"We must do something, and we must act at once."

"August, you are a brave and skillful man. Now you know the real danger you will be able to devise some plan, but no time must be lost; we must move rapidly. Let us get this immediate danger removed and we can bring the other matter about at once, but it is strange how obstinate and determined _that girl_ is. There we must force matters, but I did hope that we would secure money enough to go to Europe. If we could carry her to Europe we would be all right. We could furnish proofs of her ident.i.ty, secure the money, and all would be well, but she must first be your wife, and I repeat, if she does not consent, then I will a.s.sent _to the plan you proposed_. It is a terrible device, but she must be your wife, and that within forty-eight hours. If she does not yield we will force matters, and she will be glad to become the baroness."

The mystery was indeed all clearing up, and the detective overheard every word of the conversation, and our readers can only imagine his emotions and excitement, as we will not attempt to describe either.

CHAPTER X.

CONCLUSION.

The mother and son remained together some time discussing their plans in detail, and when Mrs. Richards finally departed our hero was "on to the whole scheme," as detectives say, and he prepared like a lamb led to the slaughter to be entrapped by the bold baron, and there came a smile to his face as he antic.i.p.ated the turning of the tables at the last moment.

Our hero was now absolutely a.s.sured that Amalie Speir lived, but that she was unharmed thus far, and he determined to take such steps as would insure her safety until such time as he "closed in" on her abductors and forced her release. He determined to meet the baron that same night, and he also resolved to be fully prepared to fall into the trap which he had a.s.sumed was to be set for him. In the meantime, he called at the home of Mrs. Speir; his face was radiant and his hopefulness inspired the lady, who asked:

"Do you bring me good news?"

"Mrs. Speir, I bring you the very best of news, and it is my present calculation that within twenty-four hours I will bring you your daughter, pure, loving and unharmed."

"Succeed, Mr. Alvarez, and I will be the happiest woman in the world, and what is more, I will surrender to you your half of the fortune."

Jack smiled, for we will here admit that away down in his heart he did permit a little flame of hope to smolder that in a roundabout way he might some day secure the whole of it practically, and something with the fortune more precious to him than the gold and the houses and lands.

It was early in the evening when seemingly by chance the Spaniard and the baron met, and the latter proved himself a great actor, and indeed a shrewd man, and the chances are he might have been a winner were he playing against a man less shrewd and adroit than our hero, but Jack was hard to beat, as our readers will learn.

The baron proposed a luncheon, what he called "an early supper," and he appeared to have plenty of money and made a display of it, and at the proper moment he said:

"Mr. Tavares, I have good news for you."

"Indeed?"

"Yes."

"Good news is always more inspiring than bad news."

"Yes, and I am going to redeem my note."

"Is that so?"

"It is true; I have come into some money unexpectedly and I will pay you in full, and as you were kind enough to take chances I will pay interest to date; but you need not hold the note, I will redeem it."

"Good enough; I will be frank with you. I may have been misinformed, you may have an enemy, but I was told that the note was not all right. I got scared and I called upon Mrs. Richards. She demanded time to think the matter over, but as you are going to pay the note, why, that makes it all right. I will admit I am not as disinterested as I may have appeared; I've lots of money, but I make my money tell to make more.

When will you redeem the note?"

"This very night, within the hour. I have a friend--a real friend--who will help me out of my difficulty. It makes no difference to you who pays the note as long as you get the money back."

"No difference whatever."

"Then the matter can be easily fixed. We will finish our supper and then go to my friend's house. I was to meet him between eleven and twelve. He will have the money all ready to settle up and redeem the note, and he will hold it for me without making inquiries or seeking information."

"'A friend in need is a friend indeed,' and I will admit that I shall be very glad to get my money back. I do not care about the character of the note as long as I take no chances. See, I am perfectly frank."

"Yes, very frank, and that is your best quality."

The latter remark was made with a laugh and was satirical.

The young men finished their meal, went to a vaudeville show for a little while, and then proceeded to the house where the pretended Spaniard was to receive his money. The baron appeared to congratulate himself at the ease with which he got the Spaniard into the trap, and led him to an out-of-the-way house in the suburbs of Long Island City.

The Spaniard entered like a lamb led to the slaughter, and there was a big laugh hidden away down in his bosom.

The baron led our hero to a rear room, sat down and bade his companion be seated. Jack complied, and then there came a complete change over the demeanor of the baron. He said:

"Tavares, you have a note?"

"Yes."

"I promised you its equivalent?"

"You did."

"I do--it's your life."

"Aha!"

"Yes, your life; I will have that note or your life. You secured it by trick and device. I resolved to recover it by the same means, and let me tell you, I am prepared to carry out my resolve. I have men here to aid me."

"And this is your trick?"

"This is my trick."

"We will not waste words, August."

"No, we will not waste words."

"This is my trick."

As the detective spoke he cast aside his disguise and stood revealed.

The baron stared aghast and in a husky voice exclaimed:

"What! you are the detective?"

"I am the detective. Call for your aids and I will summon mine; the latter are at hand."

"What does this mean?"

"It means that I have 'closed in' on you. I can send you to State's prison on two or three charges, and your mother with you to look after you there. Meyer, you thought you were playing your game well, but you made a mistake from the beginning. I had you 'shadowed' on every move you have made; there is but one way of escape for you."