Chapter XIV: A Mysterious Warning

As for Lannigan, the swell cracksman of Philadelphia, Nick had conceived an idea that there was real worth in the man, despite his bad record.

He had a long talk with him, in which he pointed out that a trial could not but result in imprisonment.

“I am absolutely sure,” Nick declared, “that if I brought you into court, you would spend the next half a dozen years in jail. There is no reason why I should let you go free, except that I believe you could be a wonderfully brilliant man and a good citizen if you liked. I am going to give you that chance. You are free to go--no, no, don’t make any protestations. Get out of here as quick as you like and become an honest man. Let me warn you, however, that if I ever catch you engaged in any crooked work again, I will see that your due punishment is meted out. Now go.”

The man slunk away with a hunted expression in his eyes.

Little did Nick guess that within a very little while he would be on the track of Lannigan again.

He was sitting at breakfast one morning, when the first mail arrived, bringing with it the following singular letter, unsigned:

“‘You are a friend of Sanborn. I’ll give you a tip. His daughter is
to be married. The presents will be many and of value, and, on the
day of the wedding, the house will be raided. A word to you is
sufficient.’”

Nick carefully read the letter, even studied it, and the paper on which it was written. But he gained nothing from such examination.

A close inspection of the envelope showed that it had been deposited in the general post office before six o’clock on the previous evening.

While the letter did not specify which Sanborn it was, and while a hundred of that name, perhaps, were to be found in the directory, Nick had no doubt that Harmon Sanborn was the one meant.

Harmon Sanborn was a very rich man, worth many millions, and in very active business life. The relations between this multi-millionaire and the famous detective were close, having been begun several years before when Nick was retained to trace a peculiar defalcation occurring in one of the many business enterprises of Sanborn.

Nick knew that Mr. Sanborn had more than one daughter unmarried, but he had not heard that the wedding of one was about to take place, as his anonymous letter indicated.

Chick was sitting nearby, wondering whether Lannigan would ever cross his path again, and inwardly chafing because of his chief’s generosity in not pressing charges against the fellow.

He was aroused from his reverie by Nick’s asking:

“Chick, you know Harmon Sanborn, of course. Have you heard that one of his daughters is to be married?”

“Why, yes,” replied Chick. “There’s been a great deal in the newspapers about it.”

“Which daughter is it?”

“The eldest.”

“Whom is she to marry?”

“A young Englishman who has been in this country for some years, and who is said to be related to some of the noble families on the other side.”

“Has there been much said about presents?”

“Yes; half the millionaires of the country are giving diamonds and emeralds and what not to the bride.”

Nick handed the anonymous note that had reached him in that morning’s mail to Chick, asking:

“What’s your idea about that, Chick?”

Chick read the note carefully, and said:

“No name. It’s queer. I hardly know what to say about it. Yet, I think I’d act on it.”

“As a matter of prudence?” asked Nick. “When does this wedding take place?”

“At noon to-day.”

Nick looked at his watch.

“It is nine now,” he said. “There is plenty of time to take measures, if such are necessary. I wonder where Sanborn is at this time?”

“At his house, probably, on such a day,” replied Chick.

“Probably.”

Nick went to the telephone, and, calling up Mr. Sanborn at his home address, finally got into communication with him.

Asking Mr. Sanborn whether he would remain at his home for a short time, he received the answer that the millionaire would remain at his house until noon, when he would leave it only to go to the church to be present at the marriage ceremony of his daughter.

Nick told him that he had a matter of some possible interest to Mr. Sanborn, of which he could not speak over the wire, but that he would call upon him at once.

Asking Chick to accompany him, the famous detective immediately set out for the palatial residence of the rich man, which fronted on Central Park.

Reaching the house, the two detectives were immediately taken to a room on the first floor, which Mr. Sanborn used as his working room when at home.

“I don’t know,” said Nick to the millionaire, “but that I am bringing a mare’s nest to you. This came to me in the morning’s mail. I know no more than that.”

He passed the letter he had received to Mr. Sanborn.

That gentleman, after reading it carefully, laid it down, saying:

“Well, it tells some truths. That I’m a friend of yours, Mr. Carter, is one truth, and the other is, that the presents are many and, in the main, pretty valuable. My little girl has been greatly favored by my friends and associates in business. What is your opinion about it?”

