The Haunted Mine Page 7

  CHAPTER VII.

  A PLAN THAT DIDN'T WORK.

  Julian Gray took his stand in one corner of the room, with his handsin his pockets and his feet spread out, and looked at this man whocalled himself Haberstro. He was a German, there were no two waysabout that; and he had a habit of taking out his handkerchief andwiping his face with it that nobody but a pompous and well-to-doGerman ever imitated.

  "Do you know of a man of the name of Winkleman?" asked Jack.

  "Know him?" exclaimed the German. "Of course I do. He was living herein St. Louis with me, but all on a sudden he took the gold fever andwent out to Denver. I was engaged in pretty good business, and so Idid not go with him. I never heard what he was doing out there. He--heisn't dead, is he?"

  "Oh, no. He accumulated some property while he was out there. He got anotice that his father had died in Europe and left all his property tohim, and he has gone home to take possession of it."

  "Then that accounts for his not writing to me. He always said that hisfolks were immensely rich, and that some day he would have more thanhe wanted. What property did he collect out there?"

  "He is worth several buildings which are worth a hundred thousanddollars. Furthermore, he has given them to you."

  "To me?" cried the German, rising to his feet.

  "Yes, to you. And, more than that, he has a mine out of which he tookfifty thousand dollars, and you come into possession of that, also."

  "Lord bless my soul!" exclaimed the German. "I don't remember that Iever did anything to him to give him so good an opinion of me."

  "Did you not nurse him while he was sick?"

  "Did you not care for your mother when she was sick?" returned theGerman. "Of course that did not amount to anything. He was my chum,and I had to stand by him."

  "Well, he gave you the property for it, anyway. He sent you the deedsby express, and Julian bought them for thirty cents."

  "Well, sir, that is a heap of money. I don't know anybody that needsit more than I do. Where is the box now?"

  "It is safe in the hands of Mr. Wiggins. We were not going to havesomebody come along here and claim to be Haberstro. Have you anybodyhere in St. Louis to whom you can recommend us? We want to know whoyou are before we give up the box."

  "That is perfectly right and proper. You see, my home is in Chicago,and I know but few persons here. If you think this Mr----what do youcall him?"

  "Wiggins?" said Jack.

  "Yes; if you think he will want somebody to vouch for me, I can givehim the names of all the Germans in the city. Where does he hangout?"

  "The Union Telegraph office. You know where that is?"

  "I can easily find it, for I have a tongue in my head. I don't believeI will go near that mine at all. I will sell it."

  "You had better not. The miners have a story around that it ishaunted."

  The German threw back his head and laughed heartily.

  "I am not afraid of that. If he took fifty thousand dollars out of it,it is surely worth as much more. Well, if you have told me everything,I guess I had better go back to my hotel. I was going back to my hometo-night, but now I am glad I did not go."

  "I guess we have told you everything that pertains to the matter,"said Jack. "Do you think of any questions you would like to ask us?"

  "No; but I may think of some to-morrow. Good-night."

  "By the way," said Jack, as if he had just thought of something."Where were you when this man Winkleman was sick? You were out in themines, I suppose?"

  "Oh, no, we were not; we were here in St. Louis. If we had been out atthe mines, where no doctor could have been reached, he would have goneup on my hands. Look here--I don't want you to do this for nothing.Make up your minds what you ought to have and I will give it to you.If it had not been for you I would never have seen the box.Good-night."

  The German bowed himself out and closed the door behind him. The boyswaited until he got to the street, and then Julian took possession ofthe chair he had just vacated.

  "Well, sir, what do you think of that?" asked Jack, using companion'sexpression.

  "I think our fortune is gone up," answered Julian; and then he leanedhis elbows on his knees and looked down at the floor.

  Jack laughed as loudly as the German did a few moments before. Julianstraightened up and looked at him in surprise.

  "What do you mean by that?" he exclaimed. "Is a hundred thousanddollars such a sum in your eyes that you can afford to be merry overit?"

  "No; but you will never lose it through that man. His name is notHaberstro any more than mine is."

  "Jack, what do you mean?"

  "You were so busy with your own thoughts that you didn't see how I waspumping him, did you? In the first place he told us that Winkleman wassick in St. Louis; and yet Winkleman says in his letter that they wereso poor that they could not raise enough to buy a halter for a mule.Now, he would not have used such an expression as that if he had beenhere in the city, would he?"

  "No, I don't think he would," said Julian, reflectively. "He used thewords of the country in which he lived."

  "That is what I think. In the next place, he said that he was engagedin a paying business here, and consequently did not go with Winklemanto the mines; and then, almost in the same breath, he said he couldnot refer me to anybody here because his home was in Chicago. Youdidn't see those little errors, did you?"

  Julian began to brighten up. He remembered all the German had said toJack, but somehow he did not think of it. The box was not lost, afterall.

  "Now, he must have had somebody to post him in regard to thesematters," said Jack. "Who do you think it was?"

  "Casper Nevins!" said Julian, who just then happened to think of theboy's name.

  "That is what I think. He is bound to have that box, is he not? Don'tyou give that box up; do you hear me?"

