Nick Carter Read online

  * * *

  Nicholas Carter

  The Great Spy System

  The Great Spy System

  or, Nick Carter’s Promise to the President

  by

  Nicholas Carter

  eText from Munseys.com

  Table of Contents

  I. Nick Carter Sees The President.

  II. Nick Carter Invites Assassination.

  III. Nick Carter Conveys An Important Signal.

  IV. Nick Carter's Perfect Plans.

  V. Nick Carter's Strategic Preparations.

  VI. Nick Carter's Narrow Escape From A Knife.

  VII. Nick Carter's Bold Defiance.

  VIII. Nick Carter Works The Switchboard.

  IX. Nick Carter Captures The Forty Spies.

  X. Nick Carter Makes A Man Talk.

  XI. Nick Carter Swings The Ax.

  XII. Nick Carter Keeps His Promise To The President.

  I. Nick Carter Sees The President.

  "Mustushimi did not leave the country when he was ordered."

  "I did not believe he would do so," replied Nick Carter for the words were directed to him, and the speaker was the President of the United States, who had sent for the detective to come to Washington at once. "He did not strike me as being the sort of man, Mr. President, who could easily be made to abandon a work to which he had devoted so much of his talents as he had to the organization of the spy system."

  "He was an oily little rascal, wasn't he, Mr. Carter?"

  "Decidedly so, sir."

  "I thought at the time that possibly you did not give him full credit for his talents," remarked the President dryly.

  "You will pardon me, sir, but it was my impression at that time that I gave him rather more credit for his possibilities than you did."

  "How so?"

  "I don't think, if our positions had been reversed, that I would have let up on him so easily as you did."

  "It was through no consideration for him that I did so, Mr. Carter; you may be sure of that."

  "Oh, I was sure enough of that at the time, sir. But all the same it appeared to me that a punishment of some kind would have been about the thing for him, then. Instead of that, you merely dismissed him and warned him to leave the country and to take his followers with him. I thought then that he would slip out of it, and what you tell me now proves that he has not gone."

  "No; he didn't go."

  "And he has made himself active again?"

  "Decidedly so; yes."

  "Along the same lines?"

  "Practically the same… Of course, there is a difference. I don't think that he wishes me to guess that he has remained here. He possibly believes that I will think it is the activity of another, and that he has gone, as I ordered him to do."

  "But you are sure that it is Mustushimi?"

  "I haven't a doubt of it, Mr. Carter."

  "You have not seem him?" No.

  "Nor heard directly from him?"

  "No."

  "Then in reality you have no reason other than the one that the spy system has been continued, to think that it is Mustushimi?"

  "No; but I am satisfied that it is he."

  "I am also; so I think we may go ahead on that principle."

  "Yes."

  "Now, Mr. President, will you tell me exactly what you wish to have me do this time? There is no more mystery concerning the means that are employed for observing, interviews. That one they did use, of reading lip-movement, like deaf and dumb people '. in order to understand conversations that could not be heard, is an old trick, and I only wonder that I did not remember it sooner, when I had that case."

  "If Mustushimi is here-and I thoroughly believe he is here-I wish you to capture him and bring him before me once more. I want one more talk with the fellow."

  "I don't think he will enjoy it," said Nick, laughing.

  "I don't intend that he shall,"

  "You will give him something to remember, this time, eh?"

  "I certainly will."

  "I suppose it was imperative that you should be lenient with him that other time, Sir?"

  "I regarded it so-yes. You see, Mr. Carter, it wouldhave been a very easy matter to have affronted his country through him. It would have been the move of Japan to repudiate any association with his aims or connectionwith him. His activities would have been attributed tothe opposing political part in Japan, and the government would have disclaimed any knowledge of Mustushimi's acts, and probably rightly too."

  "In which Japan has borrowed another spoke from the wheel of the effete West; eh?"

  The President laughed heartily.

  "Even so, Mr. Carter. We have always had agitators in this country, whose activities we have repudiated—-but with reason."

  "You have not told me yet, Mr. President, exactly what it is you desire me to do."

  "Mr. Carter, I wish you to serve your country more than me, in this matter. You can serve it best by keeping from it all knowledge of this matter. We managed to keep the other affair a secret, and I am in hopes we can do the same with this one."

  "Well, Sir?"

  "I wish you-as I have already said-to capture Mustushimi in person, and to bring him here before me, just as you did the other time; but also, I wish you, if possible, to break up entirely the gang of spies he controls, and to so frighten them individually and collectively, that one and all of them will be glad to leave the country for good."

  "It strikes me that that is rather a large contract, isn't it?"

  "That is precisely why I have given it to you. I have always understood that you enjoy doing rather impossible things."

  "I have not been belied there, sir."

  "And so I have sent for you again."

  "I am to have a sort of a roving commission, I suppose, Sir?"

