smaller cave.
+
+Here the sight was prettier.
+
+The floor, walls and ceiling were a delicate shade of pink, and the
+icicles formed many fantastic shapes that sparkled in the firelight.
+
+Pausing, the detectives now saw that the place was about fifty feet in
+diameter, with a vaulted roof, through a hole in which the smoke from a
+big log fire was pouring upward.
+
+Upon the floor there were some skins of animals, benches, boxes, dishes
+and other articles used for cooking and comfort.
+
+Two men were lying upon the ground smoking pipes before the big fire,
+and as the lights glowed upon their faces, the detectives observed that
+they were Roland Mason and Sim Johnson.
+
+Both were conversing.
+
+"Sim," the white man was saying, "are you quite sure the detectives
+have got Nick locked up in jail?"
+
+"Dat's whut I heered dis mornin' in de town, Massa Ronald," replied the
+negro, in serious tones.
+
+"He may give us away, Sim."
+
+"If he do, Ise gwine ter gib it to him."
+
+"You won't have the chance if he's locked up."
+
+They both laughed heartily at this grim remark.
+
+When Sim's mirth abated, he said thoughtfully:
+
+"Peahs ter me, if dem yere 'tectives wuz a-gwine ter pump any news
+outen dat coon, dey would hab done it las' night, an' come right heah
+aftah us, sah."
+
+"Their absence is all that relieves my mind, Sim. I quite agree with
+your idea. Still, Nick may weaken later on, and make a clean breast of
+it."
+
+"Hab we got ter stay heah much longer?"
+
+"No. Old Dalton is losing his nerve."
+
+"Gwine ter sign dat check?"
+
+"Yes. He hasn't had anything to eat for three days, and his spirit is
+broken entirely. He's begging me for food."
+
+"What yo' tell de ole fool?"
+
+"I told him I'd feed him the moment he signs that check."
+
+"An' he gwine ter do it, hey?"
+
+"I'm going to tackle him once more. I'm sure he will obey now. You see,
+there's a balance of $75,000 in Dalton's bank, in ready cash. It can't
+be drawn without a check, and I'm bound to get such a check. Once I
+have the money I'll let him go."
+
+"Whar yo' go den?"
+
+"England."
+
+"An' take me?"
+
+"So I promised you."
+
+"De quicker yo' settle dat business, de better."
+
+"Yes. It's too dangerous to remain around here much longer."
+
+"Let's go and hab a look at de ole fellow now?"
+
+"Very well. Light your lantern, and I'll get a fountain pen and a blank
+check."
+
+They got upon their feet.
+
+While the negro was procuring the light, Mason got his check, and they
+crossed the cavern, entered a narrow fissure in the wall, and vanished.
+
+The detectives glided from their place of concealment.
+
+Every word uttered had been heard by them.
+
+They entered the fissure.
+
+Some distance ahead was the light.
+
+It suddenly disappeared around a bend, and the officers observed, its
+dim rays illuminating a small chamber, as black as midnight.
+
+Reaching the end of the passage, the Bradys glanced through the big
+opening and saw a small cavern of the same crystal formation as the two
+other caves, excepting that everything here was black and dark brown
+from some chemical discoloration.
+
+It was a gloomy place.
+
+In the middle of the room was a huge rock.
+
+An iron ring was mortised in the side of it, to which a short, rusty
+chain was fastened. This chain held a human being a prisoner by being
+padlocked around his ankle.
+
+The man was Oliver Dalton.
+
+But the detectives scarcely recognized him.
+
+His face was pale and haggard, his eyes deeply sunken in their sockets,
+his hair dishevelled, and his face covered with a short beard.
+
+From privations his figure was so shrunken that his clothing hardly fit
+him, and the garments were so dirty and torn that he looked like a
+tramp.
+
+Mason and the negro had paused near him.
+
+The villain stood looking at the pitiful object he had so basely
+wronged with a cold, calculating glance, and finally said to him:
+
+"How are you feeling, Dalton?"
+
+"Oh, you miserable cur----" began the old broker, bitterly.
+
+"Shut up!" roared Mason, roughly interrupting him. "No raving!"
+
+"You'll kill me yet."
+
+"That makes little difference to me."
+
+"For mercy's sake give me some food; I'm starving."
+
+"Not till you obey me."
+
+"Have you no pity left in you?"
+
+"I'm simply determined to carry my point."
+
+"This is horrible--inhuman!"
+
+"Oh, I know very well it's unpleasant," testily answered Mason, "but
+you might have spared yourself all the suffering you have been
+undergoing for the past three days had you done as I asked. You know
+me, Dalton. I've started a desperate game to get your money, and I've
+been baffled at every turn by those accursed Bradys. This is my last
+resource to raise money enough to get out of the country, and, by
+Heavens, I'll win, or you'll die!"
+
+The broker gazed steadily at him a moment.
+
+In the hard, cruel expression of Mason's eyes he read his doom, and he
+was so overcome with absolute misery of mind and body that he leaned
+against the rock and cried like a child. All hope had left him.
+
+He was broken down in body and spirit.
+
+A cold, cynical smile hovered over Mason's face.
+
+He was not moved by the signs of weakness his prisoner showed. On the
+contrary, he gloated over it.
+
+This was the surest indication to him that Dalton was upon the verge of
+collapse, and intended to give in.
+
+He waited for his victim to get over the first paroxysm of grief, and
+watched him as closely as a cat watches a mouse.
+
+Finally he asked in sharp, metallic tones:
+
+"Well, which shall it be--obey me, and sign a check, or remain chained
+here like a wild beast, and perish of starvation?"
+
+For a moment there was a deep silence.
+
+Slowly the prisoner removed his trembling hands from his wan, pinched
+face, and said in reproachful tones:
+
+"I can't stand this any longer."
+
+"Then you will sign the check?" eagerly asked Mason.
+
+"Yes. And you will then give me my liberty?"
+
+"The moment you affix your signature to this check, we will give you
+food. And the moment I get the money, you will get your liberty."
+
+"Give me the check."
+
+Mason drew the pen and paper from his pocket, eagerly strode over to
+the poor wretch, and held them out to him.
+
+But instead of taking the pen, Dalton gave one mighty leap, clutched
+the wretch by the throat with both hands, and, choking the villain till
+he grew black in the face, he yelled frantically:
+
+"I've got you at last, you dog; and by the eternal, I'll kill you, if
+it's the last thing I do on earth! Die, confound you, die! And this is
+the vengeance I've been craving all through the moments of torture
+you've put me to in the past!"
