"Collector of Port, N.Y.: Swear out warrant for arrest of Clara La Croix, charge of smuggling, and mail at once to International, Niagara Falls. Brady."
"Collector of Port, N.Y.: Swear out warrant for arrest of Clara La Croix, charge of smuggling, and mail at once to International, Niagara Falls. Brady."
The second was addressed to the Customs department at Suspension Bridge, saying:
"Keep watch for La Croix, wife and daughter with four spies. Are going to attempt to pass $250,000 worth of diamonds."
"Keep watch for La Croix, wife and daughter with four spies. Are going to attempt to pass $250,000 worth of diamonds."
As La Croix was well known, details were useless.
The Bradys watched their quarry closely.
Knowing they had those diamonds with them, and that they would very likely play a sharp trick to evade the inspectors, the Bradys were very careful.
Scarcely a move made by the family escaped them.
It soon became apparent to the detectives that an important move was soon to be made, for the four spies were in frequent consultation with the Frenchman and his family.
"They are evidently arranging a plan of action," Harry commented, as he and his partner traced the men to La Croix's room for the fourth time.
"I wish there was some way of getting a clew to their design," Old King Brady replied, in wistful tones. "We are completely in the dark."
"That's a sheer impossibility," Harry answered. "They are taking the most extraordinary care not to let anyone hear a word they are saying or see a thing they are doing. I've tried several times, and failed."
"We've got a sharp gang to deal with, my boy. And the worst of it is that $250,000 worth of diamonds makes such a small package that they won't have the slightest trouble to conceal it."
"As they are not likely to allow so valuable a parcel to leave their hands, by arresting the whole gang the moment they reach the American side, we are likely to find the jewels on the person of one or the other."
"And I quite agree with that plan," said Harry. "In fact, it's the only safe method of securing them for a certainty."
"Have you noticed whether they made friends with any outsiders here?"
"No, they haven't. They keep strictly aloof from everybody. I made an attempt to speak to each one of the party in a friendly way at the table, but they gave me such a cold reception, I had to withdraw in a hurry."
That day, La Croix and his party left Montreal.
Boarding a train for Toronto, they went away.
The Bradys were on the same train.
Once more their disguises were changed, for they did not want the smugglers to see them in Toronto in the same characters, as it might arouse their suspicions.
They were now rigged out as two regular army soldiers, and pretended to be sightseeing, as most Americans are up in that region.
La Croix and his party only remained a day in Toronto.
The detectives now discovered that two of the spies had disappeared and a swift search was made to find them.
Harry did the investigating.
He finally discovered that one of them had gone to get married, and the other acted as best man at the ceremony.
The spy married a pretty French-Canadian girl.
His companion returned to La Croix's party and the bride and groom started off on a short wedding trip.
Young King Brady dropped them.
"They'll be so busy spooning and lally-gagging that he won't have any time to attend to this smuggling game," thought the boy detective, as he went back to his partner to report the occurrence.
Old King Brady was watching the Frenchman's party.
Next day the smugglers boarded the cars for Niagara, and the Bradys felt that their work would soon be at an end.
As the Custom House officers of Niagara had been specially warned against these people, they made a very careful search of their baggage and persons.
Every one underwent a most rigid examination.
Not a thing or place was overlooked in which there was the faintest chance of concealing precious stones.
But despite the keenness of the scrutiny—despite the extraordinary watchfulness—despite every care—not a diamond was found.
The Bradys looked on eagerly.
Each one expected a remarkable disclosure.
But when they saw the officers baffled, it worried them.
They could not understand this want of success, except by thinking that the La Croix party were playing some deep, shrewd game.
The Frenchman laughed sardonically at the officers and said:
"Ah, Messieurs, zis ees ze time I fool you!Comprong?"
"If any of your party have anything contraband," grimly answered the officer, in disappointed tones, "you must have swallowed it."
"Zen why you not examine us wiz ze X-ray?" chuckled La Croix.
"I'd like to take you at your invitation, you are such a slippery customer," growled the officer, who had had some experience with him before.
The party were permitted to go.
They headed for the International hotel and as the Bradys had already arranged to go there, they followed the Frenchman's party.
Upon the arrival of the officers, a legal envelope was handed to Old King Brady, and he opened it and withdrew a warrant for Clara La Croix.
"No need of this, yet," he grumbled, holding it up.
"We may want it very soon," replied Harry. "They had the diamonds, and if they've eluded our vigilance, or given them to anyone else to smuggle over, they'll have to get thejewels away from the smuggler and that will be the time for us to grab them."
Several days passed by, during which La Croix's three spies returned to Canada, as they were then of no further service.
The day after they had gone, the fourth spy, who had got married, suddenly came over from Canada with his bride, and the detectives saw them go to the hotel where the La Croix party was stopping.
With their suspicions aroused, the Bradys watched them.
They went up to the clerk, sent their card to La Croix's room, and Clara presently came down and greeted them warmly.
"Papa is shaving," she remarked. "Can't you come to my room? I'll try to entertain you until he is disengaged."
She had abandoned her widow's weeds and resumed her wonted attire in which she looked very young and charming.
