Chapter I: Front Matter

ALLAN PINKERTON'S

DETECTIVE STORIES.

***

VOL. V.

THE SPIRITUALISTS AND DETECTIVES.

ALLAN PINKERTON'S

GREAT DETECTIVE BOOKS.

***

1.--MOLLIE MAGUIRES AND DETECTIVES.
2.--STRIKERS, COMMUNISTS, AND DETECTIVES.
3.--CRIMINAL REMINISCENCES AND DETECTIVES.
4.--THE MODEL TOWN AND DETECTIVES.
5.--SPIRITUALISTS AND DETECTIVES.
6.--EXPRESSMAN AND DETECTIVES.
7.--THE SOMNAMBULIST AND DETECTIVES.
8.--CLAUDE MELNOTTE AS A DETECTIVE.
9.--MISSISSIPPI OUTLAWS AND DETECTIVES.
10.--GYPSIES AND DETECTIVES.
11.--BUCHOLZ AND DETECTIVES.
12.--THE RAILROAD FORGER AND DETECTIVES.
13.--BANK ROBBERS AND DETECTIVES.
14.--BURGLAR'S FATE AND DETECTIVES.
15.--A DOUBLE LIFE AND DETECTIVES.

***

These wonderful Detective Stories by Allan Pinkerton are
having an unprecedented success. Their sale far
exceeding one hundred thousand copies. "The
interest which the reader feels from the outset
is intense and resistless; he is swept along
by the narrative, held by it, whether
he will or no."

***

All beautifully illustrated, and published uniform with this
volume. Price $1.50 each. Sold by all booksellers, and
sent _free_ by mail, on receipt of price, by

G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers,
New York.

THE
SPIRITUALISTS
AND
THE DETECTIVES.

BY

ALLAN PINKERTON,

AUTHOR OF
"THE EXPRESSMAN AND THE DETECTIVE," "CLAUDE MELNOTTE AS
A DETECTIVE," "THE SOMNAMBULIST AND THE DETECTIVE,"
"THE MODEL TOWN AND THE DETECTIVES," ETC.

NEW YORK:
_G. W. Dillingham, Publisher_,
SUCCESSOR TO G. W. CARLETON & CO.
LONDON: S. LOW, SON & CO.
MDCCCLXXXIX.

COPYRIGHTED, 1876, BY
ALLAN PINKERTON

TROW'S
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING CO.,
PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS,
_205-213 East 12th St._,
NEW YORK.

CONTENTS.

***

CHAPTER I.

"Kal'm'zoo!"-- The Home of the Nettletons.-- Lilly
Nettleton.-- A wild Heart and a burning Brain. 13

CHAPTER II.

The "Circuit-Rider."-- Mr. Pinkerton and these Gospel
Knights-Errant in the early Days.-- The Rev. Mr. Bland
appears.-- "And Satan came also!"-- A "charge" is
established.-- A Compact "where the golden maple-leaves
fall."-- Bland departs.-- "The scared form of a young
Woman steals away from her Home!" 19

CHAPTER III.

Lilly in Detroit.-- First and last Remorse.-- The reverend
Villain and his Victim enjoy the Hospitality of the
Michigan Exchange Hotel.-- A Scene.-- "Bland, am I to go
to your Mother's, as you promised?"-- The Clergyman(?)
"crazed."-- Everything, save Respectability.-- A Woman's
Will.-- And a Man's Cajolement. 27

CHAPTER IV.

Tells how the Rev. Mr. Bland preached a Funeral Sermon.--
Shows a dainty Cottage, holding more than the Neighbors
knew.-- Installs Lilly as a Clergyman's Mistress.--
Reverts to a Desolate Home.-- Introduces Dick Hosford, a
returned "Forty-Niner," who begins a despairing Search.--
And shows that unholy, as well as true Love, does not
always run smoothly. 33

CHAPTER V.

Reckless Fancies.-- The "Cursed Church Interests."-- Bland's
"little Bird" becomes a busy Bird.-- Merges into a great
Raven of the Night.-- Gathers together Valuables.-- And
while a folded Handkerchief lies across the Clergyman's
Face, steals away into the Storm and the Night.-- Gone!--
"Are ye all dead in there?"-- Drifting together.-- "Don't
give the Gal that Ticket!"-- A great-hearted Man.-- The
Rev. Bland officiates at a Wedding.-- Competence and
Contentment. 39

CHAPTER VI.

