CHAPTER XVII The Last Letter
When Wise and Zizi returned to Headland House, they found Doctor Varianthere on one of his brief visits.
Deciding that it was the best course to pursue the detective took thephysician entirely into his confidence. The two were closeted in thelibrary, and Wise related his discoveries regarding the Vermont hospital.
"It is astounding! Incredible!" exclaimed Varian, "but if true, and itmust be true, it explains a great many things. As a doctor, I canunderstand these things, and looking back, I see that Betty never had anytraits of either parent. Not always are children like their parents butI've never seen a case where there was not some sign of heredity, somelikeness to father or mother in looks or character.
"But Betty showed none such. She was a dear girl, and we all lovedher,--but she was not in any way like Fred or Minna. To be sure, I neverthought about this definitely, for I had no reason to think of such athing as you're telling me. But, recollecting Betty, for I've known herall her life, I can see where she is of a totally different stamp from mybrother or his wife. My, what a case!"
"Do you blame Mr Varian?"
"Not a bit! He did it out of the kindest of motives. He was not only adevoted husband but a willing slave to his wife, even in cases where shewas unreasonable or over-exacting. He petted and humored her in everyimaginable way, and when the third baby was expected, the poor man wasnearly frantic lest it should not live and Minna could not bear thedisappointment. And so, when, as it seems by a mere chance he had anopportunity to provide her with a strong, healthy, beautiful child,--I,for one, am not surprised that he did so, nor do I greatly blame him. Asyou represent it, the poor mother was willing and glad to consent to thearrangement. An adoption would have been perfectly legitimate and proper.Fred only chose the substitution plan to save Minna from trouble andworry. I know Fred so well, he was impulsive and he stopped at nothing toplease or comfort his wife. So, I can easily see how he decided, on theimpulse of the moment, to do this thing, and if, as you say, Minna tookto the child at once, and loved it as her own, of course he felt that theplan must be kept up, the deception must be maintained."
"It accounts, I dare say, for the slight friction that so frequentlyarose between Betty and her father,--for we may as well continue to callhim her father."
"It does. I suppose when the child exhibited traits that annoyed ordispleased Fred, he resented it and he couldn't help showing it. He had astrong clannish feeling about the Varians and he was sensitive to manyslight faults in Betty that Minna never gave any heed to."
"It's an interesting study in the relative values of heredity andenvironment."
"Yes, it is; and it proves my own theory which is that their influencesaverage about fifty-fifty. Many times heredity is stronger thanenvironment, and often it's the other way, but oftenest of all, as inthis case, the one offsets the other. I know nothing of Betty's realancestry, but it must have been fairly good, or Fred never would havetaken her at all."
"And it was, of course, his clannish loyalty to his family name thatwould not let him leave the pearls to Betty."
"Yes, they have always been left to a Varian and Fred couldn't leave themto one who was really an outsider."
"It also explains Mr Varian's objections to Betty's marriage."
"Oh, it does! Poor man, what he must have suffered. He was a high-strungnature, impulsive and even impetuous, but of a sound, impeccable honestythat wouldn't brook a shadow of wrong to any one."
"I suppose what he had done troubled him more or less all his life."
"I suppose so. Not his conscience,--I can see how he looked on his deedas right,--but he was bothered by circumstances,--and it was a difficultsituation that he had created. The more I realize it, the sorrier I feelfor my poor brother. To make his will was a perplexity! His lawyer hastold me that when he left the pearls away from Betty, he said, 'I _must_do it! I _have_ to do it!' in a voice that was fairly agonized. Thelawyer couldn't understand what he meant, but assumed it was some cloudon Betty's birth. I daresay Fred was not bothered about his money, for heknew if he died first, Minna would provide for Betty. But the pearls hehad to arrange for. Oh, well, Mr Wise, now then, viewed in the light ofthese revelations, where do we stand? Who killed my brother? Who killedthe maid, Martha? Who kidnapped Betty and Mr North?"
"Those are not easy questions, Doctor Varian," Wise responded, with agrave face, "but of this I am confident,--one name will answer them all."
"You know the name?"
"I am not quite sure enough yet to say that I do,--but I have a strongsuspicion. I think it is the man who wrote the blackmailing letters to MrVarian."
"The man we call Stephen? It well may be. They referred to a robbedwoman. Now, my brother never robbed anybody in the commonly acceptedsense of that term, but it may mean the mother of Betty. Could the doctorin the Greenvale Hospital, that attended the two women that night, betrying to make money out of the matter?"
"They tell me he died some years ago."
"But these letters are not all recent. And, too, he might have divulgedthe secret before he died, and whoever he told used it as a threatagainst my brother."
"It's hardly a blackmailing proposition."
