Kitabı oku: «Ned Wilding's Disappearance: or, The Darewell Chums in the City», sayfa 10
CHAPTER XXVII
BAFFLED AGAIN
William, coming across the street to take up a position, where he could watch the lad he suspected was Ned, puzzled his head over the scene he had just witnessed.
“I wonder what he went off with that man for?” he said to himself. “Didn’t act as though he wanted to, either. I’ll ask the fruit man.”
He approached, and then the thought struck it would be a good idea to apply for the job the other boy had just left. He got it, for there was need of hurry in unloading the fruit, as the day was cold.
“What was the matter with the other fellow?” asked William carelessly as though it was of little moment to him.
“I don’t know,” the fruit man replied. “The boy came along just like you and asked for a job. I hired him and then along comes this fellow and says the lad owes him money. It wasn’t any of my affair. Hustle those boxes in now, I don’t want the oranges to freeze.”
“Who was the man who took him away?” asked William, as indifferently as he could, though he was nervous with eagerness to hear the answer.
“I never saw him before. It was none of my affair, though I liked the looks of that boy, and I didn’t care much for the man. But I’ve gotten over the habit of interfering in other people’s business. Come now, boy, hustle!”
William went to work with an energy that pleased his employer. The boy was beginning to think he had made a mistake. He felt that he should have followed the man, to see where he took the lad he believed was Ned. But then, too, he had telephoned Mr. Wilding and the chums to meet him at the fruit store, and if he was not there when they arrived, they would not know what to make of it.
“I can’t be in two places at once,” William thought to himself. “I guess I’d better stay here until some one comes. Then maybe I can trace which way the man took the boy. Anyhow I’m not sure it was Ned. I’ve never seen him, and it wouldn’t do to make a mistake. He wouldn’t admit he was Ned Wilding, but he acted to me as though he was afraid of something.”
Thus musing, and puzzling over whether he had done the right thing, William continued to help unload the truck, keeping a sharp lookout for Mr. Wilding or the three chums.
The three boys arrived first. They came down the street in a hurry looking for the place William had described to the hotel clerk over the telephone.
“There he is!” cried Bart, as he caught sight of the boy they had pulled from the snow drift. “Where’s Ned?” he added.
“I’m not sure it was him,” William replied, “but a man came and took him away half an hour ago.”
Then he rapidly explained what had taken place, describing the boy he had seen.
“That’s Ned sure enough,” Fenn exclaimed. “Where in the world could he have gone to?”
“And who was the man who said Ned owed him money?” asked Frank. “I guess we’re on the trail of the mystery.”
“Hurry up, let’s see if we can’t find them,” suggested Bart. “They can’t have gone very far.”
“One of us ought to stay here to meet Mr. Wilding if he comes,” said Fenn. “The other two can go with William to look for Ned and the man.”
“Say, did I hire you to chin or to carry in oranges?” asked the fruit man, suddenly appearing in the doorway, and noting William talking to the three boys.
“Guess I’ll have to give up the job,” replied William. “I’ve got to go with these boys.”
“Say, there must be a hoodoo about this job,” the fruit man exclaimed. “You’re the second boy to give it up in less than an hour. What’s the matter?”
The boys did not think it necessary to explain. It was arranged that Frank would stay in the vicinity of the store to meet Mr. Wilding, if that gentleman should arrive, and tell what had happened, while William, with Bart and Fenn, tried to trace Ned and the red-moustached man.
“When Mr. Wilding comes I’ll take him to our hotel,” said Frank. “There will be no use in remaining here and we can wait for you there, as it’s nearer than his.”
“All right,” replied Bart. “We may have some good news for you.”
“I hope you do,” Frank said. “This thing is getting on my nerves. I’m afraid we’ll never see Ned again.”
“Oh, yes we will,” put in Fenn cheerfully.
William did not stop to ask any pay from the fruit man for what work he had done, but hurried off with the two chums in the direction taken by Ned and the man who had led him away.
“We’ll ask any policeman we meet,” suggested Bart.
“I’m afraid we’re on a sort of wild-goose chase,” remarked William, “but it’s the best we can do. If I had only been sure it was Ned I would have followed him, without waiting for you, but I wasn’t.”
“If it was Ned,” said Bart, “I can’t understand why he didn’t admit his identity.”
“He must have had a good reason for it,” retorted Fenn.
Through the street they hurried, making inquiries from policemen, and others whom they met, as to whether Ned and the man had gone that way. They got some traces, but in New York few persons, even policemen, have time to take note of those whom they have no special reason for keeping in mind. As William had said, it was a sort of wild-goose chase, and, when they had gone a mile or more, they became convinced that it was useless to continue any farther.