Mr. Pinkerton is called upon.-- Mr. Harcout, a
ministerial-looking Man, with an After-dinner Voice,
appears.-- A Case with a Woman in it, as is usually
the case.-- Mr. Pinkerton hesitates.-- An anxious
Millionaire. 47

CHAPTER VII.

In Council.-- Mr. Lyon the Millionaire, with Mr. Harcout the
Adventurer and Adviser, appear together.-- How Mr. Lyon
became Mrs. Winslow's Victim.-- "Our blessed Faith" and
the Woman's strange Power.-- A Tender Subject.-- Deep
Games.-- A One Hundred Thousand Dollar Suit for Breach
of Promise of Marriage.-- A good deal of Money.-- All
liable to err.-- A most magnificent Woman.-- The "Case"
taken. 55

CHAPTER VIII.

The Case begun.-- Mr. Pinkerton makes a preliminary
Investigation at Rochester.-- Mrs. Winslow, Trance
Medium.-- A Ride to Port Charlotte.-- Harcout as a
Barnacle.-- Much married.-- Mr. Pinkerton visits the
Mediums.-- Drops in at a Washington Hall Meeting.-- Sees
the naughty Woman.-- And returns to New York convinced
that the Spiritualistic Adventuress is a Woman of
remarkable Ability. 65

CHAPTER IX.

"Our Case."-- Harcout's Egotism and Interference.-- The
strange Chain of Evidence.-- A Trail of Spiritualism,
Lust, and Licentiousness.-- Superintendent Bangs locates
the Detectives.-- A pernicious System.-- Three Old Maids
named Grim.-- Mr. Bangs baffled by Mr. Lyon, who won't be
"worried."-- One Honest Spiritualistic Doctor.-- The Trail
secured.-- A Tigress.-- Mr. Bangs "goes West." 75

CHAPTER X.

Rochester.-- A Profitable Field for Mrs. Winslow.-- Her
sumptuous Apartments.-- The Detectives at Work.-- Mrs.
Winslow's Cautiousness.-- Child-Training.-- Mysterious
Drives.-- A dapper little Blond Gentleman.-- Two Birds
with one Stone.-- A French Divinity.-- Le Compte. 87

CHAPTER XI.

The Half-way House.-- A jolly German Landlord.-- Detective
Fox runs down Le Compte.-- A "Positive, Prophetic, Healing
and Trance Medium."-- Harcout the Adviser reappears, and
is anxious lest Mr. Lyon be drawn into some terrible
Confession.-- Mr. Pinkerton decides to know more about Le
Compte.-- And with the harassed Mr. Lyon interviews him.--
Treachery and Blackmail.-- "A much untractable Man."--
Light shines upon Mrs. Winslow.-- Another Man.-- Mr.
Pinkerton mad. 98

CHAPTER XII.

The Raven of the Detroit Cottage in another Character.-- Mrs.
Winslow yearns for a retired Montreal Banker.-- Love's
Rivalry.-- A mysterious Note.-- The Response.-- Another
Trip to Port Charlotte by four Hearts that beat as one.--
What Mr. Pinkerton, as one of the party, sees and hears.--
"Jones of Rochester."-- Le Compte and Mrs. Winslow resolve
to fly to Paris, "the magnificent, the beautiful, the
sublime!"-- "My God, are they all that way?" 114

CHAPTER XIII.

Mr. Pinkerton again interviews Le Compte.-- And very much
desires to wring his Neck.-- A Bargain and Sale.-- Le
Compte's Story-- "Little by Little, Patience by
Patience."-- A Toronto Merchant in Mrs. Winslow's Toils.--
Detective Bristol, "the retired Banker," in Clover.--
Tabitha, Amanda, and Hannah individually and
collectively woo him.-- Ancient Maidens full of Soul.--
A Signal. 128

CHAPTER XIV.

Mr. Bangs on the Trail in the West.-- Terre Haute and its
Spiritualists.-- Mrs. Deck's Boarding-house.-- The
Nettleton Family broken up.-- Back at the Michigan
Exchange.-- Mother Blake's Recital.-- Through Chicago to
Wisconsin.-- A disheartening Story.-- The practical result
of Spiritualism. 141

CHAPTER XV.

A Chicago Divorce "Shyster."-- Hosford found.-- His pathetic
Narrative.-- More Facts. 151

CHAPTER XVI.

Mrs. Winslow's Signal answered.-- She endeavors to win
Bristol, and shows that they are "Affinities."-- Detective
Fox mystified.-- An Evening with the One fair Woman.--
Closer Intimacies.-- A Journey proposed.-- Detective
Bristol as a Lover. 162

CHAPTER XVII.

