SHADOWED by a DETECTIVE

VIRGINIA CHAMPLIN

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105—A Bite of An Apple, and Other Stories. By Nicholas Carter. 104—A Past Master of Crime; or, Detective Bush’s Clever Work. By Donald J. McKenzie. 103—A Queer Case. By Nicholas Carter. 102—Bruce Angelo, the City Detective. By Judson R. Taylor. 101—The Stolen Pay Train and Other Stories. By Nicholas Carter. 100—The Diamond Button. By Barclay North. 99—Gideon Drexel’s Millions. By Nicholas Carter. 98—Tom and Jerry, The Double Detectives. By Judson R. Taylor. 97—The Puzzle of Five Pistols and Other Stories. By Nicholas Carter. 96—No. 13 Rue Marlot. By Rene du Pont Jest. 95—Sealed Orders; or, The Triple Mystery. By Nicholas Carter. 94—Vivier; of Vivier, Longman & Co., Bankers. By Barclay North. 93—The Adventures of Harrison Keith, Detective. By Nicholas Carter. 92—Van, the Government Detective. By Judson R. Taylor. 91—The Great Money Order Swindle. By Nicholas Carter. 90—On the Rack. By Barclay North. 89—The Detective’s Pretty Neighbor and Other Stories. By Nicholas Carter. 88—The North Walk Mystery. By Will N. Harben.

87—Nick Carter and the Green Goods Men. 86—Brant Adams. By Judson R. Taylor. 85—A Dead Man’s Grip. By Nicholas Carter. 84—The Inspector’s Puzzle. By Charles Matthew. 83—The Crescent Brotherhood. By Nicholas Carter. 82—The Masked Detective. By Judson R. Taylor. 81—Wanted by Two Clients. By Nicholas Carter. 80—The Poker King. By Marline Manley. 79—The Sign of the Crossed Knives. By Nicholas Carter. 78—The Chosen Man. By Judson R. Taylor. 77—The Van Alstine Case. By Nicholas Carter. 76—Face to Face. By Donald J. McKenzie. 75—The Clever Celestial. By Nicholas Carter. 74—The Twin Detectives. By K. F. Hill. 73—Two Plus Two. By Nicholas Carter. 72—Sherlock Holmes Detective Stories. By A. Conan Doyle. 71—The Diamond Mine Case. By Nicholas Carter. 70—Little Lightning. By Police Captain James. 69—Detective Bob Bridger. By R. M. Taylor. 68—The Double Shuffle Club. By Nicholas Carter. 67—The Mystery of a Madstone. By K. F. Hill. 66—The Detective’s Clew. By O. L. Adams. 65—Found on the Beach. By Nicholas Carter.

64—The Red Camellia. By Fortune DuBoisgobey. 63—The Chevalier Casse-Cou. By Fortune DuBoisgobey. 62—A Fair Criminal. By Nicholas Carter. 61—The Maltese Cross. By Eugene T. Sawyer. 60—A Chase Around the World. By Mariposa Weir. 59—A Millionaire Partner. By Nicholas Carter. 58—Muertalma, or the Poisoned Pin. By Marmaduke Dey. 57—The Vestibule Limited Mystery. By Marline Manly. 56—At Thompson’s Ranch. By Nicholas Carter. 55—His Great Revenge, Vol. II. By Fortune DuBoisgobey. 54—His Great Revenge, Vol. I. By Fortune DuBoisgobey. 53—An Accidental Password. By Nicholas Carter. 52—The Post Office Detective. By George W. Goode. 51—The Los Huecos Mystery. By Eugene T. Sawyer. 50—The Man from India. By Nicholas Carter. 49—At Odds With Scotland Yard. By Nicholas Carter. 48—The Great Travers Case. By Dr. Mark Merrick. 47—The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. By Fergus Hume. 46—Check No. 777. By Nicholas Carter. 45—Old Specie, the Treasury Detective. By Marline Manley. 44—The Blue Veil. By Fortune Du Boisgobey. 43—Among the Nihilists. By Nicholas Carter.