"Oh, yes, it is. Say the doctor,--or the doctor's confidant threatenedFred with exposure of the secret of Betty's birth, I know my brother wellenough to be certain that he would pay large sums before he would bringon Minna and Betty the shock and publicity, even though there was noactual disgrace."
"Well, then, granting a blackmailer, he's the one to look for, but on theother hand, why should he kill Mr Varian, when he was his hope offinancial plunder? Why should he kidnap Betty? And, above all, why shouldhe kill Martha and abduct Lawrence North?"
"The only one of those very pertinent questions that I can answer is theone about Betty. Whoever kidnapped her, did it for ransom. That isevidenced by the letters to Minna."
"If they are genuine."
"Oh, they are,--I'm sure. She had another while you were away."
"She did! To what purport?"
"Further and more desperate insistence of the ransom,--and quickly."
"The regular procedure! If it is a fake they would do the same thing."
"Yes,--and they would also, if it is a real issue."
Wise went at once to find Minna and see the new letter.
It was indeed imperative, saying, in part:
"Now we have Betty safe, but this is your last chance to get her back. Weare too smart for your wise detective and we are in dead earnest. AlsoBetty will be dead in earnest unless you do exactly as we herein direct.Also, this is our last letter. If you decide against us, we settleBetty's account and call the whole deal off. Our instructions are thesame as before. On Friday night, at midnight, go to the edge of the cliffand throw the package of money over. Tie to it some float and we will dothe rest. That is, if you act in sincerity. If you are false-minded inthe least detail, we will know it. We are wiser than Wise. So take yourchoice and,--have a care! No one will be more faithful than we, if youact in good faith. Also, no one can be worse than we can be, if youbetray us!"
The somewhat lengthy letter was written on the same typewriter as hadbeen used for the others, and Wise studied it.
"There's nothing to be deduced from the materials," he said. "They're toosmart to use traceable paper or typing. But there are other indications,and, I think, Mrs Varian, at last I see a ray of hope, and I trust itwill soon be a bright gleam and then full sunshine!"
"Good!" Zizi cried, clapping her hands. "When Penny talks poetry, he's inhigh good humor,--and when he's in high good humor, it's 'cause he's onthe right track,--and when he's on the right track,--he gets there!"
Then they told Wise about the strange communication from the girl whoknew lip-reading, and the detective was even more highly elated.
"Great!" he exclaimed. "Perfectly remarkable! Where's Granniss?"
"Gone to Boston to see a movin
g picture concern. He may have to go on toNew York. He hopes to be back by Saturday at latest."
It was Minna who answered, and her face was jubilant at the hope renewedin her heart by Wise's own hopefulness.
But she determined in her secret thoughts to throw the money over thecliff on Friday night, whether the detective agreed to that plan or not.What, she argued to Mrs Fletcher, whom she took into her confidence onthis matter, was any amount of money compared to the mere chance ofgetting back her child? She urged and bribed Fletcher until she consentedto help Minna get out of the house on Friday night without Wise'sknowledge.
It was now Tuesday, and after much questioning of every one in the houseas to what had taken place in his absence, the detective shut himselfalone in the library, and surrounded by his own written notes, and withmany of Mr Varian's letters and financial papers, he thought and broodedover it all for some hours.
At last he opened the door and called Zizi.
"Well, my child," he said, closing the door behind her, "I've got a lineon things."
"I do hope, Penny, you'll watch out for Mrs Varian. She's going to throwthe money over the cliff on Friday night without your knowledge orconsent."
"She can't do that."
"She can't without your knowledge, I admit. But, she can without yourconsent. Her money is her own and you've no real authority that will letyou dictate to her how to use it."
"True, oh, Queen!"
"Oh, Penny, when you smile like that, I know something's up! What is it?"
"My luck, I hope. Ziz, do you remember you said you had a green smear onyour frock like the one on Martha's hand?"
"Yes; why?"
"Is it there yet, or did you clean it off?"
"It's there yet, I haven't worn the dress since."
"Get it, will you?"
Zizi went, and returned with the little frock, a mere wisp of light, thinmaterial, and handed it to Pennington Wise.
He inspected the green streak, which was visible though not conspicuous,and then he sniffed at it with such absorption that Zizi laughedoutright.
"Pen," she said, "in detective stories they always represent the greatdetective as sniffing like a hound on a scent. You're literally doingit."
"Not astonishing that I should, little one, when you realize that thisgreen smear is a beacon to light our way."
"What is it?" Zizi's big Hack eyes grew serious at Wise's tone.
"The way out; the exit; the solution of the mystery of the secretpassage."
"Oh, Penny, tell me! You'll be the death of me if you keep the truth fromme! I'm crazy with suspense!"
But Zizi's curiosity could not be gratified just then, for Fletcher cameto say that Minna desired the girl's company.