+
+He hurled Mason upon the floor, pinioned him to the ground, with a knee
+on his chest, and Sim, with an oath, rushed to his master's aid.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ESCAPING FROM THE CAVES.
+
+
+The Bradys were very much astonished by the violent turn affairs had
+taken. In the prisoner's desperate attack they saw the last expiring
+act of a wronged man thirsting to avenge his injuries.
+
+It pleased them to see Mason caught in a trap.
+
+But when the negro showed signs of attacking Mr. Dalton, they realized
+that it was about time for them to act.
+
+Harry had a revolver in his hand.
+
+Aiming at Sim, he fired.
+
+The sudden report startled every one.
+
+A yell of agony escaped the negro, and he paused and staggered back
+with a wound in his side which filled him with pain.
+
+The shot caused Dalton to relax his awful grip.
+
+Hoarsely gasping for air to breathe, Mason sprang to his feet.
+
+"I'm shot!" groaned the coon.
+
+"It's the detectives!" gasped Mason, seeing the Bradys.
+
+"We'll get hung!" screamed Sim, in tones of horror.
+
+"Run for the swamp passage!"
+
+"Put out de light!"
+
+Mason seized the lantern and hurled it to the ground.
+
+There was a crash, a jingle of broken glass, then dense gloom.
+
+The Bradys paused.
+
+They heard the patter of rushing footsteps crossing the floor, and made
+violent efforts to get out and unmask their lanterns.
+
+Only a few moments passed before they had a light flashing on the
+scene, and they swept it around the cavern.
+
+But they saw nothing of the two villains.
+
+They had made good their escape.
+
+Mr. Dalton stood by the rock, trembling and anxious, and after a few
+moments of silence, he asked, eagerly:
+
+"Who is that?"
+
+"Friends," cheerily replied Harry.
+
+"Thank Heaven for that!"
+
+"Harry, the villains are gone."
+
+"Can you see how they got out?"
+
+"Yes. There's another tunnel."
+
+"Let them be for the present, and help me liberate this man."
+
+"Wait till I get something from the other cave to break that chain."
+
+He hastened back to the living room.
+
+After the lapse of a few minutes he returned with a file.
+
+While he was cutting open the padlock, Mr. Dalton asked:
+
+"May I ask who you are, gentlemen?"
+
+"The Bradys," replied Harry, quietly.
+
+"What!" gasped the prisoner, in astonished tones.
+
+"We've been hunting for you a long time, and found you at last."
+
+"This is wonderful!"
+
+"Perhaps to you, but not to us."
+
+"For mercy's sake explain matters."
+
+Harry complied as concisely as he could.
+
+When he finished the old broker was thoroughly amazed at the great
+crime Mason committed in order to rob him.
+
+That it was a failure was due to the detectives, he easily foresaw.
+
+He thanked them again and again, and said, sadly:
+
+"Poor Lizzie! She was faithful to me through all."
+
+"No one will be gladder to see you than she," said Harry.
+
+"And she's so near me now?"
+
+"Yes. In a quarter of an hour you can be with her."
+
+"I feel renewed hope now."
+
+"Will you please tell us how your rascally nephew first managed to get
+you into his power, Mr. Dalton?" asked Harry, in curious tones.
+
+"It was a very simple plan," replied the old broker. "He knew that I
+was going to get you to run down the thief who was robbing my mail. But
+he did not know that I suspected him of the crime. At any rate, on the
+night you mentioned, I had gone to the Union Club. A telegram reached
+me, saying you wished to see me at a house in Thirty-sixth street. I
+went there. Mason and my valet were waiting there for me. They attacked
+me. I shouted for help. They chloroformed me, bound and gagged me, put
+me in a box they had prepared for my reception, and--well, all became a
+blank."
+
+"They had the box and wagon ready ahead, eh?"
+
+"It was a prearranged plot," the broker replied. "That was evident. I
+came to my senses in the box, and realized that I was being carried off
+on a railway car. Then you opened the box. The next thing I knew, the
+box I was in was thrown from the car. The shock stunned me. When I
+recovered I found myself being carried over a swamp into a hut. The gag
+was off my mouth, and I shouted for help."
+
+"Yes; we heard you."
+
+"The negro who carried me brought me down here and secured me this way.
+Then Mason made his appearance. For the first time I then learned that
+he was the author of all my trouble. He was bound to secure my bank
+balance, and I refused to sign a check so he could get it. Infuriated
+over my persistent refusal, he tortured and starved me. The rest you
+probably know."
+
+"We heard all they said this morning."
+
+Just then Old King Brady finished cutting the lock, and the man was
+free and able to walk.
+
+He was very weak, though, and the detectives had to support him.
+
+"Do you know anything about the passage by means of which the villains
+escaped from here?" asked Old King Brady.
+
+"Oh, yes. I've often explored this place," replied Mr. Dalton, readily.
+"It's a passage leading under the swamp to the mainland."
+
+"Show us the way, and we will follow it."
+
+"Come along, then, and in a few minutes we'll be out of here."
+
+They entered the tunnel, and Old King Brady said to the broker:
+
+"When I entered the Thirty-sixth street house the night you were
+abducted, I found a curious dagger lying on the floor, and blood-stains
+on the boards. These clews led me to suppose a murder had been
+committed there. Do you know anything about those things?"
+
+"Yes," replied the broker. "The dagger was one I had purchased as a
+curiosity that evening from a shop in Fourth avenue. When those two men
+attacked me, I drew it, and cut the negro before they got the best of
+me by knocking it from my hand. Sim bound up his wound, and then they
+knocked me down and drugged me."
+
+Old King Brady laughed.
+
+"Another mystery solved," he muttered.
+
+"You thought I was the victim, eh?"
+
+"I did. But I see my error now."
+
+"Daylight ahead," interposed Young King Brady just then.
+
+"That's the exit from this tunnel," explained Mr. Dalton.
+
+They left the passage among some rocks in the grounds above the house,
+and saw Lizzie Dalton near by.
+
+She sat on a log gazing away toward the big swamp with a sad expression
+upon her pretty face.
+
+Mr. Dalton became excited.
+
+"Lizzie!" he shouted hoarsely.
+
+She sprang to her feet as if electrified, glanced around at him with a
+joyful look beaming all over her face, and cried emotionally:
+
+"Oh, papa!"
