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diff --git a/42755-0.txt b/42755-0.txt index 66183ab..675f414 100644 --- a/42755-0.txt +++ b/42755-0.txt @@ -1,34 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Firebug, by Roy J. Snell - -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 Firebug - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: May 21, 2013 [EBook #42755] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIREBUG *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42755 *** _Mystery Stories for Boys_ @@ -5672,360 +5642,4 @@ which you will find recorded in our next book, “The Red Lure.” End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Firebug, by Roy J. 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Snell</title> @@ -147,43 +147,7 @@ p.t15,div.t15,.t15 { margin-left:19em;text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-b </style> </head> <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Firebug, by Roy J. Snell - -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 Firebug - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: May 21, 2013 [EBook #42755] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIREBUG *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42755 ***</div> <div class="img"> <img id="jacketimg" src="images/jacket.jpg" alt="The Firebug" width="500" height="725" /> @@ -6427,380 +6391,6 @@ in our next book, “The Red Lure.”</p> <ul><li>Copyright notice provided as in the original printed text—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.</li> <li>Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.</li></ul> - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Firebug, by Roy J. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - -</pre> - +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42755 ***</div> </body> </html> diff --git a/42755.txt b/42755.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5d914b6..0000000 --- a/42755.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6035 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Firebug, by Roy J. Snell - -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 Firebug - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: May 21, 2013 [EBook #42755] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIREBUG *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - _Mystery Stories for Boys_ - - - - - The Firebug - - - _By_ - ROY J. SNELL - - - The Reilly & Lee Co. - Chicago - - - _Printed in the United States of America_ - - _Copyright, 1925_ - by - The Reilly & Lee Co. - _All Rights Reserved_ - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I The Face at the Window 7 - II A Thrilling Rescue 20 - III The False Alarm 34 - IV Jerry to the Rescue 48 - V A Shot from Ambush 63 - VI The Black Shack 76 - VII The Burning of the Zoo 86 - VIII Mazie and the Tiger 98 - IX A Mysterious Island 104 - X Ben Zook 116 - XI Johnny Gets a Tip 125 - XII The Mystery Man of the Marsh 134 - XIII Johnny Reports to the Chief 142 - XIV Johnny's Dark Dreams 148 - XV Ben Zook's Diamonds 155 - XVI The Strange Black Cylinders 171 - XVII The Unanswered Call 181 - XVIII The Return of Panther Eye 190 - XIX A Den of the Underworld 197 - XX Johnny Strikes First 208 - XXI A Trip to Forest City 220 - XXII A Startling Discovery 229 - XXIII Forest City's Doom 237 - XXIV Ferris Wheel and Fire 243 - XXV The Human Spider 255 - XXVI Safe at Home 261 - XXVII The Contents of the Black Bag 269 - XXVIII The Firebug's Secret Revealed 275 - - - - - THE FIREBUG - - - - - CHAPTER I - THE FACE AT THE WINDOW - - -It was midnight. The room in which Johnny Thompson sat was a place of odd -noises and strange flashes of light. Here in the corner a tick-ticking -was followed by a yellow light that curved upward, over, then down; -upward, over and down again. A gong sounded from overhead. A shadowy form -moved across the floor. Instantly came the clatter of a score of -instruments sounding as one and a score of yellow lights curved up, over -and down; up, over and down again. After that a voice said: - -"Cross and Fifty-fifth Streets. The Arlington Flats. The Arlington Flats. -Cross and Fifty-fifth Streets." - -There followed twenty seconds of silence; then in a hollow tone, as if -coming from the heart of a tree, there sounded the repeated words: - -"Cross and Fifty-fifth Streets. The Arlington Flats. Cross and -Fifty-fifth Streets." Then again there was silence. - -All this while, on a great board above and before him, Johnny saw a -hundred and fifty glowing spots of light. The spots of light seemed like -eyes--red, white and green eyes that stared and blinked at him. Even as -he looked, two of them blinked out--a red one and a white one. - -As he read the meaning of those extinguished lights he again caught the -click-click from the corner and saw again the yellow light shoot up and -over and down. - -This time, however, he heard a voice from another corner say: - -"Johnny, that's one of yours. School at Fourteenth and Van Buren." - -With one bound Johnny was out of his chair and across the room. The next -second found him aboard an elevator, dropping through space. Ten seconds -from the time the alarm had sounded he was in a long, low built, powerful -car, speeding westward. - -It would have been difficult to guess Johnny's age as he sat erect in the -car which the city's Fire Chief drove like mad. He might have been in his -late teens. His small stature suggested that. He might have been -twenty-two; his blue fireman's uniform with its brass buttons would have -seemed to prove this. But for all his uniform Johnny was not a fireman. -The Chief had a very special reason for allowing him to wear that -uniform. - -For a week, night and day, Johnny had haunted the room he had just left. -During all that time the powerful red car had waited below, parked -outside the door. - -That room of many odd noises and strange lights was the central fire -station of a great city. Every fire alarm turned in night or day in this -city of three million people came to this central station. The tickers -told of fire-box calls. The telephone was ever ready for the call of some -woman who had upset her grease can on the stove, or some person who had -discovered a blaze coming from the sixteenth floor of a skyscraper. Tens -of thousands of calls a year; yet this untiring ear, listening by day and -night, hears and passes on every one. And it was in this central station -that Johnny had waited so long. More than a thousand calls had come -ticking and ringing in, yet he had turned a deaf ear to them all until -the man at the phone had said quietly: "That's one of yours. School at -Fourteenth and Van Buren." Then he had leaped to his duty. And now he was -speeding westward. - -Johnny was after a firebug. A firebug is a person who willfully sets fire -to property, whether his own or another's. They're a desperate lot, these -firebugs. Some are hired for a fee. Some work for themselves. All are -bad, for who could be good who would willfully destroy that which cost -men hundreds, perhaps thousands, of days of toil? Yet some are worse than -others. Some burn for greed or gain, while others light the torch in the -name of some mistaken idea of principle. - -The firebug Johnny had been sent out to catch certainly had some strange -bent to his nature. Two schools, a recreation center and a bathhouse had -been destroyed, and here was another school fire at night. And in all -these fires the firebug had neither been seen nor traced. - -The police, fire inspectors and insurance detectives were all on his -trail, yet all were baffled. And now the Fire Chief had called Johnny to -his aid. "For," he had said, "sometimes a youngster discovers things -which we elders are blind to." - -So, with their clanging gong waking echoes in the deserted midnight -streets, they sped westward to Fourteenth, then southward. Before they -had gone two blocks in this direction they caught the light of the fire -against the sky. - -"It's going to be a bad one," said the Chief, increasing his speed. "In -the very heart of the poorest tenement section--have to turn in the -second alarm at once. We can't afford to fool around with this one." - -These words were scarcely out of his mouth when they reached the edge of -a throng drawn there by the fire. - -The car came to a sudden stop. The Chief sprang to a fire-box and -instantly in that room Johnny had so recently left a ticker sounded and a -yellow light rose up and over. The second alarm had been sent. - -Ten seconds later, on the wall of that strange room, two red spots and -two white ones blinked out, then one that was half red and half white, -and then a green one. At the same instant three fire engines, three truck -and ladder companies and an emergency squad made the night hideous with -their clanging bells and screaming sirens. The second alarm had been -heard. Reinforcements were on the way. - -Johnny thrilled to it all. It was, he told himself, like a great battle; -only instead of fighting fellow human beings, men were fighting the enemy -of all--fire. - -"Fire! Fire! Fire!" rang up and down the streets. - -In Johnny's whirling brain one fact remained fixed; this fire had been -set. By whom? How? These were the questions he had pledged to answer. - -To Johnny, battle with a fire was always fascinating and inspiring. He -knew well enough how this one would be waged. The enemy was within, and -must be rushed, beaten back, defeated. There were three entrances. These -would be stormed with men and water. There was a great central stairway -to the very top of the six story building. The fire, if freed from the -room in which it had its origin, would go leaping and laughing up those -stairs. The top of the building must be reached at once. The poisonous -fumes of the fire must be freed there and its flames beaten back. The -roof might be reached from the fire escape. Already a line of -rubber-coated men were toiling upward. - -Ah yes, it was all very fascinating, but Johnny had his part to do. How -had the fire started, and where? This he must discover if possible. One -more thing; if the fire had been set, was the firebug still about the -place? It is a well known fact that these men frequently linger about the -scene of the fire. - -"If he's here mingling with the throng could I recognize him?" - -As Johnny asked himself this question, he realized that the answer must -almost certainly be "No." And yet there was a chance. An expression of -the face, a movement of muscles, might give the man away. - -"But first the fire," Johnny exclaimed as, leaping from the car, he -sprang for the already battered down door of the front entrance. Gripping -a hose that was being slowly dragged forward by the line of plucky -firemen, he struggled forward with the rest. Beating back smoke and -flames, they battled their way forward against the red enemy who even now -might be seen leaping madly up the stairs. - -Unaccustomed as he was to the smoky fumes, half suffocated, eyes -smarting, Johnny found himself all but overcome; yet he fought his way -forward. - -When the line of firemen halted he battled his way to the side of the -foremost man. To go farther would be foolhardy. He could but pause here -to study with burning eyes the location of the fire, to imprint upon the -cells of his brain a mental sketch of the building, then to back slowly -away. - -As he staggered blindly into the outer air he all but fell over a boy -who, as boys will, had escaped the guard and was at the very door. - -"See here," said Johnny, collaring him. - -"You leave me be," said the boy, struggling to free himself. - -"Tell me," said Johnny, tightening his grip, "how did the fire start?" - -"How'd I know?" Another yank. - -"Where did it start?" A tighter grip. - -"You could see if you had eyes." - -"Where?" with a shake. - -"In the office, of course." - -"In the office, huh," Johnny loosed his hold a trifle. "Come on back out -of the way of the firemen." - -The boy obeyed reluctantly. The moment he was released he darted from -sight. - -"So much, so good," Johnny murmured. "Only thing I can do now is to watch -faces; see if I can spot the man or the woman. Lots of women firebugs -they say, but not on a thing like this I guess. Takes a man to burn a -school, and such a school, in such a place." - -Even as his gaze swept the circle he caught sight of hundreds of white, -frightened faces peering from windows of rickety tenements--veritable -tinder boxes waiting the red, hungry flames. - -"And yet," Johnny muttered, "poor as they are, they are homes, the best -these people can afford. And this is their school, the hope of their -children, the thing that promises to lift them to better places in the -future. Who could have set a fire like that?" - -The fire was gaining headway. It burned red from the fourth floor -windows; sent partitions crashing dismally within and belched forth great -showers of sparks from the roof. - -Reinforcements were coming. Bells jangled, hose uncoiled on the hot -pavement; a water screen from a dozen nozzles poured upon the steaming -homes to the lee of the fire. - -And all this time Johnny Thompson wandered back and forth in front of the -line of staring and frightened men, women and children held back by a -rope line hastily established by the police. - -When his eyes were tired and he had told himself there was no hope of -finding his man, he drifted wearily back through the line and into a -small shop that stood open. There on the top of a barrel he sat down to -think. - -For a moment or two he was entirely unconscious of the other occupants of -the room. When at last he cast a glance about him it was to give a great -start that all but threw him from his seat. - -Before him, staring out of the window at the fire, was one of the most -peculiar men he had ever seen. An albino, men would have called him, yet -of unmistakable white blood. His hair was white and soft as a baby's. His -face was quite innocent of beard and, what startled Johnny most, the eyes -of the man were pink as a white rabbit's. To accurately judge the age of -such a man was impossible. Johnny told himself that the man might be -twenty-five or he might be forty. - -Most astonishing of all was the expression on the man's face. Johnny had -seen just such an expression on the face of a boy when he had done -something he thought of as extraordinarily clever. Even as Johnny looked -at him the expression changed to one of fear and dismay. - -"Look!" the man exclaimed. "A child! There at the window on the sixth -floor!" - -It was true. At a window, staring wild-eyed at the throng below her, was -a girl of some twelve years. - -"A child in the school house at midnight, and on the attic floor!" Johnny -exclaimed. "What can it mean?" - -The next instant his mind was on fire. Two thoughts fought for occupation -of his brain. The child must be saved. All escape from within was shut -off by flames; yet she must be saved; yes, she must be saved, and after -that she must be questioned. - -"It may be," he told himself, "that she knows something regarding the -origin of the fire." - -In this he was not entirely wrong. - - - - - CHAPTER II - A THRILLING RESCUE - - -It was a dramatic moment, such a moment as comes at times to the lives of -firemen. Had the building been a tenement it would have been searched -from cellar to garret; had it even been a business block, little less -than this would have been done. But a school house! Who would have -suspected it of housing a child at midnight? - -Others in the throng had seen the child and now great shouts came up from -the crowd that surged the line. - -Coolly, methodically, as is the manner of those whose business it is to -save lives, the firemen backed a ladder truck into position. After a -speedy measurement with his eye, the Chief marked a spot sixteen feet -from the building, and there the base of the ladder came to rest. Then, -up, up, up, as if by magic, the ladder ascended in air. Not touching the -building, but ever mounting, it reached the level of the third floor, the -fourth floor, the fifth. A mighty shout arose when it came to the level -of the window where the child, leaning far out, waved her slender arms in -mute petition. - -As yet the ladder was far out beyond her reach. A fireman must climb the -ladder to bring her down. Johnny Thompson was no player to the -grandstand, but a sudden thought had struck him and the next second had -set him into action. - -"If I go up--if I save her," he thought to himself as he dashed for the -ladder, "she will think of me as her friend. She'll tell me all." - -"Here!" he exclaimed, reaching out a hand for the truck as the Chief was -about to detail a man, "Let me go up." - -Had the Chief not known Johnny so well; had he not realized that the boy -had lived all his life in such a manner as would fit himself for a moment -like this; lived clean, grasped every opportunity for practice that makes -a fellow active and physically fit, he would have pushed him aside--this -was no moment for playing. But now, knowing Johnny as he did, he only -rumbled: - -"All right, Johnny." - -The next moment, agile as a monkey ascending the side of his cage, Johnny -was leaping upward. - -Through his mind, as he climbed, passed many shadowy questions. Was the -ladder set right? Would it fall to position, or would it buckle to send -him crashing to the pavement? Such a thing had happened; might happen -now. Still he climbed. The slender reed-like ladder swayed as he climbed. - -One story was passed, another, another, and yet another. Who was this -girl? How had she come to be on the top floor of the school at such a -time? Had she set the fire and then, frightened at her deed, fled to a -place of hiding? - -The ladder swayed more and more. Then, just as he reached the level of -the fifth floor it swung slowly in and came to rest against the sixth -floor window ledge. - -"Oh! Ah!" Johnny sighed. - -Less than a moment after that, with one arm about the child's slender -waist and with her arms about his neck, he found himself descending. Far -below the crowd was shouting mad approval. - -"Listen, little girl," he said, talking in the girl's ear that he might -be heard above the hubub of the street, "where do you live?" - -The child started, then stared up at the burning schoolhouse as if to -say: "That's my home." - -What she said was: "Not anywhere." - -"No home?" Johnny said in astonishment. - -The girl nodded. - -Johnny was nonplussed. Here was a new mystery, and there was no time to -solve it. At last he was at the base of the ladder. - -"Here, Tom," he said to a stalwart fireman who sat at the wheel of the -truck, "take care of this child. Don't let her get out of your sight. She -may be a valuable witness. I'll be back soon. I want to look for--for a -man." - -He dropped to the street where glowing and sputtering bits of wood -floated on rivers of water. - -The girl's attention was instantly caught by a strange creature that -rested on the fireman's shoulder--a large monkey. - -"That's Jerry," smiled Tom. "He's our mascot. Came to us of his own free -will. Tenement burned on the near west side. After everybody was out an' -the walls was totterin' Jerry comes scamperin' down a drain pipe, hopped -on my shoulder, and he's been there lot of times since. Nobody's ever -claimed him. He's been with us three years, so I guess nobody ever will -claim him." - -Sensing that the conversation was about him, the monkey evidently decided -to show off a bit. Leaping from Tom's shoulder, he made the towering -ladder at a bound and was half way up before the child could let out her -first scream of delight. Then, as the ladder began to double in upon -itself, he raced down again, to at last make one mighty leap and land -squarely in the girl's lap. - -In the meantime Johnny was fighting his way through the throng toward the -store where he had seen the pink-eyed man. - -The crowd was increasing. He made his way through it with great -difficulty. Then, just as he reached the outer edge of it, there came a -cry: - -"Back! Back!" - -Wedged in between a fat Jewish woman with a shawl over her head and a -dark Italian with a bundle on his back, Johnny found himself carried -backward, still backward, then to one side until a passage had been made. - -Through this passage, like a young queen in a pageant, the girl he had -rescued rode atop the truck. And by her side, important as a footman, -rode Jerry, the monkey. - -Hardly had the truck moved to a place of safety than again came the cry: - -"Back! Back!" - -Once more the crowd surged away from the fire. High time it was, too, for -the brick walls, trembling like a tree before its fall, threatened to -topple over and crush them. - -For a long moment it stood tottering, then instead of pitching headlong -into the street, it crumbled down like a melting mass of waxen blocks. - -A wail rose from the crowd. Their school was gone. This was followed -almost at once by a shout of joy. Their homes were saved, for were not a -score of nozzles playing upon the crumbled, red-hot mass, reducing it to -blackness and ashes? - -Such was the burning of the Shelby School. Who had set this fire? Where -was he now? These were Johnny Thompson's problems. Unless they were -speedily solved there was reason to believe that within a month, perhaps -within a week, or even a day, other public buildings would be burned to a -heap of smouldering ruins. Who was this firebug? What could his motives -be? - -He thought of the pink-eyed man and of that expression he had surprised -on his face. He fought his way back to the store in which he had seen the -man. The store was dark, the door locked. - -"No use;" he told himself, "couldn't find him in this crowd. Probably -never see him again. Probably nothing to it, anyway. Some people are so -constituted that they just naturally enjoy a catastrophe. They'd smile at -the burning of their own home. Nero fiddled while Rome burned." - -In this he was partly wrong. He was destined to see this pink-eyed man -again, again, and yet again; and always under the most unusual -circumstances. - -But now his thoughts turned to the child. She had said she had no home. -How could that be? What did she know about the fire? Had she been in the -building at the time it was set? That seemed probable. Could she answer -important questions? That seemed probable, too. He must question her; not -now, not here, but in some quiet place. She needed rest and probably food -as well. Where should he take her? He had no relatives in the city. His -own room would not do. The fire station would be too public and the -little girl would be too greatly alarmed to talk well there. - -"Mazie," he thought to himself, "Mazie will take us in." - -Ten minutes later, he and the girl were speeding toward the home of -Mazie, the girl pal of Johnny's boyhood days. - -It was a very much surprised Mazie who at last answered Johnny's repeated -ringing of her bell, but when she saw it was Johnny who called she at -once invited him to join her in the kitchen, the proper place to -entertain a friend who calls at three in the morning in a grimy fireman's -uniform. - -Mazie was a plump young lady. The bloom on her cheeks was as natural as -the brown of her abundant hair. A sincere, honest, healthy girl she -was--just the kind to be pal to a boy like Johnny. - -"Mazie," said Johnny as he entered the kitchen and sat down to watch her -light the gas, "this is a little girl I found. I have a notion she's -hungry--are you?" he turned to the girl. - -The girl nodded her head. - -"What's your name?" - -"Tillie McFadden." - -It was a strange story that Tillie McFadden told over Mazie's cold lunch -and steaming cocoa. She truly had no home. Weeks before--she did not now -how many--her mother had died. Neighbors had come in. They had talked of -an orphan asylum for her. She had not known quite what that was, but it -had frightened her. She ran away. A corner newstand man had allowed her -to sell papers for him. With these few pennies she had bought food. For -three nights she had slept on a bed of shavings in a barrel back of a -crockery store. - -Then, while prowling round a school house at night, she had discovered a -basement window with a broken catch. She had climbed in and, having made -her way to the upper story which was used as a gymnasium, had slept on -wrestling mats. Since this was better than the barrel, like some stray -kitten that has found its way out of the dark and the cold, she had made -her home there. - -"And now," she exclaimed, her eyes growing suddenly wide with excitement, -"it's all burned up!" - -"What time did you go to sleep to-night?" Johnny asked. - -"I--I think I heard the tower clock strike eleven." - -"And were you up there all the time?" - -"No, down in the office mostly." - -"The office?" Johnny leaned forward eagerly. That was where the fire had -started. - -"Yes." - -"What were you doing in the office?" - -"Looking at picture books. Lots of them down there, and I could read by -the light from the street lamp." - -"But didn't you hear any sound; smell smoke or anything?" - -"N--o," the girl cast upon him a look of puzzled eagerness. It was plain -that she wished to help all she could. - -Further questioning revealed the fact that she had nothing more of -importance to tell. The sound of fire gongs and sirens had wakened her. -She had gone to the window to look down. Then, realizing her peril, she -had dashed for the head of the stairs, only to find her way cut off by -flames and smoke. She had returned to the window. The rest Johnny knew as -well as she. - -After the child had been put to sleep on a couch in the living room, -Johnny and Mazie sat long by the kitchen table, talking. Johnny told of -his new task and of his hopes of capturing the firebug. - -"Of course," he said, "the police and fire inspectors are working on it. -They'll probably solve the mystery first. I hope they solve it to-morrow. -No one wants the city's buildings burned and lives endangered by fire. -But," he sighed, "I'd like to be the lucky fellow." - -"I wish you might," said Mazie loyally. "I--I wish I could help you. Oh, -Johnny, can't I? Couldn't I come down and stay awhile in that strange -central station where all the alarms come in? It must be fairly -bewitching." - -"I guess there'd be no objection to that," said Johnny thoughtfully. "As -for your helping me, I'll welcome all the help I can get. Looks like I -was going to need it. Didn't get a clue except--well, there was the -pink-eyed man." - -"The pink-eyed man?" Mazie exclaimed in amazement. "Who was he?" - -Johnny told her about the man in the store. "Probably not much to it," he -added at the end. - -"But, Johnny," said Mazie suddenly, "if Tillie was in the office until -nearly eleven o'clock, how could the fire, which started near the office, -have gotten going so strong before the firemen arrived? It takes some -time to start a big blaze, doesn't it?" - -"Yes, it must," answered Johnny thoughtfully. "Doesn't seem that the -firebug could have accomplished it in an hour. It might have been--" he -paused to consider--"it might have been set by a mechanism such as is -sometimes used on a time bomb, but how could it have been gotten in -during the day? Tell you what!" he exclaimed, "I'll go back there as soon -as the fire cools and look about in the ruins. That side of the wall fell -outward. If a mechanism was used, its remains should still be there. I -may discover something." - -He did go and he did discover something. At the time of this discovery -the thing appeared insignificant, but Johnny's motto was, "You never can -tell," and so he filed it away in his memory. - -Mazie did go down to the central alarm station on the very next night, -and that night there came in over the wires the thrilling third alarm. - - - - - CHAPTER III - THE FALSE ALARM - - -After receiving Mazie's assurance that the little waif of the schoolhouse -would be properly cared for, Johnny went at once to his own room, where -he caught ten winks before the sun was high. - -After a hasty breakfast, he returned to the scene of the fire. He found -heaps of charcoal and broken timbers smouldering beneath piles of brick, -but fortune favored his search. The section of basement that had been -directly beneath the office was entirely free from fire and bricks. He -was soon busily poking round in the ashes. - -"A mechanism"; he thought to himself, "a thing of wheels and a spring -like an alarm clock is what I'm looking for--a thing that runs just so -long, then starts something." - -"But not necessarily so complicated," he thought a moment later as he -recalled the story of a firebug who, having soaked a common wooden mouse -trap with kerosene, had baited it carefully and had so attached a match -to the spring of the trap that when a mouse sprang it the match would -light. He had then set the trap at the bottom of a huge waste paper -basket into which the papers and scraps from noon hour lunch boxes had -been cast. - -"Simple, but possibly effective," he said to himself. Then, almost -humorously, he began keeping an eye out for the heat reddened wires of a -mouse trap. - -Not even these rewarded his search. Only the things common to a school -office were to be found. Pencil ends, the remains of a pencil sharpener, -metal backs to loose-leaf blank books, the charred remains of a -telephone, blackened electric light fixtures and wires, wires, wires -running everywhere. - -"Nothing to be learned here," he told himself. - -Picking up the metal base of the telephone, he examined it idly. Then of -a sudden he looked at it with a keen interest. - -"That's queer," he muttered, "two sets of wires running from it, one -heavier than the other. Wonder what that could mean. Trace 'em out." - -He did trace them out. He found that one pair, as the usual wires always -do, led to a small pipe outside the wall. The other pair, fine and short, -not more than fifteen feet long, ended in nothing at all--just broke off -abruptly. - -"Huh!" he mused, "that's queer!" - -"Not so queer after all, perhaps," he added after a moment's thought. -"Most likely ran to a bell jack in another room. Then if the clerk or -principal were working in that room and the phone rang, the bells would -repeat the call. Nothing simpler than that. Nothing to it, after all." - -"But where's the jack," he thought again. "The box would burn, but there -are fine coils on a spool inside. They wouldn't burn; neither would the -bells." - -A careful search brought no reward. If there had been a bell jack the -metal parts had vanished. This puzzled Johnny but he placed little -importance on the circumstance. - -"Doesn't mean anything," he muttered as he lifted himself up from the -basement. "Just have to