Chapter VIII: A Surprise

The race track is all excitement.

People fight their way through the crowd to the bookmakers, and deposit their money, many of them placing it on Denver Bay.

Finally the rakes and brooms are called from the track.

The crowd rushes up the stairways, and the next moment a splendid bay horse comes around the head of the stretch.

“Denver Bay! Denver Bay!” is the cry.

Close behind him come other favorites.

They go down the paddock, followed in a straggling way by the rest of the field.

The jockeys and helpers crowd about their mounts, and excitement is everywhere.

“Hello,” shouts Denver Bay’s jockey, as a man, wearing the horse’s colors, moves up to him. “Don’t you think you are a dude?”

“I was a dude yesterday,” is the sullen reply.

“No monkeying there,” shouts Amos, walking up to the horse with a sponge in his hand. “They are about ready.”

The detective watches the man closely, and smiles as he sees something white glistening in his palm.

There is a flash of colors and a gleam of steel down in the paddock, as the jockeys mount their horses, and the entire field moves out to the track.

Denver Bay leads.

He minces along with a knowing air, as though thoroughly realizing his importance.

The rest of the field follows in single file, their glossy hides shining in the sun like satin.

The horses take their places in a long, irregular line.

Clouds of dust follow several false breaks and hang over the starting point.

The signal comes, and down the stretch of track come the bright shirts of the jockeys.

Denver Bay gives a sudden plunge or two, jumps off something like two lengths, and goes sailing away in the lead.

There is a grand shout of voices and a shuffling of nervous feet, and shrill cries of “Denver Bay! Denver Bay!”

They sweep past the stand, past the long rows of excited faces, around the turn and away.

Then there is silence for a moment, but only for a moment.

“Daisy falls back!” shouts one, swinging his field glass aloft.

“Denver Bay leads!” shouts another, amid the wildest cheers.

Nick Carter stands close by the side of Amos as the horses turn into the home-stretch.

The detective sees that the man’s face is as pale as death, and that his hands are trembling.

“You beat me on the jumping match,” said Nick, turning to the excited man, “but I’ll bet you an even ten that Denver Bay wins the race.”

Amos makes no reply.

He pushes his way hither and yon in the crowd, muttering incoherently to himself.

“It must be time,” Nick hears him say, as the thunder of hoofs grows louder. “If it don’t happen, they’ll all blame me.”

With straining muscles and glaring eyes, the horses pound up the track, Denver Bay still in the lead.

“This is ruin!” gasps Amos, now utterly regardless of the people about him.

The horses are only a few rods away.

Then Nick sees the excited man grasped by the throat, and realizes that Martin, desperate and unable to control his passion, is fighting with his tool, as dogs fight in the gutter.

The horses thunder past, and Denver Bay wins by a good length.

The great handicap race is over and Denver Bay is officially declared the winner.

As the crowd surges around the winning horse and the jockey is being weighed, there is a cry from the grand stand that some one has fainted.

Nick sees that the excitement is about the spot the Wall Street broker selected as his seat, and hastens in that direction.

As he reaches the place Wheeler slowly opens his eyes and reaches out his hand.

“Not a word here,” whispers the detective, as he bends over him. “Are you able to walk?”

“I think so. You see, it rather knocked me out.”

“Well, get a carriage here and drive away.”

Nick places the broker in a carriage, and then turns back toward the track.

“You did nobly,” he says to the jockey, a moment later. “Keep what took place last night to yourself, and come to this address to-morrow forenoon.”

The detective hands the boy the broker’s card and hastens away.

“Now, then,” he says to the broker, as they drive slowly along, “I want to tell you, now that it is all over, that I don’t like these kind of cases.”

“But you have saved my reputation, and have saved the property of two innocent children. Besides this, you have defeated one of the wickedest conspiracies ever put on the turf.”

“Yes, but I don’t like it for all that. I don’t like the idea of mixing up in these affairs of the turf. My business is to assist the officers of the law in bringing criminals to justice.”

“If the note you sent me this morning is correct you have also done this.”

“How is that?”

“In defeating the race-track gamblers you have captured the men who robbed me of twenty thousand dollars.”

“That is all that makes me feel in any way easy about my part in the transaction.”

