章节正文
rascal by the arm, that he might not run away.
"What's the charge?" asked the bluecoat.
"He is wanted for swindling."
"Boy, are you really crazy?"
"No, I am not."
"Who are you?" asked the policeman, eyeing Joe sharply.
"My name is Joe Bodley. I work at the Grandon House. I will
make a charge against this man, and I'll bring the man who was
swindled, too."
"That's fair talk," said the policeman. "I guess you'll both
have to go to the station with me."
"I'm willing," said Joe, promptly.
"I--I cannot go--I have a sick wife--I must get a doctor,"
stammered Pat Malone. "Let me go. The boy is mistaken."
"You'll have to go with me."
"But my sick wife?"
"You can send for your friends and they can take care of her."
"I have no friends--we are strangers in Philadelphia. I don't
want to go."
Pat Malone tried to move on, but the policeman and Joe detained
him, and in the end he was marched off to the police station.
Here Joe told what he knew and Malone's record was looked up in
the Rogues' Gallery.
"You've got the right man, that's sure," said the desk sergeant
to our hero. "Now where can you find this Mr. Maurice Vane?"
"I have his address at the hotel," answered our hero. "If I can
go I'll get it and send Mr. Vane a telegram."
"Bring the address here and we'll communicate with Mr. Vane."
Our hero agreed, and inside of half an hour a message was sent to
Maurice Vane, notifying him of the fact that Pat Malone had been
caught. Mr. Vane had gone to New York on business, but came back
to Philadelphia the next day.
When he saw that he was caught Pat Malone broke down utterly and
made a full confession, telling in detail how the plot against
Maurice Vane had been carried out.
"It was not my plan," said he. "Gaff Caven got the mining shares
and he arranged the whole thing."
"Where did you get the shares--steal them?" demanded Maurice
Vane, sharply.
"No, we didn't steal them. We bought them from an old miner for
fifty dollars. The miner is dead now."
"Can you prove this?"
"Yes."
"Then do so."
"Why?"
"I don't care to answer that question. But if you can prove to
me that you and Caven came by those shares honestly I won't
prosecute you, Malone."
"I will prove it!" was the quick answer, and that very afternoon
Pat Malone proved beyond a doubt that the shares had belonged to
himself and Gaff Caven when they sold them to Maurice Vane.
"That is all I want of you," said Maurice Vane. "I shan't appear
against you, Malone."
"Then those shares must be valuable after all?" queried the
swindler.
"Perhaps they are. I am having them looked up. I am glad of
this opportunity of proving that they are now my absolute
property."
"If Caven and I sold you good stocks we ought to be kicked full
of holes," grumbled Malone.
"That was your lookout, not mine," returned Maurice Vane. "Mind,
I don't say the shares are valuable. But they may be, and if so
I shall be satisfied with my bargain."
"Humph! where do I come in?"
"You don't come in at all--and you don't deserve to."
"If I didn't swindle you, you can't have me held for swindling."
"I don't intend to have you held. You can go for all I care."
Maurice Vane explained the situation to the police authorities
and that evening Pat Malone was allowed to go. He threatened to
have somebody sued for false imprisonment but the police laughed
at him.
"Better not try it on, Malone," said one officer. "Remember,
your picture is in our Rogues' Gallery," and then the rascal was
glad enough to sneak away. The next day he took a train to
Baltimore, where, after an hour's hunt, he found Gaff Caven.
"We made a fine mess of things," he said, bitterly. "A fine
mess!"
"What are you talking about, Pat?" asked Caven.
"Do you remember the mining stocks we sold to Maurice Vane?"
"Certainly I do."
"Well, he has got 'em yet."
"All right, he can keep them. We have his money too," and Gaff
Caven chuckled.
"I'd rather have the shares."
"Eh?"
"I said I'd rather have the shares, Gaff. We put our foot into
it when we sold 'em."