42—The Revenue Detective. By Police Captain James. 41—John Needham’s Double. By Joseph Hatton. 40—The Mountaineer Detective. By C. W. Cobb. 39—Among the Counterfeiters. By Nicholas Carter. 38—The Matapan Affair. By Fortune Du Boisgobey. 37—The Prairie Detective. By Leander P. Richardson. 36—The Crime of the Opera House, Vol. II. By F. Du Boisgobey. 35—The Crime of the Opera House, Vol. I. By F. Du Boisgobey. 34—The Society Detective. By Oscar Maitland. 33—The Convict Colonel. By Fortune Du Boisgobey. 32—A Mysterious Case. By K. F. Hill. 31—The Red Lottery Ticket. By Fortune Du Boisgobey. 30—The Bag of Diamonds. By George Manville Fenn. 29—The Clique of Gold. By Emile Gaboriau. 28—Under His Thumb. By Donald J. McKenzie. 27—The Steel Necklace. By Fortune Du Boisgobey. 26—File No. 113. By Emile Gaboriau. 25—The Detective’s Triumph. By Emile Gaboriau. 24—The Detective’s Dilemma. By Emile Gaboriau. 23—Evidence By Telephone. By Nicholas Carter. 22—The Champdoce Mystery. By Emile Gaboriau. 21—A Deposit Vault Puzzle. By Nicholas Carter.

20—Caught in the Net. By Emile Gaboriau. 19—A Chance Discovery. By Nicholas Carter. 18—The Gamblers’ Syndicate. By Nicholas Carter. 17—The Piano Box Mystery. By Nicholas Carter. 16—A Woman’s Hand. By Nicholas Carter. 15—The Widow Lerouge. By Emile Gaboriau. 14—Caught in the Toils. By Nicholas Carter. 13—The Mysterious Mail Robbery. By Nicholas Carter. 12—Playing a Bold Game. By Nicholas Carter. 11—Fighting Against Millions. By Nicholas Carter. 10—The Old Detective’s Pupil. By Nicholas Carter. 9—A Stolen Identity. By Nicholas Carter. 8—An Australian Klondike. By Nicholas Carter. 7—The American Marquis. By Nicholas Carter. 6—A Wall Street Haul. By Nicholas Carter. 5—The Crime of a Countess. By Nicholas Carter. 4—Tracked Across the Atlantic. By Nicholas Carter. 3—A Titled Counterfeiter. By Nicholas Carter. 2—The Great Enigma. By Nicholas Carter. 1—A Klondike Claim. By Nicholas Carter.

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SHADOWED BY A DETECTIVE

OR

THE WOMAN IN WAX

BY

VIRGINIA CHAMPLIN

NEW YORK STREET & SMITH, Publishers 238 William Street

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Copyright, 1885, By J. S. OGILVIE & CO.

Copyright, 1899, By STREET & SMITH

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CONTENTS.

[Pg 5]

CHAPTER I. THE KIDNAPPING.

One evening, in the winter of 1865, a grand ball was given at No. 17 East Twenty-third Street. It was at the house of Miss Ada Ricard, the new star in the great American city, but a star whose brilliancy the profane knew only by reflection, for her life was enveloped in mystery, and she was never seen in any public place.

All that was known of her past was that she had been married to a wealthy merchant in Buffalo, James Gobson, a brutal individual, whose matrimonial yoke she had succeeded in throwing off, but who had left her certain ineffaceable souvenirs of his affection.

Gobson, in fact, who adored his wife, and was very jealous of her, had one day so abused her that after the violent scene she was left with one ear [Pg 6]torn and one tooth the less. It is true she concealed the cut on her pretty ear behind a huge diamond, but she had always refused to replace the pearl lacking in the jewel casket of her rosy lips.

“By this,” she said, “I shall never be likely to forget what a husband costs, and if any mad ambition or foolish love is about to make me forget it, it will be sufficient to smile at myself in the glass to recall the past.”

Thus armed against her own weakness, she boldly launched herself into a life of flirtations. Being worth from ten to twelve thousand dollars through her husband, she made her debut by expending them even to the cents in order to establish herself in luxurious surroundings, knowing that men, in their pride, attach as much value to the splendor of the temple as to the charms of the idol.

Having done this, and having her beauty as her only capital, she was careful not to waste it on the first comer; she waited patiently, seldom showing herself abroad, absolutely refusing all homage until a certain Thomas Cornhill, the proprietor of inexhaustible oil wells, seemed worthy of her heart.

Unfortunately, three months after, Thomas Cornhill suddenly died, and Miss Ada, though bereft, was left with one hundred thousand dollars in ready money, and an equal sum in jewels.

Ada mourned him for a few weeks; then, having an essentially practical mind, she changed her retinue of servants before the advent of Willie Saunders, an immensely rich cracker-merchant, who soon succeeded poor Cornhill.

