Bromley Barnes, Detective by George Barton

Author:George Barton
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: detective, mystery, Sherlock Holmes rivals, literature, omnibus, classics
Publisher: fallen leaves press
Published: 2010-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

VI

ADVENTURE OF THE FRENCH CAPTAIN

Bromley Barnes suddenly resolved to close his bachelor apartments in Washington and spend the winter in New York. He had been working much too hard for an elderly gentleman who considered himself a retired investigator for the United States Government, and he felt that the change from the routine of the National Capital would do him a world of good. He meant it as a sort of vacation--a period of rest and relaxation.

The apartments he secured in New York were all that a man with Bohemian instincts could desire, and once he had surrounded himself with his beloved books and the little articles he treasured, he breathed a sigh of happiness. The change, he felt, would brighten his wits, and he would finally return to Washington refreshed by the change of scene and surroundings. He promised himself at the outset that he would not do a stroke of work, and he might have kept the promise if he had not made the mistake of inviting Forward and Clancy to spend a week with him. Forward was a clever lawyer and chemist who had helped him in some of his intricate cases, and Clancy was, as we know, his assistant and general factotum, a red-headed, happy-go-lucky, loyal, big-hearted Irishman.

The three men were seated in the cozy apartment just about dusk one evening when Barnes made the chance remark which was to start him into action.

"Bagdad, in the days of its greatest glory," he said, gazing reflectively from the big bay window of the apartment, "never possessed half the possibilities for mystery, romance and adventure that are to be found in the big cities of the United States."

Forward looked at the detective with skepticism in his brown eyes.

"They're human bees all right," he admitted, "but I can't see much in it beyond a frenzied struggle for wealth and pleasure."

Barnes gazed out at the green of the park, with its big, white, marble arch before replying.

"You're like most men in the legal profession, Forward," he said finally; "much dabbling in the intricacies of the law has made you a skeptic."

A low, self-satisfied chuckle came from the corner of the room. Cornelius Clancy, faithful factotum of the master of the establishment, winked mischievously at the limb of the law.

"We have no Grand Viziers," continued Barnes, ignoring the muffled interruption, "and we may be a little short on Caliphs, one-eyed Calenders and Royal Mendicants, but we have men and women whose actual experiences cause the make-believe stories of the Turks and Persians to seem pale and prosaic in comparison. Here's the recipe: Pour a million human beings in the seething cauldron which you may call New York, Chicago, Boston, or any of our large cities, stir them up with hate and love, make their interests and ambitions clash, and if the result doesn't spell romance and adventure, then my hair has grown gray in vain!"

"Perhaps there's something in what you say," conceded the lawyer.

"Something in what I say!" Barnes retorted explosively.

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