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24 - Black Stars Campaign by Johnston McCulley · Black Stars Campaign

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty four of Black Star's Campaign by Johnston mcculey.
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  Speaker 1: This Liberalvox recording is in the public domain. Read by
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  Speaker 1: Yogannon Black Star's Campaign, Chapter twenty four. On the trail,
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  Speaker 1: Werberg tried to remember the exact words that mux had spoken.
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  Speaker 1: He had said plainly that the headquarters of the Black
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  Speaker 1: Star were not far from the river, and that in
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  Speaker 1: itself was a help, but not a very great one.
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  Speaker 1: There were thousands of places in the city, not far
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  Speaker 1: from the river, where the Black Star could hide and
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  Speaker 1: where the members of his band could visit him. The
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  Speaker 1: headquarters might be in a warehouse on the waterfront, in
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  Speaker 1: some pretentious mansion on the hills overlooking the stream. And
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  Speaker 1: what else was it that muk s had said that
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  Speaker 1: he didn't want to die with music ringing in his years?
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  Speaker 1: Berberck wondered what that might mean, for it was a statement,
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  Speaker 1: evidently that had caused such a quick end to the conversation.
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  Speaker 1: Berberg paced the floor and thought it out. He knew
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  Speaker 1: the city from one end to the other. He had
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  Speaker 1: been born there, reared there, and watched it grow, music
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  Speaker 1: ringing in his ears the resort park. Werbert gasped that's
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  Speaker 1: what he must have meant. The Blackstar's headquarters will be
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  Speaker 1: found near the river and near the Wissort Park, where
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  Speaker 1: the band plays every afternoon and evening. Werberck rushed to
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  Speaker 1: the telephone, called the sheriff and asked him to come
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  Speaker 1: to his apartment immediately. I've got a tip that is
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  Speaker 1: better than the last one, he said, Max gave it
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  Speaker 1: to me. Max, don't ask me to explain. Now, hurry
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  Speaker 1: up here and have the telephone people investigate that number
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  Speaker 1: I gave you and report to you. Hear about it.
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  Speaker 1: Then Werberg called the chief of police, finally locating him
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  Speaker 1: at his home. Chief, there's no use keeping up the
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  Speaker 1: bluff any longer, he said. The Black Star knows very
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  Speaker 1: well that I'm still after him. I wish you had
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  Speaker 1: come over to my apartment as soon as you can.
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  Speaker 1: I've got something important to tell you. Cohen will be here.
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  Speaker 1: Why did you call Cohen, the chief demanded. Couldn't we
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  Speaker 1: handle it alone? I understand Cowen want enough glory tonight
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  Speaker 1: to last him a month. Come over and do your
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  Speaker 1: quarreling here, Berberk said. Cohen was the first to arrive
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  Speaker 1: fifteen minutes later. What's the big tip, He asked, anything
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  Speaker 1: to it, Wait until the chief gets here? Did you
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  Speaker 1: send for the chief? Was that necessity, Werberk? It seems
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  Speaker 1: to me that we worked pretty well together this evening.
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  Speaker 1: Why give the police am of the credit. I lost
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  Speaker 1: the black Star, remember, and I ought to have a
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  Speaker 1: chance to get him back. There'll be work enough for
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  Speaker 1: all of us, and glory enough, Berberk assured him. Then
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  Speaker 1: the Chief came storming in an exchanged glace with the sheriff.
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  Speaker 1: Before we begin, it might be well to have an understanding,
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  Speaker 1: Berbek said, you gentlemen must stop scrupping and become allies.
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  Speaker 1: We've got a big job on hand, and we want
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  Speaker 1: to wind it up as quickly as possible. Then he
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  Speaker 1: told them of his conversation with a black Star and
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  Speaker 1: of what mus had said. Let them go. Cohen screeched,
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  Speaker 1: let them wreck the town first. Those crooks are in
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  Speaker 1: jail and they are going to stay there. That isn't
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  Speaker 1: the point, Berberg interrupted, it's a little tip Muck's gate
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  Speaker 1: that interests us. According to what is said, the Black
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  Speaker 1: Star's headquarters are near the river, and I believe when
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  Speaker 1: he spoke of the music that he meant the resort park.