“It seems to be a note of warning,” replied Nick, “and I suppose prudence suggests that you should take measures, at all events, to protect the presents.”

“Well,” said the millionaire, “these newspapers have been advertising the number and kind of presents in the most annoying manner. Those who would do such a thing as steal them have had all the knowledge they could want of them reading those papers. And there is this thing, a very great number of invitations for the reception, after the wedding in the church, have been issued. I presume the house will be thronged this very afternoon, even overcrowded.”

“Under such circumstances,” said Chick, “it would be easy for swell crooks to push their way into the house. Many of the best, who do this kind of work, are women who can make a front, so far as dress goes, with the best ladies in the land.”

“What arrangements have you made, Mr. Sanborn?” asked Chick, “to guard your house during this pressure?”

Mr. Sanborn looked up, a little surprised, and said:

“I must confess that I have made none. Indeed, I gave it no thought.”

He laughed a little as he continued:

“All this is new business to me, and I have done nothing but blunder in it from the start. I can run a railroad, two or three of them, perhaps, but a wedding seems to be a little too much for me.”

The two detectives laughed not a little over this confession, and Nick said:

“It is not too late for you to make arrangements yet, Mr. Sanborn, and you should do so without delay.”

“Yes,” put in Chick, “don’t make any mistake about thinking that the gang don’t know of this wedding and the valuable presents. Nor to the other thing, that you have made no provision to protect them.”

“Do you mean,” asked Mr. Sanborn, “that thieves would know that I have not done so?”

“Sure,” said Chick.

Nick nodded his head emphatically in support of his assistant’s statement.

Mr. Sanborn was visibly annoyed and perplexed. Finally, he turned sharply to Nick and said:

“I say, why can’t you take charge of this thing and do what is proper.”

Nick smiled a little as he replied:

“We could do so, but it is hardly in our line. This work, as a rule, is done by the officers of the Central Detective Office. What surprises me is that they have waited there for you to ask them. Usually, on such occasions, they come to ask what provisions you desire to have made.”

Mr. Sanborn frowned and looked rather grave. Then he replied:

“I could give you the reason why they have not done so, Mr. Carter, if I thought it wise to do so. While it is not in your line, is it too much to ask you to take charge for me to-day?”

“It is not too much for you to ask, Mr. Sanborn, in view of our friendship and relations, though it might be for others. Under all the circumstances, if you desire us to do so, we will take charge to-day and carry the thing through.”

“Do so,” replied Mr. Sanborn, his face lighting up, “and you will lift a heavy load off my shoulders.”

“Then,” said Nick, “we will begin without delay.”

He went to the telephone that was in Mr. Sanborn’s room, and, calling up Patsy, told him to dress himself as if he were going to a fashionable morning wedding, and to report as soon as he could to Mr. Sanborn’s house, where he would find either Chick or himself, or both, to explain matters to him.

He then sought Ida, and, getting her, told her the same thing as he had told Patsy.

Turning from the telephone, Nick said to Chick:

“I think, Chick, you had better go and rig yourself for this thing. Put yourself in your best shape, for you will have to mix with the guests as one of them.”

Chick went away, replying that he would return within an hour.

He had not been away more than five minutes, when a card was brought to Mr. Sanborn with the word that the caller had come from the Chief of the Detective Bureau.

“A little late, perhaps,” said Mr. Sanborn, “but they are here with their offer of protection.”

He was about to turn to the servant and tell him that all provision had been made, and that the services of the Detective Bureau would not be required, when Nick stopped him.

“Wait one moment, Mr. Sanborn,” said Nick. “Let that man come in here and let’s have a look at him. The tricks of these fellows are many and shrewd.”

Mr. Sanborn was again about to instruct the servant to that end, when Nick stopped him a second time.

“Don’t be so hasty,” said Nick. “I don’t want you to offend the Detective Bureau, if the call is a straight one. And, if it is not a straight one, I don’t want the fellow calling to recognize me. Where can I conceal myself and yet see him and what is going on?”

Mr. Sanborn went to a corner of the room, and, drawing out a large and costly screen, placed it so that one window was concealed by it.