check this fire off as a complete loss, unless -the discovery of that pink-eyed man means something. I may see him -sometime. And then, of course, what Tillie McFadden told me about being -in the office almost up to the time of the fire seems to show that the -fire was arranged for in advance. But how? That's the question. All I've -got to say is, this firebug is no ordinary rascal. He's a man of keen -mind. He'll be hard to catch." - -He took the car downtown. It was his intention to go to the central -station and report to Chief McQueen, but as he was about to change cars -he chanced to notice a head and a pair of shoulders ahead of him that -looked familiar. At that moment the man turned his head. Johnny saw his -eyes. They were pink. Somewhat unsteadily he dropped back in his seat. - -His thoughts raced. The man was his pink-eyed stranger of the night -before. What should he do? Call a policeman? This thought was instantly -abandoned. A man could scarcely be arrested for the look on his face, and -that was really all he had seen amiss in the man. Follow him? If -possible, learn something of his haunts? That was better. He'd do that. - -Scarcely had he settled back comfortably in his seat than the man pressed -the button, then rose to get off. Johnny followed. - -Once off the car the man struck directly across the street, walked a half -block, then turned to the right. He was now at the river. He went down a -narrow, dirty sort of boat landing that skirted the river. Johnny could -not follow here without being noticed, so, walking out on the bridge, he -kept a watch from the corner of his eye. - -About a block from the street the man turned again, this time to vanish. -He had entered a door. - -After carefully counting first the windows, then the doors in that block, -then noting the type of building the man had entered, Johnny left the -bridge to follow the street. Then, after turning the corner, he came up -to the front of the building the man had entered. - -Before that building he paused. "That's it," he murmured. "Funny sort of -place to be going into." - -The place did seem strange. It was a store front, but the room on the -street had not been used for months. The dust was so thick on the windows -that one could discern objects within only as through a fog. The doorway -was littered with heaps of dirty bits of paper deposited there by the -wind. - -"Been a commission merchant's place sometime," was Johnny's mental -comment as he caught a glimpse of dust blackened banana crates within. -"Ships brought in produce and landed it at the back. Business didn't -thrive. Too far east on this street." - -"Well," he sighed, "guess that's about all for this time. Won't forget -the place, though, nor Mister Pink-Eyes either," and with that he turned -and headed for the central fire station. - -"Johnny," said the Chief as they sat in his office that afternoon, "I -hope you realize the importance of the work you are attempting to do." - -"I hope so too," said Johnny. - -"You're not a detective, Johnny. Your work is more that of an inspector. -An inspector looks into the cause of fires and tries to prevent them. -Man's best friend, and worst enemy, is fire. It's a case of Dr. Jekyll -and Mr. Hyde. The Mr. Hyde side of fire is a heartless brute. We are -constantly attempting to destroy that side of his nature. All men should -be enlisted on our side. Unfortunately, all are not. Those who go over to -the enemy must be treated as enemies. They must be captured and -imprisoned. There are times when I think the worst of them should be -shot. - -"It's not the loss of property that's the worst of it, but the loss of -human life. And life, Johnny," the inspector laid a hand on Johnny's -knee, "human life is the most precious thing in the world, and any man -who has the slightest disregard for the 'least of these' isn't fit to -live. It would be better that a stone be tied about his neck and that he -be cast into the midst of the sea. That's what the Good Book says, -Johnny, and it's true, almighty true." - -"Coming up to the central alarm to-night?" he asked after a moment's -silence. - -Johnny nodded. - -"Good." - -"Going to bring a friend," said Johnny, easily. - -"Who?" - -"A girl pal." - -"Girl?" The chief frowned. - -"Wait till you know her," grinned Johnny. - -Eleven o'clock that night found Johnny and Mazie in the place of the -central alarm. The Chief was there too and was as much pleased with -Johnny's choice of a pal as he might have been had Mazie been his own -daughter. - -As for Mazie, she was thrilled to the tips of her fingers by this place -of ticking instruments, clanging gongs and leaping light. - -"See those red, white and green spots of light up there?" said the Chief. -"Well, those are located on the map of the city. They stand for fire -stations. Red is for a fire engine, white for a hook and ladder company. -If a spot is half red and half white it means that the station houses two -companies, one engine and one hook and ladder. Green is for an emergency -squad. When a fire alarm is sent in we know that certain companies will -go out, say 12, 18 and 30. By moving plugs I darken their lights. We can -tell by a glance at the map just how our forces stand. - -"Fighting fires," he smiled, "is just like directing forces in a war. It -chances that I am commander-in-chief. I arrange my forces just as a great -army commander does. If an alarm comes in, say from the stock yards, four -companies, 5, 13, 23 and 40 go out at once. Their absence leaves a dark -spot on the map. - -"It proves to be a bad fire. The marshal sends in the second alarm. At -once companies 7, 41, 63 and 70 go out. A broader spot is darkened. I am -beginning to think of reinforcements. The fire spreads. The third alarm. -Companies 16, 29, 86 and 94 go out. More darkness on the map. Time for -reinforcements, for, should a new fire break out in that area, there -would be no one to respond. At once I send out an order for 103, 109, 31 -and 42 to move up to the positions previously occupied by 16, 29, 86, and -94. - -"Oh, I tell you," he enthused, "it is a wonderful war; not against one's -fellow, but a war against one of the manifestations of nature. It's a -clean fight, with no one's blood on your hands when the battle's won. - -"The pity is," his voice dropped to a low rumble, "that some of our -fellow men go over from time to time to join the enemy. It's a shame and -a disgrace. It's such traitors as these that are keeping Johnny and me -awake nights now, as you know all too well," he said turning to Mazie. - -"Wha--what's that?" exclaimed the girl. - -A yellow light had leaped up, over and down, up, over and down. An -instrument had begun to chatter. - -"It's the first alarm; close in," said the Chief. "May be serious; may be -only a false alarm." - -"Barney & Kuhl warehouse, 18th and Michigan," the operator droned into -the receiver, "18th and Michigan, the Barney & Kuhl warehouse." - -A moment later, like an echo, his message came back to him through the -megaphone. - -"That's a big place. May be serious. I hope not, though. I----" - -The chief's speech was checked by the stutter of an instrument. - -Leaping toward the instrument he seized the narrow white tape which, -moving out from the instrument, was marked with red dots and dashes. - -"The second alarm," he murmured. "Looks bad. Marshal Neil signs. He's one -of our best. Companies 1, 17, 42, 71 and 98 go out on the call. That -makes ten companies in all. - -"Leaves a rather large area unprotected." His brow wrinkled as he studied -the broad dark spot on the map. - -For a moment he stood there as if in deep thought. Then, to the operator: - -"Finley, call 3, 10, 14, 21 and 104 to the positions of the companies -just called out." - -Instantly there came the flash of a light, the clatter of instruments, -and the thing was done. Well done, too, for a moment later, into the -startled silence of the room, came the clatter of the third alarm. - -"The third alarm. Five more companies. I must go!" exclaimed the Chief. -"Will you go, Johnny? It may be your chance." - -"And Mazie?" asked Johnny. - -"Crowd her in," grumbled the Chief. - -A moment later they were speeding southward. - -Down deserted streets they sped, past groups of night prowlers, round -corners, by slow-moving milk wagons, their gong ever clearing the way. - -"Strange," murmured the Chief, straining his eyes ahead. "Don't see much -smoke. No blaze. No blaze. Mighty queer." - -Then as they whirled around a corner the whole truth came to him in a -flash. He had been tricked. Three alarms had been turned in; three, and -every one of them a _false alarm_! The perpetrator knew what Marshal Neil -signed. He knew the call. Before them, lined up for three blocks, was a -red row of fire fighting trucks, but no fire. - -"It's a plot," the Chief muttered through tight set teeth. "I wonder what -it means?" - -He had not long to wait, for the answer came quickly. This broad area had -been cleared of fire fighting equipment that a clean break might be given -to another blaze that had been set. Certainly this must be true, for even -as they stood there wondering they heard the distant siren of a fire -engine. - -"It's the reserves I called up!" the chief exclaimed. "Thank God for -them. They have answered the alarm of the real fire. Soon we will all be -on our way. Straight ahead!" he exclaimed to his driver. - -The car shot ahead and in less than a moment they were amongst the throng -of bewildered fire fighters. - -"It's a real fire and a bad one," said the Chief two minutes later as -they came for the first time that night in sight of a furnace-like glow. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - JERRY TO THE RESCUE - - -"That," exclaimed the Chief, turning to Johnny, "is one of yours. It's -the old Garrity School." - -"That's right," Johnny answered. "It's not a school now; sort of a social -center for downtown folks. The fire starts in the office as usual." - -"Sure enough it does. You're a wizard." - -"No need to be a wizard to tell that. This is the fourth fire on city -property and every one started near the office. Time we were learning -something from that one fact, something about how the fires are set. I -dug up a bit of evidence in that last fire; couple of wires in----" - -"You won't learn much about this fire until it's burned out," broke in -the Chief. "Look at her shooting toward the sky. That dirty trick they -played us lost us time." He leaped from the car and was at once in the -midst of it, quietly issuing orders. - -"Going to be bad," he said to Marshal Neil. "If we save the Simons -Building we'll be in luck. Wind's strong from the lake. It's fireproof, -but has no shutters. Full of furniture, new furniture. Burn like stove -wood. Get all the lines you can spare playing on that side. Beat it back -if you can." - -"Corigon," he turned suddenly to the driver, "go send in another alarm. -Call up the fire boat. She's got twelve lines. It's pretty far to the -river, but she'll do in an emergency. - -"Neil, tell the boys to get up the fire tower. Clear the Simons Building. -Not many people in there, I guess. Some cleaners, though. Better be safe. -She'll go fast if she goes." - -There _were_ people in the Simons Building; three at least--Johnny, Mazie -and the pink-eyed man whom Johnny suspected of being the firebug. Johnny -and Mazie had left the car and had been skirting the engines for a better -look at the fire when Johnny had suddenly brought Mazie up with a shrill -whisper: - -"There he is!" - -"Who?" - -"The fire--the--the pink-eyed man." - -"Where?" - -"There. He's just crossing the street. I believe--yes, yes. C'mon." - -In imminent danger of being run down by a fire engine, they darted across -the street and into the Simons Building. - -"You wait here in the corridor," whispered Johnny. "He went in. I saw -him. Want to shadow him." - -"No. I might lose you. I--I'll go along." - -"C'mon, then." - -On tiptoes they explored the corridors. Then, having found no sign of the -man, and having come upon an unlocked stairway door, they started up. - -There were no open doors at the second, third or fourth floors, nor at -the fifth, nor sixth. Johnny had about decided to turn back when he -discovered the seventh floor door stood ajar. - -Tip-toeing silently forward, they entered the corridor, a long -tunnel-like affair extending as far as they could see, both to the right -and left, and lighted only by some small red lamps. - -"Down this way. I heard him," Mazie whispered. - -At that identical instant Johnny actually caught sight of a movement in -the opposite direction. Without thinking that his companion would do -other than follow, he tip-toed down the corridor. - -The person, whoever he was, moved silently down the hall to at last -suddenly disappear through a door or a side hall to the left. Stealthily -Johnny followed on. As for Mazie, being actually confident of her -discovery of the person and supposing as a matter of course that Johnny -would follow her, she had gone tip-toeing in the opposite direction. - -She had not gone a dozen paces when, on hearing a sound at her left, she -found herself looking down a corridor darker than the first and which ran -off at right angles to the one she was following. - -By this time she had discovered that Johnny had vanished; but lured on by -slight sounds and spurred forward by the tang of adventure, she followed -on down this corridor, then turned into another one to the right, and -after that a great way to the left again. When at last she came up square -against a door at the end of this last corridor and found that there was -no right nor left for her now, she began dimly to sense the fact that she -was lost. - -She did not realize this in all its fullness until she had started to -retrace her steps. Then, to her consternation, she discovered three -corridors running to the right. - -"Three," she whispered as her heart skipped a beat, "and which one was it -that I came down?" - -At that precise moment a fresh suggestion of horror set her knees -trembling. Her delicate nostrils had detected smoke! There could be no -doubt about it! - -"The fire's just across the street," she thought, "and the wind is right -this way. This building may be on fire at this very moment." - -Her only thought now was of escape. But what was the way out? - -She thought of the door at the end of the hall. - -"Probably opens on a stair," she told herself. - -It did, but the stair went up, not down. By this time, quite thoroughly -frightened, she took the up-going stairs. She had climbed three flights -before she realized her folly. At that time she found herself at a door -leading down the corridor. - -"Follow it to a stairway that is open all the way down," she told -herself. - -She had gone a hundred feet or more when light from a room attracted her -attention. - -There was, she found, no lamps lit in the room. The light entered through -the window--the glow of the fire. - -Impulsively she rushed to the window and threw up the sash. The sight -that struck her eye staggered her like a blow upon the head. Dizzy depths -below was the street where the struggling firemen toiled, and half way up -to where she stood, and off a hundred or more feet to the right, her own -building was belching forth flames. - -"How--how am I ever to escape!" she breathed as she dropped limply by the -window sill. - - -All this time Johnny Thompson had not been idle. The clue he followed had -led him at last to a room that was open, and in that room he had found, -not the man of the pink eyes, but an Italian cleaner waxing the floor. He -at once warned the man to leave the building. - -Chagrined at his failure to locate his man, he turned about to look for -Mazie. Then, for the first time, he knew they were separated. - -Realizing the danger of remaining in this building too long, he hastened -back over his trail. Having come to the place where they had been -separated, he made his way first to the right, then to the left. Calling -her name, but receiving no reply, he wandered back and forth for some -time. Then, catching the first faint sign of smoke, he hurried back to -the head of the stairway and fairly flew down it. He was going for aid. A -number of searchers might find her where one would fail. - -Into the street, thronged now with firemen, laced and interlaced by lines -of hose, soaked and slippery with water, for some time he found no one -whom he could feel sure was in charge of men. At last he came upon -Marshal Neil. The Marshal was kindly, but inflexible. - -"Men have been sent to warn workers out of the building," he said. -"Doubtless they will come upon the girl and bring her down. No others can -be spared." - -Sick at heart, Johnny was about to retrace his steps and again enter the -building when an exclamation from the man nearest him attracted his -attention. The man was not a fireman. Johnny recognized him instantly as -the cause of all his present trouble. It was the pink-eyed man. But, -having followed the man's upward glance, he saw that which drove all -other thoughts out of his mind. There, in the tenth story window, waving -her arms frantically, was Mazie. - -What had happened? Simply this: As calmly as her wildly throbbing brain -would permit her, Mazie had made her way down every corridor that -suggested a possible exit. She had found only two. These two were blocked -by smoke and fire. Her only hope of escape lay through that window; a -window that was far above the reach of the tallest ladder. - -Johnny was struck dumb. How was she to be saved? - -"Why not send the monkey up?" calmly suggested the pink-eyed man. - -Johnny stared at him blankly. What could the man mean? He must be a -madman. - -As Johnny thought of this the man began dragging a large ball of strong -hempen twine from his pocket. - -"Send him up with the end of this," he said, as calmly as if he had been -suggesting tying a parcel with it. At the same time he gave a sidewise -nod toward Jerry, the monkey mascot of the hook and ladder company. - -Instantly Johnny was at the side of the truck. Here was a chance, though -a slim one. - -"Did Jerry ever scale a wall?" he asked of the driver. - -"Many's the time. Guess he must'a belonged to an organ grinder." - -"Would he take the end of this to her?" asked Johnny, looking up at the -window. - -"Mebby. Then what?" - -"We'd attach the lower end to a rope from the emergency wagon." - -"And then what?" - -"She'd draw up the rope, attach it to something inside the room, and come -on down." - -"Hand over hand?" - -Johnny nodded. - -"A girl?" - -"Yes, a girl!" Johnny shouted fiercely. "She's a girl, but not the soft -kind. She's got nerve, Mazie has. And when she was a kid she could climb -a rope. I know. She was my pal. She's not forgotten how. Question is, are -you going to send Jerry up?" - -"Sure I am." - -The driver climbed down from his wagon with alacrity, then working his -way through the scorching heat to a place beneath the window, he looked -up to the window where the girl was plainly visible, patted Jerry on the -head, and said: - -"See her up there? It's roasted chestnuts and a box of chocolates fer you -if you get up to her." - -With almost human intelligence the little creature took the cord firmly -in his teeth and with a leap was away, scurrying up from window ledge to -window ledge, making progress where even a squirrel would not have -attempted to go. - -Mazie, on her part, could not so much as guess what was going on below. -She was trapped. They knew that. They would save her if it was humanly -possible. She knew that, too. She had caught the bright gleam of the -monkey's cap as he was carried to the wall, but what could the monkey -have to do with her rescue? - -Strangely enough, in this moment of excitement and great danger, she felt -a desire to sing. It often happens that way. And the songs that came to -her mind were songs of peace. - -"I have a sweet peace that is calm as a river," she sang softly. - -And then: - - "I tell Him all that troubles me, - I tell Him what amays; - And so we walk together, - My----" - -Her song broke short off. Had she seen a vision? No, there it was again, -Jerry's jaunty red cap bobbing down there above a window, half way -between her own window and the ground. - -It was strange what a comfort she found in the company of such a small -creature, for he truly was company. Was he not much closer to her than -any other living thing? Even as she watched, the monkey drew nearer, -leaping from ledge to ledge, climbing higher and higher. - -Without in the least understanding what it all meant, Mazie found her -heart in her mouth as the dauntless little creature, leaping from a -window sill, caught a stone ledge with but one hand, balanced there for a -second as if about to fall, and then threw himself with a fine show of -skill to another and wider ledge where he might pause an instant for -breath. - -An instant only, then he was at it again, climbing, climbing. Clawing -here, leaping there, swinging to a window, up--up--up, until at last, -with a sigh of relief, the girl seized him and dragged him in. - -The instant she saw the end of the string she understood and hope came -ebbing back. - -Not a second was to be lost. The fire, which was working toward the -center of the building and up, was now only four windows to the right and -five down. Had the building not been fireproof it would have burned like -a torch. As it was, the fire, fed by the contents of offices and -store-rooms, worked its way from room to room. - -Rapidly she drew in the cord, and with it the rope attached to the end. -When at last she held the end of the rope in her hand she carried it to a -heavy table and wrapped it about the top. Then she dragged the table to -the window. - -At once the monkey, as if to show her the way, went scampering down the -rope. - -All this had taken time. When at last the girl, with a little prayer for -protection on her lips, gripped the rope firmly and glanced down, she saw -that fire had burst forth from the window two rows to her right and six -stories down. Would the window directly beneath her soon be belching -flames? Would it burn off the rope before she had reached the ground? - -Panic seized her for an instant. Then, calmly, she finished the song she -had begun a moment before: - - "And so we walk together - My Lord and I." - -Then, calm as a May morning, she wrapped her feet about the rope and -began the descent, hand over hand, right, left, right, left. It was -painfully slow, but there was no other way. To slip was to come to a -terrible death. - - - - - CHAPTER V - A SHOT FROM AMBUSH - - -The strain on Mazie's arms as she let herself down the rope which hung -from the window of the burning building seemed greater than she could -bear; but with the grim determination of near despair she worked her way -down, hand over hand, hand over hand. - -The palms of her hands burned like fire. In spite of her greatest efforts -her hands slipped a little, an inch here, an inch there, and the effect -of these slips was like the grasping of a red hot iron. - -One window she passed in safety, another and another. As she reached the -sill of the fourth her feet touched it. With a dizzy faintness she -steadied herself there and looked down. - -The sight that met her eyes was appalling. The window directly under her -belched forth a sudden burst of red flame. Then, as the wind shifted, the -flames were sucked in again. Was there hope in that? No. The rope had -caught fire! - -Clinging desperately to her place, she hoped for a clearer moment of -consciousness--and was granted it. - -Calmly she looked down. What was to be done? She dared not pass that -window. A sudden burst of flame would destroy her. Besides, she could -not. The rope was all but burned in two. - -For a time, because of the smoke, she could not see below. Then of a -sudden it cleared and she saw firemen ranged around a white circle -directly under her. - -"A net," she breathed. - -At the same instant she heard Johnny Thompson's booming voice: - -"Go down the rope as far as you dare, then drop." - -"Drop?" she echoed, "how can I?" - -Then, as if to mock her, smoke shut off her view and in the center of the -smoke were darting red flames. - -"I can, and I will!" she breathed through tight set teeth. With hands -that ached she gripped the rope and began once more that agonizing hand -over hand descent. - -Having gone as far as she dared, she dangled for ten seconds in midair. -At that instant she caught the sound of Johnny's voice: - -"It's all right, Mazie. Drop!" - -He could not see her, but he knew she was there. A lump rose and stuck in -her throat. Then, with a little upward swing of her feet, she let go. - -It was all over in one wild instant. Smoke, fire, a mad rush, then a -sudden springy shock, followed by an upward toss, a second bump, and then -Johnny Thompson was helping her support herself on her unsteady feet. - -"That," said Johnny, "was a very narrow squeak." - -Hardly had Johnny led Mazie to the emergency wagon, where her hands were -treated and bandaged, than his mind was once more at work on his -problem--the origin of this fire and of all those other fires. It was not -that he was unmindful of the welfare of his friend--Johnny was one of the -best of friends--but the problem was assuming gigantic proportions. But -for the fireproof building standing directly in its way, this very fire, -Marshal Neil had assured him, would have swept across the city for a mile -and would have left ten thousand homeless ones in its wake. - -"The man who sets these fires," Johnny said to himself savagely, "has no -heart, and no sense. What could be his motive? What could the city have -done to him bad enough to deserve such a revenge? What could the people -of the city have done? Somehow, somewhere, we must find him!" - -He thought of the pink-eyed man. In the excitement of the rescue he had -lost him. Nor could he find him now, though he searched diligently for an -hour. - -"I'll visit his place down there by the river," he told himself. "I may -discover something there." - -He had given up the search and, having returned to Mazie's side, was -standing watching the firemen as they battled with the blaze which at -last was giving way before them. Then he noticed a man within the lines -who did not wear a fireman's uniform. - -"Queer looking chap," he whispered to Mazie, pointing as he spoke. - -The man did look queer. He was an extraordinarily tall man and stooped -almost to the point of deformity. His nose was large and hooked like a -beak. He limped slightly as he walked. His clothing fitted loosely. His -stiff hat was dented in three places. - -"See here, you!" said a policeman, stepping up to him, "you can't stay -inside the line." - -"Dot's all right, mister." The man showed his white teeth in a grin, but -it wasn't a pleasant grin. - -"You'll have to go outside the line." - -"Dot's fair enough, mister." The man moved away. As he passed Johnny and -Mazie he shot them a piercing glance. Even after he had gone back to the -line of staring spectators, Johnny felt that his gaze held something of -hatred for him. What was the meaning of that look? How had the man gotten -within the lines, where only firemen were allowed? What had he wanted -there? He resolved to keep an eye out for that man in the future. It was -well that he did--very well indeed. - -After seeing the fire under control and putting Mazie in a taxi, Johnny -went directly down to the river front. After following a narrow walk at -the river's brink for some little distance, he stopped to flatten himself -against the wall close to the door. - -"This is the place," he whispered to himself. - -The spot he occupied was completely in shadows. The night was dark. The -uncertain light from the distant bridge lamps did not reach him. A person -standing ten feet away could not have seen him. He was at the entrance to -the building which he supposed to be occupied by the pink-eyed man. He -had hurried to the place as rapidly as possible in the hope that the man -was still out and that returning to his lair he might reveal something of -himself. - -As Johnny stood there in the shadows he could catch the gleam of -reflected light on the surface of the river. The sight charmed him. A -slow, deep, dirty, sullen sort of stream, was that river. Flowing between -walls of brick, stone and cement, where once it had meandered across a -great sweep of marshes, it seemed a prisoner chafing at his bonds. - -As Johnny pictured the marshes, whose rushes had waved over the very spot -where he now stood, he thought of other marshes south of the city where -in hours of idleness, or at times when he wished to think unmolested, he -at times poked a flat-bottomed boat down the narrow channels that ran -between the rushes. - -"It's a great place to think things through," he told himself. "If -nothing comes of this I'll go down there to-morrow afternoon. - -"Yes, that's what I'll do. I'll sleep till noon, then catch the -twelve-thirty train out there." - -For an hour he waited there in the darkness. Then, growing restless, he -gave up hope of the man's return and decided to do a little -investigating. - -Drawing a small flashlight from his pocket he lighted his way down a -narrow passage that lay between this building and the one next to it. - -On this side, rather high up, he discovered a small, square window, but -large enough to let a person through. Down the passage he saw two -discarded packing boxes. Working silently, he put one box on the other, -then climbed on top. He was now on a level with the window. Flashing his -light on the panes, he found them too dirty to see through. Laying his -flashlight on the top of the box, he tried the window and to his surprise -found it unfastened. It swung in at his touch like a door on hinges. At -the same moment he felt a slight movement at his knee, then heard a thud. - -"My flashlight!" he grumbled. "Rolled off. Just have a feel inside -anyway." - -Swinging his feet over the sill, he sat there for a moment thinking. -Should he enter. If he did, what would he discover? Would he be in -danger? - -To his surprise he found that his feet touched something and without -thinking much of what he was doing he stood up. The next instant, with a -rolling and a crashing that was appalling, the whole world appeared to -sink and go thundering down beneath him. - -A moment later, his nostrils filled with dust and with something resting -on his chest, he lay quite still and listened. - -He caught a faint sound but concluded it was only scurrying wharf rats. -After that the place was so quiet that he fancied he could hear the -settling of the dust. - -What had happened? What was this on his chest? - -He laughed silently to himself as he put out a hand to touch it. A -barrel--that was all it was, an empty barrel. He sensed what had happened -in an instant. He had stood upon the top of a pyramid of empty barrels. -The bottom of the pyramid had caved in and the whole heap had gone -thundering, carrying Johnny along. - -Two minutes later he was stealing out of the passage. He had had quite -enough of that place for one night. - -Three o'clock next day found him in the center of a marsh whose dark -waving bullrushes stretched away for a mile or more in every direction. -With his coat for a pillow he lay sprawled out the length of his flat -bottomed boat. A pair of oars and long pole lay at his side. These would -bring him back to shore when he chose to come. A cold leg of chicken, a -swiss cheese sandwich, a piece of apple pie and a bottle of milk would -appease hunger when hunger came. He was at peace with the world and quite -prepared to solve all the problems of the universe with which he had -anything definite to do. - -It was a dreamy day. White clouds moved slowly across the sky. Cobwebs -floated in air. Now and again a gentle breeze made a softly sighing sound -in the rushes. Just as he was dreaming himself off into a cat nap a dark -shadow passed over him, then broke suddenly into a hundred little shadows -that were not shadows at all. - -Surprised by this phenomena, which he had felt rather than seen, he -opened his eyes. What he saw was a large flock of black birds. Contrary -to their usually noisy custom, as if to avoid disturbing the Sabbath -quiet of the place, they settled every one upon a swaying bullrush -without so much as a single "O-ka-lee." - -"Good old birds!" Johnny sighed. And well he might, for beyond doubt they -had been directed there by the all seeing eye that they might, in a very -short time, be instrumental in saving his life--or at least in giving him -a fighting chance. - -Knowing nothing of this, he settled back into his place and once more -closed his eyes. These nights of fire chasing had cost him much sleep. - -This time he had fallen quite asleep when, with a start, he found himself -sitting bolt upright. - -It was the action of the birds that had wakened him. With a shrill cry of -alarm the birds had leaped from their swaying perches and had flown away. - -"Now I wonder--" Johnny murmured to himself. - -He was given scarcely ten seconds to wonder, for of a sudden a shot rang -out and a bullet whizzed so close to his cheek that he felt the sting of -it. - -"That was meant for me!" Johnny breathed tensely. - -The next instant he lay flat on his back, his trembling hands gripping -the pole. - -"Got to get out of here," he thought. "Got to get out quick, and got to -do it lying down." - -Even as the pole silently touched the water, then sank to grip the -bottom, he speculated on his chance of escape. He was unarmed. At times -he had brought a shot gun to the marsh. Not to-day. There were no -ducks--to early in the season. - -"Only chance is to lose him," was his mental comment as he drove the boat -forward into the channel. At the same time he felt an almost -uncontrollable desire to see the face of the man who had fired the shot. -He had a notion that were he an artist he could paint the man's picture, -even though he did not see him. In this he probably was mistaken. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - THE BLACK SHACK - - -As Johnny gave the pole at the side of the boat a vigorous shove, then -another and another, he found no time for thoughts other than directing -the silent maneuvering of his clumsy bark. A prod or two on this side, -then as the boat swung to the right the same number of pokes on the other -side, and he moved silently down the narrow channel. A division in the -narrow course was greeted with delight. If the man who had fired that -shot was following he could not follow both channels at once. - -"That gives me a fifty-fifty chance of escape," Johnny thought as he -chose the right fork. - -It is hard work, this poling a boat while lying flat on one's back. -Johnny found himself perspiring at every pore. Yet he persevered, and his -perseverence was rewarded for, as he moved slowly forward, he came to a -place where the channel was cut squarely across by another. - -"A four corners," he rejoiced. "I might go straight ahead, or to the -right or left. The natural thing to do would be to turn right, so I go -left." - -Skilfully he maneuvered the turn and went gliding down the new channel. - -Ten minutes later, still lying on his back and looking up at the clouds, -he lifted his pole without a sound into the boat and then allowed himself -time to think matters through. - -Who was this intruder upon his privacy; this would-be killer? What had -been his motive? Was he connected with the firebug affair? It would seem -so, for in this city Johnny had not gone against the wishes of anyone -save that firebug. - -"Well, old boy," he whispered, setting his teeth tight, "you'll not get -me, and what's more, give me time and I'll bring your dishonorable -occupation to a sudden halt. See if I don't!" - -For a time after that he lay there looking up at the slow moving clouds, -but they brought him no peace. He was annoyed at the situation that had -so suddenly presented itself. He had come here to think things through; -yet how does one dare to engage in an all absorbing chain of thought when -at any moment some form of craft may come gliding in upon him and--bam! -his head is blown off! - -Manifestly there was no thinking to be done. What then was to be his -course? - -"Shall I lie here baking in the sun till dark, then sneak away home? -Hanged if I do!" he exploded almost out loud. "This channel has some sort -of an end that brings a fellow to shore. I'll poke along down it and when -I'm there I'll make a break for it." - -In this undertaking he was more fortunate than he had hoped. He had not -poled himself a hundred rods when he came to the piers of a low railroad -bridge that crossed the swamp. - -"Huh, easy enough," he breathed. - -Sitting up, he drove his boat under the bridge and out on the other side. -After that, knowing that the embankment must hide him from the enemy if -he were still on the marsh, he stood boldly up, poled his boat to shore, -drew her up beside the railway, then crept up the bank to peer over at -the other half of the marsh. He was now well above the tops of the rushes -and could plainly see every foot of the marsh. - -"Huh, fellow'd say I dreamed all that," he grunted. The place was -completely deserted. Even the black birds were gone. - -Off on the far side of the marsh he made out a shack he had never seen -there before. A rude black frame set on posts, it seemed oddly like some -dark ghost of a house that had walked to the edge of the swamp in the -hope of seeing its reflection in the water. - -"I wonder if that shack's got anything to do with--anything," he mused. - -Even as he thought this a man came out of the place and walking around a -corner of the house disappeared at the back. He was a large man; that -Johnny could tell plainly enough. And it seemed that the man limped -slightly. But of that he could not be sure, the distance being too great. - -It was a thoughtful Johnny who walked back down the track to the nearest -station, then took the train for the city. Matters were getting serious, -very serious indeed, and he had not thought things through at all. - -"I must go over to the scene of that last fire," he told himself. "Do it -as soon as I get to the city. May learn something there." - -He did go there. It was night when he arrived. The great, black, burned -out skeleton of the Simons Building loomed above him as he searched, and -its vacant window holes stared at him like the empty sockets of a skull. -Somehow they seemed to accuse him of slowness and stupidity. He fairly -flinched beneath their stare. - -His search did not last long. Where the office of the one time recreation -center had been was now a twenty foot pile of smouldering rafters, -plaster and brick. - -"Nothing to be learned there," he murmured as he turned away. - -At that same moment he caught sight of a dark shadow that flitted past -the corner of the Simons skeleton, and after that he distinctly caught a -chuckle which ended in well formed words: - -"This is only the beginning." - -Johnny shuddered. But courage did not desert him. With a dash he was -around that corner. His bravery was to no avail. If there had been a -figure there other than a ghost, it had vanished. Nor did a careful -search reveal any living creature. - -"Only the beginning," he murmured at last. "This calls for hustle. In the -future I shall use different methods. If I see a suspicious character, -the pink-eyed man or the man with hooked nose and limp, I shall have him -arrested and look for a reason after. But maybe I won't see them again." - -That night brought good fortune. As the clock struck twelve, Johnny was -walking through the zoological garden and there, quite by chance, ran -square into what was to prove to be one of the most spectacular fires of -history. - -"Fire! Fire! Fire!" came ringing out upon the night. - -One sweep of the horizon, then a surprised exclamation escaped Johnny's -lips. "The Zoo is on fire!" He then made a dash for it. - -Fortunately he was not far away; most opportune, too, was the fact that -he knew a great deal about the Zoo. Endowed with a natural interest in -all living creatures, especially those of strange lands, he had many -times visited this particular place. - -He knew at a glance just where the fire had its origin. The building was -extremely long and low. Birds and beasts were arranged in order according -to size. First the monkeys, then wolves, hyena and the like; then lions, -tigers and all other large creatures. At the extreme west end were two -large rooms inhabited by no living thing. One room was a sort of office -used by the keeper and the other a store room for a great quantity of -material of anthropological interest, mostly from the Arctic. This -material, no longer upon display, lay heaped pile upon pile; garments, -blankets, spears, harpoons--all dry as dust and food for flames. It was -in this store room that the fire was already fiercely raging. - -"Perhaps there is yet time," Johnny panted as he came racing up. - -"Time for what?" demanded a policeman who had arrived before him. -"Where's the fire department?" - -"They'll be here in a moment." Johnny tried the office door. It was -locked. With a spring he was away, then back, shoulder first, at the door -with a blow that splintered a panel. - -"Here, don't do that!" shouted the policeman, springing forward. - -He was a second too late, for Johnny had once more rammed the door. The -door went in, and he with it. - -The thing he did then would have seemed strange had there been anyone by -to see it. The fire, already bursting through the partitions, scorched -his face and hands, but into the smoke he plunged, to drag away, not some -object of great value, but a very ordinary desk telephone. Gripping the -wires of the phone he yanked them free, then with this trophy under his -arm he made a dash for safety. - -Under the screen of smoke he escaped the eye of the policeman. Having -hurried to the edge of some bushes, he examined the thing under his arm -for a moment, then with a grumbled: "I thought so," began coiling the -wire about the phone. - -Having done this, he shoved the whole affair far under the bushes, then -turned his face again toward the fire. - -By this time the tumult was appalling. Vying with the shrill scream of -approaching fire sirens and the clamor of gongs, was the mad roar of -frightened lions and tigers, while above it all sounded the wild -trumpeting of the elephants. - -"It's going to be a terrible fire," Johnny shivered. "Too terrible to -tell." - -At that moment he darted suddenly forward. He felt sure he had recognized -a familiar stooping figure in the gathering throng. Johnny had decided -that it was about time to begin making a few arrests and ask questions -later. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - THE BURNING OF THE ZOO - - -One moment Johnny sighted the familiar, stooping figure, the next he had -lost him in the throng which appeared to have sprung up from the ground. -However, he did not despair of finding him again. As for the fire, it was -now none of his affair. Terrible as it promised to be, he could do -nothing to stop it. That was the firemen's part. Already they were -stretching their hose. After a single thought given to the safety of the -trophy he had hidden under the bushes, Johnny bent his every thought and -energy toward the finding of that man. - -"For," he told himself, "it may result in the unravelling of a great -mystery and bring to a sudden end a series of great catastrophes." At -that he lost himself in the throng. - -With the firemen came Mazie. She had gone to the central alarm station in -the hope of finding Johnny there. Instead she had found the Chief. When -the first and second alarms came in from the Zoo alarm box, the Chief had -bundled her into his car and they had raced for the park. - -Hardly had she alighted from the Chief's car at the scene of the fire -than she felt a slight touch on her shoulder and, on looking up, saw that -Jerry, the firemen's monkey mascot, was on her shoulder. - -She was not surprised at this, but so pleased that tears glistened in her -eyes. From the time Jerry had saved her life by bringing a rope to her in -the burning building, he had apparently thought of her as his especial -charge. - -Seeing the Chief about to enter the burning Zoo behind the firemen with -the spurting hose in their hands, Mazie took his arm to enter with him. -Though he frowned at her, he did not say no. It was a terrible sight that -met her eyes. Just as they entered, the fire broke through the wooden -partition between the office and that portion of the Zoo set apart for -birds. The fluttering and screaming of frightened birds was almost more -than she could stand. Beautiful yellow canaries, brown warblers, parrots -of gorgeous green, magnificent birds of paradise, tropical birds with -plumage as varied as the hues of the rainbow--they one and all beat their -wings against their cages and cried for freedom as they never had cried -before in all their captive lives. - -"And all in vain," the girl fairly sobbed. - -"It's no use," muttered the Chief grimly, "we may save the animals, but -this part of the Zoo is doomed. C'mon. Let's get out." - -Reluctantly the girl turned away. As she did so she saw a single yellow -canary in a small cage near the door--the commonest bird in the world. -Why he was there alone she could not tell. She only knew that out of all -that priceless collection here was one that might be saved. Seizing the -cage, she tore it from its hanging, then followed the Chief into the -outer air. - -"Dear little bird," she whispered, as she hung the cage high on the limb -of a tree well away from danger, "I have given you a new bit of life. May -you sing long and sweetly for that." - -Once more she joined the fire-fighting throng. She was hoping all the -time to come upon Johnny. This was the kind of fire he was supposed to -investigate. He must be here, but where? - -"He might be in there," she thought to herself as she followed a band of -fire fighters into the long, low compartment occupied by the monkey -tribe. Jerry, who was still on her shoulder, let out a scream of delight -at sight of so many of his kind. His scream was answered by one long wail -of terror, for at that very moment a broad tongue of fire came licking -through the thin wooden ceiling of the room. - -"It's the garret," muttered the fireman. "There's a garret running the -length of the building. There's a company coming against the fire from up -there. We can probably stop it here, but this place is doomed. Unless we -can get 'em out, every monkey of the lot will burn." - -There had been times when, in her dreams, Mazie had seen human faces -distorted with fear, peering down from windows where flames reached out -to grip them. But nothing she had ever dreamed of could be as bad as the -sight of hundreds of monkeys, baboons, apes and chimpanzees, clinging to -their cages and uttering plaintive cries and wild shrieks while their -man-like faces were shrunken with fear. - -In vain did their keepers attempt to call them down to the doors through -which they might escape. - -It seemed that they, like the birds, must meet a terrible death. But just -when matters were at the worst, Mazie felt a tearing at the shoulder of -her coat and turned to see Jerry snatched from his place there. To her -surprise and consternation, she saw that the man who held the mascot -tightly in his right hand was none other than the pink-eyed man whom she -and Johnny suspected of being the firebug. - -"Stop him!" she fairly screamed. - -But she was too late. The man was already well away and up to the side of -the great cage of monkeys. In his left hand he held a fireman's axe. - -The thing Mazie witnessed in the next three minutes impressed a picture -on the sensitized film of her brain that she will never forget. - -Holding Jerry up to the cage, the pink-eyed man allowed him to cling -there for a full half minute. During that entire time the strange little -creature kept up an incessant chatter that could be heard even above the -screams of the frightened prisoners. - -What it was he said, Mazie could not tell. She did realize that this -monkey speech of his had an extraordinary effect upon the other monkeys. -By the time his half minute speech was up, the screams had died down -nearly to a whisper. - -It was at this psychological moment that the pink-eyed man made his next -move. With a single stroke of his axe he cut a perpendicular gash four -feet long in the heavy wire screening of the cage. A second slash made a -horizontal one quite as long. By turning out the ragged corners he made a -large hole there. On the edge of this hole he placed Jerry. - -Then came the astonishing thing. Jerry seemed to understand his part for, -with a twist of his head toward the nearest monkey, he appeared to say: -"C'mon." Then, catching hold of the cage, he executed a swinging jump and -landed on the floor. The foremost monkey in the cage followed his -example, then another and another. - -Calmly the pink-eyed man slashed the side of cage after cage and out of -each leaped all those man-like creatures, and man-like still, as if -obeying orders, they each and all joined the procession led by Jerry. The -procession grew and grew and grew until at last there was not a living -creature in the cages. - -There arose a hoarse shout of approval from the firemen. Mazie looked -around for the hero of the hour--the pink-eyed man. He had vanished! - -As she made her way once more into the open air of the park that -surrounded the Zoo, she found the trees full of happy chattering -creatures who were enjoying to the full such freedom as they had not -known for years. - -For a time she stood there staring at the burning building. As she turned -to go, there came a chatter from the tree above her, followed by a thud -on her shoulder. - -It was Jerry. With cap gone, his red coat scorched and torn, he still -appeared to be the happiest monkey in all the world. - -The firemen by this time had the fire somewhat under control, but the -mingled sounds of screams, roars and trumpetings which came from the -other end of the Zoo was all but deafening. - -Having always had a desire to know how different wild animals acted under -stress of danger, Mazie decided to re-enter the Zoo and pass through it -until stopped by the fire. She could not do this without considerable -fear and trembling, nor was this entirely unwarranted. The time was to -come, and that within the next quarter of an hour, when she would regret -so rash an undertaking. - - -In the meantime, what had become of Johnny? While all these things were -happening to Mazie and her strange companion, Jerry, what success had he -had in finding his man? - -It is not easy to locate a particular person in a throng of five hundred -or a thousand people at night. Johnny thought he knew all about that. He -had entered upon just such a task more than once before. More than once, -too, he had found himself baffled, beaten back by the mob, in the end -defeated. This time he was determined to win. - -But even as he entered into the search he asked himself seriously whether -or not he had any business with the man he sought. - -"I may, and I may not," he mumbled to himself at last, "but one thing is -sure--this thing has got to stop. When the police can't pin a thing on a -particular man they go out looking for suspects and bring in every -suspicious looking character. That's what I'll have to do." - -At once his mind was at work on possibilities. Two men had come under -suspicion; the pink-eyed man and the man with the hooked nose and the -limp. If either was the firebug, which was it most likely to be? Johnny -remembered the look he had seen on the face of the pink-eyed man the -night of the school house fire. It was a look of pleasure which had -seemed to say: "I set the fire. Isn't it grand!" And yet, had he read -that look correctly? One thing was sure--a moment later the look had -vanished from the man's face and he was showing an active interest in the -saving of a child from the school building. - -"And that," thought Johnny, "would tend to make a fellow love him." - -"On the other hand," he mused, "he lives in a disreputable looking place; -at least I saw him go in there. And he was at that second fire. What's he -doing at every midnight fire if he has nothing to do with them?" - -As for the man who limped, he had seen him at but one fire, and that time -there was nothing of a suspicious character revealed other than his -presence behind the lines. - -"And yet I have a sneaking notion," Johnny mused, "that it was he who -shot at me out there on the marsh." - -"Not much proof for that conclusion, either," he murmured a moment later. - -His mind went back to the double telephone wires he had found in the -burned schoolhouse and the one he had hidden beneath the bushes but a few -moments before. - -"Might be something to it," he said suddenly and quite out loud. -"Might----" - -He broke short off. Over to the right he had caught sight of his man--the -one who limped, and to his great joy he found the fire Chief close beside -him. - -"See!" he exclaimed, gripping at the Chief's arm, "See that man! Get that -man! He--he--perhaps he's the firebug!" - -The Chief made a lunge toward the man. Johnny followed. It did look too -as if he had spoken the truth, for the instant the Chief made a move in -his direction the suspected man was away. Not fast enough, however, to -escape Johnny's keen eye. - -"This way, Chief," he exclaimed, then dashed straight away from the fire -toward the shore of the lake, whence came the dull roar of rolling -breakers. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - MAZIE AND THE TIGER - - -With fear in her heart Mazie again entered the burning Zoo. This was the -most spectacular fire she had ever known anything about and she was -determined to see it through to its very end. - -Giving a wide berth to three elephants who were blowing hay in air, -trumpeting and threshing madly at their chains, with a gulp of pity she -passed the patient camels who, seeming resigned to their fate, stood with -heads hanging low. - -She shuddered as she saw the restless pacing and heard the deafening roar -of lions, and started back in fear when a great black leopard leaped -squarely against the bars that held him. - -The bars were strong. She saw the mad creature drop back stunned, then -she pressed on into the room where the firemen were doing noble battle -with the flames. - -"You're winning," she said to a grimy fireman. There was admiration in -her tone. - -"Yes," he smiled, "it'll soon be over now. But," he added, "we wouldn't -have saved the monkeys if it hadn't been for Jerry. He's a wise little -rascal." - -"Jerry and--and that man," said Mazie. - -"Yes; old Pinkie." - -"Who is he? Do you know him?" Mazie asked eagerly. - -"No, Miss, I can't just say I know him, but all of us have seen him -often. Regular fire fan. Seems like he goes to every fire that's of any -consequence. He's a queer one. Seems to have a heart of gold, though. -I've seen him risk his life to save an alley cat." - -"Then he couldn't be--" Mazie suddenly cut herself short. - -"Couldn't be what, Miss?" - -Mazie didn't answer. "How long have you seen him around fires?" she asked -instead. - -"Seems like it's been three years or more. I recall the first time. It -was----" - -"Oh! Look!" Mazie's eyes opened wide with terror. And well they might. A -tall chimney, undermined by the fire, had come crashing down through the -roof. It had not stopped at the roof but had come on through, crushing an -iron cage where were imprisoned two royal Bengal tigers. So thoroughly -mashed was the cage that it resembled a bird cage which has been stepped -on by a large man. - -"Look out!" Mazie screamed, as with a growl of rage and pain the larger -of the two captives sprang through an opening, free! - - -And what of Johnny and the Chief? They had gone rushing after that man -whom Johnny had so rashly named the firebug. He had led them straight -away across a level stretch of grass, across a drive and through a clump -of bushes to the shore of the lake. There, with a speed that was -astonishing in so large a man who was at the same time a little lame, -with cold spray drenching him, he ran on along the stone breakwater to a -spot where a second breakwater ran off at a sharp angle to the first. -This wall of stone which ran between two stretches of foaming water -reached to a fill some distance out in the lake. It was incomplete. Only -rough and jagged piles of rock marked its course; as yet there were no -beams. - -At such a time as this, when seas were running high, it was little less -than suicide to venture out upon it; yet the mysterious man did not -hesitate an instant. One second he was on the solid shore, the next he -was balancing himself on a jagged pile of rocks five yards out to sea, -and then he was lost to view in a cloud of spray. - -The man had probably figured that his pursuers would not dare to follow. -In this he was partly wrong. Johnny's foot was on the foremost rock when -the Chief's firm hand pulled him back. - -"Wait," he rumbled, "he can't make it. He'll have to come back." - -They did wait, and for a time it seemed that the Chief was certainly -right; that the man would never succeed in making his way to the broad -stretch of filled land which ran for more than a mile along the lake -front, and where he might either hide or make his way back to land over -some pier or safer breakwater. But, as the spray cleared, they saw him -twenty yards out, now thirty, forty, fifty, sixty. Then, for a long time, -as the water boomed against the rocks, the spray completely hid the -fleeing form. - -Then, of a sudden, the moon came out and the spray cleared for a moment. -At that moment, after sharply surveying the length of the breakwater, the -Chief and Johnny turned to stare at one another. - -"Gone!" said Johnny. - -"Not a living thing there now." - -"He can't have made his way to the fill." - -"Probably not. Might have." - -"If he didn't?" - -"He's gone. Nothing could save him. No one could climb back upon that -breakwater once he was washed off. May God rest his soul." - -For a full ten minutes they stood there watching the surface of the -water, then turning silently about, started back toward the scene of the -fire. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - A MYSTERIOUS ISLAND - - -Many of the expected thrills and terrors of life never materialize. It -was so with Mazie and the tiger. If the tiger had been roaring in a -manner fit to curdle the blood of a pirate, it was because he was afraid. -The instant he was free from his cage, acting for all the world like a -cat that has suddenly been drenched with cold water, he went slinking -away down the long rooms of the zoo. - -It was a simple enough matter to drive him into a portable cage, and -there the affair ended. - -An hour later, Mazie came upon the Chief, who told her of Johnny's -experience but could not inform her of his whereabouts. Failing to find -him, she decided to go home. - -After taking Jerry back to his master, she returned to the tree where she -had placed the rescued canary. Wrapping her cape about the cage to shield -the bird from the chill night air, she hailed a taxi and sped along home, -content to call it a night. - - -Johnny was not at all convinced that the Chief was right in saying that -the stooped man with the hook nose and a limp had fallen into the lake -and been drowned. - -"You don't get rid of a man that easily," he told himself. "They do it in -the movies; but in real life, not once in a million times." - -The more he thought of it, the surer he became that he was right. The -moon had been under a cloud for a long time, long enough for the man to -have escaped over the breakwater to the made land. - -"And besides," Johnny reasoned, "he was just as likely to fall in on the -side of the breakwater away from the spray as he was on the dangerous -side. On that side it would have been no trick at all to swim to the -shore of that made land." - -Having convinced himself that the affair would bear looking into, he -retraced his steps to the lake shore. The wind had gone down. The moon -was shining. The breakwater appeared to offer a safe passage to the land -beyond. - -"I'll chance it," he murmured to himself. - -As the reader already knows, the unfinished breakwater was composed of -sharp edged limestone rock, together with broken fragments of cement -taken from old sidewalks and cellar walls. To cross from shore to shore -was no easy task, even now. More than once Johnny was obliged to drop on -his knees to save himself a slide into the water. As he saw how perilous -the passage was he was all but forced to believe that the Chief's -conclusion was correct, that the fugitive had been drowned. - -"And if he did," Johnny thought to himself, "and if he was the firebug, -then this chase is ended and, what's more, he took his secret with him to -the bottom of the lake." - -This thought left him a feeling of disappointment so keen that it threw -him into a fit of despondency. He knew well enough that he should be glad -that the man was gone. The city would then see the end of the havoc that -had added so much to the discomfort and unhappiness of its people. - -"But all the same," he told himself defiantly, "that fellow had some -secret method for setting fires, an unusual and unknown method. It is -decidedly disappointing, after you had been for so long a time hot on the -trail, to have that secret buried from your sight forever. - -"Well, what is to be, will be," he mused as he picked his way across the -final rugged stretch of cold, wet rock. - -When at last his feet touched solid dry land again, his feeling that the -man had certainly been drowned left him. Such experiences are not -uncommon. One's feeling toward all of life during a time of peril is -always different from that which he experiences in a place of comparative -safety. - -Strange to say, however, Johnny was, at the moment he stepped on that -made land, in greater peril than he had been at any time while crossing -the slippery breakwater. Being quite unconscious of this, he struck -boldly down the length of that narrow stretch of land. - -It was a curious sort of island on which he stood. A city that had built -skyscrapers to its very water front, becoming dissatisfied with the -waterscape that lay out before it, had decided that a few islands off its -shores would add to the decorative effect of its view. So, with the -fearless, Titan-like soul that possesses American cities, it had decided -to build islands here and there along its shores. This narrow stretch of -land, a few hundred yards wide and a mile long, was their first attempt -at altering the face of nature. - -At the present time, like the world in its beginning, it was "without -form and void." Upon the great mounds of dripping sand raised up from the -bottom by dredges, had been hauled all manner of refuse from the land. -Loads of clay, great heaps of tin cans, dump loads of broken brick and -mortar, caused this man made island to look like the side of a volcano -after an eruption. - -Johnny found it a very difficult place to walk. One moment he was -climbing a mound of clay, the next he was wading knee-deep in soft sand, -and after that rattling through a whole desert of tin cans. - -For all that, there was a certain thrill to be had from walking there. He -was upon an island. As far as he knew the island was without an -inhabitant. Certainly two years before it was entirely unknown to the -civilized world. - -He chuckled at the thoughts he had thus conjured up. "And yet," he -laughed, "the island is within gunshot of one of the largest cities of -our land." - -If he had concluded that the place was entirely deserted, he was destined -to a rude and shocking disillusionment. Suddenly, out from behind a tall -heap of rubbish, a large figure launched itself at him with such sure -effect that it sent him crashing to the ground. - -Now Johnny, as you will know well enough if you have read our other book -"Triple Spies," was not the sort of a fellow to take the count on the -first down. It would have been a nimble tongued referee who could have -counted three before Johnny was getting to his feet. - -Thoroughly aroused and angered by this sudden, cowardly assault, he was -now quite ready for trouble. - -He did not have long to wait for it, either. At once the man came at him. -This time someone received a surprise, and it certainly was not Johnny. -Came a sound as of a wagon tongue ramming an automobile, and the huge -hulk of a man who had started the row, staggered backward. Boxing was the -one thing Johnny knew a great deal about. Long years ago his father had -taught him a great deal about defending himself. He had added to this -knowledge as the years went by. - -Johnny had not the slightest doubts of his ability along these lines. But -that he was in grave danger, he knew quite well. While his assailant -paused before resuming the attack, he allowed himself a few darting -thoughts as to how this affair would end. Who was this man? Could he be -the man they had driven out upon the breakwater, or was he some tramp who -had come out here to sleep? Was he armed? If he had a knife or gun the -affair would probably end shortly and tragically. Was it best to run? -Probably it was, but being Johnny Thompson, he did not propose to run. -He'd stand his ground and fight, and since fight he must, why not on the -offensive? No sooner thought than done. With muscles tense, every nerve -alert, he leaped squarely at the astonished giant. - -Johnny's chance came and he took it. As the man threw up his hands in an -involuntary motion to shield his face, Johnny landed a haymaker square on -his chin. - -There are few men who can withstand such a blow but this man appeared to -be made of uncommon stuff. He staggered like a drunken man but he did not -fall. The next second he set his huge fists swinging. - -As Johnny stepped back he stumbled over some hard object and all but -fell. The obstacle suggested a way out, but he did not take it. In this -ten seconds of confused thought he was suddenly seized in a death-like -grip. The man, so much heavier, bore him to the ground with a crash that -all but knocked his senses out of him. - -In the struggle that followed his hand was pressed against something hard -at the man's belt. - -"A knife!" Johnny thought excitedly. - -The next instant his hand was on the hilt. Ten seconds of struggle and he -had freed the hand with the long-bladed knife gripped tight. - -Wildly his heart beat. The advantage was his. Should he follow it up? One -thrust, perhaps two, and the struggle would end. - -A second of thought. "No! No! Not that!" Suddenly his hand shot up and -out. The knife, executing the arc of a circle, clanged to the ground some -distance away. - -A short, tense struggle followed, then again Johnny was free. - -Breathing hard, hair disheveled, face bloody, clothes torn, he backed -away to allow his mind three more flashing thoughts: "What next? Fight or -flee? How will it end?" - -He would fight. The man might be the firebug. If he could but subdue and -capture him, the prize was won. Besides, had not the man set upon him -from ambush? Did he not deserve a drubbing? - -Suddenly he felt a strong desire to see the man's face. If he were the -man he thought him, he would recognize him. The man's back was to the -moon. Johnny executed a flank movement, that the moon might give him a -view of that face. Again he tripped and all but fell. One hand touched -the ground. It rested for a second on half a brick. Should he seize the -brick? It was a weapon! But he had always fought fair. - -"No! No!" he breathed. - -He had always fought fair. Little did he know of the ruthless warfare of -the underworld, of those denizens of crime who seize any weapon, who -strike any creature--even the defenseless and weak--whose creed is -ruthlessness and cruelty, and who know neither honor nor pity. - -Well had it been if Johnny had known, for hardly had his hand left the -brick than another came crashing against his own head, sending him -crumpling down like an empty sack. - -Consciousness did not entirely desert him. He had lost the power to move, -but could still hear, feel and think. He caught the heavy thud of the -villain's footsteps as he approached, felt his hot breath on his cheek, -then saw him lift the very brick he himself, but ten seconds before, had -rejected as a point of honor. - -His thoughts ran rampant. All his past lay before him, all his hopes for -the future. He had expected to die sometime, somewhere, but not like -this, not alone on a island built up by dump carts and scows. - -"No! No! Not here!" - -At the instant when all seemed lost, he heard a sudden compact, saw the -big man go hurdling over him, and then to his vast surprise heard him -struggle to his feet to go clump-clumping away. - -Then, as a clearer consciousness came ebbing back, Johnny opened his eyes -to see a face looking down upon him; a strange, wizened, full-bearded -face that seemed the face of an overgrown owl. - -For a time he felt that he must have become delirious, and was seeing -things in mad dreams. Just then the man spoke. - -"Hurt much?" - -"N--no. Guess--guess not," Johnny said, struggling to a sitting posture. - -"All right. When you feel like it I'll help you over to my house." - -"Your house? Where is it?" - -"On the island, just round the corner here." - -"A house on this island?" Johnny whispered to himself. "Why, then, this -surely is a mysterious island." - - - - - CHAPTER X - BEN ZOOK - - -"Who are you?" Johnny asked as he sat staring at this strange little man. - -"Ben Zook's my name. What might be yours?" - -"Johnny Thompson." - -"What was you doin' on my island, Johnny?" - -"Looking for a man." - -"Find him?" - -"I--I'm not sure. I was trying to find out whether I had found him or not -when he hit me with a brick." - -"It probably was him," said Ben thoughtfully. - -For a moment the two of them sat staring away at the dark waters of the -lake. Then Ben spoke: - -"Well, if your gyroscope's workin' sufficient well to let you navigate -without too much of a list to starboard, we might set sail. I've got some -coffee, and I guess there's still a fire. It will do you good." - -"Yes," said Johnny, struggling to his feet and standing there unsteadily, -"yes, I think it would. Lead on, friend. Sort of map out the route for -me, will you? I'm a stranger in these parts." - -"Thought you might be," chuckled Ben. "Don't have many visitors, I don't, -an' most of 'em's what you'd call of an undesirable class--bums that's -been run off the parks, mostly. Me--I'm no bum. I earn my living. I feed -the chickens." - -Johnny thought that a rather strange occupation in a city of three -million. Since he was too busy watching his steps over the irregular -surface of made land to give attention to other things, he let the thing -stand as it was for the present. - -"Probably just a way of saying something else, I guess; hasn't a thing to -do with real poultry," was his mental comment. - -In a surprisingly short time Johnny found himself nearing that side of -the island next to the lake, and a moment later was led to a spot where -red coals glowed in a sort of out-of-doors fireplace fashioned from -broken bits of brick. - -"Here's my house," said Ben Zook, a touch of pride in his tone. "It's not -everyone that lives in a brick house these days." - -At first Johnny thought he referred to the rude fireplace and was -prepared to laugh; but, as he turned about he caught sight of a dark, -cavern-like hole in the side of a great mound of clay. Even as he looked -his newly found friend lighted a candle. The mellow glow of this tiny -lighting plant revealed three walls of brick and mortar and a roof of -wood. The whole place was not over ten feet square, and the ceiling was -barely above his head. There were no windows and no door, but the end -next to the fire stood open and that served the place of both. - -"What do you think of it?" asked Ben Zook. - -"I think," said Johnny heartily, "that had Robinson Crusoe come upon a -home like this on his island he would have wept for joy." - -"Why, so he would, Johnny, so he would!" exclaimed Ben, more than pleased -by this compliment to his extraordinary abode. - -A half hour later, Johnny's slight wounds having been quite skilfully -dressed by his surprising host and his spirits revived by a strong cup of -black coffee, the two sat staring out at the lake. - -"Do men come out here often?" Johnny asked. - -"Not so often. It ain't safe crossing on the breakwater. I've got a sort -of flat bottomed boat I paddle across with every morning when I go over -to feed the chickens." - -There it was again. "The--the chickens?" Johnny stammered. - -"Yes. I got a regular job. Don't pay very big, but it keeps me, and -besides, when a chicken gets sick and looks like he'd die, they give him -to me. I bring 'em out here and dope 'em up. Then if they get all right I -take 'em back and sell 'em. I've got five chickens, a guinea hen and a -goose right now." - -"Where are these chickens you feed?" Johnny asked, more perplexed than -ever. - -"Commission house. South Water Street. Come in by car loads and in crates -and have to be fed, you know. I feed 'em an' water 'em. That's my job. -An' this island, it's my chicken ranch. Roam all over it, my poultry -does, in the daytime. At night I shut 'em up. I'd like a better place, -where there was grass an' shade, but seems like a fellow can't save -enough for that. This here island, it don't cost me nothin'. They just -let me stay here, the park folks do. An' the house, it didn't cost -nothin' neither, only the price of a bag of lime. Sand came from the -lake; bricks I picked up from rubbish piles. Pretty neat, 'eh?" He -proudly surveyed his three walls. - -"Pretty neat," Johnny agreed. - -"I like it best with the end open to the fire. It's more healthy. But if -folks are goin' to come out here at night, 'taint goin' to be safe. I'll -haf to build a door. Not folks like you, but that other fellow's kind. -Seems like I've seen that man out here before." - -"Big man--with a stoop and a limp?" Johnny asked. - -"That was him." - -"And a hooked nose?" - -"Didn't see his face." - -"What was he doing?" - -"Standin' with his back to the island and his face toward the city, an' -far's I could tell he was standin' there a shakin' his big fists at the -city an' a swearin' fit to kill." - -"That was just what he would do if he is the man I think him to be," said -Johnny, quietly. - -"Would he now? What'd anybody do a crazy thing like that for?" - -"You tell me," said Johnny. "There are some like that." - -"Crooks and cranks," said Ben. "Why didn't you hit him first?" - -"I did, but he had a hard head." - -"Hit him with a brick?" - -"No, my fist." - -"Never do that to a crook, Johnny. They wouldn't do that to you. Put 'em -to sleep with the best thing you can grab, then argue with 'em after they -wake up. Talk about honor among thieves; there ain't none. They're a low -lived lot, too lazy to work. Half of them have got heads like kids and -the other half are full of hop. A dirty bunch of low lifed cowards who -take knives and guns to rob people. - -"An' look at the stuff they write about 'em in them there paper books and -magazines. You'd think they was high class gentlemen down on their luck -and doin' an honest turn by robbin' some one just so as to get back on -their feet again, wouldn't you? Or mebby goin' in for it as a sort of -sporting proposition. Livin' dangerously, they'd call it. Danger! It's -their victim that gets the danger! Honor! Romance! Living dangerously! -Bah! Hit 'em first, that's my motto!" - -"And that," said Johnny, rubbing his bruised head, "is going to be my -motto in the future." - -When the next opportunity presented itself Johnny did not forget this -resolve. He followed it through, and with the most astonishing results. - -"Ben," said Johnny a moment later, "I want to keep in touch with you. -That fellow may come back." - -"That's what I been thinkin' an' I don't like it." - -"Of course you wouldn't. And if he did you'd want him taken care of." - -"Certainly would, Johnny, unless I could get close enough without him -seein' me to take care of him with a brick." - -"Don't do anything rash," Johnny continued. "If he shows up, let me know. -I've got a room facing the water front. I'll bet you can see that window -from the place where you work. There's a door at the back of the -building. You'll know the place; the first building to the right after -you cross Wells Street bridge. That back door isn't locked. In a dark -corner behind the door is a small box with a slot in it. If that man -comes back you just hop right over there and slip an orange wrapper in -that box. There's plenty of them in South Water Street. That will be a -message to me, and it won't tell a thing to anyone else, even if they rob -the box." - -"All right, Johnny, I'll do that." - -For a time they sat there staring at the lake. Then slowly their heads -drooped, and with arms crossed like their primitive ancestors, the -ape-men, they sat on this strange island so near and yet so far from a -great city, sat by the fire asleep, but ever ready at the slightest sound -to seize a club or a stone in defense of their lives and Ben Zook's crude -home. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - JOHNNY GETS A TIP - - -"Johnny," began the Chief as Johnny entered the office late that -afternoon, "there's a man in town I want you to watch. I want----" - -Suddenly he paused to stare at the swollen side of Johnny's head. "Who -hit you?" he asked. - -"I--I got a bump there." Johnny did not wish to tell the Chief about his -island experience. He was afraid the Chief would not like his going -against advice; and besides, if something came of this little excursion, -something really big, he felt that he had a right when the time was ripe -to spring it as a surprise. He was truly relieved when the Chief did not -press the question. - -"As I was about to say," the Chief resumed, "there's a man come to town -recently, a man I want you to get in touch with if you can. That is, I -mean locate and shadow him. The fact that he wasn't here at the time this -series of fires started doesn't necessarily prove that he hasn't a hand -in them. The brains of a gang is not always on the spot all the time. - -"This man," he leaned forward in his chair, "is credited with a dozen big -blazes in New York, and now he's come to Chicago. - -"He's been credited with them but, shrewd as the New York police are and -persistent as were the insurance patrols, not one of these fires has been -surely pinned on him. So here he is in Chicago. - -"His name is Knobs Whittaker; at least Knobs is what he goes by. The -reason for the name is that on each side of his bald head, well above his -ears, is a sort of knob. You've seen cattle that had their horns treated -when they were calves and had no horns to speak of--just knobs?" - -"Yes." - -"Well, his knobs are like that." - -"Sort of a dehorned Devil?" - -"Exactly that, from what I hear." - -"There," said the Chief after fumbling about in the pigeon holes of his -desk, "is the address where he was last seen. He was seen entering the -door that leads up the stairs to the second floor. I wish you'd go over -there this morning and give the place the once over. You may see Knobs, -though I doubt it. Anyway, fix the building in your mind and find out all -you can about it." - -"Right," said Johnny as he pocketed the slip of paper handed to him. - -The place, he noted, was on Randolph near Franklin, not five blocks from -his own room. - -"Right down town," he thought to himself. "Lot of wholesale shops in -there; shoes, plumbing goods, machinery, and the like. Very respectable -place. You wouldn't look for anything queer in there; but then, you never -can tell." - -In this conclusion Johnny was right. - -The building to which he had been directed, and where Knobs had last been -seen, proved to be a narrow four-story structure with a small square -hallway at the front. On the right side of this hallway one might read -the names of the occupants. On the first floor was a manufacturing -chemist; on the second a wholesale diamond merchant; on the third a -publisher of cheap juvenile books; and the fourth had been taken over by -the National Novelty Company, whatever that might be. - -Johnny was studying this board and beginning to wonder in a vague sort of -way if the top floor had been taken over by Knobs and if he thought his -business of setting fire as being in a way a distinct novelty, when a -broad shouldered, smooth shaven man of neat appearance alighted from the -small elevator and, as men will do, removed his hat to dust his bald head -with a silk handkerchief. - -Johnny took in the top of that head at a glance. With great difficulty he -suppressed an exclamation of surprise. Above each ear there was a -distinct, glistening knob. - -With the greatest of effort he tore his gaze from the man and, leaping -into the elevator, called hurriedly: - -"Third floor." - -He had taken the elevator because he did not wish to fall under the -suspicions glance of that man. He had chosen the third floor because he -was quite sure books were safe; this notorious firebug would have nothing -to do with them. - -"So that," he thought to himself as the elevator crept upward, "is -Knobs!" - -He found himself tremendously impressed by the appearance of the man. He -had personality, which is more than one may say of most of his kind. He -looked dangerous, a square-jawed villain who would stop at nothing. - -Because he had been so greatly impressed and also because Knobs had twice -been seen in the building, Johnny made a careful survey of the premises. -The diamond merchant's place on the second floor, he discovered, was well -wired with a noted burglar insurance company's apparatus. - -"I don't wonder at that," he told himself. "With such men as Knobs about, -it's highly necessary." - -On the third floor he found a hallway leading to a back window. The -window looked down upon the roof of a two-story building. - -"One could reach that roof at a leap if he found it necessary," he told -himself. - -He had not expected to find the Novelty Company open for business. They -weren't. - -"Guess that's about all I can discover for this time," he concluded as he -once more entered the elevator and dropped to the ground floor. - -The Chief was well pleased with his report. "Johnny," he said, "you'd -make an inspector, give you time. There's one thing you wouldn't know, -though, so I'll tell you. A chemist's establishment or a drug store is -one of the most dangerous risks an insurance company can take. That's -because if it gets on fire it goes up like a flash. There are likely to -be dangerous fumes that drive the firemen back, and perhaps an explosion; -too many chemicals about and in time of fire they raise the very deuce! - -"You don't understand why that is, eh? Well, that's because you're no -chemist. I've dabbled into it a bit, and you'd better when you get time. -It pays to know a little about many things, and a lot about one thing. -That's what makes a useful citizen out of a man. - -"I'll tell you about those chemicals. There's always lots of chlorides -and sulphur about a chemist's shop. If the chlorides are heated at all -they give up oxygen, and oxygen will make anything burn--a wrought-iron -pipe or a steel crowbar. The sulphur mixes in and that makes a fire that -nothing can stop. It laughs at water. As for chemical engines, it gives -them the roaring Ha! Ha! When a fire like that burns out it don't much -matter what you had in the beginning; all you've got in the end is ashes, -and mighty fine ashes at that." - -Johnny listened to this lecture with intense interest. When it was over -he sat in a brown study from which he emerged to exclaim: - -"That's queer!" - -"Nothing queer about it," protested the Chief, "just nature takin' her -course, that's all." - -"That's not what I meant," said Johnny. "I meant it was queer that -there'd be a diamond merchant's place above a chemist warehouse. Queer -combination, don't you think?" - -"Yes, queer enough, but you do get some queer ones. Diamond merchant has -his fire insurance, though, the same as others. Rate would be high; but -low rent probably makes up the difference. Besides, chemists' places are -not as dangerous as they used to be; there are laws regulating the amount -of the dangerous stuff they may keep in any one place." - -"Are inspections frequent?" - -"Not as frequent as they should be." - -"Honest inspectors?" - -"I don't know. That doesn't come in my department." - -There the discussion ended, but Johnny pondered long over that diamond -merchant's place above a chemist's shop. In the end, however, he forgot -it to think of his flat-bottomed boat and the marsh south of the city. He -had promised to take Mazie out there late this afternoon. She had -listened eagerly to the story of his adventure out there, and had said -she thought the place must be "perfectly bewitching." - -Johnny was not so sure about that. He had a wholesome awe of the place -since that shot. - -"But of course," he had said at last, "that fellow just happened to run -across me before I left the city, and followed me out there. There'd be -no danger a second time--no danger at all." - -So in the end he had promised to go. They planned to take their lunch -along, to arrive about an hour before sundown and to stay for a look at -the moon rising over the marsh. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - THE MYSTERY MAN OF THE MARSH - - -The moon was just rising out of the marsh; turning the dark rushes to a -deep bottle green and spreading a bar of gold down a channel. For two -solid hours Johnny had managed to throw off his problems and worries and -the strange grip of mysteries that had held him so long. In those two -delightful hours he had been just a boy, paddling about an enchanted -marsh in twilight and gathering darkness. - -With his good pal Mazie, he had eaten the lion's share of a lunch such as -only Mazie could prepare; strangely delicious little sandwiches and cake -that melted in your mouth, pears from a glass jar, cold chicken, and a -thermos bottle of steaming cocoa. Johnny had enjoyed all this. - -And now, side by side on the narrow seat of the flat-bottomed boat, they -sat through a half hour of deep enchantment, watching the moon rise. For -a long time they sat in silence, and who can know what were the long, -long thoughts that came to them? - -Whatever they were, they were destined to come to an abrupt end. -Suddenly, as his ear caught an unaccustomed sound, Johnny put a finger -over Mazie's lips, then stood straight up to allow his eyes to sweep the -marsh. The next instant he motioned Mazie down as he dropped flat in the -bottom of the boat. For a moment they lay very still. - -"Wha--what is it?" Mazie whispered. - -"Sh!" Johnny's all but inaudible whisper answered back. "Not so loud. -Some men can shoot accurately at sound. It was often done during the war. -I heard the dip of an oar and caught the gleam of a rifle. It's--it's the -mysterious one! It must be. Lie perfectly still. Not a sound. Perhaps he -didn't see me." - -"I--I won't move, Johnny." - -Johnny knew that Mazie was frightened, for he felt the wild beating of -her heart against his shoulder. But he knew she was game, too, and was -proud of her for that. - -Fifteen minutes they lay there in the bottom of the boat. Speaking in the -lowest whispers, scarcely daring to breath, they listened intently, but -caught no further sound. - -"Listen, Mazie," whispered Johnny at last, "we can't stay here all -night." - -"No, we can't." - -"Are you afraid to stay here alone for a minute or two?" - -"N--no. But what are you going to do?" she asked in sudden alarm. - -"I'm going after that fellow." - -"Johnny! You'll be killed!" - -"He'll not harm me. It's the only way out. I'm going." - -With a grip of her hand he signalled farewell, then with astonishing -dexterity he got over the side of the boat and into the water without a -sound. - -Swimming down the channel until he was opposite the spot where he judged -the man to have been, he at last began parting the rushes and making his -way slowly through them. He had not gone ten yards when he caught sight -of a black form directly before him. - -"That's him!" he breathed. "He's in a boat. There's a channel there." - -Lest he be detected and fired upon, he worked his way back to his own -channel, swam rapidly up this channel and then crossed the stretch of -rushes to the other side. - -For a time after that he swam noiselessly in the shadow of rushes down -the channel toward the mysterious one's boat, swam until he made out the -form of an oval bottomed, clinker-built boat. A tall man was standing up -in it. Johnny again caught the gleam of a rifle barrel. - -Johnny took one deep, silent breath, then disappeared under the water. - -Swimming strongly under water, he came up to the right of the boat and -almost directly beneath it. He could hear the man's deep breathing and -caught fragments of husky mutterings. - -"Now's the time," Johnny thought to himself. - -Gripping the edge of the boat he gave it a sudden upward thrust which all -but capsized it. There followed at once a small splash and a large one. - -"His rifle goes--now he takes the plunge," thought Johnny as his heart -went racing. - -"He's safe enough now. He'll not find his rifle at the bottom in this -darkness. He's a tiger without his fangs." - -Johnny even had the temerity to lift himself up as high as he could in -the water and peer over the boat. - -It was then that he got a real shock. The man was nowhere to be seen. - -"Huh! He can't have drowned," Johnny reasoned. - -The next instant a thought struck him which set him doing the Australian -crawl with a vengeance. The man may have known the general direction of -their boat and might have gone for it. If he had, what of Mazie? - -After three minutes of breathless swimming, Johnny arrived in their -channel to find his fears unfounded. Everything was as serene as when he -had left it. - -"Come on," he said to Mazie as he climbed into the boat, "we're going to -get out of here." - -Seizing a long pole, he stood boldly upright in the boat and sent it -shooting through the water. Ten minutes later he beached his boat, then -dragged it to a low shed which served as boat-house. - -As he turned about from snapping the padlock, the moon came suddenly out -from behind a cloud and shone down one of those long channels of the -marsh. In the midst of a channel was a clinker-built boat--and a man was -standing in it. - -"That's him," Johnny chuckled, "I--I'm sort of glad he didn't drown. Bet -he hasn't got his rifle, though. I'd like to swim back there and beat him -up." - -He did not yield to this mad impulse. Mazie was pulling at his sleeve and -saying in her most persuasive tone: - -"Come on. Let's go home." - -"All right," smiled Johnny, slapping the water from his soaked trousers, -"guess we'd better." - -"All the same," he mused, "I'd like to know where that fellow stays and -how he always happens to be about the marsh at the same time I am." - -"It's something more than a happening," said Mazie seriously, "and since -you don't learn anything by coming, it might be well to stay away." - -"Might," agreed Johnny. - -"But for all that," he thought to himself, "I'm going back out there some -time and prowl about the edge of the marsh a bit. That fellow may live -out there somewhere." He thought of the black shack at the edge of the -marsh. - -"Johnny," said Mazie as they rode home, "let's go somewhere to-morrow -night; some place where we won't be bothered and where we can have some -fun." - -"For instance?" - -"Why not Forest City?" - -"I don't mind. Chute the chutes, roll down the roller coaster, and -everything; good old stuff that never grows old." - -"Something like that," smiled Mazie. "Anyway, it's a lot of fun to