Minna Varian had come to depend much on Zizi's charm and entertainment,and often sent for her when feeling especially blue or nervous.
Zizi had been waiting for an opportunity, and now as the nurse left heralone with Mrs Varian, she gradually and deftly led the talk around toBetty as a baby.
"Tell me what you thought when you first saw your little daughter," Zizisaid, in her pretty, coaxing way. "How old was she?"
"About an hour or so, I think," Minna said, reminiscently. "And my firstthought was, 'Oh, thank God for a healthy, beautiful baby!' She was solovely,--and so strong and perfect! I had hoped she would be all right,but I never looked for such a marvel as came to me!"
"And Mr Varian was as pleased as you were!" Zizi said, gently.
"Oh, yes,--but," Minna's face clouded a little, "I don't know how toexpress it,--but he never seemed to love Betty as he did our firstchildren. He admired her,--nobody could help it,--but he had a queerlittle air of restraint about her. It lasted all through life. I can'tunderstand it,--unless he was jealous----"
"Jealous?"
"Yes, of my love and adoration of the child. Silly idea, I know, but I'veracked my brain and I can't think of any other explanation."
"That doesn't explain the Varian pearls----"
"No; nothing can explain that! Oh, nothing explains anything! Zizi,you've no idea what I suffer! I wonder I keep my mind! Just think of awoman who never had to decide a question for herself, if she didn't wantto,--who never had a care or responsibility that she didn't assume of herown accord,--who had a husband to care for her, a daughter to loveher----"
The poor woman broke down completely, and Zizi had her hands full to wardoff the violent hysterics that attacked her at times.
Meantime, Pennington Wise, convinced of the origin of the green smear onZizi's frock, was starting forth to prove his conviction.
Armed only with a powerful flashlight and a good-sized hammer, he wentout to the kitchen and through that to the cellar.
There, he went straight to the old well, and testing the rope as he didso, he let the bucket down as far as it would go. Then, with monkey-likeagility he began to clamber down,--partly supported by clinging to therope, partly by getting firm footholds on the old stones that lined thewell.
Scarcely had he started, when he experimentally drew his hand across thestones, and by his flashlight perceived a green smear, the counterpart ofthat on Zizi's frock. Also, the counterpart of that on Martha's hand.
Yet, the dead girl could scarcely have been in the well! So,--herassailant must have been.
However, he went on investigating.
He noted carefully the walls as he descended, and it was not until healmost reached the bottom of the dried-up old well, that he noticedanything strange.
All of the wall was very rough and uneven but here was what appeared tobe a distinct hole, roughly filled in with loose stones.
Standing now on the bottom of the well, slippery with moisture but nowater above his shoe soles, he used his hammer to dislodge these stones,working carefully and slowly, but with a certainty of success.
"Fool that I was," he chattered to himself, "not to come down here thevery first thing! To trust to Zizi was all right,--the kid couldn'tnotice this place,--but I had no business to trust that half-bakedsheriff or his man!"
His work soon disclosed the fact that the loose stones apparently closedthe mouth of a deep hole.
When all that were loose had been either pulled out or pushed in, hefound there was an aperture large enough to permit a man's body to passthrough, and without hesitation, he scrambled through it.
His flashlight showed him that almost from the start the hole wideneduntil it became a fair-sized tunnel. Crawling along this for a hundredyards or so, he heard the splash of water, and soon he no longer neededhis flashlight, as daylight streamed in through a narrow fissure in therock.
It was fortunate for Wise that it did, for just ahead the tunneldescended sharply, and at the bottom, what was evidently the surf wassurging in from the ocean.
It was quite dark below, and being unable to progress further, Wisebacked out of the tunnel, it wasn't wide enough to turn around in, andreaching the well again, he ascended to the surface.
He went to his room, looked with satisfaction on the numerous smears ofgreen and brown that disfigured his suit,--which he had taken care shouldbe an old one.
No one knew what he had done, nor did any one know his destination when,half an hour later, he set off for the village.
He went to the inn and inquired where he could get the best motor boatthat could be hired.
A suitable one was found and its owner agreed to take Wise on anexploring expedition at the next low tide. This would not be until thefollowing morning, so the detective went back to Headland House.
Then, he concentrated all his efforts and attention on the subject of themoving picture film that had been said to portray Betty Varian.
"Rod Granniss vows it was really Betty," Zizi insisted.
"He ought to know," said Wise. "A man in love with a girl doesn't mistakeher identity. Besides, it's quite on the cards, Ziz. Say Betty isconfined somewhere,--say she is let out for a little exercise in care ofa jailer, of course,--say there's a M. P. contraption taking a picture
ofa crowd,--they often do,--pick up stray passers-by you know, and say,Betty somehow got into the picture----"
"Oh, the jailer, as you call him, wouldn't let her!"
