The Poisoned Pen(Fiscle Part-3) - Arthur B. Reeve (best detective novels of all time TXT) 📗

Grief.

 

"It's Terrible,  Miss Taylor," I Heard The Man With Her Say

Soothingly,  "And You Must Know That I Sympathise With You A Great

Deal."

 

Looking Up Quickly,  I Caught Sight Of Capps And Bowed. He Returned

Our Bows And Handed Her Gently Into An Automobile That Was

Waiting.

 

"He Might At Least Have Introduced Us," Muttered Kennedy,  As We

Went On Into The Hospital.

 

Orton Was Lying In Bed,  White And Worn,  Propped Up By Pillows

Which The Nurse Kept Arranging And Rearranging To Ease His Pain.

The Irishman Whom We Had Seen At The Tunnel Was Standing

Deferentially Near The Foot Of The Bed.

 

"Quite A Number Of Visitors,  Nurse,  For A New Patient," Said

Orton,  As He Welcomed Us. "First Capps And Paddy From The Tunnel,

Then Vivian"--He Was Fingering Some Beautiful Roses In A Vase On A

Table Near Him--"And Now,  You Fellows. I Sent Her Home With Capps.

She Oughtn't To Be Out Alone At This Hour,  And Capps Is A Good

Fellow. She's Known Him A Long Time. No,  Paddy,  Put Down Your Hat.

I Want You To Stay. Paddy,  By The Way,  Fellows,  Is My Right-Hand

Man In Managing The 'Sandhogs' As We Call The Tunnel-Workers. He

Has Been A Sand-Hog On Every Tunnel Job About The City Since The

First Successful Tunnel Was Completed. His Real Name Is Flanagan,

But We All Know Him Best As Paddy."

 

Paddy Nodded. "If I Ever Get Over This And Back To The Tunnel,"

Orton Went On,  "Paddy Will Stick To Me,  And We Will Show Taylor,

My Prospective Father-In-Law And The President Of The Railroad

Company From Which I Took This Contract,  That I Am Not To Blame

For All The Troubles We Are Having On The Tunnel. Heaven Knows

That--"

 

"Oh,  Mr. Orton,  You Ain't So Bad," Put In Paddy Without The

Faintest Touch Of Undue Familiarity. "Look What I Was When Ye Come

Part 3 Chapter 6 (The Sand-Hog) Pg 61

To See Me When I Had The Bends,  Sir."

 

"You Old Rascal," Returned Orton,  Brightening Up. "Craig,  Do You

Know How I Found Him? Crawling Over The Floor To The Sink To Pour

The Doctor's Medicine Down."

 

"Think I'd Take That Medicine," Explained Paddy,  Hastily. "Not

Much. Don't I Know That The Only Cure For The Bends Is Bein' Put

Back In The 'Air' In The Medical Lock,  Same As They Did With You,

And Bein' Brought Out Slowly? That's The Cure,  That,  An' Grit,  An'

Patience,  An' Time. Mark Me Wurds,  Gintlemen,  He'll Finish That

Tunnel An' Beggin' Yer Pardon,  Mr. Orton,  Marry That Gurl,  Too.

Didn't I See Her With Tears In Her Eyes Right In This Room When He

Wasn't Lookin',  And A Smile When He Was? Sure,  Ye'll Be All

Right," Continued Paddy,  Slapping His Side And Thigh. "We All Get

The Bends More Or Less--All Us Sand-Hogs. I Was That Doubled Up

Meself That I Felt Like A Big Jack-Knife. Had It In The Arm,  The

Side,  And The Leg All At Once,  That Time He Was Just Speakin' Of.

He'll Be All Right In A Couple More Weeks,  Sure,  An' Down In The

Air Again,  Too,  With The Rest Of His Men. It's Somethin' Else He

Has On His Moind."

 

"Then The Case Has Nothing To Do With Your Trouble,  Nothing To Do

With The Bends?" Asked Kennedy,  Keenly Showing His Anxiety To Help

Our Old Friend.