see -people having a roaring time of it. And they really do enjoy it. Don't -you think so?" - -"Yes," said Johnny, "and I might as well admit it, I enjoy it myself; -makes me think of the picnics and county fairs I used to go to when I was -a small boy. All right, we'll go." - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - JOHNNY REPORTS TO THE CHIEF - - -"How much progress are you making on your investigation?" the Chief asked -Johnny as he came in next morning. - -"Three suspects and no arrests," smiled Johnny. - -"Tell me about them." - -"There's the one you gave me--Knobs." - -"Know anything new about him?" - -"Not a thing." - -"And the others? Tell me about them." - -Johnny told of the pink-eyed man and the tall stooped one who limped. -Without thinking much about it, he told the Chief for the first time of -his visits to the marsh, of his mysterious assailant out there, and of -his fight with the unknown man on Ben Zook's island. - -The Chief listened intently. "You don't always take another's judgment -about things, do you?" - -"In--in what way?" - -"I told you I thought that the man who went out on the breakwater toward -that made land you call Ben Zook's island had been drowned." - -"Why--yes, that's what you did." - -"You didn't think so?" - -"I thought he might not have drowned." - -"What do you think now?" - -"He didn't drown." - -"You can't prove it." - -"No, but I will. You'd know the man if you saw him again? Or his -picture?" - -"Yes." - -"I'll prove it, then. Just give me time." - -For a moment the Chief sat wrapped in deep thought. Then of a sudden he -said: - -"You have a rather unusual method of picking suspects." - -"In what way?" - -"When the police have a criminal to catch, a crime to clear up, they go -over the list of criminals who work at such crimes, then they check up on -those persons, possibly shadowing them for days. But you--you simply go -to a fire and pick a man who seems particularly interested in the fire. -You say to yourself: 'He might be the man.' Then you start shadowing -him." - -"But if you see him at three or four fires? Doesn't that look bad?" -Johnny asked. - -"Not necessarily. Some persons are just natural cranks when it comes to -fires. They'd get out of bed at midnight to go to one. For instance, take -that pink-eyed fellow you've been telling about. It's a well known fact -that those pink-eyed people, albinos they are called, are like owls; they -see best at night. The bright light of day appears to blind them, so they -like to prowl around at night. This fellow may be that sort and may have -taken up with the running down of fires as an innocent hobby." - -"That's right enough," said Johnny, "but on the other hand some clever -gang of criminals may have noticed his night prowling and may have -induced him to join them in setting blazes. And besides, these fires are -different, aren't they? Did anyone ever go about the task of setting fire -to all the city's property before?" - -"No." - -"Or any other city's?" - -"Not that I know of." - -"It's a very special case then, and a special case requires special -methods. When I see a man at four fires I'm going to watch him. And, -believe me, if I ever see one of those two again I'll have him arrested. -And that goes double for old limpie hooknose! When you see a man at fire -after fire; when you chase him and he risks his life to escape from you; -when someone very much like him, in a place where you suspect him of -being, leaps out at you and all but does you in; when someone very like -him twice hunts you in a marsh where you're trying to enjoy yourself, you -can't help but feel that you're on the right track." - -"Does sound like there was something in it," argued the Chief. "But, -after all, you have positively identified the man only twice, at the two -fires, and on neither of these occasions was he doing anything he could -be arrested for. If he were to walk into this room at this very moment -you might take him to jail, but unless he happened to be carrying -damaging evidence on his person you'd have to turn him loose. You really -haven't anything on him--and you can't hold an innocent man." - -"He ran when we chased him." - -"Honest people often do that." - -"Well," Johnny paused in thought, "you wait. Give me time. I'll bring you -something yet, see if I don't!" - -That evening as Johnny descended to the ground floor on his way to keep -his appointment with Mazie, he was surprised to find an orange wrapper in -the box behind the door. So Ben Zook had remembered the signal! - -"Ben Zook," he whispered, "he has something to tell me. That man has been -back on Ben's island. I must go out there. I wish--" he paused, -irresolute, "no, I promised Mazie, and I won't go back on my word. I'll -go out and see Ben Zook when I come back--if it's not too late, and I -imagine it's never too late for him." - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - JOHNNY'S DARK DREAMS - - -Forest City was a place of many marvels; at least so it had seemed to -Mazie in the days when, dressed in rompers, she had come there to play. -The moment you entered the gate you came in sight of two very merry -giants, reposing upon a carpet of green and dressed in suits of red and -white checkers, six inches to each checker, each with his head propped -upon an elbow and putting out a red tongue at you. - -The giants of course were made of stucco, and the field they reposed upon -was the side of the building, also made of stucco. That mattered little. -The place was one of enchantment and the merry giants guarded the -pleasant mysteries of it all. - -Immediately behind the giants was a great room where, for a single thin -dime, you might purchase any number of thrills. You might try walking -through a revolving tank; walking up a stairway that went down as fast as -you went up; sliding down a wooden chute that had ten times as many bumps -in it as a dromedary has humps. You might try any number of things that -would set you screaming with delight or thrilling with sudden and quite -groundless fear. - -Nor was this all. There was the skating rink and the City of Venice where -you glided in slow moving boats amid stately plaster-of-Paris castles and -ancient ruins of the same general composition. There was the palace of -mirrors; the chute the chutes; the ferris wheel, and, best and most -terrible of all, the roller coaster, a contrivance that, providing you -had never ridden upon it before, was capable of crowding a great many -thrills into a short minute of time. - -To Mazie and Johnny, who, after all, were yet quite young, this place had -never lost its charm. They entered into the gayety as wildly as the rest; -at least Johnny had on every other occasion. This time Mazie found him -every now and again pausing to stand and stare at the teeming thousands -of men, women and children. He would stare for a full minute, then with a -sudden start would say: - -"C'mon, let's go in here," or "Let's go over there." - -At last, after leading him to a refreshment stand where they ordered a -cooling drink, Mazie turned to him with a sudden question: - -"What's the matter with you to-night?" - -"I don't know," said Johnny slowly. "Mazie, do you believe in -premonitions?" - -"What's that? Some new religion?" - -"No. It's seeing things before they come to pass." - -"I don't know. Why?" - -"Well, it's strange. C'mon, let's go over there and sit down." - -"There!" he exclaimed a moment later as they sat on a bench, with the -throngs marching, parade-like, past them, "There! I saw it again!" - -"It's like this," he said, mopping his brow. "I'll be walking along here -looking at those faces--mostly happy faces, aren't they?" - -"Yes." - -"They ought to be happy. This is their play time and their play place." - -"Yes, Johnny, but what then?" - -"Why, then of a sudden I see the look on those faces change. A look of -terror comes upon them. I seem to see them crowding and crushing, -trampling upon one another as they try in mad despair to escape from -something." Again he mopped his brow. - -"Escape from what, Johnny?" Mazie whispered. - -"Fire," Johnny whispered tensely. - -Then, gripping the girl's arm until it hurt, he fairly hissed: "Mazie, I -tell you this place is doomed! I can see it all too plain. It's a -premonition, a warning of the firebug. If only I knew when and how!" - -"You only dream it," said Mazie. "The old fires and firebugs have got on -your nerves." - -"No, Mazie," said Johnny more soberly, "it's more than that. Perhaps you -might call it a hunch. It's all of that. It's the thing to expect. That -firebug has burned school houses, a recreation center, the zoo. He seems -to be bent on destroying everything that brings happiness to people. Why -not this place next? And think what it would mean, Mazie! Think of ten -thousand, maybe twenty or thirty thousand people, half of them children, -gliding in boats through the City of Venice; children on the roller -coaster and the chute the chutes; children a hundred feet in air on the -Ferris wheel; board walks thronged with people; and then, of a sudden, -the cry of 'FIRE! FIRE!' My God, Mazie, think! Think! Mazie, somehow I -must get that man!" - -"Johnny," said Mazie, "are there any people in the world who hate -happiness?" - -"Plenty of them, I suppose; enemies of happiness." - -"Don't you think your firebug is one of them?" - -"He might be." - -"If he isn't, what could be his motive? He has nothing to gain." - -"No; that's right. Most fires that are set are set for gain. A man -secretly moves his insured stock away, then sets fire to his building, or -hires some firebug to do it, that he may collect insurance on goods that -were not burned. There is nothing of that in this. Sometimes revenge is -the cause. But what could one man have against a whole city?" - -"What could he?" - -"Nothing. Our firebug must be an enemy of happiness." - -"Why don't you have the Chief round up all such persons? Your firebug -might be among them." - -"That might work. I'll suggest it. Those people, though, are hard to -find." - -"Come on," said Johnny after a moment's thought, "let's get out of here, -it makes me uncomfortable staying here. I'm afraid I'll see it again." - -They left the grounds and took a car for Mazie's house. There, amid the -cushions in Mazie's cozy corner and with a cup of steaming cocoa before -him, Johnny managed to snatch from this night of unhappy dreams one -little moment of happiness. - -After that, having thought of his resolve to visit Ben Zook yet that -night, he rose and bade Mazie good-night. - -"Good-night, Johnny," she smiled as they parted, "and good luck." - -"Let us hope for it," Johnny's smile was a dubious one. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - BEN ZOOK'S DIAMONDS - - -In the earlier days of Johnny's experiences on the Chicago river, he had -made many strange friends. Among them was an old man who owned a boat, a -clumsy but quite seaworthy craft in which he was accustomed to paddle -about the river and at times even on the lake. This boat had been kept in -a small brick structure close to the base of a wharf. The old man had -once shown Johnny where he kept the key and had told him to help himself -to the boat whenever he needed it for a short trip. He had not seen this -old man since his return to the city. - -"Wonder if he's still alive, and if his boat and the key are still -there?" he said to himself as he neared the river. "If it is, that's the -surest way to get out to Ben Zook's island." - -A few moments' walk brought him to the spot. The key was there in its old -place and, once the door was open, Johnny found the boat in its place and -in good repair. The grips of the oars were worn smooth from recent use. A -warm feeling swept over Johnny at this discovery. In this ever changing -world it is good to discover that an old time friend is still in the land -of the living. - -"Just take you out for a little exercise," he whispered to the boat as he -sent her gliding into the water. - -It was a glorious night for a row. A low-hanging, golden moon, a lake -that was ripply but not too rough, and balmy night air--who could ask for -more? Johnny's splendid muscles relaxed and expanded, expanded and -relaxed with the harmony of a well directed orchestra. - -"Fine!" he breathed, "I'll soon be there." - -He was, too; almost sooner than he wished. He regretted the necessity of -bringing this grand little trip to an end, but the hour was late. - -Just as he turned to leave the boat a faint delicious odor smote his -nostrils. - -"Hot dog!" he exclaimed as he went racing over the rubbish heaps that lay -between the shore and Ben's cabin. - -In his eagerness he forgot that Ben Zook was not expecting him. - -The look of alarm which appeared on the little old man's face as he -sprang to his feet at sound of footsteps sent a stab of self-reproach to -the boy's heart. - -"It's only me, Ben, only Johnny Thompson!" he shouted reassuringly. - -The next moment he was shaking the island hermit's hand and sniffing -delightedly. - -"Hot dog!" he said again. - -"Yep, Johnny, you diagnosed the case. Old man eatin' hot dog this time of -night. Ought to die of indigestion. Draw up a chair and help yourself. - -"Don't fall over my heatin' plant," he warned as Johnny, taking a step -backward, struck something that gave forth a hollow sound. - -"What is it?" he asked. - -"My heatin' plant; goin' to be when I get her installed. Goin' to be -good'n cold out here this winter. House is too small for a stove. Goin' -to be stylish, I am; have a outside hot water plant. That old tank is -good as new. There's old pipe enough round the dumps to make my coils and -radiation. I'll borrow tools some day and put her together. - -"Johnny," the old man exclaimed as he helped him to a piping hot -frankfurter on a stick, then settled back in a huge arm chair, "you'd be -surprised at the things that get brought out here. This chair now; pretty -nifty, eh?" - -"Looks all right." - -"Found her out here. There's about everything you want out here; bricks, -coal, wood, milk bottles, cookin' utensils, three or four baby buggies -an' everything else. - -"And, Johnny," his voice dropped almost to a whisper, "the other day I -found something that looks real valuable. Mebby you'll take it over town -an' see. Mebby you would, Johnny. They wouldn't think nothin' of it if -you had it, but if I took it over an' it was the real thing, they'd take -me by the neck an' say: 'Ben, you been stealin'.'" - -Going back into the back corner of his house, he loosened a brick in the -floor and drew out a small black velvet case. - -"There't is, Johnny. Saw it stickin' out from the end of a heap of ashes. -Wind'd been blowin' middlin' stiff an' had blowed a lot o' fine stuff -away so it showed. Open her up." - -Johnny started as the lid was lifted. A flash of light that made the -firelight seem dim had struck his eye. - -"Diamonds," he breathed. - -"I dunno, Johnny. I thought it might be so." - -Reaching up, Johnny took a small mirror from the wall. Then, taking a -diamond set in a pin from the case, he drew it across the glass. There -followed a scratching sound. As he lifted the diamond away he saw a -distinct white line on the glass. - -"Looks like the real thing," he said in a low tone. "Can't be quite sure. -And what a lot of 'em! This one, a brooch with six; a lavalliere with -four; two ear-rings with one each; and four loose ones. If they're real, -they're a fortune. Been stolen, I suppose?" - -"That's what I figured, Johnny. Stole, then the thief had a hard time to -make a clean getaway. He hides 'em in a ash can, intendin' to come back -for 'em. The ashman comes along and away they go." - -"Might be right," said Johnny. - -"You'll take 'em over and see about 'em, Johnny?" - -"Glad to." He put the case in his pocket. - -"Have another hot dog, Johnny?" - -"Sure will." - -"You got my message? The orange wrapper?" - -Johnny nodded. - -"He's been at it again." - -"Who? At what?" - -"That big stooped man with a limp. He's been out here again, standin' on -the shore close to the city an' shakin' his fists an' cursin' worse'n a -pirate." - -"He has?" Johnny was surprised. "What did you do?" - -"Well, I tried to get close to him but a stone rolled under my foot an' I -guess he heard me. Anyway, he went lopin' off like a antelope, an' that's -all I saw of him." - -"Queer he'd come back out here," Johnny mused. Then of a sudden a thought -struck him. Perhaps this man was not a firebug at all, but a thief. -Perhaps this case of diamonds had not been brought out here in a dump -wagon, but by this strange man. Perhaps he had hidden it here. Perhaps -there were other cases hidden on the island. He thought of the diamond -merchant's place on Randolph Street, and of that man Knobs haunting the -same building. What if Knobs and the hooked nose man with the limp were -in a partnership of crime? Well, at least it was something to think -about. - -"Do you know, Johnny," said Ben Zook, suddenly changing the subject, -"I've got to sort of like this island. 'Tain't much account as it is, all -broken bricks and dust, but in time grass would grow on it--tall grass -that waves and sort of sighs in the breeze. I'd like it a lot, then, -Johnny." Ben's voice grew earnest "I'd like to own this island; like to -have it always to myself." - -"You don't want this island, Ben," said Johnny quietly. "Let me tell you -what it's going to be like, and then I'm sure you wouldn't want it all to -yourself. Ben, bye-and-bye all this rough ground is going to be smoothed -down. The island will be broadened and fine rich dirt will be hauled on. -Grass will be sown and pretty soon it will all be green. Trees will be -planted and squirrels will come to live in them." - -"I'd like that, Johnny." - -"There will probably be a gravel walk winding in and out among the -trees," Johnny continued. "Tired women with little children, women from -those hot cramped flats you know of in the heart of the city, will come -here with their children. They'll sit on the grass and let the cool lake -breeze fan their cheeks while their children go frolicking away after the -squirrels or throw crumbs to pigeons and sparrows. - -"There'll be a lagoon between this island and the shore, a lagoon of -smooth, deep water. There will be boat houses and nice clean-hearted boys -will bring nice girls out here to take them riding in the boats. - -"And perhaps on a fine Sunday afternoon there will be a band concert and -thousands will come out to hear it. But you know, Ben, if you had it all -to yourself they couldn't do any of these things. You don't really want -it now, do you, Ben?" - -"No, Johnny, I don't." - -For a time Ben was thoughtful. When at last he spoke his voice sounded -far away. - -"I've tried never to be selfish, Johnny. Guess mebby if I'd held on to -things more, not given so many fellows that was down and out a boost, I'd -have more of my own. That's a fine dream you got for Ben Zook's island. -I'd be mighty proud of it, Johnny. I shore would." Again he was silent -for a long time. - -"Johnny," he said at last, "do you see that path of gold the moon's a -paintin' on the lake?" - -"Yes, Ben." - -"Sort of reminds me of a notion I had when I was a boy about the path to -Heaven. Foolish notion, I guess; sort of thought when the time come you -just walked right up there. - -"Foolish notion; but Johnny, here's a sort of idea I've worked out -settin' thinkin' here all by myself. It's a heap of fun to live, Johnny. -I get a lot out of it; it's just like I'd never grown up, like I was just -a boy playin' round. - -"And you know, Johnny, when I was a boy there was a big family of us and -we always had a lot to do. I'd be playin' with the other boys, and then -suddenly my mother'd call: - -"'Ben, come here.' - -"Just like that. And I'd go, Johnny; always went straight off, but before -I went I'd say: - -"'Well, so long, fellers, I got to go now.' I'd say it just like that. - -"And you know, Johnny, I've been playin' round most of my life an' havin' -a lot of fun, even if other folks do call it workin', so when that last -call comes from somewhere way up above I sort of have a feelin' that -it'll come from someone a lot bigger an' wiser than me, just like my -mother was when I was a boy. An' I hope I'll be brave enough to say, just -as I used to say then: - -"'Well, good-bye fellers, I got to go now.' Don't you hope so, Johnny?" - -"I hope so, Ben," Johnny's voice had grown husky. - -"An', Johnny, when my mother called me it wasn't ever because she felt -contrary and wanted to spoil my fun; it was always because she had -something useful she wanted me to do for the bunch. I'm sort of hopin', -Johnny, when that last call comes it'll be for the same reason, because -the one that's a lot bigger an' wiser than me had got somethin' useful he -wants me to do for the bunch of us. Do you think it'll be that way, -Johnny?" - -"I--I'm sure it will, Ben. But Ben, you're not very old. That time's a -long way off." - -"I hope so, Johnny. It's a grand privilege to live. But you can't tell, -Johnny; you can't, can you now?" - -For a long time after that they sat there in silence. Johnny was slowly -beginning to realize that he liked this strange little Ben Zook with his -heart of gold. - -"Look, Johnny!" Ben exclaimed. "A fire!" - -"What! Another?" cried Johnny. - -"Down there by the water front." - -Johnny followed his gaze to the south where there was a great blaze -against the sky. - -"It's queer," he said after ten seconds of watching. "It doesn't really -seem to be on the shore. Looks as if it were on the far end of this -island." - -"The island, Johnny? What could burn like that out here? Look at her leap -toward the sky!" - -"All the same, it is. Come on, Ben. We may learn something. Arm yourself, -Ben. It may mean a fight." - -As he said this Johnny picked up a scrap of gas pipe two feet long. "I've -not forgotten what you said about striking first and arguing after," he -chuckled. - -"I'll take the hand grenades," said Ben, loading an arm with half bricks. - -Thus armed, they hurried away over a rough path that ran the length of -the island. - -They had not covered half the distance to the end when the flare of light -began to die down. It vanished with surprising rapidity. Scarcely had -they gone a dozen paces, after it began to wane, when the place where it -had been, for lack of that brilliant illumination, appeared darker than -the rest of the island. - -"What about that?" Ben Zook stopped short in his tracks. - -"Come on! Come fast!" exclaimed Johnny, determined to arrive at the scene -of this strange spectacle before the last glowing spark had blinked out. - -As he rushed along pell-mell, stumbling over a brick here, leaping a -mound of clay there, quite heedless of any danger that might surround -him, he might have proven a fair target for a shot from ambush. - -No shot came, and in time he came to a comparatively level spot of sand -in the center of which there glowed a few coals. - -After bending over these for an instant he scraped away the last -remaining sparks with his bit of gas pipe, then stood there silently -waiting for the thing to cool. - -"What was it?" Ben asked as he came up. - -"Don't know." - -Johnny drew a flashlight from his pocket and threw its circle of light on -the spot. - -"Listen!" whispered Ben, pulling at Johnny's coat sleeve and pointing -toward the lagoon. Faintly, yet quite distinctly, Johnny heard the creak -of oar locks. - -"A boat," he whispered back. - -"Yes, Johnny, they was somebody out here. And I bet you it was--that -man!" - -"The limping man?" - -"Yes." - -"Well, what do you suppose was the reason for the bonfire?" Johnny bent -over to pick up a fragment of black cardboard heavily coated with black -paint. This was curved about, forming the segment of a circle. The inside -of the circle was black and charred like the inside of a giant -firecracker that has been exploded. - -Immediately Johnny's mind was rife with solutions for this fresh mystery. -The men were thieves. They had come to this deserted spot at night to -divide their loot and to burn any damaging evidence, such as papers, -wrappers and whatever else might be connected with it. They were -smugglers. The flare of light was a signal to some craft lying far out on -the lake, telling them that all was clear and that they might run in. -Other possible solutions came to him, but not one of them seemed at all -certain. So, in the end, having pocketed the one bit of evidence, he -walked back with Ben to his shack. There he promised Ben to return soon -to sit out a watch with him on the island; then going down to his boat, -he pushed her off. - -An hour later he was in his own bed fast asleep, with Ben Zook's diamonds -safe under his pillows. - -His last waking thought had been that if those were real diamonds there -would be a reward for their return, and that the reward should go to Ben -Zook. It would at least be a start toward the purchase of his -long-dreamed-of poultry ranch in the country. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - THE STRANGE BLACK CYLINDERS - - -The forenoon was all but gone when Johnny stirred in his bed, then sat up -abruptly to stare about him. He had been dreaming, and woven into the web -of his dreams was the face and figure of his one time fellow adventurer, -Panther Eye, known familiarly as "Pant." He had dreamed of seeing the -dark fights and narrow escapes, and had dreamed of seeing red lights -against a night sky, and blinding white flares. In his dreams he had -again fought a mountain feud. All this with Pant at his side. - -"I wish he were here!" Johnny exclaimed as he threw back the covers and -leaped from his bed. "He'd put the thing together letter by letter, word -by word, like a cross-word puzzle, and somehow make a whole of it. The -fire at the school; the pink-eyed stranger; the more terrible fire that -endangered Mazie's life; the big stooping man with a limp; the fire at -the Zoo; my experience at Ben Zook's island and at the marsh; for him all -these would fit together somehow. But to me they are little more than -fragments of the sort of stuff life's made of. Where's the affair to end? -I'd like to know that." - -Seizing a pen, he wrote a telegram to Pant. Pant, as you will remember -from reading that other book, "The Hidden Trail," had remained behind to -finish a task he had begun in the Cumberland Mountains. - -"No," Johnny said to himself after reading the telegram, "he wouldn't -come," and he tore the paper in four pieces and threw it in the waste -basket. - -Drawing the fragment of a black cylinder from his pocket, he studied it -carefully. - -"That ought to mean something to me," he mumbled, "but it doesn't; not a -thing in the world." - -From a box in the corner he dragged a desk telephone, the one he had -salvaged from the Zoo. - -"This," he said, "would tell a story if only it could talk. And why can't -you?" He shook his fist at the instrument. "What's a telephone for if not -for talking?" - -Since the instrument did not respond, for the twentieth time Johnny -unwound its wires and sat there staring at them. There was the usual pair -of rather heavily insulated wires and a second pair of lighter ones, -about twenty feet long. - -"I ought to know what those second wires are for," he said again, "but I -don't. I told the Chief of Detectives about it, and he laughed at me and -said: 'Do you think there's someone with a tongue hot enough to set fire -to a house just by talking over the telephone? There's some hot ones, but -not as hot as that!' He laughed at his own joke, then saw me politely out -of the room, thinking all the time, I don't doubt, that I was a young nut -with a cracked head. So, old telephone, if your secret is to be revealed -you'll have to tell it, or I'll be obliged to discover it." - -Putting the telephone back in the box, he took the jewel case from -beneath his pillow. As he saw the jewels in the light of day he was more -sure than ever that they were genuine. - -"I fancy," he mused, "that the Chief of Detectives will be a trifle more -interested in this than in my telephone, though in my estimation it's not -half as important. But of course there's sure to be a reward. I mustn't -forget that. It's to be for Ben Zook." - -The Chief of Detectives was interested, both interested and surprised. He -set his best clerk working on the record of stolen diamonds. In less than -five minutes the clerk had the record before him. - -"These diamonds," he said, looking hard at Johnny, "were stolen from -Barker's on Madison Street two weeks ago last night. The value is four -thousand dollars." - -"And the reward?" said Johnny calmly. - -"Eh, what?" - -"How much reward?" - -"Nothing's been said about a reward." - -"All right. Good-bye." Calmly pocketing the case, Johnny started from the -door. - -"Here! Here! Stop that young fool!" stormed the Chief of Detectives. - -"Well," said Johnny defiantly, "what sort of cheap piker is this man -Barker? It's not for myself, but for a friend who needs it." - -"Tell me about it," said the detective, bending over and beckoning him -close. - -Johnny told the story so well that the Chief got Barker on the wire and -pried an even five hundred dollars out of that tight fisted merchant -before he would promise the return of the diamonds. - -"That'll set your friend Zook up in business," smiled the Chief of -Detectives as a half hour later he handed Johnny a valuable yellow slip. -"And say, weren't you in here a day or two ago with some story about a -telephone and a firebug?" - -"Yes sir." - -"Didn't take much stock in it, did I?" - -"No, you didn't." - -"You bring that back and tell me about it again. I thought you were a -fresh kid and a bit addled, but by Jove, you've got a head on your -shoulders and it ain't stuffed with excelsior above the ears, either." - -"I'll do what you say," said Johnny, "but first I'd like to run down -another hunch if you don't object." - -"No objections. Run down as many as you care to. Bring 'em all in. Mebby -I can help you, and more'n likely you can help me." - -Johnny left the place with a jubilant heart. He had enough money now to -buy Ben Zook a small ranch. He knew the very place, a half acre, ten -miles from the city limits, a sloping bank with oak trees on it and a -cabin at its edge, and a touch of green pasture land with a brook at the -bottom. Wouldn't Ben Zook revel in it? And wouldn't his salvaged poultry -thrive there? - -He wanted to row right out and tell Ben about it at once. Had he been -able to read the future he would most assuredly have done so, but since -he could only see one step ahead, and had planned to revisit the marsh -and have a look at that black shack at its edge, in the end he cashed the -check for