“Baffled again,” remarked Bart. “This beats me. I wonder what we are to do.”
“Have to begin all over again,” declared William. “It was my fault. I should have followed Ned.”
“No, you did what you thought was best,” Fenn replied.
They returned to the hotel, to find Mr. Wilding and Frank awaiting them. Mr. Wilding, who had expected some news of his son, was deeply disappointed when the three boys returned with none.
“What in the world are we to do?” asked Mr. Wilding. “We seem completely at a loss.”
“There are a few more lodging houses to try,” suggested William. “I’ll start out again this evening. That’s when the places are full, and I may get some trace of him.”
No one could offer a better suggestion, and it was arranged that Mr. Wilding should continue the search with a private detective he had hired, while William and Bart would make a tour of the lodging houses. Fenn and Frank were to remain at the Imperial Hotel.
“There’s no telling when a message may come from the baggage agent telling us that Ned has called for his trunk,” Bart said, “and some one ought to be ready to hurry to the depot. We’ll have to divide our forces.”
With little hope in their hearts, but with dogged patience, and a determination to keep up the search, William and Bart started out.
CHAPTER XXVIII
NED A PRISONER
Ned followed Cassidy through the streets, the lodging-house keeper leading the way, and seemingly in no fear that the boy would give him the slip. As a matter of fact, Ned did not intend to try to escape. He was, in a sense, a voluntary prisoner now, as he knew, if he tried to run away again, Cassidy would probably take after him and raise such a disturbance that the police would interfere. And Ned had his own reasons for not wanting anything to do with the bluecoats.
Afterwards he thought how senseless, in a measure, his fears were, but at the time they loomed up large before him, and caused him to do things of which, otherwise, he would not have dreamed.
“Hurry up!” exclaimed Cassidy when he and Ned had been walking about half an hour. “I haven’t got all day.”
“What do you intend to do?” asked Ned.
“I intend to make you work out the value of the money you stole from me. One of my porters has left and I have to have another. Instead of hiring one I’ll make you do the work until you square things.”
“I never took your money!” declared Ned.
“You’ve said that several times,” Cassidy exclaimed. “I don’t want to hear it again. I saw you, but I’m willing to give you a chance to reform. No use calling in the police unless I have to, but I will, if you don’t do as I tell you.”
The man spoke earnestly, and not unkindly, and Ned began to believe that Cassidy really believed he stole the money, a thing the boy had not admitted at first.
“Some day you’ll find you’re wrong,” Ned said.
“I guess not! Jim Cassidy doesn’t make mistakes,” was the answer. “If I do I’ll pay you back with interest.”
They reached the lodging house where Ned had stopped before, and whence he had escaped in the night.
“Go ahead up,” commanded Cassidy. “Get a broom and a pail of water and scrub out the rooms. I’ll allow you at the rate of a dollar and a half a day. I had fifteen dollars under my pillow that you took. I got four and a half of it back, counting the fifty cents from the fruit man, and that leaves ten dollars and a half you owe me. You work seven days and I’ll call it square, and give you your bed free at night. That’s more than you deserve, but you’re young and I’ll give you a chance.”
Ned thought it was a pretty poor chance, considering his innocence of the theft, but he decided it was best not to answer. He got a pail and broom, and, taking off his coat set to work cleaning the dirty floor. Cassidy watched him a while in silence and remarked:
“I’ll be on the lookout, so don’t try to sneak away.”
“I’ll work my seven days,” Ned replied, trying to hide the tears that would persist in coming into his eyes. As he labored away the stock certificate, in his inside pocket, rustled. All his trouble dated from the acquisition of that, he reflected bitterly, and it was a dearly bought bit of experience.
All that afternoon Ned worked away, his heart like lead. He longed for a sight of the faces of his chums, and he wanted to hear from his father. It seemed a very long time since he had left Darewell so happy and filled with expectations of the pleasures he and his friends would enjoy in New York.
“I wonder if the boys came?” Ned thought. “I wonder what my father must think? Oh, I’ve a good notion to write to him and ask him what to do! I can’t stand it any longer!”
Ned was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He had stood about all he could, and with the poor food and the bad sleeping places, which were all he could afford, his health was in danger.
“Come now, no loafing!” exclaimed Cassidy’s coarse voice, as Ned paused a moment in his scrubbing. “When I pay a dollar and a half a day I expect good, quick work. We don’t want any idlers around here.”