+
+The next moment they rushed into each other's arms, and kissed and wept
+over each other, their hearts too full for utterance.
+
+The Bradys turned away from the affecting scene.
+
+"Guess everything's all right, Harry," muttered the old detective.
+
+"Looks that way," replied the boy.
+
+"We've got very little more to do now."
+
+"Only to get the nippers on Mason and his black pal."
+
+"Where in thunder could they have gone?"
+
+"Let's notify the authorities along the line of the railroad in both
+directions to keep a lookout for the pair."
+
+Acting upon this suggestion, they quietly stole away, leaving the
+reunited and happy father and daughter talking over past events.
+
+Proceeding to Swamp Angel, and learning that neither of the villains
+had yet put in an appearance there, they got the telegraph instrument
+operating, and flashed a warning message all along the line.
+
+News reached them that neither Mason nor Johnson had made any attempt
+to get away on the cars yet.
+
+In discussing this on their way back to Dalton's the old detective came
+to a wise conclusion, when he said:
+
+"After all, they ain't apt to show themselves for a while yet, Harry.
+Both know the game is up, and that we'll be on the lookout for them to
+escape. They'll expect us to make a bee line for the railroad depots
+the first thing. Therefore, they'll shun the stations."
+
+"You think they'll remain concealed around the swamp a while?"
+
+"It's more than likely. Now that we've got the railroad guarded so they
+can't escape, it will be best for us to watch the swamp, and I think
+we'll find them lurking there until they think the excitement blows
+over. They won't expect us to look for them there. That will make our
+task all the easier, Harry."
+
+"Suppose we secrete ourselves there to-night, then?"
+
+"I'm agreeable. If we can pounce upon the pair while they're asleep, we
+will be spared the difficulty of a fight in taking them."
+
+They finally reached the Dalton house in time for luncheon.
+
+Both the old broker and his daughter greeted them warmly.
+
+The detectives advised him not to go to New York, or to let on to any
+one that he was alive, until they had captured his enemies.
+
+After supper, the Bradys departed for the swamp.
+
+When they got around on the south side of the swamp, they heard the
+murmur of voices coming from a dense thicket.
+
+"Hark! What's that?" muttered Harry, holding up his finger.
+
+"Part the bushes and look through."
+
+Harry moved the tangled shrubbery aside.
+
+They had a clear and uninterrupted view of the broad expanse of swamp,
+and to their delight saw the two men they were hunting for.
+
+The villains were only fifty yards from where the Bradys crouched.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+The waters of a lagoon washed the swampy shore directly in front of the
+place where the two detectives were crouching.
+
+A flat-bottomed boat was tied to a log, and Sim Johnson was just in the
+act of casting it loose, when the detectives saw him.
+
+Roland Mason sat in the stern, a big felt hat on his head, the wig and
+false mustache adjusted, and he was laughing heartily, and saying:
+
+"Sim, we'll fool those detectives yet."
+
+"Ise mighty glad we know wha' dey's gwine ter do," the coon answered.
+
+"We wouldn't have known their plans if I hadn't gone over to the house
+to-day and listened outside the open window, to all they were saying to
+Oliver Dalton," replied the rascal.
+
+Harry gave his partner a nudge.
+
+Just then Sim exclaimed:
+
+"De boat am free, sah."
+
+"Jump in, then, and we'll row across the swamp."
+
+"Yo' gwine ter hire dem horses to-night?"
+
+"Of course. We must ride away from here on horseback, and get back into
+the interior, as the railroad stations here are being watched for us.
+Once we are a day's travel from this accursed place, we can board the
+cars of some other road, and get down to New Orleans, where we'll be
+safe."
+
+Sim chuckled audibly, for the plan pleased him immensely.
+
+He was just about to jump into the boat, when Harry cried:
+
+"Now!"
+
+The Bradys rushed from their covert.
+
+The two desperadoes were completely surprised by the sudden appearance
+of the two noted detectives.
+
+"The jig is up, boys," said Old King Brady, as he covered his man.
+
+Sim raised both hands above his head.
+
+"Don't fire! I gibs in!" he roared, in terrified tones.
+
+At the same moment Harry aimed his pistol at Mason and cried:
+
+"You surrender, or I'll kill you, Mason!"
+
+"Drop that gun, Brady!"
+
+"Not till you give in," replied Harry.
+
+"Then----"
+
+Bang! went Mason's pistol.
+
+He did not raise it to aim, but took the young detective unawares, and
+the ball grazed Harry's skull, and stunned him.
+
+Dropping his pistol, he flung up his hands, reeled back, and fell over
+the side of the boat upon the mud, unconscious.
+
+At the same moment Sim, electrified, sprang convulsively at Old King
+Brady and knocked the pistol aside.
+
+It was discharged in the air.
+
+The coon seized the detective's wrists, and in a moment a terrific
+struggle ensued between the pair.
+
+Old King Brady thought his partner was killed.
+
+It made him frantic with rage.
+
+"You treacherous dogs! We might have expected such crooked work as
+this!" he cried. "But you won't escape me, I can tell you!"
+
+"Help, Mason, help!" yelled the coon.
+
+But Mason had discreetly seized the oars, and was then rowing away with
+all his strength, in a violent effort to escape.
+
+The negro fought with the courage of despair.
+
+But he was no match for Old King Brady.
+
+The great detective gave his wrist a sudden twist that tore it out of
+the darky's grip, and caught hold of Sim by the throat.
+
+His fingers closed like a vise on the darky's windpipe.
+
+"Down on your knees with you!"
+
+"Oh, golly! Yassah--I go down!"
+
+And down he went.
+
+Out came the old detective's handcuffs, and the next instant they were
+snapped upon Sim's wrists behind his back.
+
+"Now, don't you budge an inch till I tell you to!" panted the old
+man-hunter threateningly, as he aimed his pistol at Johnson.
+
+"Ise a dead niggah!" groaned the rascal, dismally.
+
+"That's what you'll be if you stir!" grimly said Old King Brady.
+
+He strode over to Harry and picked him up.
+
+First he was overjoyed to find that the boy was alive, then he
+carefully examined the wound on his scalp and saw it was only skin
+deep.
+
+He court-plastered it, to stop the bleeding.
+
+With a hatful of water he bathed the young detective's temples, and
+while so employed gazed around in quest of Mason.
+
+The man was far away in the boat by that time.