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  Speaker 1: I think you're right, the chief exclaimed. But where could
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  Speaker 1: the headquarters be in that locality. The sheriff wanted to know.
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  Speaker 1: It's our job to find out, the chief said, and
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  Speaker 1: we'll start at daylight. If we can locate it before night,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps we can stop whatever it is that the big
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  Speaker 1: crook intends to do. The telephone bell rang again. The
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  Speaker 1: call was for the sheriff, and he spent some time
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  Speaker 1: listening to the person at the other end of the wire.
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  Speaker 1: When he turned toward them again, his face was beaming.
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  Speaker 1: It begins to look good. He said. That was from
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  Speaker 1: the manager of the telephone company. He looked up the
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  Speaker 1: number that Landers called. It's a little summer counters far
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  Speaker 1: up the river, beyond the resort park. Great, the chief exclaimed.
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  Speaker 1: We'll land them yet. But that isn't the funny thing
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  Speaker 1: about it. The manager says he sent a man out
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  Speaker 1: there in a machine. There is nobody living in the cottage.
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  Speaker 1: There hasn't been for months yet. The telephone bills have
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  Speaker 1: been paid regularly, meaning, said Erbert, that the bells are
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  Speaker 1: paid by one of the Black Star's organization. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: his headquarters are not in the cottage, but we'll find
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  Speaker 1: the place somewhere in that locality. Where do you get that,
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  Speaker 1: Kavan asked. It means simply that somewhere between the cottage
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  Speaker 1: and the next station on the line, the black Star
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  Speaker 1: has plugged in on the wire. When that number is called,
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  Speaker 1: the bell rings in his own headquarters. When he calls,
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  Speaker 1: it appears to the switchboard operator that the number is calling.
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  Speaker 1: I believe you've got it, the chief cried. In the morning.
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  Speaker 1: You can go to the cottage and follow the wire,
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  Speaker 1: examine every foot of it, discover where the other wire
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  Speaker 1: is plugged in, follow it and find the place that
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  Speaker 1: we want. Other men can search through the neighborhood. We
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  Speaker 1: are on the right track. For another hour they worked
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  Speaker 1: perfecting their plans, and then the Chief and the sheriff,
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  Speaker 1: friendly again took their departure. Weerberck left a call at
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  Speaker 1: the office for an early hour and made haste to
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  Speaker 1: retire and fortify himself with sleep. He was up soon
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  Speaker 1: after break of day, harris bath and breakfast, and went
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  Speaker 1: down to get his orathstof from the garage. Feeling particularly fits,
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  Speaker 1: he drove immediately to police headquarters and went into the
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  Speaker 1: private office of the chief, who with Sheriff Covan was
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  Speaker 1: waiting for him. I've twenty men out there at daybreak
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  Speaker 1: working on the telephone line, the chief said. They're scattered,
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  Speaker 1: of course, look like linemen. In fact, they're making a
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  Speaker 1: bluff at stringing a new line while they are searching
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  Speaker 1: for the place where the Blackstar are taps the wire.
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  Speaker 1: It wouldn't surprise me much to find that the Black
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  Speaker 1: Star knows as much about her plans as we know ourselves.
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  Speaker 1: He seems to be able to get all the information
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  Speaker 1: he wants, But maybe we can get the better of
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  Speaker 1: the fiend this time. Are we going to wait here
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  Speaker 1: for the wire's quarter report? Kvan asked, no, there's no
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  Speaker 1: use in that. The Chief replied, I've sent twenty more
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  Speaker 1: men out there, all plain clothes. They went out a
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  Speaker 1: couple at a time, have been going out since midnight.
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  Speaker 1: Some money, the ressort park and others has scattered throughout
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  Speaker 1: the woods. Did you send your deputies to the other side, Sheriff.
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  Speaker 1: I did. Between us, we have men on the north,
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  Speaker 1: east and south, and the river is on the west.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe we have the Crooks headquarters surrounded, and maybe we haven't.
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  Speaker 1: We may as well start out there. Wabert put in
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  Speaker 1: the chief got into the roadster with him. The sheriff
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  Speaker 1: had a car of his own, driven by a deputy.