Wearily Ned began to move the wet broom over the dirty boards. There were a number of unkempt men engaged in the same occupation.
“If my chums should see me now,” thought Ned.
He expected to be allowed to go to bed early as he was tired, but when Cassidy had sent him to a near-by, cheap restaurant, in company with one of the other porters, for supper, Ned found, on his return, that he was expected to clean out the office.
“Ten o’clock’s time enough to go to bed,” Cassidy told him. “The work got behind when my other man left and it’s got to be made up. I don’t want the Board of Health here, condemning the place.”
Even with all the cleaning that was done, it looked as if the Board should take some action, Ned thought.
Meanwhile William and Bart had, that same evening, visited several lodging houses. They met with no success, though the proprietors described boys who bore a resemblance to Ned, but who had only stopped one night and had then disappeared.
“We’ll find him,” said William, more cheerfully than he felt.
The two boys were walking down a side street, approaching a lodging-house they intended to visit. It was one they had not yet inspected. It was about eight o’clock and was blowing up cold. There was a feeling of snow in the air, and the boys buttoned their coats closely around them.
“Hope Ned doesn’t have to stay out in the storm like I did,” said William.
“So do I,” chimed in Bart. “I hate to think about it.”
“We’ll try this place,” William went on, as they reached the entrance to the lodging house. In the hallway a gas jet burned, and, as the lads started up the stairs, they met a red moustached man coming down. At the sight of him William cried out:
“There he is!”
“Who?” asked Bart.
“The man who took Ned away!”
The next instant the two boys were besieging Cassidy with questions. The lodging-house proprietor looked bewildered a moment, and then, gathering the import of what they wanted, he exclaimed:
“Oh, you’re chums of his, eh? Belong to the same gang I s’pose? Well, you can’t come any tricks on me! If that lad is your chum he stays here until he’s worked out what he owes me!”
“What does he owe you?” demanded Bart. “Ned Wilding doesn’t need to owe anyone anything.”
“He owes me the money he stole!” Cassidy cried, “and I’m going to get it! Now, you fellows skip out of here or I’ll call the police!”
“Can’t we see Ned?” demanded William.
“No, you can’t! He’s got to stay here a week. Think I’m going to let you in and have you help him git away the way he did after he took my money?”
“He never took your money!” cried Bart.
“Clear out!” exclaimed Cassidy.
“Bart, you go get a policeman!” called William suddenly. “We’ll see about this thing. Telephone for Mr. Wilding and the boys!”
“What will you do?” asked Bart.
“I’ll stay on guard!” William replied, looking Cassidy straight in the face. “He’s not going to get Ned away from me again!”
CHAPTER XXIX
NED IS FOUND – CONCLUSION
Bart hurried down the stairs. Cassidy looked after him, a little in doubt what to make of the proceeding. Then he glanced at William.
“Here, you get out of this!” he called roughly.
“All right,” agreed William cheerfully. “It’s your place, I admit, but you’ll sing a different tune pretty soon. I’ll get out of the hallway but the street is free, and I’ll be on guard there until this thing is settled.”
“You’re too fresh!” spluttered Cassidy, as he turned and went back upstairs.
“That’s all right! You’ll get what’s coming to you pretty soon,” retorted William confidently, as he went down to the street to await the return of Bart with reinforcements.
Bart soon got into communication with Mr. Wilding, and with the two chums, at their hotel. They said they would hurry to the lodging house, and Mr. Wilding announced that he would bring a detective from headquarters, rather than have the boys ask a policeman to investigate the matter. Meanwhile, Mr. Wilding advised Bart to keep close watch on the lodging house.
William and Bart now took up their positions where they could observe the entrance to the place. They did not know there was a rear stairway, but, as Cassidy had no idea of spiriting Ned away, desiring, in fact, to only keep him secure, there was no need of guarding the back.
It seemed a long time before Mr. Wilding arrived with the detective. About the same time Frank and Fenn got to the place.
“I have told the detective all about it, as far as we know the circumstances,” Mr. Wilding said. “Are you sure Ned is in there, William?”
“Almost positive,” was the answer. “The man admitted as much. He says Ned stole money from him and has to work to pay it back.”
“We’ll soon see about it,” the detective put in. “I know Cassidy. He’s a rough sort, but he’s square I guess. Come on.”
Up the stairs they went, the hearts of the boys beating with anxiety. Mr. Wilding’s face showed the strain he was under but, as for the detective, he seemed to take it all as a matter of course. He had seen too many similar scenes to be affected.
