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‘A, V THE BRADYSH AND.
THE: BANK CLERK. p19
“Thank you, I shall.” ,. = c
When they finished eating, Harry asked-'his companions:
“Will you go up to his room with me?” ' -
‘ “Yes,” replied Old King Brady, nodding. - .
They followed their newly found acquaintance to his
,room. . V V '
It was a neat apartment on the second tloor, and asmall
A wooden box standing on the centre table caught their view.
The stranger pointed at the box. -
“My specimens are in that little box,” said he.
“Come from your own mines?” queried Harry, V V 7
“Every one of them. Make. yourselves at home here,
gentlemen. I forgot my cigars.“ Amuse yourselves during
my absence'by examining the specimens. ? 1’ll be back in
five minutes.” ’ ‘ “ i ‘ l
“You are excused)’. said Harry, laughingly. -
The speculator strode, from the room: - , ‘t i
Young King Brady and hislfriends approached
table,‘ and Harry glanced at the little box curiously..
It was made of mahogany. ' . ‘
On top was a small, nickel-plated handle. x
“Looks like an electric battery box,” commented Frank
“I’ll open it,” replied Harry. “We will soon see.” "- V
As he spoke he seized the handle and gave it apull. -
As the lid raised,‘ there came a tremendous explosion in
the box. . . ‘ l i
With a hissing roar a sheetrof flame belched out of it,
and there came a wild buzz as a burst shell flew to pieces. a .
It was an infernal‘ machine! ‘ ”‘ ‘
The terrific explosion of dynamite
lid of the box hurledrHarry to the floor, and
two reeling. ' ,
A shower of debris came down from the ceiling.
The plaster above was torn to pieces by the upward
of most of thepartieles of the burst shell. . . “ ,
, A huge hole was torn in the ceiling. it ' - 3 ‘-
Hundreds of other pieces- struck the sidewalls, ripping
them open, and not a few smashed the furnishings. ‘
A dull roar that ‘followed almost deafened the occupants
of the room, and every one of the three were wounded.
The -wonder was that they were not destroyed. .
. It took some time for them to recover their senses, and
then they found a number of people in the ‘room. - I
They were the hotel proprietor, his help and some of his
guests. . V‘ l'
The explosion had drawnthem to the spot.
“What was the cause of that noise?” the owner was ask-
ing Harry, when the boy revived. p
“That box--it was an infernal machine 1’? gaslled Harri’:
pointing at the table and wiping the smoke marks from his
face.
“What box?”
“Why, that one.”
And Harry glanced at the table.
But there was no box there.
It had been blown to fragments, andwas scattered allover.
“You are cut,” said the ‘owner. ‘ . ‘
“Am I.
. set oft by raising the
sent the other
flight
It’s queer I ain’t dead.”
the centres i
“Are your injuries serious ?”V V > ‘V r r ‘
“N 0. To my astonishment find that I’m only slightly
injured. V When the box burst, and the pieces ilcw, they must,
have missed me, except for the few that inflicted these slight
injuries.” - .
l “You say an infernal machine burst here?”
“Yes. That’s just what it was.” i
“Do you occupy this roon1?’’ "
(K 177 ‘
“Who does?”
“‘I'don’t know. ‘ A villain!” -
,“It’s Mr. Hooper’s room,” said the clerk.
“ Vhat! Hooper, did you say?” asked Harry, in sur-
prise.’ ,". p '
“Yes, sir. A man with a beard.”
“ Timothy .Hooper ?” V
“That’s his full name on the register.” .
“N ow I understand the mystery,” said Harry.’
“Will you explain it?” , ' ‘
“Certainly. We are detectives. ’1‘imothy Hooper is an
express messenger, who stole a parcel of money amounting
ten million dollars. We were in pursuit of him. He dis-
guised himself. Not knowing him, we met him in the din-
ing-room. He claimed to be a speculator in gold mines,
and invited us up here to see his specimens of gold ore.
Saying they were in a box standing on the table, -he left us
to get a cigar. I opened the box, and the explosion fol-
lowed.” e ' e .
“Horrible! He tried to'murder you.”
“So it seems. But he tailed.” . .
Harry now asked Old King Brady aud’.Frank how they
felt. Both had been injured more or less, but strangely
enough, neitherof them were seriously hurt. ,
Most of the force of the explosion had been spent upwarrd.
Such flying particles as went out sidewise.- missed them.
. “Where is Hooper now?” asked the hotel owner.
“Gone, of course,” replied Harry...
“He was a cowardly sort of assassin.”
“Well, the man has a big fortune at stake.” 1
>“Hc must fear you.” t .
r“So he does. That’s why he tried to destroy us.” 3
“Well, he won’t come back here. I’ll have him arrested
on sight for playing such a treacherous trick on you.”
i “You won’t have the chance, as he is wise enough to keep
away from here now,” said Harry.
“Can I do anything for you ?”
“Send us some court-plaster. We will attend to our in-
juries, and leave here as soon as we make ourselves pre-
sentable.” 5 u r r 1
The owner cleared everybody out'of the room, and sent a
waiter for soap, towels, ‘water’ and court-plaster for "the
Bradys. ‘ a
When they were alone, Harry exclaimed:
“Who would have thought the respectable old chap was
Hooper in disguise? Why, that fellow is a past-master at
disguising.” ' ‘ 2 ‘
“How in thunder did he happen to have the infcrnnl-ma-
chine ready to spring on us so suddenly?” asked Old King