The Ghost Breaker: A Novel Based Upon the Play Read online

  VIII

  THE NEW PROFESSION

  A knock on the door brought them both back to--the deck of the_Mauretania_, with terra firma not so far distant below!

  "There he is now," she whispered nervously. "Who shall I say you are?And what?"

  "Oh, any old thing--Warren, Mr. Warren. Leave the classification to me.Self-identification is an American trait!"

  She crossed the cabin, and after a timid pause opened the door.

  "Come in," she murmured.

  "Ah, I'm intruding," exclaimed Carlos, Duke of Alva, with an intonationwhich expressed an invitation for Warren Jarvis to make a gracefulexit.

  "Not at all," blankly observed Jarvis. "I've just been discussing myprofessional task at the castle; as a member of the family you can giveme some good working material."

  "I don't understand," spluttered Carlos, taken aback.

  "Pardon me, cousin. This is Mr. Warren, of America, who has consentedto help me. My cousin, the Duke of Alva." She walked behind the twomen, comparing them keenly: the deadly parallel column was not at allunfavorable to the insouciant Kentuckian.

  "Glad to know you," volunteered Jarvis. "Have a cigarette?"

  "I never smoke in the presence of ladies," retorted the Duke. Then witha patronizing air he added: "I am honored to meet you, sir, if you arein my royal cousin's employ. So, you are interested in the castle?"

  "Oh, not so much in the castle as in the ghost. I'll attend to him."

  "And is that your regular profession?"

  "You are a good guesser, my dear Duke. That is my business--solvingmysteries--locking up family skeletons--chasing spooks and putting salton their tails. We have a professional name for it in the UnitedStates."

  "And what is that, sir?" asked Carlos, uncertain whether to beaffronted or to draw out this strange bird to a confidence. A quickglance at his cousin's immobile face gave him no hint.

  Jarvis continued amiably.

  "We are living in an age of specialists. You have doubtless heard ofFarley the Strike Breaker, of Roosevelt the Trust Breaker. I forgot tobring my business cards with me; but if I may be so immodest as to tellthe truth, I am known from Bowling Green to the Golden Gate as Warrenthe Ghost Breaker!"

  "_I am known from Bowling Green to the Golden Gate, asWarren the Ghost Breaker_"]

  This astounding news fairly took the Duke off his feet. He mentallyclawed the air for his equilibrium.

  "_Madre de Dios!_" ejaculated the Duke, dropping his sword-cane. As herecovered from his astonishment, the Princess interceded: "I am so gladyou came. I promised the Ghost Breaker that you would join us shortly.You will be able to tell him, so much better than I, of all the strangecircumstances. I have only given him a rough outline of what happenedup to the time I left my brother on his way to the castle."

  Carlos sank into a chair, irritated at the American's disinterestedlack of courtesy: Jarvis had not even risen from his seat on the trunk.Somehow or other Carlos despised that trunk!

  "I will be delighted to throw any possible light on the mystery of thecastle. But first let us leave your brother in peace, to let me knowwhy you came to America?"

  Maria Theresa drew the locket from her reticule.

  "This is what brought me."

  "May I see it?" and the Duke held out his hand, ingratiatingly. "What acharming old antique!"

  "No, Carlos. Rather you may see the locket, but not the memorandum inthe back."

  The Duke registered an expression of polite surprise.

  "Memorandum?"

  "Yes," and the Princess removed a small bit of paper from the ivoryback, swinging it forward to her cousin's hand, on the long silverchain. The nobleman's dark face assumed a ruddier hue, as he caught thetrinket in fingers which Jarvis noticed were trembling in tell-talemanner. Jarvis watched the two of them in silence.

  "It's a curious old piece of work. And you came all the way to New Yorkto get it?"

  "Yes."

  "You were fortunate to find it so soon."

  "I knew where to find it, Carlos; yet I was almost too late. Think ofit, after that dear old family heirloom had lain in an antique shop fornearly ten years--suddenly there came two inquiries for it in a day,two beside my own. The first was from a distinguished-looking gentlemanwho had called early in the morning, describing it roughly to the oldman, urging him to hunt for it. It took an hour to find it--and Ihappened to come in at the end of the hour. I doubled the offer of amuseum collector, and trebled that of the distinguished-lookinggentleman. I secured it."

