The Second Nick Carter MEGAPACK®, page 23
He softly crept to the corner where the gliding figures had disappeared.
There, as he expected, he found one of those movable panels which the bogus mediums prepare so cleverly.
His experience of such affairs taught Nick exactly what he should find in the other room.
There must be a little cabinet in the corner covering the other side of the sliding panel.
The medium might be in it, or she might be sitting blindfold just by the door.
But the cabinet was certainly not empty. Two figures had gone into it, as Nick had observed.
One of these was doubtless playing the part of Aunt Lavina.
The other must be waiting to appear in some other role.
Nick listened. He could hear the colonel questioning the supposed spirit.
The replies were put in that silly and mysterious language supposed to be appropriate to visitors from the other world.
The meaning of them, however, was plain enough. Colonel Richmond was commanded to restore the jewels to Millie Stevens.
This point was made so exceedingly clear, and his promise was demanded in such stringent terms that Nick was no longer able to doubt that the interests of the Stevenses were being very carefully attended to by these “spook-compellers.”
In view of the facts already known, it was hardly possible to reach any other conclusion than that Millie Stevens had hired this medium to do the whole job.
That it was being done “to the queen’s taste,” Nick was forced to admit.
Yet he couldn’t help being sorry to believe that such a charming and beautiful girl as Millie Stevens should be mixed up in such a dirty business.
He waited till Colonel Richmond had completed his solemn protestations, and then suddenly slid the panel and passed through.
There was another person in the cabinet, who was, of course, instantly aware of Nick’s entrance.
But the place was so dark that at first the bogus ghost did not know that Nick was not one of the regular company of spirits.
He had a chance to get his bearings before the discovery was made.
The shade of Aunt Lavina was just retreating toward the cabinet making that absurd series of nods and gestures which such spirits always use.
Nick could see this performance through an aperture in the side of the cabinet.
He instantly leaped out, and grappled with the spook.
Then there was an uproar. The whole room was in indescribable confusion.
Somebody turned up the light. For an instant Nick, grappling with the spirit, saw Colonel Richmond.
The colonel had not been given a private seance. Possibly he had not desired it. He had come with a dozen other victims of the same delusion.
He had been given a seat a little in the rear.
Before him, as is usual, was a row of persons who were “in the game.”
The space where the spirits appear is always encircled by such a line as a guard against possible attempts at exposure.
Of course, everybody in the room was on his feet.
Some of the front-row people were rushing upon Nick.
Others had crowded around Colonel Richmond so closely that Nick was afraid he might not fully see the exposure of this fake.
The person whom Nick had seized was not a woman, as might have been expected, but a man. He was of short stature, but surprising strength.
Even in the mighty arms of the detective, he managed to struggle vigorously, and for a moment prevented Nick from tearing away the white and ghostly wrappings.
But a complete expose could not have been long delayed. In spite of the odds against him, Nick was certain to come out ahead.
He called out to Colonel Richmond:
“Look! Look at this! It’s a man!”
Just at that instant a tall man who had been standing beside the female “medium,” and acting as master of ceremonies, seized an ornament from the mantelpiece, and hurled it not at Nick, as the detective expected, but at the lamp in the corner of the room.
This lamp had been turned up by one of the timid believers as soon as the row began.
The missile which the spiritualistic “bouncer” hurled was well directed. It smashed the lamp to fragments, and the room for a minute was dark.
Then another light flashed up. The broken lamp had set fire to the window curtains.
The scene hadn’t been what one would call peaceful before, but it had been nothing at all to what it became when the fire leaped up.
Pandemonium broke loose. Doors and windows were burst out, and everybody rushed toward the outer air.
Among the last to emerge was Nick.
He held the “bouncer” in one hand and the ghost of Aunt Lavina in the other.
Both of them were very badly used up. When the detective dropped them on the lawn they made no attempt to rise.
Some of the medium’s stool-pigeons were beginning to get their wits together, and were making preparations for putting out the fire.
Nick yelled to them, and pointed to a line of garden hose on the lawn.
There was a head of water in this pipe, and with the aid of its stream the fire was extinguished.
The detective did not assist. He turned his attention to discovering what had become of Colonel Richmond.
The colonel had disappeared. The carriage in which he had come was gone.
Doubtless the person who had driven him over had hustled him into the carriage at the earliest possible moment.
“A shrewd move,” muttered Nick, “and a bad one for me. However, I’ve got this gang cornered, and if they’ve been doing the job at the colonel’s house, their operations are over.”
There was an excited group of people by the main door of the house. In the midst of them stood the medium, a fat and coarse woman, whom Nick had seen before in the same crooked business.
Those around her were the real believers in spiritualism, who had come to the show.
They had witnessed the exposure, and were ready to mob the medium.
Nick took his two prisoners to this group. He tied them securely, and then turned to one of the dupes:
“Why don’t you have these people arrested?” he whispered. “Charge them with taking money under false pretenses.”
