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Black Star's Campaign
A DETECTIVE STORY
By JOHNSTON McCULLEY
Author of "John Standon of Texas," "Black Star."
CHELSEA HOUSE 79 SEVENTH AVENUE NEW YORK CITY
Black Star's Campaign
Copyright, 1919 by STREET & SMITH
(Printed in the United States of America)
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. NEWS FOR THE SHERIFF 11
II. A SHOCK FOR THE CITY 17
III. THE NEW HEADQUARTERS 26
IV. OVER THE TELEPHONE 36
V. TRAILED 47
VI. WHAT KOWEN FOUND 56
VII. VERBECK INVESTIGATES 63
VIII. MYSTERY AND AN ALARM 71
IX. ORDERS AND LETTERS 78
X. A DOUBLE CRIME 85
XI. MORE MYSTERY 94
XII. ANOTHER TELEPHONE CALL 101
XIII. INSIDE THE MUSEUM 107
XIV. MISSING MASTERPIECES 116
XV. SOME FISHERMEN 124
XVI. HOT BREAD 132
XVII. MUGGS SEES HIS MAN 141
XVIII. MUGGS MEETS DISASTER 147
XIX. IMPORTANT INFORMATION 155
XX. ON THE TRAIL 163
XXI. A TENSE MOMENT 172
XXII. ON THE ROOF 183
XXIII. MUGGS GIVES A TIP 192
XXIV. ON THE TRAIL 202
XXV. END OF THE TRAIL 209
XXVI. THE BIG BLOW 218
XXVII. MUGGS TAKES A CHANCE 227
XXVIII. THE ALARM 235
XXIX. CAUGHT IN THE NET 244
XXX. MUGGS ARRIVES 249
XXXI. AN EMPTY NET 250
XXXII. THE LETTER 254
BLACK STAR'S CAMPAIGN
CHAPTER I
NEWS FOR THE SHERIFF
Sheriff Kowen looked up from his desk in amazement as the stenographerushered in the woman. The name on her card had told him nothing, and hehad expected to be confronted by some middle-aged, washed-out, tiredwife and mother who would make a request to visit the jail and talk withan erring relative.
What he did see when he raised his eyes and cleared his throatpreparatory to indulging in his professional attitude, was a handsomelygowned, beautiful woman of perhaps thirty years, a woman who appeared tobe exceedingly cultured and refined.
Sheriff Kowen got out of his chair quickly, and placed one at the end ofthe desk for his visitor. Then he seated himself again, and lookedacross to her.
She appeared to be nervous, almost distraught, on the verge of tears.
"My dear Miss Blanchard," Sheriff Kowen said, glancing at the card thestenographer had handed to him, and for once forgetting his usual gruffmanner, "is there any way in which I may be of service to you?"
"I scarcely know how to approach the subject," she replied. The sheriffnoticed that her voice was all that he had expected it would be--a voicethat was modulated to the correct society pitch. "Such a thing as--asthis is--well, I am not used to it."
"Just take your time, and tell me in your own way," said the sheriff."You have--er--some sort of a complaint to make?"
"Yes, that is it. In the first place, we do not reside in this cityregularly. We have a suite at a private hotel--my mother, my brother andmyself. It is about my brother that I wish to see you."
"He is--er--in trouble?"
"Not exactly that, but--please tell me, first, Mr. Kowen, it is againstthe law to operate a gambling house, is it not?"
"It most certainly is!" Kowen exclaimed. "When I was first elected, Ifought gambling houses--got quite a reputation for working along thatline. I fought the cheap ones, and I fought the pretentious dress-suitestablishments--cleaned them out!"
"Pardon me, Mr. Kowen, but one remains--else it is a new one that hasopened recently."
"What's that?" the sheriff cried, sitting up straighter in his chair."If there is a gambling house running in my section of the country,it'll not run long!"
"I--I feel almost like a spy," Miss Blanchard said. "I hate to be aninformer----"
"That is your duty in such a case, my dear young lady."
"I feel it so, under the circumstances," she said. "I do not want tocause my brother trouble--but I have talked it over with mother, and wedecided that I should come and tell you the whole thing."
"I shall be glad to listen, Miss Blanchard."
"My brother is twenty-one, just a boy, you might say. When we came tothe city, he happened to make the acquaintance of some other young menwho belonged to a very fast set. He began remaining away from home untilthe early morning hours, and drinking too much, and all that."
"I understand, my dear young lady. Nine young men out of ten sow theirwild oats."
"And he began spending more money than he could afford to spend. Motherand I began to fear he would dissipate his share of my father's estate,for he controls it since he has come of age. We wondered where the moneywas going--and finally we found out."