The little party entered the main room of the lodging house. Mr. Wilding pressed forward, close behind the detective. Through the office window he caught sight of a boy scrubbing the floor. There was something dejected in the lad’s appearance. Mr. Wilding looked a second time. Then he called out:
“Ned! My boy!”
“Father!” cried Ned, and an instant later he was locked in Mr. Wilding’s embrace, while the tears, which he did not try to conceal, streamed down his face.
“Hurrah!” fairly yelled William. “We’ve found him!” and he began dancing around the room.
At the sound of William’s cry Ned looked up and saw his chums.
“Why – why – where did you all come from?” he asked.
“We came after you,” replied Bart, “and a fine chase you led us. Where in the world have you been, Ned?”
“Here! What’s all this row about in my place?” asked Cassidy, hurrying up from the rear of the resort. “You people have no right in here.”
“Easy, Cassidy,” advised the detective. “What about that boy?” and he pointed to Ned.
“Oh, it’s you, Reilly,” said Cassidy, as he recognized the officer. “Well, he robbed me!”
“No, I didn’t!” retorted Ned, hotly.
“That’s right, you didn’t kid!” exclaimed a husky voice, and a man, in ragged clothing, shuffled into the light. “He didn’t take your money, Cassidy.”
“Who did then?” asked the lodging-house keeper.
“It was Mike Jimson. I met him down the street a while ago, and he told me. Thought it was a good joke. He had a room next to you that night and he slipped in while you were asleep. He heard you accuse the kid here, but when the lad got away he thought it was all right, and the next day Mike lit out.”
“Are you sure?” asked the detective.
“Sure! Didn’t Mike tell me? He showed me some of the money. He’s spent the rest.”
“Then I’ll have him locked up!” Cassidy exclaimed. “I wonder how I could have made that mistake? I thought sure it was you who took my money,” and he looked at Ned. “I’m sorry for what I did.”
Ned was too happy over the outcome to reply. He held his father’s hand and his chums crowded around him.
“Here,” said Cassidy suddenly, holding out five one dollar bills to Ned.
“What are they for?” asked Mr. Wilding.
“Guess they’re his. Anyhow four and a half belongs to him. The rest is interest. I took ’em from under his pillow thinking they were mine. I hope you’ll let this thing drop.”
“You’ve made a serious mistake, Cassidy,” Detective Reilly said. “You are liable to be sued for damages.”
“I hope you’ll not prosecute me,” whined the lodging house keeper.
“That’s a question we can settle later,” said Mr. Wilding sternly. “Come, boys, let’s get away from here. We will go to my hotel, and then I’ll send a telegram to our friends in Darewell. They are very anxious to hear from me.”
“Will you arrest Mike and get my money back, Reilly?” asked Cassidy.
“Maybe, later,” the detective replied. “You don’t deserve it, for the trouble you caused,” and he followed Mr. Wilding and the boys to the street.
“But, Ned, it wasn’t that accusation that kept you in hiding, was it?” asked his father as they walked along.
“No – no – ” Ned answered with a look at the detective. “I guess I’m wanted on another charge?”
“Wanted on another charge? What in the world do you mean?”
“Why I bought some stock in the Mt. Olive Oil Well Company,” Ned explained, still eyeing the detective. “I got it from the brokers, Skem & Skim. I went back to have a mistake in the figures corrected and I found the firm had fled and the postal authorities were in charge of the offices. I overheard the inspector say they wanted a young fellow who had bought two hundred shares of the stock and I knew it was me, so I ran away. I didn’t want to be arrested.
“But I don’t mind, now!” he went on, as he drew the stock certificate from his pocket and handed it to his father. “You can lock me up, if you want to,” turning to the detective. “I’m tired of dodging around.”
“Let’s see that paper?” asked the officer, and he took it to a light where he could read it. As he looked it over a smile came to his face. “Well, well, you certainly had a big scare for nothing,” he remarked to Ned.
“How?”
“I know all about the case. I helped work on it. We located Skem & Skim in Boston and they’re under arrest.”
“But about me? About the two hundred shares of stock that the inspector was talking about?” asked Ned anxiously.
“Two thousand shares was what he said I guess, but you probably misunderstood him,” Mr. Reilly went on. “Yes, there was a young fellow who was mixed up in the transactions. He was a holder of two thousand shares of the stock. All there was in fact, and he was one of the main ones in working the swindle. We’re looking for him still. Why, my boy, this paper isn’t worth anything. They cheated you. There isn’t any stock in the Mt. Olive Oil Well Company except the fake two thousand shares issued to John Denton, which is the name of the other swindler we want. And so you thought the inspector meant you?”
