CHAPTER XXV--TOM ON THE TRAIL--CONCLUSION
"Donneer! Donner!"
At the mention of that startling word, Tom Barnes was instantlyconvinced that he had made a great discovery; in fact, he was satisfiedthat he had at last discovered one of the "spooks" of Station Z.
Donner had been a mystery. The owner of the satchel was quite mysteriousin appearance. As Tom tried to help him to his feet, he noticed that theman wore a wig and enormous whiskers. They were false, for the fall hadsent them quite awry.
"Donner," Tom had learned, was quite a common word in Germany. It wasequivalent to our own "Thunder!" Tom, however, had never heard the wordused outside of his wireless experience. To hear it used now by asuspicious individual in the very city where Harry Ashley was supposedto be, suggested strangely to Tom that the odd individual before himmight be the erratic amateur operator, who had been sending out messagesreferring to a runaway boy, one Ernest Warren, with "sun, moon and starstattooed on his left shoulder."
"Are you hurt, sir?" inquired Tom.
The man who had so narrowly escaped destruction seemed to be morefrightened than grateful. He hurriedly adjusted his facial disguise andlooked about him to see if he was especially observed. Then he shoutedhoarsely, with a despairing look at the scattered contents of thesatchel:
"My baggage--quick, get it!"
Tom hurriedly collected the articles. He was amazed at their oddness andvariety. There were one or two articles of clothing, and besides these,two old-fashioned horse pistols, an ancient dirk, four or five wigs, andas many false beards and moustaches. The odd collection suggested anactor with a limited stage outfit.
The minute Tom handed the satchel to the man with its contents restored,the latter made a wild dash down the street. Tom was bound that he wouldnot lose sight of him, and followed fast on his heels.
He came upon the fugitive posted in a doorway and anxiously gazingbeyond its shadows along the street. Tom paused near to him.
"Can I be of any use to you, sir?" he asked, eager to keep up anacquaintance he felt sure would lead to some definite results.
"Is anyone following me or watching me?" inquired the man breathlessly.
"Not at all," responded Tom reassuringly. "Everybody is running to thefire."
"Ah, that is good, most good!" exclaimed the man in a relieved tone."The troubles--all at once. I am all turned around. You are a goodhonest boy," he added, scanning Tom critically. "You would not bringtroubles to a poor old man?"
"Not I," declared Tom.
"You would help him?"
"I would be glad to," said Tom, delighted at getting more closely intothe confidence of his companion.
"Then you shall earn a dollar. See, I am a stranger in the city. Youmust direct me--to that address."
The speaker fumbled in a pocket and produced a card which he handed toTom. It bore an address, and below it the words: "Go to section 4. Waitfor Brady."
"What luck!" breathed Tom ardently. "This man is certainly themysterious operator, and he is going to see one of the men who kidnappedHarry Ashley."
It took about twenty minutes to reach the address indicated on the card.Tom pointed out the restaurant to his companion, who gave him a dollarbill. Then with a brusque nod and a searching glance all about him, heentered the restaurant.
Tom crossed the street and reached a sheltering doorway. His eyes werefixed on the restaurant. What should he do next? He had almost decidedto recross the street, enter the place and attempt to get nearer to theobject of his interest, when a man came around the corner.
"It's Brady--it is the man I saw at Rockley Cove," declared Tom.
Brady wore a hat pulled well down over his face. His manner was hurriedand furtive, like that of a person suspicious of every passer-by. Hebolted quickly into the restaurant.
"I must do something now--something worth while," breathed Tomhurriedly. "There can be no doubt in the world that those two men havemet here to do something about Harry. They may go away by some otherexit. I'll do it."
These last words announced a definite decision on the part of Tom, ashis eye fell upon a policeman in uniform standing at the nearest streetcorner. Tom approached him, full of his plan.
"Officer," he said politely, "do you ever arrest a person without awarrant?"
"I'd arrest me own brother on suspicions if he deserved it," announcedthe man in uniform bluntly.
"I am in trouble," said Tom rapidly, "and I wish you would help me."
"Spake out, me lad," directed the big bustling officer.
"A friend of mine, a boy, has been kidnapped. One of the men who carriedhim away is in that restaurant yonder. If you will only take him and theman with him to the police station, I am sure I can convince you thatthey both deserve arrest."
Tom briefly narrated the story of the kidnapping.
"Come on, me lad," ordered the policeman. "It's a case for the captain.Sure I'll take them in the act. This'll get in the newspapers, andOfficer Lahey's name along with it. Show me the rascals, me youngfriend, and I'll do the rest."
Tom entered the restaurant, the officer following him. At one side ofthe place there were half a dozen partitioned-off compartments. As theyneared the fourth one of the tier Tom heard the man he had brought therespeak out:
"I will only pay the five hundred, as I promised."