“Good!” said the man. “There’s a warrant for some of them already. I’ll get the constable, who lives over across the fields, and he’ll pull ‘em all in.”
A half-hour later the whole gang was under arrest and on the way to the nearest lock-up.
The detective felt that his evening’s work was not in vain. Whatever might be the facts about the connection of this gang with the affair at Colonel Richmond’s, it was a good thing to get them all out of the way.
The colonel’s presence among them proved that they were the spiritualistic crowd which was after him. Their removal would simplify matters.
Moreover, the colonel’s presence, and his questioning of the spook, showed that any theory connecting him with the disappearance of the jewels was wrong.
It was evident that he had asked the questions in all sincerity, believing that he was really in the presence of his aunt’s spirit.
He could hardly be crazy enough to do that, supposing that his lunacy had led him to abstract the jewels.
Having witnessed the arrest of the gang, Nick procured a horse and drove rapidly toward Colonel Richmond’s house. He arrived there about half-past eleven o’clock.
There was a light in the parlor, and through the open window Nick beheld an unusual scene.
The colonel, Mrs. Pond and Horace were present. Mr. Pond was not in the house. He had returned to New York.
Besides the persons named, there were in the parlor nearly all the servants connected in any way with the establishment.
It looked as if the colonel was holding court.
One of the servants seemed to be giving testimony. The expressions on the faces of the others showed deep interest and superstitious terror.
Nick had no doubt about what was going on. The colonel was getting to the bottom of the ghost stories. There must have been more manifestations that night.
The detective was in doubt whether to enter the house in his own character. Finally he decided not to do so.
He disguised himself in the character of John Gilder, the coachman, who was not present in the parlor.
It seemed best to gain access to the room from an entrance toward the old part of the house instead of from the main hall.
So Nick passed around the corner of the house. As he did so he was aware of a dark figure crouching in the shadow.
He instantly grappled with it, and the figure was not less prompt in grappling with him.
The struggle was very brief. It ended with Nick on top, and no harm done.
The detective instantly leaped to his feet again.
“Patsy!” he exclaimed. “What brings you here?”
CHAPTER VII.
A REALLY COMPETENT GHOST.
Patsy told his story in a few words.
He had watched the Stevens house all day without discovering anything.
As evening descended, however, his patience had been rewarded.
“She came out,” said Patsy, “and quietly scooted off across the fields.”
“Millie Stevens?”
“Yes.”
“What did she do?”
“She made for that big oak tree which stands in the middle of the field on the right of the road as you go from the station.
“I had to trail carefully, for it was not very dark and there was no cover. So I couldn’t get very near her.
“Under that tree a man was waiting. He had a saddle-horse with him. The man and the girl exchanged a few words.
“Of course, I couldn’t hear what they said. Neither could I get a line on the man.
“I resolved to get nearer, though it was taking big risks. It couldn’t be done. They saw me.
“In a flash the man leaped into his saddle and pulled the girl up in front of him in regular old-fashioned style.
“They were off in no time. It was a fine horse they rode.
“I wasn’t in it at any stage of the game. I ran myself out at the end of about a mile.
“They had disappeared in the darkness, but they were taking the road toward this place, and on a venture I came over. I hoped to connect with you, and get instructions.”
“That was right. Come with me.”
“What’s up?”
“A ghost hunt, unless I’m very much mistaken. I guess we can join it without any trouble.”
They made their way into the old portion of the house.
In the hall from which the broad stone stairs led up to the second floor they paused a moment to listen.
Steps were approaching. Before they could get into a place of concealment a door opened, and Colonel Richmond entered.
He carried a small lamp in his hand. Horace followed him.
“Gilder!” cried the colonel, seeing Nick disguised as the coachman. “Why were you not present in the parlor?”
“I’ve just got back to the house, sir,” rejoined the detective, imitating Gilder’s Yankee twang”.
“Who’s that with you?”
“My cousin, Frank Gilder.”
“What’s he doing here?”
“If you please, sir, I brought him over to spend the night with me. The footman and I don’t get along very well together, and I don’t like to be alone in a room in this house, sir, just now.”
“So!” said the colonel. “I understand that you have seen strange things. Very well; I am going to investigate this matter. I shall pass the remainder of the night in the dining-hall above.”
The colonel led the way up the stairs. The whole party followed him.
“May I ask where the other servants are, sir?” said Nick.
“They will pass the night in the new part of the house,” returned Horace Richmond, with a grim smile. “You can do so if you like.”
“No, sir,” said Nick; “I think I’d rather sleep in my own room so long as my cousin is with me.”
At the head of the stairs they turned at once toward the old dining-hall.
It was proper for Nick to follow, for the nearest way to Gilder’s room led in that direction.
It was exactly midnight when they opened the door of the old dining-hall. A cool breath of air swept out upon them, for the thick stone walls of this part of the house resisted the hot weather, and this room had been kept closed.