“I did, and that’s why I ran away. I didn’t want to be arrested and bring disgrace on my father.”
“You poor boy!” exclaimed Mr. Wilding. “But it’s all over now, Ned. How in the world did you manage to live in the meanwhile?”
Ned told them part of the story as they walked to his father’s hotel, and the remainder of it he related inside, from the time of his aunt’s departure until they found him scrubbing the lodging-house floor, including his escape down the rope.
“And we have your valise!” exclaimed Fenn. “It’s at our hotel.”
“I thought some one came along and stole it,” Ned replied. “I was afraid to ask about it for fear I’d be arrested. I didn’t even dare go for my trunk.”
“That’s safe at the depot,” said Bart, “but you’ll have to pay storage charges on it. Well, well, how this thing has worked out!”
“We’ve solved two mysteries instead of one,” Frank remarked. “Here’s William ready to go back to his mother,” and he told Ned who William was.
“So you’re the boy who was watching me this afternoon when Cassidy came for me?” Ned asked. “I was afraid you might be a detective, and so I wouldn’t admit who I was.”
“We’ll start for home in the morning,” declared Mr. Wilding.
“And maybe get into more trouble there,” put in Fenn.
“How?” asked Ned. “If there’s any more trouble I want to get it all over with at once.”
“They suspect us of blowing up the school tower!” exclaimed Frank.
“Oh, that!” cried Mr. Wilding. “I guess I forgot to tell you about that, I was so busy thinking of Ned. That’s all cleared up!”
“How?” asked Bart.
“They found out it was done by a wicked boy named Peter Sanderson. He thought it was a joke to set off a dynamite cartridge, but he found out it wasn’t. He’s been sent to the reform school and his father has to pay a big bill for damages. I got a letter from Fenn’s father this morning, telling me all about it. So you boys can go home with everything cleared up.”
“And we’ll take William with us,” said Bart.
“Yes, of course. I guess William’s troubles are over too. We need a boy in the bank, and I think he will fill the bill,” and Mr. Wilding laughed.
They were all so excited that none of them slept well that night, but they were up early and started back for Darewell.
Ned rather expected his father would express regret at the loss of the hundred dollars, for Detective Reilly said there was little chance of the money ever being recovered. Mr. Wilding, however, did not refer to it, until Ned, anxious to know how his parent felt, remarked:
“I guess I’m not much of a business man, dad.”
“Why so?” inquired Mr. Wilding with a smile.
“Why, I lost my hundred dollars the first thing.”
“Not exactly lost it, Ned, though you haven’t got it. You can consider that you bought a hundred dollars worth of experience, and I think you got quite a lot for your money.”
“I certainly did,” replied Ned with conviction.
“By the way,” his father went on. “I got a telegram from your aunt. Her niece in Chicago is not as ill as was at first believed, and Mrs. Kenfield is coming home soon. She wants you boys to stay and visit her. Your uncle will be home from Europe in another week.”
“I think I’d rather go home for a while,” answered Ned.
“Well, everything came out all right,” remarked Bart as he and Fenn sat together looking from the car windows as they approached their destination.
“Yes, everything is right but Frank,” replied Fenn. “He’s been acting strangely lately,” and he nodded toward his chum who sat alone in a seat on the other side of the car.
“I wonder what ails him?” Bart remarked.
“I’d like to find out. It certainly is something strange,” went on Fenn. What the mystery was will be told in the third volume of this series, to be called, “Frank Roscoe’s Secret.”
A little later the train drew into the Darewell depot. There was quite a crowd to welcome the boys, for their story was partly known. Mr. Wilding had telegraphed to the families of Ned’s chums, that the mystery was solved and the trouble at last ended.
“Did you see any great actors, Fenn?” asked Jennie as she greeted the boys. “Tell me all about them.”
“The only actor we saw was John Newton, the ‘Marvelous Bird Warbler,’” replied Fenn, “and we left him there. He certainly can whistle.”
“Oh, tell us all about it!” begged Alice. “Did you see any accidents?”
“Didn’t have time,” her brother replied. “But come on home. I want to see the folks.”
There we will take leave of the boys and girls, as they trooped up the platform, talking, laughing, and asking and answering scores of questions. Only two in the crowd were rather silent. Frank, who seemed gloomy and depressed, and William. But William was only quiet because of the great happiness he felt in knowing he would soon see his mother and sisters, from whom he had been so long separated. Two hours later he was with them, telling all about the way the chums found him, and of Ned’s disappearance so strangely solved with his aid.
