CHAPTER III.

NICK CARTER’S PLANS.

Starting with a fine spun thread, a mere film that only one man in a million would have picked up under such circumstances, Nick Carter had gradually twisted it to the size of a cord of considerable strength, of which he now aimed to make a rope with which to twist, perhaps, the necks of the culprits deserving it.

It was after two o’clock when Nick, still in disguise and in company with Chick, left the Shelby post office.

Three o’clock found them seated with Judge Barclay and President Burdick, of the S. & O. Railway, in the magnate’s private office, to both of whom Nick had stated his discoveries and suspicions.

It was then that he picked up another strand for the rope.

He learned from President Burdick that an express shipment of sixty thousand dollars in currency and specie was to be made from Philadelphia that day, for the payroll and construction expense on the Shelbyville branch road, then being built; which had aroused the bitter and vengeful opposition of a lawless section of the country through which it was to pass, resulting in the numerous crimes and outrages to which the road since had been subjected, and the perpetrators of which Nick and his assistants had been employed to run down.

“This proves to be about what I suspected,” Nick remarked, after hearing Burdick’s statements. “We are up against some of the same bandits guilty of the previous crimes. I was not sure of it in the case of Jim Reardon, who had a personal grievance, or a fancied one, to avenge.”

“It is not too late to cancel the shipment, Carter, or defer it for a few days,” Judge Barclay suggested.

“That should be done, I think,” Burdick added.

But Nick Carter quickly objected.

“By no means,” he declared. “That is the worst step you could take.”

“Why so?”

“Because we now have an unusual advantage over these rascals, in that we have anticipated their designs, and now is the time to catch them red-handed.”

“Surely,” Chick agreed. “It’s a rare opportunity. It is one that should not be lost.”

“There is something in that, Carter, after all,” Burdick thoughtfully admitted. “We can easily protect the shipment by concealing a posse of well-armed men in the express car. How will that do?”

“It won’t do at all,” Nick replied. “The crooks might discover the fact and throw up the job. They are not working blindly, Mr. Burdick, nor in the dark. Being absolutely ignorant of their identity, moreover, you might reveal your intentions to some man who would betray you. You must leave this matter entirely to me. I want the rascals to undertake the job. I’ll be on hand to prevent it.”

“You may safely depend on him, Burdick,” put in Judge Barclay.

“What are your plans, Mr. Carter?” President Burdick inquired.

“I don’t know,” Nick said frankly. “I have not laid any plans, nor shall I until I get all of the information I can obtain. All I want of you, Mr. Burdick, is to answer a few questions for me. I then will do the rest.”

“Very well. I will leave it to you, then.”

“You will make no mistake,” Nick confidently predicted. “Now, to begin with, how is the money to be shipped? It will be in the express car, I infer.”

“Yes, certainly, locked in the safe.”

“Who has charge of the car?”

“A man named Daniel Cady.”

“Reliable?”

“Until the last gun is fired,” said Burdick emphatically. “I know him root and branch, Carter, and he has both judgment and courage. He would fight to the last ditch.”

“Does he run alone on the car?”

“Yes. The night run does not ordinarily require a second man. The express carriage on that particular train is never very heavy. Cady has had charge of that car for a dozen years.”

“Where does he live?”

“His home is here, in Shelby. He has a wife and several children. He now is in Philadelphia, however, for he goes and returns on alternate nights.”

“Very good,” said Nick. “What time is the express due in North Dayton?”

“Twelve o’clock precisely.”

“Does it stop there?”

“Not at the station. It stops at the junction of our western division south of the town to take water and get instructions from Sampson, the train dispatcher here in Shelby. It is the last stop the limited makes before reaching Shelby.”

“A run of eighteen miles, isn’t it?”

“Nearly that.”

“What is the next stop north?”

“Amherst, fourteen miles beyond North Dayton.”

“There is a block-signal tower at the North Dayton Junction, I infer.”

“Yes, certainly.”

“Who is the night operator?”

“Tom Denny, a very reliable man.”

“Capital!” said Nick promptly. “Write a line introducing me to Denny and directing him to coöperate with me. I shall require nothing, President Burdick, that will interfere with his customary duties.”

“I will give you a letter to him.”

“Also one to Daniel Cady,” added Nick. “Make it of the same character. I am probably a stranger to both men.”

President Burdick turned to his desk and wrote the two letters, then handed them to the detective.

“I think that is all,” said Nick, taking his hat. “By the way, however, what time does the next north-bound train leave Shelby?”

“At five-thirty.”

“Does it stop at North Dayton and Amherst?”

“Yes, both stations.”

“That’s all,” Nick repeated, rising. “Do absolutely nothing more in this matter, gentlemen, but leave it all to me. I will contrive to thwart these rascals and land them behind prison bars. Come, Chick, we must get a move on.”

“What’s your scheme?” Chick inquired, when they emerged up the street.

“That can be briefly told,” Nick replied. “Martin, whoever he is, evidently is in Philadelphia, where he probably learned about the money shipment and most likely he was there with that object in view. It is almost a safe gamble, too, that he will be on the Southern Limited to-night, since his letter to Dewitt states that he will see the latter after the robbery.”

“I agree with you,” Chick nodded. “It does look, indeed, as if he would be on the train.”

“What part he will play in the robbery, however, is an open question,” said Nick. “He may take no active part in it, as far as that goes, but may leave the work to his confederates.”

“Possibly.”

“We have, of course, no idea just when, where, or how the job will be attempted,” Nick continued. “The letter states, however, that there will be nothing doing until the train is south of North Dayton.”

“I remember.”

“The job will be undertaken, then, somewhere in the run of eighteen miles to Shelby.”

“Surely.”

“Thinking they have a walk-over, as Martin terms it, the rascals may be overconfident,” Nick added. “I think we can foil them, however, and get them with hands up. I will leave Patsy to trail Dewitt to cover, if possible, while we tackle the train end of the job.”

“But what do you make of the other statements in Martin’s letter?” Chick inquired.

“As to having a substitute down fine by that time and the other dead to rights?”

“Yes. What do you make of that?”

“That seems open to only one interpretation,” Nick reasoned. “It probably refers to the package containing the money. A substitute evidently is to be used in some way, and the other taken from the express car.”

“That seems like a reasonable theory.”

“The money certainly is to be on the car, however, for Dewitt is directed to be on hand to relieve some one of the goods, possibly Martin himself.”

“Very likely.”

“But, as the letter also states, nothing is to be done until after leaving North Dayton,” Nick repeated.

“And your plans?”

“We will leave town in disguise at five-thirty. You go as far as Amherst, to board the express when it arrives. You must be governed by the make-up of the train as to what car you will take. Select that which Martin would be most likely to occupy, and be on the lookout for him, or for any other suspicious circumstances. There is a fourteen-mile run before you arrive in North Dayton.”

“I understand, Nick, and will be governed accordingly,” Chick assured him. “But what are your own designs?”

“I’m going to board that express car at North Dayton,” said Nick, with rather grim intonation. “I’ll contrive to do so in a way that will occasion no misgivings, even if I am seen by some of the gang.”

“And then?”

“Predictions beyond that point would be speculative. I will make only one. If Cady proves to be the man of nerve and courage ascribed to him by President Burdick—well, in that case, Chick, if this bunch of bandits gets away with the money, I’ll chuck my vocation and open an old man’s home.”

Chick Carter laughed.