"Gambling joint?"
"Yes, sir. A gambling den in a large house in the most exclusive sectionof the city."
"Those are the places I like to smash!" Sheriff Kowen told her.
"I can give you the address, Mr. Kowen. I understand that a man cannotget into the place unless he is properly introduced."
"Naturally, they would be very careful," the sheriff said.
"It is what you called a dress-suit sort of place. Perhaps I am doingwrong telling you this----"
"Not at all. It is your duty," the sheriff assured her. "Nobody everwill know where I got my information."
"I'd like to have the place closed up," Miss Blanchard continued, "sothat my brother and other young men will not be robbed of their moneyand ruined. I suppose you would have to make a raid--I believe that isthe term? I'd hate to cause my brother trouble, but a little scaremight----"
"I understand, Miss Blanchard. It is probable that he would be caught ina raid, placed under arrest for frequenting a gambling resort, andbrought to jail. He would immediately put up bail for his appearance incourt. He would give an assumed name, and not show up in the morning,forfeiting his bail. So there would be little publicity, but he wouldget a scare."
"Oh, thank you! If it could be done that way----"
/> "It can, my dear Miss Blanchard. We are determined to exterminategambling houses. The court is in accord with me in this matter. Sinceyou give me the information, you may be sure I'll protect your brother'sinterests to a certain extent. We'll frighten him a bit, but you needhave no fear he will serve a term in jail, or anything like that."
"I understand," said Miss Blanchard.
"Simply give me the address--and then forget that you have seen andspoken to me. I'll do the rest. You must be very careful, of course, notto let your brother suspect that you have been here. He would inform hisfriends, and our raid would fail. Every time a raid fails, it hurts us.A certain part of the public, antagonistic politicians and newspapers,you see----"
"I understand, Mr. Kowen. Here is the address--I have written it on acard."
She placed the card before him on the desk. Sheriff Kowen glanced at it.
"Ah!" he exclaimed. "So! I should say it was in the most exclusivesection of the city. This is very valuable information, Miss Blanchard,if our investigation bears out your statements. I cannot thank youenough. There will be more to this than a gambling-house raid; theowners of the property must give the court a little explanation, Ifear."
"You are sure that I did not do wrong coming here like this?"
"I am sure that you did quite right, my dear young lady. You perhapshave aided us in rounding up sharpers who fleece young men of theirfortunes, and perhaps you have saved your brother. He is at the stage, Itake it, where a little scare will do him a lot of good. You have donequite right!"
"Then I must hurry away," she said, rising. "And I shall do as yousaid--forget that I have been here. My brother----"
"I'll watch out for him, Miss Blanchard--a little scare and nothingmore! It is the proprietor of the place and his partners we are after,more than the victims."
Sheriff Kowen went as far as the corridor with Miss Blanchard, and thenhurried back to his private office and began pushing buttons. He calledbefore him certain of his deputies, gave them the information he hadacquired, and certain orders, and sent them away. Then he touched matchto cigar, leaned back in his chair, blew a cloud of fragrant smoketoward the ceiling, and chuckled softly. Sheriff Kowen had not had achance to raid a gambling house of any importance for more than a year;and raiding a gambling house was his pet sport. He promised himself thatthis raid should be sensational in the extreme. Gambling houses were notgoing to flourish while Kowen was holding office as sheriff.
As for Miss Blanchard, she drove in a taxicab to an exclusive privatehotel, ascended in the elevator to the eighth floor, and entered a suitethere.
A woman of forty was sitting before a window looking down at the busystreet. She was talking to a man of about the same age, a man whoappeared to be a prosperous merchant, or something of the sort, and wholooked up quickly when Miss Blanchard entered.
"Well, Mamie, how about it?" he growled.
"It was easy!" Miss Mamie Blanchard replied. "He fell for it so hardthat I could almost see him bounce. He swallowed the bait, hook, sinkerand line. We've played the game just right--that man would rather raid agambling joint than eat!"
"Think he'll get busy right away?" the man asked.
"Busy? The instant he left me he ran back to his desk. I think that wecan look for action to-night."
"Well, we'll give him a chance. He'll want to make sure of the evidencefirst, of course, and we'll see that he gathers plenty of that withouttoo much trouble. All the other details have been arranged. I'll issueorders this afternoon, and have everything in readiness. We can't gowrong on this."
"And afterward?" the girl asked.
"You'll get your reward, all right. If this man's town isn't crazywithin forty-eight hours, it'll be something peculiar. You know yourpart, I suppose?"
"Certainly."
"Get ready, then. I'll go, now, and get word to all the boys. I'm gladthat the long wait is over, that we are ready to strike!"