Larry Dexter, Reporter/Chapter 37

place was a scene of confusion. The men were trying to escape, each seeking one of the several secret exits. Perkins dashed toward the room whence the cry of the child had proceeded.

Larry, whose first thought was to rescue Jimmy, watched this man. He saw him emerge from the apartment, with the captive under his arm.

“Drop him!” cried the young reporter, leaping on the back of Perkins.

Anger lent Larry strength. He clasped his arms about the kidnapper, and loosened the man's grip on Jimmy. The little chap was yelling with fear, but as soon as he caught sight of his brother his tears ceased.

“Take me home, Larry!” he exclaimed.

Perkins rolled over and over, the force of his fall caused by Larry's sudden impact sending him spinning. Then, thinking only of his own safety, the man rose to his feet and sped down a secret passageway, while Larry gathered Jimmy close in his arms.

Meanwhile Mr. Newton, who had torn off the false beard and wig, was grappling with Randall. They were having a fierce struggle, when two detectives who had been stationed outside, and who had dashed in at the sound of Mr. Newton's whistle, sprang on Randall, and soon made him a prisoner.

At this the blue-handed man, seeing that the game was up, made a spring for the mantel. He sought to grasp what looked like an old newspaper, but Mr. Newton, seeing his movement, sent him sprawling with a blow.

“Here with the handcuffs, Jack,” the reporter cried to one of the detectives, and soon Noddy was secured.

The others of the gang had scattered, and one of the detectives was about to follow them down a passage that led from the room.

“Don't bother,” said Mr. Newton. “They'll be caught before they go very far.”

“I guess you've got us right,” said Noddy.

“If you only had one guess, you'd win,” remarked the reporter, dryly.

“Oh, I'm so glad you came, Larry!” exclaimed Jimmy. “I was so lonesome! I thought you would never get here.”

“Better get right home with him, Larry,” said Mr. Newton. “Your mother will be worried, I know.”

“What about the deed?” asked the young reporter.

“That's so,” remarked Mr. Newton. “I suppose we'll have a job hunting for it. They've probably got it hidden away somewhere.”

At these words Noddy's face took on a queer look, and he almost smiled.

“Well, we'll find it later,” said Mr. Newton. “The chief thing now is to relieve your mother's anxiety. Take Jimmy home.”'

“I want my kite,” said the lad. “Can't go without my kite.”

“I'll bring it to you later,” said Larry, trying to quiet the little boy.

“No, I want it now,” insisted Jimmy. “There 'tis, up on the shelf,” and he pointed to where one of the Chinese bird kites was on the mantel. To please him Larry reached for it. The toy seemed to be caught, and, in pulling it down, Larry brought a folded newspaper with it. The paper fell to the floor. Noddy was eying it narrowly.

“Throw the paper away, and bring the kite along,” said Larry to Jimmy, who had picked up both articles. The little fellow obeyed. Something in the way in which the newspaper fell to the ground attracted Mr. Newton's attention. He picked it up. As he unfolded it he uttered an exclamation.

“Here's the missing deed!” he cried. “Well, well, this is a lucky find! We might have hunted for a week, and never thought of looking in the folds of an old newspaper. Good for you and your kite, Jimmy! Here, Larry, take this along home with your brother. Unless I miss my guess, it's going to be worth considerable to you in the future.”

As Larry started away with his brother, the deed safely buttoned in an inner pocket, some of the detectives began crowding into the room with their prisoners.

“Did you land 'em all right?” asked Mr. Newton.

“Every one, I guess,” replied Sergeant Barnett, who was in charge of the squad. “They came out of the different exits like rats from their holes, and my men nabbed them. We even got that kid, Peter. My, but he was a scared one! It was all Scanlon could do to hold him, he fought so.”

“Well, I guess you can take 'em away now,” said Mr. Newton. “I've got to get busy and 'phone the story in. Don't say anything to any reporters from the other papers, until I have a chance to get my yarn in, Barnett.”

“All right,” promised the sergeant.

The patrol-wagon was sent for, and soon the prisoners were on their way to the station-house. In the meanwhile Mr. Newton telephoned in the story of the raid on the Rising Sun gang; every member who had been in the headquarters having been captured. The story was a beat for the Leader—one of the biggest of the year.

As for Larry, he lost no time hurrying home with Jimmy and the deed. When he entered the house, Mrs. Dexter was so excited she almost fainted, and the neighbors, hearing the good news about the return of the kidnapped boy, crowded in to learn the particulars.

Larry told them as well as he could, and then, when the rooms became quiet, and the neighbors had gone to their apartments, he and his mother sat down, and Mrs. Dexter indulged in a good cry. Larry felt a little like it himself, now that the excitement was over, but he decided it was hardly what ought to be done under the circumstances.

As for Jimmy he hardly knew whether to stand on his head or his feet. He danced around, hugged Mary, Lucy, his mother, and Larry, and then told of his experiences, as well as he could, in the Chinese den.

Meanwhile the prisoners were safely lodged in cells, all but Peter. In consideration of his youth, he was sent to the rooms of a society that took charge of wayward boys.

