, 

 
 OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES
 
 THE VIDOCQ 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHAKDOS FULTON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A SOCIETY STAR," "A BROWN STONE FRONT," ETC. 
 
 THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY. 
 1891.
 
 T, 1890, BY 
 
 THF. MINERVA PUBLISHING CO.
 
 THE VIDOCQ OF NEW YORK. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ANONYMOUS LETTER. 
 
 " I DON'T believe a word you say ! " said Mrs. 
 Larkspur to her husband, seated opposite at the 
 center table in the family sitting room in their 
 mansion on Park Avenue. " I don't believe a 
 word you say ! " she reiterated with flashing eyes 
 and an emotion that was none the less sincere 
 because there was an effort at suppression or 
 control. 
 
 " I have told you the truth, and nothing but 
 the truth," he retorted doggedly, with a show of 
 humiliation rather than displeasure that he 
 should be doubted. " I have simply stated facts, 
 and your conclusions or surmises are unjust." 
 
 " How absurd ! To think that a woman who 
 _ould write that letter did not know you." 
 
 2129465
 
 4 VIDOCQ. 
 
 "That may be, and I may know her her 
 familiarity with the name and address and our 
 affairs would indicate a close personal friend 
 but that I am carrying on any intrigue with her 
 or know her identity I positively deny." 
 
 " I don't believe you," exclaimed the wife, 
 unable to restrain her anger. 
 
 " H'm What do you propose to do?" 
 
 " Go back to my father and mother ! " 
 
 " I think that if you took counsel from them, 
 you would be prepared to listen to reason." 
 
 "Ah, yes! I have no doubt you would like 
 me to leave you and go back to them leave you 
 to carry on your intrigue with this vile woman." 
 
 " But I shall stipulate to be present when the 
 statement of the case is made to them." 
 
 "You would lie to them, as to me ! " 
 
 " Oh, Belle ! Don't let your temper run away 
 with you. I swear to you, by the memory of my 
 mother and all I hold sacred, I have told you the 
 truth, and am innocent of your insinuations." 
 
 " You had better go to her, lest she upbraid 
 you for not being punctual," retorted the wife, 
 tossing across the table a letter she held in her 
 hand, and leaving the room to conceal a flood of 
 tears. 
 
 Larkspur picked up the letter that had come 
 to him in the mail that afternoon to his home 
 address. 
 
 On a small, delicate, pink-tinted and violet-
 
 THE ANONYMOUS LETTER. 5 
 
 scented note-sheet was the following in a lady's 
 chirography : 
 
 "TUESDAY. 
 
 " DEAREST I know it was your little surprise 
 whist party that kept you from coming to me 
 last evening, and knowing how poignant must 
 have been your regret, I freely forgive your 
 neglect of your promise. Don't fail to come this 
 'veiling. It is 'lodge' night, you know; that 
 ought to be a good excuse any time for absence, 
 _-h ? Yours only and forever, MlNNIE. 
 
 " Andrew Larkspur, Esq." 
 
 This tender little epistle was not inclosed in an 
 envelope of the same fine grade, but in an ordi- 
 nary business yellow one, and the superscription 
 was in the bold, round hand of a clerk and the 
 "Mr." had a flourish to the "r" that made it 
 look like "Mrs.," and, consequently, the wife had 
 opened it. 
 
 " I would give a good deal to know who wrote 
 this letter ! " muttered Larkspur, who really 
 adored his pretty, but hot-tempered wife. 
 " Some fiend who seeks to make trouble. Some 
 one who knows the internecine affairs of this 
 household, that we had an impromptu card 
 party last night, when I had no idea of going 
 out, and that I belong to a lodge which I usually 
 attend this evening in the week. Who it is I 
 have not the slightest idea ! I did not suppose I 
 had an enemy in the world ! "
 
 6 VIDOCQ. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GONE HOME. 
 
 THE violent closing of the front door down- 
 stairs attracted his attention, and he arose to go 
 out into the hall and look over the banister. 
 
 He met a servant maid coming upstairs. 
 
 " Mrs. Larkspur has gone to her father and 
 mother's," said the maid. 
 
 "Alone?" 
 
 " No ; she rang for a messenger boy while she 
 was putting on her things." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 " She told me to tell you not to sit up for her," 
 added the maid, with a courtesy, as she de- 
 scended to rejoin her comrades below stairs. 
 
 Larkspur returned to the sitting room discon- 
 solately. 
 
 " This is too bad ! Folly ! " he muttered, as he 
 sunk into his chair. 
 
 Glancing at a portrait of his wife by Constant 
 Mayer, on the wall opposite, he mused again, 
 " I must rule now, or forever be dethroned." 
 
 He picked up the letter and scanned it again, 
 comparing the writing of the inside with the 
 address. 
 
 " If the letter were not addressed to me at the 
 bottom I should be inclined to doubt that it was 
 intended for me. The poison of the sting is in 
 the superscription, the misleading address."
 
 GOtfE HOMB. 7 
 
 Lighting a cigar, he paced the apartment in 
 meditation, finally exclaiming : 
 
 " I must get to the bottom of this ! " A few 
 vigorous puffs, a few seconds of meditation, a 
 prolonged puff and the ejaculation : 
 
 " Byrnes!" 
 
 A strut to the chair, and dropping therein : 
 
 "Yes, Byrnes is my man : he can advise me, if 
 not help me. He will be better than a lawyer." 
 
 Drawing toward him a little writing desk that 
 stood on the table, he scrawled in pencil : 
 
 " This is folly. In a few days I will convince 
 you of my innocence. Won't you come home ? 
 
 " ANDREW." 
 
 He addresed an envelope to his wife at her 
 father's round the corner on Madison Avenue, 
 inclosed the note and summoned a district mes- 
 senger and dispatched him with it, bidding him 
 to " wait answer." 
 
 The answer came in good time ; a verbal, 
 laconic, " No." 
 
 " I am glad she did not take the letter with 
 her, as I shall need it to-morrow," he muttered, 
 putting the letter back into the envelope that 
 inclosed it, pocketing the same as he went into 
 his chamber adjoining, to seek in vain a night's 
 rest for though strong in his innocence, he was 
 naturallv much disturbed.
 
 8 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE VIDOCQ OF NEW YORK. 
 
 LARKSPUR decided to visit the marble edifice 
 on Mulberry Street, between Prince and Bleecker 
 Streets, known as " Police Headquarters ; " and 
 erected by the commonwealth for that purpose as 
 far back as 1862, as stated on a monolith over 
 the entrance. 
 
 An officer in uniform, at the door, in answer to 
 his inquiry, directed him to the second door on 
 the left, bearing the sign " Detective Bureau." 
 
 Thrusting open this door he found himself in 
 an office, or rather two offices, there being a fold- 
 ing door between the rooms, and he could not fail 
 to observe that all those at the desks wore uni- 
 forms. 
 
 " Inspector Byrnes ? " he said. 
 
 "Through that door!" pointed an aged offi- 
 cial at the nearest desk. 
 
 Leaving the room Larkspur found himself in a 
 short, narrow passage way, with a door on each 
 side and another at the end labelled " Detective 
 Bureau," going through which he entered a large 
 room, with tables and chairs, windows overlook- 
 ing the court, and two doors, one bearing the 
 sign " Office of Superintendent," while " Detec- 
 tive Bureau " was lettered on the wall beside the 
 other.
 
 THE riDOCQ OF NEW YORK. 9 
 
 Several well dressed and well appearing gentle- 
 men detectives off duty, the dark and graceful 
 Heidelberger, the gray and rotund Farley, the 
 reflective Schmidt, being among them took no 
 more notice of him than if he were not visible. 
 
 " Inspector Byrnes? " 
 
 " That way ! " pointed Heidelberger. 
 
 Crossing to the door indicated Larkspur pulled 
 it open, crossed a covered bridge or archway 
 over the court, to an apartment that had a desk 
 and paraphernalia suggestive of the precinct 
 station house. 
 
 A detective had just brought in a " sneak " and 
 was searching him a youthful, demure man, whose 
 harsh features indicated he was an old offender. 
 
 The detective opened his coat and neatly 
 folded back the face on each side or shoulder ; 
 then he carefully examined all the pockets, run- 
 ning his hands up and down to see that nothing 
 was concealed in the bands or suspenders. 
 
 He was looking for the skeleton key this class 
 of criminals operate with, but so far had only 
 found a homeopathic vial of quinine pills, a 
 toothpick, a knife, and some small change. 
 
 A smile of triumph came in the prisoner's face ; 
 a look of disappointment and perplexity on that 
 of the detective. 
 
 " He threw something away when he started 
 to run as soon as he saw me," observed the 
 detective, " but I can swear it was a cigar."
 
 10 riDOCQ. 
 
 The prisoner looked defiant. 
 
 The detective eyed him calculatingly. He 
 suddenly ripped open the buttons of the prison* 
 ers trousers, and dropped them, before the pris- 
 oner divined his intention, and there poised in the 
 crotch were four skeleton keys, two on each side 
 evidence sufficient to send him below to await 
 trial in the morning. 
 
 " Well, sir," exclaimed one of the two officials 
 at the big desk, a white-haired, pale faced man who 
 had evidently seen years of official duty, "welk sir?" 
 
 "Inspector Byrnes?" said Larkspur, handing 
 him his card. 
 
 A younger official took the card and disap- 
 peared through one of two doors. 
 
 Larkspur observed one wall of the room was 
 decorated with frames and single photographs of 
 the various officials in the department, those of 
 the previous chief inspectors Walling, Young, 
 Keely, Irving catching his eye, as well as one of 
 the popular Presidents of the Board of Police 
 Commissioners, Stephen B. French. 
 
 Opposite tke desk was a pyramid or nest of 
 letter boxes, with glass doors, each bearing the 
 name of a detective. 
 
 The attendant returned and motioned Lark- 
 spur to accompany him. 
 
 Larkspur followed him through a corridor, on 
 each side of which were offices which he correctly 
 divined were those of the detect!
 
 THE \'IJ)u<-(j ol- .Vh'ir YORK. 11 
 
 Opening the door at the end Larkspur was 
 ushered into a large, airy room, with two win- 
 dows at either end. overlooking the court, and 
 beheld Chief Inspector Byrnes, seated at a large 
 office desk, making some memoranda on a pad. 
 Chief Inspector Byrnes, the head of the great de- 
 tective system of the great Empire City ! the 
 Vidocq of New York ! in that he is the most 
 successful criminal catcher that has ever presided 
 over the " Detective Bureau " in the marble edi- 
 fice on Mulberry Street. 
 
 Inspector Byrnes, a quiet, unostentatious, ordi- 
 nary middle aged man, who, in a sack coat, 
 round hat, with his hands in his side pockets, 
 and a fragrant Havana in his mouth, is a familiar 
 figure to many who little dream he is the famous 
 Vidocq of New York, as he quietly meanders 
 Broadway. 
 
 Alone in his office, his thoughts seek relief 
 from professional problems by glancing at the 
 portrait of a child in a little ornamented frame 
 on his desk his own little daughter, the idol of 
 his life a reminder of a pleasant home that 
 strict attention to business so often keeps him 
 away from. 
 
 " One moment," said Inspector Byrnes pleas- 
 antly, motioning him to a chair, as the attendant 
 retired. 
 
 A glance about the room revealed several large 
 black and white sketches in frames, the titles of
 
 12 
 
 which explained the subjects : " Photographing 
 a Rogue," showing how it required several to 
 hold an unwilling criminal while his likeness is 
 secured for the Rogue's Gallery; ''His First 
 Offence," depicting the timidity and abashment 
 of a youth brought before the Inspector for the 
 first time ; " Mob in a Riot," a view of a riot- 
 ous crowd. The glance also revealed several 
 portraits. 
 
 " Well, sir, Mr. Larkspur," said the Inspector, 
 glancing at his card as he finished writing. 
 
 Larkspur was proceeding by apologizing for 
 intruding on him to allude to his business, when 
 Inspector Byrnes laconically, with a puff of his 
 cigar, exclaimed : 
 
 " State your case ! State your case ! " 
 
 Larkspur thought he gave a very succinct state- 
 ment of his " peculiar and most extraordinary 
 case," but he bored Inspector Byrnes by his recital, 
 and he exclaimed: 
 
 " Nothing peculiar or most extraordinary ! 
 Anonymous letter writing common enough ! 
 Have you got the documents?" And he held 
 out his hand as if prepared to receive something 
 weighty. 
 
 Larkspur took from his pocket the anonymous 
 letter and handed it to him. 
 
 "This all?" 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 " Oh, only just commenced," observed Inspec-
 
 THE VIDOCQ OF NEW YORK. 13 
 
 tor Byrnes, looking at the postmark. " Posted 
 in your own district." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I had not thought of that," ex- 
 claimed Larkspur, noticing the fact. 
 
 " Do you suspect any one? " 
 
 " No; would not have come to you if I had." 
 
 " Hum ! Any reason for any one writing such 
 a Utter?" 
 
 " None. God help me, none." 
 
 " What is your theory ? " 
 
 " I have none. I did not suppose I had an en- 
 emy in the world." 
 
 " Domestic arrangements always happy ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Hum ! Well, leave this with me; call again 
 when you receive another one." 
 
 " Do you suppose I will be bombarded regu- 
 larly with these epistles?" 
 
 " Depends on the motive if for blackmail or 
 revenge, yes ; if for mischief, probably not." 
 
 " Inspector Byrnes, this is a very serious case 
 for me, sir." 
 
 ' Yes, no doubt. Equally to me as to you." 
 
 " Do you think you will be able to ferret out 
 the writer? " 
 
 "Can't say. Never can." 
 
 " You say these cases are common ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Can you give me some information about 
 about others ? "
 
 14 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " Have no time. Besides each case here is a 
 privacy." 
 
 " Can you advise me ? " 
 
 " Yes ; keep your own counsel. Good morn- 
 ing !" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 M O T H E R-I N-L A W. 
 
 LARKSPUR only remained in his office he was 
 the agent of a woolen house on Mercer Street 
 long enough to open and dispose of the morning 
 mail. He went down town to the counting house 
 of his father-in-law, who, much to his chagrin, 
 received him coldly, evidently influenced by his 
 daughter's recital of her woes. 
 
 " Now, where there is smoke there is fire," 
 observed Mr. King. 
 
 He softened and evinced a sympathetic interest 
 when Larkspur told him of his visit to Byrnes 
 and his determination to clear the mystery, con- 
 vinced finally of his innocence. 
 
 "Belle has her mother's temper and jealousy," 
 observed Mr. King, "and she will not change un- 
 til convinced. I told her she would create a scan- 
 dal that could not be easily handled if she 
 remained away from home." 
 
 Larkspur hurried uptown to Mr. King's resi-
 
 MOTHER-IN-LAW. 15 
 
 dence, but his wife would not see him. She sent 
 her mother down to receive him. 
 
 The mother, of course, espoused the daughter's 
 side. 
 
 In vain Larkspur protested his innocence. 
 
 Mrs. King, with a sarcastic and incredulous 
 smile, listened, but offered neither advice nor 
 consolation. 
 
 " Well, won't you advise Belle to return to my 
 house until convinced of my innocence or guilt? " 
 
 " She will return provided you occupy a separ- 
 ate apartment, and do not intrude yourself on 
 her until she is convinced of your innocence or 
 your guilt, in which latter case she will return 
 here, and commence divorce proceedings." 
 
 Larkspur observed that probably a second 
 missive would come, and to show his careless dis- 
 regard, he would like his wife to open it. 
 
 " Oh, you expect another to-day? " inquired his 
 mother-in-law, sarcastically. 
 
 " Inspector Byrnes said I would most likely 
 receive another." 
 
 " Oh ! Inspector Byrnes ! He is a wise man ! " 
 
 " Did you show him the letter? Oh, yes, you 
 left it with him. Wasn't he surprised you only 
 had one to show him ? " * 
 
 " He made no comment beyond expressing the 
 opinion that others would come from the same 
 source, and I must bring them to him." 
 
 " Oh, yes."
 
 16 VIDOCQ. 
 
 Not wishing to engage in any argument with 
 his mother-in-law, who if the truth were told, had 
 had some unpleasant experiences in early life 
 with her husband, before he settled down into 
 domestic felicity, and was consequently prejudiced 
 against mankind generally, and predisposed to 
 take sides against him on general grounds, Lark- 
 spur left, and before going home what a hollow 
 word that sacred name was now to him ! took a 
 stroll in the Central Park, to clear and invigorate 
 his faculties by healthy, open-air exercise. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A SECOND LETTER. 
 
 LARKSPUR found his wife returned, when he 
 reached home. 
 
 As she had retired to her chamber, ordering 
 that her dinner should be sent up to her, he did 
 not disturb her. 
 
 He selected a chair in the window of the sit- 
 ting-room and tried to engage his thoughts by 
 reading George Eliot's " Gwendolen," which 
 he had recently commenced, but the book pos- 
 sessed no charms for him now, as his mind would 
 dwell upon his own troubles. 
 
 He was aroused from a reverie by the entrance 
 of his wife, who, evidently unaware of his return
 
 A SECOM> LETTER. 17 
 
 turned to leave the room upon discovering his 
 presence. 
 
 " Belle !*' he ejaculated, almost involuntarily. 
 
 " My mother has mapped out a course for me 
 to pursue," she said, haughtily, "and I will re- 
 main here, keeping to myself, until you vindi- 
 cate yourself if you can." 
 
 " Oh, don't prejudge me ! " 
 
 " I should not, but now that I seem to remem- 
 ber several such envelopes coming to this address ; 
 but the superscription was so plain that I never 
 opened them by mistake." 
 
 " I swear to you by all I hold sacred that that 
 was the first and only letter I have received of 
 that kind." 
 
 She darted from the room, with a haughty 
 glance, not deigning or vouchsafing a reply. 
 
 Soon after she entered the room, in percepti- 
 ble excitement, bearing several letters in her 
 hand, just delivered by the postman. 
 
 Without a word she handed him a yellow 
 envelope, with the suspicious superscription, 
 with the difference this time that there was no 
 prefix Mr., the name being followed by the more 
 conventional Esq. 
 
 He was about tearing the envelope open when 
 the thought flashed across his mind to hand it 
 to his wife, which, rising and advancing to her, 
 he did, with the request : 
 
 " Please open, madam."
 
 18 VIDOCQ. 
 
 -Mrs. Larkspur, with flashing eyes, tore open 
 the envelope, revealing a pink-tinted sheet, as 
 previously, with the following lines in the same 
 handwriting, which she glanced over silently. 
 
 " WEDNESDAY. 
 
 " DEAREST Sorry beyond expression in words 
 that I was absent when you called this afternoon. 
 I do not understand your message, however. 
 Can't you run around for a few minutes this 
 evening? I expected you until past midnight 
 last evening. As ever, 
 
 " MINNIE." 
 
 " Where have you been since leaving my 
 father's?" she asked indignantly, glancing up 
 from the letter. 
 
 " Strolling in the Park to get a little fresh air 
 after a restless night," he replied. 
 
 " This is evidence to the contrary," she mused 
 tossing him the letter. 
 
 He hastily scanned the missive in a glance. 
 
 " It's false. I made no such call this after- 
 noon ! It is a lie ! " he exclaimed, picking up 
 the envelope, which she had dropped to the floor, 
 and enclosing the letter. 
 
 He examined the postmark, and found it the 
 same as the day before ; he placed the envelope 
 in his pocket and arose to leave the room. 
 
 " Where are you going to meet that 
 woman ?"
 
 A SECOND LETTER. 19 
 
 " No to Inspector Byrnes," he replied. " I 
 promised to send him more such letters if I 
 received them " 
 
 " Send it to him." 
 
 " No; on second thoughts I will keep it and 
 deliver it personally to-morrow morning," he 
 answered, resuming his seat. " I will remain 
 here." 
 
 " Pray not on my account," she retorted, 
 retiring to her own apartment, from which she 
 did not emerge until the next morning, when he 
 was leaving, when she said : 
 
 " If any letter comes during the day I will 
 send it to you at the office, that you may take it 
 to Inspector Byrnes on your way uptown," her 
 manner conveying as much as her words, 
 scepticism that he was consulting the famous 
 detective in the matter. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HEADQUARTERS AGAIN. 
 
 LARKSPUR stopped at Headquarters on his 
 way downtown in the morning. 
 
 "These letters are written by no slouch," said 
 Inspector Byrnes. " As yet, the motive inspiring 
 the writer does not appear. It soon will de- 
 velop."
 
 20 VIDOCQ. 
 
 "You think there is a conspiracy to ruin me ?" 
 
 " O, I don't know about that," replied the 
 Inspector, contrasting the letter and the envel- 
 ope. " There are evidently two people in the 
 game a man and a woman. The letter is writ- 
 ten by a woman or a very clever penman. The 
 envelope is addressed by a business man. It is a 
 different hand from that of the writer of the 
 letter." 
 
 "What am I to do?" 
 
 " Don't worry about the case ; don't worry 
 about me. When I want to see you I'll send for 
 you. Your frequent coming to Headquarters to 
 see me might put the scoundrel to flight. 
 See?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Send me the letters as fast as they come. If 
 there is any scheme you'll receive more." 
 
 " But you will devise some plan to ferret out 
 the scoundrel or scoundrels?" 
 
 " That is what I am here for," replied the In- 
 spector imperturbably, as, under all circumstances, 
 deeply interested in the case, yet apparently un- 
 concerned. " Good day, sir !" 
 
 Larkspur, who, in his business, would not have 
 uttered a needless word, would have liked to 
 question the Inspector in regard to his manage- 
 ment of the case : but the latter's peremptory 
 "Good day, sir!" left him no alternative but to 
 return the salutation and leave.
 
 THE THIRD LETTER. 21 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE THIRD LETTER. 
 
 IMAGINE Larkspur's surprise when he reached 
 his office to find in the morning's mail a letter 
 from the mysterious aiui annoying Minnie. 
 
 This letter, however, was not inclosed in an 
 innocent and ordinary yellow business envelope, 
 with the address in a masculine, clerical hand, 
 like those sent to his residence, but in a cover of 
 the same tint and delicacy of the note-sheet, 
 and the superscription was in the same female 
 chirography. 
 
 Larkspur glanced at the postmark, to find that 
 it was the same as the other two letters. 
 
 The letter read as follows : 
 
 " DEAREST I don't know what to make of you, 
 you've acted so strangely and contrarily the past 
 few days. Please look in on me on your way 
 up this afternoon. I shall remain in all the 
 afternoon, and shall not give up hope of seeing 
 you until ten o'clock. Yours, as ever, 
 
 " MINNIE." 
 
 Hastily making a copy, that he might show 
 his wife, if the occasion offered, to prove to her, 
 that he had no confidences from her, he placed 
 the letter in its envelope and inclosed the same 
 to Inspector Byrnes by a district messenger.
 
 22 V1DOCQ. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OFFICIAL ORDERS. 
 
 " H UM ! " ejaculated Inspector Byrnes 
 when he received and read the letter inclosed 
 him by Larkspur. "This boil will soon be ready 
 for the lance. It must soon come to a head now 
 or fail in the attempt. If the man is guilty of 
 a liaison and is trying to use me to break it off 
 he'll get himself into hot water. I think he is 
 a true bill, however, and is innocent. The same 
 postal mark shows that the writer is new in the 
 business. An old hand would cover his tracks by 
 using a different posting station every time. Per- 
 haps, however, he thinks the ordinary envelope 
 used will cloak him sufficiently from identification. 
 H um ! I think I can start on the case now ! " 
 
 The inspector tapped a small gong-bell on his 
 table ; an attendant looked in. 
 
 " Ralston ! " 
 
 The attendant closed the door, and in a few 
 moments a tall, slender, sleepy looking man, with 
 amazingly scant reddish hair and beard, came 
 in. 
 
 " Ralston anonymous letter writing docu- 
 ments pipe the station shadow box report 
 when ready," said Inspector Byrnes, handing the 
 other the three letters.
 
 OFFICIAL ORDERS. 23 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied Ralston, perfunctorily, tak- 
 ing the package, and backing out to the door, 
 which he shoved open, closing with a bang. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 INVESTIGATION. 
 
 RALSTON went to his desk in another apart- 
 ment in the suite assigned to the Detective Bu- 
 reau, and shoving his hat on to the back of his 
 head, stretching his legs over an adjacent chair 
 and lighting a cigarette, he proceeded to leisurely 
 read the letters. 
 
 " Forgery ?" jocularly inquired another detec- 
 tive at an adjoining desk. 
 
 " Naw a puddin nonymous letter writm," 
 responded Ralston. " Glad the weather is pleas- 
 ant." 
 
 Having finished reading the three letters, 
 Ralston took the Third Avenue Elevated Railway 
 up town, alighting at the station nearest the sub- 
 postal station he would visit. 
 
 Arrived here he inquired for the officer in 
 charge and explained his business. 
 
 He interviewed the morning collectors, but 
 none of them could identify the envelopes as hav- 
 ing been taken up by them from the boxes on 
 their route. The out or on squad, however, soon
 
 24 VIDOCQ. 
 
 came in and one of these identified the letters 
 stating that he had taken them from the box 
 on the corner of street and avenue, re- 
 membering the fact because there were no stores 
 in that locality, and consequently bill or collec- 
 tion letters were seldom posted in that box. 
 
 The last, or third letter had been posted after 
 eight o'clock, but the other two had each been 
 dropped before ten o'clock in the morning. 
 
 The next morning, from a neighboring build- 
 ing, Ralston shadowed that is, he watched this 
 box. 
 
 Any one perceiving him would, from his indif- 
 ferent and aimless manner, have concluded he 
 was one of those unlucky fellows who are always 
 getting out of employment, but don't seem to 
 mind it as long as they can get along. 
 
 No one for a moment would have thought he 
 was a detective. While they might have con- 
 cluded he was not such a fool as he looked, none 
 would have supposed him shrewd enough to be a 
 detective. 
 
 Without apparently doing so, and consequently 
 not attracting attention, he carefully mentally 
 surveyed every one who dropped a letter in the 
 box. 
 
 A close observer would have noticed that his 
 interest ceased when he discovered that " a 
 party " was going to drop in a white or a pink, or 
 any but a yellow envelope.
 
 INVESTIGATION. 25 
 
 Finally a well-dressed, distingue but dissipated 
 young man of about five-and-twenty came down 
 the avenue, took from the inside pocket of his 
 light top-coat an envelope a yellow envelope. 
 
 The close observer would have noticed that 
 Ralston's eyes glistened and his muscles swelled 
 like those of a cat ready to spring on its prey, as 
 he watched the yellow envelope come forth and 
 go into the box. 
 
 Immediately that he heard the thud of the lid-, 
 indicating that the letter was beyond the reach of 
 the depositor should he wish to reclaim it, he 
 pulled himself together and started toward the 
 corner with the action and bearing of a man who 
 had no particular object for hurrying. Reaching 
 the box he took from his pocket what across the 
 street would appear to be an ordinary white en- 
 velope of the conventional size. 
 
 It was not an envelope, however, but a solid 
 piece of pasteboard, on one side of which 
 was a piece of shoemaker's wax, looking like 
 a seal. 
 
 Ralston dropped this tablet into the letter box 
 with the side containing the wax downward, so 
 that it would fall and fasten upon the letter 
 dropped just before. 
 
 Then he turned and followed the gentleman 
 who had deposited the yellow envelope for sev- 
 eral blocks until he had carefully mentally photo- 
 graphed him.
 
 26 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " New one. Never been up. Don't seem fly. 
 Amateur, I guess. Style. Seems solid," solilo- 
 quized Ralston, mentally surveying his man. 
 
 Satisfied with his mental notes, Ralston turned 
 and retraced his steps to the postal station, and, 
 informing the officer in charge that he had made 
 a plant, waited for the " out " squad of collectors 
 to come in. 
 
 When the bag of that circuit was turned out 
 for assortment, the yellow envelope and the 
 white blank were stuck together. 
 
 " There's the beauty," exclaimed the collector. 
 
 " The pad hit her plumb," said Ralston, de- 
 taching the two, and observing that the yellow 
 envelope was addressed to Mr. Andrew Larkspur 
 at his private residence, in the same bold, mascu- 
 line, clerical hand as the two first. 
 
 " Shove her along," he said, jocularly tossing 
 the letter to the stamping clerk. 
 
 Leaving, he went immediately to Headquar- 
 ters, and reported to Inspector Byrnes. 
 
 " Good ! " was the laconic response of the 
 chief, as Ralston backed out after making his 
 report. 
 
 Inspector Byrnes prepared a telegraphic message 
 to Larkspur, which he sent to his residence, as 
 follows ; 
 
 " The mail this afternoon will bring you an- 
 other letter from party. Send it to me in the 
 morning."
 
 THE \riFETS DOUBTS. 27 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE WIFE'S DOUBTS. 
 
 MRS. LARKSPUR really had doubted her hus- 
 band's assertion that he was consulting Inspector 
 Byrnes for her confidence in him was shaken 
 by the doubts inspired by the anonymous letters 
 and had worked herself into a mental condi- 
 tion of general distrust so far as he was con- 
 cerned. 
 
 The dispatch from the detective convinced her 
 of the truth of his statements. Her husband 
 disturbed the sanctity of her established privacy 
 to show her this dispatch, which he found await- 
 ing him on his arrival home. 
 
 The mail a little later brought the letter indi- 
 cated. 
 
 Same pink-tinted note sheet, identical female 
 hand, same yellow envelope, identical superscrip- 
 tion in bold, masculine hand. 
 
 The note read : 
 
 " DEAREST If you think you can abandon me, 
 like a cast-off garment, you make the greatest 
 mistake of your life. Remember all your decla- 
 rations to me, of the hopes inspired, the devotion 
 engrafted, and think of 
 
 "MINNIE." 
 
 Larkspur had opened and read the letter in his
 
 28 VIDOCQ. 
 
 anxiety, without thinking of handing it to his 
 wife to open and read first, as he would in a 
 cooler moment have done, as good policy under 
 the circumstance. 
 
 "Damnation!" he muttered. "Curse the 
 hand that ever penned this outrageous note ! " 
 
 He handed the letter to his wife to read, while 
 he picked the envelope from the waste basket, 
 into which he had thoughtlessly, from habit, cast 
 it. 
 
 The letter aroused the wife to great indigna- 
 tion. 
 
 She moved as if to tear it into tatters, when he 
 caught her hand, and clutched it from her grasp. 
 
 "Remember, Inspector Byrnes will want it !" 
 he exclaimed, smoothing out the crumpled sheet. 
 
 Mrs. Larkspur paced the room in growing and 
 almost uncontrollable indignation. 
 
 " Why not confess the truth at once ? " she 
 exclaimed. " I will forgive you if you will give 
 up this woman ! After such evidence as this, 
 you cannot deceive me." 
 
 " I tell you I am innocent of your insinuations. 
 I do not even know who this woman or person 
 signing herself ' Minnie ' is ! " 
 
 " I cannot believe it ! The evidence is too 
 strong against you ! " 
 
 " What evidence ?" 
 
 " Those letters. The confessions of that sor- 
 rowing and wronged woman ! "
 
 THE \\~IW* DOUBTS. 29 
 
 "You consider anonymous letters evidence 
 against my word? " 
 
 " To me those letters are most convincing evi- 
 dence." 
 
 " Pshaw. I am almost inclined to use the cant 
 phrase, ' You make me tired ! ' ' 
 
 " Is she some young girl whom you have 
 wronged ? She writes like a cruelly deceived, 
 innocent girl." 
 
 " I swear to you by all I hold sacred that there 
 is no truth or meaning in her insinuations and im- 
 putations ; that I have not the faintest idea of 
 who the writer is." 
 
 " I wish I could believe you," answered Mrs. 
 Larkspur. 
 
 "I don't ask you to believe me until I have 
 ferreted out the mystery. I only ask you now to 
 trust me, not to condemn me without hearing." 
 
 " My confidence in you is entirely shaken." 
 
 " Because you do not exercise your reason." 
 
 " Because I do," she retorted. " My reason 
 convinces me and condemns you. Other enve- 
 lopes have come to the house of the same de- 
 scription. This liaison has been going on I don't 
 know how long under my very eyes." 
 
 " The envelope is ordinary, usually used com- 
 mercially, and the others only inclosed bills." 
 
 "Not billet-doux?" sneered his wife. "I 
 really sympathize with this poor creature." 
 
 "Your wit is worthy of the modern comic
 
 30 VIDOCQ. 
 
 opera," the husband could not help saying, 
 facetiously, while feeling as if his heart would 
 break. 
 
 " The knowledge of your affairs could only 
 come from one who possessed your confidence. 
 The letters are honest, and I consider the case 
 one for private settlement, rather than detective 
 investigation." 
 
 " Having nothing to fear from the most public 
 investigation, I shall court it," exclaimed Lark- 
 spur, hotly and firmly. " I shall ferret out this 
 mystery if it takes my last dollar. I cannot be 
 injured, only vindicated, by detective investiga- 
 tion." 
 
 " You may be ; but how will it fare with the 
 poor woman whom you have abandoned to her 
 fate, after kindling hopes that will never be ful- 
 filled ? " 
 
 " When she is discovered you can decide her 
 fate." 
 
 "You seek to combine insult with injury. 
 While I commiserate with her, I do not wish to 
 become the arbiter of her destiny." 
 
 Thoroughly aroused, and fearing that he might 
 say something which he would regret, Larkspur 
 left the room. 
 
 He mailed the letter just received to Inspector 
 Byrnes.
 
 THE CASE DEVELOPS. 31 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE CASE DEVELOPS. 
 
 INSPECTOR BYRNES, on receiving the letter 
 the next morning, glanced hastily over it, and 
 shoved it into the pigeonhole with the others. 
 
 He tapped the bell, and the doorman bounced 
 in. 
 
 " Ralston ! " 
 
 The doorman bounced out, and almost imme- 
 diately Ralston entered. 
 
 Inspector Byrnes motioned him to a seat. 
 
 "You nailed your man. The case is curious. 
 I can't find any motive. It looked like blackmail 
 at the start. It may develop that way. The 
 man, so far in the case, is a stall. Perhaps he is 
 the lover of the girl. There are two of them. If 
 Larkspur didn't protest his innocence, I should 
 think the discarded woman was squealing for 
 revenge ; but he declares he doesn't know the 
 party ; has no such affair that could lead to any- 
 thing." 
 
 Inspector Byrnes puffed his ever-visible cigar 
 meditatively. 
 
 Ralston stroked his shaggy beard with an 
 expression of expectancy, as if he thought the 
 Chief should do all the talking. Ralston was 
 Byrnes' pal, mate or double, who assisted him 
 in his cases, often initiating under direction the
 
 32 VIDOCQ. 
 
 work which the other would take up later and 
 carry to a brilliant success which would make a 
 sensation in all the papers. 
 
 He rarely ventured a suggestion except when 
 requested. 
 
 " Looked the party up ? " 
 
 " Yes ; he's a new 'un, never up. On the gen- 
 tleman lay," Ralston replied, meaning that the 
 well-dressed gentleman whom he saw drop the 
 letter into the box was unknown to the police ; 
 that he had never before come under their atten- 
 tion ; that he would pass as a gentleman. 
 
 " H'm. Shadow him ; report when ready," 
 observed the chief inspector after a few moments 
 of reflection and several vigorous puffs of his 
 cigar. 
 
 Ralston bowed and withdrew with a contented 
 smile, as shadowing a man that is, following 
 him day and night until his habits and haunts 
 are located is often the pleasantest part of a 
 detective's work, leading to fine dinners, theatres, 
 etc. 
 
 Though New York is such a large, populous 
 city that one would think an humble individual 
 could soon lose his identity in the crowd or in 
 the byways, it is easy for a detective to get on 
 the track of and shadow a man. 
 
 Ralston started his hunt by frequenting the 
 populous and fashionable centripetal point of 
 Broadway at Fifth Avenue and Twenty-third
 
 THE CAtiE DEVELOPS. 33 
 
 street, where one afternoon he discovered " his 
 man " crossing the street. 
 
 Though he apparently looked at nobody, yet 
 eyed everybody, Ralston, until he found his 
 man, had only him in his eye especially his pe- 
 culiarities of gait and manner, which it is ten to 
 one he would have discovered beneath any dis- 
 guise. 
 
 We can easily change our habits, but not our 
 manners. The detective relies on his study of 
 peculiarities to identify his man. A nervous 
 habit of tearing off and rolling between his fin- 
 gers bits of newspapers or letters was a character- 
 istic of this man that Ralston soon discovered. 
 