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  Speaker 1: They drove rapidly through the city and out along the
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  Speaker 1: river road. They came to the resort and got out
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  Speaker 1: and parked their cars. The sheriff and the chief began
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  Speaker 1: receiving reports from their forces. All the buildings in the
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  Speaker 1: resort had been searched well and nothing formed. Men had
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  Speaker 1: discovered nothing suspicious in the woods. There was a large
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  Speaker 1: fish cannery near and it had been investigated thoroughly. The
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  Speaker 1: men scattered around the woods were closing in drawing the
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  Speaker 1: net tighter. The wire's squad was at work. They had
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  Speaker 1: followed the wire from the Rigs cottage after making investigation
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  Speaker 1: there and being sure that the cottage was not the
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  Speaker 1: entrance to a subterranean aboard used by the Black Star.
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  Speaker 1: Even while the man in charge of the squad was
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  Speaker 1: making his report, word was flashed down the line that
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  Speaker 1: the extra wire had been found. The sheriff and chief
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  Speaker 1: got into Erbick's machine, and he drove them a quarter
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  Speaker 1: of a mile down the road. The wire had been
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  Speaker 1: tapped in a very clever manner, as one of the
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  Speaker 1: electricians of the department explained it was running underground through
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  Speaker 1: a small cable. The chief called for more of his
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  Speaker 1: men and they began unearthing the line. It seemed to
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  Speaker 1: run straight toward the east and through the woods. The
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  Speaker 1: chief sent a captain and half a dozen men ahead
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  Speaker 1: of the wire squad. We are getting close to them,
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  Speaker 1: I think, the chief declared. I feel that this is
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  Speaker 1: going to be a lucky day. After a time, they
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  Speaker 1: found a telephone instrument attached to the wire and hidden
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  Speaker 1: beneath a heap of brush. Next they came upon the
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  Speaker 1: old farmhouse and the wire fence around it. There, the
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  Speaker 1: telephone while left the ground and ran from tree to
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  Speaker 1: tree through the grove to disappear into the building. There,
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  Speaker 1: the chief said, we'll get the place surrounded. He gave
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  Speaker 1: quick orders, and the force of officers began closing in.
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  Speaker 1: Within a few minutes, the house had a circle of
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  Speaker 1: determined men around it. Erbeck and the Chief had been
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  Speaker 1: watching it closely while the sheriff placed the men. They
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  Speaker 1: had seen no sign of life. Probably gone. If this
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  Speaker 1: is really the place, Werbek said, it wouldn't have been
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  Speaker 1: difficult for the black Star to learn our plans, and
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  Speaker 1: he had all night in which to get away. Well,
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  Speaker 1: we'll get in there anyhow, the Chief said. It may
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  Speaker 1: be a luck that he is still there with some
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  Speaker 1: of his gang. If he is gone and had to
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  Speaker 1: get out in a hurry, he might have left something
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  Speaker 1: behind that will give us a clue as to what
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  Speaker 1: he intends to do to night. And we could put
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  Speaker 1: a lot of trust in that couldn't be, said rose Werbek.
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  Speaker 1: He won over us before because we gave considerable attention
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  Speaker 1: to some bogus orders he left on a table in
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  Speaker 1: the bogus headquarters. Don't forget that. I'm not liable till
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  Speaker 1: the precious newspapers won't let me, said the chief. The
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  Speaker 1: men were creeping through the brush now approaching the fence.
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  Speaker 1: Weerbeck had the Chief issue an order for them to stop.
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  Speaker 1: I don't like the looks of that fence, he said.
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  Speaker 1: You'll notice that the house is old and weather beaten
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  Speaker 1: and about to fall to pieces from its appearance. But
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  Speaker 1: the fence is substantial one and new. I have an
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  Speaker 1: idea that the man who touches that fence will meet
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  Speaker 1: with serious trouble. Why, George, it's a new fence, the
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  Speaker 1: Chief admitted. Wait Werbeck said he crawled forward alone, foot
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  Speaker 1: by foot, stopping now and then to glance toward the
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  Speaker 1: old farmhouse, and made his way toward the fence that
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  Speaker 1: held the deadly current. The end of chapter twenty four