"Do you mean to say the shares are valuable?" demanded Gaff
Caven.
"That's the size of it."
"Who told you this?"
"Nobody told me, but I can put two and two together as quick as
anybody."
"Well, explain."
"I was in Philadelphia when I ran into that hotel boy, Joe
Bodley."
"What of that?"
"He had me arrested. Then they sent for Mr. Maurice Vane, and
Vane made me prove that the shares were really ours when we sold
them to him. I thought I'd go clear if I could prove that, so I
went and did it. Then Vane said he wouldn't prosecute me, for
the shares might be valuable after all."
"But the mine is abandoned."
"Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. I guess Mr. Maurice Vane knows
what he is doing, and we were fools to sell out to him."
"If that mine is valuable I'm going to have it!" cried Gaff
Caven. "He can have his money back!" and the rascal who had
overreached himself began to pace the floor.
"Maybe he won't take his money back."
"Then I'll claim the mine anyway, Pat--and you must help me."
"What can you do?"
"Go out to Montana, just as soon as the weather is fit, and
relocate the mine. If it's any good we can find some fellows to
help us hold it somehow. I'm not going to let this slip into
Maurice Vane's hands without a struggle."
"Talk is cheap, but it takes money to pay for railroad tickets,"
went on Malone.
"I've got the dust, Pat."
"Enough to fight Vane off if he should come West?"
"I think so. I met a rich fellow last week and I got a loan of
four thousand dollars."
"Without security?" and Malone winked suggestively.
"Exactly. Oh, he was a rich find," answered Gaff Caven, and gave
a short laugh.
"I'm willing to go anywhere. I'm tired of things here. It's
getting too warm for comfort."
"Then let us start West next week--after I can finish up a little
business here."
"I am willing."
And so the two rascals arranged to do Maurice Vane out of what
had become his lawful property.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE FIRE AT THE HOTEL.
On the day following the scene at the police station Maurice Vane
stopped at the Grandon House to interview our hero.
"I must thank you for the interest you have taken in this matter,
Joe," said he. "It is not every lad who would put himself out to
such an extent."
"I wanted to see justice done, Mr. Vane," answered our hero,
modestly.
"Things have taken a sudden change since I saw you last summer,"
went on Maurice Vane. "Perhaps it will be as well if I tell my
whole story."
"I'd like first rate to hear it."
"After I got those shares of stock I felt that I had been
swindled, and I was very anxious to get hold of the rascals. But
as time went on and I could not locate them I resolved to look
into the deal a little more minutely and see if there was any
chance of getting my money, or a portion of it, back."
"I should have done the same."
"I wrote to a friend out West and he put me in communication with
a miningexpert who set to work to find out all about the mine.
The expert sent me word, late in the fall, that the mine was, in
his opinion, located on a vein of gold well worth working."
"What did you do then?"
"I wanted to go West at once and look into the matter personally,
but an aunt died and I had to settle up her estate and see to the
care of her two children, and that held me back. Then winter came
on, and I knew I'd have to let matters rest until spring."
"Are you going out there in the spring?"
"Yes,--as early as possible, too."
"I hope you find the mine a valuable one, Mr. Vane."
"I place great reliance on what the miningexpert said, for he is
known as a man who makes no mistakes."
"Then, if the mine proves of value, you'll have gotten a cheap
piece of property after all."
"Yes, indeed."
"Won't those swindlers be mad when they hear of this!"
"Most likely, my lad; but they have nobody to blame but
themselves. I bought their shares in good faith, while they sold
them in bad faith."
"Is your title perfectly clear now?"
"Absolutely so."
"Then I hope the mine proves to be worth millions."
"Thank you, my boy."
"I'd like to own a mine like that myself."
"Would you? Well, perhaps you will some day."
"It's not likely. A hotel boy doesn't earn enough to buy a
mine," and our hero laughed.
"If I find the mine worth working and open up for business, how
would you like to go out there and work for me?"