+
+Harry rapidly recovered, and finally got upon his feet again.
+
+His head was very sore, but otherwise he suffered no ill effects from
+the wound he received, and cried eagerly:
+
+"Can't we head off that villain?"
+
+"I'm going to make an effort. Grab the prisoner."
+
+While Harry took possession of the scared darky, Old King Brady ran
+around the swamp at the top of his speed toward the spot Mason was
+heading the boat for, and kept out of the rascal's view.
+
+In this manner Old King Brady reached the grounds surrounding Oliver
+Dalton's house, and suddenly caught view of Mason.
+
+He had landed, and was kneeling down beside a rock, under which was a
+hollow space from which he was drawing a package.
+
+Hearing the old detective coming, he bounded to his feet, and raised
+his revolver to fire. But he was not quick enough.
+
+A sharp report came from the detective's pistol.
+
+The bullet lodged in Mason's leg.
+
+With a yell of pain he fell.
+
+In a moment more the officer pounced on him.
+
+"I've got you at last, Mason!"
+
+"Curse you--shoot! Kill me!" yelled the maddened man.
+
+"No. I'll reserve your life for a prison cell, so you may repent of
+your sins at your leisure, and ultimately become a reformed man!"
+
+He held the rascal down by main force.
+
+The shot brought Mr. Dalton and his daughter from the house, and as
+they rushed over to the spot, the broker cried joyfully:
+
+"So you've got him, eh?"
+
+"Yes; got both," replied the detective.
+
+"Thank Heaven for that!"
+
+"Mason, what's in that package?"
+
+"Money. About $30,000," growled the man in surly tones.
+
+"Is that the money you stole from Mr. Dalton's office?"
+
+"Yes. I may as well own up to it now."
+
+"Mr. Dalton, take your property."
+
+"I shall," replied the broker, seizing the parcel.
+
+Just then Harry came along with Johnson in tow, and the two prisoners
+were handcuffed together, and were taken to Swamp Angel and locked up.
+
+As Mr. Dalton was anxious to get back to New York, the detectives got
+their three prisoners and accompanied the broker and his daughter north
+a few days later, and they finally reached the metropolis.
+
+Of course everybody was surprised to see the broker appear alive and
+well, after believing so long he was dead and buried.
+
+In due time Roland Mason and his two negro pals were put on trial for
+their many offenses, and the testimony of the Bradys convicted them.
+
+Their sentences were the extreme limit, and they went to Sing Sing.
+
+Mr. Dalton soon had his business re-established, and found that after
+all his losses by Mason's peculations were not very heavy since the
+time he was supposed to have been found dead.
+
+It is safe to say the forged will was destroyed.
+
+From that time onward the Bradys had the warmest friends in Lizzie
+Dalton and her father. But they certainly earned their esteem.
+
+They had gone beyond their depth several times while unravelling the
+great swamp mystery, but success crowned their efforts in the end.
+
+Praised for the good work they did by their chief, and lauded to the
+skies by the press, they became more celebrated than ever.
+
+But their work for the Secret Service was not ended with the happy
+finish of the Dalton case. They were soon busy with a new piece of
+detective work that taxed all their ingenuity.
+
+But we have reserved a history of their exploits while so engaged for
+another story.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+Read "THE BRADYS' HOPELESS CASE; OR, AGAINST PLAIN EVIDENCE," which
+will be the next number (96) of "Secret Service."
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+SPECIAL NOTICE: All back numbers of this weekly are always in print. If
+you cannot obtain them from any newsdealer, send the price in money or
+postage stamps by mail to FRANK TOUSEY, PUBLISHER, 24 UNION SQUARE, NEW
+YORK, and you will receive the copies you order by return mail.
+
+
+
+
+HERE'S A NEW ONE!
+
+By GUS WILLIAMS,
+
+The ever Popular and World Renowned German Comedian.
+
+64            [Illustration: Gus William's         64
+PAGES          Monologues, Recitations,            PAGES
+               and Joke Book
+10             original and otherwise.]            10
+Cents                                              Cents
+
+_HANDSOMELY COLORED COVER._
+
+His Latest Collection of Jokes, Anecdotes and Funny Sayings.
+
+This book is just issued, and is for sale by all newsdealers, or will
+be sent, postage paid, to any address, by
+
+
+FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher,
+24 UNION SQUARE.                  NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+These Books · Tell You · Everything!
+
+A COMPLETE SET · IS A REGULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA!
+
+Each book consists of sixty-four pages, printed on good paper, in clear
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+books are also profusely illustrated, and all of the subjects treated
+upon are explained in such a simple manner that any child can
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+you want to know anything about the subjects mentioned.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
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+MONEY. Address FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, N.Y.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+SPORTING.
+
+No. 21. HOW TO HUNT AND FISH.--The most complete hunting and fishing
+guide ever published. It contains full instructions about guns, hunting
+dogs, traps, trapping and fishing, together with descriptions of game
+and fish.
+
+No. 26. HOW TO ROW, SAIL AND BUILD A BOAT.--Fully illustrated. Every
+boy should know how to row and sail a boat. Full instructions are given
+in this little book, together with instructions on swimming and riding,
+companion sports to boating.
+
+No. 47. HOW TO BREAK, RIDE, AND DRIVE A HORSE.--A complete treatise on
+the horse. Describing the most useful horses for business, the best
+horses for the road; also valuable recipes for diseases peculiar to the
+horse.
+
+No. 48. HOW TO BUILD AND SAIL CANOES.--A handy book for boys,
+containing full directions for constructing canoes and the most popular
+manner of sailing them. Fully illustrated. By C. Stansfield Hicks.
+
+
+FORTUNE TELLING.
+
+No. 1. NAPOLEON'S ORACULUM AND DREAM BOOK.--Containing the great oracle
+of human destiny; also the true meaning of almost any kind of dreams,
+together with charms, ceremonies, and curious games of cards. A
+complete book.
+
+No. 23. HOW TO EXPLAIN DREAMS.--Everybody dreams, from the little child
+to the aged man and woman. This little book gives the explanation to
+all kinds of dreams, together with lucky and unlucky days, and
+"Napoleon's Oraculum," the book of fate.
+
+No. 28. HOW TO TELL FORTUNES.--Everyone is desirous of knowing what his
+future life will bring forth, whether happiness or misery, wealth or
+poverty. You can tell by a glance at this little book. Buy one and be
+convinced. Tell your own fortune. Tell the fortune of your friends.