 Ralston piped or shadowed "his man" to a 
 fashionable cafe", where they dined at neighboring 
 tables : then to the Casino, where they witnessed 
 an admirable performance of " Nanon," and then 
 to the Grand Central Depot, where he took the 
 train to Albany. 
 
 Observing that he had attracted " his man's " 
 attention, he did not follow him on board the 
 train, but pointing him out to one of the Bureau 
 always on duty here, he told him to watch for 
 him and notify Headquarters of his return.
 
 34 V1L)0(JQ. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A " HERALD " PERSONAL. 
 
 JEALOUSY in a woman, like ambition in a man, 
 feeds and fattens on itself, and Mrs. Larkspur, 
 as we have seen, became almost a monomaniac 
 on the subject. 
 
 She readily persuaded herself that she could 
 not believe a word her husband told her, and con- 
 sequently did not for a moment credit his state- 
 ment that he had not the slightest idea who was 
 the author of the mysterious and compromising 
 letters addressed to him. 
 
 She decided that his putting the case in In- 
 spector Byrnes' hands was simply a subterfuge, a 
 trick to deceive her, and that he would shelter 
 the woman from discovery. 
 
 It was due herself, however, that she should 
 give him a fair chance to vindicate himself a re- 
 sult she did not consider possible or probable. 
 
 They maintained friendly, though strained, re- 
 lations, to prevent exciting the suspicions of the 
 domestics. 
 
 Several days elapsing without any more letters 
 coming, she concluded that her wily husband had 
 succeeded in placating " Minnie," and her jeal- 
 ousy became all the more indignant, especially as 
 Larkspur maintained he could offer no explana- 
 tion.
 
 A "HERALD" PERSONAL. 35 
 
 She preferred taking the counsel of a friend of 
 her childhood, a spinster, Miss Bevins, to that 
 of her parents, who, while very indignant in their 
 bearing toward Larkspur, were inclined to be 
 conservative in their advice to her, urging her to 
 patiently await the issue of events. 
 
 She confided the whole story to Miss Bevins, 
 who had never been liked by Larkspur because 
 he thought her a mischief-maker ; and that lady 
 found the opportunity for revenging his slights 
 by coinciding with the wife, and so fanning the 
 flame of jealousy. 
 
 " He claims that he has not heard from her 
 since ; has not answered any of the letters ; in- 
 deed, does not know who she is?" 
 
 "Yes, positively." 
 
 " Quite a fairy tale." 
 
 " Well, assume he is telling the truth ; that is, 
 that, wishing to get rid of her, he has not an- 
 swered her recent letters." 
 
 " Well ? " 
 
 " She must be very indignant." 
 
 " Naturally." 
 
 " Now, you can get into communication with 
 her and learn the whole story " 
 
 " How? " 
 
 " By a personal in the Herald ! " 
 
 "Capital." 
 
 Miss Bevins drew a sheet ofnote-paper from 
 the desk, seized the pencil and wrote.
 
 36 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " Something like this," she said, reading : 
 " Minnie. Letters intercepted. Deuce to pay. 
 Am watched. Cannot call. Write to this ad- 
 dress, appointing an interview away from home. 
 Will explain all. L. A., private letter box, Thir- 
 teenth street and Third avenue." 
 
 " L. A.," soliloquized Mrs. Larkspur. "Oh, I 
 see his initials reversed. What is the address ? " 
 
 " A private letter-box address place. I've read 
 about it." 
 
 " Will you go and get the letters and insert the 
 advertisement?" inquired Mrs. Larkspur, who 
 habitually never did for herself anything she 
 could get any one to do for her. 
 
 " Yes," gleefully assented Miss Bevins. "Yes, 
 I'll attend to this part, and what fun we'll have 
 in reading the letters together. I wonder if Mr. 
 Larkspur is in the habit of reading the ' Personal ' 
 column in the Herald? My brother always reads 
 it the first thing.' 
 
 " I don't know," replied Mrs. Larkspur. 
 " I have never heard him speak of it, if he 
 does." 
 
 Larkspur, however, did not read the " Person- 
 als 5> in the Herald, and consequently did not 
 notice the advertisement the next morning, 
 which, under the circumstances, might have at- 
 tracted his attention. 
 
 Mrs. Larkspur felt halt ashamed of herself the 
 next morning when she saw it, but a call from
 
 A "HERALD" PERSONAL. 37 
 
 Miss Bevins restored her confidence that she was 
 acting rightly. 
 
 Miss Bevins said she had got her brother to 
 register at the private letter-box place for letters 
 addressed to L. A., the terms being that he 
 should pay five cents for each letter received. 
 
 The man in charge informed him that in order 
 to give ample time for the reply he should not 
 call until late in the evening. 
 
 Miss Bevins promised to run up the next morn- 
 ing immediately after breakfast, and she came 
 with six letters in her reticule four had been 
 sent through the mail, two by messenger. 
 
 To the intense disgust of both, none of the let- 
 ters was the one they had hoped for and ex- 
 pected. 
 
 Neither of these letters was in the handwriting 
 of the mysterious Minnie. 
 
 These letters were written by adventuresses 
 who sought appointments with L. A., and plainly 
 showed their ignorance of Minnie's letters. 
 
 Of the two, Miss Bevins evinced the most cha- 
 grin and disappointment at the failure of the lit- 
 tle plot. 
 
 "You may depend on it, my dear," she said 
 snappishly, " that he has settled matters with her 
 and consequently she was not caught by the bait." 
 
 " I suppose so," sighed Mrs. Larkspur, who 
 wondered how many more Minnies there were, in 
 the city if such a crop came up so quickly.
 
 38 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " Why not put a detective on your husband's 
 track?" said Miss Bevins. 
 
 " My father would not hear of such a thing," 
 responded Mrs. Larkspur. " Besides, it is expen- 
 sive. I have no money of my own." 
 
 "Well, he is either a most sinned against man 
 or the most cunning I ever heard of," said Miss 
 Bevins, whose long chase after a husband had 
 imbittered her against the sterner sex on general 
 principles. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE FOURTH LETTER. 
 
 HAD no other letter from Minnie come to dis- 
 turb Mrs. Larkspur, it is likely that, in time, her 
 confidence in her husband would have been re- 
 stored, as there were no more replies to the "per- 
 sonal." 
 
 In two days, however, the evening delivery 
 brought to the house another letter from Minnie, 
 identical with the others in every respect except- 
 ing, of course, the subject matter. This one, 
 undated, read. 
 
 " DEAR ANDY [a term her husband detested, 
 and his wife never addressed him by, always 
 calling him Andrew] saw your personal in the 
 Herald^ but it won't do, even for a blind to
 
 THE FOURTH LETTER. 30 
 
 madame. I understand your tricks, and can 
 checkmate every time. 
 
 " MINNIE." 
 
 Mr. Larkspur had not returned home to din- 
 ner when this letter came, and Mrs. Larkspur 
 opened it immediately. 
 
 " Well, this shows that they have not met 
 since," she said, pleased with the idea, " or is it a 
 preconcerted trick of theirs to deceive me ? " 
 
 She handed the letter to Larkspur when he 
 came in and explained to him about the " per- 
 sonal." 
 
 " I have all along thought these letters were 
 the work of some adventuress seeking to ensnare 
 me," said he, " and consequently promptly 
 sought Byrnes' assistance in effectually stopping 
 them." 
 
 " When none came yesterday or the day 
 before," she said, " I began to hope that she was 
 silenced, but this is evidence to the contrary." 
 
 " Let me see the ' Personal,' " he asked, and 
 she brought him the Herald containing it, and 
 fully explained matters. She also showed him 
 the replies received. 
 
 After reading these, Larkspur said he would 
 take them and Minnie's last to Inspector Byrnes 
 in the morning.
 
 40 viDOcq. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE " PRIVATE LETTER BOX." 
 
 INSPECTOR BYRNES had been busy on a more 
 important case, and he sent out word to Lark- 
 spur to call again at 9.30. 
 
 Inspector Byrnes motioned to a chair, evi- 
 dently prepared to talk to him, for before he 
 had kept him standing, wishing to terminate the 
 interview as soon as possible. 
 
 Larkspur handed him the several letters, 
 hastily and succinctly explaining the situation. 
 
 " That private letter box business is getting to 
 be a nuisance, and we must put a stop to it.* 
 My pal has at last got a plant, but I shall keep 
 my counsel for a few days. Now don't ask me 
 any questions. In good time you shall know all. 
 These letters do not bear on the case," and 
 Inspector Byrnes tore up the batch of replies 
 and tossed the fragments into his waste basket. 
 
 " You say you have a plant on the case? " 
 
 " Oh, that means that we have got down to 
 work. " 
 
 "Any clue?" 
 
 " Can't say, replied the inspector, chewing the 
 end of his half-lighted or smouldering cigar. 
 
 * A few days afterward all these places were closed by the 
 police.
 
 TIIE " PRIVATE LETTER BOX." 41 
 
 " Now tell me who are your social intimates, 
 who visits your house regularly?" 
 
 " Very few. My wife's health is delicate and 
 she sees little company. I am so devoted to my 
 business that I have no time for society. We 
 find our social pleasure in going to the theaters." 
 
 " Does your business keep you out much at 
 night about town? " 
 
 " Yes, in the season ; with the buyers and job- 
 bers." 
 
 " H um ! Minnie is not the ordinary anony- 
 mous letter writer whose object is blackmail or 
 conquest. She is on some other lay." 
 
 " I swear to you I know no one who could have 
 any reason to address me such letters. But for 
 the position my wife has taken I should have 
 been disposed to regard these letters as a practi- 
 cal joke and thrown them into the fire with a 
 laugh, after reading them." 
 
 " Being out of the criminal line there will be 
 more trouble in ferreting out this case than a 
 usual one of blackmail by regulars." 
 
 " Spare no expense." 
 
 " Do you suspect any of your friends ? " 
 
 ' Not one." 
 
 " If any of the replies had been significant in 
 connection with Minnie's case I should be 
 inclined to suspect Miss Bevins; but unless she 
 is a very deep one, she is only what she figures 
 for."
 
 42 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " I see this last letter bears the postmark of a 
 sub-station higher uptown." 
 
 " Yes," replied the Inspector, " that looks more 
 like a professional beginning to confuse the 
 trail." 
 
 The attendant rapped on the door. 
 
 " Come." 
 
 The attendant looked in, and backed out with- 
 out attracting the slightest attention from 
 Byrnes. 
 
 " The case is hardly developed." 
 
 The attendant rapped again, and at the word 
 " come," entered and handed Byrnes an envel- 
 ope, which the latter opened, glanced at the 
 scrawl in pencil on pad paper, and nodded to the 
 attendant to leave. 
 
 The scrawl read : 
 
 " Party not back. 
 
 " RALSTON." 
 
 ^ H um," said Inspector Byrnes, meditatively, 
 regarding his cigar affectionately. " Send me 
 other letters as they come ; don't mention the 
 case to any of your friends.' I'll send for you 
 when I want to see you ; don't come again until 
 I do."
 
 THE FIFTH LETTElt. 43 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE FIFTH LETTER. 
 
 LARKSPUR enjoined the secrecy on his wife 
 Inspector Byrnes had imposed on him, and she 
 respected the injunction excepting that she con- 
 fided in Miss Bevins ; but the request to that 
 lady that she should keep the matter entirely 
 private had not the slightest effect on her, and 
 she went about telling in the strictest confidence 
 all the details. 
 
 As no other letter came for several days, and 
 as Miss Bevins was too busy going about retail- 
 ing in the strictest confidence the scandal to call 
 and fan the flame of jealousy that had begun to 
 smoulder in Mrs. Larkspur's breast as she became 
 convinced from his actions that her husband was 
 sincere and earnest in his determination to ferret 
 out the mysterious Minnie, there was tranquil 
 routine in the home, until, more than a week 
 afterward, the following missive arrived : 
 
 DEAREST I am sorry to have thrown a 
 bombshell, as you say, into your home ; but did 
 you not tell me to send my letters to your home, 
 inclosed in a commercial envelope, with the 
 superscription in a clerical hand, so that you 
 could hear from me by a later mail than at your 
 office ? Now, why not see me ? Let us arranT f ' 
 our matters, and I'll stop writing. Don't waste
 
 44 VIDOCQ. 
 
 any more money in Herald Personals. Yovi 
 know where I am, who I am, and that I always 
 will be your own true, 
 
 MINNIE. 
 
 Mrs. Larkspur had opened this letter the 
 moment it arrived, and she was in a towering 
 rage of jealousy when her husband came, later. 
 
 " It is no use lying to me any longer. If you 
 have a spark of honor in you, you will make 
 peace with that poor wronged woman ! " she ex- 
 claimed, tossing him the letter, which, it is 
 almost needless to say, annoyed him beyond ex- 
 pression. 
 
 He examined the postmark, and found it was 
 that of the original letter. He inclosed it in an 
 envelope addressed to Inspector Byrnes, Police 
 Headquarters, Mulberry street, city, and mailed 
 it, taking it himself to the box on the corner. 
 
 Here, sauntering up the street, he met an old 
 friend of his wife, and, through her, of his own, 
 Mr. Black, who said he was going to the house 
 to call on them. 
 
 " My wife is slightly indisposed this evening," 
 Larkspur said, " but she may see an old friend 
 like you. Anyway, I shall be pleased to receive 
 you." 
 
 Mrs. Larkspur, however, sent down word that 
 she was indisposed, and begged to be excused, 
 and the two gentlemen went into the library,
 
 THE FIFTH LETTER. 45 
 
 where they could smoke and chat undisturbed by 
 any other callers. 
 
 Mr. Black was one of those well-dressed, ordi- 
 nary, conventional, easy-going gentlemen, who 
 would not attract attention from any one, except- 
 ing possibly because he had a nervous habit of 
 tearing off the corners of newspapers or notes 
 and rolling the fragments between his fingers 
 without ever being conscious of the fact. 
 
 He was quite well off, living on an income 
 from some manufacturing industry in one of the 
 New England cities, and passed as a gentleman 
 of leisure and pleasure, a confirmed bachelor, who 
 might leave for Europe to-morrow and return on 
 the same steamer if the fancy took him. 
 
 He had been up in New England on some 
 business, and had just returned via Albany, and 
 said he had not been to see them for so long 
 a time that he was beginning to feel ashamed of 
 himself. 
 
 Larkspur got very tired of him before he left, 
 as Black's conversation of conventional gener- 
 alities did not interest him in the least, and he 
 was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that 
 he frequently found that he was paying no atten- 
 tion while listening to his tattle. 
 
 Black noticed this aberration, and urged him 
 to confide in him, but Larkspur haughtily assured 
 him there was no trouble in his thoughts, while, 
 however, Black knew better, as he had that
 
 46 VIDOCQ. 
 
 afternoon, on his way from the train, met Miss 
 Bevins, who had confided to him the salacious 
 morceaux of domestic scandal, which caused him 
 to smile while he wondered who could be the 
 writer of the letters. 
 
 Black left quite a little mound of crumpled 
 and rolled fragments of paper on the table, an 
 evidence to those who knew him of his presence, 
 so long was he in his inquisition, which so far as 
 Larkspur was concerned, made him no wiser. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SCANDAL. 
 
 SEVERAL days afterward, in which there was 
 no change in the strained relations between the 
 husband and wife, they were mutually incensed 
 by a paragraph in the original of the modern so- 
 called "Society" papers for I am quite confi- 
 dent that Morris & Willis neyer contemplated in 
 their Home Journal (which so proudly maintains 
 its own) the contemporaneous " society " paper 
 Mr. Barksdale's Our Society, a pink-tinted 
 little sheet, which, like all pioneers, had a hard 
 time of it before suspending in bankruptcy. 
 
 A marked copy of the sheet was sent Mrs. 
 Larkspur by some kind friend. 
 
 Of course, they wondered how the idea got
 
 SCANDAL. 47 
 
 into the editor's head, for they did not know 
 that Miss Bevins had been so industriously cir- 
 culating the story, in the strictest confidence. 
 
 Of course, kind and probably well-meaning 
 friends sent each of them marked copies ; but as 
 no names were given, and only the facts hinted 
 at, Mr. Larkspur saw that he could take no 
 notice of the item. 
 
 There was a bond of sympathy between them, 
 a union for mutual protection, started by this 
 article, that, but for another missive from Minnie, 
 might have resulted in a reunion. 
 
 The mail one evening brought a large, square, 
 home-made envelope, with the superscription in 
 the well-known hand, but this time addressed 
 boldly and unmistakably to Mrs. Larkspur, to 
 whom the servant consequently naturally took it. 
 
 The envelope inclosed a photograph of a 
 young woman with a fine face seated beside Mr. 
 Larkspur. She was apparently a blonde, with 
 large blue eyes no doubt a very pretty and at- 
 tractive woman. Underneath the one, in the 
 hand of the letters, was written " Minnie," and 
 under the other " Andrew." 
 
 Mrs. Larkspur could hardly retain herself un- 
 til Mr. Larkspur came home; by which time she 
 had worked herself into such a towering passion 
 that she was literally beside herself. 
 
 When he came in she rushed to him and thrust 
 the photograph into his hand, exclaiming:
 
 48 F/DOC'Q. 
 
 " This settles it ! I go back to my father to- 
 night ! I would not believe you now under 
 oath ! Oh, don't talk to me ! " 
 
 Larkspur was almost dumfounded ; he could 
 not believe his eyes -at first. 
 
 " I know no such woman,." he said firmly. " I 
 never saw her to my knowledge. I never sat for 
 this photograph. Yes, mine is the same as that 
 by Sarony." 
 
 There was no imprint on the photograph, and 
 it was a clumsy bit of amateur work at best. 
 
 Comparing the Sarony photograph with "this 
 one, it was found they were identical or, rather, 
 that this one was a copy of Sarony's. 
 
 Mrs. Larkspur forbade her husband to address 
 her again, except in writing or through a third 
 party, and retired to her own apartments. 
 
 Before he left the next morning Mrs. Larkspur 
 sent in a note to the effect that she would return 
 to her father's, and consult him in regard to 
 commencing divorce proceedings. 
 
 He in reply wrote on the back of her note : 
 
 " If in thirty days from date hereof this mys- 
 tery is not cleared up to your entire satisfaction, 
 I will consent to a divorce and afford you the evi- 
 dence to obtain it.
 
 S PHOTO. 49 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MINNIE'S PHOTO. 
 
 LARKSPUR thought he could not intrust the 
 photograph to the mail, and decided to take 
 it to Headquarters on his way down town, 
 notwithstanding Inspector Byrnes' injunction 
 that he should not call again until sent 
 for. 
 
 He found Ralston in charge of the great de- 
 tective's desk, and that his envelope, in- 
 closing Minnie's last letter, had not been 
 opened. 
 
 Ralston vouchsafed the reply that the Inspec- 
 tor had been absent from the city on a big 
 forgery case, but that his return might be hourly 
 expected. 
 
 Larkspur showed Ralston the photograph, 
 which he hastily examined, exclaiming: 
 
 " This is a bulldozer, that is, two photographs 
 have been cut out and pasted together and then 
 photographed. The artist is a blooming amateur 
 and his work is very clumsy. You can see yours 
 is better taken originally than hers. How the 
 chap who takes the crooks for the rogues' gallery 
 will laugh when I show him this. We've got 
 Central Pete down-stairs and I'm going to take 
 him to have his photograph taken this afternoon
 
 50 VIDOCQ. 
 
 to go into the collection with his friend, Hungry 
 Joe." * 
 
 The door opened and in walked Inspector 
 Byrnes, imperturbable and serene, with the per- 
 ennial cigar in his mouth ; showing not the slight- 
 est fatigue after an arduous night, or the racking 
 thoughts filling his mind. 
 
 Larkspur hastily explained matters to him, 
 telling him about his wife's decision in regard to 
 a divorce. 
 
 " I have been very busy with an important 
 case, which is just finished," said the Inspector. 
 " I will get down to work on this case in earnest 
 now. I am satisfied the party is not a profes- 
 sional, but some friend of the family who knows 
 all the particulars." 
 
 " I can suspect no one," said Larkspur, fi- 
 nally. 
 
 " We can run down a crook easily, because we 
 understand the way they work. It takes time to 
 get a plant on a new man. However, there must 
 always be a beginning, and we'll soon get onto 
 the lay of this new one." 
 
 " I sometimes fear he will prove too smart for 
 us." 
 
 " Never fear that. While it is true that suck- 
 ers are born every minute and flymen only about 
 
 * Central Pete and Hungry Joe were two prominent confidence 
 men, the latter achieving celebrity by buncoing Oscar Wilde.
 
 MINNIE'S PHOTO. 61 
 
 once in twenty-four hours, one flyman is equal to 
 the twenty-five suckers of the total number born 
 who become crooks. Facts show that as soon as 
 a crook devises a new scheme a smart detective 
 turns up to outwit him.* So it goes; one day it 
 is the crook who triumphs, the next the detec- 
 tive a trite exemplification of the adage that 
 every dog has his day. This case of yours has 
 peculiar features, and I am satisfied that revenge 
 and not blackmail is the motive. I have many 
 such cases of the -kind where parties have been 
 annoyed for months by anonymous letters. I 
 have never yet failed in running down these 
 cases." 
 
 "Spare no expense," said Larkspur. 
 
 " Send me anything else that comes, and re- 
 spond at once, no matter if it is at midnight 
 when I send for you. Good morning." 
 
 Larkspur retired with a bow. 
 
 Byrnes tapped his bell for Ralston, and that 
 personage immediately entered. 
 
 " I want you to get right down to this case," 
 said he, handing him- the letter he had just 
 opened, and showing him the photograph. 
 
 "You see, both these are posted where you 
 piped your man. Lay for him. He's returned 
 
 * The afternoon and next morning's papers contained lengthy 
 accounts of his discovery and rapturing one of the most formid- 
 able gangs of forgers ever organized in this country.
 
 52 VIDOCQ. 
 
 some other way. Show our artist this for 
 points," he said, handing Ralston the photo- 
 graph. 
 
 Ralston repaired to the studio of the photo- 
 grapher who had the contract for taking all the 
 photographs for the collection of criminals kept 
 at each station house and at Headquarters, and 
 known as the " Rogues' Gallery," and submitted 
 to him for criticism the photograph handed him. 
 
 "A blooming amateur's work!" exclaimed 
 the artist. " The original of the man is much 
 better than that of the woman. Cut out, pasted 
 on a back, then took see the shadows. This is 
 a stall parties never took together any photo- 
 grapher can tell that ! " 
 
 Ralston went uptown and shadowed the letter- 
 box, and again the next morning without any 
 discovery of his party, and as no letters had been 
 received by Larkspur, it was concluded he had 
 left the city again after mailing the last two. 
 
 He determined, however, to shadow the box 
 until he piped his man or had his attention 
 attracted elsewhere by the selection of a new 
 mailing point by the writer under the signature 
 of " Minnie."
 
 EALSTON'S DIAEY. 53 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 RALSTON'S DIARY. 
 
 A WEEK sped by ; no more letters were re- 
 ceived from Minnie ; Ralston could find no clue , 
 Mrs. Larkspur had accepted Larkspur's proposi- 
 tion to remain quiet for thirty days, and seven 
 had already elapsed. 
 
 The cessation of the letters convinced the 
 wife that her husband had made his peace with 
 Minnie, and she began to wonder if she could 
 obtain a divorce with such evidence if it were 
 controverted by her husband. 
 
 The photograph was a parting shot, and no 
 more letters were received from " Minnie," who 
 was evidently satisfied- with the havoc she had 
 played in the Larkspur household. 
 
 Ralston decided that he would be more likely 
 to pipe his man in a promenade when least 
 expected than at the usual letter box, and he 
 took to strolling the populous uptown thorough- 
 fares. 
 
 He came across his man again the second 
 morning, and shadowed him from that time. 
 
 I cannot do better than copy a few entries 
 from his diary of the case : 
 
 Tuesday Piped party going up Broadway, 
 near Eleventh Street. Liquored at Union Square,
 
 54 VIDOCQ. 
 
 also Fifth Avenue. Lunched at Brown's chop 
 house. Saw pictures at Academy of Design. 
 Dinner at Del's. Saw Fanny Davenport in 
 ''Charity" at Fifth Avenue. Left party in his 
 flat on Madison avenue, near th Street. 
 
 Wednesday Piped party coming out flat, 
 quarter to ten. Downtown to a broker's in cars ; 
 uptown afoot. Stopped at Gimbread's and pur- 
 chased some pink tinted note paper, same as used 
 by party. To flat, remained in. 
 
 Thursday Party sick. Piped elevator boy ; 
 party income man : amateur photographer ; good 
 fellow. Has girls to come to dine in his flat. 
 He took photograph of elevator boy. 
 
 Friday Party out. Uptown to see girl in flat 
 corner Lexington Avenue and th street. 
 Walked down Lexington past letter-box but 
 did not post any letter. Routine day shadow. 
 Mem. Does the girl write the letters on paper he 
 takes to her ; does he mail 'em in nearest letter- 
 box ? Solid with the elevator boy. 
 
 Saturday Party in until noontime. Blonde 
 girl called and lunched with him. They attended 
 matinee of " Hazel Kirke," Madison Square. 
 Party ordinary and conventional, but nervous, 
 with habit of tearing off and crumpling fragments 
 of paper. Tore off all the corners of his pro- 
 gramme. Dinner at Delmonico's. The two went 
 to girl's flat. 
 
 Sunday Party leaves for Stamford, early
 
 SOME CLUES. 55 
 
 train. Got into flat by elevator boy to see his 
 photo. Find lots photos of girls which party 
 would not like seen. Mem. See Comstock. 
 Party not expected back till Tuesday. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SOME CLUES. 
 
 RALSTON succeeded in ingratiating himself in 
 the confidence and friendship of the elevator boy 
 to the extent that he succeeded in getting into 
 the flat again, under pretence of wishing to 
 inspect the photos of feminine beauty. 
 
 He rummaged the little room used as a photo- 
 graphic studio so thoroughly that in the dark 
 room he unearthed a plate which he discovered 
 \vas the one which printed the photograph of 
 Minnie and Larkspur. 
 
 Overhauling some scraps in a waste bin in the 
 corner, he discovered the fragments of the origi- 
 nal picture, and found that two photographs had 
 been cut and pasted side by side on a background ; 
 proving, as the expert had said, the two had 
 never been taken in a group. 
 
 He also discovered that the gentleman did not 
 use pink tinted paper for his private use, but 
 that he had a stock of such on hand. 
 
 He found a note from the girl uptown and
 
 56 VIDOCQ. 
 
 identified her chirography with that of Minnie ; all 
 so quietly and dexterously that the suspicions of 
 the elevator boy, who took charge of the flat 
 when off duty, were not excited, nor any of the 
 things rummaged so as to attract the attention 
 of the owner when he returned. 
 
 Ralston reported to Inspector Byrnes. 
 
 "You've planted him," said the Inspector. 
 " Now I don't want any mention of any name, 
 but go and see Larkspur and pipe him if he has a 
 friend who is in the habit of tearing off bits of 
 paper from newspapers or letters when any hap- 
 pen to be around and rolling the fragments in his 
 fingers. That will be as good a clue as we 
 want." 
 
 Ralston visited Larkspur in his office, alleging 
 that he was in the neighborhood and thought he 
 would look in to say that no more letters had 
 been received at Headquarters. 
 
 " None have come," replied Larkspur, " and 
 but for that photograph the trouble between my 
 wife and myself might be healed. By Jove, if 
 you do not unravel this case before the thirty 
 days are over I really believe my wife will carry 
 out her threat of suing for a divorce. She is a 
 very peculiar person in her way." 
 
 Ralston laughed, observing : 
 
 " Speaking of peculiar people, I came down in 
 the cars with a man who, evidently unconsciously, 
 in nervous abstraction tore off the corners of his
 
 CLOSE WORK. f)7 
 
 newspaper and rolled the fragments in his fin- 
 gers, until it actually made me nervous to watch 
 him." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I have seen that. I have a friend 
 who always leaves a litter of pellets rolled this 
 way wherever he sits, if there is any paper in his 
 reach." 
 
 "To a detective, that would be a clue in shad- 
 owing a man," said Ralston, " though not, of 
 course, in the case of your friend." 
 
 " Mr. Black oh, no ! " laughed Larkspur in 
 response: " His friends call his little pellets his 
 cards!" 
 
 Ralston left pretty well satisfied with his inves- 
 tigation. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CLOSE WORK. 
 
 RALSTON decided that his next move was to 
 get into the confidence of the blonde young lady 
 in the flat up Lexington avenue. 
 
 He addressed her a note from an uptown 
 hotel, to the effect that 
 
 " If you remember having met Captain Amory 
 of the English Army, Captain Amory would do 
 himself the honor of calling. The bearer will 
 await answer."
 
 58 VIDOCQ. 
 
 The bearer brought in reply the following at 
 the bottom of the above : 
 
 " I do not remember having met Captain 
 Amory leastways the name but shall be happy 
 to have you call all the same. Better let me 
 know when you are coming." 
 
 This was in the identical hand of the notes 
 signed by Minnie, but plain white stationery, 
 and not the pink-tinted, was used. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 STILL ANOTHER LETTER. 
 
 MATTERS were unexpectedly complicated one 
 morning by the receipt by Mrs. Larkspur of the 
 following letter: 
 
 " DEAR MADAM If you will meet me on the 
 corner of Fifty-ninth street and Seventh avenue 
 Monday morning, between half-past ten and 
 eleven o'clock, if it is clear, and the next clear 
 day if it is not, I will tell you who Minnie is and 
 her story on the receipt from you of $50. Wear 
 a corsage of red roses and I will introduce myself 
 to you. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 MRS. WALTON. 
 
 Of course Mrs. Larkspur immediately sent for 
 Miss Bevins, and requested that lady to see Mrs.
 
 STILL A NOT in: i; LETTER. 59 
 
 Walton for her, which that busybody was only 
 too happy to do. 
 
 She appeared at the appointed place at the 
 time indicated, wearing a corsage of red roses 
 and after a cautious and curious glance a faded 
 and mysterious looking woman of an uncertain 
 age and the flashy attire of a certain disreputable 
 class of women accosted her, after a cautious and 
 assuring glance of recognition. 
 
 "Mrs. Larkspur, I presume?" she inquired in 
 a harsh, unsympathetic voice. 
 
 "Yes," assented Miss Bevins. 
 
 " Have you $50 with you?" asked the other 
 moving away from the range of a window in one 
 of the Navarro flats. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Give it to me ! " 
 
 " Here it is ! " replied Miss Bevins, handing 
 her a roll consisting of two XX and one X bills 
 which the other clutched and quickly pock- 
 eted. 
 
 " Minnie is Minnie Staples, who lives in the 
 - apartments on Sixth Avenue, under the 
 name of Mrs. Strange. Minnie and the gent 
 have been acquainted for some years, and he 
 used to be great spoons on her, but now wants to 
 break with her. I think she intends to make 
 trouble, but she can be bought easily. You 
 might go and see her; but you must use some 
 other name, as she is very jealous of you."
 
 60 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " How do you come to know about this mat- 
 ter?. " asked Miss Bevins. 
 
 " Oh, yes. Why from her," quickly responded 
 the other, the blush of a lie showing beneath 
 and spreading beyond the rouge on her puffy 
 cheeks. 
 
 ' Do you know Mr. Larkspur? " 
 
 "Yes that is by sight. I have seen him with 
 her; but she is so jealous of him she would 
 never introduce him to anyone." 
 
 " When did you last see them together ? " 
 
 " Yesterday yesterday afternoon." 
 
 " Is she going to stop writing the letters?" 
 
 " He is trying to get her to stop," quickly 
 responded Mrs. Walton, taking her cue from the 
 drift of the question. 
 
 '' Could you get me a photograph of her? " 
 
 " Yes, for fifty dollars more." 
 
 " Where can I address you ? " 
 
 " H umph ! In the Herald personal column." 
 
 " I may be able to spare the money. I should 
 rather see her photograph than call on her. 
 Well, I'll let you know through a personal when 
 I want to see you again." 
 
 "Just make the meeting here," said Mrs. Wal- 
 ton. 
 
 "Very well," replied Miss Bevins, turning to 
 retrace her steps. 
 
 " Now it will not do for us to separate this 
 way," said the wily and experienced Mrs. Wai-
 
 61 
 
 ton, lest we might attract the attention of 
 passers-by. No\v, you continue across and I'll 
 keep on easterly. Just as if we had accidentally 
 met each other," and with sublime assurance 
 Mrs. Walton leaned over and kissed her on the 
 check and moved away with the cordial famil- 
 iarity of an old friend. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 " MINNIE." 
 
 MlSS BEVINS naturally conceived a repug- 
 nance to Mrs. Walton, but she was not shrewd 
 enough to see that she was deceived grossly by 
 her, and she believed implicitly the story that 
 that personage had spun for her. 
 
 After leaving her she decided that she should 
 complete her mission, and call on Minnie Staples 
 before returning to Mrs. Larkspur. 
 
 She walked across Sixth Avenue and down 
 that thoroughfare to the apartment house indi- 
 cated. 
 
 There, sure enough and plain enough, was 
 Minnie Strange's name on a card in the letter 
 box under an electric bell, indicating an apart- 
 ment on the third floor. 
 
 She boldly touched the button. In a minute 
 or so there was a click and the door opened.
 
 62 VIDOCQ. 
 
 Miss Bevins not without some hesitation but 
 inspired by what she considered the sanctity of 
 her mission, walked there was no elevator to 
 the third floor, and there in an open door near 
 the landing she encountered a woman, in a 
 morning wrapper, who inquired : 
 
 " Who do you wish to see ? " 
 
 " Miss Mrs. Staples." 
 
 " I am the person," replied the other, throwing 
 open the door and standing aside for her to 
 enter. 
 
 Miss Bevins walked into a reception room, a 
 cheaply furnished apartment, in which the most 
 conspicuous objects were several highly colored 
 chromos of Autumnal American scenery. 
 
 Portieres hid the adjoining rooms, from a 
 remote one of which floated the voices of a man 
 and woman evidently on very good terms with 
 each other. 
 
 Mrs. Staples motioned her to an easy chair in 
 the center, and inquired. 
 
 " Do you come to meet any one ? " 
 
 " I want to see you." 
 
 " Oh ! " 
 
 " I am Mrs. Larkspur," said Miss Bevins, for- 
 getting Mrs. Walton's admonition. 
 
 " Oh ! " exclaimed Mrs. Staples, sinking into a 
 chair near her. " He has treated me shamefully, 
 I love him still, though. 
 
 Mrs. Staples affected to be moved to tears,
 
 "MINNTK." 63 
 
 and she mopped her face with a crumpled and 
 soiled handkerchief which she took from the 
 folds of her gown. 
 
 Miss Bevins had a better opportunity to scan 
 the face of the woman than in the dim light of the 
 hallway, and found her face, if anything colder, 
 craftier and more brazen than Mrs. Walton's, 
 especially as the rouge seemed to have remained 
 on over night, and she evidently wore a wig of 
 blonde ringlets. 
 
 " He has treated me very badly," sobbed Mrs. 
 Staples, " and such promises he made to me ! 
 One time there was nothing too good for me. 
 But I suppose he has fallen in love with some 
 other woman." 
 
 " But why do you not let him go ? Why do 
 you write those annoying letters?" 
 
 "Them letters?" exclaimed Mrs. Staples, a 
 little surprised, but quickly recovering herself. 
 " Oh, heaven ! I could not restrain my feel- 
 ings." 
 
 *' That photograph was not yours ? " 
 
 " What photograph ? " inquired the other, 
 again perplexed. 
 
 " Why, the one you sent." 
 
 "Oh, yes, now I remember. Yes, that was 
 me before he marred my life and robbed me of 
 my youth." 
 
 " How long have you know Mr. Larkspur? " 
 
 " Oh, for several years let's see seven years
 
 64 viDocq. 
 
 and a perfect gent he was until recently. I can- 
 not understand why he broke with me. Some 
 other girl, I suppose." 
 
 " What do you propose to do?" inquired Miss 
 Bevins, after a pause. 
 
 "Make him pay handsomely; or I will make 
 him trouble," responded the other, who was 
 interrupted by the sound of the door bell. 
 
 Excusing herself to Miss Bevins, she pulled the 
 latch and went out into the hall, closing the door 
 behind her. 
 
 Miss Bevins could hear a brief conversation 
 between Mrs. Staples and a man, who on being 
 requested to call later, departed, after receiving 
 what sounded to Miss Bevins like a kiss ; and 
 Mrs. Staples returned, observing: 
 
 " I have so many callers that sometimes I can- 
 not accommodate all ; " when observing that 
 the remark rather mystified her visitor, she 
 added : 
 
 " He is my lawyer, come to see me about my 
 case, but I told him you were here, and we 
 should probably settle it between us. Won't 
 you join me in a bottle ? " 
 
 " No no, thanks ! " quickly replied Miss 
 Bevins, beginning to regret her folly in making 
 the visit. 
 