The bride smiled, patted her on the head and said:
"I like you. Nothing would please me better."
The moment she assented, the Bradys hastened upstairs.
Clara's room was open and they entered and glanced around.
It was a magnificently-furnished apartment and the trunk she brought over from France stood in the middle of the room.
At one side was a closet.
The Bradys dodged into it and closed the door.
No sooner were they concealed when Clara and her two guests came in and at her invitation, seated themselves.
"Well?" said the girl smuggler, in eager tones, "how did you make out?"
"Fine," laughed the spy, producing a package from his pocket. "We kept the diamonds and remained in Canada, spending our honeymoon. When we started for the American side, my wife had the package of diamonds fastened under the lining of her skirt. No one suspected us, of course. The officers only made a careless examination of our satchel and valise. We had no trouble whatever."
"How lucky!"
"Is there any use for us to remain here to see your father? We are in a hurry, and can come back in the course of an hour."
"That will do."
"We will go, then."
And they left the room.
A few moments later there came a knock at the door.
"Come in," cried the girl.
Her mother entered the room.
"Where are the bridal couple, Clara?" she asked, glancing around.
"Just gone. They'll return in an hour."
"Did they leave the package of diamonds?"
"Yes. And here it is."
Another knock came at the door.
"Hide the parcel!" gasped Mrs. La Croix, nervously.
The girl thrust it in her pocket.
"Enter!" she cried.
The door opened and a hall-boy came in.
"Did you ring, Miss La Croix?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied. "I want you to do something for me."
Rising to her feet she drew the boy aside and held a whispered talk with him for several moments.
In the course of their conversation he said to her:
"I saw two men enter this room just before you came in with that lady and gentleman, and they didn't go out again, either."
The girl looked startled.
She spoke to him rapidly a moment, and he started for the door.
Before he could depart, however, the closet door flew open with a bang and the Bradys sprang from their place of concealment.
"Hold on, there!" cried Harry. "Let no one leave this room!"
The hall-boy paused, an alarmed look on his face.
Mrs. La Croix and her daughter were possessed of good nerves, for the dramatic entrance of the Bradys did not seem to startle them in the least.
They glanced coolly at the detectives and Mrs. La Croix asked, haughtily:
"Who are these men?"
"Detectives, madam," replied Old King Brady, politely.
"Indeed! What were you sneaking in that closet for?"
"To learn the true inwardness of your gigantic smuggling scheme."
"You must be mad."
"No, indeed. We are quite sane, I assure you."
"What do you mean by our smuggling?"
"Simply this: We know all about your daughter's trip to Holland and we've been watching her since she landed at Montreal."
"Oh," said the lady, icily, "you have, eh?"
"Yes, we have."
"Well, what do you want, now?"
"Madam," said Old King Brady, "here is a warrant for the arrest of your daughter. The charge is smuggling!"
Calmly taking the document, the lady read it.
Harry opened the door and let the hall-boy go.
The young detective did not want the boy to hear all that transpired and the hall-boy hastened away.
Rushing to Paul La Croix's room, he pounded on the door, entered and found the smuggler shaving himself.
"There's two detectives in your daughter's room!" he gasped.
"Sacre!" roared La Croix in startled tones.
"They've got a warrant for your daughter's arrest."
"Who zey are?" groaned La Croix.
"The Bradys."
"We are lost!"
"Your daughter slipped me this package and told me to give it to you."
He handed over the parcel of diamonds, and with a glad cry, La Croix eagerly seized it and thrust it in the bosom of his shirt.
"Here—five dollaire for you!" he panted, giving the boy a bill. "Keep ze still tongue about our affairs. Now go!"
The boy shot out of the room and the man wrote a note and left it on the bureau.
La Croix hastily dressed and rushed out of the hotel.
He was fearfully excited.
Reaching the street, he called a cab, doubled the driver's fare and was driven furiously to the railroad depot.
Here he caught a departing train.
Meantime, the Bradys imagined they had Clara La Croix with the package of diamonds in her possession.
Harry placed his hand on the girl smuggler's arm.
"I hate to do it, Miss," said he, half apologetically, "but you are my prisoner."
She took her arrest with exasperating coolness.
Smiling up at him, she said in low, sweet tones:
"I'm charged with smuggling, ain't I?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"About $250,000 worth of diamonds."
"How ridiculous!"
"No, it isn't. We've got all the facts."
"Please name them."
"You went to Amsterdam and came back on the Dominion with the jewels I mentioned. In Toronto you gave them to one of your father's spies who got married. Your party crossed the border and were searched. Of course, no jewels were found on you. A short time ago the spy and his bride followed you; they smuggled the diamonds over the Suspension Bridge for you. A few minutes ago they were here and delivered the package to you. You've got it now, so hand it over."
"I haven't got any package of diamonds," protested the girl.
"Now, don't try to lie out of it. We've got the evidence against you which you can't deny. Be sensible and save yourself further trouble by handing over the gems. If you don't we'll take them by force."
"I am telling you the truth."
"Further concealment is useless."
"Then search us and convince yourself."