  "Your commission is as elastic as you choose to make it. You may, or you may not, as you choose, communicate with Mr. Wilkie, and ask him to give you assistance. You may do exactly as you deem best for the interests of all concerned, always bearing in mind the one important point that I require secrecy, as far as the public is concerned."

  "I understand you, sir."

  "The thing is to rid ourselves of Mustushimi and his followers; and, incidentally, to make it appear to all those who wish to introduce the spy system into this country, that it is a difficult and a dangerous thing to do. Why, Mr. Carter, do you not see that if this sort of thing is not nipped in the bud at once, the time is not far off when the United States will be overrun with spies, as the countries of Europe are, now?"

  "I do understand that perfectly well, Sir."

  "That is the end I am aiming at."

  "And you think the best way to accomplish it is by discrediting their chiefs?"

  "I regard it as the only way."

  "It reminds me of the method that was employed by Mexico to keep anarchists. out of that country," said the detective.

  "How was that—"

  "It was rather heroic, I suppose you will think; but it was effective."

  "Tell me about it."

  "It was at the time when General Hinhosa was minister of war, down there."

  "Yes."

  "I think it was in '94 or '95. At all events it was shortly after the activities of the anarchists in France and Spain —-a year or two after Ravachol blew up the cafe in Paris, if you recall that incident."

  "Perfectly."

  "I was in the city of Mexico that year. One day I happened to call upon Hinhosa at his office in the palace, down at the Zocolo, and during a lapse in our conversation, he asked me rather abruptly:

  " 'Mr. Carter, do you have anarchists in your country?'

  "'Do we!' I exclaimed. 'I should say so, They are a blot on our peace of mind, there.
'

  "'Why don't you take a lesson from us, then, as how to serve them' he asked me.

  "'Tell me about it,' I suggested. He replied:

  "'Not long ago this department received advices from the court of Spain that three noted, anarchists were known to have sailed from there on a certain ship, bound for this country. We were told that the ship—a tramp on which they were passengers should arrive at Vera Cruz at about such a time, and we were advised not to permit them to land, as it was known that they were coming here to organize branches of their society.'

  "'Well, sir?' I asked him.

  "'When the ship arrived at Vera Cruz,' he continued, 'the anarchists were met by three officers of the Mexican army, who were disguised, of course. The officers toldthe men that they were sympathizers in the cause and that they had received notice of the expected arrival of those in men. The story of it is that the anarchists were induced to go ashore quietly with the army officers; they were taken to the city of Orizaba on a special train that night, and they were conducted straight into the prison-yard of that city, thinking that they were on their way to a meeting of the anarchists of Mexico.'

  "'And you imprisoned them there?' I asked. 'They were shot, at daylight, the next morning,' he replied quietly. I have always thought, Mr. President, that that was the very best way to convince their sympathizers that Mexico was an unsafe place for their kind."

  "Undoubtedly. But that sort of method would hardly answer here, in the United States."

  "No. But the same sort of methods can be used-less the bullets."

  "You mean that you think they can be frightened out' I don't mean the anarchists; I refer to the spy systems?"

  "I think so."

  "Well, Mr. Carter, you are at liberty to employ any means you think so long as the country itself is not held responsible—-or, rather so long as it does not appear that the country has to do with it."

  "And Mr. President, do you realize what the best method would be for accomplishing the very end you aim at?"

  "Perhaps not."

  "It will be to convince them that we ourselves have a spy system that is so perfect, that they cannot hope to compete with it."

  "I don't know but you are right, Mr. Carter."

  "I know that I am right, sir. It is the only course that will convince them, finally."

  "Then, by all means, try it."

  "I shall do so, sir; and I shall begin at once."

  "Then I think I may consider it as accomplished, Mr. Carter," smiled the President.

  "I hope that you do not give me credit for too great talents, sir."

  II. Nick Carter Invites Assassination.

  "Will you need any help from Mr. Wilkie, or from the secret service, Mr. Carter?" asked the President.

  "I cannot answer that question now, sir; I do not know."

  "Shall I give Mr. Wilkie my instructions about it?"

  "No, sir; if you please, no. If I find that I require their assistance, I will not hesitate to ask for it, and it will be accorded me personally without a moment of hesitation."

  "I have no doubt of it."

  "I am on very pleasant relations with the men there, and I think it is better if you keep your own personality out of the matter, entirely."

  "So do I."

  "I do not think you care to have me even report to you, do you, sir?"

  "No; not unless you deem it necessary."

  "That is not likely to be the case. However———"

  "Well?"

  "I should like to know that if I do wish to see you in private for a moment, that I can get to you at any time."

  "Good. I will arrange it. Let me see. Oh, I have it."

  "Well, Mr. President?"

  "We will use the word, 'gemis,' for a countersign. It is not a word that is likely to be made use of by another. Do you understand?"

  "Yes."

