Oscar the Detective | Page 4

great chances, and for the rascals who were alluring him he had a great surprise in reserve.
After much persuasion he consented to go upstairs, but still continued to assure the men that he had no idea of robbing them.
"But you will teach us some new points."
"You'll have to watch me then, for I am giving nothing away."
The men ascended to a room on the second floor, a rear room.
The men sat down at a table and Dudie Dunne put on all the airs of a "Smart Alec" to perfection. The game commenced. Our hero was dealer and a winner, and the way he "hee, hee, hee-d," as he raked in his pot was amusing to watch.
The game proceeded for fully half an hour when a most startling interruption occurred.
CHAPTER II.
THE EXQUISITE'S GAME PROVES A WINNING HAND, BUT NOT AT THE CARDS--HE PERFORMS ONE OF THE GREATEST STREAKS OF DETECTIVE WORK TO DATE AND CAPTURES A MAN WHOM FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS REWARD HAD FAILED TO FETCH.
As intimated, the game had proceeded and our hero was winning and losing, when suddenly the door of the room opened and a man of remarkable appearance entered the room. His entrance was followed by an exhibition as though a ghost had suddenly appeared at the conventional midnight hour and demanded a hand, as he reached forth his rattling joints of bone. The men stared, even our hero for just one instant lost his equipoise, but he recovered when like a wink he asked, as though no one had entered the room:
"What do you do?"
The men, however, just sat and stared while the intruder said, a pallor on his emaciated face and a glitter in his eyes:
"I heard the game going on, boys, and I could not resist--oh, I love a little game at times."
"You are not well enough to sit up yet, Mr. Alling."
"Oh, yes; I feel better to-day; but whom have we here?"
One of the men winked and said:
"A friend of ours--one of the four hundred--but he ain't proud. He is a gentleman clean through."
The man who had asked the question fixed his glittering eyes on our hero. The dude appeared unconscious of the fact that he was undergoing a study beneath the gaze of a man who could read the human face like a book.
As intimated, the man was a very remarkable-looking individual. He was one who would attract attention anywhere, owing to the singular sharp expression on his face.
The man appeared to be satisfied with his study, and said, as he sat down to the table: "Give me some cards. Ah, this is just glorious after having lain in a sick bed for a month."
The dude, who was studying his cards, did not appear to overhear the newcomer's remark. He had been a loser and seemed absolutely absorbed.
The game proceeded and drinks were ordered. The dude got seemingly very drunk. He lost his money--some hundreds of dollars, and his watch, and produced a diamond pin which he lost, and then he appeared to drop off in a maudlin slumber.
The man let him snore in his chair and deliberately divided his money among them. Then they dealt for the watch and pin, and finally the question was asked:
"What shall we do with him?"
"Throw him into the street."
"That won't do," said the man who had entered the room at the last moment. "You fellows don't know how to manage these things."
"What shall we do?"
"Let him sleep. He will sleep until morning--sleep like a top--and then the first thing he will call for will be a drink; give him one, then take him to some other house, fill him up, and leave him one by one. He will forget afterward where he lost his watch and money. At least you fellows can all swear he had his watch and money when you left him. Throw him into the street, and he will be found, dragged in, and in the morning will give the whole business away. That is the way you lads always make a mistake. You don't go slow enough."
The men agreed to Alling's plan, and then turning the dude over on the floor, fixed his coat under his head for a pillow and left him, locking him in the room, and there the poor dude lay. One of the men returned in about half an hour, looked the sleeper over and left. Downstairs he told his pals:
"He will never wake. I reckon the man is full to the ears. He will sleep until eleven o'clock to-morrow."
After the man had glanced into the room the dude most strangely awoke. He drew from his pocket a tiny mask lantern, and he pulled a tiny watch from his pocket, glanced at the time and muttered:
"I've got a long wait, but it's all right. I'll have my