[Pg 7]

When Willie Saunders found his homage accepted, he was greatly flattered. He was a stout man of about fifty, sensitive, simple and vain. He truly adored Ada, and believed himself tenderly beloved by her. Therefore, ready to listen to all her caprices, he made only a few remarks for form’s sake when she told him about the masquerade ball she wished to give, but he was very jealous. He knew Ada was sought by many adorers, among whom was a certain Edward Forster, a colonel in the Union Army, and one of the most fascinating gentlemen in New York high life.

However convinced the worthy cracker-merchant might be of Ada’s love, he naturally supposed that her adorers, Forster first of all, would profit by this evening to pay her more attention than agreeable to himself, and it troubled him. But the pretty, wicked little creature managed so artfully that Saunders did not long resist.

Besides, she was a wonderful creature, and the upstart-millionaire had high stakes to play for. A blonde, with large, steel-blue eyes and a tall, admirable figure, with the feet and hands of a child; with a laughing mouth, bold-faced, and fearing nothing, Ada Ricard had every attraction to lure the man of the world. The memory of her former husband sometimes disturbed the young woman in her new life. Having retained the recollection of his brutal love and jealousy, she also remembered with terror that he swore to avenge himself for her leaving him. But, since arranging the money settlements, she had not heard of him, and even his [Pg 8]friends in Buffalo did not know what had become of him. One fine morning he made a fortune, and went West. He was last heard from at San Francisco, where Saunders told her he was living a fast life, evidently trying to drown recollection.

Ada’s mind was now at rest, and never had she been so gay as at the masked ball. Many women in good society had ventured to attend in order to get a near view of the mysterious and powerful beauty.

Toward eleven o’clock the parlors of the ex-Mrs. Gobson presented a truly picturesque appearance. Every period, every class of society, and every legend were represented, from the companions of Christopher Columbus to the trappers of the far West, and from Mephistopheles to the Venetian harlequin. Among the women there was a dazzling display of precious stones and dominos of every color. Ada Ricard herself wore the splendid costume of an Indian woman of the time of the Spanish conquest. In her ears she had diamonds worth ten thousand dollars, around her throat a triple necklace of pearls of at least equal value, and on her arms and wrists very heavy bracelets of massive gold.

All the men who knew her only by sight, and the women who had heard so much of her, literally devoured her with admiring eyes. Saunders, who was to give five or six thousand dollars toward this ball, did not take his eyes off of her.

Looking very grotesque in the dress of a Highlander, he tried every moment to draw near her, but Ada reminded him by a word, look or gesture [Pg 9]that she wished to devote herself wholly to her guests, and he docilely moved away, uttering a sigh which was charitably answered by bursts of laughter by those of his friends who were acquainted with his weakness.

The ball, which had been rather quiet for two or three hours, had become very lively, even noisy.

Soon the buffets were pillaged, the champagne flowed in streams; a few masks fell off, and Miss Ada Ricard, readily refraining from reminding her guests of what was good form—for all this noise could only do the greatest honor to her reputation—thought only of getting away as far as possible from the hubbub.

She had just taken the arm of one of her adorers instead of that which the unfortunate Saunders had offered, and was proceeding toward a little boudoir where some quiet people had taken refuge, when a formidable hurrah caused every head to turn toward the door.

It was the entrance of three Sioux Indians that had excited the enthusiasm of the company.

They indeed deserved this reception, for they were really superb in their horribly truthful costumes, in which nothing was lacking, neither the head-dress of feathers, the tomahawk, nor scalping-knife, nor even in the belt, half a dozen scalps, sinister trophies of late raids.

Ada Ricard turned and added her applause to that of the company; then, like them, she tried to recognize those who had chosen this curious disguise; but she did not succeed.

[Pg 10]

No doubt, not caring particularly to tattoo their faces, the three mysterious personages wore masks which wholly concealed their features, and to every question they answered only with guttural cries and exclamations which completely changed their voices. After opening a passage through the crowd, they reached the mistress of the house, and, drawing her away from the friend who was accompanying her, they began to perform around her in a circle a fantastic dance which gradually brought her to the main hall.

Supposing, like every one else, that the Sioux Indians were three admirers, Ada gayly watched their contortions and dance, and was the first to burst into laughter, when the tallest of the three masks seized her in his arms and, lifting her as if a child, bore her to the threshold of the door.

Standing before her captor, his two companions chanted a war-song and swung their tomahawks as if to protect his flight.

One would have thought him a great chief carrying away his squaw according to the customs of the Indians of the plains.

This joke was so thoroughly American that the crowd accepted it with ringing bravos.