  Here, the Princess shot a sharp look into the half-closed eyes of theDuke.

  "Who do you suppose could have wanted that locket but myself, Carlos?"

  "I suppose," and it was the assumed indifference of a cornered schemer,"it has already occurred to you that I am the 'distinguished-lookinggentleman.' Has it, cousin?"

  The girl's curiosity piqued her.

  "But how did you learn about the memorandum, Carlos?"

  "I didn't, cousin. I had not the slightest suspicion that the locketcontained an important secret; I doubt it now. I was merely followingmy pet hobby, in addition to a little family sentiment. I wanted torecover some of those precious heirlooms which had been scattered tothe four winds."

  "When did you know that this one had been scattered to New York,--onyour last visit to the boulevards of Paris?" And Jarvis' smile was asingenuous as that of a babe of two.

  The Duke of Alva scowled. There seemed something uncanny in thesharpness of this American; but he prided himself upon the power ofdiplomacy.

  "I have seldom been in Paris: they are not so much interested inantiques as in very lively moderns, Mr. Ghost Breaker!... But there,you interrupted my thought! You would be surprised to see thecollection which I have already rescued, and which, Maria, will someday be yours. You Americans are not noted as really astute collectors,Mr. Jarvis."

  "Well, our collectors who don't worry over millions are frequentlystung by clever counterfeits. But we laboring men, who must devote allour time to our work, are usually able to tell imitations from the realthing. We are not impressed by 'four-flushing,' your Excellency!"

  The Duke scowled at Warren, vainly attempting to divine the meaning ofthe Yankee slang. But the Kentuckian was impatient: he knew thatdebates were seldom as productive as labor in a workshop, when it camedown to fundamentals.

  Carlos was impatiently interrupted.

  "Well, so much for the treasure--let's hear about the ghost. Of courseI'm _certain_ that there's no connection between the two, in such anaristocratic land as Spain, which scoffs at the American pursuit of themiserable, despised dollar.... What's your private opinion of thisghost? Is he a real, dependable, hell-bent spook, deserving all thispress stuff which has been given to him? I've had so much experiencewith spirits--being a native Kentuckian--that they must be 100-proof tointerest me!... Do you really put any stock in ghosts, Duke?"

  "Yes, Mr. Warren, I am convinced that there are such things. This worldis filled with evidences of the supernatural."

  "Then you honestly believe this castle is haunted?"

  "I know it!" And the Duke's black eyes sparkled with an intensity whichhad its effect even upon the cynical Warren Jarvis.

  "So you think this ghost is dangerous to encounter--that it is thecause of the mysterious deaths and disappearances in the old castle?"

  "I do, Mr. Warren!"

  Jarvis whistled meditatively. The Duke looked disgusted; this was soabsolutely against all rules of his own conduct with women.

  "Well, what do you know about _that_?"

  Warren was again silent. The Duke was tabulating his own material andpreparing his next charge of ammunition.

  "_Ghost_ is a broad term, your Excellency. There are fifty-sevenvarieties of them, just like good pickles. They're equally bad for thedigestion. What is your particular conception of this particularghost?"

  The Duke answered impatiently.

  "There are certain occult forces in this world, Mr. Warren, thatsc
ience cannot classify or fathom. Some of them are at work in thatcastle, manifesting their weird powers. A priest might call them demonsor fiends--a psychologist might term them, perhaps, returnedspirits.... I can't say; but I have been there, and heard their curiouswarnings and manifestations. There is something definable there, in theperiphery of those ancient ruins. A malignant spiritual force lurkswithin that mediaeval stronghold. While it haunts those musty halls itis madness for any man to expose himself there."

  "You could write a good book on it, Duke," observed Jarvisirreverently. "Have you ever seen this ghost?"

  "My brother has," interrupted Maria Theresa impetuously. "Twice, to myknowledge, before I left Seguro. So had my father and the others whodisappeared from human ken!"

  "Good Lord!" and there was a touch of the mock-heroic in theKentuckian's voice, which escaped his companions.

  "According to the family tradition," continued the Princess, "no onehas ever seen it three times, and lived to tell the story."