+
+No. 76. HOW TO TELL FORTUNES BY THE HAND.--Containing rules for telling
+fortunes by the aid of the lines of the hand, or the secret of
+palmistry. Also the secret of telling future events by aid of moles,
+marks, scars, etc. Illustrated. By A. Anderson.
+
+
+ATHLETIC.
+
+No. 6. HOW TO BECOME AN ATHLETE.--Giving full instruction for the use
+of dumb bells, Indian clubs, parallel bars, horizontal bars and various
+other methods of developing a good, healthy muscle; containing over
+sixty illustrations. Every boy can become strong and healthy by
+following the instructions contained in this little book.
+
+No. 10. HOW TO BOX.--The art of self-defense made easy. Containing over
+thirty illustrations of guards, blows, and the different positions of a
+good boxer. Every boy should obtain one of these useful and
+instructive books, as it will teach you how to box without an
+instructor.
+
+No. 25. HOW TO BECOME A GYMNAST.--Containing full instructions for all
+kinds of gymnastic sports and athletic exercises. Embracing thirty-five
+illustrations. By Professor W. Macdonald. A handy and useful book.
+
+No. 34. HOW TO FENCE.--Containing full instruction for fencing and the
+use of the broadsword; also instruction in archery. Described with
+twenty-one practical illustrations, giving the best positions in
+fencing. A complete book.
+
+No. 61. HOW TO BECOME A BOWLER.--A complete manual of bowling.
+Containing full instructions for playing all the standard American and
+German games; together with rules and systems of sporting in use by the
+principal bowling clubs in the United States. By Bartholomew Batterson.
+
+
+TRICKS WITH CARDS.
+
+No. 51. HOW TO DO TRICKS WITH CARDS.--Containing explanations of the
+general principles of sleight-of-hand applicable to card tricks; of
+card tricks with ordinary cards, and not requiring sleight-of-hand; of
+tricks involving sleight-of-hand, or the use of specially prepared
+cards. By Professor Haffner. With illustrations.
+
+No. 72. HOW TO DO SIXTY TRICKS WITH CARDS.--Embracing all of the latest
+and most deceptive card tricks, with illustrations. By A. Anderson.
+
+No. 77. HOW TO DO FORTY TRICKS WITH CARDS.--Containing deceptive Card
+Tricks as performed by leading conjurers and magicians. Arranged for
+home amusement. Fully illustrated.
+
+
+MAGIC.
+
+No. 2. HOW TO DO TRICKS.--The great book of magic and card tricks,
+containing full instruction of all the leading card tricks of the day,
+also the most popular magical illusions as performed by our leading
+magicians; every boy should obtain a copy of this book, as it will both
+amuse and instruct.
+
+No. 22. HOW TO DO SECOND SIGHT.--Heller's second sight explained by his
+former assistant, Fred Hunt, Jr. Explaining how the secret dialogues
+were carried on between the magician and the boy on the stage; also
+giving all the codes and signals. The only authentic explanation of
+second sight.
+
+No. 43. HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN.--Containing the grandest assortment
+of magical illusions ever placed before the public. Also tricks with
+cards, incantations, etc.
+
+No. 68. HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS.--Containing over one hundred highly
+amusing and instructive tricks with chemicals. By A. Anderson.
+Handsomely illustrated.
+
+No. 69. HOW TO DO SLEIGHT OF HAND.--Containing over fifty of the latest
+and best tricks used by magicians. Also containing the secret of second
+sight. Fully illustrated. By A. Anderson.
+
+No. 70. HOW TO MAKE MAGIC TOYS.--Containing full directions for making
+Magic Toys and devices of many kinds. By A. Anderson. Fully
+illustrated.
+
+No. 73. HOW TO DO TRICKS WITH NUMBERS.--Showing many curious tricks
+with figures and the magic of numbers. By A. Anderson. Fully
+illustrated.
+
+No. 75. HOW TO BECOME A CONJURER.--Containing tricks with Dominoes,
+Dice, Cups and Balls, Hats, etc. Embracing thirty-six illustrations. By
+A. Anderson.
+
+No. 78. HOW TO DO THE BLACK ART.--Containing a complete description of
+the mysteries of Magic and Sleight of Hand, together with many
+wonderful experiments. By A. Anderson. Illustrated.
+
+
+MECHANICAL.
+
+No. 29. HOW TO BECOME AN INVENTOR.--Every boy should know how
+inventions originated. This book explains them all, giving examples in
+electricity, hydraulics, magnetism, optics, pneumatics, mechanics,
+etc., etc. The most instructive book published.
+
+No. 56. HOW TO BECOME AN ENGINEER.--Containing full instructions how to
+proceed in order to become a locomotive engineer; also directions for
+building a model locomotive; together with a full description of
+everything an engineer should know.
+
+No. 57. HOW TO MAKE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.--Full directions how to make a
+Banjo, Violin, Zither, Aeolian Harp, Xylophone and other musical
+instruments; together with a brief description of nearly every musical
+instrument used in ancient or modern times. Profusely illustrated. By
+Algernon S. Fitzgerald, for twenty years bandmaster of the Royal Bengal
+Marines.
+
+No. 59. HOW TO MAKE A MAGIC LANTERN.--Containing a description of the
+lantern, together with its history and invention. Also full directions
+for its use and for painting slides. Handsomely illustrated, by John
+Allen.
+
+No. 71. HOW TO DO MECHANICAL TRICKS.--Containing complete instructions
+for performing over sixty Mechanical Tricks. By A. Anderson. Fully
+illustrated.
+
+
+LETTER WRITING.
+
+No. 11. HOW TO WRITE LOVE-LETTERS.--A most complete little book,
+containing full directions for writing love-letters, and when to use
+them; also giving specimen letters for both young and old.
+
+No. 12. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS TO LADIES.--Giving complete instructions
+for writing letters to ladies on all subjects; also letters of
+introduction, notes and requests.
+
+No. 24. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN.--Containing full directions
+for writing to gentlemen on all subjects; also giving sample letters
+for instruction.
+
+No. 53. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS.--A wonderful little book, telling you how
+to write to your sweetheart, your father, mother, sister, brother,
+employer; and, in fact, everybody and anybody you wish to write to.
+Every young man and every young lady in the land should have this book.
+
+No. 74. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS CORRECTLY.--Containing full instructions
+for writing letters on almost any subject; also rules for punctuation
+and composition; together with specimen letters.
