Jim Cummings; Or, The Great Adams Express Robbery Part 10

"It would never do to let people see us two with a dead man between us."

"Then you must go up town and get a hack."

Moriarity turned back to the sh.o.r.e, and climbing the bank, hurried in the direction of the city.

Left alone with his victim, the desperado bent over him, placing his hand on Chip's heart. It beat steadily, though not strongly, and c.u.mmings experienced a feeling of relief when he felt the regular pulsations.

He had never yet shed blood, and his first pa.s.sion having died out, he was glad that the thick ice had defeated his first purpose.

The stunned detective stirred, the cold, crisp air was reviving him, and c.u.mmings, his better nature a.s.serting itself, hastily doffed his overcoat and threw it over the rec.u.mbent form of his captive.

It was not very long before the noise of carriage wheels were heard, and Moriarity running out on the ice a.s.sisted c.u.mmings in carrying Chip to the land and placed him in the carriage, which he had caught on the way to town.

The driver, who had been told that "one of the boys had got more than he could carry," did not concern himself to investigate too closely, and having received his order, drove briskly from the scene.

The darkness and open country gave way to gas-lights and paved streets, over which the carriage rattled at a lively pace. Turning into a side street, Dan pulled the check-strap, and the carriage turned to the curb and stopped.

The detective, still unconscious, was lifted out, the driver paid and dismissed, and the two men, bearing Chip between them, entered a dark, narrow alley.

Proceeding up this for some distance, they entered the low door of a bas.e.m.e.nt and placed their still insensible burden on the floor.

The damp, moldy smell of an underground room filled the air, and but for a slender beam of light which flashed beneath an adjoining door the place was dark as night.

Softly stealing to the door, Moriarity applied his ear to the key-hole, and hearing no sounds within, gave a peculiar double rap on the panel.

Receiving no answer, he cautiously opened the door and disclosed a small, square room, having a low ceiling, and lighted by a single low-burning gas jet.

On the walls hung a large astronomical map, showing the solar system, and divided with the girdle of the zodiac into its various constellations.

A grinning skull, mounted on a black pedestal, stood on a small table in the center of the room, and on shelves against the wall were ranged a number of curiously-shaped bottles.

It was, in fact, the divining-room of a professional fortune-teller.

The room was vacant when Moriarity opened the door, but as he threw it back, a small bell was sounded.

Almost instantly heavy curtains which hung opposite the door were pushed aside, and the fortune-teller appeared.

Advancing with stately strides, her tall form erect and her hands clasped before her, she fastened a pair of cruel, glittering eyes on Moriarity and in a deep voice asked:

"Why this intrusion at this late hour?"

"Oh! drop that stuff, Nance; it won't go down with us; we're no gulls to have pretty things told us by giving you a dollar."

Recognizing her visitor, Nance, in her natural tone, inquired sharply:

"What do you want at this time of night?"

"In the first place we want you to keep your mouth shut. In the next place you must find a place for a man we've got here, and keep him for a while."

"You're a loving nephew, you are, Dan Moriarity, Oh! you come around and see your old aunt when you're up to some devilment, I'm bound."

Moriarity, not deigning to reply to this speech, had gone back to his companion, and now returned with the form of the detective between them.

"My G.o.d! you haven't killed him, Dan?"

"He has a pretty sore head, I reckon, but nothing worse. Take us up-stairs."

Following Nance, the men carried Chip behind the curtain, through another room, and ascended a flight of stairs.

Nance threw open a door and Chip was placed upon a bed. The room was sumptuously, even elegantly, furnished. Pictures adorned the walls, a heavy carpet deadened the sound of the feet, and rich curtains kept back the too-inquisitive light.

Chip, wounded and insensible, was in the house of the "widow," the rendezvous of a daring band of robbers and the birth-place of many a dashing raid or successful bank robbery.

CHAPTER IX.

IN THE TOILS.

The dark shadow that had followed c.u.mmings and Moriarity from the distillery to Cook's cooper-shop was none other than the a.s.sumed Barney O'Hara, who had aired his heels so jauntily in the saloon that afternoon.

Watching on the outside while Chip was working Cook, he had spotted and shadowed the two men as they came down the road.

The careless exposure of his face to c.u.mmings through the window was the cause of the latter's sudden attempt to catch him.

His nimble heels again stood him in good stead, and in the darkness he easily eluded his pursuer.

c.u.mmings gave up the chase, and returning just in time, had stopped Chip's success by knocking him down with a slungshot and carrying him off.

When Barney, or, rather, Sam, returned to renew his investigation, he found the shop empty, save the intoxicated Cook.

Thinking his late pursuer and his companion had taken the alarm, and that Chip was now doubtless shadowing them, he walked into the shop, and, true to his detective instincts and education, began a diligent search of the place.

He was actively engaged in this work when the sound of hasty footsteps reached his ears. Throwing himself flat on the floor, behind a pile of barrel staves, he drew his revolver and waited. The steps pa.s.sed by, however, and Sam quickly but quietly left the shop.

He could barely see the form of a man walking rapidly down the street to the horse-car track.

As he pa.s.sed the window of the saloon the light fell on him, and Sam saw it was one of the two men who had just left the cooper-shop.

Following closely, using all his skill as a successful shadow, he trailed the man to the car, and boarding the front platform rode into town.

Pa.s.sing a livery stable the man left the car, still followed by Sam.

When Moriarity, for it was he whom Sam was trailing, rode back to the river, Sam was perched on behind the hack.

He saw the wounded Chip placed inside, thanks to the darkness, and still hanging on the back of the carriage was carried back to town.