 " Fizz not beer," continued Mrs. Staples. 
 " Good fizz, too. Now won't you have a glass ? " 
 
 A loud laugh in an adjoining room induced her
 
 "MINNIE. 19 65 
 
 to go to the portiere leading into the hall and 
 exclaim : 
 
 "Less noise, please: don't think you own this 
 place ! " 
 
 Miss Bevins thought she heard a male voice 
 reply, " Oh, dry up ! " but she was not sure, as 
 she was beginning to be perplexed how she 
 should terminate the interview. 
 
 Mrs. Staples sank into a chair, and gazed 
 meditately and maliciously a few minutes on the 
 floor, mentally deciding that she must be cau- 
 tious in dealing with her visitor, whom she 
 characterized as " a back number." 
 
 " I want money, and if I don't get it, I'll make 
 trouble ; that's all," finally said Mrs. Staples. 
 
 "How much do you want?" inquired Miss 
 Bevins, considering the question the natural 
 response to the remark. 
 
 "How much have you got with you?" asked 
 the other brightening. 
 
 " Oh, only a trifle. I did not come with the 
 idea of making a settlement." 
 
 " Oh, you just came to pry about, I suppose ? " 
 
 " I came to discuss matters with you." 
 
 " Well, money talks, and that's the only kind 
 of talk that I understand," responded Mrs. 
 Staples, sullenly. " If I don't get money I'll 
 make trouble, and no end of it. I've got influen- 
 tial friends among the politicians, and a strong 
 pull to carry my own way. I'm all right with
 
 66 
 
 the police, too ; you see I know my business. 
 But for cash you can buy this husband of yours 
 cheap." 
 
 " Won't you name a sum ? " 
 
 " Well, I'll tell you what I'll do. If you'll 
 give Walton fifty dollars for her trouble, I'll 
 settle for one hundred dollars. I'll never let him 
 come near here again, and you'll never hear of 
 me again for that amount, cash in hand," added 
 Mrs. Staples, with an ill-concealed chuckle at her 
 own cleverness. 
 
 " I shall be here to see you again," said Miss 
 Bevins, rising. 
 
 "When will you call again?" asked Mrs. 
 Staples, peremptorily. 
 
 " Probably to-morrow," said Miss Bevins, 
 advancing toward the door. 
 
 "Well, I shall expect you." 
 
 " Good morning," and Miss Bevins darted into 
 the hall-way and down the stairs, not breathing 
 freely until she reached the street and had joined 
 in the throng. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 ANOTHER "PERSONAL." 
 
 MlSS BEVINS gave a detailed account of her 
 interview with Mrs. Walton and Mrs. Staples to
 
 ANOTHER "PERSONAL." 67 
 
 Mrs. Larkspur, who in her excitement, was ready 
 to condemn her husband and believe the state- 
 ments of those two wretches. 
 
 "To think that he should have preferred such 
 a creature to me ! " exclaimed the wife indig- 
 nantly. 
 
 To be just to Miss Bevins, however, she did 
 not believe in either of the women, especially as 
 now, again scanning the photograph of Minnie, 
 she could not discover the slightest resemblance 
 between the two, and she urged Mrs. Larkspur 
 to confide in her husband and seek his advice. 
 
 The story was told to Mr. Larkspur when he 
 came home to dinner, Miss Bevins remaining to 
 add her testimony. 
 
 Much to the delight of Miss Bevins, Mr. Lark- 
 spur complimented her on her courage and 
 sagacity, adding that he should never forget her 
 kindness. She gave him Mrs. Walton's letter. 
 
 " I shall not bother about this one any more 
 than about the other," said Larkspur, carefully 
 folding Mrs. Walton's letter and placing it in his 
 pocket. " I shall call Byrnes' attention to this 
 one also." 
 
 And after dinner, he went to Headquarters, 
 again ignoring the Inspector's injunction not to 
 call on him so frequently, and laid the matter 
 before him. 
 
 Inspector Byrnes smiled as he glanced over the 
 letter.
 
 68 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " These are professionals who have somehow 
 got onto the case through the personal. This is 
 blackmail, pure and simple, and I don't believe 
 there is any connection between the parties. 
 Still there may be," he added, looking at his 
 watch. " It's not too late to put a personal in 
 the Herald, appointing a meeting with Mrs. 
 Walton to-morrow. Go and do so. Just say : 
 1 Mrs. W a dash n. Meet me to-day as yester- 
 day. Mrs. L.' Have the lady there. Now 
 leave the rest to me, and don't ask any questions. 
 Good evening." 
 
 "But" 
 
 "Now, don't ask me to tell you what I am 
 going to do. I never tell my plans to any one. 
 I remember as a boy reading of George Washing- 
 ton the immortal George being once asked by 
 an aid to tell him his plans. Washington re- 
 plied : 'Now, I know my plans, that's I. Now, 
 you want me to tell you my plans, that's another 
 i. Now two ones together form the numeral ii; 
 that's too many to be intrusted safely with any 
 secret.' I keep my plans to myself, and that is 
 one of the secrets of my success. Good even- 
 ing." 
 
 " Good evening." 
 
 " Be sure to have the appointment kept to- 
 morrow if it is clear, and the next day if it is 
 not," said Inspector Byrnes, turning to a pile of 
 papers, on his desk, as he left.
 
 CLOSING IN. 69 
 
 " Shall I put in the personal again to-morrow 
 if it rains? " 
 
 " No ; they'll keep the appointment the next 
 day." 
 
 Mr. Larkspur handed the personal in at one of 
 the uptown offices of the Herald, wondering why 
 the Inspector wasted time on these people, when 
 he had pronounced them frauds, and whether he 
 really had a clew to the real culprits or not. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 CLOSING IN. 
 
 THE next morning Miss Bevins repaired to 
 the meeting place of the previous day at the 
 same hour, but she had nearly traversed the 
 block before Mrs. Walton made her appearance, 
 coming out of the Seventh Avenue entrance of 
 the Park. 
 
 Mrs. Walton had been watching Miss Bevins' 
 movements from the paved walk in the Park, 
 where the trees completely sheltered her from 
 view. 
 
 Mrs. Walton felicitated herself that she had 
 made an impression on the lady and she would 
 require her diplomatic services, but aware that 
 the Penal Code passed by the last Legislature 
 had an article relating to her business, she exer-
 
 cised a natural and advisable discretion to assure 
 herself that the lady was not accompanied or 
 followed. 
 
 She stepped briskly up to Miss Bevins, and 
 proposed they should stroll into an arbor she 
 indicated in the Park, and thither they went. 
 
 Mrs. Walton told her that her friend Minnie 
 had sent for her last evening, and she had finally 
 induced her to promise to let up on Larkspur for 
 $100, to be paid to the speaker. 
 
 " Now, if you have the money about you, it's 
 all right ; if you haven't, you'd better run home 
 and get it. I'll meet you here at one o'clock, 
 and " 
 
 Mrs. Walton's voice failed her ; her features 
 blanched ; she clutched Miss Bevins' arm for 
 support, and would have fallen prone from the 
 rustic bench to the earth if that lady had not 
 put her arm around her. 
 
 She quickly controlled herself, however, and 
 assuming a serious tone, she said, volubly and 
 loudly : 
 
 " What you say may be true, but I cannot help 
 you." 
 
 Her eyes never wandered from a man who was 
 discovered approaching around the bend in the 
 walk a man whose recognition almost paralyzed 
 her. 
 
 He was Inspector Byrnes. 
 
 He sauntered along, hat down over his brow,
 
 CLOSING IN. 71 
 
 unlit cigar in his mouth, hands in his pockets, 
 eyes on the ground. 
 
 He was sitting in a coupe on the corner when 
 Mrs. Walton and Miss Bevins met, but she had 
 not noticed him, or she would never have recog^ 
 nized Miss Bevins. 
 
 No one could have thought he was on business 
 intent, so leisurely and indifferent was he, until 
 he arrived immediately in front of them. A lit- 
 tle back strolled one of his detectives. 
 
 " I want you," he said, abruptly turning upon 
 them. " You know who I am," he added, ad- 
 dressing Mrs. Walton. 
 
 "Oh! Mr. Byrnes, what for?" she exclaimed 
 piteously. " I have only been showing this lady 
 the way in the Park," she said appealingly to 
 Miss Bevins. 
 
 " I know what you are here for," said Byrnes. 
 " Now go on ahead to Jefferson Market on a 
 Sixth avenue car you understand ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied Mrs. Walton meekly sup- 
 pressing a whimper, walking in the direction 
 indicated, followed, or " piped," by the associate. 
 
 " You go to Mr. Larkspur and have him bring 
 you to the Police Court on th street at half- 
 past one P. M.," said Byrnes to Miss Bevins, 
 who until then did not breathe freely, lest she 
 might be called upon to accompany Mrs. Walton. 
 
 " Yes, sir," replied Miss Bevins, taking a short 
 cut to the Sixth Avenue Elevated.
 
 72 VIDOCO. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 CAPTURED. 
 
 ALMOST simultaneously with Inspector Byrnes' 
 appearance before Mrs. Walton, Ralston pre- 
 sented himself at Mrs. Staples' door, and receiv- 
 ing the usual salutation to strangers : 
 
 " What do you want ? " 
 
 Had answered suavely : 
 
 " I want you ; " and showing his authority, he, 
 in a few words, convinced her that it was wise for 
 her to accompany him to the Police Court to 
 answer a charge of " Conspiring to obtain money 
 under false pretences." 
 
 Mrs. Staples, who had had similar expe- 
 riences before, was not as completely upset as 
 Mrs. Walton, who was terrorized by the sight of 
 the great detective, but she was perceptibly dis- 
 turbed, nevertheless. 
 
 "Can't this be fixed?'' she faltered, leading 
 the way into the room, closely followed by 
 Ralston, who was determined to be alert for any 
 attempt to escape. 
 
 " No, nothing can be fixed. Come, be quick, 
 or you may be to late too see your pal, Mrs. 
 Walton, sent down-stairs " 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed Mrs. Staples. <c Oh ! it's 
 that Larkspur case. I thought that would bring
 
 CAPTURED. 73 
 
 us trouble ; but I'm innocent, I am, unless she 
 convinces the jury I'm in with her. But I am 
 not ! " 
 
 " Come, I say ; be quick. You want to talk to 
 the judge, not to me ! " answered Ralston gruf- 
 fly and impatiently. 
 
 Mrs. Staples touched the button of an electric 
 bell, and almost instantly a stout and elderly 
 negress appeared. 
 
 " Bring me my bonnet and cloak," she said, 
 observing to Ralston as the negress disappeared, 
 " I know you would not want to let me out of 
 your sight ; you see how considerate I am ! " 
 
 The negress reappeared with a stylish velvet 
 cloak and a bonnet to match ; Mrs. Staples 
 plumped herself down on a chair, and, with the 
 aid of a small hand mirror, proceeded to arrange 
 her hair and adjust her bonnet, observing, as she 
 thrust out her feet : 
 
 " Button my shoes," which the negress, kneel- 
 ing, proceeded to do with a silver-handled button 
 hook which she took from the table. 
 
 Mrs. Staples, without more ado, meekly ac- 
 companied Ralston to the Police Court, where 
 she was confronted by Mrs. Walton, in charge of 
 Inspector Byrnes. 
 
 " It's all up with us ! " she whispered to Mrs. 
 Walton, " If he's got onto us ! " meaning that 
 the great detective always bagged his game. 
 
 I will not weary the reader, nor is it pertinent
 
 74 VIDOCQ. 
 
 to my story to chronicle the details of the con- 
 viction of the two women on Miss Bevins' 
 testimony. They were each fined $300 and 
 sentenced for one year. There was a strong 
 political influence exerted in their favor, but 
 Byrnes' determined prosecution of the case 
 secured the verdict. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 MR. BLACK UNMASKED. 
 
 THE conviction of the conspirators, Mrs. 
 Walton and Mrs. Staples, did not furnish any 
 evidence to Mrs. Larkspur that she was not just 
 in her charges against her husband, and her sus- 
 picions and her intention to obtain a divorce 
 became stronger than ever : especially as the 
 great Inspector Byrnes, who had been so active 
 in the case of the two women, had been working 
 several weeks with the evidence of the letters 
 without apparently finding the slightest clue. 
 
 As the thirty days rolled round she became 
 decided, she would insist on a divorce, as the 
 calm, or philosophic indifference of her husband, 
 growing out of his confidence that Inspector 
 Byrnes would in good time vindicate him, rather 
 nettled her. 
 
 The twenty-eighth day dawned and still there
 
 Mil. RLAClt UNMASKED. 75 
 
 Were no tidings, and but for Inspector Byrnes' 
 repeated injunction that he should not come to 
 him until sent for, Larkspur could not have 
 restrained his curiosity. 
 
 The next morning, soon after his arrival at the 
 office, he was summoned by Inspector Byrnes by 
 the following dispatch : 
 
 " Come to me at once. 
 
 "BYRNES." 
 
 He went immediately to Headquarters, finding 
 the Inspector impatiently awaiting him. 
 
 Rising immediately that he entered the office, 
 Inspector Byrnes led the way to the prison 
 rooms " below," and indicated a cell, and for 
 him to look in the grated window. 
 
 Larkspur peered into the little apartment 
 and discovered sitting on the cot bedstead a 
 faded, blond-haired young woman, who looked 
 the picture of despair, dejectedly gazing on the 
 floor, almost unmindful of his presence. 
 
 "Who is that?" he inquired, turning to 
 Inspector Byrnes, who, with his hands stuck 
 characteristically into his pockets (an indica- 
 tion, by the way, students of character say, of 
 secrecy and secretive habits). 
 
 " Minnie ! " 
 
 " Never saw her before in my life ! " responded 
 Larkspur, taking another glance, this time at- 
 tracting her attention.
 
 76 FIDOCQ. 
 
 " What's the matter with you ? I don't know 
 you ! " shouted the indignant prisoner. 
 
 Inspector Byrnes took Larkspur's arm and led 
 him upstairs again, though not back into his 
 office, but by a side door out into the main corri- 
 dor, crossing which he inserted a key in a door, 
 opening which he thrust Larkspur in ahead of 
 himself, and closing the door as if to guard against 
 an escape, an action more the result of force of 
 habit than any necessity of discretion in this case. 
 
 Larkspur found himself in a large, square 
 room, arranged like a museum. 
 
 In cases against the walls and on tables were 
 displayed all the paraphernalia of a burglar's 
 complete outfit, including the tools employed in 
 the robbery of the Manhattan Savings Institu- 
 tion, the detection of which won Inspector 
 Byrnes his distinction as the smartest detective 
 on the force. 
 
 In this room, known as the "museum," is 
 stored all the trophies of the captured burglars, 
 firebugs, gambling raids, etc., etc., properly 
 labelled. 
 
 The room is sometimes used to detain parties 
 awaiting examination by the Inspector in his 
 room across the hall. 
 
 Larkspur's attention was attracted by the 
 figure of a man in an alcove with his back 
 toward them, evidently trying to escape the at- 
 tention of those who came in.
 
 MR. BLACK UNMASKED. 77 
 
 " Here," said Inspector Byrnes, in a voice of 
 
 command. 
 
 The figure turned. 
 
 " Mr. Mr. Black! " exclaimed Larkspur, mov- 
 ing toward him. 
 
 Byrnes caught him by the shoulder. 
 
 "larkspur ! " said Black, advancing, but paus- 
 ing on a glance from Inspector Byrnes. 
 
 "Silence!" shouted Inspector Byrnes: "there 
 is the author of all your misery, sir ! " 
 
 He then proceeded to hurriedly recite to Lark- 
 spur all the details of Ralston's shadowing 
 Black ; the investigation of his flat and the dis- 
 covery of the photographic plate, the original 
 prepared photograph for copying, the pink- 
 tinted note-paper, the relations of Black and the 
 unfortunate girl down-stairs, and the conclusive 
 evidence that she was used as a cat's-paw to write 
 the letters. 
 
 A more abject picture of humiliation and deg- 
 redation than Black presented at different stages 
 of the recital cannot be imagined. 
 
 He actually shook with terror and cowed like 
 a supplicant after confession of some horrible 
 wrong, aware that he was not entitled to 
 mercy. 
 
 Larkspur became like a statue, his face bleach- 
 ing almost to the hue of colorless marble. 
 
 " What have you to say for yourself, you 
 scoundrel?" suddenly exclaimed Larkspur, ad-
 
 78 VIDOCQ. 
 
 vancing toward the miserable object of his 
 wrath and indignation as if to strike him. 
 
 Inspector Byrnes however, caught him by the 
 arm and pulled him back. 
 
 Black controlled himself with a perceptible 
 effort, and managed to sputter out : 
 
 " I loved your wife before you married her. 
 She she discarded me for you because she 
 thought, knew you had more money than I 
 had! " 
 
 " Scoundrel ! " 
 
 " I could not endure your happiness : I envied 
 you your happiness ; in an evil moment, not cal- 
 culating on the extent of the injury, I sought to 
 sow a little discord ." 
 
 The wretch fell to the floor in a swoon. 
 
 Inspector Byrnes took Larkspur by the arm 
 and led him out of the room back into his own. 
 
 In the hallway he ordered an attendant to go 
 in and assist the suffering man. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 INSPECTOR BYRNES' MOTTO. 
 
 " Now," said Inspector Byrnes, as they took 
 seats in his office, " I believe always in temper- 
 ing justice with mercy. I am always inclined to 
 be easy with the first offence. Those two women 
 are old offenders, reg'lar professionals, and conse- 
 quently I had no mercy for them. Now, in the
 
 INSPECTOR liYKXES' MOTTO. 79 
 
 case of Black, he is not a professional : he was 
 inspired by revenge and not blackmail, and I'll 
 answer that he'll not again attempt anything of 
 the kind as malicious anonymous letter writing." 
 
 " I can scarcely trust my senses," observed 
 Mr. Larkspur. " I considered him one of my 
 sincerest friends." 
 
 " If you wish to press charges against him," 
 continued Inspector Byrnes, "you can send him 
 to Sing Sing, but it will bring you into unpleas- 
 ant notoriety, and 
 
 " I'll take any advice you give, Inspector," 
 interrupted Larkspur. 
 
 "Well, now that the mystery can be cleared 
 satisfactorily to your wife, and the mischief set- 
 tled, you'll not make any charges against Black 
 or his accomplice, and I'll dismiss them with a 
 lecture that will last them the rest of their lives, 
 especially as I shall tell them I sha'll keep an eye 
 on them, and if I ever catch them in any 
 crooked work again I'll railroad them without 
 mercy." 
 
 Soon afterward, after Larkspur had left, Black 
 and his confederate were released, and, haunted 
 by the guilty conscience that made it misery for 
 him to encounter on the street any of the parties, 
 Black and the woman shortly went to Europe, 
 where they remain in obscurity on the Continent, 
 while the happy reunion of the Larkspurs that 
 evening has continued unbroken ever since.
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF BROADWAY. 
 
 BROADWAY ! One of the great streets of the 
 world; the great central thoroughfare of the 
 great Empire City. 
 
 Thoroughly cosmopolitan in its diversity of 
 architecture as well in its sign-boards, it is a good 
 index to the varied and complex life of the great 
 metropolis of 'the New World ; the story of its 
 growth from a country lane that crossed a stream 
 that almost made an island of that portion below 
 the present Canal Street is the history of the pro- 
 gress of one of the greatest cities in the world. 
 
 It is kaleidoscopic in its variety of architecture ; 
 it is a moving panorama of humanity and traffic. 
 
 Broadway is not only the great central business 
 thoroughfare of the Empire City for such it 
 continues to be, though the day is perhaps not 
 distant when the already commenced extension 
 of Fifth Avenue (whicli will divide the city its 
 entire length from the Battery to the Harlem
 
 THE R OMA A T ( ! K OF H R OA I) WA Y. 8 1 
 
 River) will make that the great centripetal point 
 in the metropolis but it is also the popular 
 resort, where .Vice and Virtue, the Rich and 
 the Poor meet on common ground with the vota- 
 ries of Fashion, and representatives of Pride, 
 the Busy and the Idle. 
 
 A more heterogeneous throng than that to be 
 found on Broadway it is not possible to see any- 
 where in this country, and nowhere else except 
 in the grand thoroughfares on the continent. 
 
 Broadway is a microcosm, which worships 
 Mammon, and is governed by enterprise. 
 
 What intrigues for good and for evil engross the 
 minds in this microcosm, God alone only knows. 
 The battle between the Weak and the Strong 
 or Might vs. Right is perpetual, and decisive. 
 
 On a bright, balmy, beautiful afternoon of a 
 past year, the throng was unusually large, as a 
 parade of the popular Seventh Regiment had 
 attracted a great concourse to the promenade. 
 
 Observed by all as she passed, for a certain 
 indescribable charm or attraction of personality, 
 as well as for the majesty of her bearing, and her 
 exquisitely moulded features, and noble eye, as 
 black as her abundant hair, was a young lady, 
 who walked in the throng like one in a strange 
 land, knowing no one and known by none. 
 
 And she was known to none ; excepting by 
 sight to loungers as one who occasionally graced 
 the promenade.
 
 82 VIDOCQ. 
 
 She was usually attired in a fashionably made 
 black-silk, and the all pervading majesty of 
 manner (not exactly giving the impression that 
 she was born or accustomed to command, so 
 much as of intense self-respect and dignity) 
 made her appear older than she was : for the 
 youthfulness of her symmetrical figure indicated 
 that she was still in girlhood. 
 
 She generally appeared on the promenade 
 early in the afternoon, before the throng accu- 
 mulated, and walked slowly and with an easy 
 grace, indicating habits of luxury and refinement, 
 with head erect and perchance if rudely stared at 
 by a passer by or lounger, a slight expression of 
 contempt or disdain on her proud, noble face ; 
 and, guileless and innocent, she passed in the 
 throng, as I have said, like one in a strange land 
 in the throng yet not one of them. 
 
 And she was a stranger in a strange land ; but 
 I shall not interrupt the progress of my narrative 
 to recite her history, which will be given in good 
 time. 
 
 She has just passed or turned the corner of 
 Broadway and Fourteenth Street, on her way up- 
 town, and is nearly in front of the celebrated 
 " Maison Doree," (whilom the rival of Delmonico), 
 which stood midway between Broadway and 
 University Place, where several young men, 
 evidently under the influence of the wines they 
 have been imbibing within, descend the steps of
 
 THE ROMANCE OF BROADWAY. 83 
 
 that gilded mansion, reaching the sidewalk im- 
 mediately as she approaches. 
 
 "There she is ! " exclaims one, "there she is 
 the beautiful, mysterious unknown my toast ! 
 I must know her ; I will speak to her ! " and he 
 breaks away from one of his companions who on 
 the instant attempts but fails to catch his arm, to 
 stay him, and with unsteady steps he advances 
 toward the young lady, who as yet does not per- 
 ceive him. 
 
 , Another of his comrades springs after him and 
 clutches him by the arm. 
 
 "George, remember! you are a gentleman," 
 he remarks hastily, but too late. 
 
 The other eludes his grasp, and stands before 
 the lady. 
 
 " Miss ! " he begins, and then abashed at his 
 own impudence, he hesitates and finally blurts 
 out, " I do not wish to insult you, but I must 
 know your name ! " 
 
 " Sir ! " she indignantly replies, manifesting 
 remarkable self-control ; for it is evident by her 
 flashing eyes and suppressed emotion she feels 
 keenly the insult. 
 
 She quickly steps back, evidently expecting 
 that his comrades will take him away ; but the 
 others now approach, and one of them at least is 
 evidently of the same mind as him they called 
 " George," for he darts to his side, and assumes 
 a menacing attitude.
 
 84 
 
 The passers stop and partially form a circle 
 around them if you were to stop and look 
 intently into a clear sky a crowd would gather 
 about you on Broadway but not one of them is 
 manly enough to interfere and protect the lady, 
 who glances appealingly around her. 
 
 " Will some one call an officer ? " exclaims the 
 lady finally, fairly quivering with emotion, and 
 then suddenly turning and confronting the young 
 ruffian, who was almost dazed by her expression 
 of indignation and contempt, which seemed im- 
 mediately to absorb every faculty. 
 
 " This is outrageous ! " exclaims a manly voice, 
 from a new addition to the group, and in . an 
 instant the hot-headed young man receives over 
 the shoulder of a boy a blow in the face which 
 sends him reeling into the arms of his friends and 
 then to the sidewalk ; and immediately a stal- 
 wart young Hercules in the form of a young gen- 
 tleman of fashion with a handsome face and 
 urbane manner, steps forward. 
 
 A police officer simultaneously appearing, the 
 affair is amicably and immediately settled, his 
 comrades taking the injured young man back 
 into the " Maison Doree," not daring, of course, 
 to make any charge against the one who had 
 struck him. 
 
 That gentleman, comprehending the situation 
 in a moment, quickly hands his card Alfred 
 Ray, assistant cashier F - Bank, to the nearest
 
 FATHER AND DAUGHTER. 85 
 
 one of the party, and then, turning to the lady 
 who has waited to thank him, he says : 
 
 " Allow me to put you into an omnibus ! " 
 
 'If you please, sir !" she answers perceptibly 
 embarrassed ; " for many of the recent crowd have 
 the impertinence to still linger on the scene. 
 
 A stage rolls or lolls up ; he hails it ; it stops ; 
 but (as usual) away out in the middle of the 
 street. 
 
 She allows him to conduct her to the stage ; 
 and then to assist her in mounting the steps. 
 
 " O thank you, sir ; thank you ! " she exclaimed 
 as he closes the door on her, and lifts his hat as 
 the stage rolls away. 
 
 And thus they separate, neither of them ever 
 expecting to see the other again ; but how little 
 do we poor mortals know what the morrow may 
 bring forth ? 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FATHER AND DAUGHTER. 
 
 THE stage had almost reached its destination 
 up-town ere the young lady alighted. 
 
 The elegant brown-stone mansion to which she 
 repaired on alighting was within a stone's throw 
 of the avenue. 
 
 As if apprehensive of being followed she 
 dropped into a feeble run.
 
 86 VIDOCQ. 
 
 The door was opened for her by an elderly 
 gentleman who perceived her approach from the 
 window of the parlor. 
 
 On this door was a massive silver plate, with 
 the name Verrua in Roman letters : Verrua ! 
 That name was her name ! Spanish. Her 
 beauty was Spanish. 
 
 " Oh, father, thank you ! " she said, bounding 
 in. 
 
 " Estelle ! " he exclaimed affectionately. 
 
 So she was named Estelle Verrua. 
 
 He closed the door and leaned over and she 
 kissed him tenderly on the forehead. 
 
 " Had a nice walk, my darling?" he inquired. 
 
 " Yes, father," she replied, passing on with the 
 intention of going upstairs. 
 
 She was flushed and nervous from her recent 
 excitement, which had not yet entirely passed 
 away and noticing this, the father hastily detain- 
 ing her by affectionately placing his hand on her 
 shoulder, exclaimed : 
 
 " Has anything happened you look flurried." 
 
 She hesitated to reply ; there was a reason 
 which the reader will, I imagine, readily surmise 
 for not telling him of the occurrence in the 
 street. 
 
 " You have been walking fast ;" he said sharply. 
 " like these American women ! " 
 
 " Only from the omnibus ! " she hastily replied, 
 wishing to avoid answering the previous question.
 
 FATHER AND 1). in, UTER. 87 
 
 "Ah yes," he said musingly. "But you 
 should not do so ; it may be injurious to your 
 health. And prevents grace and ease," he 
 added. 
 
 " I will not do so again/' she responded laugh- 
 ingly ; then she embraced and kissed him again 
 and again ; for motherless since a babe, he was 
 all in all to her, and she was devoted to him. 
 
 Oh, if she had known what thoughts filled his 
 mind caused the frown that disappeared in 
 her presence, would not the blister of shame 
 which would mantle her cheek turn her 
 love into hate and cause her to scorn him ; or 
 would not the kindred blood running in their 
 veins inspire one as the other and bind them 
 closer by the common bond of crime ? 
 
 If she had known that he was a fallen man 
 whose only redeeming trait was his love for her 
 would site not have pushed him away in scorn, 
 and have wished to never see him again or assist 
 in spending his ill-gotten gains? 
 
 But she knew nothing of his dark history, as 
 will hereafter appear. 
 
 " I will not do so again," she continued and 
 releasing him she hastened away upstairs. 
 
 " Dinner will soon be ready," he called after her. 
 
 " All right," she responded from the head of 
 the stairs. 
 
 He returned to the sumptuous parlor and re- 
 sumed with bent head a meditative promenade.
 
 88 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " It is all for her sake ! for her sake ! " he mut- 
 tered. " We must not fail ! We must not fail ! " 
 
 He paced the room, like an officer on the 
 quarter-deck, in silence, till there was a violent 
 pull at the door-bell and than he went to the 
 door and listened. 
 
 A maid servant instantly responded to the 
 summons and admitted a gentleman, who entered 
 with an ease and familiarity that indicated he 
 was no stranger. 
 
 "Ah! Mead," said Senor Verrua, opening the 
 door, " come in." 
 
 The other entered without ceremony. 
 
 " I expected a dispatch," said the elder, closing 
 the door, " rather than to see you." 
 
 " I had spare time, wanted exercise and I 
 thought I would come myself, and here I am." 
 
 " So I perceive." 
 
 " Senorita in?" inquired the other with a 
 pantomimic shrug of his shoulders indicating 
 upstairs, if anything. 
 
 " Yes, but " replied the father, evidently dis- 
 pleased. 
 
 " Oh, never mind ; don't call her. I have not 
 time to wait ; didn't come to see her ; merely 
 thought I'd ask after her, that's all. Will pay 
 my respects to her another time." 
 
 He would probably have continued in this 
 strain had not the other checked him by the 
 impatient exclamation :
 
 FATHER AND DAUGHTER. 89 
 
 "Well, how are matters?" 
 
 "All right." 
 
 " There is no time for delay. I learned this 
 morning down town that the deposit may be 
 drawn at any moment." 
 
 " So did I," responded the visitor, drawing his 
 chair closer and becoming more confidential. 
 " Everything is arranged, and we commence 
 operations to-night." 
 
 " Good ! " 
 
 " The tunnel will be a tough job, but Hans 
 has fixed everything very comfortably." 
 
 " Good," said the other, musingly. 
 
 " I will superintend the work personally." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Yes ; the stake is too large to be endangered 
 by carelessness." 
 
 " But consider, your position you are rash 
 really, I don't like this ! " 
 
 " There is no risk, and, as I said before, the 
 stake is large well, you understand." 
 
 " If you were to ask my advice I should argue 
 to the contrary." 
 
 " Thank you, but I have made up my mind." 
 
 " I still think you are very rash." 
 
 "Time will show. But now I must be going. 
 I rather like the adventure. It is a new ex- 
 perience. When a boy I always said I should be 
 a second Claude Duval or Lafitte or Kidd. Who 
 knows what this adventure may lead to?"
 
 90 V22JOCQ. 
 
 Perceiving that this strain was not pleasant to 
 the other, who was evidently much agitated men- 
 tally, he paused, and then added : 
 
 " You will not expect me till you see me! " 
 
 " No ; for whatever happens I do not suppose 
 you will write to me," the other responded un- 
 easily. 
 
 "No, indeed. But you need have no appre- 
 hensions of my compromising you that way." 
 
 The other brightened at this, observing affa- 
 bly : 
 
 " You have evidently considered the subject in 
 all its bearings." 
 
 "Yes, that I have. But I am loitering," and 
 he led the way to the door. At the door he 
 added, " Remember me to your daughter," with a 
 meaning lock. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SENOR VERRUA. 
 
 " I DO not like this work at all ! " Verrua ex- 
 claimed when once more in the privacy of the 
 parlor, which he paced as before. " I was rash ; 
 yes, insane, to have proposed it ! O what would 
 Estelle say if she knew all!" He shuddered at 
 the thought, but quickly controlling himself he 
 added, " It is for her sake ! for her sake ! But I
 
 SENOR VERRUA. 91 
 
 shall be glad when it is over. If we fail oh, I 
 cannot admit of the thought of failure!" 
 
 Tall, slender, gray, with a majestic rather than 
 haughty bearing, a la militaire, and a reserved, 
 self-reliant manner, Senor Verrua would have at- 
 tracted attention in almost any assemblage. 
 There was the wild fire of the visionary or man 
 of destiny in his coal-black eyes ; and it needed 
 not a second scrutiny of his face to convince any 
 reader of character that he was a man who had 
 been accustomed to command, and one who was 
 capable of bold, daring deeds, for good or evil. 
 His history was a romance. 
 
 He was a scion of one of the oldest and wealth- 
 iest families in Spain. In early life he was in the 
 army, and was as gay, venturesome, rollicking a 
 young blade as ever donned uniform. His parents 
 sought to ally him by marriage to an ancient and 
 opulent house, the equal of his own ; but having 
 become enamoured in Lisbon of a young French 
 actress, he would not comply with their wishes. 
 Quite the contrary ; he married the young ac- 
 tress. Of course, his family disowned him. Re- 
 tiring from the army he ran a wild career of 
 dissipation while accompanying his wife on her 
 professional tour. He soon spent the few thou- 
 sands that she brought him in marriage, and her 
 current earnings were not sufficient for such a 
 course of life. Had it not been for her firmness 
 and foresight his indiscretion and extravagance
 
 92 VIDOCQ. 
 
 would have bankrupted her. She returned to 
 Paris after her tour, and here he sought to en- 
 gage in business, but not trained to any by edu- 
 cation, this was no easy matter. The empire was 
 at peace, and the army offered no opening for him. 
 But his wife could still support him, and loving 
 him she was cheerful to do so. She did better 
 in Paris than while travelling, and he continued 
 his stylish mode of living. He constantly hoped 
 for forgiveness from his family and restoration to 
 their favor. He was devoted to his wife, and 
 fondly anticipated the day when he could take 
 her from the stage to his paternal home. Cherish- 
 ing this idea he probably never thought of the 
 gross injustice he was doing his wife in squander- 
 ing her hard earnings in living beyond their 
 means ; or, if he had, would likely have argued 
 that it would not be for long. But his family 
 continued silent ; and he was too proud to seek a 
 reconciliation. Towards the close of the year his 
 wife was compelled to temporarily retire from the 
 boards to give birth to a child ; and in bringing 
 this little one into life she lost her own. i 
 He did not wish to remain in Paris after this de- 
 plorable event, nor to return to Spain. He de- 
 cided to come to New York. The dying mother 
 asked a friend of her youth, Mme. Costelli, a 
 destitute young widow, to be the guardian or 
 proxy-mother of the new-born babe, and this lady 
 accompanied the infant and father to New York,
 
 SEN OK VEHRUA. 93 
 
 because since a few months before she had be- 
 come an inmate of his household she had been 
 dependent on him for support. 
 
 Senor Verrua came to New York in the hope 
 that in the better opportunities here he might 
 engage in business. He had a turn for mechan- 
 ism, and with the intention of beginning a new 
 and more useful life, would gladly have entered 
 any branch in this line, satisfied he could work his 
 way up. All he sought was a comfortable living 
 for himself and little family ; he flattered himself 
 he had got over his luxurious habits. If the 
 opportunity had offered, I believe he would have 
 shown himself sincere in his new ambition and 
 made himself a worthy man. But man proposes 
 you know the rest. The best intentions are frus- 
 trated sometimes by circumstances ; and instead 
 of engaging in some honorable business that 
 would in time yield him the wealth and position 
 he coveted, Verrua almost inevitably drifted into 
 associations with men who were veritable wolves 
 in sheep's clothing, in that under a polished ex- 
 terior they carried the black heart of the knave 
 and constantly engaged in criminal transactions, 
 which, by their very boldness and magnitude, 
 were successful. The "gang" was one of the 
 most extensive and bold ever organized for float- 
 ing counterfeit bonds and notes and bank robbing 
 when occasion offered. Mead was the leader un- 
 til he discovered that Verrua's social position
 
 94 VIDOCQ. 
 
 and executive ability was better than his own when 
 he gracefully abdicated in his favor, being his 
 trusted lieutenant. Verrua ruled his band like a 
 prince, never meeting the subordinates, but issu- 
 ing his orders through Mead, who displayed great 
 ability in utilizing the information the other ob- 
 tained through his social position. 
 
