The consummate daring of it! Why, the rascal ought to have been in
command of an army. On the Board of Strategy he would have been
incomparable!
There followed a tableau that I shall not soon forget. We all stared
at the real Haggerty much after the fashion of Medusa's victims.
Presently the tension relaxed, and we all sighed. I sighed because the
thought of jail for the night in a dress-suit dwindled in perspective;
the girl sighed for the same reason and one or two other things; the
chief of the village police and his officers sighed because darkness
had suddenly swooped down on them; and Hamilton sighed because there
were no gems. Haggerty was the one among us who didn't sigh. He
scowled blackly.
This big athlete looked like a detective, and the abrupt authority of
his tones convinced me that he was. Haggerty was celebrated in the
annals of police affairs; he had handled all sorts of criminals, from
titled impostors down to petty thieves. He was not a man to trifle
with, mentally or physically, and for this reason we were all shaking
in our boots. He owned to a keen but brutal wit; to him there was no
such thing as sex among criminals, and he had the tenacity of purpose
that has given the bulldog considerable note in the pit. But it was
quite plain that for once he had met his match.
"I don't see how you can blame me," mumbled the chief. "None of us was
familiar with your looks, and he showed us his star of authority, and
went to work in a business-like way--By George! and he has run away
with my horse and carriage!"--starting from his chair.
"Never mind the horse. You'll find it safe at the railway station,"
snarled Haggerty. "Now, then, tell me everything that has happened,
from beginning to end."
And the chief recounted the adventure briefly. Haggerty looked coldly
at me and shrugged his broad shoulders. As for the girl, he never gave
her so much as a single glance. He knew a gentlewoman without looking
at her twice.
"Humph! Isn't he a clever one, though?" cried Haggerty, in a burst of
admiration. "Clever is no name for it. I'd give a year of my life to
come face to face with him. It would be an interesting encounter.
Hunted him for weeks, and to-day laid eyes on him for the first time.
Had my clumsy paws on him this very afternoon. He seemed so willing to
be locked up that I grew careless. Biff! and he and his accomplice, an
erstwhile valet, had me trussed like a chicken and bundled into the
clothes-press. Took my star, credentials, playing-card, and
invitation. It was near eleven o'clock when I roused the housekeeper.
I telegraphed two hours ago."