The Dock Rats of New York

vaud - Harlan Page Halsey

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Publié par	vaud
Publié le	08 décembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	36
Langue	English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dock Rats of
New York, by "Old Sleuth"
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**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla
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Title: The Dock Rats of New YorkAuthor: "Old Sleuth"
Harlan Page Halsey
Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5248] [Yes,
we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
[This file was first posted on June 11, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG
EBOOK THE DOCK RATS OF NEW YORK ***
Transcriber's Note:
This book is an example of early pulp fiction. It was
published in 1908 by The Arthur Westbrook Co. as
Adventure
Series No. 76. "Old Sleuth" is the pseudonym of
Harlan Page
Halsey (1837-1898).THE "DOCK RATS" OF
NEW YORK OR THE
SMUGGLER BAND'S
LAST STAND
BY "OLD SLEUTH"
CHAPTER I.
"Hold, Stranger!"
The words fell from beautiful lips under the most
exciting circumstances.
A boat rocked upon the calm water that murmured
along the shore, when a young man came down
from the upper bank of white drift sand, and seized
the tiller rope. He had the rope in his hand, his arm
was upraised to draw the boat to his feet, when hewas startled by hearing the words with which we
open our narrative.
The young man turned toward the speaker, and
encountered a sight that caused his handsome
eyes to bulge with amazement.
It was a clear, cloudless night, and a half moon
shed its diminished radiance on surrounding
objects, and revealed to the astonished gaze of the
young man the weird-appearing figure of a young
girl.
One glance was sufficient to announce the fact
that the girl was beautiful, but alas! in what
questionable shape did she appear? She was
attired in a loose gown tightened about the waist
with a leathern belt, her feet were bare, and her
long hair hung unkempt upon her shoulders.
As our old-time readers know, we are not heavy on
the beauty-describing business, and we will merely
declare that the girl was indeed a lovely creature,
clad in rags; but she was beautiful, and Spencer
Vance, the young man, discerned the fact at a
glance, and his amazement was the greater
because of the thrilling conditions under which re
beheld so great loveliness.
The young man made no immediate answer to the
girl's abrupt salutation, but merely stood and gazed
at her without any attempt to conceal his utter
astonishment.
"You must not go off in the yacht to-night!" said thegirl.
"Why must I stay ashore to-night?"
"Danger is ahead of you!"
"But I am an old sailor, miss; I can take care of
myself, I reckon."
The girl drew close to the young man, laid her hand
upon his arm, and in a husky voice, whispered:
"The danger comes not from the sea! You will be a
victim!"
The young man let the boat line fall from his grasp,
a fierce light shone in his eyes, and there was a
tremulousness, but not of fear, in his voice as he
demanded:
"Who sent you to tell me this?"
"It matters not, you are doomed if you go on the
yacht to-night! never again will your feet press the
hard shore, but the waves will cast you up!"
"Who are you, miss, and why have you come to
warn me?"
A moment the girl was silent. She hung her head
and appeared lost in thought, but at length, looking
up and fixing her magnificent blue eyes upon the
young man, she said:
"I do not know who I am, but I do know that if yougo out on the yacht to-night, you will never return
till the waves wash your dead form to the beach!"
"You must have some reason for coming to warn
me?"
"Yes; I would save your life!"
"Why are you so deeply interested in saving my
life?"
"I would warn anyone whom I knew was in peril!
and you must heed my words!"
"I cannot!"
"Are you seeking death?"
"No."
"I do not understand."
"And I cannot explain, but I must go out though
death meet me upon the crest of every wave."
The girl again remained silent for a moment, but, at
length in a still lower whisper, she said:
"You have been betrayed!"
The young man started, and a slight pallor
overspread his handsome face as he caught the
girl's delicate arm in his firm grasp, and demanded:
"Who am I?""You are Spencer Vance."
The young man could not conceal an expression of
extreme astonishment.
"Who told you my name was Spencer Vance?"
"It matters not, but take heed; do not go out on the
sea to-night."
"I tell you I must! I will go, but you must tell me
what you know of Spencer Vance."
"You are a revenue detective; you are in the
employ of the Government; you have been
betrayed, and to-night you are to be silenced if you
go out on the yacht!"
"Do the men on the yacht know who I am?"
"They do not know your name, but they suspect
you are a Government detective, and they have
determined to put you out of the way; to-night they
will do the deed if you go."
"Someone must have told them I was a
Government officer."
"Yes; someone told them."
"Do you know who gave the information?"
"I do."
"Will you tell me?""No."
"Why not?"
"I have warned you, now go your way, and save
your life! they are desperate men, the waves have
already received three of their victims within a year
go, and your doom is sealed! Nothing can save
you!"
"I shall go!"
"You do not believe my words?"
"I will believe you if you will tell me who betrayed
me to the smugglers."
"I did!" came the starring response.
The detective stood the girl off from him at arm's
length, and studied her from feet to head.
The girl stood and calmly submitted to the
inspection.
"So you are the traitor?"
"No."
"You admit you betrayed me?"
"I am no traitor! I owe nothing to you! I had a right
to inform the boys if I saw fit, and I did so."
"And now you come and warn me?""Yes."
"Why do you warn me, if you are the one who set
them on to murder me?"
"I did not think they would murder you, and now I
have come to warn you."
"Are you engaged in the business?"
"NO."
The girl spoke in a scornful tone, and her eyes
dashed with indignation.
"Who are you?"
"I do not know who I am."
A strange look came into the detective's eyes as
an idea dashed through his mind.
"Are you the child of a wreck?"
"I do not know. I know nothing about myself."
"Whom do you live with?"
"The man who calls himself my father."
"Is he not your father?"
"No."
"Has he confessed to you that he is not your

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