Chapter XXXVIII: A Clever Scheme

The younger Gale was greatly astonished when, as he was walking along Main Street, Hawley suddenly appeared a few yards in front of him with a camera in his hand, and coolly proceeded to take his picture.

Gale’s first impulse was to summon a policeman and have the Camera Chap placed under arrest; but he suddenly recollected that, as the city council had not yet passed an amended anticamera law, Hawley had a perfect right under the existing ordinance, with its typographical error, to take snapshots on the streets of Oldham without a license, provided he did not take pictures of the streets. Therefore, Gale gave up the idea of having Hawley arrested.

His next impulse was to rush forward, grab the camera out of Hawley’s hands, and crunch it beneath his foot. But he did not carry out this impulse, either. The Camera Chap was muscular, and, as Gale well knew, not wanting in physical courage. Gale thought that an encounter with him might prove painful.

“Oh, well, what do I care if he takes my picture?” he muttered philosophically. “Let him go ahead and enjoy himself. I’d give ten dollars, though, to know what his game is. I suppose he intends to publish my phiz in the _Bulletin_, but I’ll be hanged if I can imagine what for.”

The next morning Gale eagerly searched the pages of the _Bulletin_ in the expectation of finding his picture there; but there was no sign of it.

“Possibly they’re holding it over until to-morrow,” he reflected. But his portrait did not ornament the _Bulletin_ the next day, or for several days following.

Gale had just about decided that, after all, he had been mistaken in supposing that the Camera Chap had taken the snapshot for publication, when one morning he saw on the front page of Carroll’s newspaper something which well-nigh paralyzed him.

Stretched across the top of the page was the following “scare head”:

“The Truth About the _Chronicle_ Explosion.--Daring Conspiracy Laid Bare.--The Innocence of Mr. Frederick Carroll, the People’s Party Candidate for Mayor. Fully Established.--The _Bulletin_ in Possession of Positive Proof That He Is the Victim of Bold Frame-up Engineered by His Desperate Political Enemies.--Real Facts of Case to be Laid Before Grand Jury.”

There were other headlines beneath these, and several columns of smaller type were devoted to the details of the conspiracy.

In the center of the page was a half-tone portrait. Beneath it, in heavy-faced type, was the following:

“This is one of the scoundrels really responsible for the bomb outrage. It was this man who supplied the materials out of which the infernal machine was constructed. By means of the photograph, here reproduced, he has been positively identified by a man from whom he tried to purchase a stick of dynamite, and the jeweler who sold him the cheap alarm clock from the works of which the mechanism of the infernal machine was made. Further details are given elsewhere on this page.”

It was the fact that Gale recognized the picture as a very good portrait of himself which caused him to turn pale and utter an exclamation of dismay as he read these startling lines.

With much trepidation he proceeded to read every word on the page. It was soon made very clear to him why there had been such a long interval between the taking of the snapshot and its publication on the front page of the _Bulletin_.

After taking the picture, Hawley had visited all the towns in the vicinity of Oldham. In each town he had gone to all the jewelry stores, and, showing Gale’s picture, had asked the salespeople if they recalled having sold a clock to the man within the past few days.

This was the plan which the Camera Chap had suggested to Lawyer Hands, and which had earned the attorney’s enthusiastic approval.

Hawley had reasoned that in all probability the clockwork used in the construction of the infernal machine had been purchased by the younger Gale. He had reasoned, also, that Gale would not be so careless as to purchase the clock in Oldham, but would take the precaution of going out of town for it. His scheme was to visit every nearby town in the hope of striking the store at which the purchase had been made.

It was a long and tedious task, and he realized that there was a good chance that he would have all his trouble for nothing; but Hawley resolutely stuck to it, and, after several days of discouragement, he met with success.

In a town called Roxbury, thirty-five miles from Oldham, he found a jeweler who positively identified the snapshot which the Camera Chap showed him as the photograph of a man who had bought a cheap alarm clock there a few days before.