"More likely a woman in charge of her. And, maybe a woman not averse totaking the few dollars those people pay to actors who just make up acrowd. Well, say that happened, and then Betty, not daring to speakaloud, made her lips form the words 'I am Betty Varian,' in the hope thatamong a few thousands of lip readers in the country one might striketwelve!"
"Nobody could be so clever as all that, Pen!"
"She might be on a chance inspiration. Anyway, how else can you explainit?"
"Why, anybody might have said that, who wasn't Betty at all."
"But why? What would be the sense of it? and why would such a thing occurto anybody but Betty?"
"If it's true,--then you can find her! Surely you can track down a movingpicture company!"
"Oh, it isn't that! It's tracking down the place where Betty isconfined,--and--doing it while she is still alive. You see, Zizi, thoseransom letters are true bills, and the villains have nearly reached theend of their patience."
"Then why don't you approve of Mrs Varian's throwing the money over thecliff?"
"I may advise her to do it by Friday night,--if nothing happens in themeantime."
"But look here, Penny," Zizi said, after a thoughtful moment, "if yourtheory is the right one, why didn't Betty scream out, 'I am BettyVarian!' and take a chance that somebody in the crowd would rescue her?"
"It would seem a natural thing to do, unless the girl had been so cowedby threats of punishment or even torture if she made any outcry whenallowed to go for a walk. I'm visualizing that girl as kept in closeconfinement, but not in any want or discomfort. She is most likelytreated well as to food, rooms and all that, but is not allowed to stepout of doors except with a strict guard and under some terrible penaltyif she attempts to make herself known. With Betty's love of fresh air andsunshine she would agree to almost anything to get out of doors. Then,too, if she merely formed those words without sound, the chance of theirbeing read by a lip reader was really greater than the chance of doingany good by crying out aloud.
"Had she done that, whoever had her in charge would have whisked her awayat once, and no one would have paid any attention to the slightdisturbance."
"It's all perfectly logical and, oh, I hope Rodney gets some clue to theplace where the picture was taken."
"I hope so, Ziz, but they've probably moved Betty away from there bynow."
"Did you find out, Penny, what that stain on my frock was?"
"I did."
"Well?"
"Yes, my dear, you've struck it! You got that stain while you were downthe well."
"Oh," Zizi's eyes lighted up; "of course I did! Those damp, mossy stones.And, then, oh, Wise one, just how did the same stain get on Martha'shand?"
"That, Zizi," Wise spoke almost solemnly, "is part of the solution of thewhole great mystery."
CHAPTER XVIII The Trap
In a small but powerful motor boat Wise went on his voyage ofexploration. The man who managed the craft was a stolid, silent personwho obeyed Wise's orders without comment.
But when the detective directed that he go round the base of theheadland, and skirt close to the rocks he grumbled at the danger.
"Be careful of the danger," Wise said, "steer clear of hidden reefs, butgo close to the overhanging cliff, there where I'm pointing."
Skirting the cliff, at last Wise discovered what he was looking for, asmall cave, worn in the rock by the sea. The floor of this cave rosesharply and it was with difficulty that Wise managed to scramble from theboat to a secure footing on the slippery wet rocks.
"Look out there," said the imperturbable boatman, "you'll get caught inthere when the tide comes up. I never noticed that hole in the wallbefore, it must be out o' sight 'ceptin' at low tide."
"Stay where you are and wait for me," Wise directed, "if I'm not out hereagain in half an hour, go on home. But I'll probably be back in less thanthat."
"You will, if you're back at all! The tide will turn in fifteen minutesand in half an hour it'll be all you can do to get out!"
Disappearing, Wise began his climb up the floor of the cave, and at apoint just above high water there was a fissure in the cliff whichadmitted air and some light. At this point the cave ran back for somedistance, though still on a rising level. During the winter storms theocean evidently had worn this tunnel in the rock.
Wise at once realized that this nature-made tunnel ran on for somedistance until it ended in the old well.
Using his flashlight when necessary, he made his way, until he reachedthe pile of stones which he himself had pushed out from the well andfound to his satisfaction that he had indeed come to the well, and thathis solution of the mystery of a secret passage into Headland House wasaccomplished.
But what a solution! The difficulty and danger of entrance or exit bymeans of that rock tunnel and that old well could scarce be exaggerated!
Moreover, all such entrances or exits must be made at the lowest ebb ofthe tide. But the cave was roomy, not uncomfortable, and the tunnel,though cramped in places, was fairly navigable.
There was plenty of room in the cave quite above reach of the highesttide, and the whole matter was clear and simple now that he saw it all,but he marveled at the energy and enterprise that could conceive, planand carry out the various attacks.