The colonel shivered slightly in the draught.
He paused on the threshold for a moment, and looked into the room. It was lighted—except for the feeble ray from the lamp—only by the faint moonlight which found its way in through the hall and narrow windows, partly overgrown with clinging vines.
The whole party entered. The colonel set his lamp upon the sideboard.
He turned to speak to the supposed Gilder, probably with the intention of sending him at once to his room.
But at that moment the lamp suddenly went out.
With a low cry the colonel sprang toward it. The lamp was not there.
It had been removed. The room was almost totally dark.
The colonel lit a match. There was no sign of the lamp. It had utterly vanished.
As the burned match fell to the floor a beam of light suddenly shot across the gloom.
And there, before the old-fashioned fire-place, stood a figure corresponding in every particular to Lavina Richmond as she appeared in a portrait painted just previous to her death, and hanging at that moment in the colonel’s room.
There was no sound in the room except the labored breathing of the excited old man, whose faith was now fully justified to his mind.
He was gazing straight at this apparition.
It was veiled, and the heavy folds of a black silk dress in the style of many years ago hung loosely about the form.
Immediately a white hand appeared. The veil was lifted, disclosing the thin and pale face of a woman of advanced age and feeble health. The likeness of Lavina Richmond was perfect.
The colonel tried to speak, but his voice stuck in his throat.
Slowly the veil descended. Nick made a sign to Patsy, who had pressed up a little in advance.
He had kept an eye over his shoulder, however, to be sure of getting any orders from his chief.
There was light enough to see the signal. Patsy sprang forward toward the specter.
The distance separating them was not more than twenty feet. The athletic youth would have covered it in a twinkling.
But suddenly he fell to the floor with a smothered groan.
“I’m hit hard,” he cried; and, raising himself upon one knee, with his left hand pressed to his temple, he drew a revolver with the other.
“Don’t shoot!” exclaimed Nick. “It’s Millie Stevens!”
The detective made a bound toward the figure.
The light which had played full upon it wavered, as if about to vanish.
Yet there was time. Nick felt sure of his prize, as he sprang out from his place beside the colonel.
And the next thing Nick knew it was six o’clock of the following morning, and he was lying in a bed, looking up into Patsy’s face.
CHAPTER VIII.
PATSY’S STORY AND THE TEST PROPOSED.
“Are you much hurt?” asked Patsy, anxiously.
Nick took in the whole scene before he replied.
Beside the bed were Colonel Richmond, Horace and a man whom Nick rightly judged to be a doctor.
“No,” said Nick, “I’m not much hurt, except in my feelings. What happened, Patsy?”
“The ghost got away,” responded the young man, in a tone of disgust.
“I wouldn’t talk very much,” said Colonel Richmond. “The doctor says that you have been subjected to a severe nervous shock, and—”
“My grandmother’s ducks!” exclaimed Nick. “Nervous shock! Well, this makes me worse. Why, man, I’ve been sand-bagged.”
The colonel shook his head.
“The power of the unseen forces,” he began; but Nick interrupted him.
“Look here, Colonel Richmond!” he said, “if you had the sensation behind your ear that I’ve got, you wouldn’t talk about mysterious powers of darkness. I know what’s the matter with me, and what I want is a chance to get square.”
“There is no evidence of any injury,” said the physician.
“There never is in a case of this kind,” rejoined Nick. “A sand-bag doesn’t leave any mark. That’s why it is so popular.”
“It is impossible to convince a stubborn man,” said the colonel. “I should think that this experience would have been enough.”
“Quite enough, thank you,” responded Nick, sitting up. “And so, if you gentlemen who kindly put me to bed will gracefully withdraw I will get into my clothes, and prove to you that I have had enough, and that it is somebody else’s turn now.”
He made them leave him with Patsy. Then he began to dress.
“Now tell me your story,” he said.
“When I jumped for that spook,” Patsy began, “I got the fearfulest thump on my crust that I’ve had since that marline-spike fell off the main yard on to me in the little affair of the Five Kernels of Corn.
“It couldn’t have been a marker to what you got afterward, though. I went down, but not out.
“You saw me draw my gun. Well, when you yelled ‘Don’t fire!’ I held off, but when I saw you go out I decided that all orders of that kind were canceled.
“I blazed away; and, Nick, I put five bullets through that figure just as sure as you’re an inch high.”
“What happened then?”
“The light went out. I got to your side, and flashed your lantern in half a second.
“The figure had vanished. The colonel’s lamp stood on the sideboard just where he had put it.
“We had a fair light very soon. I examined you first, and, upon my word, I thought that you were done for.
“We got you up to this room, and Horace Richmond rode off for the doctor.
“From what he said about a nervous shock you can judge how much he knows.
“His help wasn’t worth anything. I will back myself against him any day.