  "You have only to send one of the attendants, or in any way you choose. I will see you at once, no matter how I am engaged."

  "Thank you."

  "And when you have made use of it once we will change the word to another."

  "Very good, sir. Now, a few questions, if you please."

  "Any that you care to ask, Mr. Carter."

  "You have reason to believe that Mustushimi is now in Washington ?

  "Yes."

  "Why do you think so?"

  "I believe that I have seen him."

  "And I suppose you are still spied upon?"

  "Undoubtedly; all the time."

  "For any specific reason?"

  "No. That other one — the one that existed when you caught Mustushimi, and I permitted him to go, has been abandoned, for the present at least. But there are other irons in their fire, although I have no definite knowledge of what they are."

  "Still, from your remarks, I take it that you have made a shrewd guess."

  "I have made a guess. I don't know whether it is shrewd or not."

  "Will you tell me what it is?"

  "I had not intended to do so."

  "I am sorry for that, Mr. President."

  "You see, Mr. Carter, I may be entirely in the air about it. I may be all wrong. It is a pure and simple guess; but all the same I have thought of it as a possibility."

  "I wish you would tell me exactly what you mean, sir."

  "Do you remember that in that other case, the spies often picked up information which was of no direct value to them, or to their employers, and that when they did so, the news was given out so that it would be made public?"

  "Yes."

  "That was done, in that case, for the purpose of mystifying us, and, if possible, to frighten us."

  "Yes."

  "Well, it has occurred to me that they have thought of another outlet for their superfluous information; one that is possibly remunerative."

  "I don't think I understand you, quite."

  "Just now the railroad legislation is creating considerable agitation, as you know."

  "Yes."

  "And the big operators are more or less frightened by what may be done to curb them. You understand all that, do you not?"

  "Yes."

  "Well, let us suppose a case, then."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Suppose that Mustushimi is working this affair, as I think he is; suppose he has decided to shield his activities behind some local employment-or the appearance of one."

  "Great, Mr. President!"

  "What is more natural than that he should apply to one of the big railroad men and should say to him something like this: 'I am in a position to get you all the information you require. I am in a position to tell you, beforehand, all that the government intends to try to do in regard to railroad legislation. I will give you that information for a price, and you need not pay me until the goods are delivered. Do you think that there is one of the railroads that would not jump at the opportunity?"

  "No."

  "Well, Mr. Carter, that is the guess I have made which I hesitated to confide in you, only because it is nothing more than a guess. But my own opinion is that the activities of Japan, through Baron Mustushimi, are as great now as they were when you took that other case, but that now the crafty fellow is biding himself and his men behind a local employment of some kind, and is prepared to make it appear, in case he is discovered, that the other information he gets-that which is of real use to him is only the side issue, and that he is really employed by the railroads, the coal barons, the packers, the oil interests, or by some local industry which might be interested in spying upon the government."

  "Mr. President, you have hit the nail squarely on the head, there."

  "I have thought it, likely."

  "It is the gist of the whole thing, sir."

  "I am glad that you agree with me, although of course I am sorry to think that my own countrymen should deem it necessary to undertake such a thing as spying upon the government."

  "Men will do strange things where their pockets are concerned."

  "
Or their ambitions—yes."

  "I don't suppose, Mr. President, that private conversations of yours have been reported, of late, have they?"

  "Not in the manner they were before, Mr. Carter; but some of them have been reported. Of course, now that I am wise as to what was done before, I am careful not to talk where my face can be seen through a window-of course I am careful to refrain from conversations with others when I am where the motion of my lips may be observed; but you must understand that such occasions do arise, in spite of me."

  "Yes."

  "And so I am convinced, as I have said before, that it is Mustushimi who is behind it."

  "And you have seen him?"

  "I think so."

  "Are there as many Japs hanging around the city as formerly?"

  "I don't think so; not nearly."

  "Mustushmii confessed to me, that other time, that he had two thousand of them in the country; and that there were two hundred or more in this city alone."

  "Is it not possible that he has found the employment of men of other nationalities to be advisable, now?" asked the President.

  "I was just thinking of that; yes, sir, it is."

  "I think that you will find that to be the explanation. Mr. Carter."

  "Are there any final instructions that you would like to give me, sir?"

  "I can think of nothing more now."

  "Does anybody know that you sent for me?"

  "No. I wrote the letter myself, and dropped it into a box with my own hand."

  "But of course I was seen to come here. If Mustushimi's system is anything like as perfect as it was before, he already knows that I am here."

  "That, Mr. Carter, is why I showed some surprise when you came here so openly."

  "I did it purposely, Mr. President."

  "Why?"

  "Because I guessed at once why you wished to see me, although you did not mention it in your letter—and because, now that I see I was right, I want Mustushimi to know that I am on his trail."

  "That strikes me as being a new method of pursuing a secret investigation."

  "It is, in one sense. But this case is different from any other."

  "How so?"