Whoever the criminal, or the master criminal, might be, he had come upthrough that tunnel and well on the several occasions of the kidnappingof Betty, the murder of Martha, the abduction of North,--yes,--and Wiseremembered the letter that had been mysteriously left on the halltable,--also the night the library had been entered,--clearly, the mancame and went at will!
A master mind, Wise concluded, he had to deal with, and he set his ownbest energies to work on his problems.
The way between Headland House and the outer world was not easy ofnegotiation, but it was a way, and it was passable to a determined humanbeing.
Wise was back inside the prescribed half hour, and the uninterestedboatman took him back to the Harbor without question or comment as to hisenterprise.
That afternoon, Wise called Minna and Doctor Varian into the library andclosed the door.
Zizi was also present, her black eyes shining with anticipation, for sheknew from Wise's manner and expression that he was making progress, andwas about to disclose his discoveries.
"I have learned a great deal," the detective began, "but not all. Atleast, I have found the so-called secret passage, which we all felt suremust exist."
He described the cave and the tunnel as he had found them, and the outletinto the old well, so carefully piled with loose stones that it wouldescape the observance of almost any searcher.
He told briefly but graphically of his exit from the well for a distance,and of his later entrance from the cave and his procedure to the well.
Zizi nodded her bird-like little head, with an air of completeunderstanding, Doctor Varian was absorbedly interested and profoundlyamazed, while Minna looked helplessly ignorant of just what Wise wastalking about.
"I can't understand it," she said, piteously, "but never mind that, Idon't care, if you say it's all so. Now, where is Betty?"
"That we don't know yet," Wise said, gently, "but we are on the way atlast to find out. As I reconstruct the crime, now, that day that Bettyreturned for her camera, she must have done so under one of twoconditions. Either her errand was genuine, in which case, she surprisedthe criminal here at some nefarious work,--or, which I think far moreprobable, she came back pretending it was for her camera, but reallybecause of some message or communication which she had receivedpurporting some good to her, but really a ruse of the criminal, who washere for the purpose of abducting the girl."
"For ransom?" asked Doctor Varian.
"Yes, for ransom. Now, he would naturally attack her in the ha
ll. Perhapsshe threw herself on the sofa, clung to it, and was carried off, stillholding that yellow pillow, either unconsciously, or he may have used itto stifle her cries. There were two men involved, of that I am sure. For,when they had partly accomplished their purpose, Mr Varian appeared atthe door and one of the men had to intercept his entrance.
"I rather fancy the killing of Mr Varian was unintentional,--or possibly,self-defence, for these ruffians did not want to kill their blackmailvictim. They may have parleyed with the father to pay them to release thegirl, and when he showed fight, as he would, they did also, and as aresult, Mr Varian met his death.
"However, that is mere surmise. What we know is, that Betty was carriedthrough the kitchen where the pillow fell,--still holding one of herhair-pins, probably caught during the struggle,--and she was carried downthe cellar stairs. During this trip her string of beads broke, and werescattered about. As we never found but a few, and those were underfurniture or cupboards, I gather the villains picked up all they couldsee, lest they should be found as evidence."
"Which they were!" said Zizi.
"Which they were," Wise assented. "Then, they carried that girl whetherconscious or chloroformed I can't say, down to the cellar, down the oldwell, through the tunnel to the cave. There they could wait any number ofhours until the tide served, and take her away in a boat withoutattracting the notice of anybody."
"Most likely at night," Zizi put in.
"Most likely. Anyway, Mrs Varian, that's my finding. It's all verydreadful, but horrifying as it is, it opens the way to better things. Togo on, there can be no doubt that this same villain, and a clever one heis, returned here at night for plunder and on other errands.
"He came and left the letter found so mysteriously on the hall table. Hecame to rob the library safe, thinking the ransom money was in it. And hewas spied upon and discovered by the maid, Martha, so that he ruthlesslystrangled the poor thing to death, rather than face exposure."
"And then he abducted North!" Doctor Varian cried; "and it's easy to seewhy! North had doubtless also spied on him, and somehow he forced Northto go away with him,--perhaps at pistol's point."
"Now our question is,----"
"Two questions!" Zizi cried; "first, who is the criminal,--and secondwhere is he keeping Betty all this time?"
"Yes, and we know a great deal to start on." Wise spoke thoughtfully. "Weknow, almost to a certainty, that it is the man whom we call Stephen,because he wrote threatening letters signed 'Step.' We know he isdiabolically clever, absolutely fearless, and willing to commit any crimeor series of crimes to gain his end, which is merely the large sum ofmoney he has demanded from Mrs Varian, and which he had previouslydemanded from Mr Varian, as blackmail."
