CHAPTER

      I the reaching of A decision
     II the body on the floor
    III Mr. Enright declares himself
     IV A breath of suspicion
      V on the track of A crime
     VI at Steinway’s
    VII miss Donovan arrives
   VIII A gang of enemies
     IX A night and A morning
      X at A new Angle
     XI dead or alive
    XII viewed from both sides
   XIII the shot of death
    XIV Lacy learns the truth
     XV miss la Rue pays A call
    XVI captured
   XVII in the Shoshone desert
  XVIII in Mexican power
    XIX Westcott finds himself alone
     XX to compel an answer
    XXI the marshal plays A hand
   XXII the rock in the stream
  XXIII the escape
   XXIV the cave in the cliff
    XXV in the dark passage
   XXVI the reappearance of Cavendish
  XXVII A dangerous prisoner
 XXVIII with back to the wall
   XXIX A needle in A haystack
    XXX on the edge of the cliff
   XXXI with force of arms
  XXXII in the two cabins
 XXXIII the real Mr. Cavendish
  XXXIV miss Donovan decides

THE STRANGE CASE OF CAVENDISH

CHAPTER I:  THE REACHING OF A DECISION

For the second time that night Frederick Cavendish, sitting at a small table in a busy cafe where the night life of the city streamed continually in and out, regarded the telegram spread out upon the white napery.  It read: 

Bear Creek, Colorado, 4/2/15.

Frederick Cavendish,
  College Club,
    New York City.

Found big lead; lost it again.  Need you badly.

Westcott.

For the second time that night, too, a picture rose before him, a picture of great plains, towering mountains, and open spaces that spoke the freedom and health of outdoor living.  He had known that life once before, when he and Jim Westcott had prospected and hit the trail together, and its appeal to him now after three years of shallow sightseeing in the city was deeper than ever.

“Good old Jim,” he murmured, “struck pay-dirt at last only to lose it and he needs me.  By George, I think I’ll go.”

And why should he not?  Only twenty-nine, he could still afford to spend a few years in search of living.  His fortune left him at the death of his father was safely invested, and he had no close friends in the city and no relatives, except a cousin, John Cavendish, for whom he held no love, and little regard.

He had almost determined upon going to Bear Creek to meet Westcott and was calling for his check when his attention was arrested by a noisy party of four that boisterously took seats at a near-by table.  Cavendish recognised the two women as members of the chorus of the prevailing Revue, one of them Celeste La Rue, an aggressive blonde with thin lips and a metallic voice, whose name was synonymous with midnight escapades and flowing wine.  His contemptuous smile at the sight of them deepened into a disgusted sneer when he saw that one of the men was John Cavendish, his cousin.