“You have even recovered ten thousand dollars of the stolen money.”

“Yes, but that part of it was all involuntary--I did not set out to catch the thieves or to recover the stolen money.”

“You did both, though,” said Wheeler, heartily, “and I am seventy thousand dollars ahead by reason of your good work. For without your assistance I should have lost the twenty thousand stake money, and would never have recovered the ten thousand.”

“You should have faced the loss of the twenty thousand dollars like a man, and not resorted to the race track to get even. Don’t come to me if you ever get into another scrape of the same sort. You remember the promise you made me when I entered upon the case?”

“What was it?”

“You promised that if I would assist you in saving your money that you would invest the money belonging to these heirs in some safe and secure manner, where it would be beyond your reach.”

“And you may rest assured that I will do all that and more. They shall have all the money I have won by the use of their money.”

“There is one thing more. I want you to give the little jockey a thousand dollars when he comes to your office to-morrow. I leave my compensation entirely to yourself.”

“It shall be ten thousand dollars, if it is a cent. Come around in the morning and get the check.”

“You’d better collect in all your bets this afternoon,” said Nick, as the two men parted, “for the pool-rooms have been hit hard. I just won a few hundred myself; not because I wanted to win the money, but because I found myself in places where I had to bet. I have a private charity fund, however, which will care for that.”

Wheeler collected his money without any difficulty, and Nick Carter received his very liberal fee next day.

The little jockey nearly went wild when he was presented with a thousand dollars.

Brower and Morris were convicted of grand larceny, and sentenced to long terms.

And now, when the celebrated detective feels particularly pleasant, he explains to his companions how, for once in his life, he became a “dead-game” sport, saved the patrimony of two innocent children, and won the famous handicap.

[THE END.]

The next number of the New Nick Carter Weekly will contain “Trim in the Dark; or, A Long Road That Has No Turning.”

