CHAPTER II.
ANOTHER END OF THE YARN.
On the same night this Oriental treachery manifested itself aboard thetrain bound north through the Catskills, a power yacht dropped anchorbelow the town of Catskill.
There was something suspicious about this motor yacht. She carried norunning lights, and her cabin ports were dark as Erebus. She came toa halt silently--almost sullenly--and her anchor dropped with hardlya splash. A tender was heaved over the side, and four men got into itand were rowed ashore by one of their number. When the tender grounded,three of the passengers got out. One of them turned to speak to the manwho remained in the boat.
"Leave the tender in the water, when you get back to the _Iris_,Pierson. If the tender is wanted here, a light will be shown."
"All right, Grattan," answered the man in the boat, shoving off androwing noiselessly back to the yacht.
"Hide the lantern in that clump of bushes, Bunce," went on Grattan.
"Ay, ay, messmate," answered the person addressed as Bunce.
"Look here, Grattan," grumbled the third member of the party, "MotorMatt has cooked our goose for us, and I'll be hanged if I can see theuse of knocking around the town of Catskill."
"There are a lot of things in this world, Pardo," returned Grattandryly, "that are advisable and that you haven't sense enough to see."
Pardo muttered wrathfully but indistinctly.
"Now," proceeded Grattan, "this is the way of it: We got Motor Mattand his chum, McGlory, aboard the _Iris_--lured them there on thesupposition that Tsan Ti had sent Motor Matt the red jewel to keepsafely for him for a time. Motor Matt and McGlory walked into our trap.We got the red jewel and put the two boys ashore some fifteen or twentymiles below here. Half an hour later I put the supposed ruby to sometests and found it was counterfeit----"
"Are you sure the ruby you stole from the Honam joss house was a truegem?"
"Yes. Tsan Ti sent Motor Matt a counterfeit replica for the purpose ofgetting us off the track. Motor Matt and McGlory will take the firsttrain for Catskill from the place where we put them ashore. We'lllie in wait for them on the path they must take between the railroadstation and their hotel. It's a dark night, few passengers will arriveat this hour, and we can recapture the two motor boys and take themback to the _Iris_."
"What good will that do?" demurred Pardo. "Motor Matt hasn't the realstone--Tsan Ti must have that."
"I'll find out from Motor Matt where Tsan Ti is," said Grattan, betweenhis teeth, "and then I'll flash a message to the mandarin that he mustgive up the real gem, or Motor Matt _will suffer the consequences_!"
"You can't mean," gasped Pardo, in a panic, "that you will----"
"It's a bluff, that's all," snapped Grattan. "It will scare themandarin out of his wits. Have you hid the lantern, Bunce?" hedemanded, as the other member of the party came close.
"Ay, Grattan," was the reply. "First bunch of bushes close to where wecame ashore."
"All right; come on, then. I've figured out what train Motor Matt andJoe McGlory will catch, and it should soon be at the depot."
With Grattan in the lead, the party scrambled up the slope through thedarkness, passed some ice houses, crossed a railroad track, and finallycame to a halt in a lonely part of the town, near the walk leading fromthe railroad station to the business street and the hotels. A billboardafforded them a secure hiding place.
Grattan had figured the time of the train pretty accurately. He and hiscompanions waited no longer than five minutes before the "local" drewto a halt at the station.
"If those boys are not on the train," muttered Pardo, "then we'refooled again. Confound that Motor Matt, anyhow!"
"He has my heartiest admiration," returned Grattan, "but I'm notgoing to match wits with him and call myself beaten. Hist!" he addedabruptly, "here come two people--and maybe they're the ones we'relooking for. Mind, both of you, and don't make a move till I give theword."
Breathlessly the three men waited. Footsteps came slowly up the walkand voices could be heard--voices which were recognized as belonging tothe motor boys.
"Well, pard," came the voice of McGlory, "New York for ours in themorning. Tsan Ti, with the big ruby, is on the train, bound for Chinaand heathen happiness, Grattan has the bogus stone and is makinghimself absent in the _Iris_, and you and I are rid of the hoodoo atlast, and have fifteen hundred to the good. That's what I call----"
By then the two lads had passed the billboard and were so far away thatspoken words could not be distinguished. And Grattan had given no wordfor an attack!
"What's the matter with you, Grattan?" whispered Pardo. "They're toofar off for us to bag them now."
"We're not going to bag them." Grattan was a man of quick decisions."We've changed our plans."