five hundred and deposited it in a savings account for safe -keeping. After that he took a train for the marsh. - -An hour later, with a feeling of dread that was not far from fear, and -was closely connected with his startling and mysterious experiences on -two other occasions, he found himself approaching the black shack. - -Since this shack was built on the side of the marsh nearest to the lake, -it was flanked by low, rolling sand-dunes. This made it easy for Johnny -to approach the shack without being seen by anyone who might be inside. - -After crawling to within fifty feet of it he lay down behind a low clump -of willows, determined to watch the place for awhile. After an hour of -patient watching, his patience deserted him. Gripping something firmly in -his hand, he advanced boldly forward until he was within arm's reach of -the building. - -There for a time he stood listening. His footsteps on the sand made no -sound. If there were people in the shack they could not be aware of his -approach. - -Nerving himself for quick action and possible attack, he stepped round -the corner to look quickly in at the window. - -Then he laughed softly to himself. There had been no need for all this -precaution. Inside the shack was but a single room. In that room there -was one person, and that person lay stretched full length upon a couch -with his face turned toward the wall. To all appearances he was sound -asleep. - -Seeing this, Johnny proceeded to make a calm survey of the room. In one -corner stood a table and chair. On the table were dirty dishes, an empty -can, and a loaf of bread. - -In a back corner stood a rifle, and across from that some strange looking -black cylinders. It was the cylinders that interested Johnny. But -realizing that he could get a better look at them from the only other -window of the place, he contented himself, for the moment, with a careful -look at the man. The face could not be seen, but there was about the -large, heavy frame and rounded shoulders something vaguely familiar. -Still, after all was said and done, Johnny could not be sure that he had -ever seen the fellow before, and certainly he did not feel disposed to -waken him to find out. - -He passed around to the other window and for a full five minutes studied -those black cylinders. They were strange affairs, about four inches in -diameter and two feet in length. They resembled huge firecrackers coated -black. Instead of fuse, however, each one had on its end two small shiny -screws such as are found at the top of a dry battery. - -"Probably what they are," was Johnny's mental comment, "just big dry -batteries." - -Yet he could not quite convince himself that this was true. In the end, -however, he concluded that was the nearest he could come to it at a -guess, and since a guess was all he was to get that day, he moved away -from the cabin and was soon lost in the sand dunes. - -"Never saw any batteries half that big," he grumbled to himself as he -trudged along, "and besides, what would he be doing with them out here?" - -Again he trudged forward for a half mile in silence. Then, of a sudden he -came to a dead stop, turned about, made as if to retrace his steps, then -appearing to think better of it, stood there for a moment in deep -meditation. - -"It might be true," he murmured to himself. "It don't seem possible, yet -it might be, and if it is, then the fellow could be miles away when the -thing happens. And if it is true, then that solves it." - -"But then," he added thoughtfully as he resumed his march toward the -station, "it seems altogether too fanciful." - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - THE UNANSWERED CALL - - -Since there were no new clues to be followed out, and because he had -grown tired of haunting the central fire station with its incessant -clatter of telegraph instruments and its eternal flashes of light, at ten -o'clock that night Johnny went again to the river and taking his old -friend's boat from its place of concealment rowed slowly toward Ben -Zook's island. The lake was calm as a millpond and there was no reason -for strenuous rowing. Then, too, he wished to think as he rowed. Johnny -was one of those fellows who thought best in action. - -His thoughts that night were long, long thoughts, long and tangled. It -was as if he had a half dozen skeins of yarn all tangled together and was -trying to find the ends of each and to disentangle it from the others. - -His mind was still working upon those black cylinders out in the black -shack. He had a feeling that the man he had seen asleep out there was -none other than the one who had twice gone gunning for him out there in -the marsh. If that were true and if he were the man who had been at the -Simons Building fire and at the Zoo and later on Ben Zook's island, then -those black cylinders must have some significance. - -He smiled at this complicated chain of circumstances. "Fat chance!" he -murmured to himself. "And yet that might be true, and if it is there's -some connection between the telephone with double wiring and that scrap -of black pasteboard we found on the island after that blaze. - -"Black pasteboard!" he exclaimed suddenly. "That's it! The piece we found -is part of one of those cylinders!" - -"But if it is," he said more soberly a moment later, "then why would they -burn it out here on Ben's island? Lot's of sense to that!" - -So in the end he got nowhere in his thought unravelling process. However, -his arms were working mechanically all the time and he was nearing the -island. As he thought of this he suddenly sat straight up and, as if -eager to reach his goal, began to row with all his power. - -He was eager, too, for he suddenly recalled that he was bound on a very -pleasant mission. Was he not to tell Ben Zook that at any time he wished -he might leave the island for a place of trees, green grass, flowing -water and a real cabin of fair dimensions? Small wonder that he hurried. - -As he neared the shore his heart warmed at thought of the smile that -would come to the face of the kindly, cheerful, little old man. - -"Surely," he thought to himself, "in spite of the fact that he's a bit -strange and uncouth, he's a real gentleman after all and deserves a great -deal more than is coming to him." - -He smiled as he thought of the little chicken coop Ben Zook had showed -him. A low-roofed affair with a roost of bars about three feet long; five -chickens on the roost, blinking at the light; a single goose in a corner -with his head under his wing; this was Ben's poultry house and his brood. -There'd be more to it now--a real chicken house and perhaps a hundred -fine fowls. It would be a Paradise for Ben Zook. - -As he mused happily on these things his boat touched the shore. Springing -out nimbly, he dragged the boat up the beach and turned his face toward -Ben's house. - -At that moment, as a cloud passing over the moon sent a chill down his -spine, something seemed to whisper to him that all was not well. That he -might dispel this dark foreboding, he lifted up his voice in a cheery -shout: - -"Ben Zook! Oh, Ben Zook, I'm coming." - -The distant skyscrapers, like some mountainside, caught his words and -flung them back to him, seeming at the same time to change his "Oh" to -"old." - -"Ben Zook! Old Ben Zook!" - -Again and again, more faintly, and yet more faintly: - -"Ben Zook! Old Ben Zook. Ben Zook--Zook." - -As the echo trailed away in the distance, a foreboding came over Johnny. -There had come no answering call. - -Still he tried to cheer himself. "He's asleep," Johnny told himself. -"Little wonder, too. I was out here till near morning." - -After that he trudged in silence over the piles of broken brick, sand and -clay. - -As he came at last within sight of Ben's place he was cheered by the -sight of red coals on the grate. - -"It's not been long since he was here, anyway," he said. - -Yet his feeling that Ben was not in his house proved true. The place was -empty. - -"Probably gone for a stroll down the beach," was his mental comment as he -dropped down in Ben's big arm chair. - -The chair was a comfortable one. The fire, with a chill breeze blowing -off the lake, was cheering too, yet there was no comfort for Johnny. He -had not been seated two minutes when he was again upon his feet. - -"I don't like it," he muttered. - -The next moment he was chiding himself for a fool. "He'll be here in a -moment and I'll tell him about the reward." Johnny smiled at the thought. - -Walking to the tiny poultry house, he opened the door and, flicking on -his flashlight, looked within. The calm assurance of chickens on their -roost, of the single goose who did not so much as take his head from -beneath his wing, did much to allay his fears. - -"Just look about a bit, anyway," he mused. "May find another case of -diamonds," he added with a forced chuckle. - -As he stepped over the first mound of clay he thought he detected a sound -behind him. Stopping dead in his tracks, while little tufts of hair -appeared to rise at the back of his neck, he said in a low, steady tone: - -"Ben. Ben Zook." - -There came no answer, no other sound. - -He crossed another mound, and yet another. Then again there came a sound -as of a brick loosened from a pile. - -"Ben. Ben Zook," he called softly. Once more no answer. - -Then, just as he was about to go forward again, having thrown his light -ten feet before him, he started back in horror. There at his feet lay a -dead man! - -Trembling in every limb, feeling sick as if about to fall in a faint, yet -battling it back, he stood still in his tracks for such a space of time -as it might take to count one hundred. - -Then, finding he could once more trust his wobbly knees, he moved forward -three paces, threw his light at his feet, took one good steady look, put -out a hand and picked something up, held it for ten seconds, bent low for -a better look, then like one who had seen a ghost he went racing and -staggering across the piles toward the shore and his boat. - -Fear lent him wings. Nor did he stop at the shore. With one motion he -shoved the boat into the water; with another, regardless of wet feet, he -sprang aboard and before he could think twice found himself well out into -the lake. - -There at last he dropped his oars to sit staring back at the island and -to at last slump down in his seat. - -His mind, first in a whirl and next in a dead calm, was trying to tell -his senses something that seemed impossible. - -At last, raising his face to the sky, he said solemnly: - -"Ben Zook is dead! Poor, harmless, golden hearted Ben Zook! Someone -killed him. I'm going after the police boat now. The police will do what -they can to find the man. But, by all that's good, I will find the -murderer and he will pay the price for his cowardly crime." - -Having thus made his vow, he found that strength, hope and courage came -ebbing back. Seizing his oars he rowed rapidly toward the city. - -From that time until the end Johnny conducted his search with such -reckless daring that it could bring but one of two things: A crown of -triumph or a quiet six feet of sod in a church-yard. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - THE RETURN OF PANTHER EYE - - -After accompanying the police boat to the island and having watched in -silence the investigation made by the police, which was followed by a -short search for the man who had visited the island with such tragic -results, Johnny returned at once to the city and there made straight -toward the river bridge. - -Imagine his surprise when, upon setting foot on the bridge, he discovered -light shining through the crack left by the closed shutters of his -window. - -"Waiting for me," he muttered. "Wonder which of them it is? Well, let -them wait," he added fiercely, "I'm not so defenseless as I might seem." -He put a hand to his side pocket. A friendly policeman, finding Johnny -unarmed as they searched the island, had pressed a small automatic upon -him and had forgotten to take it back. Johnny was now thankful for the -oversight. - -Without a second's hesitation, but keeping a sharp lookout that he might -not be ambushed by some guard stationed outside, he crossed the bridge, -dodged down a narrow alley and having reached the ground floor door that -led to the back stairs, paused to listen. - -Having heard no sound, he pushed open the door, closed it noiselessly -behind him, then went tip-toeing softly up the steps. At the second -landing he paused to listen, yet he heard no sound. - -"That's queer," he whispered as he resumed his upward climb. - -As he reached his own door he recalled an old copy-book axiom: "Delays -are dangerous." So, gripping his automatic with one hand, he turned the -knob with the other and threw the door wide open. - -Imagine his surprise at seeing a single figure slumped down in a chair, -apparently fast asleep. - -The person had his back to him. There was something vaguely familiar -about that back. Slowly a smile of pleasant anticipation spread over -Johnny's face. - -"If it only were," he whispered. - -Tip-toeing to a position which gave him a side view of the still -motionless figure, he stared for a second, then there came upon his face -an unmistakable smile as he exclaimed: - -"Pant! You old trump you!" - -It was indeed Pant, the Panther Eye you have known for some time, that -strange boy who had accomplished so many seemingly impossible things -through his power to see in the night and to perform other magical -tricks. - -"Why, it's you!" said Pant, waking up and dragging off his heavy glasses -to have a good look at Johnny. "I figured you'd be back sooner or later." - -"Pant," said Johnny, lowering himself unsteadily into a chair, "there was -never a time in all my checkered career when I was so glad to see you." - -"You must be in pretty deep," grinned Pant, "'powerful deep,' they'd say -in the mountains." - -"But Pant, what happened?" asked Johnny. "How does it come you left the -mountains so soon?" - -Pant put on a sad face. "Those mountain people are superstitious, Johnny, -terribly superstitious." - -"Are they?" - -"Are they? Why look, Johnny, we were having a school election down there, -regular kind. Everybody wanted his sister or his cousin or his daughter -in as teacher. We were about evenly divided and were fighting it out fair -enough with the great American institution, the ballot, when an argument -came up in which Harrison Crider, their clerk of election, knocked Cal -Nolon out of his chair. Right there is where things began to start. There -were fifteen or twenty on a side, all armed and all packed in one room -twenty feet square. You can see what it was going to be like, Johnny." -Pant paused to go through the motion of mopping his brow. - -"They were all standing there loaded and charged, like bits of steel on -the end of a magnet, when a strange thing happened." He paused to stare -at the wall. - -"What happened?" asked Johnny. - -"Well, sir, it was one of those queer things, 'plumb quare,' they'd call -it down in the mountains, one of those things you can't explain--at least -most people can't." - -"But what did happen?" Johnny demanded. - -"That's what I'm coming to," drawled Pant. "Well, sir, believe me or not, -there came such a brilliant flash of light as was never before seen on -sea or land (at least that's what they all say. I didn't see it; had my -eyes shut tight all the time). And after that, so they say, there was -darkness, a darkness so black you couldn't see your hand. 'Egyptian -darkness,' that's what they called it, Johnny. You've heard of that. It -tells about it in the Bible, the plague of darkness. - -"It only lasted three minutes; but would you believe it, Johnny, when the -three minutes were up there wasn't a bit of fight left in them? No sir, -limp as rags, every man of 'em. And the election after that was as calm -and sedate as a Quaker sewing society. - -"But, Johnny," Pant's face took on a sad expression, "would you believe -it? After it was all over those superstitious people accused me of the -whole affair; said I was a witch and that I produced that darkness by -incantation. Now Johnny, I leave it to you, was that fair? Would you -think that of me?" - -"No, Pant," said Johnny with a grin, "I wouldn't. I know you're no witch, -and I know any incantation you might indulge in wouldn't get you a thing. -But as for creating that darkness, I'd say it was a slight trick compared -with others I've seen you do." - -"Ah, Johnny," sighed Pant, "I can see the whole world's against me." - -"But Johnny!" he exclaimed, changing suddenly from his attitude of mock -gloom to one of alert interest, "what's the lay? To tell the honest -truth, I've been bored to death down there. I knew if I could find you -I'd be able to mix in with something active. So here I am. What have you -to offer?" - -"Plenty!" said Johnny. "And, thank God, you're here to take a hand." - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - A DEN OF THE UNDERWORLD - - -After dragging the Zoo telephone from its box and taking the scrap of -black cardboard from a shelf, Johnny sat down to tell his story. He told -it, too, from beginning to end; from the school fire to the discovery of -Ben Zook, dead upon his island. - -When the story had ended Pant sat for a long time slumped down in his -chair. From his motionless attitude and his staring eyes, one might have -thought him in a trance. - -He came out of this with a start and at once began to reel off to Johnny -the story he had just been told; only now there was association, -connection, and a proper sequence to it all. He had put the puzzle -together, piece by piece. No, it was more than that. The fires were one -puzzle; Johnny's affairs at the island another; and those at the marsh -still another. After solving each of these separately and putting each -small part in its place, Pant had joined them all in one three-fold -puzzle board that was complete to the last letter. - -"Sounds great!" said Johnny breathlessly as Pant concluded. "If all that -is true we have only to find the man." - -"Find that man!" said Pant in a tone that carried conviction. - -Twelve o'clock the following night found Johnny and Pant in a strange -place. Standing with their backs against the unpainted and decaying side -of a frame building, they were watching a door. - -The frame building formed one wall to an alley which was in reality more -path than an alley; a path of hard-beaten mud that ran between two -buildings. Although the path ran through from street to street, the hard -beaten part of the path ended before the door which the two boys were -watching. - -"Here comes another," Pant whispered, drawing Johnny back into the -shadows. - -"And another," Johnny whispered back. - -Two shadow-like creatures, appearing to hug the darkness, came flitting -down the hard-trodden path. As each reached the end of the path the door -opened slightly, the shadows flitted in, and again the door went dark. - -"Like shades of evil ones entering their last, dark abode," whispered -Johnny with a shudder. - -They were watching that door because they had seen a certain man enter -it--a tall, stooping, slouching figure of a man who walked with a decided -limp. They had picked up his trail in a more prosperous neighborhood and -had followed him at a distance through less and less desirable -neighborhoods, down dark streets and rubbish strewn alleys, past barking -dogs and beggars sleeping beneath doorsteps, until of a sudden he had -turned up this path and entered this door. - -"Come on," Johnny whispered impatiently, "it's only a cheap eating place. -I heard the dishes rattle and caught the aroma of coffee. They'll pay no -attention to us." - -"I'm not so sure of that," Pant grumbled. "Looks like something else to -me. But--all right, come on. Only," he continued, "take a table near the -door." - -The place did prove to be some sort of eating place. There were small -round tables and steel framed chairs placed about the room. Around some -of these tables men and women were seated, playing cards. Openly roaring -at good fortune or cursing an evil turn of the deck, they paid no -attention whatever to the newcomers. - -The card players were for the most part situated in the back of the room. -Tables at the front were covered with dishes. Men and women, engaged in -eating, smoking and talking, swarmed about these tables. - -Indeed, the place was so crowded that for a time Johnny and Pant were at -great difficulty to find chairs. At last, as they were backing to a place -against the wall, a small animated being, a slender girl with dark, -vivacious eyes, rose and beckoned them to her table. She had been sitting -there alone sipping dark coffee. - -Bowing his thanks, Johnny accepted a chair and motioned Pant to another. -The table was not as near the door as he might have liked, but "beggars -cannot be choosers." - -A waiter appeared. - -"Coffee and something hot in a bowl," said Johnny. "You know the kind, -red Mex. with plenty of pepper." - -"Make it the same," said Pant. - -"And waiter," Johnny put out a hand, "something nice for her," he nodded -his head toward the girl. "Anything she'd like." - -"The gentlemen are kind," said the girl in a foreign accent, "but I have -no need. I will have none." - -Since their new-found friend did not accept of their hospitality and did -not start a conversation, the two boys sat silently staring about them. - -It was a strange and motley throng that was gathered there. Dark Italians -and Greeks; a few Irish faces; some Americans; two Mexicans in broad -sombreros; three mulatto girls at a table by themselves and a great -number of men and women of uncertain nationality. - -"There! There he is," whispered Johnny, casting his eyes at the far -corner. "And there, by all that's good, is Knobs, the New York firebug! -They're at the same table. See! I can't be mistaken. There's the same -hooked nose, the identical stoop to his shoulders." - -"Together!" exclaimed Pant. "That changes my conclusions a little." - -"Don't appear to see them," whispered Johnny. "What are we to do?" - -"I don't know. Perhaps a police raid. But not yet; I want to study them." - -Their bowls of steaming red Mulligan had arrived. They had paid their -checks and had begun to sip the fiery stuff, when of a sudden there came -cries of "Jensie! Jensie!" and every eye was turned in their direction. - -Johnny felt his face suddenly grow hot. Had he been recognized? This -beyond doubt was a den of the underworld. Was this a cry which was but a -signal for a "Rush the bulls"? - -Since he could not tell, and since everyone remained in his seat, he did -not move. - -"If the gentlemen will please hold their bowls," said the girl, smiling -as she handed each his bowl. - -What did this mean? They were soon to see. Stepping with a fairy-like -lightness from floor to chair, and chair to table, the girl made a low -bow and then as a piano in a corner struck up a lively air she began a -dance on the table top. - -It was such a wild, whirling dance as neither of the boys had seen -before. It seemed incredible that the whole affair could be performed -upon so small a table top. Indeed, at one time Johnny did feel a slight -pat upon his knee and realized in a vague sort of way that the velvet -slippered foot of this little enchantress had rested there for an -instant. - -No greater misfortune could have befallen the two boys than this being -seated by the dancer's table. It focussed all eyes upon them. Their -detection was inevitable. They expected it. But, coming sooner than they -could dream, it caught them unawares. With a suddenness that was -terrible, at the end of the applause that followed the girl's -performance, there came a death-like pause, broken by a single hissed-out -word. - -The next instant a huge man with a great knife gleaming in his hand -launched himself at Pant. - -Taken entirely unawares, the boy must have been stabbed through and -through had it not been for a curious interference. The man's arm, struck -by a sudden weight, shot downward to drive the knife into the floor. - -The next instant, as a tremendous uproar began, there came a sudden and -terrible flash of light followed by darkness black as ink. - -Johnny, having struggled to his feet, was groping blindly about him when -a hand gripped his shoulder and a voice whispered: - -"This way out." - -At the same moment he felt a tug at the back of his coat. - -Moving forward slowly, led by Pant and being tugged at from behind, he at -last came to the door and ten seconds later found himself in the outer -semi-darkness of the street. - -Feeling the tug at his coat lessening, he turned about to see Jensie, the -dancing girl. - -"Do you know that she saved your life?" he whispered to Pant. "She leaped -squarely upon that big villain's arm." - -"Rode it like I might a mule," laughed the girl. "And you, Mister," she -turned to Pant, "you are a Devil. You make a terrible light, you then -make terrible night. You are a wonderful Devil!" and with a flash of her -white teeth she was gone. - -"Now what?" asked Johnny. - -"We cannot do better than to follow. They will be out at us like a pack -of rats in another minute." - -"How about a police raid?" - -"Not to-night. It wouldn't do any good. The birds have flown." - -At this Pant led the way rapidly out of the narrow alley into more -frequented and safer ways. - -Little did Johnny dream as he crept beneath the covers that night that -the following night would see the end of all this little drama in which -he had been playing a part. Yet so it was to be. - -As for Pant, who slept upon a cot in one corner of Johnny's room, he was -dreaming of a slender figure and of big, dark, Gypsy eyes. He was -indulging in romantic thoughts--the first of his life. That Gypsy-like -girl of the underworld den had somehow taken possession of his thoughts. -Many times before had he barely escaped death, but never before had his -life been saved by a girl. - -"She's a Gypsy," he whispered to himself, "only a Gypsy girl. But me; who -am I? Who knows? Perhaps I am Gypsy myself." - -Through his mind there passed a wish that was more than half prayer: "May -the time come when I can repay her." This wish was to be granted, far -sooner than he knew. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - JOHNNY STRIKES FIRST - - -At a quarter of six next evening, at the request of the Fire Chief, -Johnny was lurking in the shadows back of the building on Randolph Street -that housed such a strange collection of commodities: chemicals, -diamonds, juvenile books, novelties and Knobs, the suspected firebug. - -Earlier that day a phone call had tipped off the Chief. According to the -call, Knobs Whittaker would bear a little extra watching that night. -While putting little faith in this tip, the Chief had no desire to -neglect the least clue which might assist in bringing to an end the -series of disastrous fires which were reflecting great discredit upon his -department. Acting upon the tip he had stationed men at every point which -Knobs had been seen to frequent. - -Johnny's station was this building. He had come around behind to have a -look at possible exits there. Having satisfied his mind in this matter, -he was about to make his way back along the wall to the street when he -was halted by the sudden sound of a truck entering the alley. - -Slinking deeper into the shadows, he waited. To his surprise he saw the -truck back up at the door of the very building he was watching. - -"Going to take something away," was his mental comment. - -This thought was at once abandoned when he noted that the light truck was -already loaded to capacity. - -Climbing down from the seat, the driver and his assistant walked to the -door. Finding it locked, the driver beat a tattoo on it with his fist. - -"What's wanted?" demanded a voice as a head was thrust out of a window to -the left of the door. - -"Open up!" growled the driver. "Got a consignment of chemicals for you." - -"What you coming round this time of day for?" - -"Came all the way from Calumet. Had a blow-out." - -"There's no one here but me," said the young man, reluctantly unbarring -the door. "Boss is gone. Chief clerk's gone. His assistant is gone. I'm -only a sort of apprentice. Haven't any authority." - -"Well, we can't dump the goods in the street, can we? It's going to -rain." - -"No, I suppose you can't," said the young man, scratching his head -doubtfully. "Suppose you'll have to dump them in here until morning. -You'll have to come round then and check up on them." - -"That's jake with me." - -The apprentice began clearing a space at the back of the shop. The -carters tumbled off bags and boxes, to pile them in the cleared space. -After this had been done the steel night doors were closed and the truck -drove away. - -"They drive as if the devil were after them," thought Johnny. - -Without quite knowing why, he lingered for a time back there in the -deepening shadows and as he lingered he caught an unusual sound from one -of the rooms above. - -"That's odd, sounds like something heavy being rolled over the floor; a -piano, or--or maybe a safe. Wonder why anyone would be doing that this -time of the day?" - -As it had grown quite dark by this time, he moved around to the front. - -From the moment the matter had been called to his attention, this -building with its strange assortment of occupants had held a profound -interest for Johnny. He suspected Knobs of holding an interest in the -Novelty Company, in truth suspected that floor of being his hangout. He -was more than interested in the diamond merchant's place, too. Indeed, he -felt that somehow there must be a connection between Knobs and the -diamonds. - -"Perhaps he means to steal them?" he told himself now as he lingered in -the shadow of the building. "But then, there are the burglar alarms. How -is he to get around them? Well, we'll see." - -An eddy of air sweeping up the street showered him with dust and paper -scraps. - -"Ugh," he grunted, as he made for the door of the building to escape this -little whirlwind, "we're in for a blow; perhaps rain." - -"Fiddle!" he exclaimed a moment later, "I promised to go to Forest City -with Mazie to-night. Carnival! Last of the season. Told her I'd do it if -nothing turned up. But something has turned up, at least the Chief thinks -it's going to turn up." - -And just then things did turn up; at least one thing did, and not so -small either. Treading on air, as if afraid of disturbing the spirit of -his dead grandmother, there came tripping down the stair no less a person -than Knobs Whittaker! - -"Put 'em to sleep with a brick and argue with 'em afterwards," Johnny -seemed to be hearing poor old Ben Zook saying. - -Knobs was carrying a square black satchel in his hand. His right hip -bulged. He did not see Johnny, who stood well back in the shadows. Just -as his feet touched the ground floor, as if drawn by a rocket, Knobs shot -straight up from the floor to at last topple over in a heap. Johnny's -good right hand had spoken. He had obeyed the instructions of old Ben -Zook. - -Knobs' sleep lasted for scarcely more than ten seconds; long enough, -however, for Johnny to explore his hip pocket and draw forth an -ugly-looking blue automatic. When Knobs opened his eyes he looked into -the muzzle of his own gun. - -The art of escape is sometimes cultivated to such a degree of perfection -that it becomes automatic. The street door was open. With a motion that -could scarcely be called rolling, leaping or gliding, the prostrate man -went through that door. Before Johnny could block his escape, or even -press the trigger of the automatic, Knobs was gone. One thing was against -the fleeing one, however; he had left his gun and his black case behind. - -"Evidence here," Johnny whispered to himself. "Valuable evidence, beyond -a doubt." - -Then, following a rule he had laid down for himself: "Always do the thing -that's least expected," instead of following the man, he picked up the -black bag and sprang lightly up the stairs and out of sight. He did not -stop at the first landing, nor the second; but continued to the third, -where, after hurrying down the hall, he threw back the iron shutters of -the hall window, tossed the bag out, and jumped to the flat roof below. -After that he lost no time in making his way down a fire escape to the -ground. - -After a hasty glance up and down the alley, he gripped the handle of -Knobs' automatic with his right hand, and carrying the black bag in his -left, walked with a leisurely and nonchalant air down the alley and out -on the side street. To all appearances the street was deserted. -Apparently no one had seen him emerge from the alley. He was thankful for -that. - -Hardly had he walked a dozen paces on that street when there struck his -ears a cry that had grown familiar: - -"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" - -"Fire!" he said to himself. "I wonder where now?" He was to know soon -enough. - -There is something strange about a city street. Though it be deserted -from end to end, let one cry of "Fire!" ring out upon its deserted -stillness, and within the space of thirty seconds it is thronging with -people. It was so now. In a moment the place was swarming with people. - -Johnny Thompson did not join the throng. He was far too wise for that. -The black bag he carried contained something of vital interest to that -smooth villain, Knobs. Knobs would want it back. Nor would he be alone. -There might be twenty of his gang in that crowd. For them to surround -Johnny and beat him up in such a mob would be a simple enough matter. He -would leave no chance for that. Turning, Johnny sped down an alley, -crossed a street, shot down a second alley and, reaching the river, he -raced along the wall that lined its banks, climbed the bridge, then to -the back of a building, paused once more to listen, then climbed the -stairs to his room. - -"Shook them!" he puffed as he bolted the door and carefully placed the -black bag under the bed. - -His next move was to throw back the steel blinds to his own windows and -to look in the direction of that building on Randolph Street that he had -just left. - -The sight that met his eyes brought an exclamation to his lips. - -"Pant!" he called, "Pant! Wake up! If you want to see a fire that is one, -come here!" - -Tumbling from the cot where he had been sleeping, Pant stumbled toward -the window. Then he, too, stared in wonder. - -"Talk about quick burners!" exclaimed Johnny. "Did you ever see anything -quicker or hotter than that?" - -"No," said Pant solemnly, "I never have." - -The building, filled with chemicals, diamonds, books and novelties, was a -white hot furnace. Johnny had seen blast furnaces, open hearths, and the -white flames of the Bessemer, but never had he seen a fiercer, hotter -flame than this one. Even at this great distance it seemed to fairly -scorch his face. - -"Enough chemicals in that place to stock an army for the next war," he -said aloud. - -At once he thought of the truck load of chemicals that had arrived at a -quarter of six, and of the heavy rolling sound he had heard shortly after -the truck drove away. - -Never in all the history of Chicago had there been a hotter fire. Johnny -could see the firemen, forced from one position to another, fall back, -back, and back again. They made no attempt to quench this white fury. The -best they could do was to throw a water screen against the buildings next -to this to prevent disaster from spreading to the entire business -district. - -"Oh man!" exclaimed Pant. "Only look! Red flames, white flames, purple, -yellow and blue. Must have burned its way through the crust of the earth -and turned the thing into a volcano." - -"Chemicals," said Johnny. He had been looking for an explosion; such an -explosion as would wreck every building in the block and perhaps cross -the river and shake bricks down upon his own head. But as the moments -passed, he began to hope that it would not come. When a quarter of an -hour had worn itself slowly away and the fierce flames began to die down, -he knew that it would not come, and breathed a prayer of thankfulness for -that. - -"Pant, I promised Mazie and that little girl we saved from the school -fire that we'd go out to Forest City to-night. This is the last night of -the Carnival. It's not too late yet. There's nothing I can do about that -fire over there until it has cooled down. Want to go?" - -"I don't mind," said Pant. "In fact, I'd rather like to go." - -"All right. Throw on your glad rags and come on." - -A little later, as Johnny locked the door on the outside, he hesitated -for a moment. He had thought of the black bag he had thrown under the -bed. - -"Safe there as anywhere in the world," he told himself. "I'll break the -lock and look inside to-morrow." - -Then he followed Pant down the stairs. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - A TRIP TO FOREST CITY - - -As the elevated train rattled noisily along over the low roofs of -cottages and between endless rows of apartment houses, Johnny Thompson -sat staring dreamily at the lattice-like covering of the floor of his -car. - -He was allowing the events of the past few days to move before his mind's -eye. It seemed much like a moving picture. There was a scene showing the -central fire station with its leaping yellow lights. A click, a flash, -and there was a fire, a city school building burning, a pink-eyed man, a -child in the school loft, a tall ladder, he ascended, descended, then -searched for the pink-eyed man. - -A second flash of light, a second fire; this time the great Simons -Building, and Mazie in a tenth-story window. There was the fireman's -monkey, and again the pink-eyed man, also for the first time the man of -the hooked nose, the stoop and limp. - -Once more a flash of white film: a boat in a marsh, black birds and a -mysterious rifle shot. - -A third fire, the Zoo. A wild chase ending at the breakwater, and after -that a fight on the island and little old Ben Zook. - -Then again the marsh, a boat and Mazie, and after that the mysterious -assailant. Then came that tragic scene, the death of poor, old Ben Zook. - -The den of the underworld, the dancing girl, Jensie; the attack, Pant's -life saved by the girl, the mysterious light, mystifying darkness, then -the outer air. - -The building on Randolph Street, the mysterious load of chemicals, the -fight with Knobs Whittaker. Flight. The fire that seemed hotter than the -flames of a volcano. - -"And here we are," he whispered to himself. "How does it all connect up? -Or does it? Sometimes it seems to; at others it appears not to. How is it -all to end?" - -Pant suddenly interrupted his reveries. - -"Johnny," he said, "men don't know much about light, do they?" - -"I suppose not, Pant." - -"Of course they don't. It's all sort of relative, isn't it? If I have a -torch in a dark room it seems a brilliant light. Take it into the -sunlight and it dwindles to nothing. Now if an extraordinarily bright -light struck your eyes for a second and the next second vanished, the -lights of a room might seem no light at all, just plain darkness?" - -"Possibly," said Johnny, without really thinking much about it. - -Since this was the last great night of the greatest carnival ever held in -the city's most popular pleasure resort, though the hour was late, the -cares were here and there given bits of color by the costumes of -pleasure-seeking revelers. - -The journey was scarcely more than half completed when the car filled, -and Pant felt compelled to give his seat to a slender girl who, like -himself, was headed for the scene of gaiety. Dressed as a Gypsy, with red -shoes, red stockings, a bright colored striped dress and a crimson shawl, -with a mask completely covering her face, she would have been difficult -to recognize even by her most intimate acquaintances. But the keen eye of -this unusual boy, Pant, detected something vaguely familiar. Mayhap it -was the slender, red stockinged ankles, or the constantly bobbing feet -that suggested a dance, or the long, artistic fingers that constantly -plaited her dress. - -He studied her until they left the car. As he turned to leave at Mazie's -station, he felt a sudden tickle above his collar. Turning quickly, he -surprised the Gypsy girl concealing the colored end of a feathery reed -beneath her cloak. - -"Ah there," he breathed, "I thought I knew you. Here's hoping I see you -at Forest City." - -Quick as thought the girl's fingers went to her belt, then to the bosom -of her dress. She snipped a small red rose from a bouquet at her belt and -pinned it to her dress. - -The next instant Johnny gave Pant such a pull as drew him half down the -car. Two seconds later they were on the platform and the car was speeding -away. - -"What was holding you?" demanded Johnny. - -"That Gypsy girl." - -"What of her?" - -"I recognized her." - -"Oh! You did?" said Johnny. "Well, come on, we go down here. It's late. -Mazie and the little girl may not wait. Let's hurry." - -Mazie and Tillie McFadden had waited. Since the amusement park was only -six blocks from Mazie's home, they walked. In a short time they were -mingling with the fun-mad throng that flowed like a many colored stream -down the board walks of Forest City, a city which Johnny had once said -was doomed. As he entered it now he asked himself whether this were true. -The answer was: Who knows? - -The mingled sounds that strike one's ears on a night like this are -stunning in their variety and intensity. The dull tom-tom of some Gypsy -fortune teller inviting trade by pounding a flat-headed drum; the steady -challenge of men who invite you to risk your small change on the turn of -a spindle wheel; the inviting shout of hawkers; the high-pitched screams -descending from the roller coaster as a car pitches down through space; -the minor shouts of revelers on the board walks; all this, blended with -the dull rumble of wheels, the clank of machinery, the splash of boats, -the murmur of ten thousand voices, produces a sound which in the -aggregate blends into a mad jumble that leaves one with no conscious -thought of sound. No one sound seems to register above the others. It is -all just one great _noise_. - -The sights that strike your eye are scarcely less impressive. Great -streamers of confetti, red, white, blue, yellow and green tissue ribbons -hanging from wires, from plaster-of-paris domes, from windows, from -electric lights, from every spot where a sparrow might rest his wings; -bushels of bits of paper flying through the air like a highly tinted snow -storm; and the amusements--here a car rushing through space, there the -whirling invitation of an airplane, and there again the slow and stately -Ferris wheel. Beneath all this the colorful throng that, like some giant -reptile, moves ever forward but never comes to an end. These were the -sights that thrilled the four young pleasure seekers. - -The sensations of touch, too, added to the frenzy that appeared to enter -one's very veins and to send his blood racing. A wild group of revelers, -playing a game that is little less than crack-the-whip, wrap themselves -about you, to at last break up like a wave of the sea and go surging -away. A single frenzied reveler seizes you sharply by the arm, to scream -at you and vanish. A tickler touches your ear; a handful of fine confetti -sifts down your neck; you are caught in a swelling current of the crowd -to be at last deposited with a final crush into a little eddy close by -some game of chance, or booth where root beer and hot dogs are sold. - -They had been cast aside by the throng into such an eddy as this when, -finding herself without other occupation, Mazie focused her opera -glasses, which hung by a strap at her side, on a wooden tower two hundred -feet high. This tower, lighted as it was by ten thousand electric lamps, -seemed at the distance a white hot obelisk of steel. The tower stood in -the center of the place and there were six bronze eagles at the very top -of it. - -"How plainly I can see them," Mazie murmured to herself. "I can even see -the copper wire that binds them to the pillars." - -Little did she dream of the awe-inspiring and awful sights she would -witness on that tower, with those glasses, on this very night. - -It was at this moment that Pant noticed little Tillie McFadden's eyes, -full of longing, fixed upon the roller coaster. - -"Ever ride on that?" he asked. - -The girl shook her head. - -"Want to?" - -"You bet I do." - -"You're on!" exclaimed Pant. "When shall we four meet again, and where?" - -"In just an hour," said Johnny. "Meet us beneath the statue of the two -fools." This immense statue, made of cement, stood near the exit. - -"All right, we'll be there," smiled Pant. "Come on, Tillie. We'll do the -city right, roller coaster, City of Venice, ferris wheel and all." Then -they were swallowed up by the crowd. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - A STARTLING DISCOVERY - - -As for Johnny and Mazie, they had visited the park many times before. The -amusements were an old story, but the crowd was not. No crowd is ever -tiresome to a person who has a keen mind and a true interest in the study -of his fellowman. - -For these two it was enough to watch the actions of these people--of this -crowd in their disguises. Many of them were dressed in ridiculous -costumes and nearly all were masked. Thus, with their true natures for -the time apparently hidden by a mask, each person gave himself over to -the seeking of pleasure in the way most natural to him. Many were truly -merry; some merely sordid, and a few were brutal in their manner of -extracting pleasure from those about them. - -As they drifted in and out among the throngs, Johnny and Mazie were -finally caught in a narrow place and forced along against their will. - -When, at last, the throng broadened and separated, they found themselves -before another table of chance. This time, instead of the spindle wheel -there was a board. In the lower end of this board, which was perhaps two -feet wide by four long, there were eight holes. Beside each of these -holes were numbers. At the top of the board were four balls. The balls -rested upon a narrow board. To play, one has but to tip the narrow board -and allow the balls to roll to the bottom, where they settle themselves -in holes. One then adds up the numbers before the balls and consults a -table of numbers before him. This table is composed of red and black -numbers. If the sum reached by adding up chances to correspond to a red -number, the player wins a watch, a camera, a silver cream pitcher or any -other article he may choose. - -"Looks easy enough," smiled Johnny as he watched the operator roll the -balls. "Too easy. There's a trick somewhere." - -Now Johnny got a lot of fun out of discovering tricks. "Mind if we watch -him a little while?" he asked. - -"Not a bit," answered Mazie, putting a hand on his shoulder as the crowd -pressed about them. The man in the booth, a tall, broad shouldered man, -gave them a quick look. Johnny blinked under that look. - -"But after all," he told himself, "we're masked. If he has seen us before -he'll not recognize us now." - -He looked at the man and started. There was something vaguely familiar -about him. Yet he, too, was heavily masked. There was little chance of -telling who he might be. - -For fifteen minutes Johnny studied the game. Men played, women played and -boys as well. There were plenty of red numbers; but only once in all that -time, while the operator hauled in the money, did red turn up. Yet, when -for a moment the business lulled, the man behind the table could make red -come up easily enough. - -"It's strange," said Johnny, scratching his head. "It seems so absurdly -simple. One would say it couldn't be doctored at all, and yet it is. Ah -well, what's the use? Let's go on." - -He was turning to go when a long arm reached out from behind the board -and touched his shoulder. It was the operator. There was greed shining -from the small black eyes that peeped evilly through the holes in the -mask. - -"See, mister," the man was saying, "I give you a roll. It don't cost you -noding. I don't gives you noding. See! It is free." - -"No, I don't want a roll," said Johnny, starting away again. - -"Dot's fair enough, mister," replied the man. - -This last remark went through the boy like an electric shock. Those -words, that accent, the whole thing--where had he heard it before? Strive -as he might, rake down the walls of his memory as he did, he could not -recall. And yet something within told him that he should recall, that -here was a key to something important; something tremendously big. - -"No," he whispered to himself, "I can't recall it now, but I can stick -around. It may come to me all of a flash." - -"All right," he thought to himself, "if I have to, I'll play." - -Fortune favored him. He was not obliged to play, but could watch. - -"Set 'em up!" said a stranger, producing a shiny quarter. - -"Count 'em," he said a moment later as the last ball dropped into its -hole. - -"Four, nine, sexteen, zwenty-zree. Dot's black. Try again. Anoder times -you are lucky." - -The man did try again, again and yet again, and always he lost. - -And then, like a flash, the trick of the game came to Johnny. If the -balls were carefully placed in certain definite positions on the narrow -board, they would always escape falling into holes marked 7 and 11. These -numbers were needed if the result was to be a red number. - -As if by accident, he brushed the board with his elbow. This moved a ball -slightly to the right. - -The result was another black number. But by a sudden movement the -operator showed that he was startled. - -The stranger fed in two more quarters before Johnny tried the trick -again. - -This time the operator looked at him and uttered an audible snarl before -he began to count. He knew he was beaten. - -"Three, nine, fifteen, zwenty-zoo. Dot's red," he muttered. - -And at the sound of that low mutter Johnny remembered. - -So struck was he at this revelation, that he could barely repress an -audible exclamation. The stranger chose a small pocket camera, and the -game went on. - -From this time on the question of whether the stranger won or lost did -not count. Johnny was trying to think; to plan a course of action. He -knew now where he had heard that man's voice before--at the fire in which -Mazie barely missed losing her life. - -As he looked at the man he knew he could not be mistaken. The hooked nose -was covered by the mask, but the stoop was there and the voice was the -same. If he needed further proof it was not long in coming. As the man -stepped back to take down the small camera, Johnny noticed that he walked -with a decided limp. - -"He's the man," Johnny thought to himself. "He's the man who burned the -school houses, the welfare center and the zoo, who attempted to kill me, -and did kill poor old Ben Zook!" As he thought of Ben Zook he found it -difficult to hold himself in hand. He wanted to leap across the board and -throttle the man where he stood. - -"No! No!" he told himself. "I must not. I must be calm. I must remain -here. I must watch the play until I have thought what next to do. One -thing sure, I must not bungle my chances now. Too much hinges on doing -the right thing." - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - FOREST CITY'S DOOM - - -Johnny was up against the most puzzling problem of his whole life. A -tensely dramatic situation, a novelist would have called it. Having long -since abandoned the theory that the pink-eyed man was the firebug, he had -fastened upon the hook-nosed man as the real culprit. With this in mind, -he had connected past events into an almost unbreakable chain of -circumstances. He had now but to find the man. And here he was. He had -found him. But under what strange circumstances! What was to be done? If -he called upon the revellers to assist him in apprehending the man they -would laugh merrily, thinking his request a joke. The man, on the other -hand, would not think it a joke. He might choose either to vanish or to -put a bullet in Johnny's heart. That he would do one or the other Johnny -did not doubt, for this man was a criminal. - -One thing was in Johnny's favor; since he was masked and there was -nothing particularly distinctive about him, it was not probable that he -had been recognized. - -In vain he looked about him for a passing policeman; in vain racked his -brain for a way out. - -Then of a sudden there came the flash of a suggestion. He would at least -have a picture of the man. Only a few days before he had given a small -camera to Tillie McFadden. In his pocket was a film and some flash-light -powders he had meant to give her. The camera the stranger had but this -moment won was the same size. The films would fit. The man, though not -playing now, was still in the crowd. He would borrow or buy it. - -Without at all knowing what it was about, the stranger parted with his -camera for a five dollar bill, then went back to play. - -Johnny gave Mazie the camera, then pressed the film into her hand as he -whispered: - -"Load the camera. Press my hand when you're ready." - -She knew about the flash-light powders and appeared to understand, for -she squeezed his hand assuringly. - -The stranger was again at the board. He rolled again. By some freak of -chance, this time he won. - -"Zwenty-four. Dot vins," said the faker. "Vot do you choose?" His voice -held a note of irritation. - -"What would you suggest?" the stranger asked, turning to Johnny. - -It was with the greatest of difficulty that Johnny focussed his mind on -this simple task which at other times and under different circumstances -would have been a pleasure. - -Then a sudden inspiration came to him. At the far corner, and on the top -shelf, was a silver pitcher. If the stranger asked for that the man's -back, while he was taking it down, would be turned long enough for Johnny -to prepare a flash. - -"I'd take that pitcher," he said steadily, at the same time pointing to -the pitcher. - -"Are you ready?" he whispered to Mazie. - -"Ready," she answered back. - -"When he turns," he whispered. There followed ten seconds of suspense -which was ended by a loud pop and a blinding flash of light. - -The silver pitcher fell with a thump at Johnny's feet. The astonishment -and rage of the man conducting the game was a thing to marvel at. His -face went white, then purple. As if to snatch the camera away, he leaped -at Mazie. She forced her way back into the crowd. Then, just as it seemed -that matters were at their worst, there came a wild cry: - -"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" - -For a second Johnny believed that someone had been unduly frightened by -his flash and was spreading a false alarm. One glance toward the far end -of the park told him the terrible truth. A building at that end, a sort -of office, was all ablaze. He had long felt that the place was doomed, -and doomed it was! - -"And on such a night, with such a throng!" he murmured. - -The fire held his eye but a second. The man--he must get that man! He was -gone--no, there he was. He was racing before the fear-mad mob that -threatened to run him down. In a twinkling Johnny was on his trail. - -He had not followed him twenty paces when, to his astonishment, he saw -the man turn and dart through the only door of the great wooden tower -which loomed two hundred feet in air. - -"He--he's trapped!" Johnny panted. "He trapped himself. I wonder why?" - -Who could tell? Had a mad fear of the mob driven him into that place as -the hounds drive a deer over the precipice? Had he hoped to slip safely -out a little later? - -Whatever the reason, there was little chance of escape. With but one -thought in his mind, Johnny Thompson was close behind. - -By a single flash of his electric torch Johnny located the man some -twenty steps up a rickety winding staircase that led to the very top of -the tower. The next second, with his torch off, in utter darkness, Johnny -put his foot on the lower step. A roaring furnace of fire was not far -behind him; a dangerous man before him; but come what might, he was -prepared to do his whole duty. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - FERRIS WHEEL AND FIRE - - -Forest City was on fire. The wind was directly behind the blaze. Before -it, beckoning it on, were tons of confetti, board walks, dry as tinder, -and flimsy structures of stucco and lath. Nothing could save this play -place of the frightened thousands. - -Realizing this, and fearing death from the blaze, the throngs that but a -moment before were screaming with merriment now raced screaming and -shouting with fear toward the back of the park where there were no exits, -but where flimsy board fences would offer little resistance to their mad -onrush. - -To add to the terror of the moment, the powerhouse was at once attacked -by the unhindered blaze. The cables were burned. Every chain, every -cable, every wheel of the place suddenly stopped. The moving platform -which bore the gondolas of the City of Venice majestically on their way, -came to a sudden halt. The men, women and children who crowded the -gondolas were obliged to leap into the water and to battle their way as -best they could through the maze of plaster-of-paris castles, humble -homes and shops toward the faint spot of light which marked the exit. -This spot of light was but the glare of the fire, for all lights had -burned out with the cable. - -Only the glare of burning buildings lighted the awe inspiring scene that -followed. The roller coaster, pausing with a sudden jerk in its mad rush, -left some merrymakers stranded on light trestles, and others so tilted on -a down glide that they were standing more on their heads than their feet. - -There came the screams of women who had lost their way in some strange -place of entertainment and mirth. In this throng were women in thin -ball-room costumes; boys and girls with roller skates clanking on their -feet; performers from the outdoor stage, dressed in little more than -tinsel and tights, and all pushing and shoving, screaming and praying -that they might reach the far end and break away into wider spaces beyond -before the fire was upon them. - -And the fire. Having started in the offices, it has leaped joyfully on to -the power-house and thence to the Palace of Fools. The faces on the -statue of two fools are seized with a sudden pallor. They become yellow -and jaundiced, then turn suddenly black. Then of a sudden they assume a -very ruddy hue. As quickly after that they crumble to nothing and fall, a -mass of dust. Johnny and Mazie will not meet Pant and little Tillie -McFadden beneath the statue of two fools to-night. No, nor on any other -night. - -And what had happened to Pant and Tillie McFadden? Up to the last few -terrible moments they had been having the time of their young lives. Up -and down, under and over, they had rushed through space on the roller -coaster. With all the solemn majesty of a trip to Europe they had ridden -through the City of Venice. For a time they had wandered upon the -board-walk. It was during this walk that Pant had caught sight of a -familiar figure, a slim girl with a red rose pinned on her breast. He had -watched her for but a moment when he was made sure by her skipping step, -which was more a dance than a walk, that she was the dancing girl who had -saved his life that night in the den of the underworld. Just as he had -been about to put his hand on her shoulder, a screeching mob of revelers -had come swooping down upon her and, as a torrent of water bears away a -leaf, had carried her away. - -"Ah well," he had sighed, "I will come upon her again." At that he had -turned to Tillie McFadden, who was standing staring at the Ferris wheel -with the fascination of a child. - -"Want to go on there?" - -She nodded. - -"Come on, then." - -They had waited their turn, had gotten aboard and had gone up over and -down, up over and down again, and were starting on their third round when -the cry: "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" high pitched and shrill, sounded above the -shouts and screams of the revelers. - -"Sit right where you are," said Pant reassuringly, as the little girl, -frightened by the cries and the sight of leaping flames, started from her -seat. "The fire is a full block away from us. Long before it reaches us -we will have reached the ground, leaped from this cage and scampered -away." - -The wheel turned about at a snail-like pace, stopping and starting, -stopping and starting again. As they mounted higher and higher, the -flames, led on by great masses of confetti which acted like a fuse, -leaped from building to building, coming ever nearer, nearer, nearer! -Pant became truly alarmed. At last they reached the very highest point -and here the great wheel came to a sudden stop. Pant knew, from the -nature of the stop, that here they would stay, and his consternation was -complete. There they were, swinging in the air a hundred feet from the -ground, with a raging conflagration racing madly toward them and with -only steel rods and bars between them and the ground. - - -Johnny Thompson was at that moment in a scarcely less perilous position. -Having followed the firebug a distance of fifty feet up that rickety -stairway, he had paused to flash on his light, only to discover to his -intense horror that the man, crouching on a small landing not ten feet -above him, was engaged in aiming a