Harry accepted her offer and failed to find the stones.
While he was so employed, Old King Brady searched her mother with equal non-success, and a surprised look spread over their faces.
"The girl hasn't got them!" exclaimed Harry, in disgust.
"Nor has her mother," added Old King Brady.
"They must have hidden them."
"Search the room."
"Don't move, ladies, or we'll handcuff you."
"No need of that ignominy," said the girl.
They made a thorough and painstaking search of the place, but failed to meet with any success and finally gave it up.
The diamonds remained missing.
Both were greatly puzzled.
Suddenly an idea occurred to Harry and he cried:
"The hall-boy!"
"What about him?" asked his partner.
"He may have carried off the parcel."
"See!"
"You guard them."
"All right."
Harry rushed out of the room.
Finding the boy down in the office, Harry seized him.
"Where did you put the package that girl gave you?" he roared.
The boy turned pale with fright, and a panic seized him as he suddenly thought his share in the matter was known.
With bulging eyes and chattering teeth, he gasped:
"For mercy's sake don't arrest me, and I'll tell you, sir."
"Well? Speak out—quick!"
"The young lady told me to give it to her father."
"And you did?"
"Yes, sir."'
"Where was he?"
"In his room."
"Is he there yet?"
"I don't know."
Harry rushed upstairs again.
Pushing open the door of Paul La Croix's room he entered.
None of the man's possessions was disturbed, but Harry caught view of the note he had written and placed on his bureau.
The boy picked it up and read the following lines:
"Monsieur Brady: By the time you get this letter I will be far away. You are duped. Do as you please with my innocent wife and daughter. You can prove nothing against them. An outsider did the smuggling. That lets us out. I defy you. Do your worst. La Croix."
"Monsieur Brady: By the time you get this letter I will be far away. You are duped. Do as you please with my innocent wife and daughter. You can prove nothing against them. An outsider did the smuggling. That lets us out. I defy you. Do your worst. La Croix."
Young King Brady smiled at the note.
"The raving of a madman!" he muttered scornfully. "If he imagines he has beaten us, we will soon relieve him of that notion."
He carried the note to Old King Brady and exclaimed:
"La Croix has escaped with the diamonds."
"How did he get them?" asked the old detective, curiously.
"Clara sent them to him by the hall-boy."
"As I feared!"
"We can't convict these women."
"No. Release them."
"Ladies, you are free."
"Thank you," said Clara, with a pleasant smile.
"Go your way. We can't secure anything but revenge by prosecuting you, and that isn't what we are after. I must say, though, Mrs. La Croix, that was an inhumanthing for you and your husband to do, boxing us up and shipping us to California. We are more merciful to you when it lies in our power to put you in prison."
The woman's face reddened with shame.
She hung her head, but made no reply.
Old King Brady then said to Harry in hurried tones:
"Come. We must get on La Croix's trail. We'll run him down if it takes a year to do it!"
They rushed from the room.
Harry, however, paused outside the door and listened.
The woman and her daughter uttered a merry peal of laughter.
"Good for papa!" cried the girl. "He'll save the gems yet."
"Those detectives have gone on a wild goose chase," contemptuously replied her mother. "Paul will outwit them. To-morrow you and I will go back to New York, and put up at the Waldorf. When your father has safely disposed of those gems he will go there to look for us. It's a rendezvous we had arranged beforehand in case trouble came up."
Harry nodded and smiled.
"Glad you've posted me," he muttered. "I won't lose sight of you two charming creatures. It wasn't good policy to pull you in without the diamonds if you only knew it, and that's the only reason you are at liberty now. We'll play with you as a cat plays with a mouse."
And he walked away from the door feeling well satisfied with the shape the case was taking.
Old King Brady had gone ahead in an effort to find out what had become of Paul La Croix.
Reaching the street he accosted a man at the door with the question:
"Did you see a thin man with a black moustache, a high hat, and frock coat come out of here in a hurry a few moments ago?"
"Yes, sir. He got in a cab and rode away."
"Did you notice the sort of cab it was?"
"I did. Do you know Pork Chops, the negro hackman?"
"Oh, yes."
"Well, it was his rig."
"Which way did they go?"
"In the direction of the railroad depot."
Thanking his informant, the old detective hastened away convinced that the fugitive was going out of Niagara by rail.
When he reached the depot he described La Croix and asked where he had gone.
"That's none of your business," growled the surly ticket agent.
"Oh, isn't it?" queried the detective, blandly.
"No!" shouted the man, "and I'll not tell you."
"It wouldn't hurt you to be polite and accommodating, would it?"
"I ain't here to keep inquisitive people posted about our passengers."
"That's a fact," assented Old King Brady, "but I have an urgent reason for wishing to know where that man went."
"I don't care anything about your private reasons. If you don't want to buy a ticket, get away from that window and don't annoy me."
"Very well," meekly answered the detective.
He thereupon stepped through the door into the agent's office, and the man scowled, and glared at him and roared:
"What in thunder do you want in here, anyway?"
