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قراءة كتاب A Successful Shadow; Or, A Detective's Successful Quest
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A Successful Shadow; Or, A Detective's Successful Quest
A SUCCESSFUL SHADOW;
OR,
A Detective's Successful Quest.
BY OLD SLEUTH,
Author of All the Famous Old Sleuth Stories.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| PROLOGUE. | 7 | |
| Chapter I | THE SAME OLD INCIDENT OF A MISSING BEAUTY—A WIDOW'S NARRATIVE—AN AROUSED INTEREST—THE POSSIBILITIES IN A NAME—STARTLING SUGGESTIONS—WAS IT A CLUE. | 8 |
| Chapter II | A MOST SINGULAR AND WONDERFUL COINCIDENCE—THE DETECTIVE STRIKES A NEW TRAIL—A DENOUEMENT MOST WONDERFUL—POSSIBILITIES AND PROBABILITIES BEYOND PERADVENTURE. | 15 |
| Chapter III | ONE MYSTERY SOLVED—A SUCCESSFUL "SHADOW" INDEED—ON A NEW "LAY"—IN A GAMBLING ROOM—A NEW ACQUAINTANCE—THE DETECTIVE PERPLEXED—FALSE OR TRUE?—A RIDDLE TO BE SOLVED. | 23 |
| Chapter IV | PLAYING A DEEP GAME—AN AMENDED NARRATIVE—IN THE OPERA HOUSE—A RECOGNITION—GETTING DOWN TO FACTS BY ACCIDENT—THE STORY OF AN EXPECTANT HEIR—GAINING A CLEARER LIGHT. | 31 |
| Chapter V | A STARTLING BETRAYAL—THE CUTENESS OF THE DETECTIVE—-SUGGESTIONS THROUGH A WORD—THE BODY IN THE BRUSH-WOOD—JACK LAYS A SCHEME—SADDEST OF ALL CONCLUSIONS. | 39 |
| Chapter VI | JACK'S DEEP INTEREST IN THE AFFAIR—A NEW GAME—BETTER PLAY—SHOTS THAT TOLD—A SCHEME UNMASKED—A HURRIED MESSAGE—THE DETECTIVE PLAYS SPANISH. | 47 |
| Chapter VII | A MEETING WITH THE BARON—STARTLING DISCLOSURES—AGAIN THE SPANISH MILLIONAIRE—SHADOWING DOWN FOR A CHAIN OF STEEL—THE DRAFT—A TRIUMPHANT TRICK—A DENOUEMENT TO COME. | 55 |
| Chapter VIII | JACK'S GREAT DETECTIVE WORK—"WALK INTO MY MESHES," SAID THE DETECTIVE—A ROGUE WALKS IN—THE FORGED ACCEPTANCE—CLOSING DOWN FOR A CONFESSION. | 63 |
| Chapter IX | JACK AT HIS BEST—THE HEARTLESS MILLIONAIRE—A TRICK THAT BROUGHT RESULTS—A CONFERENCE—TERRIBLE INTIMATIONS—THE MYSTERY CLEARED UP—SAFE BUT GREAT WORK DEMANDED. | 71 |
| Chapter X | CONCLUSION. | 76 |
PROLOGUE.
Those of our readers who read our narrative "Two Wonderful Detectives," will more especially enjoy the further adventures of Jack Alvarez. To those who did not read that narrative we will state that this remarkable detective had just solved a great mystery—one of the most remarkable detective feats ever accomplished. He had found that there had been a true heir to a great fortune which had been deposited in a most mysterious manner with a banker, but, alas! when his "shadow" appeared successful in one direction, he encountered a little tombstone in an out-of-the-way graveyard, which appeared to settle beyond all dispute that the heiress had died when a child, and the great fortune which she would have inherited was diverted in another direction. Indeed through a singular combination of circumstances, the detective himself became heir to a portion of the great estate. He did not feel disposed, however, to accept the benefice, and made up his mind that there were actual heirs living who were through kinship entitled to the fortune. He had started out on a former "shadow" without a clue, and in his resolve to find the collateral heirs he also started out minus a single clue, but he was a man, as our readers know, to discover clues, and in a most remarkable manner he succeeded through a series of thrilling adventures in finding a legitimate heir to an immense estate.
CHAPTER I.
THE SAME OLD INCIDENT OF A MISSING BEAUTY—A WIDOW'S NARRATIVE—AN AROUSED INTEREST—THE POSSIBILITIES IN A NAME—STARTLING SUGGESTIONS—WAS IT A CLUE.
"Mr. Alvarez, I am very poor; I cannot offer you a large reward, but I have saved a few hundred dollars, and those I will give you if you are successful in finding my lost child."
Jack Alvarez, the detective, was seated in his office when a veiled woman entered and addressed him in the language with which we open our narrative.
The detective was a kind-hearted man, well-to-do financially, and as it occurred not immediately engaged on any special job. He looked the visitor over a moment and then said:
"Madam, before I can entertain your proposition at all, I must see your face."
"Is that necessary, sir?"
"It is."
"I am sorry."
"Why?"
"Simply because I fear that you will be so shocked you will not aid me."
"Why will I be shocked, madam? Are you a criminal?"
"I am an honest woman, sir, but oh, how bitter has been my life—yes, sir, it has been one of humiliation and suffering, and now there has come to me this terrible sorrow. It may prove even a greater sorrow than I at present dare anticipate, but I trust not."
"You need not fear to show me your face."
"May I first tell you my story, sir?"
"Yes."
"I was left an orphan at a very early age. I was reared in an institution until I was able to go out to work. I never knew my parents, I never knew my real name. I was deserted in my infancy and I grew up to be quite a fair-looking girl. I can say this now, sir, without any feeling of exultation, for what beauty I may once have possessed vanished in one night, and I am now hideous to look at. When I left the asylum in which I had been placed I went to live with a very kind