The jeweler’s wife and clerk also remembered Gale very well. Both of them had been present when the sale of the alarm clock was made, and were positive that the customer was the young man in the picture.

Highly elated with his success, the Camera Chap was about to return to Oldham to tell the good news to Lawyer Hands, when, quite unexpectedly, he made another very important discovery.

A block from the jewelry store some workmen were engaged in excavating for the foundation of a building. As Hawley passed this spot, he noticed that the men were blasting some rock with dynamite.

An inspiration came to him. Was it not possible, he thought, that Gale, too, had passed by this place, and, seeing the blasting going on, had tried to obtain from the workmen the explosive needed for the infernal machine?

There was only the merest chance, of course, that such was the case; but he was not in the habit of overlooking mere chances. He decided that this “hunch” was well worth investigating.

Stepping up to the foreman of the gang of workmen, he once more produced his snapshot, and showed it to the man.

“Ever seen this fellow before?” he inquired.

The man stared hard at the picture. “Why, sure,” he answered; “that’s the guy who came to me the other day and offered me ten dollars for a stick of dynamite.”

“And did you sell it to him?” the Camera Chap inquired eagerly.

“I did not,” replied the man. “I thought he might be one of them anarchists, and I wasn’t going to be responsible for no bomb outrages. I told him that if he wanted dynamite, he’d have to go somewhere else for it.”

Hawley was disappointed at this answer. It would have been more satisfactory, of course, if he could have obtained proof that Gale had actually bought the explosive.

When he got back to Oldham, he told Lawyer Hands that it was his intention to go over all the ground once more in the hope of finding the place from which the explosive had been obtained. But the lawyer discouraged this plan.

“I am quite sure that you wouldn’t succeed,” he declared. “The chances are a hundred to one that the man who sold him the dynamite, or whatever explosive was used, would be afraid to admit it for fear of getting into trouble. Anyway, we have got evidence enough now to save your friend Carroll. The fact that Gale tried to purchase dynamite from those workmen, plus the fact that he purchased that alarm clock, would be enough to convince any jury that the bomb outrage was a frame-up.”

“But suppose he claims that he bought the alarm clock for another purpose?” suggested the Camera Chap.

“In that event, he will be called upon to tell what he did with it. If he can’t produce the clock, he will have a hard job getting anybody to believe his story.

“Besides,” the lawyer added, “you are not the only one who has been making discoveries. I have found out where they got that wooden box in which the infernal machine was inclosed. Young Gale got it from in front of the Bulletin Building the other day. I have found a couple of witnesses who saw him pick it up.”

“Great work!” Hawley exclaimed joyously. “How long do you think it will be before poor Carroll is free, Mr. Hands?”

“Not more than a couple of days,” was the encouraging reply. “The grand jury meets to-morrow. I’m going to make it my business to see that they hear the real facts about this case. When they learn the truth, there’ll be no indictment against Carroll.”

Hawley’s face lighted up. “You’ve certainly done us a great service,” he said feelingly. “If ever I get a chance to show my gratitude----”

“You’ve got a chance now,” the lawyer interrupted, with a smile.

“How?” Hawley demanded, with an eagerness which was ample proof of his sincerity.

“By agreeing to return with me to New York,” the lawyer explained. “Mr. Paxton, your managing editor, made me promise that I would bring you back with me. He says he thinks you’ve had quite enough of the peace and quiet of the picturesque Catskills.”

Hawley laughed. “I guess he’s right about that,” he said. “I think I can promise to return to New York with you, Mr. Hands, as soon as Fred is set free. I don’t suppose he’ll need my services any longer. When the _Bulletin_ publishes the truth about the _Chronicle_ explosion, there’ll be such a wave of public sentiment in Fred’s favor that he’s sure to win at the coming election. I predict, too, a big boom in the _Bulletin’s_ circulation from now on.”