"I'd like it very much, Mr. Vane."
"Very well, I'll bear that in mind," answered the possessor of
the mining shares.
"Why don't you buy up the rest of the mining shares first?"
"I am going to do so--if I can locate them."
"Perhaps the owners will sell cheap."
"I shall explain the situation and make a fair offer. I do not
believe in any underhand work," was the ready answer.
"Then you are not like some men I have met," said Joe, and told
about Ulmer Montgomery and his so-called antiquities.
"That man will never amount to anything, Joe--mark my words. He
will always be a hanger-on as we call them, in the business
world."
"I believe you, sir."
"Honesty pays in the long run. A rogue may make something at the
start but sooner or later he will find himself exposed."
Maurice Vane remained at the hotel for a week and then left to go
to Chicago on business. From that point he was going to Montana
as soon as the weather permitted.
After that several weeks slipped by without anything unusual
"What's the charge?" asked the bluecoat.
"He is wanted for swindling."
"Boy, are you really crazy?"
"No, I am not."
"Who are you?" asked the policeman, eyeing Joe sharply.
"My name is Joe Bodley. I work at the Grandon House. I will
make a charge against this man, and I'll bring the man who was
swindled, too."
"That's fair talk," said the policeman. "I guess you'll both
have to go to the station with me."
"I'm willing," said Joe, promptly.
"I--I cannot go--I have a sick wife--I must get a doctor,"
stammered Pat Malone. "Let me go. The boy is mistaken."
"You'll have to go with me."
"But my sick wife?"
"You can send for your friends and they can take care of her."
"I have no friends--we are strangers in Philadelphia. I don't
want to go."
Pat Malone tried to move on, but the policeman and Joe detained
him, and in the end he was marched off to the police station.
Here Joe told what he knew and Malone's record was looked up in
the Rogues' Gallery.
"You've got the right man, that's sure," said the desk sergeant
to our hero. "Now where can you find this Mr. Maurice Vane?"
"I have his address at the hotel," answered our hero. "If I can
go I'll get it and send Mr. Vane a telegram."
"Bring the address here and we'll communicate with Mr. Vane."
Our hero agreed, and inside of half an hour a message was sent to
Maurice Vane, notifying him of the fact that Pat Malone had been
caught. Mr. Vane had gone to New York on business, but came back
to Philadelphia the next day.
When he saw that he was caught Pat Malone broke down utterly and
made a full confession, telling in detail how the plot against
Maurice Vane had been carried out.
"It was not my plan," said he. "Gaff Caven got the mining shares
and he arranged the whole thing."
"Where did you get the shares--steal them?" demanded Maurice
Vane, sharply.
"No, we didn't steal them. We bought them from an old miner for
fifty dollars. The miner is dead now."
"Can you prove this?"
"Yes."
"Then do so."
"Why?"
"I don't care to answer that question. But if you can prove to
me that you and Caven came by those shares honestly I won't
prosecute you, Malone."
"I will prove it!" was the quick answer, and that very afternoon
Pat Malone proved beyond a doubt that the shares had belonged to
himself and Gaff Caven when they sold them to Maurice Vane.
"That is all I want of you," said Maurice Vane. "I shan't appear
against you, Malone."
"Then those shares must be valuable after all?" queried the
swindler.
"Perhaps they are. I am having them looked up. I am glad of
this opportunity of proving that they are now my absolute
property."
"If Caven and I sold you good stocks we ought to be kicked full
of holes," grumbled Malone.
"That was your lookout, not mine," returned Maurice Vane. "Mind,
I don't say the shares are valuable. But they may be, and if so
I shall be satisfied with my bargain."
"Humph! where do I come in?"
"You don't come in at all--and you don't deserve to."
"If I didn't swindle you, you can't have me held for swindling."
"I don't intend to have you held. You can go for all I care."