“I have this screen so that I can throw up the window and get the fresh air without its blowing on me. You can sit behind that and be perfectly concealed, hearing everything, and for seeing, why, you can cut a hole through it.”

“Rather a valuable thing to cut a hole into,” said Nick, as he looked behind it.

“Oh, that’s all right,” said Mr. Sanborn. “I fancy if I were to try hard I could buy another.”

“Now, then,” said Nick, “listen to what this man has to say, and if you hear three taps behind this screen, that I shall make by rapping my penknife on the back of the chair, you say to the caller that you will be very glad to have the Detective Bureau send three men in plain clothes.”

Nick looked around the room, and seeing that he could step out through the window into another room, said:

“But if you hear me whistle a bar or two of any tune, in the next room, say positively that all provision has been made and the services of the bureau will not be required.”

Nick now placed himself behind the screen, and a moment later the man who had presented his card was brought into the room by the servant.

He told his story to the millionaire glibly, and had hardly finished it when some one in the adjoining room whistled the tune of a popular air.

Whereupon Mr. Sanborn very sharply said that the bureau’s services were not required, and he imagined that none of his guests were going to rob him on such an occasion.

The man calling tried to persuade Mr. Sanborn that he was running a great danger, but Mr. Sanborn would have nothing of it, and cut the interview short rather arrogantly:

There was nothing for the man to do but to leave, and so he went out of the house.

Nick returned to the room, saying:

“I supposed,” he said, “that I would recognize any one the Detective Bureau might be likely to send to you. But what I did recognize at a glance was that this man, who has just left us, is one of the most dexterous crooks, who works in large cities. He is a Philadelphia man, and I am sure he is the one who conducted those robberies at the great receptions last winter in Washington.”

“Then,” said Mr. Sanborn, “you believe your note of this morning was a good warning?”

“I must,” replied Nick, “under the circumstances, and I will be prepared to meet any effort made to-day.”

Mr. Sanborn, after producing a box of cigars, said to Nick:

“I must go and prepare for this affair. I shall leave you here to do as you see fit. If you desire to see me at any time, call a servant and send for me.”

He went out of the room. Nick took up a book and sat himself down to await the arrival of his assistants.

The first to arrive was Patsy, who, on appearing at the door, was at once taken to the room where Nick was waiting.

As he entered, Nick looked up in genuine surprise. Patsy had made the effort of his life, and would have been taken, in the care and correctness of his dress, for one of the fashionable swells of the city.

“You do me proud,” said Nick. “I was going to do something of that myself, but, after looking at you, I’m afraid I’ll never be able to get to that perfection.”

“Oh,” replied Patsy, a little embarrassed under his chief’s teasing, “I guess I know how to get myself up to do credit to my chief. I’m only obeying orders, though.”

“As you always do, Patsy,” replied Nick. “You’ve obeyed orders to the very letter.”

Nick now got up, and, taking his hat, said:

“I’m going away to try to rival your elegance. Now, Patsy, I leave you in charge, and you must keep a good watch over the house. Already an effort has been made by Lannigan----”

“What, is that man at work again?” cried Patsy. “I thought you had frightened him off.”

“I thought so, too, but you know a leopard can’t change his spots. Lannigan is supposed to have made an attempt to get into the house, but failed, and escaped before he could be captured again. I fancy he is again employed by somebody who knows his ability as a cracksman; so if you spot Lannigan, keep close to him and see where the trail leads.”

He then told Patsy in detail what had already passed, and added a word of warning that, if the Detective Bureau did send a straight person there, Mr. Sanborn was not to be allowed to offend them by driving them off.

As Nick was about to leave the house, Chick and Ida arrived in quick succession, and he stopped long enough to instruct them and post them in their proper places.

He went down the steps, walking toward the corner. There he saw Lannigan at a distance talking with another, who, leaving Lannigan, jumped into a cab and was driven away rapidly.

Lannigan turned in another direction and disappeared, despite Nick’s efforts to keep him in sight.

“Where have I seen that man who was with Lannigan? His face is familiar, but I can’t place him.”

Dismissing the matter for the time, however, he hurried home to prepare himself to figure as one of Mr. Sanborn’s guests at the wedding.