"It's five thousand, or you never see the boy again."
"I arrest both of yez!" here announced the policeman, stalking into thecompartment, and placing a hand on the shoulder of each of the two men,who arose in alarm to their feet.
"What's this?" snapped out Brady.
"Resisting an officer of the law, are yez?" shouted the policeman, asBrady tried to escape his clutch, and he shaking the culprit till histeeth chattered,
"Donner! I am lost!" gasped the other prisoner.
"I say----" protested Brady anew.
"Shut up!" ordered the policeman. "You'll have a chance to explain tothe captain at headquarters."
"Aha!" hissed Brady, as, pulled out into the main room, he for the firsttime observed Tom. Evidently he recognized him, for a sullen, surly lookcame into his crafty face.
At the door of the restaurant the policeman paused.
"Go to the second corner, lad," he directed Tom, "and tell officer Moorehis partner needs his assistance."
Tom did as directed, and five minutes later the prisoners were led downthe street, each in the charge of a stalwart guardian of the law.
When the party reached the station, the first policeman beckoned to Tomand led him to the office of the police captain. Tom told his story in asimple direct way. The captain came out and looked first at thegrotesque figure and affrighted face of the big man, and then at Brady.
"Ah, it's you, is it?" exclaimed the police official, with a start ofrecognition. "Circus Jake."
"I think you are mistaken," muttered Brady, in a surly tone.
"Oh, no, I'm not. If you think so, I'll just send for your picture fromthe Rogues' Gallery, and go over a few records. Lahey, keep your eyeclose on this fellow till I need him. You two come with me."
The speaker led Tom and the man with the big satchel into his privateoffice, and beckoned both of them to seats after closing the door.
"Now then, young man," he directed Tom, "tell your story before thisman."
Tom began at the commencement of the Donner incident, and followed it upto its present climax. All through the recital, as reference was made toHarry Ashley, the old man started, ejaculated, grimaced and groaned.
"Ah, he was not Harry Ashley, he was Ernest Warren, the son of mybenefactor, my friend! Did he ever say that I, Blennerhassett, abusedhim?"
"He never said anything about you, for we did not know that he wasErnest Warren," explained Tom.
"Now, then, for your story, Mr. Blennerhassett, if that is your name,"spoke the police captain.
The old man looked flustered and frightened. He cast an apprehensiveglance out at the street, an appealing one at the captain.<
br />
"The Czar of Russia shall not be told?" he at length articulated.
"The Czar of Russia?" repeated the official, with a mystified stare."What has he got to do with it?"
"Everything," declared Blennerhassett, with a groan. "You will notadvise the spies of foreign governments?" he persisted, very seriously.
The captain evidently concluded that he was dealing with a lunatic, forhe said indulgently:
"Surely not."
"And no notoriety in the newspapers, so that I might be trailed down byassassins?"
"Not a word, provided you tell the truth."
The old man began his story, which was an interesting one. It seemed hehad been a Russian spy, and a price was set on his head. A fugitive, hechanced to meet in Germany the father of Ernest Warren. The latter wasvery kind to him. Mr. Warren was a civil engineer engaged on some largepublic work. He took sick and died. He had learned to trustBlennerhassett as a loyal friend, and had given him all his money withdirections to repair to the United States and take personal charge ofErnest.
The latter, it seemed, was one of the heirs to an estate in litigation.It was to the interest of others after the fortune to have himdisappear. Not only to protect Ernest, but also because he was fearfulthe Russian government might hunt him down personally, Blennerhassetthad made his new home in an isolated old house about fifty miles up thecoast from Rockley Cove.
He never explained to Ernest the cause of this seclusion and mystery.The lad had rebelled against such a solitary life, had run away afteraccidentally destroying five hundred dollars by fire, andBlennerhassett, not daring to come out openly, had surreptitiouslyvisited a nearby wireless station when its operator was absent, andunder cover had tried to communicate with the outside world.
He had incidentally come across Brady, and had started him on a searchfor the runaway, promising a five hundred dollar reward for finding him.The day before the present one a demand had come from Brady for fivethousand dollars to be brought to Springville at once, or the boy wouldnever be returned.
"The five hundred dollars Ernest burned up was his own money," explainedBlennerhassett. "I love him as my own son. All I ask is that I findhim."
The police captain opened the door of his office and called out into thestation main room.
"Bring that man in here," he directed; and Brady slouched into theprivate office.
"Now then," said the captain, "short and sweet's the word for you. Thinkwe don't know you, eh? I suppose you're not the man who advertised a setof parlor furniture by mail for fifty cents, and a yard of silk for aquarter, and a plan to save your gas bills for a dollar, and how to killcockroaches for a dime?"
"That's old," growled the discomfited Brady.