 Once more wealth was at his command, and 
 Verrua, forgetting his resolutions of a change 
 probably because there was no longer any neces- 
 sity for them, launched out in a style of great 
 splendor. 
 
 He never despaired of a reconciliation with his 
 family, of whom he kept himself informed, and 
 he reared his daughter, the beautiful Estelle, in 
 the belief that he had been compelled to leave 
 Spain in consequence of a political intrigue ; that 
 he lived on his income from his estates there, and 
 that some day he should take her to her home in 
 Madrid. 
 
 Shortly previous to the commencement of this 
 story he had written to his aged father asking 
 that the past be' forgotten and to be allowed to 
 become one of the family again for his daughter's 
 sake ; and had received a reply in which the in- 
 exorable old man declined to receive him, but 
 offered to gladly welcome the daughter. This 
 dashed his hopes of a reconciliation, and he re- 
 solved to make no reply to the latter. 
 
 He was always an impulsive and daring man,
 
 SEN OR VERRUA. 95 
 
 but he now became utterly reckless. Mead had 
 asked permission to woo the daughter, and he 
 gave it ; though probably before receiving the 
 letter when his hopes of a reconciliation were 
 strong, he would have insultingly denied the pre- 
 sumptuous request, for such, having considerable 
 family pride, he would have regarded it. 
 
 Adversity had fallen on the company and their 
 recent speculations had proved costly failures ; 
 and Verrua could not afford to part with Mead, 
 and this was another reason why he should con- 
 sent to his marriage with his adored daughter. 
 That Estelle would accept him neither the father 
 nor the suitor doubted, for he was the only 
 gentleman she had seen much of socially, and she 
 evidently thought well of him ; and regarding her 
 acceptance as a matter of course, they had de- 
 cided to make a desperate effort for a fortune, 
 and then, after the marriage to remove to Cali- 
 fornia and begin a new life. But the opportunity 
 to make the coup did not come. The since cele- 
 brated detective, Pinkerton, was winning his 
 spurs at the time and he had frustrated several 
 of their schemes without being able to detect or 
 expose the gang, and they had transferred their 
 operations from the West to this city, under the 
 very nose of the aristocratic chief. Funds were 
 running low in the exchequer, and their condition 
 was daily growing more desperate for nun of 
 such extravagant habits when Verrua learned of
 
 96 VLDOCQ. 
 
 the deposit of a fortune in gold in the F 
 
 bank by the Wall Street clique that was running 
 the corner in specie that culminated in the cele- 
 brated "Black Friday" financial collapse some 
 years ago. Gold cannot be identified or traced 
 like bonds, and Verrua, at Mead's suggestion, re- 
 solved to rob the F bank, that is the " gang " 
 
 should do so. Verrua had long been a depositor 
 
 in the F bank, and his acquaintance with the 
 
 officials enabled him to learn all the particulars of 
 the deposit. 
 
 The conversation between Mead and Verrua, 
 detailed in the previous chapter, related to this 
 affair, so that their plans were well matured. 
 
 The father regretted his participation in the 
 affair, which he proposed in a reckless moment, 
 when he thought of the disastrous consequences 
 of a failure on his daughter more than himself, 
 and he would now like to withdraw. 
 
 It was too late now, however, to withdraw, and 
 allowing the assurances of Mead to encourage 
 him, he banished the unpleasant thoughts from 
 his mind for a time. 
 
 " He is a fine fellow," he said, " and I will 
 stand by him. Situated as she is, she cannot 
 make a better match. I will speak to her this 
 evening." He continued to nervously pace the 
 apartment. " I might marry her off to a rich 
 husband by taking her to the fashionable water- 
 ing places next summer. Her beauty would ren-
 
 8ENOR VERRUA. 97 
 
 der her the belle wherever she went ; but no, this 
 would be a sacrifice, too much like leading the 
 lamb to slaughter. If, however, she doesn't love 
 Mead I shall not urge his suit. But I think I can 
 rely on her acceptance orhim. It is time she 
 should marry ! The watering places is not a bad 
 idea! " 
 
 Estelle interrupted this soliloquy by entering ; 
 and he touched the bell-handle in the corner, 
 and gayly chattered with her about a prima 
 donna they had heard the night before at the 
 Academy of Music whose debut in Milan he had 
 years ago witnessed, until a servant announced 
 dinner; and they repaired to an extension dining- 
 room, concealed by heavy damask curtains, which 
 the attendant proceeded to draw. 
 
 In this room, in the act of overlooking the 
 table to see that all was right, was Mme. Cos- 
 telli,a medium-sized, dark haired and eyed woman, 
 who moved about in such a reserved, quiet way 
 that naturally a mystery attached itself to all her 
 movements. She sat at the head of the table 
 and continued to preside over the household 
 even now that Estelle had reached an age when 
 she could properly assume the duties herself. It 
 may be in place, but I shall not pause now to 
 describe Mine. Costelli or recite her strange his- 
 tory. She was a shadowy woman in her quiet 
 manner and noiseless movements ; and in this 
 household she kept very much in the shadow, for
 
 98 VIDOCQ. 
 
 there was little companionship between her and 
 her charge, and next to none with the father 
 (although that was not her fault). And I will let 
 her remain in the shadowy realms of obscurity 
 until it is time for her to come forth. 
 
 The repast over father and daughter returned 
 to the parlors, the curtains being closed after 
 them by the servant ; Mme. Costelli remained in 
 the dining-room. 
 
 After a few casual remarks, the father observed 
 pleasantly : 
 
 " Mead called a little while ago. On learning 
 you were resting from your promenade he would 
 not disturb you. He left his regards for you." 
 
 "Yes," she observed. 
 
 " Estelle," he began, awkwardly, " suppose I 
 should tell you I intend to change my mind and 
 never return to Spain, you will have to get 
 married here." 
 
 His words at first startled her, but an expres- 
 sion of pleasure soon followed on her face that of 
 surprise. 
 
 "Yes, I will have to get married here," she 
 found herself saying before she knew what she 
 was doing ; speaking as well as thinking. 
 
 " It is about time you should be thinking of 
 marrying," he said, after a pause. 
 
 She blushed, but made no reply. 
 
 " Not that I am in a hurry to get you off my 
 hands," he resumed, speaking slowly and evi-
 
 8EXOR VERRUA. 99 
 
 dently undecided what to say next, "because 
 you must still remain in my house." 
 
 There was a pause. The maiden was evidently 
 pleasantly occupied with her own thoughts ; the 
 father anxiously watched her. 
 
 He began again : 
 
 " I have perceived your growing attachment 
 for Mr. Mead. He is a very worthy young gen- 
 tleman, and your course meets with my hearty 
 approval." 
 
 "Why, father, what are you talking about?" 
 she exclaimed, in dismay. 
 
 " Are you not in love with Mr. Mead ? " he in- 
 quired, eagerly. 
 
 " No," she responded, hastily and firmly. 
 
 " I supposed you were," he retorted. 
 
 " I have never that I am aware of given either 
 you or him any reason to think so," she said, 
 hotly. " Have I ? " she added. 
 
 " No yes," he stammered in reply. 
 
 " I have treated him courteously and kindly as 
 a friend of yours that is all." 
 
 "Then you do not like him?" 
 
 " I do not love him. I have no dislike towards 
 him," she replied. 
 
 " I thought you did, but I see I am mis- 
 taken. Well, let us say no more about this. 
 Forget that we have had this conversation ; it 
 will be best." He spoke hurriedly and con- 
 fusedly.
 
 100 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " Do you wish me to marry Mead ? " she asked 
 after a pause. 
 
 " No yes," he replied. " I want you to suit 
 yourself. I want you to marry the man you 
 love ! " 
 
 She rushed to him and threw her arms around 
 his neck and rapturously kissed him several times 
 before she exclaimed : 
 
 " God bless you for those words ! God bless 
 you for those words ! " 
 
 " But," he instantly added, " I should like to 
 see you marry Mead ! " 
 
 This checked her ardor somewhat, and she 
 allowed him to lead her back to the sofa. 
 
 " But I do not wish to control you !" 
 
 " You should not," she said, determinedly ; 
 showing herself to be possessed of as much will 
 and self-reliance as himself. 
 
 After a few turns of the room, he approached 
 and kissed her, saying, " I am going out for a 
 walk ; but do not sit up for me, as I may remain 
 out late." 
 
 " Good-night," she said, returning the kiss fer- 
 vently, and accompanying him to the hall. 
 
 If he had opened the door suddenly they might 
 have perceived Mme. Costelli dart away upstairs, 
 and surmised the truth that she had been lisU .1- 
 ing. She glided away noiselessly up the stairs, 
 and paused and watched them from over the 
 banisters.
 
 YOUNG LOVE'S DREAM. 101 
 
 " Ah ! " she sighed, as Estelle closed the door 
 on him, "if she would only wed Mead! If she 
 were to marry and leave this roof then there 
 would be room in his heart for me for me, 
 whom he does not deign now to even notice any- 
 more than the furniture in the room. Ah ! will 
 the day ever come when I shall call him husband ? 
 Am I nursing a delusive hope ? Had not poor 
 dead Estelle this in her mind when she said, 
 ' Be a mother to my babe ? ' Yes, I shall reign 
 in this house yet." 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 YOUNG LOVE'S DREAM. 
 
 WITH her father and Mme. Costelli Estelle 
 lived a sort of isolated life ; for, although she 
 went out at will, going riding in the Park or 
 promenading in Broadway, she was acquainted 
 with none except such as shopping brought her 
 in contact with, and such as her music teacher, 
 drawing-master and Mead, because all the friendly 
 overtures of the neighbors had been consistently 
 repulsed by Mme. Costelli, acting under instruc- 
 tions from the father, who had not cared to form 
 any social ties here. 
 
 In the neighborhood they passed as the 
 "Spanish family," and nothing being known
 
 102 ViDocq. 
 
 against them they were respected, and soon left 
 to themselves, as they desired to be. It is a 
 trite maxim that, " one-half the world does not 
 know how the other half lives," and especially 
 is this true in a cosmopolitan city, like New York. 
 
 Estelle fairly idolized her father, and was con- 
 tented with his companionship. As intimated, 
 there was little sympathy between her and Mme. 
 Costelli. Her father had educated her through 
 a course of reading, and they were much together. 
 
 The subject of marriage had never been dis- 
 cussed by them until the conversation just de- 
 tailed. Cherishing in her mind from her father's 
 representations a delusion of wealth and power, 
 she always had an idea that when they went to 
 their estates in Spain there would be found wait- 
 ing a nobleman who would make her his bride, as 
 in the fairy tale. 
 
 Thrown much into the society of Mead she had 
 come to like him, to use a homely but good 
 phrase, but that was all. Probably, however, if 
 she had never seen Mr. Ray, she might have 
 learned to love Mead, especially if it was her 
 father's wish that she should ; but though her 
 knowledge or acquaintance with the other gentle- 
 man dated back but a few hours, the moment her 
 father spoke to her she decided she could never 
 love Mead. 
 
 Since she had seen Mr. Ray his image en- 
 grossed her thoughts ; and the while her father
 
 TUNNELLING THE F BANE. 103 
 
 was speaking to her, she mentally drew a per- 
 sonal comparison between him and Mead, much 
 to the advantage, it is needless to say, of the 
 former. Strange coincidence of fate, Ray was 
 the cashier of the bank to be robbed. 
 
 Afterwards, in the privacy of her own apart- 
 ment, a splendid suite on the second floor, she 
 determined if she ever married it should be to 
 Mr. Ray. 
 
 Man boasts of and vaunts his love; woman 
 quite the contrary, and she did not give as ex- 
 plicit an explanation to her father, from whom 
 she had never before concealed a thought, as she 
 might have done. 
 
 " I will wait till we see him some night at the 
 opera or theatre," she said musingly, " and then 
 I will tell father that is the man I love and want 
 to marry, and then he can get introduced to him 
 and bring him to our box to be presented to me 1 " 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TUNNELLING THE F BANK. 
 
 THE F bank, a massive edifice, stood on the 
 
 corner of two of the most popular thoroughfares 
 
 in the lower portion of the city. There was an 
 
 entrance on both streets. Reared some years 
 
 the building was devoted to the one purpose
 
 104 VIDOCQ. 
 
 of the bank; there were no offices over it or 
 stores underneath it. On either side of the doors 
 were two large plate-glass windows, and over- 
 head there was a lofty, dome-like skylight. The 
 vault was in the centre, the entrance being in the 
 middle of the space occupied by the desks and 
 enclosed by a railing. 
 
 The only safe way the vault could be reached by 
 the burglars was by the tunnelling process, which 
 is tedious, dangerous and expensive, and not 
 always practicable. A business part of the city, 
 the neighborhood was quite deserted after night- 
 fall, and this was favorable to the tunnelling pro- 
 cess. 
 
 A Swede who had formerly manufactured 
 the dies for the counterfeits of the company, and 
 who was smart enough albeit he appeared to be 
 so stupid, was duly installed in a cellar store ad- 
 joining the bank as a florist. Soon sweet-scented 
 roses bloomed in his windows, over which coursed 
 luxuriant vines. Hans understood floriculture ; 
 that was once his business. The florist business 
 was selected in order to be able to account for 
 the odor of fresh earth which would pervade the 
 place after the tunnelling commenced. 
 
 A subterranean excavation was to be made to 
 the vault of the bank. First, there was to be 
 made an excavation a large round hole about 
 twenty feet in circumference and about twelve 
 feet in depth, in order to fix the grade, as the
 
 TUNNELLING THE F BANK. 105 
 
 cellar was half out the ground, that is to say 
 above the pavement, while the bank was built 
 flat on the grade. 
 
 The cellar was divided into two apartments by 
 a heavy board partition, carefully papered, com- 
 pletely enclosing noise and light, so that the 
 attention of any chance passer-by would not be 
 attracted. In the rear Hans pretended to live, 
 and it was poorly furnished as a chamber and 
 living room. 
 
 At first the digging progressed rather slowly, 
 yet the excavation in the cellar was made in a 
 few hours, five men being engaged, three to dig, 
 and two to pack the earth away. 
 
 So systematically was the work done that a 
 circular board casing was built as the tunnel was 
 opened, in order to prevent the earth from fall- 
 ing in. 
 
 The tunnel was about ten feet in circumfer- 
 ence, and ran at a depth of eight feet below the 
 level of the pavement. 
 
 A dark lantern, opened now, of course, shed 
 its scintillation upon the cave, which was strange 
 and weird. 
 
 The lantern was held by the hand, so that its 
 light could be shut off in an instant if footsteps 
 were heard on the pavement in the silence of the 
 night. The work was conducted in perfect si- 
 lence, Mead giving his orders in pantomime. 
 
 After a night's hard, tedious labor in the sub-
 
 106 ViDOcq. 
 
 terranean excavation a stone wall was unearthed 
 the stone wall stood between them and the 
 treasure. 
 
 When the wall was reached, and the board 
 lining was placed, the men retired to the " home- 
 base," as the first excavation was called, and 
 Mead, who had been managing the lantern, went 
 into the tunnel and made an inspection of the 
 stone wall. 
 
 According to his calculations, this wall should 
 have been at least four feet further in. 
 
 An expression of dismay settled on his face 
 when he made the soundings, that is to say 
 tapped the wall to ascertain its width. It re- 
 turned a dull, heavy sound, indicative of great 
 thickness. 
 
 He beckoned one of the men to his side and 
 intimated to him in pantomime to sound the wall 
 also. 
 
 The man carefully tapped the wall in four 
 different places with the same result as Mead. 
 
 Mead looked at his watch, and found that 
 it was quarter past four A. M. had they not been 
 so intent at their work they might have heard a 
 neighboring church clock when it struck the 
 hour. 
 
 Apprising them of the hour by holding his 
 watch ;ap he signified them to quit work ; and 
 they doffed their overalls and slept till Hans 
 came and awoke them.
 
 TUNNELLING THE F BANK. 10? 
 
 Mead slept in a chair and was left by the 
 others in a somnolent state. 
 
 When he awoke Hans gave him his breakfast 
 in a tin can, such as laboring-men carry. 
 
 The meal over he glanced at his watch, and 
 muttered to himself : 
 
 " It is about their opening time ; " and cau- 
 tiously descended into the " home-base," thence 
 into the tunnel, taking along a small stool, which 
 he placed beside the wall, and sat on. 
 
 For some minutes all was as silent as the 
 tomb; a deathly stillness, in fact, prevailing. 
 
 Presently a slight, muffled noise was detected 
 in the bank ; and Mead's face brightened. 
 
 The step became more distinct and then was 
 heard the opening of a door an iron railing 
 door, to judge by the noise it made when it 
 closed. 
 
 " That's the gate leading to the desks," said 
 Mead to himself. 
 
 A similar noise was heard. 
 
 " That's the gate at the head of the stairs," he 
 muttered, crouching close to the wall. 
 
 Someone was heard descending the steps. 
 
 " He is coming down-stairs," thought Mead, 
 whose sense of hearing was very acute after much 
 such practice. 
 
 After a fumbling of keys, very indistinctly 
 heard and drawing of bolts, a heavy door 
 rolled back slowly.
 
 108 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " That's the vault door," muttered Mead 
 breathlessly, placing his ear close to the wall, and 
 listening attentively. 
 
 The muffled sound of distance characterized 
 the man's movements in the vault, and it was 
 evident by the variable expressions of Mead's face 
 that he was perplexed. 
 
 Now a smile of satisfaction radiated his fea- 
 tures and then he appeared annoyed and looked 
 at the wall angrily as if he thought of tearing it 
 to pieces with his hands. 
 
 He was soon satisfied that he had not mis- 
 calculated the thickness of the wall, because when 
 two persons came into the vault, he could not 
 hear their voices while their steps were discern- 
 ible. 
 
 Mead remained in the tunnel till he had satis- 
 fied himself as to the exact bearings in the 
 interior of the vault ; and passed the remainder 
 of the day in sleeping and eating, his meals being 
 brought to him regularly by Hans. 
 
 His associates returned after nightfall and 
 renewed work. 
 
 But they had no longer to dig earth ; they had 
 to pick with a sharp iron instrument bits of hard, 
 dry mortar out from between the stones a large 
 square about in the centre being very neatly 
 loosened after several hours patient drilling, 
 punching and scraping. 
 
 The stone was removed and there was
 
 TUNNELLING THE F BANK. 109 
 
 another obstacle in a mass of loose stones, the 
 filling in between the two walls. 
 
 This loose material was removed and on ex- 
 amination proved that the second wall or lining 
 of the vault was even more formidable than the 
 first. 
 
 But they were not discouraged ; on the con- 
 trary they worked with increased energy. 
 
 The opening in the wall was made large 
 enough to easily admit a man by removing two 
 more stones. 
 
 All hands engaged in removing to the home- 
 base the loose stuff, that now fell, rattled down 
 in a hail shower in fact. 
 
 At length, however, the place was cleared for 
 the next, and perhaps, most difficult operation, 
 and a man crawled into the opening and com- 
 menced digging away a stone from the other wall. 
 
 This hole was so small and close that each 
 man could only work a few moments, but the 
 prospect of speedily gaining the treasure inspired 
 them and they worked like beavers. 
 
 At last the mortar was chipped and picked out, 
 and the stone was drawn out by means of two 
 long, slender bits of iron. 
 
 The sight that met their eager gaze into the 
 orifice left by the stone caused the men to lose 
 control of themselves, and they passionately 
 stamped the ground and wildly gesticulated to 
 speak they dared not.
 
 110 F/DOCQ. 
 
 A solid wall of iron was discovered to be 
 beyond the second wall ; it was the back of the 
 safe, which was built in the wall. 
 
 All their work had been in vain. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ANOTHER PLAN. 
 
 MEAD called on Senor Verrua at his residence 
 in the morning, and detailed the circumstances 
 of their failure. 
 
 " I was very rash to instigate this scheme," 
 exclaimed Verrua, " and wish I had never 
 thought of it ! " 
 
 " Why what has come over you ! " exclaimed 
 the other. " It sounds strange to hear you talk- 
 ing like this ! " 
 
 " I am thinking about my daughter," hastily 
 responded Verrua. " If I were alone I should 
 go to work personally ; like yourself, I should 
 enjoy the adventure. But think of the conse- 
 quences of failure and detection ! " 
 
 " Don't think of it then ! " responded the 
 other. " Don't think of it then ! " 
 
 " I try not ; but gloomy forebodings will crowd 
 into my mind," replied Verrua, brightening, 
 however. 
 
 " We've gone too far to be ik out now," said
 
 ANOTIlKli I'LAN. Ill 
 
 Mead. " Come what may I'll pursue the game 
 to the end." 
 
 " Have you any other scheme to propose ? " 
 
 "Blasting!" 
 
 " Hazardous! " 
 
 Mead was thoughtfully silent. 
 
 " All your attempts to be taken into the vault 
 during the daytime have failed?" the senor 
 broke the silence by inquiring. 
 
 "Yes," responded Mead. "Very few are so 
 favored," he added. 
 
 Senor Verrua took from his pocket a memo- 
 randa book filled with numerals and sums 
 apparently ; for the jottings were veritable fig- 
 ures of speech, and added up revealed other 
 information than merely arithmetical. 
 
 " The dome, around which runs a gallery, is 
 about ten feet below the skylight ; and there is a 
 small stairs running thence to the dome," he 
 read from these figures. 
 
 " Yes ; but the windows on both sides would 
 prevent working that way," said Mead. 
 
 Verrua was musingly silent. 
 
 " There are two private watchmen on the 
 block," continued Mead, " to be seen after, be- 
 sides the policeman and any chance passers-by?" 
 
 Still the other continued silent. 
 
 " The watchmen are in the habit of resting in 
 a coffee and cake saloon on the other corner of 
 the street," said Mead.
 
 1 12 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " Precisely," observed Senor Verrua, " and 
 would not refuse a friendly glass with a stranger, 
 a sailor say, who might happen to drop in ? " 
 
 " Not likely," was Mead's comment. 
 
 "Any passers-by can be engaged in a fight 
 before they get near enough to the bank to make 
 a discovery," continued Senor Verrua. 
 
 "Yes," assented Mead. 
 
 " If there is any disturbance depend upon it 
 the policeman is not likely to show himself in 
 the vicinity," resumed the senor. 
 
 " No ! not likely." 
 
 " I should prefer the passers-by in the street 
 to be gagged with shoemaker's wax," said the 
 senor, " rather than to resort to violence for so 
 slight a cause." 
 
 " Hans will attend to that," replied Mead, 
 gladly assuming control of ttie affair, which 
 Verrua seemed inclined to shirk from a moral (?) 
 cowardice he had never before exhibited. Mead 
 was an inferior man in every respect to the other ; 
 though he was keen and shrewd and persevering ; 
 a perfect brute when roused. He was in love 
 noWj however, with Estelle, and quite tame. He 
 was a well-built, muscular man, prematurely aged 
 by dissipation evidently. He had the appear- 
 ance of a man who had lived fast in his youth, 
 and had now settled down to systematic high 
 living, which imparted a vitality and rosiness to 
 his blast expression, used up yet kept up ; this
 
 RAY. 113 
 
 appeared to be his condition. He would not be 
 particularly desirable as a friend ; and as an 
 enemy should be avoided. 
 
 The two, as they sat beside a centre-table, 
 smoking, and sipping a fine brand of Maderia, 
 were a fine study for anatomist or artist. 
 
 "Have you spoken to the Estelle?" asked 
 Mead after a pause, making the most wonderful 
 combinations of rings as he emitted his cigar 
 smoke, but betraying great interest in the answer. 
 
 " Yes," replied Verrua, who proceeded to give 
 an account of the conversation with the daugh- 
 ter, which, while stating the facts, led the other 
 by sundry interpolations to believe that his suit 
 was favorably regarded. 
 
 " She shall be my reward ! " exclaimed Mead. 
 " I shall covet her more than all the gold the 
 bank could hold ! I shall claim her ! " 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 RAY. 
 
 A FEW words relative to Mr. Ray will not be 
 out of place. 
 
 We have quite lost track of him since his 
 almost providential rescue of Senorita Verrua, 
 as detailed in a previous chapter. 
 
 He was rather young to occupy such a position
 
 114 VIDOCQ. 
 
 of importance and trust as that of the assistant 
 cashier of the F bank being only twenty- 
 two but influence had placed him therein. 
 
 His lamented father had been one of the 
 founders and up to his death one of the directors 
 of the bank ; in which he secured his son a clerk- 
 ship at the early age of sixteen, and several years 
 before his death. 
 
 The then and present president, Mr. Phillips, 
 had been a life-long friend of the father ; and on 
 his death he transferred his friendship to the 
 son, who was certainly worthy and deserving. 
 
 There was, however, another reason for this, 
 other than the kindly recollection of the deceased, 
 and an appreciation of the many noble qualities 
 of the young man himself. 
 
 Young Ray had from boyhood been a welcome 
 visitor to Mr. Phillips' house ; and an attach* 
 ment had sprung up between him and one of the 
 daughters, Miss Lillian ; which in the course of 
 time had resulted in a betrothal. 
 
 Though he had done nothing but an act of 
 courtesy and decency in protecting the unknown 
 lady, Ray had much rather the adventure had 
 not occurred, for several reasons, but principally 
 because he could not forget her beautiful face, 
 which haunted him like the vision of a dream. 
 
 Happening in such a public place it could not 
 fail to give him a notoriety he did not covet. 
 
 He resolved to say nothing about the adven-
 
 RAY. 115 
 
 ture to his mother or his intended, as a matter 
 not worthy remembering ; unless, indeed, he 
 should " hear " from the young gentleman to 
 whom he handed his card. 
 
 It chanced, however, that several of his -friends 
 witnessed the adventure, and they, of course, 
 lost no time in reporting it in their circle. 
 
 The result was that Ray was quizzed and 
 joked on all sides about the beautiful unknown. 
 
 It reached the ears, of course, of his mother 
 and fiana'e; and coming to them second-handed 
 was made much of. 
 
 His mother, with whom he occupied a suite of 
 rooms in Twenty-third Street, in the aristocratic 
 neighborhood of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, while 
 regretting the occurrence was pleased with his 
 manly conduct. 
 
 Miss Phillips' curiosity, however, was much 
 excited by the representations of a sycophantic 
 friend, Mr. Stone, whom, rumor said, hacl been 
 " cut out" by Ray. 
 
 She so frequently adverted to the adventure 
 and persisted in her questioning that it was easy 
 to see she was jealous of the unknown. 
 
 Ray, for the reasons I have stated, was averse 
 to talking on the subject ; and having once given 
 an account of the affair, it -provoked him to be 
 called upon again to recite the facts and defend 
 himself against any imputations of admiration of 
 the other lady,
 
 116 VIDOCQ. 
 
 But for the unmanly insinuations of Mr. Stone, 
 who still continued to visit the house, Miss 
 Phillips would probably have let the mat- 
 ter rest, satisfied with Ray's assurances of 
 fealty. 
 
 She, however, just to provoke him, it seemed 
 to Ray, continued to cross-question him and to 
 tease him. 
 
 Once she made him give as far as he was able 
 a detailed description of the unknown lady, and 
 he became quite eloquent in describing her 
 beauty. 
 
 " I really do believe, as I have heard, that you 
 are in love with her! " exclaimed Miss Phillips in 
 a pique. 
 
 " O don't say that, Lillian ! " he exclaimed, and 
 was about saying more when he hesitated and 
 changed color and became confused. He soon, 
 however, regained control of himself, and added, 
 " You know better than that ! " 
 
 And it never occurred to him that it was not 
 she but himself that he was deceiving. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BAFFLED AGAIN. 
 
 MEAD met his men by appointment in the 
 neighborhood of the F - bank, that night, at
 
 BAFFLED AOAIN. Ill 
 
 an hour when all the traffic of the vicinity, and 
 even the omnibuses, had stopped. 
 
 The night was dark and gloomy ; a storm was 
 brewing. 
 
 Hans was selected to make a descent from the 
 skylight and examine the vault. 
 
 He was an industrious worker, but not particu- 
 larly brave, and not disposed to run risks. 
 
 He suggested that it would be a good idea to 
 close the inside blinds of the windows when he 
 gained the floor of the bank. 
 
 "No, no!" said Mead, "that would be un- 
 usual and would at once excite suspicion. I'll 
 take care that you are not disturbed. I've fixed 
 everything all right." 
 
 It was the rule of the company, or rather of 
 the two leaders, Verrua and Mead, to never let 
 any subordinate know any more of the plan of 
 operation than immediately concerned himself. 
 
 Mead rarely officiated in person, and whenever 
 he did, as in this bank affair, he was disguised by 
 a flowing and curly wig and large, bushy beard, 
 and there was not the trace about him of the 
 gentleman of leisure and pleasure, and none but 
 a skilful detective, keen on his track, could have 
 detected him. 
 
 Mead had previously " piped " the night watch- 
 man in the bank, that is he had arranged that one 
 of the gang had made his acquaintance in the 
 guise of a sailor and given him a paper of
 
 118 VIDOCQ. 
 
 delightful smoking tobacco, which had the effect 
 of putting him to sleep as he sat in his chair 
 through the silent hours of the night without his 
 ever being aware of the fact. 
 
 The watchman was a senile man, and all that 
 was expected of him was that he should sit or 
 stroll in the bank, after it was closed for the 
 night, more for the sake of appearances than 
 any protection to the formidable vault which was 
 thought to be simply invulnerable. Besides had 
 not Herring, when he constructed the mammoth 
 safe, declared there was not a burglar in the 
 world who could crack it ? Then, to guard or as- 
 sist him were the patrolmen outside in the street. 
 
 The mission of Hans was to pry open the door 
 at the head of the inside steps of his cellar, go 
 upstairs to the roof and thence to the skylight of 
 the bank. 
 
 He experienced some difficulty in opening the 
 door at the head of the cellar stairs ; but this 
 once done he had no trouble in gaining the roof 
 through the trap door, as the building was occu- 
 pied by one firm, and all he had to do was to 
 make his way upstairs, from one floor to the 
 other. 
 
 Peering down the skylight Hans perceived the 
 watchman dozing in his chair out of sight of any 
 passer-by. He well knew that the sleep was 
 produced by drugs and he would not awaken 
 easily.
 
 BAFFLED AGAIN. 119 
 
 In order to open the skylight of the bank he 
 had to break a pane of glass. He threw the 
 frame wide open, and without pausing to look 
 down the dizzy height or depth he swung himself 
 down upon the gallery, and quickly descended 
 the stairs to the main floor. 
 
 The watchman slept as peacefully as a babe. 
 
 There were two jets of gas burning ; these 
 dimly lighted the place. 
 
 To unlock with his skeleton keys the gates at 
 the desk was the work of a moment ; so too with 
 the gates at the head of the stairs, leading to the 
 vault. 
 
 In a few minutes he was descending the spiral 
 steps. A jet of gas, protected by a wire net, per- 
 petually 'burned here, and shed a sickly glare 
 over the tomb-like place. 
 
 Another circle of the steps and he reached the 
 lower landing or floor, but where was the door to 
 the vault ? There was no door that he could 
 see. It was a secret door, and it was-next to use- 
 less searching for it, 'although he did make a 
 hasty and futile examination of the circular wall. 
 
 He retraced his steps in no good humor, but 
 careful to lock the doors behind him, as he had 
 found them, so that his abortive visit would not 
 be discovered the next morning by the bank au- 
 thorities and guarded against in the future. 
 
 If he had succeeded in getting into the vault, 
 Hans, who was attired in the worn and greasy
 
 120 VIDOCQ. 
 
 overalls of a locksmith, would have shot the 
 watchman ; the alarm of the pistol would enable 
 his confederates outside to get the patrolmen to 
 break into the bank through the window to lend 
 him assistance ; then in the excitement the door 
 was to be opened from the inside, when the 
 others could enter and acting in unison the bur- 
 glars would overwhelm and chloroform the offi- 
 cers and make way with the booty before any cry 
 could be raised to start pursuit. Improbable you 
 say? Not at all in a deserted neighborhood, 
 when a jewelry store window on a crowded 
 thoroughfare can be robbed in broad daylight. 
 
 Hans was in the act of ascending the steps to 
 make his escape when a face appeared at the 
 window, and then another, and a third and a 
 fourth ; the two last he recognized as confeder- 
 ates, and he felt safe, as the three could over- 
 power the two any time. 
 
 He crouched lower to the wall and while the 
 excited patrolmen, with faces flattened against 
 the window were straining their eyes in every 
 direction but the right one, he ran around to 
 where the semi-circle of desks commenced, and 
 hid in the recess formed by the end one and the 
 wall, completely sheltered from view of the win- 
 dows. 
 
 The patrolmen, at the suggestion of the soi- 
 disant sailors (who had been unable to detain 
 them longer in the open-all-night saloon over the
 
 BAFFLED AGAIN. 121 
 
 way) broke the pane of glass, raised the latch, 
 opened the window, and all four climbed into the 
 bank. 
 
 They had to shake the watchman to awaken 
 him. 
 
 The last the patrolmen had seen of Hans he 
 was at the foot of the steps leading upstairs, and 
 they naturally concluded he had made his escape 
 that way, especially when they looked up and 
 discovered the skylight open. 
 
 The two soi-disant sailors of course, knew what 
 the Swede had done under the circumstances ; 
 and were in a mood to enjoy the efforts of the 
 little patrolman to induce the other to go up- 
 stairs in search of the burglar. 
 
 At length the other consented to make the 
 ascent if the little one would give him his re- 
 volver. The little fellow demurred at this, but 
 the other protested that one revolver was not 
 enough, in event of an encounter, and his com- 
 rade yielded his five shooter to him, and he 
 ascended. 
 
 As soon as he disappeared in the dome one of 
 the sailors sprang on the little fellow and hurled 
 him into a corner with sufficient violence to ren- 
 der him insensible. 
 
 Hans then emerged from his hiding-place, and 
 it was but the work of a moment for the three to 
 escape through the window. They were beyond 
 pursuit when the alarm was given on the return
 
 122 V1DOCQ. 
 
 of the patrolman from his search in the 
 dome. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ANEW SCHEME. 
 
 THE morning papers of course contained re- 
 ports of the attempt to rob the F - bank. 
 The watchman was naturally suspected, and 
 arrested, and not released till after a trial, in 
 which no new facts were elicited. He was dis- 
 charged for being found asleep at his post. The 
 judge intimated that it was his opinion that the 
 patrolmen were intoxicated, and that no attack 
 had been made on the bank at all except in their 
 imagination ; the glass had been accidentally 
 broken. 
 
 In a few days the excitement created by the 
 reports abated ; and in a week the affair was for- 
 gotten, except, of course by those immediately 
 interested. 
 
 Mead and Verrua agreed that $500,000 in 
 gold ought not to be allowed to remain in the 
 bank ; and nothing daunted by their two previous 
 failures, at once set about devising another 
 scheme for its possession ; impending necessi- 
 ties by this time excited even Verrua's cupid- 
 ity. 
 
 They were rendered almost desperate when
 
 A NEW SCHEME. 123 
 
 they learned from the same leaky director that 
 $500,000 more in gold had been deposited in the 
 bank, in the accumulation of a "locking up " of 
 specie for the deal that certain Wall Street lead- 
 ers contemplated. 
 
 As Mead said, asleep or awake, the figures 
 $1,000,000 stood before him always in numerals 
 of gold. 
 
 Daily the two met for consultation, but they 
 could not agree on a plan. 
 
 One morning, however, after a protracted inter- 
 view, Mead exclaimed : 
 
 " I have an idea ; a glorious idea." In his 
 enthusiasm he added, " A great idea." 
 
 " Tell it, tell it ! " Senor Verrua asked glee- 
 fully. 
 
 " I am sure, though, you will not approve of 
 it," said Mead carelessly. 
 
 " Tell it, tell it ! " reiterated the senor. 
 
 " It will require the services of your daugh- 
 ter," cautiously began Mead, closely watching 
 the face 'of the other, who with difficulty con- 
 trolled his passion. 
 
 "Or, at least," quickly continued Mead, "the 
 service of a young girl." 
 
 " Go on," said the senor huskily, his face 
 still clouded. 
 
 " You don't suppose I propose anything that 
 would involve or implicate her, do you ? " asked 
 Mead.
 
 124 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " Proceed i proceed, please," said Senor Ver- 
 rua, relaxing and quite pleasant again. 
 
