Produced by Demian Katz, Joseph Rainone and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Transcriber's note: This story was first serialized in the _Boys of NewYork_ story paper and was later reprinted as Vol. I, No. 502 in _TheNew York Detective Library_ published July 9, 1892 by Frank Tousey.This e-text is derived from the reprinted edition.
Bats in the Wall;
OR, The Mystery of Trinity Church-Yard.
By P. T. Raymond Author of "The Bicycle Detective; or, Tracking a Crime on the Wheel," etc., etc.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. A REJECTED PROPOSAL. CHAPTER II. DYBALL'S CLUB. CHAPTER III. AN UNHEEDED WARNING--FRANK MANSFIELD FINDS HIMSELF IN A BAD FIX. CHAPTER IV. THE STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE BENEATH THE CHURCH-YARD WALL. CHAPTER V. BATS IN THE WALL. CHAPTER VI. WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CATHERINE MARKET. CHAPTER VII. A STILL GREATER CRIME UNEARTHED. CHAPTER VIII. THE SECRET OF THE IRON DOOR. CHAPTER IX. IN WHICH FRANK MANSFIELD MAKES AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. CHAPTER X. IN THE CHAMBER OF DEATH. CHAPTER XI. AN UNEXPECTED ALLY. CHAPTER XII. WHAT WAS SEEN BY THE CHURCH-YARD WALL. CHAPTER XIII. IN CAGNEY'S SANCTUM. CHAPTER XIV. AN INTRUDER IN THE HOME OF THE BATS. CHAPTER XV. CALEB HOOK MAKES HIMSELF AT HOME. CHAPTER XVI. THE THREE OAKS. CHAPTER XVII. AN ADVERTISEMENT. CHAPTER XVIII. THE GHOST OF THREE OAKS APPEARS AGAIN. CHAPTER XIX. MR. CALLISTER'S CLERK. CHAPTER XX. JERRY BUCK PLAYS THE PART OF A DETECTIVE AGAIN. CHAPTER XXI. FRANK VISITS COTTAGE PLACE. CHAPTER XXII. AN UNTIMELY OCCURRENCE--CALEB HOOK DISCOVERED. CHAPTER XXIII. A DETECTIVE IN A BAD FIX. CHAPTER XXIV. TREASURE HUNTING. CHAPTER XXV. THE MYSTERY OF TRINITY CHURCH-YARD EXPLAINED AT LAST. CHAPTER XXVI. ELIJAH CALLISTER ADDS STILL ANOTHER CRIME TO THE LIST. CHAPTER XXVII. THE JONAH. CHAPTER XXVIII. A FRUSTRATED CRIME--THE END.
CHAPTER I.
A REJECTED PROPOSAL.
"No, Frank, most decidedly not. I must say that I am more thansurprised that you should have had the audacity to even think for aninstant that such a thing could be."
"But we love each other most sincerely, Mr. Callister, and you knowas well as I do that there was a time when, with your approval, I wasallowed to consider Edna as my future wife."
"That may be, young man, that may be--I will even go so far as toadmit that such was the case. But circumstances alter cases, and I aminclined to think that I could do somewhat better than to bestow thehand of my only daughter upon a bank clerk at a beggarly salary oftwelve hundred a year."
"I am assistant cashier of Webster National Bank, and my salary isquite enough for a young couple to get along on with economy; besides,I have prospects of promotion----"
"Had, you mean. A year ago such was the case, Frank Mansfield. Fromwhat I have recently heard of your career, your drinking, gambling andnightly carousals, I am inclined to doubt if your prospects amount tomuch now."
It was Mr. Elijah Callister, the rich Wall street stock operator, whospoke these words, the person to whom they were addressed being FrankMansfield, a handsome youth of twenty-one.
The scene was Mr. Callister's office on Broad street, in one of thenine-story buildings just below Wall, and the time the close of theshort winter's day, December 22, 1884.
Now, in thus demanding the hand of Miss Edna Callister, Frank Mansfieldwas by no means as presumptuous as at first glance might seem.
But little less than five years previous to the date just mentioned,the father of this young man had been a wealthy and honored merchant,and the stock operator's most intimate friend.
Their business interests to a great extent in common, their elegantresidences on Fifth avenue side by side, and their children--in eachcase the only child the friends possessed--had been taught to lookforward to the day when they should marry with their parent's fullconsent.
To-day all was different, and Edgar Mansfield lay in a dishonoredgrave, his wife, driven mad by the reverses of fortune and the loss ofa kind and loving husband, had disappeared from the circle of friendsin which she had long figured as a leading spirit, while Frank had beenthrown to shift for himself upon the cold charity of an unsympathizingworld.
All this happened in the spring of 1879, which, all will be seen, wasfive years before our story begins.
Meanwhile, Elijah Callister had flourished, even as his friendMansfield had slipped and fallen.
While Frank, who had obtained a position in the Webster National Bank,had been working hard to advance himself, with occasional slips andfrequent lapses into dissipation and folly--always bitterly repented ofwhen committed and it was too late--the father of Edna Callister hadsteadily increased in influence and wealth.
He was honored among business men, a pillar in the church, and highin social circles, and yet he had turned his back completely upon theson of his old-time friend, having even gone so far as to forbid himentrance to his home.