  "How do you connect this gentlemanly spook with the treasure, yourExcellency?" burst in Jarvis, with a swift look of interrogation whichdiscomfited the nobleman.

  "Spook? Treasure? I see no connection. What do you mean?"

  "Oh, there is always money when the ghost walks," was the mysteriousreply of the American, wasted on the untheatrical Spaniards. "That isthe first premise upon which a reliable scientific Ghost Breaker beginshis task of investigation."

  "I don't know what your experience may have been, Mr. Warren. You areevidently a brave man, but you have yet to encounter a ghost like thissupernatural spirit. Things are different in the Old World!"

  Warren Jarvis sniffed.

  "Huh! Brave? It takes no bravery to fight a coward--that is what theghost is. It's a coward like every other stealthy, sneaking spirit,afraid to show itself by daylight, in the glare of the sun. I can tellyou now that men are not half so afraid of spirits as the spirits areafraid of men. If you face the supernatural, it is more than halfbeaten to a frazzle, before the fight begins. In my professional careerI have learned that ghosts, horse thieves, and peevish wildcats can allbe tamed by the same little charm."

  The Princess was mystified.

  "Charm? What do you mean--a relic?"

  The Duke leaned forward, his eyes sparkling with interest.

  "What is it?"

  "I'd hate to tell you," responded Warren Jarvis. "It's part of mysystem."

  And he forthwith drew out the revolver, caressing it with anunmistakable confidence.

  "I had been hoping, Mr. Warren," remarked the Duke, "that you had somesubtle method worthy of handling this problem, and justifying thereputation for such work which you say you maintain through America.You evidently propose to meet the forces of the supernatural withfirearms.... I may as well tell you that this specter has been shot atbefore without the slightest effect."

  The Kentuckian smiled gently.

  "Quite likely, your Excellency. I have seen rifle-fire that had not theslightest effect on a wildcat for the simple reason that the firing waswilder than the cat!"

  The Duke of Alva bestowed a pitying glance upon the weapon and itsowner.

  "I'm sorry for you, Mr. Warren. You will find that the ghost is morereal than the treasure."

  The Princess arose indignantly. She interrupted, with feminine betrayalof her own hand.

  "But the treasure is real, Carlos. Would I have crossed the ocean forthis locket unless I knew?"

  Carlos looked at her sharply.

  "I know I am right, now, Carlos. With the memorandum which I foundinside the old locket, anyone, a total stranger, could walk right up tothe very stone that hides it."

  There was a meaning tone in Jarvis' voice, as he added: "A prettydangerous paper to have around--look out that somebody else doesn't getthere ahead of you."

  The Duke shot back a quick answer to the message between the words:"Yes, it is a dangerous paper--if it leads anyone into the castle."

  "Well, despite the danger and the threats of--the ghost--I'd go a longway for the fun of unraveling a good mystery with a little spice ofdanger thrown in."

  The Duke scowled, and then with a peculiar emphasis on his words drew anewspaper from the breast pocket of his coat.

  "You needn't have taken such a long trip, Mr. Warren. You are leavingbehind you, in New York, a very interesting and unusual mystery. Thepapers are full of the story to-day.... It will interest you too,cousin. You were stopping at the Manhattan Hotel last night, Ibelieve?"

  "Yes," said the girl indifferently; but she and Jarvis exchangedeloquent glances.

  The Duke was reading with unusual interest, it seemed to Jarvis.

  "Why, no..." he began. "I was so wrapped up in my baggage that I reallydidn't have the time nor inclination to bother with the scandal of theday. Tell us about it?"

  The nobleman began to read:

  "'Pistol duel in Manhattan Hotel.... Colonel James Marcum, a wealthyand prominent Kentucky sportsman, nearly met death at an early hourthis morning in a revolver battle in his hotel room...'"

  He glanced down the column and continued:

  "'Even at a late hour the police had no clew to the identity of hisassailant, except the remarkable fact that the person is still hidingsomewhere in the hotel...'"

  The Kentuckian interrupted:

  "The villain is probably a long way from the hotel by this time if heknows what's what!"

  "But they say he couldn't have gotten out without being seen,"continued the Duke, still studying the printed column.