 " My plan is very simple and involves no risk 
 whatever," said Mead. " It is this. Make a pres- 
 ent of $10,000 to your daughter ; take her to the 
 bank to deposit the same. You are known at the 
 bank. On the way excite her curiosity regard- 
 ing the vault in which the money and papers are 
 deposited, and womanlike she will want to see 
 this vault. The privilege is granted to few, but 
 it is not likely it will be denied a pretty face. 
 You will be admitted, too, along with her. If 
 not, if you choose to manifest an indifference, 
 why you can afterward very easily worm the par- 
 ticulars out of her. All we want to know is the 
 location of the secret door, whether it is in front 
 or on the side of the steps. This ascertained we 
 can find the spring easy enough. See ? " inquired 
 Mead, a smile of satisfaction radiating his 
 face. 
 
 " Yes," assented Senor Verrua, musingly. 
 
 " There is no danger you see to her ; and you 
 can easily excite her curiosity, which is all that 
 is necessary," resumed Mead, and pausing for 
 a reply. 
 
 " Yes ; it is a good idea, and I will adopt it," 
 said the senor, and he went to an escritoire in 
 the corner and filled out a check. 
 
 Mead left a few moments after, muttering to 
 himself, " If she should become any way involved
 
 A NEW SCHEME. 125 
 
 in the affair, she will be in my power, and then 
 my acceptance will be assured." 
 
 In response to a bell a maid appeared and 
 Senor Verrua inquired if his daughter were in, 
 and being told she was, sent word. to her that 
 he would shortly be up to see her. 
 
 Senorita Estelle had two apartments on the 
 ground floor, independent of her chamber and 
 boudoir, which she called her own ; and in one of 
 which she had her piano and easel, the other 
 being a library. 
 
 In the library, reclining on the sofa, reading a 
 novel, pausing every now and then to stroke the 
 glossy hide of a greyhound which sat by her 
 side, was the Senorita Estelle, a beautiful 
 vision ! 
 
 Her father always apprised her of his intended 
 visits ; and so she was not surprised when the 
 maid delivered his message, but announced her- 
 self ready to receive him. 
 
 When she heard his steps on the stairs she 
 tossed aside the book with characteristic impul- 
 siveness, and rose to meet him. 
 
 She met him at the door, and throwing both 
 arms around him with a wild ardor imprinted 
 hearty kisses on his forehead and then on his 
 mouth. 
 
 He led her to a seat, or rather she led him, and 
 then drawing a chair he sat beside her. 
 
 He presented her with the check for $10,000 on
 
 126 VIUOCQ. 
 
 a broker's firm, where he kept a speculative 
 account. He wanted to take her to the bank 
 and have her deposit it herself, so that in case of 
 his death, she might be able to attend to this 
 part of her business herself. 
 
 She was glad to go to dispel the melancholy 
 feelings his remarks about his death had inspired; 
 and also because she went to so few places, she 
 was always glad to go anywhere. 
 
 The carriage was ordered and they were soon 
 on their way down town to the bank. 
 
 He easily excited her curiosity regarding the 
 vault and she delighted him by declaring she 
 would ask to be taken into it. 
 
 They soon reached the bank. 
 
 If Mr. Ray had been at his post I think the 
 sight of him would have so confused Estelle that 
 she would have forgotten all about her intentions 
 of asking to see the vault ; but he was out lunch- 
 ing. 
 
 After the usual formula of deposit, Estelle 
 naively asked her father : 
 
 " Now do you think this is as safe here as in 
 the private drawer of my workbox ? Only my 
 box could not hold so much money." 
 
 " I think so," replied the father smiling. 
 
 "Do you think so?" she pertly asked the 
 bank official. 
 
 " I am quite sure of it," he replied. 
 
 " Well, I suppose I must be satisfied," she
 
 A NEW SCHEME. 127 
 
 said carelessly ; then brightening and turning her 
 eyes full upon him, she said in her most charm- 
 ing manner : " O I wish I could see where you 
 keep the money ! " 
 
 Just then Mr. Ray returned from his lunch, 
 passed behind the railing, and took his seat at his 
 desk. 
 
 Any one watching them would have noticed 
 that Ray and Estelle colored up when their eyes 
 met, but beyond this there was no further 
 recognition. 
 
 The official who had been talking to Estelle, 
 his senior in years but subordinate in the bank, 
 went up to him, and said : 
 
 " Mr. Ray, here is a young lady who has just 
 made a deposit, and is very anxious to see 
 the vault that she may be confident her 
 money will be safe. Will you kindly escort 
 her?" 
 
 Mr. Ray left his desk and approached her. 
 
 " It is unusual," said he. deferentially, " to 
 show the vault. Indeed, since the attempt at 
 robbery a few weeks since none except those in 
 authority have been admitted below, but I can 
 see no objection to your taking a peep, if you are 
 so anxious to do so ! " 
 
 " Come, daughter, this is unreasonable," ob- 
 served Senor Verrua, "let us go," yet he made 
 no move to leave. 
 
 " O, I do not wish to trouble you, sir!" saio!
 
 128 V1DOCQ. 
 
 Estelle, glancing furtively at Mr. Ray, who was 
 evidently very much embarrassed. 
 
 " No trouble at all," responded Mr. Ray, and 
 he threw open the gate for her to pass be- 
 hind the desks in order to descend into the 
 vault. 
 
 She passed in, and then glanced at her father. 
 
 "Won't you come?" she observed, glancing 
 first at her father and then requestingly at, Mr. 
 Ray. 
 
 " No yes," replied the senor, quietly follow- 
 ing his daughter into the enclosure, and assisting 
 her down the .steps while Mr. Ray went ahead 
 and opened the door. 
 
 There was nothing particularly interesting to 
 Estelle in the vault. 
 
 In the presence of her father the interview 
 was as embarrassing to her as to the young 
 cashier, who felt drawn to her by a power which 
 he could neither elucidate nor control. 
 
 The vault was square, with a continuous solid 
 safe on each side, or, to speak more correctly, it 
 was a large safe with a hollow centre. The ceil- 
 ing and floor was constructed of large, cast-iron 
 plates. 
 
 Ray courteously swung open one of the safes 
 or compartments that happened to be vacant, 
 and so enabled Verrua to judge of the depth to 
 the rear wall. 
 
 Habit in such work enabled the senor to make
 
 ESTELLE'S WARNING. 120 
 
 visual measurements of space that were almost 
 exact to the half inch. 
 
 A glance furtive and listless revealed to him 
 the mechanism of the secret door leading to the 
 vault ; a look enabled him to mentally photo- 
 graph the plates of the floor, and with an air of 
 being bored, he suggested to his daughter that 
 she assuredly had seen enough to satisfy her that 
 the strong box of the bank was quite impregnable. 
 
 She experienced so much embarrassment in 
 Ray's presence that she evinced little interest in 
 the vault, and gladly assented by a nod to her 
 father's suggestion to leave. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 ESTELLE'S WARNING. 
 
 IN the evening while chatting with her father in 
 the dining-room over the nuts and wine, Mead's 
 pull at the front door bell was recognized, and 
 Estelle, not wishing to meet him, instantly with- 
 drew, pausing at the door leading into the hall 
 until he should h.:vc been ushered into the par- 
 lor, whence he would pass into the rear room she 
 would have just left. 
 
 Fearful lest she might attract their attention 
 by her steps on the matting, she concluded to re- 
 main a few moments till they became engaged in
 
 130 
 
 VIDOCQ. 
 
 conversation and then she could slip upstairs un- 
 perceived. 
 
 Thus it was she came to overhear a conversa- 
 tion between her father and Mead, which, for the 
 moment, almost paralyzed her as she stood there ; 
 for it must be remembered she was entirely 
 ignorant of her father's associations, and believed, 
 as she had been taught, that he lived on his in- 
 come from his estates in Spain, and was the soul 
 of honor, 
 
 Verrua began by saying : 
 
 " I doubt the feasibility of another attack from 
 above. The tunnel must be carried under the 
 vault to the centre and then an opening made in 
 the floor." 
 
 As he spoke he drew the following on a piece 
 of paper : 
 
 CELLAR-FURNACE 
 
 CELLAR-COAL 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 D 
 
 
 
 C 
 
 
 " Now A A represents the safe forming the 
 sides of the vault. B is the present tunnel, 
 which strikes the outer wall. Now this tunnel 
 must be carried down the side and underneath
 
 EXTELL&S WARNING. 131 
 
 to the centre where an opening can be made at 
 D." 
 
 Mead, who watched him closely, exclaimed 
 gleefully: 
 
 "Yes yes the tunnel will not be wasted 
 after all ! " 
 
 "No time is to be wasted," observed Verrua, 
 handing the paper to Mead. 
 
 Estelle thought at one time that all the blood 
 had left her veins and she was becoming petri- 
 fied ; she did not dare to try to move, lest she 
 should fall. 
 
 Then she was flushed with a hot glow like a 
 fever that almost consumed her ; her head swam, 
 and she had to lean against the door for support. 
 
 Anon she felt as if she were chained to the spot. 
 
 Fortunately she was able to control her emo- 
 
 'tions and listen attentively to every word that 
 
 was uttered, in order that she might not be 
 
 mistaken. 
 
 When the conversation changed, and it was 
 none too soon, for the great mental tension was 
 beginning to tell upon her, she glided upstairs 
 into her library. 
 
 She sank to the floor from utter exhaustion, 
 after closing the door. 
 
 She gave vent to a flood of tears. 
 
 " Merciful heaven," she sobbed, "that I might 
 have been spared the revelations of this night ! 
 O father, how cruelly you have deceived me !
 
 132 VIDOCQ. 
 
 Better I had died than to have lived to know 
 this ! God help me, or, father, I shall hate you. 
 O mother, where are you that I have been so 
 cruelly deceived." 
 
 She continued in this impassioned strain for 
 some time ; then she calmed, and begun pacing 
 the room. 
 
 It was some time before she could regain 
 control of herself which she was evidently trying 
 to do. 
 
 " I will save him," she suddenly broke out, 
 " if it brings to me ruin and disgrace. I will 
 warn him ; he shall be prepared for them." 
 
 Unsophisticated girl as she was, she felt equal 
 to any emergency, for she inherited her father's 
 spirit and self-reliance > and these shone out 
 strongly. 
 
 She went into her bed-chamber adjoining, and 
 woke her maid, who had fallen asleep in a chair 
 while awaiting her orders. 
 
 " Delia ! Delia ! wake up ! O you log, you ! " 
 and she forced the girl awake by a terrible (to 
 the girl) shaking. 
 
 " Yes : I am awake. What is it? "yawned 
 the girl, rubbing her eyes. 
 
 "Is your brother at home?" asked Estelle 
 breathlessly. 
 
 "Yes, he is," was the reply. 
 
 " You asked to be allowed to sleep at home 
 to-night. Now if you will get him to take a
 
 ESTELLSTfi WARNING. 133 
 
 letter in the morning to a gentleman for me you 
 may go," said Estelle. 
 
 " Why, of course, he will be glad to serve you, 
 Miss 'Stelle," responded the girl, now fully 
 awake. 
 
 " Very well ; prepare to go while I write," said 
 Estelle, seizing a scrap of paper and writing in 
 pencil. 
 
 But composition under the circumstances 
 writing to Mr. Ray to warn him of the contem- 
 plated attack on the bank, without implicating 
 any one by mentioning names was not as easy 
 as she supposed ; words and ideas flowed fast 
 enough, but they were not the right ones. 
 
 She tore up several letters before she wrote 
 one that suited her. 
 
 " Now mind no one besides yourself and 
 brother must know of this," she said as she 
 handed the letter to the girl and dismissed 
 her. 
 
 Then she threw herself on her knees and 
 clasped her hands, and exclaimed feverently : 
 
 " Thank God ! I have done it. After what I 
 have heard to-night I can never think of becom- 
 ing his wife. But he protected me in an hour of 
 danger, and I will help him now, though it 
 brings ruin and disgrace on me and mine ! " 
 
 The night had passed and it was dawn ere she 
 closed her eyes in sleep.
 
 134 VIDOCQ. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 FOREWARNED. 
 
 | 
 MR. RAY had been at his desk a few minutes 
 
 the next morning when a youth entered, asked 
 for him, and handed him a letter, and left with 
 as little ceremony. 
 
 " Some bill or notification," he thought, glanc- 
 ing at it. 
 
 The handwriting was not familiar to him and 
 he threw the letter on a pile to be opened in 
 order. 
 
 At length its turn came, and he opened it 
 mechanically ; but- if his associates had been 
 watching him they would have perceived he was 
 much moved by its perusal. 
 
 On a pink-tinted obverse sheet of ladies' note 
 paper were the following words written evidently 
 with much agitation : 
 
 " MR. RAY. 
 
 " Sir : An attempt will be made how soon I 
 do not know to rob your bank, the vault, I 
 mean. Be warned. 
 
 "A FRIEND." 
 
 " Great heavens ! What does this mean ? " 
 he mentally ejaculated ; but controlling himself, 
 and collecting his thoughts, he determined to 
 reflect on the subject before he laid the mys-
 
 FOREWARNED. 13:> 
 
 terious communication before the President for 
 his advice. 
 
 Since his adventure on Fourteenth Street he 
 had been in receipt of several sportive epistles 
 from fun-loving friends, in which " A Lady in 
 Distress" appealed to him to protect her from a 
 savage dog or a drunken policeman. 
 
 Reflection convinced him that this letter was 
 one of these practical jokes, and he tore the 
 missive into bits. 
 
 The vault was considered by all bank detec- 
 tives to be invulnerable, and since the recent 
 scare, a double force of watchmen had been on 
 duty nightly ; and there was really no occasion 
 for alarm. 
 
 Reflection, however, is a perturbed spirit, and 
 he changed his mind, concluding that the warn- 
 ing was worth heeding. 
 
 He was kept very busy that day and it was not 
 till closing hour that he came to this conclusion. 
 
 By this time there was no one left in the bank 
 besides himself but the subordinate clerks and 
 these he allowed to leave as the time came. 
 
 He had determined to remain that night in the 
 bank, and if need be personally protect the 
 vault. 
 
 He now bitterly regretted having shown Sen- 
 orita Verrua and her father into the vault the 
 previous day; for if anything happened he 
 should be censured.
 
 136 VILOCQ. 
 
 Not that he for a moment supposed that they 
 could be implicated in any way in an attack on 
 the bank ; but he should have observed the rules 
 and then there would be nothing' to i egret. 
 
 It was necessary to acquaint one of the watch- 
 men who had charge of the keys of his determi- 
 nation to return and remain in the bank all 
 night ; and while this man swept and cleaned the 
 bank after business hours he went out and dined 
 and provided himself with some crackers and 
 cheese and a couple of bottles of beer, for mid- 
 night consumption. He also procured reading 
 matter in the shape of a yellow covered romance 
 warranted to keep any one awake all night. . 
 
 The revolver in his desk he had loaded several 
 days before ; this was O. K. 
 
 He fixed the lights and everything as usual, 
 and seated himself behind the desks in a position 
 in which he could not be seen from the streets. 
 
 Hour after hour" passed, morning dawned and 
 opening time arrived, without anything unusual 
 occurring, and Ray made up his mind he had 
 been tricked, and was glad he had not shown the 
 letter to his associates. 
 
 While he kept his vigil by keeping himself 
 awake by one of Sylvanus Cobb's sensational 
 romances, Mead with his men had worked in 
 the tunnel, which before daylight had been 
 carried down the side of the vault and under- 
 neath to the point indicated on the diagram by
 
 THEY MEET AGAIN. 137 
 
 Verrua; and Hans made arrangements to pass 
 the day in the tunnel underneath to listen to the 
 footsteps above that he might nicely calculate 
 the thickness of the plates of the floor. 
 
 The men were still at work in the morning 
 when Ray stopped in Hans' place to purchase a 
 boutoiiniere. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THEY MEET AGAIN. 
 
 ESTELLE, accompanied by her maid, went 
 shopping the next morning in Broadway, when 
 she met Mr. Ray, up-town on business of the 
 bank. 
 
 A friendly smile encouraged him to stop and 
 speak, and he told of his night's adventure. 
 
 If he had regarded her with other than admir- 
 ing eyes he could not have failed to have per- 
 ceived that she was much embarrassed by the 
 information ; this he attributed naturally enough 
 to their unexpected meeting. 
 
 "Are you going to watch again tonight," she 
 inquired. 
 
 " No ; I think not. I am beginning to think I 
 am the dupe of a joke," he replied. 
 
 " O I should watch for a few nights at all 
 events," she said. " Then if nothing occurs it 
 \\-oiild be foolish to persevere."
 
 138 MDOCQ. 
 
 She spoke so earnestly that she impressed him. 
 
 " I will take your advice," he replied, and after 
 a few unimportant remarks they separated. 
 
 She shortly after returned home and learned 
 from the servant that Mead had not called. 
 
 She had determined to watch his coming, and 
 if possible overhear the conversation between 
 him and her father. 
 
 She passed a restless day ; for Mead did not 
 call till after tea. 
 
 She watched from over the banisters, and the 
 moment Mead was seated she was at the cur- 
 tain listening. 
 
 " You received my dispatch ? " she heard her 
 father say. 
 
 " Yes, and I have arranged everything ; and 
 before daylight the matter will be settled," 
 replied Mead, in a manner that chilled the blood 
 in her veins. 
 
 "If Ray is there again ?" observed her 
 father. 
 
 " He will never be there again, " responded 
 Mead significantly, " that's all ! " 
 
 She was seized with such a violent tremor that 
 she mjust have shook the curtains ; but they were 
 too much engrossed to notice it. 
 
 She tottered to a chair and thence upstairs to 
 her own room. 
 
 " Merciful heavens ! " she exclaimed. " I 
 have probably led him to his death by urging
 
 ]:;. 
 
 him to watch again to-night ! He must be 
 saved, and I will save him ! " 
 
 She heard a movement in the lower room and 
 went to the door to listen. 
 
 Mead and her father came out together. 
 
 " Good-night, daughter," he called up. 
 
 " Good-night," she responded huskily. 
 
 In a moment she had put on her bonnet, 
 descended to the street, and was on her way to 
 the bank. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BYRNES. 
 
 RAY on returning to the bank had an interview 
 with the president, the result of which was that 
 he was instructed to go to Police Headquarters 
 on Mulberry Street, and confer with the chief t of 
 the Detective Bureau. 
 
 Chief James Irving, with the glance, bearing, 
 mustache and imperial of a soldier, listened 
 patiently to his statement, interrupting him with 
 such ejaculations as, "Yes, that's what they 
 would do ! " " That's the way they would work 
 that ! " When Ray had finished Irving observ- 
 ed : 
 
 " I'll send you a man in the course of the day 
 before the bank closes." 
 
 It happened that the regular Wall Street force,
 
 140 V1DOCQ. 
 
 Radford, Elder, Duzenberry, were on active 
 detail, and looking over his blotter or assignments 
 Irving found that the best available man was 
 young Tom Byrnes, who though he had not yet 
 distinguished himself by any coup, was recog- 
 nized as a safe, slow and sure man. 
 
 Byrnes had not been long in the detective 
 department of the big marble building on Mul- 
 berry Street ; though he had been on the force 
 in the Fifteenth Precinct for several years, since 
 returning from the war, after a full period of 
 service in Ellsworth's Fire Zouaves, under the 
 brave and unfortunate organizer, then Farnham, 
 and latterly Col. Charles Mck. Loeser, who testi- 
 fies to his manly, unobtrusive bravery as a sol- 
 dier. 
 
 When a few hours later, Byrnes presented 
 himself at the bank, Ray was surprised to find 
 such a boyish looking man entrusted with such 
 important work ; a man whose clear and healthy 
 face, slight black mustache, and trim, active 
 figure were those of youth, while his imperturb- 
 able manner and meditative features indicated 
 character and experience, though his appearance 
 as he walked slowly up to the desk with his 
 hands in the pockets of his jacket and a smoulder- 
 ing cigar between his lips, did not impress any 
 such idea, or that he by his achievements would 
 eventually become the Vidocq of New York, the 
 terror of evildoers.
 
 BYRNES. 141 
 
 Ray, at Byrnes's request, gave him all the par- 
 ticulars, but to Ray's disgust the detective did 
 not evince the slightest surprise or interest, 
 never once taking his hands out of his pockets, 
 or the cigar from his mouth. 
 
 " I'll present myself at the bank to-night to go 
 on duty as a watchman," said Byrnes as he 
 finished; " arrange that for me, meet me here 
 leave the rest to me," and he turned and saun- 
 tered away as if there was nothing more impor- 
 tant on his mind than an effort to kill time with- 
 out too much exertion. 
 
 Byrnes in these early days of his experience on 
 the force was formulating his philosophy and 
 while apparently walking aimlessly and list- 
 lessly about was studying characters and places. 
 
 It is his favorite theory that he has been suc- 
 cessful by going about his work in the exactly 
 different way the orthodox detective pursues, 
 lie believes in the ounce of prevention. For 
 instance, before the Centennial celebration in 
 Xew York he caused the arrest and detention until 
 after the fete, of all the suspicious "crooks" 
 found in the city instead of waiting for them 
 to be detected in the act. 
 
 One day I was riding in a Broadway car with 
 him, and tapping me on the knee he whispered, 
 
 "Don't look at me. Do you notice anything 
 strange or different in that man opposite?" 
 
 While he looked out of the window, evidently
 
 142 Viuocq. 
 
 to see that he was not carried past the street he 
 was to alight at, I glanced at a midde aged, 
 moderately dressed man opposite, who but for a 
 certain peculiar expression of the eye, a lack- 
 lustre, furtive eye, I should have considered an 
 " ordinary, everyday sort of a man." 
 
 " No his eyes look weak and worn," I 
 whispered in reply. 
 
 "See how different he uses them from the 
 rest." 
 
 I glanced opposite again ; the man's eyes, 
 intent as a panther's prepared to spring on its 
 victim, wandered from one person to another, or, 
 more properly speaking one stomach to the next, 
 gloating over the display of watch-chains. It was 
 a revelation, the motive of stealing the watch 
 the glance of those eyes betrayed, the mental 
 calculation of the possibility or feasibility of 
 securing one of them. So engrossed was the 
 pickpocket in his thoughts that he did not notice 
 he was observed. 
 
 The eyes of all the others on the row, I 
 observed, were animated by the changeful 
 thoughts of conversation or reflection or attracted 
 by passing objects ; but those two eyes seemed to 
 be fascinated by the display of watch-chains and a 
 second glance revealed a certain nervous, involun- 
 tary movement of the fingers as if "clutching" 
 the coveted booty. 
 
 " Be careful he does not notice you," whis-
 
 143 
 
 pered Byrnes, taking out of his pocket a morn- 
 ino- paper and carelessly glancing over the 
 
 same. 
 
 A gentleman sitting next to the party opposite 
 under surveillance, resumes reading his paper, and 
 the pickpocket next him also takes out a paper 
 and apparently reads it, but I, observing him, find 
 that he has it upside down, and that he holds it 
 merely as a cover while with his other hand he 
 endeavors to lift his neighbor's watch from his 
 pocket the sight of those two fingers pushed 
 out from underneath the paper in an effort to 
 catch the watch, still remains in my memory as 
 the first work of the kind I had ever seen. 
 
 He had almost succeeded in catching the chain 
 when the owner jumped up and rushed out of 
 the car having passed his place in his reading 
 until he happened to glance up from the paper. 
 
 I was so excited that had not Byrnes admon- 
 ished silence by touching me with his elbow I 
 think I should have exclaimed, " That man has 
 been trying to steal your watch, sir!" 
 
 Byrnes rose, leaned over and touching the 
 pickpocket on the shoulder, said significantly: ' 
 
 " I want you ! " 
 
 Byrnes passed down the car to the door. 
 
 The man arose immediately and followed him ; 
 so did I of course. 
 
 Byrnes handed the man over to a policeman 
 who took him in charge.
 
 144 
 
 " Now," said Byrnes, " did not that fellow's 
 actions at once give him away ? " 
 . "Yes." 
 
 " Now if he had been an innocent man, would 
 he have arose so meekly and followed me, but 
 wouldn't he have asked, 'What do you want 
 sir ?' ' 
 
 I afterwards found the man was a well-known 
 western criminal, on his first visit to the city, and 
 that a search of the records showed he was 
 wanted by the chief of police in Cincinnati, O., to 
 whom Byrnes remanded him. 
 
 To resume my story. After a stroll in the 
 neighborhood of the bank, which resulted in his 
 coming to the conclusion that the only question- 
 able or suspicious place or " plant " in the neigh- 
 borhood was Hans' flower store, Byrnes went 
 in and gave an order for a handsome basket of 
 floral beauties to be sent to a well-known danseuse 
 in a spectacle that succeeded the famous " Black 
 Crook" at Niblo's Garden, giving a card bearing 
 the name of Thomas de Conway, under quite a 
 showy crest. 
 
 I need not say that the sending of the basket 
 to the danseuse was a " blind," that is, that 
 Byrnes did not know her or care a jot about 
 honoring her, and that he had used a card which 
 was a fiction prepared for such occasions ; but he 
 wanted an excuse to enter the place, and the 
 moment he saw that Hans seemed alarmed at
 
 BYBA'ES. 145 
 
 such an order, and then fell to whistling to con- 
 ceal his momentary trepidation, he decided there 
 was something wrong about him and his place. 
 
 Had Hans acted in a natural manner, like an 
 innocent man, with nothing to fear, he would 
 have escaped Byrnes' suspicions; but even so 
 small an act as whistling is sometimes a clue to 
 such a close student of human nature as Byrnes, 
 because the effort to conceal is visible to him in 
 that it is clearly not natural to the man. 
 
 " Shadowing " Hans, Byrnes followed him from 
 his place to an up-town florist, where he gave his 
 order, as Hans did not propose to personally 
 attend to the same. 
 
 Byrnes returned to headquarters and had aeon- 
 ference with the chief regarding the movement 
 of the local " crooks," the result of which was 
 that both decided that "new men "were on the 
 work at the bank, as the " locals " were all satis- 
 factorily accounted for. 
 
 Byrnes then summoned Ralston, who like 
 himself was a youngster, but already proving 
 himself a "double" or " shadow," that is a good 
 man to work with. 
 
 Ralston was detailed to " pipe " the outside of 
 the bank during the night, and at a signal to 
 make a descent into Hans' cellar, calling the 
 "beat," that is the policeman on the post, to his 
 assistance. 
 
 These details arranged, Byrnes took a nap in a
 
 146 VIDOCQ. 
 
 chair tilted back against the wall of his office, 
 until he instinctively (from force of habit) awoke 
 at the desired time ; and then arraying himself 
 in a coarse woollen suit, such as a night watch- 
 man might wear, still further effectually dis- 
 guising himself by a bushy, reddish beard and 
 shock of hair he presented himself at the 
 bank. 
 
 Ray did not recognize him at first, so thorough 
 was this metamorphosis. He decided at once that 
 Byrnes was a much smarter man than his 
 appearance had indicated. 
 
 The regular watchman, who at first was dis- 
 posed to be very chary towards his rival, was 
 instructed to occupy his usual chair, in his usual 
 way he might indulge in a nap if he felt so 
 disposed. Ray took his seat of the night before 
 while Byrnes sat at the foot of the steps, before 
 the open door of the vault, evidently contented 
 with his thoughts ; for he never uttered a word, 
 scarcely breathed, after he took his place. 
 
 Suddenly he heard the tap of a chisel on the 
 floor ; then he noiselessly moved into the vault, 
 closed the door behind him, and stood, like a 
 tiger awaiting his prey, for the opening in the 
 floor to grab his man. 
 
 The plate reached by the excavation it was 
 simple and easy work for the skilled Hans to cut 
 and remove a section, sufficient for him to 
 crawl into the vault and the others to follow him,
 
 BYBNE8. 147 
 
 as all the force would be needed on the several 
 locks of the safe. 
 
 Mead's plan was that each man would carry all 
 the gold he could, that is, as many bags from the 
 vault to the cellar, from which they could make 
 their escape with the booty in the excitement 
 and confusion of a fire breaking out in the store 
 on the other side of the bank, which he would 
 kindle by reaching the roof by the same way that 
 Hans did when he entered the bank through the 
 skylight. 
 
 Mead proposed to superintend the work in the 
 tunnel and vault until the supreme moment of 
 cracking the locks ; then he would rush to the 
 roof, cross that of the bank, and opening the 
 scuttle of the store on the other side, descend to 
 the upper floor and ignite the inflammable stuff 
 stored there. 
 
 Mead mapped out the plan with a view of 
 self-preservation, as if they should be disturbed 
 in the bank there would be a good chance for 
 him to escape on the roof. 
 
 He was crouching in the tunnel, holding the 
 bull's-eye lantern when Hans cut through the 
 plate, removed it and had crawled half way up 
 when he uttered an oath and attempted to free 
 himself from the clutches of some one or some- 
 thing in the vault above. Byrnes ! 
 
 The moment that Hans ejaculated Mead 
 " douced " the lantern and retreated to the safety
 
 148 V1DOCQ. 
 
 of the cellar, closely followed by the others who 
 soon decided they could not help Hans. 
 
 Divining that; the outside would be watched, 
 Mead ordered the men to follow him to the roof, 
 where he started the fire as intended, and work- 
 ing their way quickly down-stairs they secreted 
 themselves until the doors were opened by the 
 firemen when ftiey escaped in the crowd, never 
 giving a thought to Hans. 
 
 Hans, as soon as he had got his head, 
 shoulders and arms into the vault, and was 
 preparing to raise himself into the same, was 
 seized by brawny hands and before he could 
 divine what had happened he was handcuffed, 
 gagged and held in the clutches of a strong 
 embrace, so that he could not squirm or sink 
 away back into the tunnel. 
 
 In the vault there was the total black of dark- 
 ness; Hans could not see who had him; but 
 Byrnes could for the moment see Hans by the 
 light of the lantern in the tunnel until it was 
 turned off by the fleeing Mead. In the gloom 
 he recognized him as the florist. 
 
 Kicking back or open the unfastened vault 
 rioor with his foot, Byrnes, still holding Hans, 
 called to Ray, and he and the watchman rushed 
 down the stairs to him, the latter having a bull's- 
 eye lantern. 
 
 With their assistance Byrnes drew Hans up 
 into the vault.
 
 THE ATTACK. 149 
 
 " Now you watch him," he said to Ray. 
 " Shoot any one that attempts to come up," he 
 said to the watchman, who had drawn his revol- 
 ver. 
 
 Byrnes rushed upstairs, opened a window and 
 blew a whistle which called Ralston from the 
 other side of the street. 
 
 "Close in on them in the cellar! " 
 
 While Ralston and his men made a raid on the 
 cellar, Byrnes returned to the assistance of Ray 
 and just then a fire broke out in the adjoining 
 store. 
 
 Ralston, breaking into the cellar found it 
 deserted, and followed by his men he crawled 
 into the tunnel and thence into the vault. 
 
 Mead in escaping had closed the trap-door in 
 the floor or rather ceiling of the cellar, and thus 
 completely thrown Ralston off the scent, and 
 even now amid the clanging of the fire-bells and 
 the hurly-burly he and his men were leaving the 
 next building. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE ATTACK. 
 
 IT is often said that we never know what we 
 can do or endure until we try ; and if any one 
 had told Estelle that she could clandestinely 
 leave her home in the silent hours of the night
 
 150 VIDOCQ. 
 
 unattended, and go to the unfrequented region of 
 the bank down-town, as she had done, she would 
 have considered the speaker as crazy as she would 
 herself to contemplate, much less, undertake 
 such a wild idea. 
 
 She paused within a .block of the bank, to 
 decide what course she should pursue. 
 
 Perhaps after all Mr. Ray had not followed 
 her advice, and consequently was not at the 
 bank. 
 
 Various scenes in which he was the central 
 figure came up in her mind ; but not one it is 
 safe to say presented him in the company of 
 his betrothed ; for, it must be remembered, she? 
 was not aware of his engagement. 
 
 Although she had given up all hope of ever 
 becoming his wife she had no idea of a rival. 
 
 As she stood watching the bank, undecided 
 what to do next, Ralston passed, eyed her 
 sharply, and seemed inclined to speak, but she 
 returned his look with such dignity that he did 
 not. 
 
 Suddenly there was a glow of light on the roof 
 adjoining the bank ; then a mass of flames, and 
 while bells tolled, engines dashed around corners, 
 men rushed frantically past her, and in a few 
 minutes the neighborhood was full of life and 
 bustle. 
 
 If she had remained longer at the curtain she 
 would have learned that this fire was a part of
 
 THE ATTACK. 151 
 
 the programme in the assault on the bank, and 
 which we have seen had been so faithfully ex- 
 ecuted. 
 
 She was borne by the crowd down the street a 
 block or two, but as soon as she could escape by 
 going into a cross street she returned to the bank, 
 which she reached in time to see Ray emerge 
 from the door with two other men (Byrnes and 
 Hans), while Ralston and his men remained in 
 charge with the watchmen while they took the 
 prisoner to the station house. 
 
 She could not resist the inspiration to push 
 through the crowd and speak to Ray. 
 
 " Are you hurt ? " she gasped. 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Thank God!" 
 
 Byrnes with Hans was slightly in advance, 
 and consequently they did not see her, or his sus- 
 picions might have been aroused. 
 
 Before Ray could reply she sank back in the 
 group, and instantly men took her place and she 
 gradually made her way out and returned home 
 home ! what a mockery the word seemed to 
 her ! And losing her in the crowd, Ray, recalled 
 to himself by Byrnes's admonition to move quick 
 began to doubt his senses that he had really seen 
 her.
 
 152 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ESTELLE LEAVES HOME. 
 
 ESTELLE after leaving the scene of disaster re- 
 turned home, and was fortunate in reaching 
 there before her father, and also in getting in 
 without alarming any o*f the household. 
 
 In the privacy of her own room she succumbed 
 to her emotions, which she had so bravely resisted. 
 All that she had done seemed like the phantasy 
 of a dream ; if she had known what she would 
 have had to do when she went out, it is doubtful 
 if she in her inexperience could have been equal 
 to the emergency. She finally slept from sheer 
 physical exhaustion, and arose the next morning 
 much refreshed and invigorated by her peaceful 
 slumber. She breakfasted as usual in her own 
 room, as her father was rather irregular in his 
 hours ; and after the meal set herself to thinking 
 over her position. 
 
 She could not think of her father's position 
 without feeling the blister of shame on her 
 cheeks, and decided that communion with him 
 could never again be as in the past, and while 
 she still dearly loved him, she did not doubt but 
 that it would be best that in the future their 
 paths in life should be separate. She resolved to 
 leave home clandestinely, and seek to make her 
 own living out in the world ; and thus sever
 
 ESTELLE LEAVES HOME. lf)lJ 
 
 associations which could not fail to end in dis- 
 grace and ruin. Though by temperament im- 
 pulsive and impetuous she was not hasty in 
 coming to this purpose, but deliberate and cau- 
 tious. She did not conceal from herself the fact 
 that she was woefully inexperienced in matters of 
 the world, but she had confidence in herself in 
 her common sense, judgment and courage ; and 
 also that confidence in the future which generally 
 animates youth which has not leatned the pain- 
 ful lesson that there is such a word as fat/ m the 
 lexicon. Anyway, she had rather trust to the 
 ordeal of fate then remain in her present position. 
 
 She called Delia, and naively asked her : 
 
 " Delia, suppose that you were in want of a 
 situation, how should you set about getting one ? " 
 
 " Why, I'd look over the advertisements in the 
 papers, miss ! " 
 
 " Bring me the papers." 
 
 The morning papers were brought her, and 
 after reading very sensational accounts of the 
 attempt to rob the bank and the incendiary fire 
 next door, she carefully scanned the advertise- 
 ments without finding anything that suited her. 
 Aye, but what did she want ? To admit the fact, 
 she really did not know herself. She argued that 
 she wa.3 thoroughly educated and highly accom- 
 plished, and there must be something that she 
 could do ; but exactly what she had not decided. 
 Hrr eye fell upon a caption of "Instruction " in
 
 154 V1DOCQ. 
 
 the Herald. A governess for a young lady was 
 wanted. Apply so and so. This would suit her, 
 and she made a memorandum. Under the cap- 
 tion of " Specials" she read an advertisement for 
 a companion to a middle-aged invalid lady. This 
 would suit her better, probably; but she an- 
 swered both. The next question was where to 
 have the replies sent. 
 
 "Delia!" 
 
 "Yes, miss." 
 
 " Suppose you wanted to have a letter written 
 to you and did not wish to have it sent to the 
 house, what should you do?" 
 
 " Have it sent to the general post office." 
 
 " True, true ! But where is that ? " 
 
 " Oh, I can go and get it for you." 
 
 " Very well. 
 