"I've come in to arrest you," quietly answered the old detective, as he showed his badge. "I'm a detective, as you can plainly see, and the man I inquired about is a fugitive smuggler. As you are aiding him to escape, by withholding the information I want, you must be an accessory of his. As such, you'll have to go to jail!"
The man wilted.
All his lordly, overbearing manners vanished.
Turning as pale as death and trembling like an aspen, he gasped tremulously:
"For pity's sake don't lock me up. I didn't know the circumstances."
"You're an unmannerly dog."
"I know it, sir. I'm sorry if I offended you."
"Promise me to act more civilly in future."
"Yes. Yes. Certainly I shall."
"Then I'll let you go. Let this be a lesson to you. Now, where did he go?"
"He bought a ticket to New York."
"Why didn't you save all this bother by saying so in the first place?"
"I—I—I don't know," stammered the fellow in subdued tones.
Giving him a look of contempt, Old King Brady purchased a ticket for New York, and said in angry tones:
"For two pins I'd notify the company what a brute you are, and have a gentleman put here in your place."
And with this rebuke he departed.
He went to a telegraph office and flashed a message to the authorities of various stations along the line to New York, asking them to hold La Croix if they caught him on the cars.
He had to wait an hour for a train to Buffalo, and sent Harry a message telling where he was going.
Finally he was carried away in his train.
The old detective stopped off at every station to which he telegraphed, but in every instance he received the same answer, that nothing was seen of a man answering La Croix's description.
That set the detective thinking.
"La Croix was probably keen-witted enough to suspect that we would find his trail and pursue him. In order to conceal his identity he has doubtless disguised himself andthus passed through unrecognized. He has got to dispose of that big lot of diamonds yet. Carrying such a huge amount will of course attract a great deal of attention. Therefore it should be an easy matter to find out where he is operating when he reaches New York."
On the following day Old King Brady reached the city.
He instituted inquiries about La Croix at once in the jewelry district, but no one seemed to have seen him yet.
That did not worry Old King Brady.
He was too astute a man to be discouraged by a trifling rebuff.
"The villain is keeping shady," was the conclusion he arrived at. "He is going to let the fuss blow over before he exposes his stock. Very foxy, no doubt, but I'm bound to land on him sooner or later."
He did not relax his hunt.
Nor did he let on to the authorities that he was in town again.
He believed in the golden principle of keeping his business to himself until it became absolutely necessary to disclose it.
Two days later Harry joined him at their joint lodgings.
Young King Brady told how he had tracked Mrs. La Croix and her daughter to swell apartments in the luxurious Waldorf.
Here the pair had taken up their abode under the fictitious name of Mrs. Marie P. Savoy and daughter.
The Bradys conjectured that it would not take them long to let La Croix know of their whereabouts.
They therefore carefully shadowed the big hotel.
Nearly a week passed by and one rainy night while Harry was on watch, under an umbrella, across the street from the hotel, he saw a hansom cab dash up to the door, and a man looking like La Croix alighted and hastily made his way into the building on the Thirty-fourth street side.
"La Croix, as sure as fate!" the boy muttered, hastily crossing the street.
He was heading for the glass portico, when he happened to glance into the spacious dining-room and saw the girl smuggler at supper.
Young King Brady paused and watched her.
Presently a waiter approached her with a card on a salver.
She glanced at it, said something to the man, and while he hastened away, she resumed her supper in a leisurely manner.
There were many fashionable guests in the room.
In a few moments Harry saw her father approach her smilingly, and sit down at the same table with her.
"Now is my time to nab him!" muttered Harry.
He ran into the hotel without ceremony, and making his way to the door of the dining-room, he paid no heed to the servants who offered to take his hat, mackintosh and umbrella.
In he dashed, his queer actions causing the guests to look up at him in astonishment, and he headed for La Croix.
The Frenchman had a big carving knife in his hand with which he was going to cut a steak instead of allowing the waiter to do it.
Harry's hand fell upon his shoulder.
"La Croix, you are my prisoner!" he exclaimed.
A hoarse cry escaped the smuggler and he became excited as he noticed that most every one in the room overheard the remark.
Clara gave a suppressed shriek and sprang to her feet.
Quick to recover his composure the Frenchman put on his eyeglasses, stared at Harry coolly from head to foot, and exclaimed:
"Young man, haf you not mek a meestake?"
"No, indeed!" replied the boy, resolutely. "You are my man all right."
"Why, sair, I don't know you. I nevair saw you before een my life."
"Come—come. You can't cheek it out that way, La Croix."
"Monsieur, please let go my arm or I have ze vatairs throw you out of here!"
Harry's patience became exhausted.
He did not intend to mince matters, so he said:
"You stop your humbug and come with me, or I'll pull you out of here by the neck, do you understand me?"
He took a firm grip on his man with one hand and drew a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket with the other.
Seeing he could not brave the matter out, and fearing lest the boy would attempt to handcuff him, the Frenchman wrenched himself free.
"You geet avay!" he hissed.
"Not without you!" retorted Harry, pluckily.
And he rushed forward to grasp the villain again.
By this time La Croix had become frantic with desperation.
Seeing the boy coming, he drew back the big carving knife with a quick motion and aimed a blow at the boy, shouting in the meantime:
"Zen take zat!"