+
+
+THE STAGE.
+
+No. 41. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK END MEN'S JOKE BOOK.--Containing a great
+variety of the latest jokes used by the most famous end men. No amateur
+minstrels is complete without this wonderful little book.
+
+No. 42. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK STUMP SPEAKER--Containing a varied
+assortment of stump speeches, Negro, Dutch and Irish. Also end men's
+jokes. Just the thing for home amusement and amateur shows.
+
+No. 45. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK MINSTREL GUIDE AND JOKE BOOK.--Something
+new and very instructive. Every boy should obtain this book, as it
+contains full instructions for organizing an amateur minstrel troupe.
+
+No. 65. MULDOON'S JOKES.--This is one of the most original joke books
+ever published, and it is brimful of wit and humor. It contains a large
+collection of songs, jokes, conundrums, etc., of Terrence Muldoon, the
+great wit, humorist, and practical joker of the day. Every boy who can
+enjoy a good substantial joke should obtain a copy immediately.
+
+No. 79. HOW TO BECOME AN ACTOR.--Containing complete instructions how
+to make up for various characters on the stage; together with the
+duties of the Stage Manager, Prompter, Scenic Artist and Property Man.
+By a prominent Stage Manager.
+
+
+HOUSEKEEPING.
+
+No. 16. HOW TO KEEP A WINDOW GARDEN.--Containing full instructions for
+constructing a window garden either in town or country, and the most
+approved methods for raising beautiful flowers at home. The most
+complete book of the kind ever published.
+
+No. 30. HOW TO COOK.--One of the most instructive books on cooking ever
+published. It contains recipes for cooking meats, fish, game, and
+oysters; also pies, puddings, cakes and all kinds of pastry, and a
+grand collection of recipes by one of our most popular cooks.
+
+No. 37. HOW TO KEEP HOUSE.--It contains information for everybody,
+boys, girls, men and women; it will teach you how to make almost
+anything around the house, such as parlor ornaments, brackets, cements,
+Aeolian harps, and bird lime for catching birds.
+
+
+ELECTRICAL.
+
+No. 48. HOW TO MAKE AND USE ELECTRICITY.--A description of the
+wonderful uses of electricity and electro magnetism; together with full
+instructions for making Electric Toys, Batteries, etc. By George
+Trebel, A.M., M.D. Containing over fifty illustrations.
+
+No. 64. HOW TO MAKE ELECTRICAL MACHINES.--Containing full directions
+for making electrical machines, induction coils, dynamos, and many
+novel toys to be worked by electricity. By R. A. R. Bennett. Fully
+illustrated.
+
+No. 67. HOW TO DO ELECTRICAL TRICKS.--Containing a large collection of
+instructive and highly amusing electrical tricks, together with
+illustrations. By A. Anderson.
+
+
+ENTERTAINMENT.
+
+No. 9. HOW TO BECOME A VENTRILOQUIST.--By Harry Kennedy. The secret
+given away. Every intelligent boy reading this book of instructions, by
+a practical professor (delighting multitudes every night with his
+wonderful imitations), can master the art, and create any amount of fun
+for himself and friends. It is the greatest book ever published, and
+there's millions (of fun) in it.
+
+No. 20. HOW TO ENTERTAIN AN EVENING PARTY.--A very valuable little book
+just published. A complete compendium of games, sports, card
+diversions, comic recreations, etc., suitable for parlor or
+drawing-room entertainment. It contains more for the money than any
+book published.
+
+No. 35. HOW TO PLAY GAMES.--A complete and useful little book,
+containing the rules and regulations of billiards, bagatelle,
+backgammon, croquet, dominoes, etc.
+
+No. 36. HOW TO SOLVE CONUNDRUMS.--Containing all the leading conundrums
+of the day, amusing riddles, curious catches and witty sayings.
+
+No. 52. HOW TO PLAY CARDS.--A complete and handy little book, giving
+the rules and full directions for playing Euchre, Cribbage, Casino,
+Forty-Five, Rounce, Pedro Sancho, Draw Poker, Auction Pitch, All Fours,
+and many other popular games of cards.
+
+No. 66. HOW TO DO PUZZLES.--Containing over three hundred interesting
+puzzles and conundrums, with key to same. A complete book. Fully
+illustrated. By A. Anderson.
+
+
+ETIQUETTE.
+
+No. 13. HOW TO DO IT; OR, BOOK OF ETIQUETTE.--It is a great life
+secret, and one that every young man desires to know all about. There's
+happiness in it.
+
+No. 33. HOW TO BEHAVE.--Containing the rules and etiquette of good
+society and the easiest and most approved methods of appearing to good
+advantage at parties, balls, the theatre, church, and in the
+drawing-room.
+
+
+DECLAMATION.
+
+No. 27. HOW TO RECITE AND BOOK OF RECITATIONS.--Containing the most
+popular selections in use, comprising Dutch dialect, French dialect,
+Yankee and Irish dialect pieces, together with many standard readings.
+
+No. 31. HOW TO BECOME A SPEAKER.--Containing fourteen illustrations,
+giving the different positions requisite to become a good speaker,
+reader and elocutionist. Also containing gems from all the popular
+authors of prose and poetry, arranged in the most simple and concise
+manner possible.
+
+No. 49. HOW TO DEBATE.--Giving rules for conducting debates, outlines
+for debates, questions for discussion, and the best sources for
+procuring information on the questions given.
+
+
+SOCIETY.
+
+No. 3. HOW TO FLIRT.--The arts and wiles of flirtation are fully
+explained by this little book. Besides the various methods of
+handkerchief, fan, glove, parasol, window and hat flirtation, it
+contains a full list of the language and sentiment of flowers, which is
+interesting to everybody, both old and young. You [several words
+missing] without one.
+
+No. 4. HOW TO DANCE is the title of a new and handsome little book just
+issued by Frank Tousey. It contains full instructions in the art of
+dancing, etiquette in the ball-room and at parties, how to dress, and
+full directions for calling off in all popular square dances.
+
+No. 5. HOW TO MAKE LOVE.--A complete guide to love, courtship and
+marriage, giving sensible advice, rules and etiquette to be observed,
+with many curious and interesting things not generally known.
+
+No. 17. HOW TO DRESS.--Containing full instruction in the art of
+dressing and appearing well at home and abroad, giving the selections
+of colors, material, and how to have them made up.