 The letters were written and entrusted to Delia 
 to mail. Delia, here let it be observed, had been 
 told by Mme. Costelli when she was engaged 
 that her sole duty would be to attend Senorita 
 Estelle, whom she must obey implicitly; and, 
 consequently, now she did as that lady ordered, 
 however much in her own mind she questioned 
 the wisdom or propriety of the proceeding. A 
 dislike which Mme. Costelli inspired in all by her 
 haughtiness prevented Delia seeking counsel with 
 her whenever she would have liked to have had 
 the senorita's orders approved. 
 
 After Delia had gone with the letters the
 
 ESTELLE LEAVES HOME. 155 
 
 thought occurred to Estelle, should she leave 
 her father without making an effort to bring 
 about a reform in his life ? Deprived of her 
 love, and left to himself, he might sink lower yet. 
 
 The thought inspired her to a great deed. 
 
 She descended to the rear parlor where she 
 knew her father was sitting. He looked pale and 
 haggard from the fatigue and excitement and 
 disappointment of the previous night, and he was 
 not, as may be surmised, in a good humor, either. 
 
 "Father!" 
 
 "Well, daughter?" 
 
 And he placed a chair for her near his own. 
 A certain severity of manner prevented any 
 demonstration of affection. 
 
 " Well, how is my pet this evening ? " 
 
 "Father!" but she was unable to proceed. 
 " O God, that I had never lived till this mo- 
 ment ! " and she rose and paced the room in great 
 mental agitation. 
 
 "Why, daughter, what means this? "he ex- 
 claimed, rising and following her. 
 
 She turned upon him, but did not speak till 
 she fully recovered control of herself. 
 
 "Father, I chanced night before last and also 
 last night to overhear the conversation between 
 you and Mead " 
 
 "You did, eh?" he answered, little imagining 
 what she would reply, but supposing she would 
 allude to the marriage discussion.
 
 156 
 
 "Yes, I did, and and I know all the infa- 
 mous scheme to rob the bank." 
 
 Signer Verrura gazed at her in bewilderment, 
 utterly unable to speak. 
 
 "Father, give up these vile associations; leave 
 this city, take me back to Spain I had rather die 
 there of starvation (if indeed we are poor as we 
 seem to be) than live here in luxury on the gains 
 of dishonesty ! " 
 
 "You are mad ! " faltered the senor. 
 
 " No, I am not. But you are if you refuse to 
 listen to me." 
 
 " Why do you allude to these matters is it to 
 torment me? " 
 
 " No : to reclaim you ere it is too late ! " she 
 replied firmly. 
 
 The words angered him ; he replied fiercely : 
 
 " Foolish girl ! do not speak more or else you 
 will make me forget that you are my daughter!" 
 and he rushed into the hall, seized his hat, and 
 left the house. 
 
 " I will try again," she said. 
 
 She sought him again the next morning. 
 
 " Father," she began, " knowing all that I do, 
 I cannot live with any peace of mind while you 
 are engaged in your present dishonest schemes. 
 O father, you do not know what heart pains it 
 causes me to speak this way to you. O listen to 
 me ! Sever these vile associations, which can only 
 end in your ruin and disgrace, and take me away
 
 ESTELLE LEA VES HOME. 157 
 
 if not home to Spain, away anywhere from 
 here ! " and she knelt imploringly at his feet. 
 
 For several moments he was unable to reply, 
 and then he blurted out : 
 
 " Impossible ! You know not what you have 
 asked. O daughter, spare me ! " 
 
 " Spare you ? I wish to save you." 
 
 " Too late, too late ! " He buried his head in 
 his hands in agony. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because I am so involved in debt and compli- 
 cated with associations that I cannot ! " 
 
 " Father, your whole life has been a studied, 
 persistent lie ! " 
 
 " I know it, but I could not help it. O spare 
 me, daughter!" 
 
 Before that slender girl the strong man quailed 
 like a culprit for he was one. 
 
 There was a pause ; and he gained courage, 
 while in the conflict between duty and love, she 
 partially relented. 
 
 ' You should not have attempted to interfere 
 in my business," he said. " It was dishonorable 
 of you to play eavesdropper. Go to your room 
 and never refer to this matter again." 
 
 He pushed her away and strode across to the 
 buffet, and took some brandy. 
 
 She arose, glanced at him as if she would speak 
 once more, but hesitated, and then all that was 
 bright and hopeful in her face disappeared, and
 
 158 VIDOCQ. 
 
 there came a determined, desperate, imperturba- 
 ble expression. 
 
 Later in the day Delia brought her two letters. 
 These were replies to her answers to the adver- 
 tisements. Both requested her to call on the re- 
 spective parties. 
 
 She went out the next morning for the pur- 
 pose. She called first on the lady who wished a 
 governess for her daughter. The number was a 
 brown-stone in a fashionable neighborhood. 
 When she gave her card to the servant, that per- 
 sonage glancing at it said contemptuously, " O 
 yes, you are a governess," and ushered her into a 
 sumptuous front parlor. 
 
 In a few moments after some one a previous 
 applicant Estelle correctly surmised had passed 
 out, the folding doors were opened, revealing a 
 stout, coarse lady seated on a sofa. 
 
 " Come here," said this one. 
 
 Estelle passed into a rear room, and sat on the 
 chair the lady motioned her to take. 
 
 You are rather young to apply for a position 
 of this kind." 
 
 I am young ; but I believe I possess all the 
 requirements." 
 
 " Where were you last engaged? " 
 
 " I have no experience as a governess," said 
 Estelle. 
 
 14 Have you references? " 
 
 ' Xo," replied Estelle wonderingly.
 
 ESTELLE LEA VES HOME. 159 
 
 " It is no use our talking any longer," and the 
 consequential lady arose and haughtily sailed 
 from the room, evidently very indignant. 
 
 Estelle, however, had made up her mind not to 
 be discouraged, and though she felt this rude 
 treatment keenly, she attributed it to the ill- 
 breeding of the lady rather than to any wanton 
 intention to insult her, and so was not worried. 
 She followed the lady into the hall, and there the 
 servant was waiting to open the door for her. 
 She breathed freer when she was out of the 
 house. 
 
 She went to the Brevoort House to see the 
 lady who wanted a companion. She was taken 
 to a private parlor, where she found a middle- 
 aged lady, reclining on a sofa which she was evi- 
 dently unable to leave. She received Estelle 
 with a courtesy and kindness which at once 
 placed her at ease, beginning by telling her that 
 she had been bed-ridden by rheumatism for fif- 
 teen years. She asked Estelle to play for her on 
 the piano, and was charmed by her rendering of 
 one of Auber's plaintive symphonies. Estelle's 
 reading also pleased her. She was satisfied with 
 Estelle's assertion that she possessed some skill 
 in drawing and painting. 
 
 " I should like to see your references," she 
 said. 
 
 " I have none." 
 
 4< No references ! Why how is that ? "
 
 160 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " Because I have never been engaged anywhere 
 before ! " 
 
 " Ah, yes. Do you live at home ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Why do you leave home ? Father finds it 
 impossible to support so large a family I suppose. 
 Why did you not bring your mother with you ? " 
 
 "She is dead." 
 
 " Your father, too ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Where do you live ? I thought it was queer 
 you did not give your address in your card." 
 
 ' Don't ask me," said Estelle desperately. 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " You must ask me nothing, but take me as I 
 am, with the assurance that all is right. Troub- 
 les at home cause me to take this step, but I will 
 never reveal those troubles. If I was not satis- 
 fied that under the circumstances I ought to 
 leave home, I should not." 
 
 " I thought you were rather young to have 
 seen much service ! " 
 
 " Until I saw your advertisement I never 
 dreamed of applying for a place of the kind." 
 
 " You are sure you are not acting rashly? " 
 
 "Quite." 
 
 " You will not want a suitor to come and see 
 you?" 
 
 " No ; I shall want to see no one and shall ex- 
 pect to see no one."
 
 EBTELLE LEAVES HOME. 161 
 
 "Ah, then, you do not leave- home for some 
 love affair? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " I am interested in you ; I wish you would 
 confide in me ! " 
 
 " I have already told you more than I in- 
 tended," responded Estelle. 
 
 " I wish you would tell me your secret." 
 
 '* I would as soon think of cutting my hand 
 off." 
 
 " It must be very painful then." 
 
 " It is. If you cannot engage me without 
 knowing it, or wishing to know more of me than 
 I have told, we had better close this interview." 
 
 " Don't be hasty. I like you, and believe I 
 can trust you. But there is another to be suited 
 besides myself." 
 
 "Your husband?" 
 
 " No my daughter-in-law. My son and his 
 wife are going to Europe ; while they are gone I 
 shall occupy their residence on the Hudson. I 
 am afraid you'll find it very lonely up there ; there 
 will be none besides ourselves and the servants." 
 
 " I shall like it all the better!" 
 
 " Oh, my poor girl, what a sorrow yours must 
 be to desire such seclusion ! " 
 
 The daughter-in-law, Mrs. Styles, entered. 
 She was a pleasant-faced, amiable lady. 
 
 My daughter-in-law," said the elder Mrs. 
 Styles.
 
 102 VIDOCQ. 
 
 Both bowed formally. 
 
 " Miss Verrua has applied to be my compan- 
 ion," she continued. 
 
 " I am quite satisfied the place will not suit 
 you," said young Mrs. Styles, looking at Estelle. 
 " It is the dullest place in the world. You would 
 die before the month is over of ennui." 
 
 "Your description charms me," said Estelle. 
 " I seek retirement and solitude." 
 
 "OhJ I see; you are a widow!" said young 
 Mrs. Styles, glancing- at Estelle's black silk. 
 
 Before Estelle could reply, the old lady ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " Never mind your secret ! Never mind your 
 secret ! Mary, you should not have spoken that 
 way to her ; you should have whispered it to me ! " 
 
 " I am sorry if I have hurt your feelings. I 
 did not intend to." 
 
 " Thank you." 
 
 " Are you satisfied with her," asked the elderly 
 Mrs. Styles of the younger, in an undertone. 
 
 " Yes, I am, if you are," replied the other. 
 
 "You have been talking to her?" 
 
 "Yes; I am entirely satisfied." 
 
 "Then you had better engage her at once. 
 John won't object." 
 
 "What are your ideas regarding compensa- 
 tion?" began the old lady. 
 
 Estelle hesitated before confessing she had no 
 ideas on the subject.
 
 ESTELLE LEAVES HOME. 163 
 
 " We gave Mrs. Black twelve hundred a year 
 and the home," said the younger Mrs. Styles. 
 " Would that suit you ? " 
 
 "Yes; that would be satisfactory," said 
 Estelle. 
 
 " Can you start with us to-morrow ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Where shall we send for your baggage you 
 will start from here with us?" 
 
 Again Estelle was confused. 
 
 "Or you can have it sent to the boat, and 
 meet us there, but you must be sure and be 
 there." 
 
 " I will be there," said Estelle. 
 
 " I am sure you will ! " exclaimed the elder 
 lady. 
 
 The younger Mrs. Styles then handed her a 
 card, giving the name of the steamboat and the 
 pier. 
 
 " Now, my dear, my advice to you is that you 
 had better send your baggage there, to the care 
 of Mr. Styles, everybody about the pier knows 
 my husband, and that you come here and go to 
 the boat with us." 
 
 " I will do that," said Estelle. 
 
 After an interchange of a few common-place 
 remarks, which made them better acquainted, 
 Estelle left, and returned home. Not until she 
 was in the privacy of her own home did she fully 
 realize what she had done ; and probably at the
 
 164 VIDOCQ. 
 
 moment if she could unsay all that she had said 
 she would gladly do so ; but she soon satisfied 
 herself she could not have done better, and was 
 pleased that affairs had taken the turn. 
 
 She proposed to take a very few things with 
 her, but how to get these out of the house puz- 
 zled her for some time. 
 
 " Delia," she called. 
 
 "Yes, miss," said the girl, coming in from the 
 next room. 
 
 " You have a trunk here ? " 
 
 "Yes, miss." 
 
 "Would it hold these things?" 
 
 " Yes, miss, and more, too." 
 
 "And these?" 
 
 "Yes, miss." 
 
 " It is large." 
 
 " It is about the size of yours there ; the same 
 cover would fit both." 
 
 Estelle reflected for a moment. 
 
 "Has your cover your name on it?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Bring it here." 
 
 " Very well," and Delia passed upstairs to her 
 own room. 
 
 While she was gone Estelle removed as much 
 of the covering from her trunk as she could with- 
 out assistance ; then when Delia returned she got 
 it off entirely, and put the one that the girl had
 
 ESTELLE LEAVES HOME. 165 
 
 brought in its place. It is needless to say this 
 completely disguised the trunk, so that if any 
 one saw it leaving the house they would not 
 know it was hers. 
 
 " Delia, you have never deceived me. Can I 
 rely on you now ? " 
 
 " Why, Miss 'Stelle, what a question ! " 
 
 " I want you to go and order an expressman to 
 call for this early in the morning while she is at 
 mass. You'll be watching and let him in, so that 
 there is every probability that no questions will 
 be asked." 
 
 " But, miss oh, I see, you are going to run 
 away to be married ! " exclaimed the girl, evi- 
 dently pleased with the idea. 
 
 " You'll attend to this for me to-night, and not 
 a word about it to a soul ? " 
 
 " Yes, miss. I know who he is ; the young 
 gentleman at the bank, to whom my brother 
 took the letter! " 
 
 " Never mind about that ! " 
 
 The intervening hours were the most tedious 
 that Estelle ever passed. The hours till evening 
 dragged ; Delia's errand to the express office and 
 return constituted an era, and it seemed an age 
 before dawn when the man called ; for Estelle 
 could not sleep, try as she would. 
 
 She heard Mme. Costelli leave for mass ; she 
 did not anticipate interference from her father, 
 uho slept soundly in his room. Presently the
 
 166 V1DOCQ. 
 
 wagon drove up. Delia opened the door, the 
 man entered and came up and got the trunk and 
 left with it, Estelle giving him directions where 
 to take it. This off her mind she managed to fall 
 asleep, and she slept till nearly midday. Delia 
 in order not to excite suspicion had brought her 
 breakfast up at the usual hour, and it was await- 
 ing her on the table. 
 
 After breakfasting she wrote a few lines for 
 her father, whom she had heard shortly before 
 leave the house. She simply told him that she 
 would not remain under the same roof with 
 him as long as he continued his present life; 
 that she had procured honorable employment 
 for herself, and would make known her where- 
 abouts when the proper time arrived. This note 
 she placed on her father's dressing case. 
 
 It may appear singular that she never now has 
 a thought of Ray. She was trying to forget 
 him ; she had resolved to do so. 
 
 She left the house early in the afternoon and 
 joined her new found friends at the Brevoort 
 House. She was now presented to Mr. Styles, a 
 courteous and affable gentleman. 
 
 After a few hours pleasant conversation they 
 all left for the boat, where her trunk had arrived 
 all right ; and in an hour more she was steaming 
 up the Hudson, on her way to her new home on 
 the banks of that noble river.
 
 HEX JEW LIFE. to? 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HER NEW LIFE. 
 
 THE home of the Styles' was delightfully 
 situated on the Hudson, a few miles below 
 Tarrytown. The house had been built by the 
 elder Mrs. Styles' father, and consequently had 
 been in the family for many years. Each suc- 
 cessive occupant had done something towards 
 improving the house and grounds ; and now it 
 was one of the most charming estates in the 
 vicinity. The house, a massive stone edifice, 
 none the less comfortable for being old fash- 
 ioned, stood on a bluff, affording a clear and 
 expansive view of the river ; the overflow of 
 which, at certain seasons, formed a little bayou, 
 at the foot of the declivity. From the main road 
 the mansion was approached through a copse of 
 noble trees. 
 
 Estelle was delighted with the place and its 
 surroundings; she had read of such charming 
 localities in novels, and for the first few days of 
 her sojourn could hardly trust her senses, that 
 she really was so pleasantly situated. 
 
 She was of course much worried by sad 
 thoughts, regarding her father ; at times the still, 
 small voice of conscience would whisper she had 
 done a great wrong in leaving him when she 
 should have remained and tried to rescue him;
 
 168 VIDOCQ. 
 
 and then she would become despondent and miser- 
 able, and often in the night, while kept awake by 
 these bitter reflections, she would resolve that 
 she would leave in the morning and return to 
 him. In this mood she severely condemned 
 herself, as a heartless, cruel girl and regarded her 
 rascally father as an injured man. 
 
 But have you never noticed that the thoughts 
 and plans of the dark hours after we have retired 
 to the rest a busy mind or uncomfortable con- 
 science prevents us taking, seldom amount to 
 anything ? Reflect a moment and see if this is 
 not your experience. Mind, I am not including 
 the thoughts and plans of dreams ; for they often 
 come true. Somehow the phantasies of the 
 night are always dissipated by the glorious light 
 of morning; the first ray of sunlight that shoots 
 through the window sends them adrift. 
 
 So with Estelle, when she arose in the morn- 
 ing ; she was satisfied she had done right in 
 saving herself from misery and disgrace by sever- 
 ing the disgraceful affiliation ; for she knew that 
 nothing short of a miracle could turn her 
 father whenever he had made up his mind. 
 When he lent a deaf ear to her second 
 entreaty, what could she hope for ? True, there 
 was the biblical injunction of duty to parents ; 
 but it is not always easy to define our duties. 
 There was hope that remorse caused by her 
 desertion for the reason he so well knew micrht
 
 SUICIDE. 169 
 
 lead to his reformation, and now again, she was 
 satisfied what she had done was for the best, and 
 was once more happy. 
 
 She had been engaged as a companion to the 
 elder Mrs. Styles ; but through the kindness of 
 that estimable lady, who deeply sympathized 
 with her in her sorrow, albeit she did not know 
 what that sorrow was, she was free to follow her 
 own inclinations, and for the first few weeks of 
 her sojourn at " the Retreat," she passed most 
 of her time out of doors. It was the beautiful 
 spring time, and her enjoyment was that of a 
 child. 
 
 Happy days pass quickly like bright scenes. 
 
 In a little over a month Mr. and Mrs. Styles 
 departed on their trip to Europe ; and then 
 Estelle was kept a good deal in the house, in 
 the company of the old lady ; but this was not 
 at all wearisome ; for as we know she loved 
 to read and to play and to draw, and this 
 was all that she was asked to do. In this way 
 day after day was passed pleasantly shall I not 
 add? 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 SUICIDE. 
 
 I HAVE become so much interested in the 
 career of that noble girl, Estelle, as indeed I hope
 
 170 V1DOCQ. 
 
 you have, dear reader, that I am loth to leave 
 her. 
 
 The course of my narrative, however, calls me 
 away from her to her father. 
 
 Senor Verrua would hardly believe his eyes 
 when he read Estelle's note informing him of her 
 intention to leave and seek her fortune out in 
 the world. He went up to her room and looked 
 for her, and tried to persuade himself that she 
 was hiding from him, in order to try him ; and 
 would reveal herself in a few days. 
 
 Mme. Costelli, of course, could give no infor- 
 mation, and Delia was prudently evasive when 
 questioned on the subject. Secretly she con- 
 demned herself for her course in the affair, but 
 the strong personal motive of shielding herself 
 from blame prevailed and prevented a disclosure. 
 She could not, however, have given any clue to 
 her whereabouts. For several days the matter 
 was kept from Mead ; when he was enlightened 
 he expressed the opinion she was hiding some- 
 where in the city and would return when her 
 money was gone. 
 
 This gave some hope and encouragement to 
 the bereaved father. His mental sufferings in 
 his anxiety concerning the welfare of his daugh- 
 ter were intense and wore upon him ; for he was 
 by no means a strong man physically. Now for 
 the first time he experienced the pangs of re- 
 morse and bitterly regretted his life of crime and
 
 SUICIDE. 171 
 
 degradation. Was the light from above breaking 
 in upon him ? Did he think of his daughter's 
 parting words ? 
 
 Days passed and still nothing was heard of Es- 
 tclle ; and the senor, who was not of so san- 
 guine a temperament as Mead, settled in the 
 conviction that he should never see his darling 
 again. O what would he not give to be able to 
 even recall his last words with her! It maddened 
 him to think that she should have left him with 
 such cruel words ringing in her ears ! He felt that 
 he had lost her esteem and that she must scorn 
 him ! That, indeed, this was the reason she had 
 forsaken him. 
 
 The poor man was really to be pitied. He 
 soon became an object of commiseration ; for con- 
 stantly harassed by his sad thoughts he was able 
 to obtain little sleep, and lost his appetite, so 
 that he faded away and shrank up to a miserable 
 looking, pale man, so nervous that the sudden 
 opening of a door would startle him. He would 
 remain for days in the house constantly brooding 
 over his sorrow. The only solace he found 
 was that afforded by the cigar, and he smoked in- 
 cessantly, in fact too much for his disordered 
 nervous system. 
 
 " If you don't go out and get a little fresh air, 
 and stop that smoking you will never get through 
 this ! " Mead said to him frequently. 
 
 " The bright light of day and clear air distresses
 
 172 VIDOCQ. 
 
 me," said the miserable man. " I should die in an 
 hour's time if it was not for my cigar ! I want to 
 die ; there is nothing to live for now ! " 
 
 In vain Mead and Mme. Costelli tried to cheer 
 him up. He would not permit them to call in 
 medical advice. To both of them it was evident 
 he could not last long unless there was soon 
 a change, and they both exerted themselves re- 
 peatedly in vain to bring about one. 
 
 Mead resorted to the deception of telling him 
 that he had obtained a clue to his daughter's 
 whereabouts and this buoyed him up for a time ; 
 but when days passed without her returning his 
 remorse assumed the form of desperation, and at 
 length he became so violent that he was kept 
 confined in his room, and watched closely. 
 
 Mead having the opportunity to examine 
 Verrua's papers, found that he had always lived 
 up to his gains, and that he was on the verge of 
 bankruptcy. Both of them had relied on the 
 bank scheme to an extent that its failure had 
 equally embarrassed them. Indeed if the senor 
 had not given that $10,000 to his daughter he 
 would not have a cent left, and that was, unfor- 
 tunately, beyond reach in Estelle's absence. 
 
 One evening, as Mead was partaking of some 
 refreshment in the dining-room, Mme. Costelli 
 ran down and requested him to come upstairs 
 and hear the senor, as he was talking very 
 strangely.
 
 SUICIDE. 173 
 
 " It is as I had expected he has lost his 
 mind," said Mead sorrowfully, accompanying 
 Costelli upstairs. 
 
 Lying on the sofa was the senor, his collar 
 torn open and his throat bare, his eyes glaring 
 around wildly, while he muttered something 
 about the glories of his family, the inheritance 
 that awaited Estelle and much that was incom- 
 prehensible. 
 
 " He is talking about his early life," said Cos- 
 telli ; and then perceiving their presence rather 
 annoyed the sufferer they withdrew to the next 
 room, and she went on to tell Mead for the 
 first time all about Verrua's antecedents in 
 Spain, especially dwelling on the inheritance 
 that would fall to Estelle from her grand- 
 father. 
 
 " Do you know she is engaged to me?" asked 
 Mead. 
 
 " No ! " 
 
 " Singular ! But she would not be likely to 
 speak on the subject. Does she know of the 
 probable inheritance ?" 
 
 " Slightly." 
 
 "Humph! You know more ?" 
 
 "Yes; I know all." 
 
 A movement in the next room attracted their 
 attention and they looked in. 
 
 Senor Verrua held a letter in his hand and 
 was evidently trying to read the same when he
 
 174 VIDOCQ. 
 
 perceived them. He instantly crumpled it and 
 put it in his pocket, exclaiming : 
 
 " Go away ! Go away ! I don't want you 
 near me ! Stop your whispering ! You are plot- 
 ting for my death ! You are not my true friends. 
 If my darling Estelle does not come back you'll 
 murder and rob me ! " 
 
 Although they withdrew he continued in this 
 strain for some minutes, growing very violent. 
 Lest they should alarm him again they refrained 
 from looking in shortly after when they heard 
 him get up and totter across the room, believing 
 he was returning to his bed. 
 
 " Oh ! " he exclaimed, and then fell, and they 
 rushed in and oh ! what a horrible sight met 
 their gaze. 
 
 He had seized a knife from a plate on the 
 mantel-piece containing some fruit and cut a tre- 
 mendous gash across his throat ; from which his 
 life-blood leaped with a desperation indicating 
 the great struggle waging in his physical frame. 
 
 They hastened to him, and Mead placed a 
 pillow under his head. 
 
 "The doctor! the doctor!" he exclaimed, 
 and Costelli was about leaving to summon a 
 servant to fetch a doctor, when she noticed an 
 elongation of the limbs of the sufferer, with 
 other indications of death, and, watching him a 
 moment, she said, placing her hand on Mead's 
 shoulder :
 
 THE OLD LOVE OFF. 175 
 
 " He is dead ! " 
 
 " Yes," said Mead sorrowfully ; but his eye 
 brightened as he took from his dead comrade's 
 inner vest pocket the letter he was evidently so 
 anxious a few moments before should not be 
 seen, but a look of disappointment settled on 
 his features, as with Costelli looking over his 
 shoulder, he discovered it to be a rambling and 
 egotistical account of the dead man's family in 
 Spain. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE OLD LOVE OFF. 
 
 WE left Ray accompanying Byrnes and Hans 
 to the precinct station house, to place the latter 
 in custody. 
 
 Hans was easily convicted on the evidence 
 and was sentenced by Judge Gunning S. Bed- 
 ford to five years' hard labor in Sing Sing. 
 An effort was made to induce him to turn State's 
 evidence, as Byrnes was satisfied there were 
 others stronger than he, behind him ; but the 
 stolid German remained true blue. 
 
 While, however, Hans declined to turn 
 State's evidence against his associates, even to 
 escape punishment, he was drawn into a confes- 
 sion by Byrnes going into his cell as a fellow 
 culprit, in the disguise of a Cuban sailor.
 
 176 VIDOCQ. 
 
 Hans had never met Verrua, but he told all 
 he knew about Mead, and consequently Byrnes, 
 after several interviews, got all the points on him 
 that he needed to run him to earth or rather 
 jail. 
 
 Detectives know by experience that criminals 
 rarely reform, and once engaged in a crime the 
 human repeats the story of the moth and the 
 candle ; and the true detective like Pinkerton, 
 Byrnes or Jourdon pursue a man through years 
 until they " get " him, their zeal increasing with 
 each'- defeat until it almost becomes a personal 
 matter between the criminal and the detective. 
 
 With Byrnes on his track, like a sleuth hound, 
 Mead's days are numbered ; but he had so often 
 before eluded Pinkerton in the West as well as 
 Young here that probably the knowledge he was 
 " wanted " would not have disturbed his equa- 
 nimity while exciting his resources to escape the 
 iron grasp of the quiet man. 
 
 Ray was the hero of the hour for several days 
 until some other sensation engrossed the popu- 
 lar mind. His heroism secured him his photo- 
 graph in Frank Leslie s Illustrated News, and he 
 was delighted when the affair become a thing of 
 the past, so that he was not questioned for the 
 details by every one he met, many making his 
 acquaintance especially for the purpose. 
 
 Fortunately for her, Ray did not mention to 
 Byrnes anything about Estelle's visiting the
 
 TJIK <>IJ> Ln\'K OFF. Ill 
 
 bank with her father, who had always deposited 
 there ; nor of her mysterious appearance in the 
 crowd that night, like a vision, or the detective 
 would have rapidly constructed a chain of evi- 
 dence that would have involved the young lady. 
 
 But though he did not mention her there was 
 not a waking moment that she was not in his 
 thoughts. Often he dreamed of her, especially of 
 her coming to him in the crowd and so suddenly 
 disappearing. 
 
 Estelle haunted his thoughts, like the memory 
 of one dead ; for he was satisfied that he should 
 never see her again. 
 
 He did not^ even confide his secret to Lillian, 
 who no longer teased him about the beautiful 
 unknown whom he had so gallantly defended 
 and consequently they had no more spats or 
 fallings-out. 
 
 Lillian really loved Ray ; as for him, latterly 
 he did not know whether he loved her still as 
 devotedly as he should, or or not. He endeav- 
 ored to pursuade himself he did, because he 
 thought it was his duty, but his heart rebelled 
 against the decision of the head, and his thoughts 
 were often filled with images of Estelle. 
 
 Ray and Miss Phillips had been engaged for 
 some months, but the wedding-day had never 
 been named. The ladies of the Phillips' family 
 always passed the three summer months at their 
 country residence, on the river, near Farming-
 
 ton, Conn. ; and the time for their departure was 
 approaching. 
 
 Miss Phillips frequently regretted the separa- 
 tion that would ensue her departure, and 
 intimated how pleasant it would be for Ray to 
 also pass the heated term at the farm. 
 
 But, a^s the ladies say, he did not "take the 
 hint," 
 
 He was soon pushed to the wall, however. 
 One morning Mr. Phillips, calling him into his 
 private office, startled him by the proposition 
 that he should be married to his daughter at an 
 early day, before, indeed, she went into the. 
 country. He also suggested that-if he did not 
 incline to a trip across the ocean, they should 
 pass the summer on his place at Farmington. 
 
 Much to Mr. Phillips' surprise Ray was embar- 
 rassed by the proposition, instead of being 
 overjoyed, as he naturally supposed he would be. 
 
 Ray stammered out in reply something about 
 his great kindness and asked for time for reflec- 
 tion. 
 
 " Oh certainly! Quite right ! " responded Mr. 
 Phillips ; and the two went about their respec- 
 tive engagements. 
 
 In the evening Ray talked over the matter 
 with his mother, whose counsel he was always in 
 the habit of seeking. 
 
 He frankly confessed to her that since he had 
 met Estelle Verrua his love for Miss Phillips
 
 THE OLD LOVE OFF. 179 
 
 had experienced a change in other words he no 
 longer loved her. 
 
 His mother ridiculed his attachment for the 
 mysterious beauty whom he might never meet 
 again. Who was she, that they knew nothing 
 about her in society ? She advised him to cure 
 himself of the attachment by marrying Lillian 
 Phillips, whom he knew to be a good, worthy 
 girl. The good lady concluded, however, by 
 urging him to follow the dictates of his own 
 heart ; as his future happiness would depend on 
 his selection of a wife. 
 
 That same evening, in a conference with his 
 wife, Mr. Phillips learned of Ray's adventure with 
 the mysterious beauty, and coincided with her 
 that she was the cause of Ray's change of manner 
 towards his daughter. 
 
 The next morning, again calling Ray into his 
 office, Mr. Phillips said : 
 
 " Well, have you thought over that mat- 
 ter ? " 
 
 " I have, but I am not prepared to give an 
 answer ! " 
 
 " You are trifling with me, sir ! " exclaimed Mr. 
 Phillips indignantly. 
 
 Ray made no response. 
 
 "Now or never!" roared Mr. Phillips in a 
 towering rage. 
 
 " Xever," said Ray resolutely ; with a bow he 
 left the apartment and returned to his desk,
 
 180 viDocq. 
 
 In the evening when he detailed the interview 
 to his mother, that good lady exclaimed : 
 
 " Oh my son, you know not what you have 
 done ; you have ruined your prospects in life ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ALONE IN THE WORLD. 
 
 THE funeral had been over several days when 
 Estelle happened to read the announcement of 
 her father's death in the regular notices in the 
 metropolitan daily that was taken at " The 
 Retreat." 
 
 It was quite by chance that in reading a 
 description of an horticultural exhibition, her eyes 
 wandered over to the death notices in the next 
 column. 
 
 The announcement was of course a great shock 
 to her, and as soon as she could, she retired to 
 her own room and gave vent to her emotions. 
 
 If she had discovered the notice in time to 
 have attended the funeral she would have gone, 
 but it was too late now, and she decided she 
 would not open communications with Mine. 
 Costelli to learn the particulars. She would 
 bury the past in the newly made grave, and 
 alone in the world begin or rather live out the 
 new life she had begun for herself.
 
 " GREEN GOODS." 181 
 
 It need not be said that for many reasons she 
 never wished to renew the acquaintance of Mead 
 or Costelli ; indeed, a constant dread was that 
 she might unexpectedly encounter one or the 
 other some day and the explanations that would 
 be required might compromise her or necessi- 
 tate explanations that might compel her to 
 leave Mrs. Styles. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 "GREEN GOODS." 
 
 BYRNES decided that Mead must be getting 
 very desperate to have planned such a desperate 
 scheme as the assault on the F bank, and that 
 it was now merely a question of time when he 
 should fall into his hands for some criminal trans- 
 action. He determined to keep on the outlook for 
 him ; but being engaged in a well-known forgery 
 case, Byrnes did not devote any personal attention 
 to the matter for a month or more, when Mead 
 reappeared in the street, with the white locks, 
 clean shaven face, gold spectacles, and broad- 
 cloth suit, with white necktie, of a retired Metho- 
 dist preacher. 
 
 If he had kept quiet or "shady," Mead might 
 have passed unnoticed, but his limited means 
 compelled him to be active in starting some 
 money producing enterprise.
 
 182 VIDOCQ. 
 
 Their late association at Verrua's had brought 
 Mead and Costelli closer together than they had 
 ever been in all the years of their acquaintance ; 
 and in his retreat, while he was metamorphosing 
 himself he received a call daily from her, as she 
 recognized the value of his counsel. 
 
 Costelli, after selling out the Verrua furniture, 
 etc., at Mead's advice took a floor on Sixth 
 Avenue, which she furnished elegantly, and set 
 up as a Spanish fortune-teller, he passing as her 
 husband. 
 
 Costelli did a good business as she always told 
 a pleasing tale to her patrons seeking a revela- 
 tion of the future, and he and she might have 
 passed their days very comfortably, as she had 
 conceived a great affection for him, after Verrua's 
 death, but for the fact that his fertile brain 
 evolved a new " green goods " scheme which 
 has since become very common. 
 
 The " green goods," business is the advertising 
 to sell to the avaricious and not over-scrupulous 
 countrymen counterfeit notes at a discount by 
 which they can make a handsome profit if success- 
 ful in passing them off ; this is what the vendor 
 advertises to do, but he never sends the counter- 
 feit, but a package of blank paper, or a box of 
 sawdust knowing that the countryman will never 
 dare to expose the swindle as he would criminate 
 himself. 
 
 Mead one day accidentally encountered an old
 
 "GREEN GOOU^. 183 
 
 Associate who had a limited assortment of coun- 
 terfeit notes which he lacked the nerve, after a 
 spell of sickness, which depleted his pocket-book 
 as well as his courage, to " shove," that is, pass 
 off, for fear of detection. 
 
 Mead discovered the notes to be the best piece 
 of counterfeiting he had ever seen ; only an expert 
 by examination with a glass could discover such 
 imperfections as one line in the face here, a 
 button too many on this coat, one star too many 
 here, a blur in the eye of the eagle; and he 
 evolved a new scheme for the disposal of the 
 notes to the fortune hunting and gullible coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 This was to advertise the sale of a five dollar 
 picture for twenty-five cents, and a ten dollar 
 picture for fifty cents; to send one of these 
 counterfeit bills of the denomination paid for on 
 receipt of the money with a circular stating that 
 the order could be duplicated by the ten and so 
 on up to a hundred at the rate of fifty per cent. 
 of the face value. 
 
 Now the countryman who " plays " the lottery 
 or green goods game is never discouraged by 
 failure or trickery but is caught by each new 
 announcement as glibly as the fish in the stream ; 
 and Mead's first announcement brought a pile of 
 letters enclosing the necessary amount in postage 
 stamps, to a private letter box which he engaged 
 for the purpose.
 
 184 VIDOCQ. 
 
 The man had comparatively few of these 
 notes, only three hundred thousand, and Mead 
 proposed a way by which he could gather in fifty 
 or sixty thousand and close the game before the 
 authorities would be " onto him ; " that is he 
 proposed to deal honestly with his customers, i. e. 
 send them what they paid for, counterfeit bills 
 and not slips of blank paper of the shape of bank- 
 notes, arguing rightly that the samples he sent 
 would prove so satisfactory. 
 
 Usually the announcements of the green goods 
 merchants had been very bungling : but Mead 
 evinced positive genius in his advertisements 
 which -would be readily understood by the 
 initiated and culpable, and at the same time 
 might attract the unsuspicious but curious who 
 could be tempted. 
 
 Observe he advertised a picture worth five 
 dollars; and in his circular he dilated on the 
 fact that a good counterfeit of a five dollar bill 
 was a picture worth that sum. 
 
 To use his own words in a few weeks he was 
 doing a "land office business," and had his plans 
 well matured to sell out and get out before he 
 would be wanted, when he met his Nemesis in a 
 popular Turkish bath. 
 