"Why should he blackmail my husband?" Minna asked, tearfully, and Wisesaid, "There is not always a sound reason for blackmail, Mrs Varian.Sometimes it is an unjust accusation or a mistaken suspicion. Any way, asyou have often declared, Mr Frederick Varian was a noble and upright man,and his integrity could not be questioned."
"Now, then," said Doctor Varian, "to find this master hand at crime. I amastounded at your revelations, Mr Wise, and I confess myself utterly inthe dark as to our next step."
"An animal that attacks in the open," Wise returned, "may be shot orsnared. But a wicked, crafty animal may only be caught by a trap. Ipropose to set a trap to catch our foe. It is a wicked trap, but he is awicked man. It will harm him physically, but he deserves to be harmedphysically. It is a sly, underhand method, but so are his own. Therefore,I conclude that a trap is justified in his case."
"You mean a real, literal mantrap?" asked the doctor.
"I mean just that. I have already procured it and I propose to set ittonight. This is Thursday. As matters stand now, our 'Stephen' isassuming or at least hoping that Mrs Varian means to accede to his lastrequest and throw the money over the cliff tomorrow, Friday night. Now, Ifeel pretty positive that Stephen is not so confident of getting thatmoney safely as he pretends he is. He must be more or less fearful ofdetection. I'm sure that he will return to this house tonight, by hisusual mode of entrance, and will try to steal the money. Then he willdisappear and he may or may not give up Betty."
"You think he'll come here? Tonight?" Doctor Varian was astonished.
"I do."
"Then we'll be ready for him! I fancy between us, Mr Wise, we can accountfor him and his accomplice."
"Too dangerous, Doctor. He would kill us both before we knew it. No, I'mgoing to set my trap. If he comes he deserves to be trapped. If hedoesn't come, there is certainly no harm done."
"Where shall we hide the money?" asked Minna, nervously.
"It doesn't matter," and Wise's face set sternly. "He will never get asfar as the money."
Hating his job, but fully alive to the justice and necessity of it, Wiseset his trap that night.
It was a real trap, and was set up in the kitchen in such a position thatit faced the cellar door. It consisted of a short-barreled shotgun whichwas mounted on an improvised gun carriage, made of a strong packing box.
This contrivance was fastened carefully to the kitchen wall about twelvefeet in front of the cellar door, and when the door should be opened, thetrap would be sprung and the shotgun discharged.
A steel spring fastened to the trigger, and a strong cord running to apulley in the ceiling, thence to another, and finally to a pulley in thefloor, and on to the door knob completed the deadly mechanism.
The tension of the spring was so carefully adjusted that an intrudermight open the door a foot or more before the strain was carried to thetrigger. This insured a sure aim and a clear shot.
Wise tested his trap thoroughly, and finally, with a grim nod of hishead, declared it was all right.
He had sent the servants and the women-folks to bed, before beginning hiswork, and now he and Doctor Varian seated themselves in the library toawait developments.
"As I said," Wise remarked, "'Stephen' may not come at all, he may sendan accomplice. Yet this I expect the most surely,--he will come himself."
"Have you no idea of his identity, Mr Wise?" the doctor asked.
"Yes; I have an idea,--and if he does not come tonight, I will tell youwho I think he is. But we will wait and see."
They waited, now silent and now indulging in a few low toned bits ofconversation, when at two o'clock in the morning the report of the gunbrought them to their feet and they raced to the kitchen.
The roaring detonation was still in their ears as they strode through thehall, and the smell of powder greeted them at the kitchen door.
The cellar door was open, and on the floor near it lay a man breathingwith difficulty.
Doctor Varian dropped on his knees beside him, and his professionalinstinct was at once in full working order, even as his astonished voiceexclaimed:
"Lawrence North!"
"As I expected," Wise said, "and well he deserves his fate. Will he live,Doctor?"
"Only a few moments," was the preoccupied reply. "I can do nothing forhim. He received the full charge in the abdomen."
"Tell your story, North," Wise said, briefly; "don't waste time inuseless groaning."
North glared at the detective.
"You fiend!" he gasped, gurgling in rage and agony.
"You're the fiend!" Varian said; "hush your vituperation and tell uswhere Betty is."
A smile of low cunning came over North's villainous face. He used hissmall remaining strength to say: "That you'll never know. You've spikedyour own guns. Nobody knows but me,--and I won't tell!"
Alarmed, Wise tried another tone.
"This won't do, North," he said; "whatever your crime, you can't refusethat last act of expiation. Tell where she is, and die the better forit."
"No," gasped the dying man. "Bad I've lived and bad I'll die. You'llnever find Betty Varian. There are standing orders to do away with her ifanything happens to me, and,"--he tried to smile,--"something hashappened!"