That the course he had pursued had not prevented the love which hadexisted from childhood between the youthful pair from developing astime went on, is evident from the conversation in which we now findthe highly respectable Mr. Callister and the son of his former friendengaged.
"I am hardly as bad a fellow as you would make me out, Mr. Callister,"answered Frank, flushing to the eyes at the stock speculator's lastremark. "I have been a little wild and imprudent, I'll admit, but I'vemade up my mind to reform, and with Edna for my wife----"
"Stop!"
Mr. Callister had brought his fist down upon the desk with a bang.
"My daughter shall marry no pauper, Mr. Mansfield!" he exclaimed, withemphasis. "Come to me with proof that you are possessed of at least tenthousand dollars of your own, and I will listen to you--not before. Atthe present time I doubt if you can produce ten thousand cents."
"And this is final?"
The face of Frank Mansfield was very pale as he spoke.
"It is. Reform your habits of life, go to work and advance yourself,make money somehow, anyhow, so that you make it, and then, if Edna hasnot previously found some one more worthy of her, as I have no doubtshe will, I will give your proposal the consideration it deserves. NowI must bid you good-night."
Without a word the young man turned upon his heel and passed out of theoffice.
Listening for a moment to his retreating footsteps as they died awaythrough the corridor, Mr. Elijah Callister arose, drew on his overcoat,adjusted his shiny beaver at the proper angle upon his head, and takingup his walking stick, prepared to start for his palatial home with ageneral air of respectable business solidity standing forth from everyportion of his portly presence from the crown of his hat to the solesof his well-polished shoes.
"That settles him for the day," he muttered, as he cast his eye aboutthe office to see that everything was as it should be for the night;"by to-morrow, unless I greatly mistake, the young gentleman will havemost effectually settled himself. I have nothing against Frank, nothingin the world, but of late he has become altogether too inquisitive, andthere is nothing for it but to remove him from my path."
"Though I don't doubt in the least," he added, meditatively, as helocked the office door behind him, "that when she hears what hashappened, she will kick up a deuce of a row."
And the respectable Mr. Callister, the last man in the world who amongthe brethren of the Tenth Baptist Church on Murray Hill, in which hewas a bright and shining light, would have been suspected of such athing, stepped into the elevator, passed out of the nine-story buildinginto Broad street, and, slipping around the corner into a little alley,hurriedly descended the steps of a basement groggery, and walking up tothe bar, called for as stiff a glass of brandy as any old toper in theland.
"Has Billy Cutts, th
e detective, been in here this evening, Joe?" heasked of the white-aproned bartender, as he set down the brandy glasswhich he had drained to the last drop.
"No, he hasn't, Mr. Callister," was the man's reply. "I haven't seenBilly in more'n a---- By gracious! talk of angels, and they are righton top of you! Here's Billy Cutts comin' now."
As he spoke a young man, comfortably dressed in a dark overcoat andordinary business suit, entered the saloon.
He was to all appearance not over twenty-two or twenty-three years ofage, but his face bore indelibly stamped upon it a knowledge of thecrooked ways of the great city not usually looked for in a man of hisyears.
He shook hands with the stock operator upon his entrance, with afamiliar, easy-going air, both withdrawing at once to a table in aremote corner of the saloon, upon which, by the order of the elder man,the bartender placed a bottle and glasses between them.
"Well, Billy, is it all fixed?" said Mr. Callister, pouring out a stiffglass of liquor for his companion and another for himself.
"All O. K.," was the reply. "The old man an' his pals got the plans allright, an' will be on hand, you can bet. I saw Detective Hook not anhour ago and gave him the tip. He swallowed the bait whole, the shallowfool, and now all that remains is to get the feller to consent, an'that I consider about fixed."
"How did you do it?"
"Oh, through the help of a couple friends of his an' tools of mine.They've been workin' on him for the best part of a week, an' havepretty well brought him round. I want them in the thing, too, don't yersee, to give the racket a natural air."
"Of course neither of them suspect the truth?"
"What d'ye take me for, boss? I guess I know what I'm about as ageneral thing. When I tell you a thing is fixed, it's fixed; you canbet yer life on that every time."
"I hope so, and I believe so," replied the other, in a fierce whisper."That boy Frank Mansfield is in my way, Billy. He must and shall beremoved from my path. Your scheme is a good one, and I believe it willwork; if I read of his arrest in the morning papers you can count onfive thousand dollars any time you have a mind to call round to myoffice and get it."
Mr. Callister arose abruptly as he spoke, and buttoned up his overcoatas though to depart.
"You'll see me to-morrow mornin', then, fer sure," replied Cutts,likewise rising. "So you'd better be ready with the cash."
"I will, Billy, never fear. How's your father, by the way?"
"Oh, the old man's all right, but confoundedly nervous till this littlespec is over."
"Well, give him my regards when you see him, and I shall expect to seeyou with your work accomplished at my office to-morrow by noon."
And the respectable Mr. Callister with a face so smiling that, as thesaying goes, butter would not have melted in his mouth, shook handswith Detective Cutts and moved off in the direction of the neareststation on the elevated road.