Careful Work.-- Bristol's Trick on the Bell-boy at Queen's
Hotel, Toronto.-- The old Merchant.-- In the Toils.-- A
Face at the Transom.-- A cowardly Puppet before a brazen
Adventuress.-- The Horrors of Blackmail.-- "Furnished
Rooms to Rent." 175

CHAPTER XVIII.

Harcout again.-- "Things going slow."-- A Bit of personal
History.-- A new Tenant.-- Detective Generalship.--
Mrs. Winslow fears she is watched.-- Mr. Pinkerton
cogitates. 186

CHAPTER XIX.

Mrs. Winslow becomes confidential.-- Some of her Exploits.--
Her Plans.-- A Sample of Legal Pleading.-- A fishy
Story.-- The Adventuress as a Somnambulist.-- Detective
Bristol virtuously indignant.-- Failing to win the
"Retired Banker," Mrs. Winslow assails Detective Fox with
her Charms. 197

CHAPTER XX.

A Female Spiritualist's Ideas of Political and Social
Economy.-- The Weaknesses of Judges.-- Legal Acumen of the
Adventuress.-- An unfriendly Move.-- Harcout attacked.--
Lilly Nettleton and the Rev. Mr. Bland again together.-- A
Whirlwind. 209

CHAPTER XXI.

Mrs. Winslow, under the Influence of "Spirits" of an earthly
Order, becomes romantic, religious, and poetical.-- A
Trance.-- Detective Bristol also proves a Poet.-- A Drama
to be written. 220

CHAPTER XXII.

Mr. Pinkerton decides to favor Mrs. Winslow with a Series of
Annoyances.-- The mysterious Package.-- The Detectives
labor under well-merited Suspicion.-- "My God! what's
that?"-- The deadly Phial.-- This Time a Mysterious Box.--
Its suggestive Contents.-- "The Thing she was."-- Tabitha,
Amanda, and Hannah assaulted.-- A Punch and Judy
Show. 230

CHAPTER XXIII.

Cast down.-- "Trifles."-- A charitable Offering.--
Dreariness.-- Going Crazy.-- An interrupted Seance.-- A
new Form of the Devil.-- The Red-herring Expedition and
its Result.-- A mad Dutchman.-- Desolation.-- An order
for a Coffin.-- The sympathizing Undertaker, Mr.
Boxem. 244

CHAPTER XXIV.

Breaking up.-- Doubts and Queries.-- Suspected
Developments.-- The Detectives completely outwitted.-- On
the Trail again.-- From Rochester to St. Louis.-- A
prophetic Hotel Clerk.-- More Detectives and more Need for
them.-- Lightning Changes. 269

CHAPTER XXV.

Still foiled.-- Mr. Pinkerton perplexed over the Character of
the Adventuress.-- Her wonderful recuperative Powers.-- A
lively Chase.-- Another unexpected Move.-- The Detectives
beaten at every Point.-- From Town to Town.-- Mrs.
Winslow's Shrewdness.-- Among the Spiritualists at Terre
Haute.-- Plotting.-- The beautiful Belle Ruggles.-- A wild
Night in a ramshackle old Boarding-House.-- Blood-curdling
"Manifestations."-- Moaning and weeping for Day.--
Outwitted again.-- Mr. Pinkerton makes a chance
Discovery.-- Success. 285

CHAPTER XXVI.

Shows how Mrs. Winslow makes a new Move.-- Also introduces
the famous Evalena Gray, Physical Spiritual Medium, at her
sumptuous Apartments on West Twenty-first Street, New
York.-- Reminds the Reader of the Aristocratic Classes
deluded by Spiritualism.-- Describes a Seance and explains
the "Rope-trick," and other Spiritualistic Sleight-of-hand
Performances. 307

CHAPTER XXVII.

After the Seance.-- Daddy, the "Accommodation Husband."-- The
two fascinating Swindlers in Council.-- Miss Evalena's
European Career.-- How the Millionaire Brewer was baited
and played with.-- A Bit of Criminal History.-- A choice
Pair.-- Mrs. Winslow's Aspirations and Resolves. 326

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Mrs. Winslow demonstrates her Legal Ability.-- The "Breach of
Promise Trial."-- A grand Rally of the Spiritualistic
Friends of the Adventuress.-- The Jury disagree.-- Mrs.
Winslow convicted at St. Louis of Common Barratry.-- An
honest Judge's Rebuke.-- A new Trial.-- The Spiritualistic
Swindler overthrown.-- Remorse and Wretchedness. 341