The deadly blade leaped toward Harry's breast.
He tried to avoid it by leaping back, but was too late.
The knife struck him and the point pierced his side.
A sudden cry of agony escaped Young King Brady, and he flung up his hands and pitched over upon the floor.
Nearly every one in the room having had their attention attracted toward the pair had witnessed the tragedy.
Men turned pale and leaped to their feet, women shrieked and fainted, and some of the bolder waiters rushed at the Frenchman to disarm and capture him.
La Croix brandished the knife.
"I keel ze fairst man who touch me!" he yelled.
Dashing out of the room, he rushed upstairs and flourished the knife at his pursuers. He swore at every step and threatened to run the blade into the first man who got within his reach.
That cowed the crowd and he disappeared on the floor above.
There was a scene of furious excitement in the hotel dining-room, and during the confusion, Clara La Croix made her escape.
Among the guests who had been dining was a physician who ran to Harry's aid and made a rapid examination of his wound.
To the many anxious, pale-faced spectators who gathered round, he said:
"Don't be alarmed. It's a mere flesh wound and will soon heal up."
"Isn't he dead?" demanded a gentleman in a dress-suit, anxiously.
"No. Simply fainted from the shock on his system."
"He's evidently a detective."
"Yes, sir, and his assailant is a criminal. Waiter, get me some water—a sponge—bandages, and some linament. I'll bandage this wound and stop the bleeding."
While the doctor was busy working over the unconscious boy, the hotel detective and a policeman came running in and got the details.
They hastened away and scoured the hotel in quest of La Croix.
That worthy had gone to his wife's room.
Garbed in one of her bonnets, veils and dresses, he descended in the elevator and swiftly got away from the Waldorf, undetected.
His wife and daughter followed as rapidly as possible.
Meantime Harry recovered.
The doctor brought him home in a carriage.
Old King Brady was at home and got the particulars.
His rage knew no bounds when Harry explained all, after the doctor's departure, and he cried bitterly:
"That villain has caused us more trouble than any other criminal we ever attempted to run down. I'll even matters up with him. Had you not retreated just when you did, that knife would surely have killed you."
"I'll be laid up a few days, the doctor said," replied Harry, "but I'll soon get over it. If I ever meet La Croix again, I won't have any mercy on him. He's a bad man."
The boy then went to bed.
A week afterward, Old King Brady met Harry at police headquarters, and the boy saw by the look of triumph on his face that he had good news.
"How are you feeling to-day?" he asked the boy.
"Fine. My wound don't bother me at all."
"I've been working hard, Harry."
"So I imagine, as I haven't seen anything of you since yesterday."
"La Croix's four spies have arrived in town."
"What! Come from Canada?"
"Yes. I saw them going up Broadway in a bunch, to-day."
"Why didn't you arrest them?"
"Couldn't. Had my hands full at the time."
"Of what?"
"Mrs. La Croix."
"Did you catch her?"
"Yes. Shopping in Twenty-third street."
"Good enough."
"She's locked up now. I've changed my plans."
"How?"
"Well, I think we've made a great mistake in allowing those women their liberty, hoping they would lead us to Paul La Croix's hiding place. My new plan is this: To yank every one of them in, the moment we catch them."
Harry pondered over the proposition a few moments.
As a fact, he did not fancy such a summary proceeding. He firmly believed that using the different members of the gang as a bait to trap the others was the most efficient method of acting.
However, Old King Brady was getting impatient over the slow progress they were making to arrest the smugglers. His plan would show a quick result. That's what he wanted.
The boy, therefore, did not contradict him.
"Any way you say," he replied, presently.
"I'm following out my idea now," said the old detective, as he took a chew of tobacco. "The moment I saw Mrs. La Croix, I grabbed her."
"She protested, of course?"
"Vigorously. But I locked her up just the same."
"Couldn't you get any information out of her about the rest?"
"No. She wouldn't say a word."
"Acts like an old offender."
"Exactly. Her husband and daughter must be somewhere about the city. I suppose La Croix sent for the spies. He may have use for them, else they wouldn't be here. I only hope he hasn't disposed of any of those stones yet."
"And I've sent a warning to all jewelers, pawnbrokers and dealers in gems, not to handle La Croix's gems under penalty of the law. I've offered them a reward for the smuggler's arrest. The villain is bound to keep shady now. He must know the danger he is in. He's a very foxy Frenchman," said Harry.
"I wish I could find out where the woman lives."
"Nothing easier," said Harry.
"Don't you fool yourself. She won't confess."
"I don't expect she will."
"Then how am I to find out?"
"You said she was shopping in Twenty-third street?"
"I caught her coming out of Sterns' store."
"What's more likely than that she made some purchases and ordered the things sent home?"
Old King Brady's face brightened.
He had not thought of her leaving her address.
"Your idea is all right!" he exclaimed.
"Of course it is. It only has one drawback."
"And what's that?"
"She may have given a fictitious name."
"True. But she favors the name of Marie Savoy."
"It wouldn't do any harm to try asking for it."
"Come with me and see what we can do."