Maurice Vane explained the situation to the police authorities
and that evening Pat Malone was allowed to go. He threatened to
have somebody sued for false imprisonment but the police laughed
at him.
"Better not try it on, Malone," said one officer. "Remember,
your picture is in our Rogues' Gallery," and then the rascal was
glad enough to sneak away. The next day he took a train to
Baltimore, where, after an hour's hunt, he found Gaff Caven.
"We made a fine mess of things," he said, bitterly. "A fine
mess!"
"What are you talking about, Pat?" asked Caven.
"Do you remember the mining stocks we sold to Maurice Vane?"
"Certainly I do."
"Well, he has got 'em yet."
"All right, he can keep them. We have his money too," and Gaff
Caven chuckled.
"I'd rather have the shares."
"Eh?"
"I said I'd rather have the shares, Gaff. We put our foot into
it when we sold 'em."
"Do you mean to say the shares are valuable?" demanded Gaff
Caven.
"That's the size of it."
"Who told you this?"
"Nobody told me, but I can put two and two together as quick as
anybody."
"Well, explain."
"I was in Philadelphia when I ran into that hotel boy, Joe
Bodley."
"What of that?"
"He had me arrested. Then they sent for Mr. Maurice Vane, and
Vane made me prove that the shares were really ours when we sold
them to him. I thought I'd go clear if I could prove that, so I
went and did it. Then Vane said he wouldn't prosecute me, for
the shares might be valuable after all."
"But the mine is abandoned."
"Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. I guess Mr. Maurice Vane knows
what he is doing, and we were fools to sell out to him."
"If that mine is valuable I'm going to have it!" cried Gaff
Caven. "He can have his money back!" and the rascal who had
overreached himself began to pace the floor.
"Maybe he won't take his money back."
"Then I'll claim the mine anyway, Pat--and you must help me."
"What can you do?"
"Go out to Montana, just as soon as the weather is fit, and
relocate the mine. If it's any good we can find some fellows to
help us hold it somehow. I'm not going to let this slip into
Maurice Vane's hands without a struggle."
"Talk is cheap, but it takes money to pay for railroad tickets,"
went on Malone.
"I've got the dust, Pat."
"Enough to fight Vane off if he should come West?"
"I think so. I met a rich fellow last week and I got a loan of
four thousand dollars."
"Without security?" and Malone winked suggestively.
"Exactly. Oh, he was a rich find," answered Gaff Caven, and gave
a short laugh.
"I'm willing to go anywhere. I'm tired of things here. It's
getting too warm for comfort."
"Then let us start West next week--after I can finish up a little
business here."
"I am willing."
And so the two rascals arranged to do Maurice Vane out of what
had become his lawful property.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE FIRE AT THE HOTEL.
On the day following the scene at the police station Maurice Vane
stopped at the Grandon House to interview our hero.
"I must thank you for the interest you have taken in this matter,
Joe," said he. "It is not every lad who would put himself out to
such an extent."
"I wanted to see justice done, Mr. Vane," answered our hero,
modestly.
"Things have taken a sudden change since I saw you last summer,"
went on Maurice Vane. "Perhaps it will be as well if I tell my
whole story."
"I'd like first rate to hear it."
"After I got those shares of stock I felt that I had been
swindled, and I was very anxious to get hold of the rascals. But
as time went on and I could not locate them I resolved to look
into the deal a little more minutely and see if there was any
chance of getting my money, or a portion of it, back."
"I should have done the same."
"I wrote to a friend out West and he put me in communication with
a miningexpert who set to work to find out all about the mine.
The expert sent me word, late in the fall, that the mine was, in
his opinion, located on a vein of gold well worth working."
"What did you do then?"
"I wanted to go West at once and look into the matter personally,
but an aunt died and I had to settle up her estate and see to the
care of her two children, and that held me back. Then winter came
on, and I knew I'd have to let matters rest until spring."
"Are you going out there in the spring?"
