but the birds had flown.
again they had escaped the bradys. it was a disheartening reflection.
ordinary men might have abandoned the case in despair.
but the bradys were not of that sort.
with their usual tenacity they hung out, still looking for a clew which they felt was bound to come.
in fact they had little choice in the matter.
they knew there was nothing to be done but to trap the tough trio.
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if they did not do so the trio would trap them. it was a case of the survival of the fittest.
the bradys failed to track their birds even the slightest distance. the trio had seemed to cover their tracks effectually.
days passed and still the bradys were befogged.
one day they ran across a detective of the regular city force in a lower part of new york.
“there’s no use in you fellows trying to find the trio,” said this fellow, whose name was whitman.
“indeed!” said old king brady, caustically. “you are very sure of that, are you?”
“as sure as can be!”
“how do you get your surety?”
“well, i know that all three of the rascals have skipped the country.”
for a moment the bradys stared at each other.
then old king brady said:
“do you mean to europe?”
“yes.”
“do you know that?”
“well, you bet i do!”
“can you prove it?”
whitman was silent a moment. then he said:
“well, i’ve been working up a case on the white star line dock. i know three men sailed from there last saturday whom i am sure are the trio.”
“did you see them?”
“well, that is, a friend of mine did.”
finally the fellow was bound to admit that he was not by any means sure of his statement.
he depended largely upon the imagination of another, and finally, much discomfited, admitted that he could not prove it.
the bradys thus met with all sorts of rumors.
but they said nothing.
all the while they were quietly at work.
one day, however, a messenger boy stopped them at the door of their lodgings.
he handed them a message.
thus it read:
“my dear brady:
“come down to the office at once. i think i have a clew for you.
“chief of the secret service.”
“ah!” said old king brady, with a smile. “perhaps at last we have hit upon the right thing. let us try it.”
so the bradys at once went down to the secret service headquarters.
the chief welcomed them warmly.
“i am glad to see you!” he said. “and i believe i have valuable news for you!”
“that is what we are looking for,” said harry.
“you are still after the trio?”
“yes.”
“you can’t seem to find a clew as to their whereabouts?”
“not the slightest.”
“well,” said the chief, slowly, “yesterday we brought a man in here from chinatown. he killed a man in an opium den.
“while questioning him closely i learned that he knew dan collins.”
“dan collins!” exclaimed harry.
“yes. do you know him?”
“he is one of the trio!”
“ah! then it is all right. collins and two companions have been frequenting ah ling’s place in mott street for a few days past.”
“hitting the pipe?”
“yes.”
“are they there now?”
“they may be!”
old king brady sprang up.
“come, harry!” he cried. “here is work for us.”
“i feel it in my bones,” said the young detective, “that the game is ours.”
“i agree with you,” said the chief. “if those fellows are taking dope you will surely get them.”
old king brady knew that many a criminal had been taken in this way.
under the influence of opium they are careless and easily entrapped. so old king brady’s spirits arose.
“very good!” he said, with his grim smile. “i think we shall get them.”
“the tip may be of no value,” said the chief, “but such as it is i give it to you.”
“i feel sure that it is of great value!” said harry. “we will get our men this time.”
frequenters of the opium dens sometimes drop from sight for days.
this would easily explain why the bradys had not heard from the villains before.
the detectives lost no time.
they at once set out for mott street.
ah ling was a character very familiar to them.
there was no shrewder character, no deeper scoundrel in chinatown than ah ling.
the bradys knew that it would be folly to attempt to gain admittance to his place in their own character.
so they went thither in a clever disguise.
and harry, for the first time in a long while dressed up as a very handsome young lady.
as men and women both frequented the opium joints, this was not deemed strange.
old king brady made himself up as a country jay, and harry took him in tow.
he steered him into mott street and harry led the way into ah ling’s shop.
that urbane celestial came up smiling and bowing.
“ah, melican lady buy fine handkerchief,” he simpered “sellee cheap! comee allee way china.”
harry punched his rustic partner in the ribs and in true bowery-girl style said:
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“come, buy me that, cully! don’t you see i’m your steady now?”
“b’gosh! haow much money do ye want fer the durned thing, mister chineeman?” asked old king brady.
“sellee cheap. allee same one dollar!” said the celestial, winking at harry.
“all right! hyars yer dollar. now take it gal, an’ i say, what’s that you told me about? i want to see all the sights. but i’ll be gol-blamed if i haven’t forgotten.”
“oh, you mean hit the pipe,” said harry.
“yas, yas! that’s it. i dunno what it is, but b’gosh i’m reddy fer it.”
harry winked at ah ling, who bit readily enough.
“yeppee, me slee!” he said. “hittee pipe. heap fine tlime. comee dis lay.”
the detectives followed the chinaman through various corridors and down stairs until finally they were in the opium den.
about on bunks and rugs lay the half-stupefied devotees of the pipe.
the bradys almost instantly singled out their men.
collins lay completely stupefied. van was still smoking and burke was getting ready for the same.
the bradys were elated.
the birds were at last in their hands.
escape was out of the question.
the detectives took in the full situation at a glance.
not one of the gang was capable of offering much resistance. the bradys quickly planned their coup.
after ah ling had gone, the two detectives laid their plans.
nobody in the place noticed them. old king brady whispered:
“everything is coming our way. now, i’ll first slip over and put the handcuffs on collins.”
“yes.”
“he’ll never know it for he is too deeply asleep.”
“exactly.”
“then together we will tackle the other two.”
“capital!”
“that will place them hors du combat. we must trust to a bold dash to get them out of here.”
“if ah ling is wise he will not offer resistance.”
“he may not.”
“very good.”
“i’ll spring it now!”
“all right!”
old king brady crept over to where collins lay.
he snapped the handcuffs on him and the fellow never moved. then harry took the signal.
van and burke were both half dazed. they fought like tigers, however, but were finally overpowered.
“you are trapped, my fine birds!” cried old king brady, jubilantly.
but at this moment ah ling appeared on the scene.
the uproar had attracted him. with white, scared face he stared at the detectives.
“whatee de debbil you do?” he cried. “you no make such noise. hi-hi, yeppee, yeppee, who you be? no pleece-man?”
“yes,” replied old king brady, sternly, covering the chinaman with a revolver. “we are detectives. these men are murderers. we are going to take them out of here. if you offer resistance, i will shoot you dead!”
old king brady kept ah ling covered while harry went out to the nearest signal box.
in a very short space of time a squad of police were in the place. a short while later the tough trio were in the tombs.
the bradys had won their famous race for life.
the case was thus ended.
the three notorious criminals expiated their crimes in the electric chair. the fifteenth street case soon became a matter of past history and the two famous detectives soon had their attention claimed by another undertaking even more complex and mysterious. the details of this we will reserve for another story.