Suddenly the warrior who bore the young woman faced about and, leaping with one bound, sprang out upon the steps of the house, whose doors were wide open, and then into a splendid landau which was standing before the door.

The two Indians who had followed him had quickly climbed the box, and the carriage, the [Pg 11]coachman no doubt having received his orders, immediately set off at a double-quick gallop.

This kidnapping had been so quickly performed, that no one would have had time to prevent it if they had attempted it.

Of Ada Ricard’s guests, moreover, not one had thought seriously of it excepting the unhappy Saunders, whose jealousy, always on the watch, made him think the conduct of the three masks very queer.

He attempted to approach Ada Ricard, but his friends restrained him in spite of his grotesque supplications; and, when she disappeared in the arms of the Indian, he hastened to the balcony of the house, where the enthusiasm reached delirium on the departure of the carriage.

A tremendous hurrah covered the silvery laugh of Miss Ada when she found herself being enveloped in the fur pelisse which one of the Sioux had flung over her shoulders, and the unfortunate cracker-merchant, who was dragged away from the balcony, had immediately become the pivot of a comical dance in the middle of the drawing-room.

What no one heard, was the cry of amazement or fright uttered by Miss Ada Ricard the moment the carriage rattled along the pavement of East Twenty-Third Street.

[Pg 12]

CHAPTER II. WHAT BECAME OF THE HEROINE.

When the friends of Mr. Saunders, exhausted by their war-whoops and dancing, deigned to grant a little respite to their victim by opening the circle which they had pitilessly formed around him, the big man, half-crazed and breathless, sank upon a lounge, listening absently to those who were trying to console him. He not only suffered through his love, but his vanity was equally wounded, for he did not doubt that his misfortune would be known all over New York the next day, and that he would become an object of public ridicule. It seemed to him that Ada must have connived with her kidnappers, being too blind to suppose that violence had been done her. But who were those men with whom the unfaithful woman had consented to be an accomplice in the scene that covered him with ridicule? For whose benefit had this kidnapping been made? For one of her adorers, no doubt, but which one? He was so completely absorbed in his meditations and despair that he did not perceive that the guests were disappearing one by one, and only the voice of Ada’s maid brought him to himself.

He raised his eyes, the parlors were deserted, and he was left alone in the room from which the woman he loved had so strangely disappeared.

[Pg 13]

On recognizing Ada’s maid, he felt the satisfaction of a man whose anger, long restrained, can at last vent itself on some one.

“Ah! you at least can explain to me what all this means,” he cried, springing up and seizing the maid by the arm.

“I!” answered Mary, somewhat alarmed, and trying to disengage herself from Saunders’ grasp. “I! how should I know any more than you?”

“Did you not recognize those masks?”

“I saw them only while they were carrying off madam.”

“Did not Ada receive any letters during the day?”

“None whatever.”

“Nor a call?”

“You know very well that she receives only you.”

“Then you have no cause for suspicion?”

“None.”

“It is incredible. Your mistress and you are two cheats.”

Saying this, the merchant gave Mary a push, and, having arisen as quickly as his corpulence would permit, strode up and down the parlor.

At the very grotesque contrast between the disturbed face of the stout man and his Highland costume, whose short frock displayed his large bare legs, the maid could no longer restrain herself and burst into laughter, crying:

“Heavens, sir! how droll you look. If madam could see you what fun she would have.”

Made furious by this remark, which turned the dagger round and round in his wound as if with [Pg 14]delight, Saunders approached the insolent girl to strike her; but he probably felt that he would gain nothing by threats and violence, for he suddenly softened and said:

“Come, my little Mary, be good now. Haven’t I always been kind to you? If you will tell me where madam has gone I will give you one hundred dollars.”

“If you were to give me one thousand dollars,” answered the maid saucily, “I could not give you exact information, for I know nothing myself; but give me the one hundred dollars all the same and I will tell you something that will comfort you.”

The love-sick merchant quickly drew out of the little leather bag that danced upon his stomach, from his Scotch wallet, the sum demanded, and handed it to Mary, who took it, slipped it into her corsage, and continued:

“Do you know, sir, that I have an idea that this affair was done on a wager. You know how many are in love with madam, but she loves you too much to deceive you, and has always refused the most splendid offers. Three of her admirers, therefore, wished to avenge themselves upon her and you, and so have carried her off. It won’t accomplish much, for you know madam isn’t a woman to be made to do what she does not wish. They, no doubt, have taken her into some house in the neighborhood, from which she will find a way to escape if they try to retain her by force. Before noon she will be back here.”