"Why," explained the police official, "he sent a toy set of furniture toinvestors, and a yard of sewing silk, told them to save their gas billson a file, and advised them to get a board and a club and whack theroaches. Now, sharp and brisk. You've kidnapped this man's charge. I'llsend two officers with you to your partner to give him up. Produce him,and you go free. Otherwise I'll telegraph all over the country to findout your latest schemes, and lock you up for abduction and extortion inthe meanwhile."
"I've done my work for this old man," blurted out Brady.
"Yes," assented Blennerhassett, "and the price was to be five hundreddollars, not five thousand dollars. I'll pay the five hundred."
"All right," muttered Brady, "I'll give in."
"And I'll go with him to see that the boy is all right," saidBlennerhassett.
Brady was released later, for the old man returned to the police stationwithin an hour. Harry Ashley, or Ernest Warren, as his real name was,came in his company.
There was a joyful meeting between Tom and his friend. It was made stillmore happy when Ernest was informed that the estate in which he wasinterested had been settled, and his share was some twenty thousanddollars.
The guardian and his ward accompanied Tom back to Rockley Cove as guestsat the Barnes homestead. Tom at once repaired to the wireless station.He put his excitable chum in transports of delight when he announced thesuccess of his search for the stolen Harry Ashley.
"Had some visitors here this afternoon," announced Ben. "Mart Waltersand young Aldrich came along. Aldrich was hot and furious to know if youhad used his launch. Just as I explained to them that you had, andthereby saved Grace Morgan's life, and they toned down a little, alongcame Grace herself. She overheard their squabbling, and turned her backon them and wouldn't speak to them. They sneaked away."
"Oh, Grace was here?" said Tom, trying to look only ordinarilyinterested.
"She was," replied Ben sprightly, "and spent a pleasant hour. She mademe tell her all about the way we telegraph. She even made me teach hercertain dots and dashes. Hello! why, there's a call from my homewireless outfit."
The receiver began to buzz and click. Tom looked suspiciously at hiscomrade.
"T-o-m B-a-r-n-e-s, y-o-u a-r-e m-z m-x m-y h-e-r-o. A-u-n-t B-e-r-t-h-aw-a-n-t-s t-o s-e-e y-o-u. G-r-a-c-e," came the message.
"H-m," commented Tom, flushing as his chum chuckled audibly. "Up totricks, are you? What are you laughing at?"
"Why," smiled Ben seriously, "I was just thinking what a whole lot theMorgan family think of you, Tom!"
It took two full weeks for Rockley Cove and its vicinity to get over thecourageous exploit of Tom Barnes in saving the passengers and crew ofthe _Olivia_.
Bill Barber shared in the general commendation. He appeared on thestreets of the village, chipper, ambitious and well dressed, with thegreat desire of his life, a full-blooded bulldog, at his heels.
He boasted proudly that he had given Bert Aldrich a receipt in full forthe eleven dollars and seventy-five cents, in lieu of the use of the_Beulah_ the night of the big storm.
"I told him I could loan him a few dollars if he was so hard up hecouldn't get along," chuckled Bill, jingling some coins in his pocket.
The steamship company sent a substantial reward to both Tom and Bill,and offered the latter a good position on their line, which he acceptedpromptly.
Bert Aldrich sneaked away from Rockley Cove with his crack launch,without being even permitted to say good-by to Grace; and Mart Waltersremained in the back of the books of that offended little lady for along time to come.
Tom became a regular visitor at the Morgan home. His ability as awireless operator had attracted the attention of headquarters, where hewas offered a good position.
Even his parents were willing that he should accept it, and for twoyears Tom worked his way up to an inspectorship, taking a technicalevening course in a college at New York City.
A new expert operator was put in charge at Station Z, but Ben was stillretained as a helper. Ernest and old Blennerhassett settled down atRockley Cove, and after a year at school the old Harry Ashley got anappointment as a regular man at the tower. Blennerhassett graduallyworked out of his foolish fears of foreign enemies.
Both Ben and Ernest were fascinated with the wireless business, and thefrequent visits of Tom along the circuit encouraged them.
Tom spent nearly half his time at Rockley Cove. He was a regular visitorat the Morgan home. One morning Ben came into the tower with a happysmile on his face. He went at once to the instrument and calledheadquarters.
"Why so cheerful, Ben?" inquired Ernest.
"Message."
"Yes, I know, but what is its purport?"
"Mr. Morgan wishes me to send a society announcement to the New Yorkpress."
"Indeed?"
"Exactly--the engagement of our sweet little friend, Grace, to our oldtime chum, Tom Barnes, the young wireless operator of Rockley Cove."
THE END
THE WEBSTER SERIES
By FRANK V. WEBSTER
Mr. Webster's style is very much like that of the boys' favorite author,the late lamented Horatio Alger, Jr., but his tales are thoroughlyup-to-date.
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Only A Farm Boy _or Dan Hardy's Rise in Life_
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