+
+No. 18. HOW TO BECOME BEAUTIFUL.--One of the brightest and most
+valuable little books ever given to the world. Everybody wishes to know
+how to become beautiful, both male and female. The secret is simple,
+and almost costless. Read this book and be convinced how to become
+beautiful.
+
+
+BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
+
+No. 7. HOW TO KEEP BIRDS.--Handsomely illustrated, and containing full
+instructions for the management and training of the canary,
+mocking-bird, bobolink, blackbird, paroquet, parrot, etc.
+
+No. 39. HOW TO RAISE DOGS, POULTRY, PIGEONS AND RABBITS.--A useful and
+instructive book. Handsomely illustrated. By Ira Drofraw.
+
+No. 40. HOW TO MAKE AND SET TRAPS.--Including hints on how to catch
+moles, weasels, otter, rats, squirrels and birds. Also how to cure
+skins. Copiously illustrated. By. J. Harrington Keene.
+
+No. 50. HOW TO STUFF BIRDS AND ANIMALS.--A valuable book, giving
+instructions in collecting, preparing, mounting and preserving birds,
+animals and insects.
+
+No, 54. HOW TO KEEP AND MANAGE PETS.--Giving complete information as to
+the manner and method of raising, keeping, taming, breeding, and
+managing all kinds of pets; also giving full instructions for making
+cages, etc. Fully explained by twenty-eight illustrations, making it
+the most complete book of the kind ever published.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+No. 8. HOW TO BECOME A SCIENTIST.--A useful and instructive book,
+giving a complete treatise on chemistry; also experiments in acoustics,
+mechanics, mathematics, chemistry, and directions for making fireworks,
+colored fires, and gas balloons. This book cannot be equaled.
+
+No. 14. HOW TO MAKE CANDY.--A complete hand-book for making all kinds
+of candy, ice-cream, syrups, essences, etc., etc.
+
+No. 15. HOW TO BECOME RICH.--This wonderful book presents you with the
+example and life experience of some of the most noted and wealthy men
+in the world, including the self-made men of our country. The book is
+edited by one of the most successful men of the present age, whose own
+example is in itself guide enough for those who aspire to fame and
+money. The book will give you the secret.
+
+No. 19. FRANK TOUSEY'S UNITED STATES DISTANCE TABLES, POCKET COMPANION
+AND GUIDE.--Giving the official distances on all the railroads of the
+United States and Canada. Also table of distances by water to foreign
+ports, hack fares in the principal cities, reports of the census, etc.,
+etc., making it one of the most complete and handy books published.
+
+No. 38. HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN DOCTOR.--A wonderful book, containing
+useful and practical information in the treatment of ordinary diseases
+and ailments common to every family. Abounding in useful and effective
+recipes for general complaints.
+
+No. 41. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK END MEN'S JOKE BOOK.--Containing a great
+variety of the latest jokes used by the most famous end men. No amateur
+minstrels is complete without this wonderful little book.
+
+No. 55. HOW TO COLLECT STAMPS AND COINS.--Containing valuable
+information regarding the collecting and arranging of stamps and coins.
+Handsomely illustrated.
+
+No. 58. HOW TO BE A DETECTIVE.--By Old King Brady, the world-known
+detective. In which he lays down some valuable and sensible rules for
+beginners, and also relates some adventures and experiences of
+well-known detectives.
+
+No. 60. HOW TO BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHER.--Containing useful information
+regarding the Camera and how to work it; also how to make Photographic
+Magic Lantern Slides and other Transparencies. Handsomely illustrated.
+By Captain W. De W. Abney.
+
+No. 62. HOW TO BECOME A WEST POINT MILITARY CADET.--Containing full
+explanations how to gain admittance, course of Study, Examinations,
+Duties, Staff of Officers, Post Guard, Police Regulations, Fire
+Department, and all a boy should know to be a Cadet. Compiled and
+written by Lu Senarens, Author of "How to Become a Naval Cadet."
+
+No. 63. HOW TO BECOME A NAVAL CADET.--Complete instructions of how to
+gain admission to the Annapolis Naval Academy. Also containing the
+course of instruction, descriptions of grounds and buildings,
+historical sketch, and everything a boy should know to become an
+officer in the United States Navy. Compiled and written by Lu Senarens,
+author of "How to Become a West Point Military Cadet."
+
+
+PRICE 10 CENTS EACH OR 3 FOR 25 CENTS.
+Address, FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New York
+
+
+
+
+SECRET SERVICE.
+
+
+OLD AND YOUNG KING BRADY, DETECTIVES.
+
+PRICE 5 CTS.    32 PAGES.    COLORED COVERS.    ISSUED WEEKLY
+
+ 1. The Black Band; or, The Two King Bradys Against a Hard Gang. An
+Interesting Detective Story.
+
+ 2. Told by the Ticker; or, The Two King Bradys on a Wall Street Case.
+
+ 3. The Bradys After a Million; or, Their Chase to Save an Heiress.
+
+ 4. The Bradys' Great Bluff; or, A Bunco Game that Failed to Work.
+
+ 5. In and Out; or, The Two King Bradys on a Lively Chase.
+
+ 6. The Bradys' Hard Fight; or, After the Pullman Car Crooks.
+
+ 7. Case Number Ten; or, The Bradys and the Private Asylum Fraud.
+
+ 8. The Bradys' Silent Search; or, Tracking the Deaf and Dumb Gang.
+
+ 9. The Maniac Doctor; or, Old and Young King Brady in Peril.
+
+10. Held at Bay; or, The Bradys on a Baffling Case.
+
+11. Miss Mystery, the Girl from Chicago; or, Old and Young King Brady
+on a Dark Trail.
+
+12. The Bradys' Deep Game; or, Chasing the Society Crooks.
+
+13. Hop Lee, the Chinese Slave Dealer; or, Old and Young King Brady and
+the Opium Fiends.
+
+14. The Bradys In the Dark; or, The Hardest Case of All.
+
+15. The Queen of Diamonds; or, The Two King Bradys' Treasure Case.
+
+16. The Bradys on Top; or, The Great River Mystery.
+
+17. The Missing Engineer; or, Old and Young King Brady and the
+Lightning Express.
+
+18. The Bradys' Fight For a Life; or, A Mystery Hard to Solve.
+
+19. The Bradys' Best Case; or, Tracking the River Pirates.