 

"Well,  It May And It May Not," Replied Orton Thoughtfully. "I

Begin To Think It Has. We Have Had A Great Many Cases Of The Bends

Among The Men,  And Lots Of The Poor Fellows Have Died,  Too. You

Know,  Of Course,  How The Newspapers Are Roasting Us. We Are Being

Called Inhuman; They Are Going To Investigate Us; Perhaps Indict

Me. Oh,  It's An Awful Mess; And Now Some One Is Trying To Make

Taylor Believe It Is My Fault.

 

"Of Course," He Continued,  "We Are Working Under A High Air-

Pressure Just Now,  Some Days As High As Forty Pounds. You See,  We

Have Struck The Very Worst Part Of The Job,  A Stretch Of Quicksand

In The River-Bed,  And If We Can Get Through This We'll Strike

Pebbles And Rock Pretty Soon,  And Then We'll Be All Right Again."

 

He Paused. Paddy Quietly Put In: "Beggin' Yer Pardon Again,  Mr.

Orton,  But We Had Intirely Too Many Cases Of The Bends Even When

We Were Wurkin' At Low Pressure,  In The Rock,  Before We Sthruck

This Sand. There's Somethin' Wrong,  Sir,  Or Ye Wouldn't Be Here

Yerself Like This. The Bends Don't Sthrike The Ingineers,  Them As

Don't Do The Hard Work,  Sir,  And Is Careful,  As Ye Know--Not

Often."

 

"It's This Way,  Craig," Resumed Orton. "When I Took This Contract

For The Five-Borough Transit Company,  They Agreed To Pay Me

Liberally For It,  With A Big Bonus If I Finished Ahead Of Time,

And A Big Penalty If I Exceeded The Time. You May Or May Not Know

It,  But There Is Some Doubt About The Validity Of Their Franchise

After A Certain Date,  Provided The Tunnel Is Not Ready For

Operation. Well,  To Make A Long Story Short,  You Know There Are

Rival Companies That Would Like To See The Work Fail And The

Franchise Revert To The City,  Or At Least Get Tied Up In The

Courts. I Took It With The Understanding That It Was Every Man For

Himself And The Devil Take The Hindmost."

 

"Have You Yourself Seen Any Evidences Of Rival Influences

Hindering The Work?" Asked Kennedy.

 

Orton Carefully Weighed His Reply. "To Begin With," He Answered At

Length,  "While I Was Pushing The Construction End,  The Five-

Borough Was Working With The State Legislature To Get A Bill

Extending The Time-Limit Of The Franchise Another Year. Of Course,

If It Had Gone Through It Would Have Been Fine For Us. But Some

Unseen Influence Blocked The Company At Every Turn. It Was Subtle;

It Never Came Into The Open. They Played On Public Opinion As Only

Demagogues Of High Finance Can,  Very Plausibly Of Course,  But From

Part 3 Chapter 6 (The Sand-Hog) Pg 62

The Most Selfish And Ulterior Motives. The Bill Was Defeated."

 

I Nodded. I Knew All About That Part Of It,  For It Was In The

Article Which I Had Been Writing For The Star.

 

"But I Had Not Counted On The Extra Year,  Anyhow," Continued

Orton,  "So I Wasn't Disappointed. My Plans Were Laid For The

Shorter Time From The Start. I Built An Island In The River So

That We Could Work From Each Shore To It,  As Well As From The

Island To Each Shore,  Really From Four Points At Once. And Then,

When Everything Was Going Ahead Fine,  And We Were Actually

Doubling The Speed In This Way,  These Confounded Accidents"--He

Was Leaning Excitedly Forward--"And Lawsuits And Delays And Deaths

Began To Happen."

 

Orton Sank Back As A Paroxysm Of The Bends Seized Him,  Following

His Excitement.

 

"I Should Like Very Much To Go Down Into The Tunnel," Said Kennedy

Simply.

 

"No Sooner Said Than Done," Replied Orton,  Almost Cheerfully,  At

Seeing Kennedy So Interested.