 It was well known to Byrnes that Mead had a 
 coiled snake dotted in blue India ink on his right 
 arm, and one day when he chanced to be enjoying 
 a bath, to relieve the rheumatism which thus
 
 AND LAST. 185 
 
 early had seized his vigorous frame, he discovered 
 " his man " similarly engaged. 
 
 Byrnes did not imagine for a moment that the 
 clerical looking gentleman was the " high-roller " 
 Mead, but he nevertheless " shadowed " him 
 when he left the bath, until his suspicions were 
 aroused and he ran him down, and secured his 
 conviction in General Sessions. I may add that 
 he served his term but died of consumption in 
 this city a year after his release. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 AND LAST. 
 
 OF course thoughts of one another continually 
 haunted Estelle and Ray the latter in his 
 despondent loneliness since he had broken off his 
 engagement to Miss Phillips (who eventually 
 married Mr. Stone, whose persistency finally won 
 her) ; while Estelle's remembrance of him was a 
 day-dream. 
 
 Neither under the peculiar circumstances ever 
 expected to meet again. 
 
 Ray soon after his interview with the President 
 sent in his resignation as the assistant cashier of 
 the bank, having found a similar position in 
 another financial institution ; and consequently 
 he did not know whether Estelle had ever drawn
 
 186 VIDOCQ. 
 
 on her deposit or not. He looked for her on the 
 promenade and everywhere he went, but never 
 seeing her concluded she had left the city 
 perhaps she had gone to Europe and the deposit 
 was made for this purpose. 
 
 He happened to be out of town visiting an 
 aunt at Islip, L. I., the day the papers contained 
 the item about Mr. Verrua's suicide and conse- 
 quently he knew nothing about this melancholy 
 event. In passing the house some little while 
 after he noticed a different name on the door- 
 plate he was aware of the address because she 
 had given it in making the deposit and this 
 discovery satisfied him she was absent from the 
 country. 
 
 Imagine his joy and surprise one spring morn- 
 ing to see her in Mrs. Styles' carriage in one of 
 the pretty surburban streets of Tarrytown, where 
 he and his mother had gone to board for the 
 summer. 
 
 There was the instant mutual recognition of 
 a bow before the second thought decided whether 
 it was proper or not, and thus they came to- 
 gether again. 
 
 The adage to the contrary, the course of true 
 love does often run smoothly, and before the 
 November winds began to be suggestive of the 
 approaching winter, they were united in the 
 holy bond of wedlock. 
 
 Estelle told her story to Ray's mother all but
 
 AND LAST. 187 
 
 about her father's connection with Mead and 
 thoroughly enlisted the sympathy and love of 
 that lady, who was delighted that her son should 
 wed such a pretty and worthy girl. 
 
 Ray somehow had a delicacy about alluding to 
 her mysterious appearance in the crowd that 
 night, and as she did not mention it he never 
 knew and probably never will know the truth ; 
 although he had a very good chance to make the 
 inquiry when after her marriage she transferred 
 the deposit to his name. 
 
 I think I have now accounted for all excepting 
 Hans, who after serving his time at Sing Sing, 
 engaged in the historic case of the robbery of the 
 Manhattan Savings Institution, on the corner 
 of Broadway and Bleecker Street, which made 
 Byrnes famous and eventually secured him the 
 appointment which has caused him to be known 
 the world over as the VIDOCQ OF NEW YORK.
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SEA GIRT SHORE. 
 
 IN a certain old and populous neighborhood or 
 settlement on the New England coast near a 
 thriving town on the Shore Line, a little colony 
 of fishermen a mile or more down the road by 
 the inlet, was known as Smith's, from the fact 
 that the most important personage there, the 
 storekeeper, bore that historic name. I speak in 
 the past tense, because since the time I write of, 
 quite a magnificent summer hotel has been 
 erected just below Smith's, and gives the neigh- 
 borhood its romantic name. 
 
 Smith's was the favorite resort for miles 
 around of those who wished to hire boats and 
 bait for fishing and sailing quite a common 
 custom in the season of parties from the interior 
 towns on a lark, and, consequently, there was 
 nothing unusual in the application, one morning, 
 late in the summer of a bygone year, of three 
 young men to John Allen for his sloop, the
 
 THE SEA (! JUT SHORE. 189 
 
 Saucy Sal, riding at anchor in sight, for a cruise 
 of three days down the coast. Having given 
 evidence by sailing her about the inle^t that they 
 were fully competent to handle the stout little 
 craft (quite noted as an outside blue-fisher) they 
 obtained control of the Saucy Sal on the pay- 
 ment of twenty-four dollars. 
 
 These young men were pleasant-appearing, 
 muscular, jovial, with a flow of animal spirits that 
 led them to be very boisterous and roguish, 
 and inspired them to perpetrate the joke of a 
 mock-quarrel regarding the captaincy of the 
 cruise, which was finally decided by the toss of a 
 copper, in favor of Thomas Jones, who succes- 
 sively defeated his comrades, Richard Bagley and 
 John Moore. 
 
 They obtained provisions at Smith's store (an 
 item of which was two stout jugs of New Eng- 
 land rum) and were soon under way and out of 
 sight, little thinking that their joke had im- 
 pressed Allen unfavorably, or that they had led 
 him by their replies to believe they were stopping 
 in the " town," whereas they merely dined there 
 on arriving in the train at noon ; which fact the 
 simple minded fisherman ascertained by casual 
 inquiry in the evening, when he went up or in to 
 get his mail, or more strictly speaking the 
 county weekly paper ; and coupling this discov- 
 ery of deception with the fact of the alter- 
 cation he conceived a prejudice against them
 
 190 VIDOCQ. 
 
 which they would bitterly feel in the near 
 future. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SHIP AHOY. 
 
 ON the second morning after sailing the Saucy 
 Sal was spoken by a boat that had subsequently 
 left Smith's, at anchor on the lee shore of a small 
 and uninhabited peninsula of sand and stunted 
 growth, on the coast, several miles to the east- 
 ward, almost within range of Montauk's famous 
 light. This boat, which was nameless or I should 
 give the name, had anchored over night astern 
 of the Saucy Sal, but the fog had been so dense 
 that not even her lights had been noticed. 
 
 No one was stirring aboard the Saucy Sal, and 
 no answer was made to the fisherman's stentorian 
 "Ship Ahoy! " and but for the fact that a small 
 boat was afloat astern, it would have been con- 
 cluded that all hands had gone ashore though 
 no one was visible on the island. Prompted by a 
 spirit of sociability rather than curiosity, the fish- 
 erman who had a party of gentlemen bound for 
 Block Island for shark-fishing, boarded the Saucy 
 Sal in his yawl, taking along with him a lawyer 
 from Boston, who, chagrined at his ill-luck trolling 
 for blue-fish the day before, wished to learn how 
 the strangers had fared.
 
 SHIP AHOY. 191 
 
 Peeping into the little cabin througfo the dead 
 light, on reaching the side of the sloop, the 
 fisherman saw Bagley and Moore sound asleep, 
 one in a bunk improvised on the bench and the 
 other on a pallet on the floor, beside the centre- 
 board. 
 
 A bump of their boat against the sloop aroused 
 the sleepers, and they were requested to come 
 aboard by Bagley. Descending to the cabin, 
 where Bagley and Moore made their toilets by 
 putting on their shoes, they found the other or 
 corresponding bunk unoccupied, but bearing 
 evidence of having been recently vacated. 
 
 Bagley and Moore expressed surprise that it 
 was so late a glorious, radiant sun, dispelling 
 the mist and tempering the fresh morning air, 
 was almost two hours old and, rubbing their 
 eyes and foreheads, in an endeavor to brace up 
 without too precipitate a recourse to the invigo- 
 rating cocktail stated they had drunk a good 
 deal over night ; of which there was evidence in 
 the uncorked jug on the shelf, and the unwashed 
 glasses standing around. 
 
 "Where is your fren'?" inquired the fisher- 
 man, who had noted their number when they 
 sailed from Smith's. 
 
 "Oh! Tom! Where is he?" said Bagley, 
 glancing at the deserted bunk opposite his own, 
 and then placing his mouth to the dead light 
 >vi rhead and calling;
 
 192 VIDOCQ. 
 
 " Tom ! Tom ! I guess he is forward ; haven't 
 you seen him? " 
 
 "There's no one for'rard, unless he's in the 
 hold," said the fisherman, glancing at the hatch- 
 way. 
 
 " The cover is down," observed the lawyer, who 
 had returned to the cockpit and glanced over 
 the deck. 
 
 " No ! " exclaimed Bagley, passing him. " He's 
 gone ashore then ! " 
 
 " No, your boat is here," responded the lawyer, 
 significantly pointing to the yawl astern. 
 
 " He's hiding somewhere for a joke," said 
 Moore, also coming up from the little cabin, fol- 
 lowed by the fisherman, who exchanged glances 
 with the lawyer. 
 
 " He was as drunk as a boiled owl last night," 
 continued Moore. "Tom! I say Tom ! Come, 
 Tom, no fooling now ; we've got visitors ! " 
 
 But there was no response, nor did the expect- 
 ant Tom appear. 
 
 " He's shut himself in the forecastle," said 
 Bagley, going forward and raising the cover of 
 the hold, looking down. " He's not here. Why, 
 I wonder what's become of him ? " 
 
 The others came forward, and joined Bagley. 
 
 "I don't know what to make of this," said 
 Bagley, sitting on the gunwale. 
 
 Several red stains and spots on the other side 
 of the deck here attracted the attention of
 
 SHIP AHOY. 193 
 
 the lawyer. He stooped and examined the 
 same. 
 
 " Blood?" he inquired of Bagley. 
 
 "Yes," Bagley replied, "Tom's nose bled 
 terribly last night ; it always does when he drinks 
 too much. We held him over here ; " and, look- 
 ing down the side, there was discovered several 
 red stains. 
 
 "There are blood-stains on your cuffs," said 
 the lawyer, suddenly, eyeing Bagley closely, " and 
 yours, too," he added, clutching and holding up 
 Moore's hand. 
 
 "Yes," replied Bagley, unconcernedly; "he 
 was drunk when his nose commenced bleeding, 
 and we had a great deal of trouble holding 
 him." 
 
 "I guess we were drunk ourselves, as for that 
 matter," said Moore, laughingly, " and held him 
 bunglingly." 
 
 The lawyer and the fisherman glanced inquir- 
 ingly at each other ; the former moved a step or 
 two forward, looked down into the waters rippling 
 around the stem of the graceful craft, then round 
 about and out upon the sea, while the lawyer went 
 back into the cabin with Bagley and Moore. 
 
 " Why, here are blood-spots, too ! " exclaimed 
 the lawyer, observing several on the floor. 
 
 "Yes," replied Bagley; " he commenced bleed- 
 ing here, and bled a good deal before we got him 
 on deck. See ! " and he took from a locker above
 
 194 VIDOCQ. 
 
 the closet a handkerchief incarnadined and still 
 moist. 
 
 " H'm ! " ejaculated the lawyer, uneasily glanc- 
 ing around. 
 
 "I say !" exclaimed the fisherman, forward 
 " I say, what has become of that other anker?" 
 
 " Lost," answered Bagley, standing in the 
 hatchway ; " lost yesterday. I threw it over- 
 board by mistake, and, cable not being fastened, 
 down she went." 
 
 The fisherman came aft and joined the lawyer 
 on the after-deck. 
 
 Bagley and Moore went into the cabin, and 
 hastily " stowed" their bunks, and put things to 
 rights generally. 
 
 " What do you suspicion ! " whispered the 
 fisherman to the lawyer. 
 
 "What do you think?" asked the lawyer, 
 quietly. 
 
 " Foul play," replied the fisherman firmly. 
 
 " Can't say ! " exclaimed the lawyer, evasively. 
 
 "What's to be done?" inquired the fisherman, 
 anxiously. 
 
 " Depends," said the lawyer musingly. 
 
 " We can't let 'em escape," said the fisherman. 
 
 " No ! " 
 
 " No ! " 
 
 " But it's ticklish bisiness," continued the 
 fisherman, slowly, "You're a lawyer; you'd 
 ought to know what to do."
 
 >7//P AHOY. 195 
 
 " I don't want to excite them or to wound their 
 feelings," responded the lawyer. 
 
 "Them there blood-stains ain't been there 
 more'n eight or ten hours at most," said the 
 fisherman, nervously gesticulating forward. 
 
 " No; they're evidently fresh," said the lawyer. 
 " Their explanation of them is ingenious, but not 
 plausible. I'm afraid they have had a drunken 
 quarrel, whether in anger or exhilaration I am 
 not prepared to say ; and that the struggle has 
 resulted in their friend's death at all events, 
 disappearance." 
 
 " Jus' so," said the fisherman "jus* so; that's 
 what I think. Now I suspicions they warn't 
 sich good frens as they mought be, 'cause they 
 quarrelled afore starting so Allen told me ; an' I 
 suspicions they murdered him last night in the 
 cabin, stopped the bleeding with that hank- 
 chief, hauled him for'ard, fastened that missin' 
 anker, and chucked the two overboard." 
 
 "You form the theory that the prosecution'll 
 doubtless adopt," said the lawyer complacently. 
 " I was about forming some such theory my- 
 self." 
 
 " I hope they'll swing for this," said the fisher- 
 man. 
 
 "Eh!" said the lawyer, deprecatingly. "I 
 must believe them innocent till they are con- 
 victed." 
 
 " I s'pose so."
 
 196 VIDOCQ. 
 
 Bagley and Moore came from the cabin to the 
 cockpit. 
 
 The lawyer and fisherman separated, and the 
 former joined them, the other going to the side, 
 where his yawl was fastened. 
 
 " This is a most singular affair," said Bagley ; 
 " I cannot admit of any other thought than that 
 he is playing us some joke, and will reappear 
 in good time." 
 
 " I do not know what*to think," said Mooje. 
 " I can scarcely credit my senses ! " 
 
 "Cud your fren' swim?" inquired the fisher- 
 man. 
 
 " Like a fish under water like a duck on top, 
 if he chose?" replied Bagley. 
 
 " Oh, he isn't drowned ! " exclaimed Moore. 
 
 "You think so?" observed the fisherman, 
 meaningly but not exciting their attention. 
 
 There was a pause. 
 
 "Ahem! what do you propose to do?" asked 
 the lawyer, gravely. 
 
 " Why, to make every effort to find him, if he 
 doesn't return soon ! " exclaimed Bagley. 
 
 "You'll remain and help us? " said Moore 
 
 " We'll remain," responded the fisherman 
 
 "Yes, we'll remain," said the lawyer. 
 
 The fisherman toyed with his painter, while 
 the lawyer musingly tapped on the gunwale with 
 his fingers. 
 
 Moore and Bagley communed with their
 
 SHIP AHOY. 197 
 
 thoughts, wondering what had become of their 
 friend. 
 
 " Hem ! " began the lawyer, finally. " What 
 was the last seen of your friend ? " 
 
 " He was asleep in his bunk," both replied, in- 
 stantly. 
 
 Bagley continued : 
 
 " I did not go to sleep till I saw him safe and 
 and sound in dreamland, as I felt uneasy about 
 him." 
 
 " I can scarcely realize that I am not sleeping 
 now, and dreaming a horrible dream," said 
 Moore. 
 
 " Singular ! " ejaculated the lawyer. He asked, 
 after a pause, " Was your friend subject to ver- 
 tigo or epileptic fits, or moods of despondency ?" 
 
 " Nothing of the kind," replied Bagley. " Why 
 I never saw him more cheerful than last night." 
 
 " When did yer come to anker here ? " asked 
 the fisherman, jumping into his yawl, which he 
 had pulled up by the painter. 
 
 " Last night at sundown," replied Moore. 
 
 The fisherman loosened the painter and 
 steadied the yawl alongside for the lawyer to get 
 in. 
 
 " Will you come over and breakfast with us? " 
 inquired the lawyer, stepping into the small-boat. 
 
 " No, thanks ; we have provisions," replied 
 Bagley. " But I, for one, have no appetite." 
 
 " I don't want anything," said Moore.
 
 198 VIDOCQ. 
 
 "Adieu, then, till after breakfast," said the 
 lawyer, as the fisherman shoved the yawl into 
 the stream and took up his oars. 
 
 Bagley and Moore, who, though naturally 
 alarmed at their friend's absence, did not for a 
 moment doubt but that he would reappear in 
 good time, proceeded to put the ship to rights, 
 jokingly execrating their absent comrade for 
 shirking his duties. They ate a sparing break- 
 fast. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SUSPECTED. 
 
 IN a little while the lawyer and fisherman 
 returned. In the boat they brought a pair of 
 oyster-tongs. 
 
 "Going to dig for oysters?" inquired Bagley. 
 
 " No," replied the fisherman, laconically. 
 
 " It occurs to us," said the lawyer, gravely, 
 "that your friend may have accidentally fallen 
 overboard and drowned 
 
 "An" I'm goin' to grapple for the body," said 
 the fisherman. 
 
 "Oh God!" exclaimed Bagley, "you don't 
 think that?" 
 
 " Oh, I wish I had sat up all night with him !" 
 exclaimed Moore. 
 
 " We must hope for the best, " said the lawyer.
 
 SUSPECTEl). ]',)'.) 
 
 The fisherman put his tongs down into the 
 water, and eagerly watched by the other three 
 and followed all around the boat by them, he as 
 eagerly dredged, or, rather, grappled, for the body 
 that he was confident he should reclaim with the 
 missing anchor lashed to it. 
 
 He was disappointed, however ; although he 
 thoroughly dredged the water in a circumference 
 of thirty feet or more, he did not find the body. 
 
 As he said, the currents were so diverse here- 
 abouts, and the tides equally strong, no hope 
 could be entertained of the body going ashore ; it 
 would be washed out to sea, and, before being 
 brought back, mutilated by the rough treatment 
 of the waters beyond recognition ; then stranded 
 on some point or reef till dismembered, the 
 dissevered portions going shoreward in various 
 directions, so that they could be taken, when 
 found, only for what they were, fragments of a 
 human body, exciting curiosity, but not service- 
 able in elucidating the crime. 
 
 The fisherman was satisfied that the body had 
 been consigned to the waters, and concluded that 
 it had been carried away by the tide, since he 
 could not find it. 
 
 " I'll bet he is hiding somewhere on the shore 
 watching us! " exclaimed Bagley, hauling in the 
 dingy. " He swam ashore! " 
 
 "Oh, he must be somewhere about," said 
 M' ore, uiua-ily.
 
 200 VIDOCQ. 
 
 . " We'll search the shore, eh, Mister Lawyer?" 
 said the fisherman knowingly. 
 
 "Yes; we'll assist," replied the lawyer, indi- 
 cating to him by his facial expression to be cau- 
 tious, and not to say too much. 
 
 They all got into the dingy, and Bagley pulled 
 them ashore. 
 
 The peninsula, which covered an area of about 
 twenty acres, rose from the water in a gentle 
 undulation running into several hills. It was 
 covered with a stunted growth of meadow grass, 
 with here and there patches of dwarfed cedar- 
 tree, or, more properly speaking, bushes. 
 
 They first made a tour of the shore, all the way 
 round, and then separating and branching off, 
 they faithfully searched the bushes and grass, 
 Bagley and Moore every now and then calling 
 out : " Tom ! Tom ! " 
 
 When they returned to the sloop after their 
 fruitless search their hopes began to fail them, 
 but each inwardly resolved to bear up till the 
 last. 
 
 The lawyer, who furtively watched them 
 closely, was very favorably impressed by their 
 bearing, which was simply unaffected. He 
 argued to himself that if they had committed an 
 atrocious crime, they .would seek to divert sus- 
 picion by an assumption of innocence ; at all 
 events, if they were the hardened villains that the 
 deed and their arrangements for the same would
 
 SUSPECTED. 201 
 
 show them to be, they would have trumped up 
 some plausible tale to account for their friend's 
 disappearance. 
 
 The fisherman, predisposed to believe in their 
 guilt, was highly incensed at what he considered 
 the devilish courage of the young men in main- 
 taining their self-possession and so firmly refusing 
 to believe their friend dead, when in their own 
 mind they knew he was ; and he chafed under 
 the restraint of silence regarding his own theory 
 which the lawyer imposed on him. 
 
 If the fisherman had his own way, he would 
 have boldly charged them with the crime of 
 murdering their late friend, in the expectation 
 that they would cower in alarm before him, and 
 confess all. 
 
 "They'd ought to confess," he mentally ex- 
 claimed, "and set us on the right track. Onct 
 down to Marbilhead, I seen a man caught 
 a-stealin' fish from a smack ; at fust he denied 
 that he wuz a-stealin' on 'em, sayin' he ment for 
 to.buy 'em; but we told him if he'd confess he 
 he wuz a-stealin', he cud hev the fish ; an' he sed 
 he wuz; an' we give him the fish ; and he went 
 on his way rejoicin'. He sed it did him good to 
 confess ; an' it made us feel so good, too, that we 
 gave him the fish. No man likes to think him- 
 self in the wrong, an' we were glad to find that 
 we were not in the wrong regardin' him 
 ilinV
 
 202 
 
 The blood-spots on the deck fascinated him.; 
 and he watched them with unfeigned anxiety, as 
 if he was afraid the young men might remove 
 them unperceived ; he sheltered them from the 
 effacing effects of the sun, by apiece of tarpaulin. 
 
 He found, under a coil of rope near the telltale 
 blood-spots, an old jacknife, whose rusty blade 
 was incrusted with dull, brown-red stains the 
 rust of blood. 
 
 Pie held the knife up triumphantly. 
 
 <l Used to cut bait with," said Bagley, senten- 
 tiously. 
 
 " H'm ! " ejaculated the lawyer; but an exami- 
 nation of the stains divested the knife of the 
 interest it at first excited in him. 
 
 As the hours passed and Jones did not return 
 alas ! he was beyond return Moore and Bag- 
 ley began to realize their loss, and were com- 
 pletely overwhelmed with grief, not once thinking 
 of the embarrassing position the circumstance 
 had placed them in. 
 
 Moore went into the cabin, sat on the bunk 
 lately occupied by his missing friend, buried his 
 face in his hands, unable to control indeed, 
 unable to comprehend his emotions ; while 
 Bagley, thoroughly unnerved at first, remained 
 in the cockpit and toyed nervously with a piece 
 of string, unobservant of .everything around him. 
 
 They could not bring themselves to think of 
 their missing friend as dead ; they both cherished
 
 / /;</ /;/>. 2(V, y > 
 
 a vague hope that he would reappear in good 
 time, though they dared not calmly consider the 
 facts, lest such should banish this delusion. 
 That, in consequence of a recurrence of the flux 
 at the nose, their friend might have arisen from 
 his bunk while they slept, and gone forward and 
 leaned over the gunwale to let his olfactory organ 
 bleed, lost his balance, had fallen overboard, and 
 drowned in a useless struggle in the water, did 
 not occur to them; no, they could not, the 
 discovery came upon them so suddenly and 
 strangely, regard him as dead. 
 
 It was an outrageous trick to play them, but 
 they hoped they should find him at Smith's, 
 having slipped them during the night and re- 
 turned in a passing boat. 
 
 Bagley made an observation to the lawyer to 
 this effect, on which that personage shook his 
 head doubtfully. 
 
 " I'll bet yer five dullers you don't," the fish- 
 erman could not refrain from responding. 
 
 No notice, however, was taken of this coarse 
 sally ; the young men from the first instinctively 
 experienced a dislike to the fisherman ; while he, 
 as we know, was prejudiced against them. 
 
 " Having searched for and failed to find the 
 body," the lawyer said, gravely, after a pause, 
 " we had better return to Smith's." 
 
 " We ?" said Bagley. "Shall you accompany 
 us ?"
 
 204 VIDOCQ. 
 
 "Me, too?" interposed the fisherman, before 
 the lawyer could reply. 
 
 "Yes," said the lawyer; "you will have to 
 place this matter before the authorities, and we 
 shall be needed as witnesses." 
 
 "Yes, I suppose so," said Bagley, musingly. 
 
 " It is a very embarrassing affair," continued 
 the lawyer, " and I wish I was not in it." 
 
 " I would give ten years of my future life to be 
 able to go back into the past to yesterday after- 
 noon, when Tom sat just where you are, as jolly 
 as a lark ! " said Bagley. 
 
 " I hope you will come out all right," said the 
 lawyer. 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed Bagley, breathlessly, 
 "You don't mean you don't mean to insinuate, 
 
 " That you two must show you had nothing to 
 do with the disappearance of your friend, unless 
 you can satisfactorily account for his absence," 
 replied the lawyer, firmly, eying him sharply 
 with the self-possession of one accustomed to 
 such trying scenes. 
 
 " My God ! " exclaimed Bagley, in tones of 
 anguish. "Moore! Moore! Do you hear this?" 
 and he sank back in his seat as if bewildered and 
 unable to comprehend matters. 
 
 Moore came up from the cabin. 
 
 "We loved one another like brothers," he 
 said, .huskily, and clinging to the triested
 
 SUSPECTED. 205 
 
 boom for support, he sank into a seat beside 
 Bagley. 
 
 " Of course, the affair must be investigated by 
 the authorities," said the lawyer; "and I should 
 think you would seek such investigation." 
 
 " We will ! " they simultaneously ejaculated. < 
 
 The lawyer, after some further conversation in 
 which he was very careful not to wound their 
 feelings by any insinuation or imputation, advised 
 them to compose themselves in fact, to go 
 below and rest while he and the fisherman 
 navigated the craft back to Smith's, but they 
 preferred to remain on deck and assist, and 
 were permitted to do so ; at all events, the 
 lawyer allowed them to assist him in obeying the 
 orders of the fisherman, who, from this time 
 forth, would have nothing to do with them. 
 " Murderers ! " he mentally ejaculated, whenever 
 he glanced at them. Neither their assistance, 
 nor that of the lawyer was needed, however, 
 after the anchor had been weighed, except in 
 working the centre-board, for the fisherman at 
 the helm easily managed the sheets. 
 
 The breeze was in their favor, and, dexterously 
 kept close to the wind, the little sloop fairly flew 
 through the wavelets. 
 
 They came to anchor in the harbor at Smith's, 
 towards the close of the afternoon. 
 
 Inasmuch as there would have to be an exami- 
 nation of the blood-stains on the deck (he did
 
 206 VIDOCQ. 
 
 not say this much to them), the lawyer advised 
 Moore and Bagley to remain on board till he 
 brought the authorities, rather than they should 
 go and surrender themselves. 
 
 He left for the village immediately on arriving ; 
 Moore and Bagley shutting themselves up in the 
 cabin to avoid the cold, suspicious glances of the 
 fisherman. 
 
 The fisherman remained on board to keep 
 watch. He sat on the gunwale forward, with his 
 face resting on his hands, supported by his knees, 
 and guarded the fatal blood-spots as if he were 
 apprehensive they would rub out in his sight, his 
 wish being the antithesis of Lady Macbeth's. 
 
 The lawyer said nothing about the affair in the 
 settlement, and so the arrival did not excite the 
 sensation which it would have done had the 
 facts been noised around, Allen came on board, 
 of course, and shook his head dubiously on 
 meeting Moore and Bagley. He coincided with 
 the fisherman in believing them guilty of a 
 terrible crime, and, to their great relief, kept aloof 
 from them, in keeping with his friend, with whom 
 he conversed in an undertone, and concurred in 
 his theory of a drunken murder.
 
 207 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ARRESTED. 
 
 THE lawyer made his statement to the Justice 
 of the Peace, and he issued the requisite orders 
 to the constable, who returned with him. 
 
 Moore and Bagley voluntarily surrendered 
 themselves to the constable, on his approach, 
 and he took charge of them. He placed a 
 deputy in charge of the craft which by this time 
 was surrounded by a fleet of small boats from 
 the settlement, with the occupants clamorous to 
 see the " murderers " and the blood-stains and 
 returned to town with his prisoners. 
 
 That night Moore and Bagley passed in jail, 
 and for the first time painfully realized the fact 
 that they were suspected of murdering their 
 missing friend; until now they had supposed 
 they had the sympathy and confidence of all, 
 excepting, indeed, that of the fisherman, and 
 that the investigation hinted at by the lawyer 
 would be a mere formality. It is in the dark 
 hours of adversity when the adage that " Misfor- 
 tunes never come singly," is painfully realized by 
 actual experience. Their thoughts kept them 
 awake until a late hour, when they sank into 
 sleep from sheer physical exhaustion. 
 
 The lawyer telegraphed in their names for 
 their parents, as well as for the father of Jones.
 
 208 viuocq. 
 
 Moore and Bagley resided with their parents in 
 New York, within a few hoars' ride of the town ; 
 and their parents were with them in the evening, 
 terribly distressed by the position they found 
 them in. 
 
 Jones was a resident of Brooklyn, and his 
 father would not arrive till the next morning. 
 He telegraphed he should come on. 
 
 Moore and Bagley were taken before the 
 Justice of the Peace the next morning, a tall, 
 slender, cadaverous man, with a sullen, discon- 
 tented expression of countenance, to whom the 
 case offered the opportunity to distinguish 
 himself, it being the first of the kind that had 
 ever come before him. 
 
 The lawyer made a simple statement of the 
 facts and circumstances ; the fisherman was 
 prevented from expressing his " suspicions," but 
 his gestures and leers were very prejudicial to 
 Moore and Bagley, who made a straightforward 
 statement, which the Justice could not shake by 
 an ingenious cross-examination. 
 
 Allen's testimony regarding the quarrel be- 
 tween the young men before starting, was very 
 damaging to them, creating the impression that 
 a feud existed between the friends. He was 
 careful to state they had deceived him when 
 hiring the boat, by conveying the impression that 
 they were stopping at the hotel in the village. 
 
 The evidence was all against them.
 
 ARRESTED. 209 
 
 The fact that every one seemed to be against 
 them, and fierce in their determination to brand 
 them " murderers," impressed the young men 
 even more painfully than previously, and consid- 
 erably lessened their confidence and self-p5sses- 
 sion ; and the change in their demeanor which 
 the change in their minds caused, was construed 
 into being the workings of stricken consciences. 
 
 It was admitted by the prisoners, and demon- 
 strated by the coroner's testimony, that the 
 stains on the deck were those of human blood. 
 
 The gory handkerchief was exhibited. The 
 knife, with the incarnadined blade, was identified 
 by Allen as one belonging to the sloop, and used 
 for cutting bait ; and merriment was excited in 
 the auditory by Bagley's avowal that, though 
 they had industriously fished the whole day, they 
 had caught nothing. 
 
 The Justice declared that the prisoners' expla- 
 nation of the blood-stains on the deck was not 
 plausible ; that the knife being found hidden 
 near by was significant ; that the blood-stains on 
 their cuffs were significant, and that all the 
 testimony conduced to excite the suspicion that 
 a terrible crime had been committed. 
 
 He decided to send the case to the higher court 
 and consequently the prisoners were committed 
 to await their trial.
 
 210 VIDOCQ. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE PRISONERS. 
 
 MOORE and Bagley had made the acquaintance 
 of Jones at school, at Norwalk, Conn., some 
 three years previously. Although Jones had 
 twice, the present summer and the previous one, 
 stayed with them several days at their respective 
 homes, they had never been to see him in Brook- 
 lyn (which Gothamites have from time imme- 
 morial regarded as a terrible journey) and were 
 not acquainted with the father, his only surviving 
 parent. 
 
 Mr. Jones did not seek an interview with them 
 as they hoped he would. Immediately on his 
 arrival, after learning the result of the investiga- 
 tion by the Justice of the Peace, he sought the 
 fisherman, and received from him the impression, 
 which soon amounted to a conviction, that his 
 son had been murdered by the prisoners. 
 
 He declined to see the fathers of the young 
 men when they called that evening to make his 
 acquaintance, intending thereby to intimate to 
 them very plainly that it was to be war to the 
 knife between them. 
 
 He was a cold, reserved, calculating, very 
 successful business man, totally different from 
 his warm-hearted, free, impulsive son. He had 
 been all along prejudiced against these young
 
 THE PRISONERS. 211 
 
 men for the reason that he thought they were lead- 
 ing his son astray ; whereas, the fact was, that if 
 any one did the leading, it was Tom himself, who 
 was by far the wildest and most dissipated of the 
 three. Parents constantly make a mistake by 
 thus refusing to admit or failing to perceive the 
 shortcomings of their children, who are no 
 nearer perfection than those they associate with 
 a fact which is immediately recognized by 
 disinterested or critical observers, but which we 
 ourselves are the last to discover. 
 
 So Jones naturally threw all the blame on the 
 friends, Bagley and Moore, for leading his son 
 astray, when, if there was any one to blame, it 
 was his own hopeful. 
 
 He loved Tom passionately, in his undemon- 
 strative, latent way indeed he was completely 
 wrapped up in him, and the telegram announcing 
 his disappearance momentarily deprived him of 
 his reason. 
 
 He was a man who had himself under thorough 
 control, and he controlled himself now. No one, 
 to look at his stern, hard-set, impassive features, 
 could imagine how great was his grief for his 
 son ; they might conclude, because there was no 
 outward display of sorrow, that he, man of 
 business as he was, had experienced none. The 
 loss of his son had turned the honey of the love 
 that he bore for him into the gall of revenge, and 
 he became at once the foremost and bitterest
 
 212 VIDOCQ. 
 
 accuser of the young men. He was implacable, 
 refused to see their parents, to go to see them, to 
 listen to any theory that did not evolve murder. 
 
 He entered on the prosecution with the energy 
 of purpose characteristic of his nature. He 
 
 caused the authorities to offer a reward for the 
 / 
 
 recovery of the body, and offered an additional 
 and larger one himself. 
 
 He started several expeditions in search of 
 the body; he went in one himself, and the search 
 was so thorough, that if the body had been any- 
 where in the territory searched, it would have 
 been discovered. 
 
 The coast for miles was searched by the 
 authorities as well as volunteer parties prompted 
 by curiosity as well as sympathy. The conclu- 
 sion was that the body had been carried to sea, 
 and would probably never come to light. 
 
 Mr. Bagley, who was better off than Mr. Moore, 
 applied to Headquarters in New York and 
 secured the services of a young detective, whose 
 youthful appearance and reserved manner was so 
 different from the popular idea of such a person 
 that he would not have found any confidence in his 
 competeny but for the fact that he impressed all 
 with his ability by his never asking unnecessary 
 or trifling questions and never making any prom- 
 ises or predictions tending to excite false hopes, 
 but carefully gathering all the data he went 
 about his work earnestly and unostentatiously,
 
 THE PK18ONERS. 213 
 
 The young detective was " Tom Byrnes," then 
 quite unknown to fame but already recognized in 
 the department as a "good man." 
 
 Byrnes went over the facts and the locale 
 without volunteering a theory Tom's disappear- 
 ance might have been premeditated, might have 
 been accidental ; a crime might have been com- 
 mitted but there was no clue beyond the bold 
 fact that he was missing. 
 
 Byrnes declared the case belonged to the 
 lawyers now rather than the detective. 
 
 A phase and an important one to be developed 
 by Byrnes was that Tom was engaged to be 
 married to a young cousin, who accompanied .the 
 father, and who was stricken with grief. To her, 
 at the hotel, after breakfasting, just before leaving 
 for Smith's, Tom had scribbled a few lines, as 
 follows : 
 
 " DARLING NELLY : In an awful hurry ; no 
 time to write more than a few lines ; am going 
 off on a sailing cruise for three days. You may 
 never hear from me again, but my last thoughts 
 will be of you. 
 
 " Your devoted, 
 
 "TOM." 
 
 The father argued that the last clause in the 
 letter intimated that there was trouble between 
 Tom and his friends, and that he had a foreboding 
 of his end when he wrote ; and he succeeded in 
 inspiring all with whom he conversed on the
 
 214 VIDOCQ. 
 
 subject with his own theory that the murder had 
 been committed in the cabin with the knife ; that 
 the blood had been sopped up in the handker- 
 chief, the body conveyed forward, lashed to the 
 missing anchor, and thrown overboard, but not 
 before some blood had dripped to the deck, 
 which, if they had not been surprised, Bagley and 
 Moore would have removed in the morning when 
 over their delirium of drink. He created an 
 intense popular prejudice against the young 
 men which was even manifested toward their 
 parents, who had taken up their abode in town, 
 so as to be able to visit their sons in prison 
 daily. 
 
 Byrnes did not consider the letter as important 
 as the others ; that is that it had any bearing on 
 the case, the intimation in the last sentence he 
 considered a joke. 
 
 The consciousness of their innocence gave the 
 youthful prisoners strength of heart and mind to 
 endure calmly their imprisonment, and confi- 
 dently anticipate an acquittal. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE TRIAL. 
 