"It sure has," Wise said, and looked a
t him with real pity, for the manwas suffering tortures. "But, I command you, North, by the blood you haveshed, by the two human lives you have taken, by the heart of the wife andmother that you have broken,--I charge you, give up your secret while youhave strength to do so!"
For a moment, North seemed to hesitate.
A little stimulant administered by the doctor gave him a trifle morestrength, but then his face changed,--he turned reminiscent.
"Good work," he said, it seemed, exultingly. "When I first found the cavea year ago, I began to plan how I could get the Varians to take thishouse. They little thought I brought it about through the real estatepeople----"
"Never mind all that," Wise urged him, "where's Betty?"
"Betty? ah, yes,--Betty----" His mind seemed to wander again and Variangave him a few drops more stimulant.
"Get it out of him," he said to the detective, "this will lose allefficacy in another few moments. He is going."
"Going, am I?" and North was momentarily alert. "All right, Doc, I'll goand my secret will go with me."
"Where is Betty?" Wise leaned over the miserable wretch, as if he woulddrag the secret from him by sheer will power.
But the other's will power matched his own.
"Betty," he said,--"oh, yes, Betty. Really, my wife's daughter, youknow,--my step-daughter,--I had a right to her, didn't I----"
"'Step'!" Wise cried, "Step, that you signed to those letters was shortfor Stepfather!"
"Yes, of course; my wife didn't mean to tell me that story,--didn't knowshe did,--she babbled in her sleep, and I got it out of her by varioushints and allusions. Mrs Varian never knew, so I bled the old man. My, hewas in a blue funk whenever I attacked him about it!"
"Where is she now?" Wise hinted.
"No, sir, you don't get it out of me. You caught me,--damn you! now I'llmake you wish you hadn't!" and Lawrence North died without another word.
Baffled, and spent with his exhausting efforts, Wise left the dead man inthe doctor's care and returned to the library.
He found Zizi there. She had listened from the hall and had overheardmuch that went on, but she couldn't bring herself to go where the woundedman lay.
"Oh, Penny," she sobbed, "he didn't tell! Maybe if I had gone in I couldhave got it out of him! But I c-couldn't look at him----"
"Never mind, dear, that's all right. He wouldn't have told you, either.The man is the worst criminal I have ever known. He has no drop ofhumanity in his veins. As to remorse or regret, he never knew theirmeaning! Now, what shall we do? Is Mrs Varian awake?"
"Yes; in mild hysterics. Fletcher is with her."
"Doctor Varian must go to her, and after that doubtless you can sootheher better than any one else. I'll get Potter and Dunn up here,--and Ifervently hope it's for the last time!"
"Penny, your work was wonderful! You were right, a thing like that had tobe trapped,--not caught openly. You're a wonder!"
"Yet it all failed, when I failed to learn where Betty is. I shall findher,--but I fear,--oh, Zizi, I fear that the evil that man has done willlive after him,--and I fear for the fate of Betty Varian."
Zizi tried to cheer him, but her heart too was heavy with vague fears,and she left him to his routine work of calling the police and once againbringing them up to Headland House on a gruesome errand.
These things done, Wise went at once to North's bungalow in HeadlandHarbor. He had small hope of finding Joe Mills there, and as he hadforeseen, that worthy had decamped. Nor did they ever see him again.
"I suppose," Wise said afterward, "he was in the cellar when North waskilled; but I never thought of him then, nor could I have caught him ashe doubtless fled away in the darkness to safety."
"Then it was a put up job, that scene of struggle and confusion inNorth's bedroom that day he disappeared?" Bill Dunn asked of Wise.
"Yes; I felt it was, but I couldn't see how he got away. You see, at thattime, North began to feel that my suspicions were beginning to turn inhis direction, and he thought by pretending to be abducted himself, hewould argue a bold and wicked kidnapper again at work. At any rate, hewanted to get away, and stay away the better to carry on his dreadfulpurposes, and he chose that really clever way of departing. The touch ofleaving his watch behind was truly artistic,--unless he forgot it. Well,now to find Betty Varian."
"Just a minute, Mr Wise. How'd you come to think of looking for that cavearrangement?"
"After I began to suspect North, I watched him very closely. I had in mymind some sort of rock passage, and when I took him out in a boat, or JoeMills, either, when we went close to that part of the rocks where thecave is, I noted their evident efforts _not_ to look toward a certainspot. It was almost amusing to see how their eyes strayed that way, andwere quickly averted. They almost told me just where to look!"
"Wonderful work!" Dunn exclaimed, heartily. "No," Wise returned, "only abit of psychology. Now to find Betty."
But though the detective doubtless would have recovered the missing girl,he had not the opportunity, for love had found a way.