They left headquarters and hastened to the big dry goods store.
Going to the delivery department they asked the head clerk if he had anything on his books to be delivered to either Mrs. La Croix or Savoy.
A short search of the record elicited this response:
"I've got twenty yards of dress goods to be delivered to Mrs. M.P. Savoy."
"Bought a couple of hours ago?" asked Old King Brady.
"About that."
"Where are you going to deliver it?"
"At No. 160 Bleecker street."
"That's all."
"Anything wrong about it?"
"No. It's paid for, ain't it?"
"Yes."
"What time are you going to deliver the parcel?"
"Our wagon ought to reach there about five o'clock."
Old King Brady thanked him and they departed, leaving the clerk looking very much mystified over their peculiar actions.
The Bradys went to the Bleecker street address and saw that it was one of a row of old-fashioned brick houses with green blinds.
There was an ornamental iron stoop in front, and a furnished room sign hanging in one of the windows.
"Shall we go in?" asked Harry, hesitatingly.
"No. Wait for the wagon. We can then see who comes to the door. I presume they only have furnished rooms here."
"It's a poor neighborhood."
"So much the better for their purpose, perhaps."
They entered a saloon on the corner and took up a position where they could watch the house over the window screen.
They had not been there long before Harry caught view of two familiar figures coming down the street and called his partner's attention to them.
"Here comes two of La Croix's spies!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, and they are going into the house," muttered Old King Brady.
"That clinches our doubts. He surely must live there."
"No doubt of it. It's a strange servant admitting them. She's a mulatto."
The men disappeared in the house.
An hour passed by uneventfully.
Then Sterns' wagon came along and Old King Brady said hastily:
"When that driver rings, we must force our way in."
"Hurry up, then!"
Running across the street they arrived just in time to go up the stoop with the driver, and when he rang, the colored girl answered the bell.
"Mrs. Savoy live here?" demanded the driver, who had a bundle.
"Yes," replied the girl. "Parcel for her?"
"Here it is."
He handed it over and went away.
"Is the lady in?" Old King Brady asked the girl.
"No, sir. But her daughter is."
"We'd like to see her on important business."
"Come inside, if you please."
She ushered them into the parlor and asked:
"What name?"
"The Bradys."
"Wait here, sir."
She left the room and they silently followed her.
Pushing open the door of the back parlor the girl said:
"Miss Savoy—the Bradys—"
"At your service!" added Harry.
And they strode into the room where Clara La Croix sat.
It was a beautifully furnished bedroom and the girl smuggler sat by the window reading a novel when the detectives rushed in at her.
She was a cool, level-headed girl, and seemed to possess a remarkable set of nerves for she did not look at all startled by their entrance.
Meeting the detectives' look with a cool stare, she asked, quietly:
"Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you?"
Then seeing the astonished servant lingering at the door, she added:
"You may go, Hattie."
The servant closed the door and vanished.
Old King Brady strode over to her and exclaimed:
"We want those smuggled diamonds."
"Really, you are provoking. I have no smuggled diamonds."
"But you know where they are!"
"Do I?"
"Yes. You fooled us once, very cleverly, by passing them to the hotel hall-boy, but you shan't do so again, I can tell you."
She laughed as if enjoying a good joke.
"Well," she said, finally, "evasions are useless I see."
"Perfectly!"
"Do you want me to be frank with you?"
"My dear young lady, lies ain't going to do you any earthly good."
"The gems you are after are in my father's possession."
"We know that much already."
"To get them you must first get him."
"That's manifest."
"As for smuggling them onto American soil, none of us did that."
"But you caused one of your spies to do so for you."
"Admitted."
"And you have them now."
"So we have."
"That makes you as guilty as if you did the work of smuggling yourself."
"So I presume. We connived the trick, for our own benefit, to cheat the Custom House. We ain't denying that. In fact, it's going to be a big thing for us. Now, we don't wish to be pestered with your persecutions any longer."
"I don't see how you can help yourself."
"We do."
"How?"
"Name your price to quit."
"You mean to bribe us off, eh?"
"That's about the size of it."
"We are not to be bought."
"Humbug! I never knew a Custom House officer to refuse."
"We ain't of that stamp, young lady."
She looked at him incredulously a moment, and saw by the stern look in his deep gray eyes that he meant what he said.
It seemed to unnerve her for a moment.
She reflected and finally asked:
"Are you determined?"
"Absolutely!"
"You are bound to hound us?"
"We are, until we gain our point."
"This is astonishing."
"Are you aware that we have your mother in jail?"
A look of alarm swept over her face, the color fled from her cheeks and she slowly rose to her feet and asked in strained tones:
"What! My mother in prison?"
"Yes, and you are going to join her in a few moments."
"Mr. Brady, you are very much mistaken."
"Why am I?"
"I'll show you, sir."
She gave utterance to a cough. It was a signal. Instantly the door of an ante-room flew open. In the opening stood four men. They were the spies.
Each one was armed with a revolver.
These weapons were aimed at the Bradys and the girl laughed outright when she saw the involuntary expressions of astonishment that swept over their features.