 THE trial attracted much attention. A New 
 York paper had it reported by a special corre-
 
 THE TRIAL. 215 
 
 spondent. It consumed several days. It was an 
 epoch in the history of the town. 
 
 Messrs. Bagley and Moore engaged eminent 
 counsel from their own city to defend their sons. 
 Mr. Jones was satisfied to let the prosecution be 
 made by the district-attorney, an able lawyer by 
 the way, who has since achieved political distinc- 
 tion in Congress. 
 
 The chain of evidence woven by the astute 
 district-attorney was very complete, and intended 
 to be supplemented by an equally conclusive 
 noose of hemp-rope for each of the prisoners. 
 
 The witnessess called by the prosecution were : 
 Allen, who (i) showed that the young men were 
 capable of practising deceit by their imposing on 
 him in regard to their stopping at the hotel ; and 
 (2) that they were evidently not good friends 
 before they started on the cruise. 
 
 The lawyer, who recounted his going on board 
 of the Saucy Sal, and subsequent discoveries, the 
 young men by their conduct impressing him they 
 were innocent of any crime. 
 
 The fisherman, who gave his account, which 
 only differed from the lawyer's in that the de- 
 meanor of the young men satisfied him they were 
 guilty of murdering their friend. 
 
 The constable testified to arresting the young 
 men and examining the boat. 
 
 The letter was offered, but ruled out. 
 
 Mr. Jones testified that his son was sober,
 
 216 VIDOCQ. 
 
 amiable and confiding, and did not mention to 
 him in a letter written two days before from New 
 York anything about the trip. 
 
 Here the prosecution rested. 
 
 The counsel for the defence opened their side 
 by calling several townsmen of the prisoners to 
 testify to their good characters. 
 
 One of these witnesses was with the prisoners 
 and Jones the night before they left the city, and 
 there was nothing evident of any feud existing 
 between them then. 
 
 The parents of the prisoners testified to the 
 same effect. 
 
 Moore was placed on the stand, and told a 
 plain, straightforward story, evincing emotion 
 when he alluded to his missing friend. He 
 denied that any imposition was intended by the 
 remarks which conveyed to Allen that they were 
 stopping at the hotel ; and, as regards the 
 quarrel, it was agreed upon among themselves as 
 a joke on Allen, who was asked who began it and 
 who figured most actively in it. 
 
 Allen, recalled, remembered that Jones was the 
 one who misled him in regard to the hotel, and 
 and also was the author of the quarrel. 
 
 Bagley was called and corroborated Moore's 
 testimony, adding that he was the last that saw 
 Jones, as he remained awake till his friend had 
 fallen asleep, as he knew he would need his 
 assistance if his nose bled, again.
 
 THE TRIAL. 217 
 
 The -defence had no more witnesses, and the 
 case was adjourned till next day. 
 
 In the summing up, the defence admitted that 
 it was a strong case of circumstantial evidence, 
 and expatiated on the theory of suicide, holding 
 that the allusion in the letter pointed as much 
 to this as anything else. A pretty picture of 
 the social relations of the parties was drawn, 
 and a feeling tribute paid to the memory of 
 Jones. 
 
 The summing up of the prosecuting officer was 
 a very able effort. He made a theatrical use of 
 the handkerchief, knife and' blood-spots, dwelling 
 especially upon the stains on the cuffs of the 
 prisoners, and drew a dramatic picture of the 
 young men murdering their friend (even as Caesar 
 was assassinated by stabs from those, he believed 
 to be his friends) because of animosity inspired by 
 the chagrin that he had won by the toss of a 
 penny the captaincy of the cruise. He cited 
 authorities to prove that the tides and currents 
 were so strong and diverse in the locality that the 
 body must have been carried to sea, and probably 
 would never be recovered. He placed no faith 
 in the prisoners' testimony that they all had been 
 drunk. He ridiculed the theory of the defence 
 that Jones had committed suicide. He had 
 found it impossible to entertain but one theory; 
 that \vas, that Jones had been cruelly murdered 
 by his friends, and then thrown overboard.
 
 218 VIDOCQ. 
 
 The judge in his charge said the prisoners must 
 either be acquitted or convicted ; their friend had 
 disappeared from their midst in a manner leaving 
 no doubt of his death. The young men at the 
 bar were either guilty of causing his death or 
 innocent. The testimony presented by the 
 prosecution certainly excited the suspicion that a 
 horrible murder had been committed ; yet the 
 theory of suicide of the defence was plausible, the 
 testimony and explanations of the prisoners plausi- 
 ble and consistent. It was evident, however, that 
 the judge inclined toward the theory that the 
 friends had quarrelled and fought. 
 
 The jury retired in charge of 'an officer, and 
 remained out six hours. 
 
 The judge and counsel went out for refresh- 
 ments. The officer having the prisoners in charge 
 offered to take them out for refreshments also, 
 but, of course, they had no appetite for anything 
 and preferred to remain in their seats, in conver- 
 sation with their male relatives, their respective 
 mothers having been persuaded by the counsel to 
 keep away this final day. The prisoners were 
 both much excited, pale and worn, but hopeful in 
 the consciousness of their innocence. 
 
 Mr. Jones, the bereaved father, who had sat on 
 the other side of the inclosure semi-circling the 
 seat of justice with the prosecuting officer, paced 
 the small space with bowed head. " An eye for 
 an eye ; a tooth for a tooth," saith the Scriptures.
 
 T3E TRIAL. 219 
 
 Was he hungry for the lives of these two in 
 atonement for his son's death ? 
 
 The crowd that rilled the space alloted it 
 waited patiently for the verdict, evidently more 
 interested than the prisoners themselves, to judge 
 by the earnest discussion that was going on 
 among them. 
 
 The hours wore on ; terrible hours of suspense 
 to the prisoners and those immediately con- 
 cerned ; dreary hours of curiosity to the spec- 
 tators, with no other thought on the subject 
 probably than to get away to their dinners. 
 
 The sunbeams that had glorified the windows 
 disappeared ; daylight faded away, and the oil- 
 lamps, with large tin reflectors, that were lighted, 
 filled the room with shadows and obscure corners, 
 imparting a mystery to the solemnity of the 
 occasion. 
 
 The gloom awes all into silence or whispers. 
 The only evidence of animation, so quiet do all 
 remain, is the ticking of the clock on the wall 
 facing the throne of the judge. 
 
 At length the door by which the jury left is 
 opened, and they file in, and gravely take their 
 scats, looking solemn and determined. 
 
 This action of life infuses those in the chamber 
 and dispels the silence, and there is a hum of 
 voices, clearing of throats and changing of posi- 
 tions. 
 
 The judge, counsel, and prosecuting officer,
 
 220 V1DOCQ. 
 
 having been sent for, return and take their 
 places. 
 
 The clerk proceeds with the formula of calling 
 the roll, and says : 
 
 "Prisoners, arise! Jurors, look upon the 
 prisoners ! Prisoners, look upon the jury ! Gen- 
 tlemen of the jury, have you agreed upon your 
 verdict ? " 
 
 There is a breathless silence ; greater now is 
 the suspense ; the secret will be known in a 
 moment. 
 
 The foreman of the jury gravely answers: 
 
 "We have." 
 
 The clerk says : " Gentlemen of the jury, how 
 find you : are the prisoners at the bar guilty or 
 not guilty? " 
 
 Foreman of the jury " Guilty ! " 
 
 Moore sinks into his chair like a man stricken 
 with the palsy. 
 
 Bagley leans on his father's arm and sobs. 
 
 A breath of relief is audible throughout the 
 audience, and there is a general stir among them. 
 Some pay their bets on the spot. 
 
 The clerk gravely says : 
 
 " Gentlemen of the jury, listen to your verdict ! 
 You find the prisoners at the bar guilty, and so 
 say you all ? " 
 
 The jurors answer affirmatively " We do." 
 
 The district-attorney glances at his watch, and 
 moves for sentence.
 
 THE TRIAL. 221 
 
 The judge says : " Prisoners at the bar, have 
 you anything to say why the sentence of the 
 court should not be passed upon you ? " 
 
 Bagley, at the instigation of his counsel, an- 
 swers : " We are innocent ! " 
 
 Moore, controlling himself, repeats: " We are 
 innocent ! " 
 
 The judge then pronounces the sentence : 
 
 " You have each of you had a fair and impar- 
 tial trial, you have been ably and devotedly 
 defended by your counsel, but the jury, sworn to 
 give deliberate, true and impartial consideration 
 to the evidence, have found you guilty of the ter- 
 rible crime of murder. It now becomes my pain- 
 ful duty, under the law, and as presiding judge of 
 this court, to pass the sentence of the law upon 
 you. And, before doing so, I would desire to 
 direct your minds to the just consideration of 
 your guilt, and to use your utmost endeavors to 
 prepare yourselves to meet your fate manfully 
 and religiously. 
 
 " Your victim was hurried unprepared before 
 his God, while you are given ample time to pre- 
 pare ; and I earnestly hope you will devote the 
 rest of your time to the preparation necessary to 
 secure your admission to the abode of bliss 
 through the means opened unto us by our Sav- 
 iour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Wise and religious 
 men will, doubtless, attend you henceforth ) 
 teaching you the errors of your former life,
 
 222 
 
 and devotedly guide you through the remain- 
 der. 
 
 " Give yourselves no hopes of executive clem- 
 ency, but pay heed to the teachings which will be 
 given you. Now the sentence of this court is, 
 that you both be taken hence to the common jail 
 of this county, there to remain till the day of 
 , 187-, on which day, between the hours of 
 nine and twelve in the morning, you will be 
 taken to the jail-yard, and there be hanged by the 
 neck till you are dead ; and may God, in His 
 infinite wisdom, have mercy on your souls ! " 
 
 The prisoners were removed to the jail in a 
 limp, insensible condition, able to walk while 
 supported by strong arms, but mentally dazed. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ADJUDGED GUILTY. 
 
 ADJUDGED guilty ! Convicted on the evi- 
 dence ! Waste of words to protest their inno- 
 cence ; who ever believes the declarations of a 
 criminal, unless it is a confession of guilt ? 
 
 " They all say they're innocent," the keeper 
 declares unfeelingly. 
 
 Bagley and Moore found that no one believed 
 in their innocence excepting their parents ; on the 
 contrary, it was evidently the thought of all, even
 
 ADJ I tx.Eh GUILTY. 223^ 
 
 of the clergymen who attended them ; but now 
 that they were convicted, and would certainly 
 expiate their crime on the gallows, they should 
 make a confession. 
 
 The consciousness of their innocence that had 
 sustained them through the trial tranquillized 
 their minds, and enabled them to bear with forti- 
 tude the present ordeal. 
 
 They were truly brave, were these young men ; 
 and brave men are accustomed to consider facts 
 calmly and courageously they, as soon as they 
 recovered themselves, brought their minds to a 
 realization, or, rather, a contemplation, of their 
 position ; they resolved to conduct themselves 
 like men. If it was to be their fate to die on the 
 gallows, innocent of the crime imputed to them, 
 they would meet their doom like true men, strong 
 in the consciousness of their innocence. 
 
 It was not, it is true, until after, or, rather, 
 through, severe mental travail that they brought 
 themselves to this frame of mind. The thought 
 was horrible, maddening, that they should so 
 soon have to yield up their young lives their 
 lives now dear to them ; but they were brave 
 men, and brave men quietly obtain control of 
 themselves, and maintain it. That they should 
 die innocent inspired them with the spirit that 
 animates the martyr. 
 
 The guilty murderer is haunlcd day and night, 
 through the long hours of his imprisonment, by
 
 24 viuocq. 
 
 the spectre of his victim, which stalks to the scaf- 
 fold with him, and stands before him the last 
 thing on earth. 
 
 Recollections of many happy hours with Jones 
 filled the minds of Bagley and Moore, and they 
 experienced a happiness in the contemplation of 
 their innocence that is not the lot of the guilty, 
 even after the mind has been relieved by a con- 
 fession, and the terrible secret is no longer a 
 secret. 
 
 The clergyman found them ready and willing 
 disciples. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BYRNES'S ADVICE. 
 
 MR. BAGLEY somehow had faith that Byrnes 
 could yet be of service to him in his distress, and 
 after the trial and sentence he again visited him. 
 
 " Petition the Governor," advised Byrnes. 
 " Delay matters as long as possible. Time 
 often works wonders in elucidating mysteries. 
 Obtain as much delay as possible." 
 
 " Yes but is there is there any hope in 
 your opinion, Mr. Byrnes?" 
 
 " Hum I have a theory a theory but don't 
 consider me now see the Governor." 
 
 " Your manner rather than your words gives a
 
 BYRNES' 8 ADVICE. 225 
 
 strange hope and strength. I will not ask you 
 any questions but remember me eventually and 
 give me the benefit, the blessings of your 
 thoughts." 
 
 The fathers set about circulating a petition to 
 the Governor for a reprieve, which was signed 
 generally by friends of the several parties in New 
 York and Brooklyn, but not much anywhere else, 
 the belief in their guilt, despite their protesta- 
 tions, being popular. 
 
 The clergyman had made the acquaintance of 
 Jones's betrothed, and he bethought himself of 
 strengthening the array of names on the petition 
 with hers. He knew it was useless to endeavor 
 to obtain Mr. Jones's ; he, in his bitter anguish, 
 would never be satisfied till the prisoners had 
 expiated their crime. 
 
 Mr. Jones returned to New York after the 
 trial ; the young lady, Miss Depew, had gone to 
 Boston to visit some relatives, seeking to obtain 
 relief from her afflictions by a change of air and 
 scene. To her the clergyman went ; his account 
 of the prisoners excited her desire to see them 
 personally, and, in an interview with them, they 
 succeeded in so strongly impressing her with 
 their innocence, that she not only signed the 
 petition, but also accompanied the two fathers 
 when they presented it to the Governor. 
 
 The Governor was an old lawyer, and, after 
 carefully reviewing the testimony, he sustained
 
 226 viuocq. 
 
 the sentence of the court, declaring that they had 
 been convicted on the evidence. He granted a 
 respite of four weeks, which deferred the execu- 
 tion three months from date of sentence. 
 
 The slender hope of reprieve banished, the 
 prisoners prepared themselves to manfully meet 
 their approaching doom, happy in the conscious- 
 ness of their innocence. The fatal day drew 
 near. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOME AGAIN. 
 
 A NOBLE steamer ploughs her way to a pier on 
 the North River belonging to the South Amer- 
 ican line. 
 
 As soon as she touches the pier a young man 
 looking like a seafaring man, hops ashore on the 
 string piece and is hastening off the dock when 
 he is stopped stopped by Byrnes, but not know- 
 ing who he is he is not as much taken aback 
 as he would naturally otherwise have been. 
 
 On seeing him, Byrnes, who was as nonchalant 
 as if asking for a light for his cigar, touched his 
 arm and inquired : 
 
 " Is not your name Tom Jones ? " 
 
 "Yes."
 
 HOME AGAIN. 227 
 
 " And you disappeared from a sloop " 
 
 "Yes, sir, in Long Island Sound." 
 
 " Where are you going? " 
 
 " To my father." 
 
 " He will be glad to see you," replied Byrnes, 
 turning away. 
 
 Let us follow the young sailor. 
 
 To a bee-hive of business offices on Beaver 
 Street he goes, and into an office. 
 
 He looks around him wildly. 
 
 " Do you know any one here, sir?" inquires a 
 clerk. 
 
 " No, sir, I think not," slowly replies the sailor. 
 "Is Mr. Jones in?" 
 
 " No, sir." replies the other, " He went out 
 two months ago." 
 
 " Can you tell where to? " 
 
 " No, sir, he's gone out of business, I believe," 
 responded the clerk. Then, glancing over his 
 memorandum book, he scribbled an address on a 
 card. " Here's his address," he said, handing it 
 to the other, "There's where he wanted his 
 letters sent. H'm ! got any smuggled goods to 
 sell?" 
 
 " Thank you," said the young sailor, glancing 
 at the address, and then crumpling the card jn 
 his hand. " No, sir: I'm not a peddler." 
 
 He withdrew with a bow, and is off to Broad- 
 way and in an up-going stage as quick as his legs 
 can carry him.
 
 228 VIDOC'Q. 
 
 He alights, and hastens to a stately dwelling 
 on a fashionable side-street and rings the bell. 
 
 His summons is answered by a liveried attend- 
 ant, whose appearance surprises him. 
 
 " Mr. Jones in?" he inquires. 
 
 "Mr. Jones?" 
 
 "Yes," he falters. 
 
 " Oh ! ah ! yes. He does not live here now. 
 I did not know whom you meant ; we took the 
 house from him going on six weeks ago. H'm, 
 Mr. Jones's gone to Europe, I believe," and the 
 flunky almost closed the door in his face. 
 
 The young sailor presses his hand to his fore- 
 head as if to collect or control his thoughts ; he 
 gathers himself up with an effort, and then 
 hastens away to the stage-route, and goes up- 
 town. 
 
 He proceeds to an elegant mansion, and rings 
 the bell. 
 
 " Mrs. Lyons in? " he asks of the attendant. 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Say to her that her nephew wishes to see her," 
 and he strode past the attendant into a parlor. 
 
 A voice upstairs is heard to say, " It must be 
 some mistake ; but I will see him." 
 
 In a few moments a familiar step is heard on 
 the hall-stairs. 
 
 An elderly lady enters. 
 
 He rushes toward her, exclaiming, "Aunt! 
 dear aunt ! "
 
 TOM'S ADVENTURES. 229 
 
 The lady totters, glances wildly at him stag- 
 gers to a chair. 
 
 " Who are you ? " she gasps. 
 
 "Don't you know me, aunt?" the young 
 sailor inquires, anxiously. 
 
 She looks at him as if distrustful of her senses ; 
 there is a tremor of the lips; she nervously 
 passes her hands over her forehead, as if to clear 
 her thoughts, and exclaims, " Tom ! dear Tom ! " 
 and embraces him. 
 
 Yes, it was Tom ; the missing, mourned-for 
 dead Tom Jones. 
 
 Hasty explanations ensue. 
 
 His father, overburdened with grief, had retired 
 from business, and gone to Europe for a change 
 <>f air and scene, a fact of which Byrnes was igno- 
 rant, as he was not working that side of the 
 case. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TOM'S ADVENTURES. 
 
 TOM, after falling asleep on the memorable 
 night of his disappearance from the cabin of the 
 " Saucy Sal," had been awakened towards day- 
 break, by a recurrence of the bleeding at the 
 nose, and not wishing to arouse his friends, had 
 arisen from his bunk and 'staggered to the deck,
 
 230 V1DOCQ. 
 
 to the place where the blood spots had been 
 noted. 
 
 Losing his balance, while leaning over the 
 taffrail in an effort to keep the flowing blood from 
 staining the deck and side, he fell overboard ; and 
 being an expert swimmer, and not wishing to 
 occasion alarm, he allowed himself to drop into 
 the water when he found he was falling, without 
 causing a " splash," by offering no resistance to 
 the impetus a trick he had learned in the 
 gymnasium. 
 
 When he rose from the water he struck out for 
 a short swim, aware that the invigoration of the 
 bath would be good for him in his condition. 
 
 Enjoying the water and heedless under the 
 influence of the liquor still controlling him, he 
 swam further away from the craft than he 
 thought, and got into the strong seaward current 
 before he was aware of the fact ; a rip rap on the 
 other side of the peninsula caused a variety of 
 currents here, which was as strong and steady as 
 diverse. 
 
 The current that caught the struggling 
 swimmer, bore directly seaward, and was and 
 still is the dread of the navigators of the coast, 
 as it seems to be a combination or succession of 
 whirlpools that pass their victim from one to 
 another until they hurl him out upon the bosom 
 of the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 Tom's strength was not adequate in the
 
 TOM'S ADVENTURES. 231 
 
 battle with the swift rushing waters that really 
 seemed to leap in their joy at securing him. 
 
 He was hauled or tossed along, struggling to 
 free himself from the intangible embrace of the 
 whirlpool, as he did in his efforts to get back 
 towards the craft, when he would summon his 
 strength and call to his friends for assistance. 
 
 He knew now that he would only waste his 
 energies if he exerted his voice in calling for 
 help, and he wisely conserved his strength for the 
 demands to be made yet upon him by the angry 
 but gleeful waters. 
 
 The " Saucy Sal " receded rapidly from his 
 vision though the day grew clearer every 
 moment ; and the shore line fast faded into 
 obscurity until finally lost in the horizon of the 
 blue sky. 
 
 Finally, quite exhausted and satisfied that 
 further resistance was useless, he abandoned him- 
 self to his fate. He hastily removed his coat, 
 which had become cumbersome, and turned on 
 his back and floated with the current which now 
 again became steady in its outward rush. 
 
 Fortunately the sea was quiet or rather placid 
 for the waves are never quiet in their ceaseless 
 activity, like a caged monster chafing under 
 restraint and bidding defiance and he rode the 
 water like a chip afloat. 
 
 His experience as a swimmer served him now, 
 and hf 1 reposed on the water refraining from
 
 232 VIDOCQ. 
 
 exertion, as he was beginning to feel quite 
 exhausted. 
 
 Suddenly his hand clutched a floating timber 
 a light rafter, that had probably been lost at 
 sea by some coaster-lumberman. 
 
 He seized the timber, and taking his handker- 
 chief from his neck he managed by " treading " 
 to tie it like a flag at one end ; then again float- 
 ing he placed the other end under his head, his 
 weight bringing the white signal up several feet 
 above the surface of the waves. 
 
 He clutched the submerged end with one hand 
 while his other was wound round the timber 
 above his head, which was thus comfortably 
 pillowed, while the signal was kept overhead. 
 You may think that a pole cannot be held this 
 way by a man floating ; but Tom's skill and 
 courage demonstrated it is possible. 
 
 He floated ; he rode the waves. 
 
 His signal was sighted by a merchantman 
 bound from Boston for Buenos Ayres. 
 
 He was within hailing distance but the gurgle 
 of the swift rushing waters prevented his hearing 
 the mate's stentorian 
 
 " Ship ahoy ! " 
 
 Fortunately for him he shifted the position of 
 his head on the timber or the mate might have 
 concluded he was a corpse sent adrift, anchored 
 to a signal, and have proceeded on his way 
 without further inquiry, with a sailor's well-
 
 TOM'S ADVENTURES. 233 
 
 known disinclination to have anything to do 
 with a corpse. 
 
 The long boat was lowered without any dis- 
 turbance of the ship's tack, and rowed towards 
 him, the mate in charge. 
 
 " It's alive a man," Tom heard a voice say, 
 and then : 
 
 " Steady now ! You're all right ! " 
 
 And a pair of strong arms grasped him, set 
 adrift the timber, and hauled him into the boat, 
 which was immediately pointed to the bark. 
 
 Tom was so much exhausted when lifted to 
 the deck that he could not speak, but a glass of 
 brandy restored him sufficiently to tell his story. 
 
 Had it now been night the light of Montauk 
 Point could have been seen with the naked eye 
 far astern on a port tack to leeward, while the 
 two flashing orbs of the Neversink Highlands 
 would have been discovered on the starboard 
 quarter, and possibly, too, the Barnegat Light off 
 the starboard bow ; but now in the early morning 
 light, with the rising sun just beginning to 
 illumine the eastern horizon, these were not 
 discernible except through the captain's glass ; 
 nothing was to be seen but waves all around, 
 so far out at sea were they ; all else was sky. 
 
 Of course communication with the shore was 
 out of the question, the ship could not turn 
 from her course. 
 
 The captain told Tom than he would send him
 
 294 VIDOCQ. 
 
 ashore in the long boat at Montevideo, as he did 
 not suppose he would care to remain on board 
 the trip up the river to port Buenos Ayres, and 
 that as he had only some small change in his 
 pocket he must work his passage by assisting the 
 cook as a waiter, as he did not think that he 
 would be equal to deck work. 
 
 The captain agreed to signal and if possible, 
 put him aboard the first homebound steamer or 
 vessel they should meet. 
 
 The captain took a fancy to Tom and made 
 him as comfortable as he could, while insisting as 
 a matter of justice to the underwriters that he 
 should work his passage. 
 
 Tom, while fully realizing his position and the 
 anguish and sorrow of those he left behind in 
 consequence of his mysterious and unaccountable 
 disappearance, could not prevent his happy-go- 
 lucky temperament from reasserting itself and 
 deciding him that no good could come from 
 worrying over what could not be helped, and he 
 consequently made the best of circumstances to 
 the degree that he really enjoyed the voyage. 
 
 Of course lie never for a moment imagined the 
 predicament his mysterious disappearance had 
 entailed on his friends, but supposed they could 
 account for his absence by the fact that he had 
 fallen overboard and been carried to sea, and 
 rescued as he had been. 
 
 Having been rescued the thought that he
 
 TOM'S ADVENTURES. 2\ft 
 
 might be mourned for as one dead never occurred 
 to him, under the circumstances. 
 
 The idea that his comrades had been charged 
 with his murder, arrested and tried would have 
 driven him almost crazy. 
 
 For several days he hoped to sight some home- 
 bound steamer or ship, but none came along on 
 the expanse of sea in the captain s glass, which 
 Tom always had to his eye in the daylight hours 
 when that worthy was not using it. 
 
 One of the line of steamers at this time plying 
 between Buenos Ayres and New York, passed 
 in the night time off the Florida reef, and so was 
 not signalled. 
 
 Favored by a smooth sea and propitious winds 
 the good ship bowled along, day after day under 
 a cloud of canvas. 
 
 Finally one morning they arrived at the mouth 
 of the Platte River, off the town of Montevideo, 
 which the captain told Tom was touched by 
 Commodore Garrison's line of steamers to New 
 York (since discontinued in consequence of the 
 non-progressive policy of our government con- 
 cerning commerce and shipping). 
 
 Tom decided he should like to be put ashore, 
 and he was sent in the long boat. 
 
 During the voyage he had grown a beard an 
 
 inch or more, and his hair, usually kept close 
 
 trimmed, was now sufficiently long to be a curly 
 
 mass all over his head, and he was as swarthy a.
 
 236 VIDOCQ. 
 
 an Indian ; and the regular hours, healthy air 
 and nourishing diet had increased his weight by 
 twenty odd pounds. 
 
 No one but an intimate acquaintance, to whom 
 the voice would have been familiar would have 
 recognized him, as he stepped ashore on the quay, 
 with his worldly effects in the traditional handker- 
 chief bundle of the sailor; and as the thought 
 came to him'that he was a stranger in a strange 
 land he was for the moment loth to leave his 
 comrades, who had however, put back for the 
 ship as soon as he jumped from the boat. 
 
 The quaint old town, at the mouth of one of 
 the noblest rivers of the world, would ordinarily 
 have promised many attractions for him ; but 
 his only thought now was the hope to get away 
 as soon as possible. 
 
 The first inquiry he made on landing was if 
 there was telegraphic communication with New 
 York, as he wished to inform his father and 
 friends of his arrival as soon as possible ; but 
 there was not, and he could consequently reach 
 home as soon as a letter. 
 
 His joy was boundless when he learned that 
 the steamer, at the wharf near by, just down 
 from Buenos Ayres, would leave that very day 
 for New York. 
 
 He secured passage on the steamer on telling 
 his story and giving a draft on his father for the 
 amount.
 
 mars ADVENTURE*. 237 
 
 The agent directed his attention to the follow- 
 ing placard conspicuously posted on the bulletin 
 in the office : 
 
 INFORMATION WANTED. 
 
 THOMAS JONES, of Brooklyn, L. I., N. Y., 
 missing from the cat-boat " Saucy Sal," off 
 Smith's Point, Connecticut, U. S. A., on the night 
 of July loth, 187-. Age, 22 ; five feet in height, 
 slender and athletic ; black hair, black eyes, 
 black moustache. Beard of quick growth, show- 
 ing blue on skin after shaving. Has a scar on 
 scalp above right ear ; large vaccination scar one 
 inch long on left arm ; little finger, left hand 
 crooked from an injury. Disappeared from boat 
 during night. Supposed to have fallen over- 
 board. If remains discovered by some vessel 
 communicate particulars to establish identity. 
 
 THOMAS BYRNES, 
 
 Detective Bureau, 
 Police Headquarters, N. Y. City. 
 
 MANQUE! 
 
 RENSEIGNEMENTS DESEREE. 
 
 ON demande des renseignements sive Thomas 
 Jones, domicili a Brooklyn, L. I., N. Y,
 
 238 VIDOCQ. 
 
 dispooiu du voilier " Suney Sal," au large de 
 "Smith's Point," Connecticut, Etats Unis 
 d'Amerique, pendat la unit du 10 Juillet, 187-. 
 Age 22 ans, hauteur 5 pieds, stature elancee et 
 solide ; cheveux noirs, yeux noirs, moustache noire. 
 Barbe poussant rapidement laissant une ternte ble- 
 uatre a la peau quand rasee de frais. A unec icat- 
 rice a la tete audessus de 1'oreille gauche, grande 
 marque de vaccin d'un ponce de long au bras 
 gauche ; le petit doigt de la main gauche est 
 crochu a la suite d'une blessure. Disparu du 
 bateau pendant la unit, suppose etre tombe a la 
 mer. Si le corps est trouve" par quelque Cateau 
 communiquez details pour etablir identite a 
 
 THOMAS BYRNES, 
 Bureau de la police secrete, 
 Depot central de la Police ou a la Prefecture de Police, 
 
 New York. 
 
 VERSCHWUNDEtf. 
 
 AUSKUNFT WIRD ERBETEN UBER 
 
 THOMAS JONE3 aus Brooklyn und Long Island 
 im Staate New York, wird vom Katschiff " Saucy 
 Sal " aus Smith's Point im Staate Connecticut, 
 Vereinigte Staaten von Nord Amerika, seit der 
 Nacht von loten Juli, 187-, vermist. 
 
 Alter zwei und zwanzig Jahre, Hohe fiinf 
 Fuss schlank und kraftig, Haar schwarz, Augen 
 schwarz, Schnurrbart schwarz. Bart schnell
 
 TOM '8 ADVENTUHES. 239 
 
 wachsend, leuchtet blau auf der Haut nach 
 dem Rasiren. Er hat eine Narbe am Kopfe iiber 
 dem rechten Ohr, eine. grose Schrammc, un- 
 gefahr ein Zoll lang, auf dem linken Arm von 
 der Impfung, und der kleine Finger der linken 
 Hand ist verkriippelt von einer Verletzung. Er 
 verschwand von dem Schiff wahrend der Nacht, 
 und nimmt man an dass er iiber Bord gefallen ist. 
 Wenn der Korper oder Kleidungsstucke, etc., 
 von irgend einem Schiffe aufgefunden werden 
 sollten, so bitte dies gefalligst sofort behufs 
 Feststellung der Thatsachen hierher mitzutheilen. 
 THOMAS BYRNES, 
 
 Detective Bureau. 
 Polizei Hauptquartier, New York City. 
 
 The clerk, a native, in the office did not furnish 
 him any further information, but the purser of 
 the steamer, a New Yorker, told him all about 
 reading in the papers the sensation his dis- 
 appearance had caused, and swift as the steamer 
 was, she was all too slow for him. 
 
 He counted the hours as they brought him 
 nearer home, confident that the Providence which 
 had favored him so far, would land him in time to 
 rescue his friends from their peril, now more 
 imminent than ever his own had been when he 
 was at the mercy of the merciless and unsympa- 
 thetic waves.
 
 240 VIUOCQ. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 BYRNES' WORK. 
 
 BYRNES, after his investigations about the locale 
 of the tragedy, advised the lawyers to prolong 
 the trial as far as possible, as he was satisfied that 
 time only would fathom the mystery attending 
 the disappearance of the unfortunate young man, 
 under such peculiar circumstances. 
 
 He returned to headquarters in New York City, 
 to continue his part of the work, from the cen- 
 tripetal of the great web of the detective system. 
 
 His plan, if he can be said to have a plan when 
 he facilely adapts himself to all circumstances or 
 cases by applying his experience his plan is to 
 ascertain all the facts in a case and then formu- 
 late his theory, not to theorize (as so many do) 
 on supposition or hypothesis or former experience ; 
 to change his views if new facts come up to upset 
 his ideas: but in no event ever to give up a 
 prosecution until it is finished, however vexatious 
 the delays or disappointing the clues ; although, 
 because he is silent on the subject often his aids 
 and clients think he has abandoned a case until 
 he surprises them by action that unravels the 
 mystery or brings to the bar of Justice the culprits. 
 He has been known to work in silence and 
 secrecy for years on a case. Napoleon did not 
 evince more tenacity of purpose than he.
 
 BYKNES'S WORK. 241 
 
 He did not believe that Moore and Bagley had 
 murdered their friend, as all the facts indicated 
 and as the majority of people believed, because 
 in that event the body surely after a few days 
 would have been found somewhere on the neigh- 
 boring coast washed ashore by the tides even if 
 carried seaward by the current, or by the sound- 
 ings taken in all directions if strapped to the 
 missing anchor. 
 
 It is needless to say that the innocent and 
 courageous bearing of the young men made no 
 impression on him, for in his experience many of 
 the most horrible tragedies had been committed 
 by inexperienced persons who evinced the cool- 
 ness and courage of injured innocence, while often 
 the innocent person exhibits the signs of guilt in 
 their alarm. The hardened criminal, with the 
 knowledge v and experience of the penalty of 
 crime, is apt to be more demoralized on discovery 
 than the novice yet to serve sentence. 
 
 Byrnes made diligent inquiries to ascertain if 
 any debts or a liason might cause Tom to wish to 
 disappear the only significance the allusion to 
 his disappearance in Tom's letter to his sweet- 
 heart had to him was the suggestion that the 
 writer might be complicated some way with some 
 other woman. No facts were elicited to establish 
 this theory and it was abandoned. 
 
 Byrnes became convinced that no crime had 
 been committed. His theory, which all the facts
 
 243 VIDOCQ. 
 
 bore out, was that Tom had fallen overboard and 
 been carried out to sea by the current. Whether 
 he had been picked up by some passing craft or 
 succumbed to the fury of the waves, time could 
 only tell. 
 
 He issued the placard which Tom had read at 
 Montevideo, and had it sent to various ports, in 
 all parts of the world. 
 
 He had subordinates located at the Quarantine 
 Stations on Staten Island and Hell Gate, and 
 every incoming craft was inspected ; but when 
 days and weeks passed without any information 
 of the missing man he was almost ready to con- 
 clude that he had died on the sea from exhaus- 
 tion. The case, under the circumstances, seemed 
 to him almost hopeless, and it was inevitable 
 that the young prisoners should be adjudged 
 guilty, convicted by circumstantial evidence. 
 
 Suppose that we now follow Byrnes from 
 the dock after letting Tom go on his way re- 
 joicing. 
 
 He went immediately to Mr. Bagley's office 
 and communicated the joyful intelligence to that 
 gentleman of Tom's return. 
 
 " My theory was correct," he said to Mr. 
 Bagley, "that the missing man would reap- 
 pear." 
 
 Together they went to Mr. Jones's residence, 
 reaching there soon after Tom himself. 
 
 As speedily as the electric wires can convey the
 
 BYliNES>8 WORK. 
 
 words the intelligence of Tom's return is sent to 
 the prisoners ; and the next train bears him and 
 Bagley, senior, (who got Byrnes to communicate- 
 the joyful news to Moore), to the town ; and 
 Tom's appearance in propria persona late that 
 night caused their release the next day. Already 
 the outlines of the gallows had loomed up in the 
 prison-yard, and in twenty-eight hours the sen- 
 tence of the court would have been executed. 
 
 One morning, however, he was surprised and 
 delighted if one so characteristically imperturb- 
 able ever evinces any emotion by receiving a 
 telegram from his pal at the Quarantine Station 
 and Staten Island that the "party" was aboard 
 the steamer. 
 
 As we know he met him. 
 
 The story of Tom's return and the almost 
 miraculous rescue of the condemned men from 
 the gallows was as attractive to the reporters as 
 that of his disappearance and their trial, and the 
 papers for several days contained sensational 
 accounts. 
 
 But one event, which now soon occurred, the 
 parties contrived with Byrnes' assistance, to keep 
 from the gossiping public. That need I tell 
 you ? was the marriage of Miss Depew and Tom, 
 which was solemnized as soon as Tom's father 
 could be brought back from Europe. And two 
 of the stanchest and most devoted friends of 
 the Inspector are Tom and his wife, who, living
 
 244 VIDOCQ. 
 
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 without paying their respects to the VlDOCQ OF 
 NEW YORK in the marble edifice on Mulberry 
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