+
+20. The Foot in the Frog; or, Old and Young King Brady and the Mystery
+of the Owl Train.
+
+21. The Bradys' Hard Luck; or, Working Against Odds.
+
+22. The Bradys Baffled; or, In Search of the Green Goods Men.
+
+23. The Opium King; or, The Bradys' Great Chinatown Case.
+
+24. The Bradys in Wall Street; or, A Plot to Steal a Million.
+
+25. The Girl From Boston; or, Old and Young King Brady on a Peculiar
+Case.
+
+26. The Bradys and the Shoplifters; or, Hard Work on a Dry Goods Case.
+
+27. Zig Zag the Clown; or, The Bradys' Great Circus Trail.
+
+28. The Bradys Out West; or, Winning a Hard Case.
+
+29. After the Kidnappers; or, The Bradys on a False Clue.
+
+30. Old and Young King Bradys' Battle; or, Bound to Win Their Case.
+
+31. The Bradys' Race Track Job; or, Crooked Work Among Jockeys.
+
+32. Found in the Bay; or, The Bradys on a Great Murder Mystery.
+
+33. The Bradys in Chicago; or, Solving the Mystery of the Lake Front.
+
+34. The Bradys' Great Mistake; or, Shadowing the Wrong Man.
+
+35. The Bradys and the Mail Mystery; or, Working for the Government.
+
+36. The Bradys Down South; or, The Great Plantation Mystery.
+
+37. The House in the Swamp; or, The Bradys' Keenest Work.
+
+38. The Knock-out-Drops Gang; or, The Bradys' Risky Venture.
+
+39. The Bradys' Close Shave; or, Into the Jaws of Death.
+
+40. The Bradys' Star Case; or, Working for Love and Glory.
+
+41. The Bradys In 'Frisco; or, A Three Thousand Mile Hunt.
+
+42. The Bradys and the Express Thieves; or, Tracing the Package Marked
+"Paid."
+
+43. The Bradys' Hot Chase; or, After the Horse Stealers.
+
+44. The Bradys' Great Wager; or, The Queen of Little Monte Carlo.
+
+45. The Bradys' Double Net; or, Catching the Keenest of Criminals.
+
+46. The Man in the Steel Mask; or, The Bradys' Work for a Great
+Fortune.
+
+47. The Bradys and the Black Trunk; or, Working a Silent Clew.
+
+48. Going It Blind; or, The Bradys' Good Luck.
+
+49. The Bradys Balked; or, Working up Queer Evidence.
+
+50. Against Big Odds; or, The Bradys' Great Stroke.
+
+51. The Bradys and the Forger; or, Tracing the N. G. Check.
+
+52. The Bradys' Trump Card; or, Winning a Case by Bluff.
+
+53. The Bradys and the Grave Robbers; or, Tracking the Cemetery Owls.
+
+54. The Bradys and the Missing Boy; or, The Mystery of School No. 6.
+
+55. The Bradys Behind the Scenes; or, The Great Theatrical Case.
+
+56. The Bradys and the Opium Dens; or, Trapping the Crooks of
+Chinatown.
+
+57. The Bradys Down East; or, The Mystery of a Country Town.
+
+58. Working for the Treasury; or, The Bradys and the Bank Burglars.
+
+59. The Bradys' Fatal Clew; or, A Desperate Game for Gold.
+
+60. Shadowing the Sharpers; or, The Bradys' $10,000 Deal.
+
+61. The Bradys and the Firebug; or, Found in the Flames.
+
+62. The Bradys in Texas; or, The Great Ranch Mystery.
+
+63. The Bradys on the Ocean; or, The Mystery of Stateroom No. 7.
+
+64. The Bradys and the Office Boy; or, Working Up a Business Case.
+
+65. The Bradys in the Backwoods; or, The Mystery of the Hunters' Camp.
+
+66. Ching Foo, the Yellow Dwarf; or, The Bradys and the Opium Smokers.
+
+67. The Bradys' Still Hunt; or, The Case that was Won by Waiting.
+
+68. Caught by the Camera; or, The Bradys and the Girl from Maine.
+
+69. The Bradys in Kentucky; or, Tracking a Mountain Gang.
+
+70. The Marked Bank Note; or, The Bradys Below the Dead Line.
+
+71. The Bradys on Deck; or, The Mystery of the Private Yacht.
+
+72. The Bradys in a Trap; or, Working Against a Hard Gang.
+
+73. Over the Line; or, The Bradys' Chase Through Canada.
+
+74. The Bradys in Society; or, The Case of Mr. Barlow.
+
+75. The Bradys in the Slums; or, Trapping the Crooks of the "Red Light
+District."
+
+76. Found in the River; or, The Bradys and the Brooklyn Bridge Mystery.
+
+77. The Bradys and the Missing Box; or, Running Down the Railroad
+Thieves.
+
+78. The Queen of Chinatown; or, The Bradys Among the "Hop" Fiends.
+
+79. The Bradys and the Girl Smuggler; or, Working for the Custom House.
+
+80. The Bradys and the Runaway Boys; or, Shadowing the Circus Sharps.
+
+81. The Bradys and the Ghosts; or, Solving the Mystery of the Old
+Church Yard.
+
+82. The Bradys and the Brokers; or, A Desperate Game in Wall Street.
+
+83. The Bradys' Fight to a Finish; or, Winning a Desperate Case.
+
+84. The Bradys' Race for Life; or, Rounding Up a Tough Trio.
+
+85. The Bradys' Last Chance; or, The Case in the Dark.
+
+86. The Bradys on the Road; or, The Strange Case of a Drummer.
+
+87. The Girl in Black; or, The Bradys Trapping a Confidence Queen.
+
+88. The Bradys in Mulberry Bend; or, The Boy Slaves of "Little Italy."
+
+89. The Bradys' Battle for Life; or, The Keen Detectives' Greatest
+Peril.
+
+90. The Bradys and the Mad Doctor; or, The Haunted Mill in the Marsh.
+
+91. The Bradys on the Rail; or, A Mystery of the Lightning Express.
+
+92. The Bradys and the Spy; or, Working Against the Police Department.
+
+93. The Bradys' Deep Deal; or, Hand-in-Glove with Crime.
+
+94. The Bradys in a Snare; or, The Worst Case of All.
+
+95. The Bradys Beyond Their Depth; or, The Great Swamp Mystery.
+
+96. The Bradys' Hopeless Case; or, Against Plain Evidence.
+
+
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