Messenger No. 48 Part 14

"You wanted to see the inspector," the stranger began, as he seated himself on the narrow bench which served as a bed.

"Well, s'posin' I did?" Jet asked, thinking this man was some one attached to the station.

"He has sent me to know where you have been."

"Did you come from New York?"

"Yes, on the last train."

"Why didn't the inspector come?"

"He never leaves the city; there are plenty of officers at headquarters to do such work. Now, what do you know?"

"More'n I'll tell to anybody but him."

"In that case I shall have to take you back to the city."

"But then it will be too late; them fellers are bound to skip when they find out I've got away."

"What fellows?"

Jet looked up suspiciously.

"I don't want to say a word to anybody but the inspector."

"I told you he sent me to do the business. You can talk as freely as to him."

"Who are you?"

"Detective Harvey."

"From New York?"

"See here, my boy, I don't blame you for having doubts, and to set them at rest I'll prove that what I say is true," and the detective pounded on the bars of the cell door until the turnkey appeared.

"I wish you would ask the sergeant to step this way a moment."

That officer obeyed the summons at once, and when he stood at the door the detective said to him:

"Will you kindly tell this boy who I am? He is afraid I am sailing under false colors."

"You are Detective Harvey, sent by the inspector at New York in answer to a telegram I wired this morning. To give him perfect confidence in you I will say further that at present he is confined for pa.s.sing counterfeit money, but if you should ask to have him released I guarantee that the charge will be withdrawn. Are you satisfied now, my boy?"

"Yes, I reckon it's all right. I'll take the chances; but if you fellers are playin' any game, the inspector is bound to raise a terrible row when I see him."

"That part of it is all right. Tell Harvey what you know, and I answer for it that it will be the same as if the inspector himself was here."

With this remark the sergeant walked away, and Jet said in a low tone:

"Now I'll tell the whole story; but first I want to know why that advertis.e.m.e.nt about me was put in the papers?"

"We thought those two men might have gotten hold of you, more especially since the manager at the district messenger station reported that you spoke of being hired to go to Yonkers."

Jet now gave, with careful attention to detail, the story of his misadventures from the time of leaving the Union Square Hotel, and Detective Harvey received the information with no slight degree of excitement.

"I suppose the bills you found in the pile of dirt are in the sergeant's hands," he said, half to himself, when Jet concluded.

"I reckon so; anyway, they took both away from me."

"We will go up stairs and look at them. If I'm not mistaken, my boy, we shall run to earth the gang who are flooding the country with the most dangerous counterfeit known, at the same time that we bag the murderers. Do you think you could lead me to the house in the woods?"

"I'm certain of it; but we shall have to walk a long distance."

"I wouldn't grumble if it was fifty miles, providing we finally succeeded. Come with me."

Again he summoned the turnkey, ordered him to open the door, and said to Jet:

"Follow me."

"Ain't they goin' to keep me here any longer?"

"I should say not. You heard what the sergeant said, and we must be out of this town within an hour."

Jet followed his conductor up stairs, and in a few moments the two were in earnest consultation with the Albany Chief of Police.

The counterfeits were found to be the same which had given the authorities so much trouble. They were so well executed as to pa.s.s without suspicion in the majority of cases, and the fact that the two discovered by Jet were imperfect impressions, which had been thrown aside by the makers, was, probably, the only cause of their having been refused by the ticket-seller.

"It is lucky you were arrested," Harvey said in a tone of satisfaction.

"Why?" Jet asked in surprise. "It wasn't any fun to stay in that little cell all day."

"I can fancy not; but if you had come to New York a great deal of time would have been wasted, and as it is we can start in search of those fellows at once."

"But you an' I can't handle the crowd if they show fight."

"We don't intend to try. When we leave this town our party will be large enough."

"How many men do you want?" the chief asked the detective.

"Two, providing they are ready at once."

"I suppose you will go a certain portion of the way on the train?"

"Certainly."

"On that road the next one leaves in about an hour. I will have the best men I know of waiting at the depot. Is there anything else to be done?"

"Not now. Jet and I will go for dinner, and meet you at the station.

Can you lend the boy a revolver; one more weapon may come in handy in case of a fight, and unless those fellows have already made a change of base I reckon we shall have a lively time."