knife with a ten-inch blade directly -at his head. - -Had he not been Johnny Thompson, he would have perished on the spot. -Trained for every emergency, he leaped clean of the stairs, but holding -firmly to the rail of the bannister. The next instant the knife went -clanging against the wall. - -For a moment, in utter darkness, the boy clung there. Then, hearing the -man he hunted again begin the ascent, he swung back upon the stairs and -followed. - -In that moment he allowed himself a few darting thoughts as to how the -affair would end. His purpose was to get that man! True enough; but how? -This he could not answer, nor could he resist the desire to follow. So -follow he did, step by step, circle by circle, up, up, up, to dizzy -heights. The tower had no windows. He could not see the fire, nor could -he realize by what leaps and bounds it was fighting its way toward that -very tower. - - -"Tillie," said Pant as he saw that the Ferris wheel had made its final -stop and had left them high in air, "I am by nature a cat. I have lived -in the jungles with great cats. There is one thing a cat can do supremely -well--climb. I can climb. I can go down those rods and take you with me -if you can but cling to my back. Can you?" - -For answer, the girl leaped upon his back to cling there with such -tenacity that her nails cut his flesh. - -"That's the girl!" he smiled approvingly. - -Cautiously he lowered himself over the edge of the car to grasp a bar of -iron. It was at this instant that he heard a shriek from the car to the -right. Turning about, he saw a slender girl dressed as a Gypsy, clinging -to the side of her car with one hand while with the other she appealed to -him for aid. She had torn the mask from her face. He recognized her at a -glance--the girl who had saved his life in the den of the underworld. - -"Afraid," he told himself, "afraid of great heights, but not afraid to -leap upon the arm of a villain with a knife." - -"Stay where you are," he shouted, "I'll be back." - -Rash promise. To catch at a rod here, at a bar there, to swing from bar -to bar as an ape swings from branch to branch, going down, down to -safety; all this was hard enough, but to ascend, with the fierce glare of -the fire upon you--that would be next to impossible! Yet he had promised. -He owed his life to that girl and he must fulfill his promise. - -As he reached the hub of the wheel he could feel his strength waning. If -he covered the remaining distance to the ground he could never return. - -"Tillie," he said soberly, "there is a bar going directly to the ground. -Do you think you could grip it hard enough to slide down it without -falling?" - -The girl's face went white. One glance at the pitiful creature above her, -and courage returned. - -"I--I'll try." - -The next second her arms encircled the bar. - - -Following on the heels of his man, a hundred and fifty feet in air, -Johnny came at last to an open balcony above which a great cupola reared -itself to the sky. In his mad fear the firebug had already begun mounting -the stair in the cupola. As for Johnny, he paused to consider. It was -well that he should. - -As he looked down a sudden shudder shook his form like a chill. The fire, -leaping across a roof more than a hundred feet below him, was already -licking at the wooden foundation of the very tower on which he stood. -Even in a vain attempt to retrace his steps, a whiff of smoke borne up -from below told him that in a brief space of time the tower would be a -roaring chimney of flames. What was to be done? Leaving the unfortunate -culprit in the cupola to his well deserved fate, whatever it might be, he -turned his every thought to ways of escape. There appeared but one, and -that all but impossible. But there was no choice. Sitting calmly down, he -pulled off his shoes, then climbing over the railing, disappeared at a -point directly above one corner of the tower. - - -While Tillie McFadden, with no further harm than a few scratches and -bruises, was making her way to the ground, Pant was performing what -seemed a mad feat. He was battling his way upward on the wheel. Here he -gripped a rod to swing outward and upward, there climbed straight up -where a real cat must have failed, and then, leaping quite free from any -support, flew through the air to grip a rod ten feet away. - -Up, up, up he climbed until, utterly exhausted, he dropped in the box -occupied by the girl. - -For ten seconds he lay there panting. The fire, roaring like a volcano, -sent flames two hundred feet in air, scorching their cheeks and showering -them with sparks. In a moment Pant was himself again. - -Snatching the girl's cape from her, he consigned it to the flames. - -"Your arms about my neck, your feet about my waist," he ordered, "and -down we go." - -He was instantly obeyed, and down indeed they went. Though that girl may -live two lifetimes, never again will she experience a ride like that. -With the breath of the fire beating upon them, they swung from rod to -rod, shot through space, glided and slid until with a final terrible -bump, they came to solid earth and went racing away after the fast -disappearing throng. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - THE HUMAN SPIDER - - -Strangely enough, as Johnny crept over the railing that hung out over one -hundred and fifty feet of empty air, he chanced to think of the black bag -beneath the bed in his room. - -"What a numbskull I was to throw it there and not tell anyone about it," -he thought to himself. "I shall probably not get out of this alive. The -bag may stay there for weeks. Then it is likely to be found by the wrong -person. And I am all but certain that it contains evidence which would go -far toward putting Knobs Whittaker behind the bars." - -During all this time his friend Mazie, ignorant of the fate of her three -friends, had at first been jostled and pushed by the fear-maddened throng -until at last she had fought her way out into a little open space where -she was allowed to pause for breath. - -Stationing herself in a secluded spot, she had watched the little drama -played by Pant and his two friends. Without knowing who they were, she -had screamed her approval with the others. - -Having caught sight of two figures moving about at the top of the tower, -and happening to think of her opera glasses, she drew them from her -pocket and focussed them upon the top of the tower. - -A look of surprise spread over her face as she recognized the topmost -man. It was the hook-nosed, stooped figure of the firebug. The glasses -dropped from her nerveless fingers as she recognized the other one as her -friend Johnny, who was at this moment crawling over the railing with the -apparent intention of leaping to the ground. - -"He'll be killed!" she fairly screamed as she closed her eyes to shut out -the sight. - -When at last she summoned up enough courage to look again she was -astonished to see, some twenty feet below the balcony where she had last -seen Johnny, a figure that clung to the corner of the tower and appeared -by some miracle of skill and strength to be moving downward. - -She snatched up her glasses to look again and again came little short of -dropping them the second time. The figure clinging to the corner of the -tower was Johnny! - -Seldom is it given to man to witness such a human spider act as she was -privileged to watch during the next five minutes. The chance that Johnny -had seen was a slim one, yet it was a chance. At regular intervals of a -foot, two double rows of incandescent lamps ran down the corner of the -tower. The two rows on the south side were four inches apart; those on -the east the same. These lamp sockets protruded for about three inches, -and using them as steps to his ladder, Johnny was slowly but surely -climbing downward. There was great peril in the undertaking. A broken -socket, a sudden slip, and all would be over. Never in all his eventful -life had Johnny undertaken a feat which required so much skill and -daring. Yet, once he had committed himself to the undertaking, there was -no turning back. - -By great good fortune, the sockets which held the lamps had been fastened -with long nails instead of screws. The wood was strong. One by one the -sockets supported his weight. Like a bat, gripping with both hands and -feet, he moved cautiously downward. As Mazie watched him she measured the -distance: - -"A quarter done, a third, a half, a--but there," she cried, "there's a -flame shooting out below him!" - -Johnny saw it, too, but there was no turning back. Trusting to good -fortune, he continued steadily downward. Fortune did not desert him; a -breath of air sucked the flame back and the next moment he had passed the -spot. - -Again Mazie resumed her eye measurement. It was a mad thing to do, but it -was all that was left to her. - -"Two-thirds of the way; three-quarters. But there's a lower balcony! How -is he to pass that?" - -How indeed? This balcony, some six feet in width, left no opportunity to -climb over its rail and down. Some forty feet from the ground, it -threatened to stop the boy's progress and condemn him to a terrible -death. - -As Johnny reached this balcony, flames were leaping at him from every -side. Directly before him, however, was a clear space. Through that space -he caught sight of what at first appeared to be flames, but what proved -in the end to be but the reflection of the fire in the pool of water used -by the chute. It was fully forty feet below him. - -Johnny's keen brain worked like lightning. One look, and then a racing -leap. With arms and figure set for a dive, he shot far out and down. - -He disappeared from Mazie's view, nor could she ascertain his fate. To go -there to see would have been sheer madness. Half burned off at the -bottom, the two hundred foot tower was already tottering to a fall. - -A moment it hung there in space, a second, and yet a third. Having once -more trained her glass on the top of it, Mazie saw a figure standing upon -the topmost pinnacle. It was the firebug! For twenty seconds he hovered -there between earth and sky. Then, just as the tower bent to a rakish -angle, he toppled over and fell headlong. - -"It's as well," she sighed, dropping her glasses and brushing a tear from -her eye. "There can be no pain in such a death. Poor fellow! His brain -must have been addled." - -For a time she stood there alone, thinking of many things. Then, -realizing that the hour was late and that there was little chance of -finding her friends even if they were still alive, she turned her face -toward home. - -"If they are still in the land of the living," she told herself, "they'll -come straggling in. A cup of hot cocoa will do them good. I'll have the -water ready." - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - SAFE AT HOME - - -In the meantime alarms had gone in. At the central fire station the third -alarm came in before the megaphone had repeated the second. Clanging and -screeching, forcing their way down streets swarming with people, the -firefighters came. These ranged themselves along the outer walls of that -famous place of play and mirth. No attempt was made to save Forest City. -It was useless. The home of riotous joy was doomed. All the firemen could -hope to do was to beat back the flames and prevent them from spreading to -other parts of the city. - -Long after the last structure of the vanished "City" had gone crashing -down and the great throngs had crept away to their homes, a solitary -figure stood in a dark recess between two buildings, watching the heaps -of red ruin and desolation. - -A short, sturdy fellow, he stood there hatless, and as the heat from the -fire played upon his clothes they appeared to smoke, but it was only -steam. - -His keen eyes, for the most part watching the center of the fire swept -area, now and again went roving up and down the outer lines as if -searching for someone. - -And then, as if fire were not enough, from the sky there came a sudden -deluge of rain. One of those sudden torrents that come sweeping up from -the lake in summer, it passed as quickly as it came, but in its wake it -left black, smouldering desolation. - -The hatless figure had moved to a place of shelter, but as the storm -passed he came out again and stood staring at the ruins. As he stood -there a shudder shook his frame. It was indeed a thing to shudder at. Two -hours before, twenty thousand joyous mortals had rioted there, and now -only charcoal and ashes marked its place, while above it all there loomed -a blackened and twisted spectre which had once been the Ferris wheel. - -"I knew it was doomed," he murmured at last, "knew it days ago. If only I -had got him in time! But now, please God, it is over. There will be no -others of this kind." - -At that he turned and walked rapidly away. - - -Tillie McFadden was the first to arrive at Mazie's home; indeed, she -arrived before Mazie. Mazie found her curled up on a couch in the corner, -fast asleep. Her hands were scratched and bruised, there were tear stains -on her cheeks, but for all this she slept the peaceful sleep of a child. - -Mazie felt an almost uncontrollable desire to waken her, to ask her what -had befallen her, what she had seen of the fire, and what had become of -Pant. She conquered this desire, to murmur as she spread a blanket over -the sleeping girl: - -"No. Why waken her to the horror of it all? A long sleep, and she will -have forgotten it. Oh, to be a little child again!" - -At that she sat down to anxiously await news from her comrades. - -In half an hour Pant arrived. As Mazie opened the door he came slouching -in without so much as looking at her. That was Pant's way. But to-night -he moved as one in a trance, or perhaps like one who had travelled so far -against the wind in a snowstorm that his senses had become so benumbed -that he no longer thinks clearly. - -It was not a cold night, but Mazie had kindled a little fire in the -grate. Without speaking, Pant found a seat by that fire. At once he -appeared to fall into a doze. - -When the girl touched his arm to offer him a steaming drink he started as -from a dream. - -After he had gulped down the drink he appeared more alive. - -"I carried her down," he grumbled, half to himself. "Gar! That was hard! -We landed on the ground. Then we ran for it, and in the crowd I lost her. -Do you think I will see her again?" - -"See who?" asked Mazie. - -"The Gypsy girl." - -"Who is she?" - -"Why, don't you know? But of course you wouldn't. She--she's the one who -saved my life and I--I carried her off the Ferris wheel. She would have -burned. The car burned before we touched the ground." - -"Oh!" exclaimed Mazie. "Then you were the one who performed that -marvelous feat on the wheel? I might have known. No one else could have -done that." - -"You--saw us?" - -"Yes. But tell me about that other time, the time the girl saved your -life." - -Pant told her the story. - -"Do you think I'll ever see her again?" he asked eagerly as he finished. - -"You can't tell," said Mazie slowly, "you never know. It's a strange -world we live in. There are a hundred million of people and more, in our -land. How many do you know? A few. There are eight miles of homes between -our house and the heart of the city. Walk the whole distance, eight -miles, twelve blocks to the mile, twenty homes to the block, probably two -thousand homes. Ten thousand people live in those homes. How many of them -do you know? None, perhaps. We live in little worlds of our own. Our -little worlds are like ships at sea. We meet and pass others, like ships -that pass in the night. You deserted your little world for a night and -entered the Gypsy girl's world. She left hers for a night and entered -yours. Now she's gone back to hers and you to yours. Will you meet again? -Why should you?" - -"Sure enough, why should we?" echoed Pant. - -"Someone at the door!" exclaimed Pant. - -Mazie was so overjoyed at sight of the one she found at the door that it -was with difficulty that she refrained from throwing her arms about his -neck. It was Johnny. - -His story was soon told. His dive from the lower balcony of the tower had -been successful. Having landed in the water without so much as being -stunned, he had done the Australian crawl to the far end of the pool -where was a landing. There he had leaped to his feet and gone racing -away. Scarcely a moment had elapsed after he reached a point of safety, -when the tower came crashing down on the very spot where he had stood. - -Having seen the leap of the man he had followed into the tower, he had -watched to see if by any miracle of circumstance he might have landed in -the pool and followed him to safety. Since this did not seem humanly -possible, he had given the man up for lost, but had lingered about the -scene until the torrent had reduced the fire to charcoal. Then he had -come away. - -"Well, here we all are, safe and well," smiled Mazie. - -"And the firebug is dead," said Johnny. - -"How do you know that?" Pant challenged. - -"I watched the burning pile until it was done. I tell you he was killed -by the fall, crushed by the building that came crashing down upon him. He -should be dead enough from all that." - -"But how do you know he was the firebug?" persisted Pant. "You can't -really prove it." - -"I can," said Johnny positively, "and to-morrow I will." - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - THE CONTENTS OF THE BLACK BAG - - -Johnny found the fire chief in a sour mood next morning. Two disastrous -fires in a single night, both probable cases of arson. One had been -tipped off to him beforehand and he had sent Johnny and some of his best -men to watch. Yet they had found nothing. It was enough to break the -staunchest heart. - -"Buck up, Chief," smiled Johnny, "the firebug's dead." - -"He is, is he!" roared the Chief. "Didn't I see him not two hours ago? -Ain't he goin' to get out of jail unless we can pin something definite on -him?" - -It was Johnny's turn to lose heart. The firebug in jail, about to escape -for lack of a charge? What did this mean? - -"Where--where did you catch him?" he stammered. - -"Where'd you expect? By the fire he set, to be sure; the Randolph Street -fire." - -"Oh!" Johnny breathed more easily. "You got Knobs Whittaker?" - -"Who'd you think? Wasn't he the man I set you to watch?" - -"Why yes--one of them." - -"And didn't we catch him wandering round in the crowd, big as life and -staring round as if he was looking for somebody he'd lost?" - -"Did he describe the man he was looking for?" Johnny smiled as he asked -this. - -"No, why should he? Why should we care?" - -"Probably you shouldn't. Only I thought it might be me he was looking -for." - -"You? Why?" - -"I had a bit of property of his." At this Johnny held up the black bag -that he had taken from Knobs. - -"Where'd you get that?" - -"I'll tell you," said Johnny, calmly sitting down. - -He did tell, and after the Chief had listened with all his ears he -exclaimed at the finish: - -"Open it up. You're right, it may contain some evidence and evidence is -what we need." - -"Do you know, Johnny," he said as the boy struggled to break the lock, -"that was the hottest fire I ever experienced. There were enough -chemicals in that lower story to charge a volcano. It's a wonder there -wasn't an explosion. Those boys will forfeit their insurance." - -"I might have a little evidence on that point, too," said Johnny. "You -remember my telling of the truck that unloaded there just before the -fire? Well, that may have been a plant. Perhaps the company had not -ordered those chemicals. Knobs Whittaker may have had them put there." - -"Why?" - -"How did the diamond company's property fare?" - -"Total loss. Never saw anything to equal it. Safe just over the -chemicals. Dropped right into the mess of those flaming chemicals. The -safe was melted to a solid mass." - -"And the diamonds?" - -"Diamonds? In the safe, I guess. Or maybe they melted, too. Diamonds are -carbon you know, same as coal. Wouldn't expect them to withstand the -heat, would you?" - -"Not if they were there," said Johnny. "I thought it might be----" - -At this moment the lock to the black bag gave way. Johnny threw up the -cover. - -"Shade my eyes!" exclaimed the Chief. "What have we here?" - -"Looks like diamonds to me," said Johnny with a grin. - -"So they are!" exclaimed the Chief, seizing a small case and examining -its contents closely. "And that was the game. Knobs was in with the -diamond merchant! Man! What a haul they would have made!" - -The next instant he dashed to the telephone. - -"That you, Cassidy?" he said a moment later. "The Fire Chief speaking. -Hold Knobs without bail. We've got the goods on him. A dead open and shut -case. He'll do twenty years for last night's work. - -"Now," he said to Johnny after resuming his usual composed manner, "what -was this you were telling me about the firebug being dead?" - -"That was something else." - -"Another one?" - -"The one who set fire to Forest City, and all those other places of -public pleasure, the enemy of happiness. Do you remember the tall stooped -man with a hook-nose and a limp that I spoke to you about?" - -"Yes." - -"That was the man." - -"Can you prove it?" - -"I think I can." - -"Well, if you can you're mighty well off. You're well off as it is. I'll -make the insurance companies come through with a fat reward on this," he -patted the black bag. "But there's a reward offered by the city for the -firebug. If you can prove that his work is over you'll be doing yourself -a service as well as every law-abiding citizen of this old town." - -"I'll do it before dark." - -"Go to it, Johnny. More power to your good right arm." The Chief grasped -his hand in a hearty grip, then escorted him to the door. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - THE FIREBUG'S SECRET REVEALED - - -"Johnny," said Pant, as their train sped along, "what did Knobs Whittaker -have to do with that string of fires--the schools, the Zoo, and Forest -City?" - -"Not a thing, I guess. It was that man with the hooked nose who set them -all." - -"You haven't proved that." - -"That's why we are now on our way out to the black shack by the edge of -the swamp. I think we'll find some proof out there." - -They were on the train speeding southward toward the marsh. - -"If Knobs wasn't in with old hook-nose, why were they together in that -dive where I came near getting bumped off?" asked Pant. - -"Doubtless they were acquainted. Men of the same trade, even if it's of a -criminal nature, usually are. Birds of a feather, you know. It may be, -too, that Knobs was encouraging this other man. If the fires set by him -could keep the eyes of the police and inspectors off Knobs, then he would -have easy going. - -"His big game, though, was the diamond shop. It looked easy. To plant all -those chemicals beneath his safe, to set a fire, then beat it with the -diamonds, leaving everyone to believe they were lost, seemed simple -enough. It would have been, too, if it hadn't been my luck to hit him -behind the ear. Got that picture?" he asked suddenly. - -"Yes." - -Pant took a small snapshot from his pocket and handed it to Johnny. - -"Pretty good, even if it was taken under difficult circumstances," he -said, holding it up to the light. - -It was a picture of a large man wearing a mask and holding a silver cream -pitcher in his hand. It was the picture he and Mazie had taken at the -booth just before the fire started. - -"Mask sort of spoils it, but I think they'll recognize that stoop." - -"Who?" - -"The people who have seen him before." - -For a time they rode in silence. Then Johnny spoke again. - -"If there is any reward for all this work, Tillie McFadden gets half of -it. She gave me the first good hunch." - -"What was the hunch?" - -"That the man who set the fires wasn't in the building when they were -set." - -"You expect to prove that?" - -"To-day." - -"With a mechanism?" - -"No other mechanism than you'll find in any building of consequence. Here -we are!" he exclaimed suddenly. - -They were at the station near the marsh. - -A half hour later found them creeping on hands and knees, making their -way from sand dune to sand dune. In his hand Johnny gripped the black -automatic he had taken from Knobs. - -"One more dune," he breathed, "then we'll have to make a break for it." - -As he rose to creep forward again he caught sight of the roof of the -black shack. - -The next moment, somewhat excited and breathless, they were dashing for -the shack. - -Once within the shadow of its side they paused to calm their wildly -beating hearts. Then gripping his automatic hard, Johnny popped his head -up before the window. - -"Huh!" he grunted a second later. "I thought it might be that way. Not a -soul here." - -The lock on the door was a simple one and they were soon inside. - -"It's the hook-nosed one's shack all right," said Johnny. "I've seen him -wear this long rain-coat." He took the coat from its hook. "Bring it -along as evidence. And these." He walked to the corner where were four -black cylinders standing on end. They were what remained of the pile he -had seen there some time before. - -Handling them with great care, as if afraid they might explode, he first -wrapped them in a piece of paper he had taken from his pocket, then -buckled a strap tightly about them. - -For a moment he stood looking about the cabin. Then turning toward the -door, he said: - -"Come on. I think we have all that is of any value to us here." - -Once back on the beach, they did not return directly to the station, but -paused first to interview some fishermen who were mending their nets, and -then later to knock at a cabin farther down the beach. - -At the cabin a woman said that a man resembling the one in the snapshot -had sometimes come to her house for milk. The fishermen were even more -positive in their identification. - -"Yes sir," said one of them, "that was his shack out there by the marsh. -I've often seen him. But what's the mask for?" - -"Carnival," said Johnny. - -"Oh!" - -"So you think it was old Hook-nose who shot at you and went hunting you -and Mazie out here on the marsh?" said Pant as they walked on. - -"I am sure of it. And I'm equally sure that he killed poor old Ben Zook. -The last evidence against him will be put to the test this afternoon in -the Fire Chief's office at three. Will you be there?" - -"I sure will." - -True to his promise, Pant was there at the appointed hour. So were Mazie -and the Fire Chief. - -"Now," said Johnny, as if about to perform some scientific experiment, -"I'll ask you to examine this scrap of black cardboard which Ben Zook and -I found on his island after the mysterious blaze out there. Compare it -with the outer covering of the four cylinders I have here. Same material, -isn't it, Chief?" - -"I'd say it was the same." - -"Now," said Johnny, "take a look at this telephone which I took from the -burning Zoo. As you will see, it is equipped with two pairs of wires. The -ends of the smaller wires are scorched. - -"If you don't mind, Chief, I'll just disconnect these wires and hook them -up with your own phone." He unstrapped the tubes and, selecting one, set -the others some distance away. "Now I will connect the other ends by -means of the screw contact points which you will see already conveniently -placed at the top of this black tube. - -"Now," he smiled, as he stepped back quickly as if expecting something -sudden, "if you will be kind enough to take down your receiver and ask -the operator to give you a ring?" - -For a second the Chief hesitated, then complied with his request. At the -same time Mazie crowded herself into the most remote corner. - -"Operator," called the Chief, "give us a ring, will you?" His hand -trembled slightly as he hung up the receiver. In the room, for the space -of seconds, all was silence, a silence so complete that the buzzing of a -fly far up on the ceiling sounded distinctly. - -Then came the jangle of the bell. Instantly, as if by magic, the black -tube split straight down the middle into two perfect halves, toppled -over, revealing a fan-shaped mass of tissue paper which promptly burst -into flame. So suddenly did it all happen that had not Johnny seen to it -that there was a chemical fire extinguisher right at hand, the Chief -might have found himself in the embarrassing position of being obliged to -turn in a fire alarm from his own office. - -As it was, the fire was soon out. After that Johnny's three friends sat -staring at him. - -"The explanation is simple enough," he smiled. "In the case of every fire -set by this misguided man--who was a crank and perhaps a radical as -well--he pretended to be a telephone wireman. Having in this way gotten -inside, always just at closing time, he connected his wires with the -phone, then planted a fire trap such as this in some store-room where -there was plenty of combustibles. After making sure that he was the last -one out, he left the building. - -"Since everyone associated with the office knew that everyone in the -office left at a definite hour, there were no phone calls after the trap -had been set. - -"At his appointed hour, ten, eleven, or twelve o'clock at night, the -firebug, by this time perhaps ten miles away, would go to some phone and -calmly call the number. - -"And Bam! The telephone rings; a spark traveling down one of those fine -wires, loosens a spring that throws the trap open, tissue paper unfolds -like a fan, a taper is lighted that fires the trap, and all is prepared -for the fire alarm." - -"What a pity that so much ingenuity should be used for so dire a -purpose," said the Chief. - -"So you think this firebug is dead?" - -"I know it. I have a report to that effect, and plenty of proof that he -was the man." - -"You shall have the reward. You deserve it." The Chief turned to grasp -his hand. - -It would probably not have seemed strange if Johnny Thompson, after such -strenuous experiences as these, should have decided to take a long rest. -So he did decide, but fate ruled differently. By chance, on that very -night, he walked into the shop of an old man who was a wizard at working -in wood--ebony, mahogany, teak and rosewood. He showed Johnny some -marvels and in the end told him a tale that set Johnny's blood racing -fast. - -It was this tale that led the boy off on a most thrilling adventure, -which you will find recorded in our next book, "The Red Lure." - - - - - Transcriber's Notes - - ---Copyright notice provided as in the original printed text--this e-text - is public domain in the country of publication. - ---Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and - dialect unchanged. - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Firebug, by Roy J. 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