  "Oh, that's the theory of the reporters. They'd lose their jobs if theyever told the real truth in a criminal case," remarked Jarvis coolly."Don't believe what the papers say--unless it's nice and aboutyourself!"

  "Well, Mr. Ghost Breaker, what is your own opinion? You are an expertin these matters," insisted the Duke. "This affair interests me."

  Jarvis was more than nonchalant.

  "He might have escaped in a thousand ways. But such work is not in myline: that's 'gum-shoe' stuff--for plain common or garden detectives."

  Nita entered the cabin, and Maria Theresa arose uncertainly.

  "I'll call you when I need you, Nita." There was some hidden portent inher tone which Jarvis failed to divine. He decided that discretion wasthe better part of valor. He rose, and walked toward the door to thepromenade deck.

  "We are keeping you from getting settled, I fear," he declared. "So, ifyou'll excuse me at this time, I'll hope to see you at luncheon.... Andas for you, Duke, it's a great pleasure to meet your Excellency."

  Carlos bowed with military grace.

  "Thank you, Mr. Warren. I find you most interesting. I shall be glad tohear more of your remarkable profession. Good-morning, sir."

  The Kentuckian turned away.

  As Warren reached the deck door there was a knock upon the portal tothe cabin passage.

  Nita followed him, and then turned to open the second entrance. Twopompous, red-cheeked, red-necked individuals stepped forward, withoutso much as a "by-your-leave!"

  The first one spoke, reading from a smudgy memorandum book.

  "You are Miss M. T. Ar-r-ragan?"

  The Princess acquiesced.

  "You was at the Hotel Manhattan last night?"

  "Yes."

  "The lock on your bedroom door was broken?"

  "Yes?"

  The speaker jerked back the left lapel of his coat, displaying a silverbadge with great satisfaction.

  "I am from headquarters, madame, and I have orders to clear up one ortwo little matters connected with that affair at the hotel last night."

  The speaker glared at them suspiciously.

  The chivalry of Spain asserted itself. The Duke stepped forward withspirit, gripping the cane as though it were a cavalry saber.

  "Orders--orders--what orders? To break into this lady's private cabin?What headquarters?"

  "It seems to me, bo, that you're in a lady's private cabin yourself.I'm from police headquarters, bo!"

  "
Do you know whom you are addressing, fellow?"

  "Say, nix on this _fellow_ stuff. That'll be about all from you."

  Maria Theresa interceded with her winsome grace and irresistible smile.

  "Yes, Carlos, let me attend to the matter. Won't you come into thecabin, gentlemen, and be seated?"

  The two detectives beamed, their bosoms heaved with pride at thisunexpected recognition of their importance. They entered, waving awaythe steward and closing the cabin door behind them.

  "We're just been discussing that mystery, Inspector!" observed Jarvis,coming nearer and taking his seat upon the trunk once more. Thisirritated the Duke, who added: "You are, I take it, one of the 'gumshoes'?"

  Jarvis turned toward Maria Theresa, disregarding all properties due tothe presence of the aristocracy, and yielded to that nervous twitchingof the left eye which expresses such manifold meaning with such minimumof sound!

  The detective whirled about, from his scrutiny of the cabin, walkingtoward the Duke. He fairly howled in the surprised nobleman's face:

  "Gum shoe! Say, are you trying to kid me?"

  The Duke replied with asperity:

  "Well, sir. You are speaking rather loudly. I presume that I haveoffended you?"

  "You presume! I should say you do. That's a hot one. Who are you,anyway?"

  "I am Carlos, Hernando y Calderos, Duke of Alva. I have other titles,but they would hardly interest you."

  The detective glared at him malevolently, mimicking the crispenunciation of the nobleman.

  "But you interest me, sweetie. Dook of Alver--and then some, eh? Ain'tthat just too cutey-cutey for any use? Say, I'm used to these dooks andcounts--I've been around Peacock Alley at the Waldorf too long not toknow 'em by their checkered pants and them canes! Say, Dook! If you wasthe Archbishop of Canterbury I'd run yer in and take yer ashore, if yergive me any more of yer lip."

  Jarvis, bumping his heels against the trunk, smiled with diabolicalenjoyment in the face of his Excellency!