"Yes,--as early as possible, too."
"I hope you find the mine a valuable one, Mr. Vane."
"I place great reliance on what the miningexpert said, for he is
known as a man who makes no mistakes."
"Then, if the mine proves of value, you'll have gotten a cheap
piece of property after all."
"Yes, indeed."
"Won't those swindlers be mad when they hear of this!"
"Most likely, my lad; but they have nobody to blame but
themselves. I bought their shares in good faith, while they sold
them in bad faith."
"Is your title perfectly clear now?"
"Absolutely so."
"Then I hope the mine proves to be worth millions."
"Thank you, my boy."
"I'd like to own a mine like that myself."
"Would you? Well, perhaps you will some day."
"It's not likely. A hotel boy doesn't earn enough to buy a
mine," and our hero laughed.
"If I find the mine worth working and open up for business, how
would you like to go out there and work for me?"
"I'd like it very much, Mr. Vane."
"Very well, I'll bear that in mind," answered the possessor of
the mining shares.
"Why don't you buy up the rest of the mining shares first?"
"I am going to do so--if I can locate them."
"Perhaps the owners will sell cheap."
"I shall explain the situation and make a fair offer. I do not
believe in any underhand work," was the ready answer.
"Then you are not like some men I have met," said Joe, and told
about Ulmer Montgomery and his so-called antiquities.
"That man will never amount to anything, Joe--mark my words. He
will always be a hanger-on as we call them, in the business
world."
"I believe you, sir."
"Honesty pays in the long run. A rogue may make something at the
start but sooner or later he will find himself exposed."
Maurice Vane remained at the hotel for a week and then left to go
to Chicago on business. From that point he was going to Montana
as soon as the weather permitted.
After that several weeks slipped by without anything unusual
- policeman [pə´li:smən]
n.警察 (初中英语单词) - charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
- honestly [´ɔnistli] ad.诚实地，老实地 (初中英语单词)
- valuable [´væljuəbəl, -jubəl] a.有价值的，贵重的 (初中英语单词)
- deserve [di´zə:v] v.应受；值得 (初中英语单词)
- bitterly [´bitəli] ad.悲痛地；憎恨地 (初中英语单词)
- willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
- anywhere [´eniweə] ad.无论何处；任何地方 (初中英语单词)
- interview [´intəvju:] n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- portion [´pɔ:ʃən] n.嫁妆；命运 vt.分配 (初中英语单词)
- communication [kə,mju:ni´keiʃən] n.通信；通讯联系 (初中英语单词)
- expert [´ekspə:t] n.&a.专家；内行 (初中英语单词)
- estate [i´steit] n.财产；庄园；等级 (初中英语单词)
- working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
- amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
- unusual [ʌn´ju:ʒuəl] a.不平常的；异常的 (初中英语单词)
- rascal [´rɑ:skəl] n.流氓 (高中英语单词)
- communicate [kə´mju:nikeit] vi.通讯；传达；传播 (高中英语单词)
- confession [kən´feʃən] n.招供；认错；交待 (高中英语单词)
- mining [´mainiŋ] n.采矿；矿业 (高中英语单词)
- imprisonment [im´priznmənt] n.监禁，下狱 (高中英语单词)
- perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)
- so-called [´sou ´kɔ:ld] a.所谓的，号称的 (高中英语单词)
- lookout [´lukaut] n.警戒；景色；前途 (英语四级单词)
- prosecute [´prɔsikju:t] v.彻底进行(调查) (英语四级单词)
- montana [mɔn´tænə] n.蒙大拿 (英语四级单词)
- lawful [´lɔ:fəl] a.合法的，守法的 (英语四级单词)
- resolved [ri´zɔlvd] a.决心的；坚定的 (英语四级单词)
- gotten [´gɔtn] get的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- chicago [ʃi´kɑ:gəu] n.芝加哥 (英语四级单词)
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章节正文
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