The Bradys and the Girl Smuggler Part 27

While Harry had the advantage of using the girl as a s.h.i.+eld, the four Canadians held the old detective at their mercy.

Harry drew his pistol.

The girl began to struggle to get free.

"Keep still!" said the boy in threatening tones. "If any harm befalls my partner, I'll put a bullet in you, young woman!"

The terrible earnestness of his voice alarmed her.

"You wouldn't injure a lady, would you?" she asked, appealing to his manhood. "No gentleman would do that."

"You are only a criminal," he replied coldly, "and as it's a case of our lives or yours, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot you to save ourselves."

Detectives are not sentimental.

On the contrary, their work makes them harsh.

Harry wanted to scare the girl and he succeeded well, for she remained pa.s.sive, and burst into tears.

The boy quickly saw his advantage and cried:

"Now, if any of your gang attempts to injure us, I'll kill you!"

As he spoke, he placed the muzzle of his pistol against her head, turned her around and backed over to Old King Brady.

"Come!" he whispered. "We'll use her as a s.h.i.+eld and back over to the door.

They'll bitterly rue it if they fire!"

The four spies looked desperate and one of them spoke to the girl in French as the detectives retreated, holding her between them and their enemies.

The girl replied in English, saying:

"Never mind me. We must not let them escape. Tackle them."

Obeying her, they rushed toward the officers.

Harry aimed his pistol at them and fired twice.

"Go for the door!" he yelled.

And hurling the girl against the four Canadians, he and his partner rushed out into the hall. The door was locked.

CHAPTER XIV.

ON HARLEM BRIDGE.

"Upstairs with you!" gasped Harry. "We can't get out the front door."

Old King Brady saw that the girl had collided with the four smugglers and they all fell in a heap upon the parlor floor.

The detective rushed up the stairs.

On the top landing Old King Brady panted:

"Unlock these handcuffs!"

Harry obeyed in an instant.

Just then the gang came rus.h.i.+ng from the parlor, and were about to ascend the stairs when Harry opened fire on them.

Bang! Bang! Bang! went three shots.

He was a dead shot and could have killed those desperadoes had he been inclined to. But he merely shot to wound them.

The yells of pain that followed showed how true his aim was.

Two of the Canadians were hit.

A stampede among them ensued.

Back to the parlor they rushed, swearing and groaning, and the detectives laughed at them, for the tables were now turned.

The Bradys had the advantage.

At the head of those stairs they could have held an army at bay.

Old King Brady got his handcuffs from his wrists, put them in his pocket and withdrew his own revolver.

"By thunder!" he muttered. "I'm glad you made that dash, Harry."

"We would now be helpless prisoners if I hadn't."

Just then several lodgers stuck their heads out of the doors of their rooms, alarmed at the shots and yells.

Seeing the two armed detectives, they shouted with alarm, withdrew into the rooms, banged their doors shut and some rushed to the windows, flung them open and screamed:

"Murder! Murder! Help! Police!"

The cries startled the neighborhood.

For a moment everyone was in an uproar. A big crowd gathered before the house and several policemen came running to the scene from different directions, looking for trouble.

A suspicious silence ensued down on the parlor floor.

"Do you suppose they've skipped?" asked Harry.