"Quite a surprise, isn't it?" she asked in grim tones.
"We are in a trap!" Harry muttered.
"That's the situation!" said the girl, quietly. "If you move hand or foot, you'll get shot. Those men never miss their mark. At such short range they could kill you even if they were not expert shots."
The Bradys saw the force of her reasoning.
In a word, they were helpless.
Neither attempted to draw a weapon in self-defense.
To do so would be to seal their doom.
An awkward silence ensued.
Old King Brady finally asked in gruff tones:
"Well, what are you going to do about it?"
"Make prisoners of you and hold you until we have disposed of the diamonds," quickly replied Clara.
The detectives looked disgusted.
"Shall we resist?" muttered Harry, desperately.
"No. It would be folly to attempt it," his partner replied.
Old King Brady was not so fiery and impetuous as the boy; he was more slow, deliberate and cool in the face of danger.
He saw that the smugglers had concluded to throw off the mask and make no further pretenses.
That meant bitter warfare.
He had no plan to suggest, and the girl exclaimed:
"Come in and bind them, Jean."
One of the men entered.
He was the man who had done the smuggling.
Walking over to the detectives, he said to them in low tones:
"If you resist, my friends will fire."
"We don't intend to," replied Old King Brady.
"Then I'll relieve you of your own handcuffs to secure you."
He felt in the old detective's pocket, brought out the steel bracelets and snapped them on the detective.
Young King Brady was very restless.
To submit without a fight was more than he could bear.
His obstinacy suddenly got the best of his good judgment, and he made up his mind to give them a tussle.
Leaping beside the girl he seized her, swung her around between himself and the other men and cried:
"If you fire, you'll hit this girl!"
Clara gave a shriek.
"Harry!" roared Old King Brady in some dismay.
The men in the doorway dared not fire.
Jean, fearing an attack, plunged across the room in tending to get out of danger in the hall.
"Let me go!" gasped the girl.
"Give up my advantage? Never!" panted the boy, a reckless, daring light gleaming in his eyes.
He was close to the open window.
At a glance he saw a way to escape.
Unaided, he could not expect to arrest these men and the girl, for Old King Brady was rendered powerless.
The yard was only eight feet below.
"Can you jump out the window?" he asked his partner.
"They'll fire if I budge."
This remark was certainly true.
While Harry had the advantage of using the girl as a shield, the four Canadians held the old detective at their mercy.
Harry drew his pistol.
The girl began to struggle to get free.
"Keep still!" said the boy in threatening tones. "If any harm befalls my partner, I'll put a bullet in you, young woman!"
The terrible earnestness of his voice alarmed her.
"You wouldn't injure a lady, would you?" she asked, appealing to his manhood. "No gentleman would do that."
"You are only a criminal," he replied coldly, "and as it's a case of our lives or yours, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot you to save ourselves."
Detectives are not sentimental.
On the contrary, their work makes them harsh.
Harry wanted to scare the girl and he succeeded well, for she remained passive, and burst into tears.
The boy quickly saw his advantage and cried:
"Now, if any of your gang attempts to injure us, I'll kill you!"
As he spoke, he placed the muzzle of his pistol against her head, turned her around and backed over to Old King Brady.
"Come!" he whispered. "We'll use her as a shield and back over to the door. They'll bitterly rue it if they fire!"
The four spies looked desperate and one of them spoke to the girl in French as the detectives retreated, holding her between them and their enemies. The girl replied in English, saying:
"Never mind me. We must not let them escape. Tackle them."
Obeying her, they rushed toward the officers.
Harry aimed his pistol at them and fired twice.
"Go for the door!" he yelled.
And hurling the girl against the four Canadians, he and his partner rushed out into the hall. The door was locked.
"Upstairs with you!" gasped Harry. "We can't get out the front door."
Old King Brady saw that the girl had collided with the four smugglers and they all fell in a heap upon the parlor floor.
The detective rushed up the stairs.
On the top landing Old King Brady panted:
"Unlock these handcuffs!"
Harry obeyed in an instant.
Just then the gang came rushing from the parlor, and were about to ascend the stairs when Harry opened fire on them.
Bang! Bang! Bang! went three shots.
He was a dead shot and could have killed those desperadoes had he been inclined to. But he merely shot to wound them.
The yells of pain that followed showed how true his aim was.
Two of the Canadians were hit.
A stampede among them ensued.
Back to the parlor they rushed, swearing and groaning, and the detectives laughed at them, for the tables were now turned.
The Bradys had the advantage.
At the head of those stairs they could have held an army at bay.
Old King Brady got his handcuffs from his wrists, put them in his pocket and withdrew his own revolver.
"By thunder!" he muttered. "I'm glad you made that dash, Harry."
"We would now be helpless prisoners if I hadn't."
Just then several lodgers stuck their heads out of the doors of their rooms, alarmed at the shots and yells.
Seeing the two armed detectives, they shouted with alarm, withdrew into the rooms, banged their doors shut and some rushed to the windows, flung them open and screamed:
"Murder! Murder! Help! Police!"
The cries startled the neighborhood.