NICK
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87--Nick Carter’s Quick Decision. 88--Chicago’s Carnival of Crime. 89--Looted in Transit. 90--9-19-29. 91--The Coin Cuff Button. 92--The Highwaymen Side-Tracked. 93--The New York Post Office Thugs. 94--Skipped from Custody. 95--The Letter Z. 96--The Electric Drill. 97--Nick Carter at Mount Vernon. 98--The Identity of Daly. 99--The Book-maker’s Crime. 100--Nick Carter’s Greatest Puzzle. 101--The Knave of Diamonds. 102--The Foot-pads of the Fair. 103--The Little Knocker Out. 104--Nick Carter and the Circus Crooks. 105--The Elevated Railroad Mystery. 106--Nick Carter’s Presence of Mind. 107--The Murder in the Sleeping Car. 108--Nick Carter’s Walk Over. 109--Nick Carter After Bob Dalton. 110--Among the Fire Bugs. 111--Nick Carter’s Second Sight. 112--Nick Carter Among the Poisoners. 113--The Mysterious Assassin. 114--Nick Carter’s Vacation. 115--The Great Detective’s Mascot. 116--The Train Robbery at Kessler Switch. 117--Nick Carter on Time. 118--The Train Robber’s Wind-up. 119--A Murder in the Park. 120--Nick Carter’s Mouse Trap. 121--A Trio of Blackmailers. 122--A Millionaire Fraud. 123--A Dead Man’s Hand. 124--The Fate of Burglar Joe. 125--Nick Carter’s Best Six Hours’ Work. 126--The Heir of Doctor Quartz. 127--A Startling Theft. 128--Nick Carter’s London Mystery. 129--The Eye of Fire. 130--The Meerschaum Pipe. 131--The Path of a Bullet. 132--Three Brass Balls. 133--The Doctor’s Tenant. 134--The Golden Blackmailing Case. 135--Nick Carter’s Fair Play. 136--The Pricks of a Needle. 137--Two Little Girls in Blue. 138--The Great Fur Mystery. 139--The Five Kernels of Corn. 140--The Check in the Grave. 141--The Head of a Lizard. 142--A Personal in the Herald. 143--Nick Carter in Court. 144--The Crime of the French Cafe. 145--The Man Who Stole Millions. 146--The Writing on the Mirror. 147--Nick’s Special Train. 148--Wanted for Murder. 149--The Man with an Extra Finger. 150--The Case of the Burned Ear. 151--The Stolen Race-Horse. 152--The Face at the Window. 153--A Bite of an Apple. 154--Nick Carter’s Ghost Story. 155--A Fatal Knot. 156--The State Street Bond Robbery. 157--The Photograph Clew. 158--Laundry List No. 4575. 159--The Stolen Railroad Train. 160--The Violet Ink Clew. 161--Nick Carter at the Wheel. 162--‘Frisco Jim’s Fatal Error. 163--A Lead Pipe Cinch. 164--The Hip Ling Secret Society. 165--The Coroner Outwitted. 166--The Broken Arm. 167--After the Badger Gang. 168--The Pullman Plot. 169--The Little Glass Vial. 170--The Wooden Finger. 171--Nick Carter’s Sub-Treasury Express. 172--The Acquia Creek Train Robbery. 173--Nick Carter Under the Knife. 174--Nick Carter after the Cook Gang. 175--Nick Carter and the Forest Fires. 176--The Texas and Pacific Express Robbery. 177--The Beautiful Shop-Lifter. 178--The Great Life Insurance Fraud. 179--The Counterfeiter’s Gold Tooth. 180--Pardoned by the President. 181--The Cook Gang at Blackstone Switch. 182--Tracked to Union Station. 183--Safety Deposit Vault No. 39. 184--Who Answered the Personal? 185--Ida, The Woman Detective. 186--The Passenger in the Lower Berth. 187--One Against Twenty-One. 188--Discharged from Custody. 189--The Tramp’s Password. 190--A Crime by Telephone. 191--The Doctor’s Dangerous Experiment. 192--The Hole in the Bank. 193--The Cipher Letter. 194--Saved from the Flames. 195--The Mystery of the Yellow Cab. 196--The Man with the Big Head. 197--Run Down in Toronto. 198--The Wizard of the Cue. 199--A Swindler in Petticoats. 200--Nick Carter’s Quick Work. 201--Blackmailed for Thousands. 202--A Million Dollar Check. 203--Nick Carter’s Name at Stake. 204--Nick Carter in Philadelphia. 205--A Confession by Mistake. 206--Old Thunderbolt Locomotive. 207--Nick Carter’s Double Header. 208--Nick Carter Before the Mast. 209--The Tyburn T. 210--A Man with Four Identities. 211--From Hotel to Prison Cell. 212--Nick Carter’s Double Game. 213--’Mid Flying Bullets. 214--Nick Carter in Boston. 215--Worse than Murder. 216--Brockwell, the Counterfeiter. 217--Nick Carter on the Wheel. 218--Patsy’s Clever Capture. 219--Check 777. 220--Patsy and the Mountain Outlaw. 221--Three Thousand Miles by Freight. 222--Patsy Among the Nihilists. 223--The Thirteens’ Oath of Vengeance. 224--Patsy’s Fight with the Professor. 225--The Fate of Doctor Quartz. 226--Patsy in Russia. 227--Package “17A.” 228--Patsy in England. 229--Nick Carter’s Greatest Peril. 230--Patsy at Home Again. 231--The Great Detective Defied. 232--Patsy in the William Street Den. 233--Patsy on the Terry Murder Case. 234--The Little Giant’s Task. 235--Patsy and the Diamond Mystery. 236--Brought to Bay at Last. 237--Patsy Breaks the Record. 238--Nick Carter’s Celebrated Case. 239--Patsy’s String of Fish. 240--The Little Giant on Deck. 241--Patsy Under Arrest. 242--Young Hercules, Nick Carter’s Assistant. 243--Patsy in Paris. 244--Nick Carter in San Francisco. 245--Patsy Before the Alamo. 246--Nick Carter in Chicago. 247--Patsy at Thompson Ranch. 248--Nick Carter’s Mysterious Case. 249--Patsy’s Strangest Case. 250--Mad Madge, the Queen of Crooks. 251--Patsy at Cripple Creek. 252--A Dead Man’s Grip. 253--Patsy’s Bag of Game. 254--Nick Carter in Kansas City. 255--Patsy’s Millionaire Partner. 256--Mysterious Mail Bag Robbery. 257--Patsy and the Suburban Mystery. 258--Young Hercules in Mexico City. 259--Patsy’s Journey to Boston. 260--Ninety Miles an Hour. 261--Patsy in Baltimore. 262--Nick Carter in St. Louis. 263--Patsy in St. Louis. 264--Nick Carter in Baltimore. 265--Patsy at the Sea Shore. 266--Nick Carter in New Orleans. 267--Patsy in a Canter. 268--Three Times Dead. 269--Patsy’s Queer Advice. 270--The Great Jewel Robbery. 271--Patsy in Chicago. 272--The Fourfold Murder. 273--Patsy’s Supposed Failure. 274--The Letters on the Floor. 275--Patsy and the Double Shuffle Club. 276--Nick Carter On His Mettle. 277--Patsy in Philadelphia. 278--Nick Carter in Jeopardy. 279--Patsy’s Long Disappearance. 280--The Gold Brick Swindlers. 281--Patsy’s Live Wire and the Way it Worked with a Visitor. 282--Nick Carter on the Bowery.