  "I am mighty sure I won't give it up," said Julian, emphatically. "Ishan't give it up until you are on hand. I had better take Mr. Wigginsinto my confidence to-morrow."

  "Of course. Tell him the whole thing. Tell him about the mistakes thisman made in his conversation with me, and let him draw his ownconclusions. I never saw such a desperate fellow as that Casper Nevinsis. Now let us go on and get supper."

  "I feel a good deal better than I did a few minutes ago," said Julian,with something like a long-drawn sigh of relief. "I thought the boxwas lost to us, sure."

  The boys were impatient to have to-morrow come because they wanted tosee what the German--they did not know what his true name was--wasgoing to do about it.

  "I will tell you one thing, Jack," said Julian. "If that Dutchman goesto-morrow and sees Mr. Wiggins about it, he will get a look that willlast him as long as he lives. I ought to know, for I have had thoseeyes turned on me two or three times. If that man stands against themI shall think he is a nervy fellow."

  The night wore away at last, and at the usual hour the boys were attheir posts. Casper was in the office, and he seemed to be uneasyabout something. He could not sit still. He was continually getting upand going to the door, and then he would come back and walk around theroom. When Mr. Wiggins came in and wished them all a good-morning,Julian followed him into the back room.

  "Julian, have you some news about that box?" said he.

  "Yes, sir; there was a man up to our room and handed us this card, andI thought----"

  "Halloo," said Mr. Wiggins. "The box does not belong to you, afterall."

  "Hold on until I get through explaining things," said Julian.

  With this Julian began, and told him of the conversation that hadtaken place between Jack and the German, not omitting the smallestthing. Mr. Wiggins listened intently, and when the story was done hesaid,

  "Somebody has been posting that man in regard to that box. Now, whohave you told about it except Jack Sheldon?"

  "I don't know as that has anything to do with it," said Julian, whoresolved that he would stand by Casper as long as he could.

  "Yes, it has; it has a good deal to
do with it. Does Casper Nevinsknow all about it?"

  "What do you know about Casper?" said Julian in surprise. He wonderedif there was any boy in the office who could do anything wrong withoutMr. Wiggins finding it out.

  "Because he has been uneasy for the past week. Does Casper know allabout it?"

  "Yes, sir, he does. He was there when we read the letter."

  "That is all. I will see you again after a while."

  Julian went out and sat down, and in a few minutes Mr. Wiggins camefrom the back room and spoke to the operator, who immediately sent offa dispatch. Nobody was called to carry this, for the message wentstraight to the office for which it was intended. Five minutes passed,and then a stout man, who was a stranger to all of them, strolled intothe office. One of the boys got up to wait upon him, pushing someblanks toward him, but the stout man did not want to send anytelegraphic dispatches.

  "I just want to look around and see how you do things here," said he.

  "Then take this chair, sir," said Mr. Wiggins. "I guess you will findthat we do things about right."

  The minutes passed, and all the boys who had congregated in the officehad been sent off with messages--all except Casper. There did not seemto be any dispatches for him. The chief operator was busy at his desk,when suddenly the door opened, and the same German who had called atJulian's room the night before, came in. Mr. Wiggins glanced towardhim and then he looked toward Casper. The latter never could controlhimself when he was in difficulty, and his face grew white.

  "Is this the Western Union Telegraph office?" said the German, wipinghis forehead with his handkerchief. "Do I speak to Mr. Wiggins? Well,sir, I would like to see you about a box that one of your boys boughtat a sale of 'old horse' in the express office. That box containssomething that is off immense value to me--S. W. Haberstro." And hehanded out his card with his name engraved on it.

  "There is a box here addressed to a man of that name," said Mr.Wiggins, "but it is in the bank now. I suppose you have plenty offriends here to whom you can refer?"

  "I am sorry to say that I have not," replied the German. "My home isin Chicago. I can refer you to all the Germans there."

  "Then, would it not be worth while for you to write to some of yourfriends there and get some letters of recommendation? You see, wedon't want to give the box to anybody unless we know who it is."

  "That is all right, sir. I have some business on hand in Chicago, andI will go up there and get them."

  "That will be sufficient. Good-day, sir."

  The German, who appeared to be in a great hurry, closed the door andhastened up the street. As soon as he was gone, Mr. Wiggins beckonedto Casper and went into the back room.

  "Who was that man who just went out?" said he, in a tone of voicewhich did not admit of argument. "Tell me the truth."

  "His name is Claus, sir," said Casper.

  "Where does he stay, principally?"

  "He stays first in one pool-room, and then in another. Where he livesI don't know."

  "That will do," said Mr. Wiggins.

  "I never have been guilty of such a thing before," began Casper.

  "I said that would do," interrupted Mr. Wiggins. "I may see you againafter a while."

  When Mr. Wiggins and Casper got out into the other room they foundthat the stout man had disappeared. He had gone out about the timethat the German disappeared. In half an hour he came back, leaned overthe desk, and spoke to the chief operator.

  "That fellow is no more Haberstro than I am," he whispered. "His nameis Solomon Claus. We have had him up a time or two for vagrancy, andI'll take him up for the same cause, if you say so."

  "No; let him go, but keep your eyes on him. He has not done us anyharm yet. If he comes here again I will send for you."