 

"We Can Arrange That Easily. Paddy Will Be Glad To Do The Honours

Of The Place In My Absence."

 

"Indade I Will Do That Same,  Sor," Responded The Faithful Paddy,

"An' It's A Shmall Return For All Ye've Done For Me."

 

"Very Well,  Then," Agreed Kennedy. "Tomorrow Morning We Shall Be

On Hand. Jack,  Depend On Us. We Will Do Our Level Best To Get You

Out Of This Scrape."

 

"I Knew You Would,  Craig," He Replied. "I've Read Of Some Of Your

And Walter's Exploits. You're A Pair Of Bricks,  You Are. Good-Bye,

Fellows," And His Hands Mechanically Sought The Vase Of Flowers

Which Reminded Him Of Their Giver.

 

At Home We Sat For A Long Time In Silence. "By George,  Craig," I

Exclaimed At Length,  My Mind Reverting Through The Whirl Of Events

To The Glimpse Of Pain I Had Caught On The Delicate Face Of The

Girl Leaving The Hospital,  "Vivian Taylor Is A Beauty,  Though,

Isn't She?"

 

"And Capps Thinks So,  Too," He Returned,  Sinking Again Into His

Shell Of Silence. Then He Suddenly Rose And Put On His Hat And

Coat. I Could See The Old Restless Fever For Work Which Came Into

His Eyes Whenever He Had A Case Which Interested Him More Than

Usual. I Knew There Would Be No Rest For Kennedy Until He Had

Finished It. Moreover,  I Knew It Was Useless For Me To Remonstrate

With Him,  So I Kept Silent.

 

"Don't Wait Up For Me," He Said. "I Don't Know When I'll Be Back.

I'm Going To The Laboratory And The University Library. Be Ready

Early In The Morning To Help Me Delve Into This Tunnel Mystery."

 

I Awoke To Find Kennedy Dozing In A Chair,  Partly Dressed,  But

Just As Fresh As I Was After My Sleep. I Think He Had Been

Dreaming Out His Course Of Action. At Any Rate,  Breakfast Was A

Mere Incident M His Scheme,  And We Were Over At The Tunnel Works

When The Night Shift Were Going Off.

 

Kennedy Carried With Him A Moderate-Sized Box Of The Contents Of

Which He Seemed Very Careful. Paddy Was Waiting For Us,  And After

A Hasty Whispered Conversation,  Craig Stowed The Box Away Behind

The Switchboard Of The Telephone Central,  After Attaching It To

The Various Wires. Paddy Stood Guard While This Was Going On So

That No One Would Know About It,  Not Even The Telephone Girl,  Whom

He Sent Off On An Errand.

 

Part 3 Chapter 6 (The Sand-Hog) Pg 63

Our First Inspection Was Of That Part Of The Works Which Was Above

Ground. Paddy,  Who Conducted Us,  Introduced Us First To The

Engineer In Charge Of This Part Of The Work,  A Man Named Shelton,

Who Had Knocked About The World A Great Deal,  But Had Acquired A

Taciturnity That Was Sphinx-Like. If It Had Not Been For Paddy,  I

Fear We Should Have Seen Very Little,  For Shelton Was Not Only

Secretive,  But His Explanations Were Such That Even The Editor Of

A Technical Journal Would Have Had To Blue Pencil Them

Considerably. However,  We Gained A Pretty Good Idea Of The Tunnel

Works Above Ground--At Least Kennedy Did. He Seemed Very Much

Interested In How The Air Was Conveyed Below Ground,  The Tank For

Storing Compressed Air For Emergencies,  And Other Features. It

Quite Won Paddy,  Although Shelton Seemed To Resent His Interest

Even More Than He Despised My Ignorance.

 

Next Paddy Conducted Us To The Dressing-Rooms. There We Put On Old

Clothes And Oilskins,  And The Tunnel Doctor Examined Us And

Extracted A Written Statement That We Went