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THE LATEST AND BEST LIBRARY OF DETECTIVE STORIES.

Trim Carter, son of the famous “Chick Carter,” is the leading character
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_=Back Numbers always on hand.=_ _=Price, post-paid, Five cents each.=_

1--The Gold Mine Case; or, How Chick’s Son Became a Detective.

2--Trim’s Race Across the Ice Fields; or, Hunting a Criminal with a
Team of Dogs.

3--Trim and the Swedish Swindler; or, Bilk-You’s Career in Alaska
Society.

4--Trim Among the Esquimaux; or, The Long Night in Frozen North.

5--Trim Among the Bushmen; or, Searching for a Lost Gold Mine in
Australia.

6--Trim’s Double Header; or, Snaring Human Game with Decoys.

7--Trim on the Safety Valve; or, Taking Long Chances with Death.

8--Trim’s Troublesome Tiger; or, How His Prisoner Escaped the
Gallows.

9--Trim in Cape Town; or, The Man with a Strange Limp.

10--Trim in the Diamond Fields of Kimberly.

11--Trim in the Wilds; or, Hunting a Criminal on the Dark
Continent.

12--Trim Changes Cars; or, Taking Big Chances for a Quick Capture.

13--Trim in the Main Shaft; or, Hunting Criminals a Thousand Feet
Underground.

14--Trim Shoots the Grain Chute; or, A Surprise Party on Board the
Falcon.

15--Trim’s Round-up in Detroit; or, A Long Chase Ended in a Hurry.

16--Trim’s String of Clews; All Tied by the Same Knot.

17--Trim in Cincinnati; or, Following a Bogus Case.

18--Trim’s Secret Mission; or, A Green Countryman in Town.

19--Trim’s Cold Bath; or, Trapping a Criminal in the Bay.

20--Trim’s Chase after a Murderer; or, Caught in the Air.

21--Trim in the Cigar Store; or, A Lively Wooden Indian.

22--Trim in Mexico; or, Breaking up a Secret Society.

23--Trim in the Crescent City; or, A Break in the Levee.

24--Trim’s Run of Luck; or, A Case Concluded Ahead of Time.

25--Trim’s Combination Case; or, Two Clients After the Same Man.

26--Trim on the Road; or, A Leave of Absence that Turned out Gold.

27--Trim in Kansas City; or, The Detective’s Experiment in Second
Sight.

28--Nick Carter at the Track; or, How He Became a Dead Game Sport.

29--Trim in the Dark; or, A Long Road that has no Turning.

30--Nick Carter’s Railroad Case.

31--Trim’s Electric Machine; or, The Man Who Had Charge of the
Office.

STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK.

=For Sale by all Newsdealers.=

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

regard to Lackawana=> regard to Lackawanna

nearly ever one=> nearly ever one

call at the pace toward=> call at the place toward

drecting his steps=> directing his steps

understood by the deetctive=> understood by the detective

instead of the silk tile=> instead of the silk tie

your everylasting fortune=> your everlasting fortune

Steve poked the due=> Steve poked the dude