While the other two mumbled their surprise and asked questions, Grattanhad taken pencil, notebook, and an electric torch from his pocket.Snapping on the torch, he handed it to Bunce.
"Put a stopper on your jaw tackle and hold that," said he crisply.
Then he wrote the following:
"CONDUCTOR, LOCAL PASSENGER, NORTH BOUND: Fat Chinaman, answering to name of Tsan Ti and claiming to be mandarin, on your train. He's a thief and has stolen big ruby called Eye of Buddha. Put him off train in charge of legal officer, first station after you receive this. Answer. JAMES PHILO, Detective."
"This is a telegram," said Grattan, and read it aloud for the benefitof his two companions. "You'll take it down to the railroad station,Pardo," he went on, "and have it sent at once to the nearest point thatwill overtake the train Matt and McGlory just got off of. Bunce and Iwill wait here, and you stay in the station till you receive an answer."
"But how do you know Tsan Ti is on that train?" asked Pardo.
"Didn't you hear what was said when the motor boys passed us?"
"But nothing was said about the mandarin being on _that_ particulartrain."
"I'm making a guess. If the conductor replies that no such chink is onthe train, then my guess is wrong. If he answers that the chink wasthere, and that he has put him off, red jewel and all, into the handsof the legal authorities, then James Philo Grattan will play the partof James Philo, detective, and fool these country authorities out oftheir eye teeth--and, incidentally, out of the Eye of Buddha."
The daring nature of Grattan's hastily formed plan caused Pardo andBunce to catch their breath. Grattan was a fugitive from the law, andyet here he was making the law assist him in stealing the red jewel forthe second time!
"You're a wonder," murmured Pardo, "if you can make that game work."
"Trust me for that, Pardo. Now you hustle for the railroad station andget that message on the wires. Hurry back here as soon as you receivean answer."
Pardo took the paper and made off down the slope. He was gonethree-quarters of an hour--a weary, impatient wait for Bunce, butpassed calmly by Grattan.
When Pardo returned he came at a run.
"Your scheme's no good, Grattan!" were his first breathless words.
"Why not?" demanded Grattan. "Wasn't Tsan Ti on the train?"
"Yes--and another chink, as well. Fat Chinaman, though, jumped offat Gardenville, first station north of Catskill. Here, read theconductor's message for yourself."
Grattan, still cool and self-possessed, switched the light into historch and read the following:
"Two Chinamen, one answering description, came through on train from Jersey City. Fat Chinaman jumped off at Gardenville, although had ticket reading Buffalo. Don't know what became of other Chinaman. Two young men boarded train River View, talked with fat Chinaman, got off Catskill. CONDUCTOR."
Grattan must have been intensely disappointed, but he did not give reinto his temper. While Bunce spluttered and Pardo swore under his breath,Grattan was wrapped in profound thought.
"We'll have to change our plans again," he observed finally. "We gaveover the idea of capturing Motor Matt and
McGlory for the purpose ofgetting Tsan Ti held by the authorities as a thief; now we've got togive that up. Why did Tsan Ti get off the train at Gardenville whenhe was going to Buffalo? It was an Oriental trick to pull the woolover my eyes. The mandarin is afraid of me. We must proceed at once toGardenville before Tsan Ti has a chance to get out of the town."
"How are we going to get to Gardenville?" demanded Pardo. "If we takethe _Iris_----?"
"We won't."
"If we walk----"
"We won't do that, either. We'll take an automobile. It may be, too,that our motor cycles will come in handy. You go down to the bank,Pardo, signal the yacht, and have Pierson bring the two machinesashore. While you're about that, Bunce and I will visit the garage andborrow a fast machine. You know these hills?"
"As well as I do my two hands."
"On your way to the _Iris_ I'll give you something to leave at thehotel for Motor Matt."
Grattan did some more scribbling on a blank sheet of his notebook;then, tearing out the sheet, he wrapped it around a small object andplaced both in a little box with a sliding cover.
"They may recognize me at the hotel," protested Pardo.
"I don't think so. It will do me good to have you leave this, anyhow.I don't want Motor Matt to think that I was fooled very long by thatbogus ruby. If we're quick, Pardo, we're going to catch Tsan Ti beforehe can leave Gardenville. And when we nab the mandarin we secure theruby."
Grattan was a master rogue, and not the least of his shining abilitieswas his readiness in adjusting himself to changing circumstances.
Fate, in the present instance, had conspired to place him on the wrongtrack--but he was following the course with supreme confidence.