For a moment everyone was in an uproar. A big crowd gathered before the house and several policemen came running to the scene from different directions, looking for trouble.
A suspicious silence ensued down on the parlor floor.
"Do you suppose they've skipped?" asked Harry.
"I'm going to venture down and see," replied his partner.
They dashed down the stairs, holding their pistols in readiness for use, and ran into the parlor.
It was empty.
Passing back into Clara's room, they found it vacant.
"Gone!" exclaimed Harry.
"Not by the front," replied his partner. "The door and windows are locked."
"Let's try the basement."
Down they ran, nervous over the disappearance of the smugglers and in the dining-room found the mulatto girl Hattie.
She sat in terror, with her face buried in her hands, and when she saw them rush in with drawn pistols, she shrieked:
"Oh, don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
"Where did that Savoy girl and the four men go?" sternly asked Old King Brady, glancing around the room.
"Out the back door."
"Into the yard?"
"Yes, sir."
The police began pounding on the front doors just as the Bradys rushed out into the rear yard.
Just as they emerged. Harry saw the figure of Jean disappearing over the back fence and pointing at it, he cried excitedly:
"There they go!"
"After them!" roared Old King Brady.
They rushed across the yard.
Over the fence they climbed like a couple of cats, and leaping into the yard of an adjoining tenement, they ran for the hall.
Blood spots on the flags left a plain trail.
The wounded men had dropped it in their flight, andthe detectives easily traced the stains through the hall into the street.
Hearing wild yells, they saw a baker's wagon dashing along at a furious gallop, and saw Clara and her friends in it.
The owner of the wagon was racing out of his store.
A small boy had told him that a gang had stolen his horse and wagon and it was his yells the detectives heard.
He was a fat German and he paused in the middle of the street, wildly waving his arms and crying in despairing tones:
"Ach Gott!I vos robbed! Dey shtole mein horse und vagon!"
The Bradys started off on a run after the vehicle.
Block after block was covered until the wagon, far in advance of the detectives, swung around the corner into West Broadway.
Here, panting and foam-covered, the horse was reined in.
The fugitives alighted.
"We are going to lose them now," groaned Old King Brady.
"I don't see why," returned Harry, breathlessly.
"Don't you see they're going for the elevated?"
"Oh, gee, so they are!"
The five rushed up the stairs on the downtown side, just as a train pulled into the station.
After them ran the Bradys, hoping fervently that they would miss the train. But they were doomed to disappointment.
When the detectives reached the platform, the train was steaming away and they saw their enemies in the last car.
"That's the end of them!" said Old King Brady.
"Can't we have them headed off by telephoning down to the Battery station?" eagerly asked the boy.
"Might try."
Down the street they went and as there was a public telephone near by, they sent the message down.
Then they took the next train down.
The train on which the fugitives stopped was yet at the Battery station and they found the gateman of the last car and Harry asked him:
"Did you notice where the four men in black, and a hatless girl of sixteen who got on at the Bleecker street station alighted?"
"Oh, yes. I remember them. They only rode one station and got off at Grand street."
This reply gave the Bradys a shock.
"We are baffled!" exclaimed Old King Brady in disgust.
"They're a shrewd set," Harry added.
They spoke to the stationmaster too, but he said they had not come down to the Battery and repeated what the gateman said.
The Bradys rode back to Grand street.
Here they made careful and endless inquiries.
All the information they could get came from the boy who had the news-stand on the corner.
He had seen the fugitives.
They had boarded a Grand street car going eastward.
He did not notice the number of the car, but thought the officers would find it down at the ferry.
Hiring a cab they were driven fast.
Reaching the ferry, several blue cars were found.
Inquiry among the conductors followed, and they presently discovered the one on whose car Clara and the spies had ridden.
He informed them that the fugitives alighted at the Bowery with transfer tickets on the uptown side.
Back went the Bradys to the Bowery.
"If we stick to their trail long enough," commented Harry, "we may finally locate them. But it's going to be a hard job."
"We'll beat the car they're in by taking the elevated," said the old detective as he dismissed the cab. "Up at the stables we may learn which car passed Grand street quarter of an hour ago."
"It's worth while trying."
So up they went.
When they reached the stable, they were disgusted to find that the cars which passed the corner of Grand and the Bowery about the time the smugglers boarded one, were all gone ten minutes before.
But one more course was open to the detectives.
That was to proceed to Harlem bridge on the elevated and make another effort to head off the fugitives at the terminal of the road.
Once more they started.
Each defeat whetted their appetite more to capture the fugitives.
The elevated cars passed many of the surface cars, and when the 129th street station was reached, they went down to the street.
Just as they were about to start for the surface cars, to begin making inquiries, Harry glanced over at the Harlem bridge.
To his surprise and joy he saw Clara and the four spies hurrying over the structure on foot.
"There they are at last!" he cried, pointing at the party.
Old King Brady was startled.
He saw them the next moment.
"Come on!" he cried.
Off on a run they went, and passed out on the bridge.
The fugitives were half way over the structure and two of the men who were wounded in the legs were limping painfully.
Rushing up behind them noiselessly, Harry and his partner each grasped a man by the neck.