"Oh, I shall be careful, Mr. Burton. Don't you worry about that. I have my eye teeth cut."
"When do you mean to take up the affair?"
"This minute! As soon as I can get my men together and the necessary formalities disposed of."
"Am I to go right along with you?" Christopher leaped to his feet.
"Yes. Fetch your hat and coat. I'll take care of the boy, Mr. Burton.
Have no concern about him. It is only natural he should wish to see this job through, having been mixed up in it from the first. Besides, remember we have him to thank for every clew we have succeeded in getting. It was he who witnessed the robbery; he who trapped and identified Stuart; he who now furnishes us with the whereabouts of the loot. You wouldn't deprive him of seeing the end of the drama, would you?"
"No-o," answered Mr. Burton slowly. "Still, it is no place for him. He's been mixed up with criminals and police stations ever since he came into this store. I didn't bring him here for any such purpose. Why, he has secured more knowledge of thieves and prisons during the last few weeks than he would have gathered together in a lifetime."
"He may be the wiser for it, too. Have you thought of that? Crime isn't very attractive when one sees this side of it."
"That is true," agreed Burton, Senior.
"Let Christopher alone, Mr. Burton. What he has seen won't hurt him. It has been a grim, sad adventure in which it would be hard to find one alluring feature."
"I guess that is true. Certainly evil has not triumphed."
"It never does--in the long run," declared Corrigan emphatically. "I've seen the thing over and over again, and have followed the history of most of the men we have tracked down. Sooner or later they are brought to justice. In the meantime they lead the lives of hunted foxes, never knowing a safe or peaceful moment. Some may call that happiness, but I don't. When you make of yourself an outlaw and cut yourself off from the big universe of decent people, you sentence yourself to a pretty wretched, lonely life. Even the worst of criminals often wish themselves back into that world they have left behind them, and which they know for a certainty they never can enter again."
"Stuart seemed to in his letter."
"That's exactly what I mean. Even Stuart, who has been at this sort of thing since he was a young lad, isn't contented with the lot he has chosen. Could he start over, he would follow the other path. He as good as says so himself. They are all like that when you get them at their best moments. That is why I am so sure this note to Christopher tells the truth. It is the voice of Stuart sighing for what might have been."
"Have you any idea where this street he mentions is?" interrogated Mr.
Burton.
"Oh, yes. It is up in Harlem. A very decent locality. We shall have no trouble. Doubtless the people of whom he hired his room thought him a gentleman. He could ape one when he tried. Moreover, he had a good deal of the gentleman in him. Probably were we able to dig out his ancestry, we should find he came of excellent parentage. He's a gentleman gone wrong."
"It's a pity."
"It's worse than that, Mr. Burton. It is a tragedy," declared Corrigan, as he and Christopher went out.
CHAPTER XI
THE SEQUEL TO THE LETTER
One hundred eighty-four Speedwell Street proved to be a trim, well-kept apartment leased by a clerk in one of the large dry-goods houses and occupied by himself, his wife, his sister and two children. The family was of French descent and was thrifty and respectable. In order to make both ends of their slender income meet they had taken as a boarder Mr.
Carlton (alias Stuart) whom they had found to be a delightful addition to the household.
"Yes, indeed! We know Monsieur Carlton well," replied the pretty little wife in response to Corrigan's inquiries. "He is charming. Such a gentleman and so kind to the children! But he is away just now. In fact, we have heard nothing from him for several days and were becoming a trifle worried by his silence. I hope no ill has befallen him."
Apprehensively her eye traveled with questioning gaze over the inspector's blue uniform.
"I am afraid your boarder will not be back for some time," responded he not unkindly.
"Something has happened to him then. _Mon Dieu!_ I am sorry--sorry! The children will break their hearts crying. Has he been hurt? Or maybe he is ill?"
"No, it is nothing of that sort. Later I will explain it all to you. He sent us to get something he had left here."
"To be sure. Come in, won't you? Ah, I am glad he is not sick! See, this is his room. We gave him our best one because he liked it and could pay."
"May I bring in some men who accompanied me?" asked Corrigan gently.
"Surely! Whatever you wish you may do since you are Mr. Carlton's friend. But I do not at all understand what is the trouble. Can't you--"
"By and by, madam, you shall know."
"It must, of course, be as you wish," agreed the tiny French woman with a smile. "I know nothing about it. Why should I interfere? Will you and your companions please step this way?" Then with surprise, "What, more police?"
"Yes. But you must not be afraid," the inspector declared reassuringly.
"We want nothing of you. Only what Mr.--"
"Carlton--"
"Mr. Carlton sent us to secure," concluded Corrigan.
"Eh, _bien_! Enter then. This is the way. It is here Mr. Carlton sleeps.
A pleasant room, you see. Books, magazines, and even a plant in bloom.
He is fond of flowers."
"I am not surprised," murmured Corrigan with a shrug. "A gentleman--as I asserted. The radiator is here, Tim. That must be the board. Take it up carefully so not to splinter it and deface the flooring. No doubt it will come easily."
"The floor--you are not going to tear up the floor!" cried the woman excitedly.
"Only one board," was the soothing answer. "We shall do no injury to your premises."
"But surely Mr. Carlton would not hide things away under the floor; only thieves do that." She laughed a tremulous, half-frightened laugh at the absurdity of the jest.
"How about it, Tim? Is it coming?" questioned Corrigan, ignoring the pleasantry.
"It stirs, sir; but it is not so loose as you might expect. Didn't Blake bring a chisel?"
"Yes, it's here. Why not run a knife down that crack and see if you can't raise the board a little. If you can lift it enough to slip something under it will come up," directed the chief.
"It's coming now, sir. There, we have it!"
"Take out all those wads of tissue paper."
"Here they are, sir."
"Any more?"