By the hardest sort of work and with indefatigable perseverance, Grannisshad gone from one to another of the various officials, mechanicians andeven workmen of the moving picture company he was on the trail of andafter maddening delays caused by their lack of method, their carelessrecords and their uncertain memories, he finally found out where thepicture of a crowd, in which Betty had appeared, was taken.
And then by further and unwearying search, he found an old but stronglybuilt and well guarded house where he had reason to think Betty wasimprisoned.
Finding this, he didn't wait for proofs of his belief, but telegraphedfor Pennington Wise and Sheriff Potter to come there at once and gainentrance.
Rod's inexperience led him to adopt this course, but it proved a goodone, for his telegram reached Wise the day after North's death, and hehurried off, Potter with him.
The house was in Vermont, and while Potter made the necessaryarrangements with the local authorities, Wise went on to meet Granniss.
"There's the house," and Wise saw the rather pleasant-looking oldmansion. "I'm dead sure Betty's in there, but I can't get entrance,though I've tried every possible way."
But the arrival of the police soon effected an entrance, and armed withthe knowledge of North's death as well as more material implements, theyall went in.
Pretty Betty, as pretty as ever, though pale and thin from worry andfear, ran straight into Granniss' arms and nestled there in such absoluterelief and content, that the other men present turned away from the scenewith a choke in their throats.
If Granniss hadn't found her!
The news of North's death brought the jailers to terms at once. They werea man and wife, big, strong people, who were carrying out North's orders"to be kind and proper to the girl, but not to let her get away."
The moving picture incident had occurred just as Wise had surmised. Onher daily walks for exercise, Betty was sometimes allowed to get into acrowd at the studio near by, and frequently she had tried her clever planof silent talk. But only once had that plan succeeded.
Yet once was enough, and Granniss said, "Look here, you people, clear upall the red tape, won't you? Betty and I want to go home!"
"Run along," said Wise, kindly. "There's a train in an hour. Skip,--andGod bless you!"
Their arrival at Headland House, heralded by a telegram to Zizi, had nounduly exciting effects on Minna Varian.
Doctor Varian watched her, but as he saw the radiant joy with which sheclasped Betty in her arms, he had no fear of the shock of joy proving toomuch for her.
"Oh, Mother," Betty cried, "don't let's talk about it now. I'll tell youanything you want to know some other time. Now, just let me revel inbeing here!"
Nor did any one bother the poor child save to ask a few importantquestions.
These brought the information that Betty had been decoyed back to thehouse that day, by a false message purporting to be from Granniss, askingher to return after the rest left the
house, and call him up on thetelephone. This Betty tried to do, using her camera as an excuse.
But she never reached the telephone. Once in the house, she was graspedand the assailants, there were two, attempted to chloroform her. Butchloroforming is not such a speedy matter as many believe and she wasstill struggling against the fumes when her father appeared.
North held Betty while the other man, who was Joe Mills, fought FrederickVarian, and, in the struggle, shot him.
This angered North so, that he lost his head. He almost killed Mills inhis rage and fury, and seizing Betty, made for the secret passage.
On the way, her string of beads broke, the pillow which they used to helpmake her unconscious was dropped on the kitchen floor, and then she wascarried down the well, through the tunnel and cave and away in a swiftmotor boat.
But in a half conscious state, all these things were like a dream to her.
"A dream which must not be recalled," said Granniss, with an air ofauthority that sat well upon him.
"My blessing," Minna said, fondling the girl. "Never mind about anything,now that I have you back. I miss your father more than words can say, butwith you restored, I can know happiness again. Let us both try toforget."
Later, a council was held as to whether to tell Minna the true story ofBetty's birth.
The two young people had to be told, and Doctor Varian was appealed tofor a decision regarding Minna.
"I don't know," he said, uncertainly. "You see it explains thepearls,----"
"I'll tell you," Granniss said. "Don't let's tell Mother Varian now.Betty and I will be married very soon, and after that we can see aboutit. Or, if she has to know at the time of the wedding, we'll tell herthen. But let her rejoice in her new found child as her own child as longas she can. Surely she deserves it."
"And _you_ don't care?" Betty asked, looking at him, wistfully.
"My darling! I don't care whether you're the daughter of a princess orpauperess,--you'll soon be my wife, and Granniss is all the name you'llever want or need!"
"Bless your sweet hearts," said Zizi, her black eyes showing a tendergleam for the girl she had so long known of, and only now known.
"And bless your sweetheart, when you choose one!" Betty said, her happyheart so full of joy that her old gayety already began to return.
THE END
Transcriber's Notes
--Copyright notice provided as in the original--this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.
--Provided an original cover image, for free and unrestricted use with this Distributed Proofreaders-Canada eBook.
--Silently corrected obvious typographical errors; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.
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