As soon as he had telephoned the story in to his paper, Mr. Newton went to Larry's house. He had discarded his disguise, leaving the plumber's outfit behind, and once more looked like himself.

“Well, it's all over, Larry,” he announced, “and I guess we came out with flying colors. I couldn't have done it any better myself, inside that room with the gang. Your signal came just at the right time.”

“Oh, I'm so glad it's over, and that Jimmy is safe,” remarked Mrs. Dexter.

“Well, it isn't all over yet, by a good bit,” said Mr. Newton. “But I trust your worries are. Where's that deed, Larry?”

“Oh, that old deed,” exclaimed Mrs. Dexter. “I never want to see it again. It was the cause of all our trouble.”

“Yes, and it may be the cause of a good deal of happiness,” said Mr. Newton.

“What do you mean?” asked Larry.

“Why, that paper is the title to a valuable piece of real estate. Of course you knew as much as that before, but you didn't know just what. It develops that the Board of Aldermen have decided to make a big park up in the Bronx section. They have been keeping quiet about it so as not to have property values in that vicinity rise before they had a chance to buy what they wanted. But now that they have all they need, excepting the piece you have the deed to, they have announced their plans. You can read about them in the last edition of the Leader”

“Then our property is part of what will be the park?” asked Mrs. Dexter.

“That's it, and a valuable part, too. I was told by the aldermanic committee that they were prepared to offer you twenty thousand dollars for the land. If they do, and I think they will, I advise you to take it.”

“Of course we will!” shouted Larry. “Think of twenty thousand dollars! We'll be rich, mother!”

“Well, not exactly rich,” remarked Mr. Newton, “but it will help some.”

“No wonder the gang wanted to get possession of the land,” observed Larry.

“That was their game,” went on Mr. Newton. “They learned you had the deed to one of the most valuable pieces. For a long time I could not understand why they wanted it. I suspected some big improvement was going to be made in that section, but I could not learn what. As soon as I overheard the conversation in the cigar-store that day I got on the track. The rest was easy. We only had to follow the different clews, and as it happened they all led to one place.”

“Do you think the gang is mixed up in the safe-robbery and the Reynolds jewels job, as well as the land transaction?” asked Larry.

“Of course they are. You see, we practically have proof of the safe-robbery, now that we have the blue-handed man. As for the Reynolds job, the snake ring is enough to fasten that on at least one member.

“They tried to do too much, that was the trouble. Some of the criminals heard of this land scheme from the Aldermen—Beacham especially—and they decided to get that money. If they succeeded in getting control of the land they would have forced the city to pay a very high price for it. When they found fair means would not accomplish their object they tried foul. But it's all over now, and we won out.”

The arrest of the gang, the story in the Leader, and the disclosures made concerning the land and other operations, made a big sensation. Larry and Mr. Newton, who had succeeded not only in running the gang to earth, but in getting a story that was a beat, were congratulated on all sides.

The stories ran through the papers for several days. The proof of the robbery of the jewelry store safe was easy, once the blue-handed man was in custody. Eventually those concerned in it were sentenced to prison for long terms. Then it was proved that at least one of the gang, the man who had pawned the snake ring, was concerned in the Reynolds robbery, from which, as told in the first volume, Larry was instrumental in saving the jewels, and this time he got back the heirloom.

Regarding the deed, as Mr. Newton had said, it proved to be of great value. The city made an offer of twenty thousand dollars for the land, and Mrs. Dexter sold it. After all expenses and some back taxes had been paid, she found she had over seventeen thousand dollars, part of which belonged to Larry and the other children.

Peter was sent to a reform school in the hope that he would mend his ways, while the men who had been instrumental in kidnapping Jimmy, and in stealing the deed the night the fire was started in the tenement, received long sentences in the state prison.

A few days after he had received notification that he and his mother would receive the big sum for the Bronx land, Larry was back at the office.

“Well, Larry,” said Mr. Emberg, with a smile, “I suppose now that you're fairly well off, you'll not remain a reporter any longer.”

“I will if you'll keep me,” replied the youth. “I don't want to go away from the Leader, Mr. Emberg. I've only just begun to be a good reporter. I haven't learned half the business yet.”

“Well, if you want to stay, I'm sure we want you,” said the city editor. “We'd hate to have you go, Larry.”

“Then I'm going to stay. I'm going to continue my studies, and maybe some day I'll get a real big assignment,” spoke Larry.

And, with this ambition urging him on, we will take leave of Larry for a while. When next we hear of him, provided you care to read any more of his adventures, you may learn what he did in a story called, “Larry Dexter's Special Assignment; or, The Hunt for the Missing Millionaire.”

“So you like reporting, eh?” said Mr. Newton.

“I certainly do,” answered Larry. “In fact, there is nothing that I like better. The life is full of excitement.”

“And occasional perils.”

“Well, the dangers can't be helped, Mr. Newton.”

“That is true. Well, Larry, I think, if you stick at it, you will make one of the best reporters in New York—and that is saying a good deal.”