The Man Who Couldn't Sleep

of people more miserable than himself. Such, however, happens to be the case. And prompted by this genial cross between

developed me into a sort of calamity chaser. It still carried me, on those nights when sleep seemed beyond my reach, to many devious and astounding corners of the city, to unsavory cellars where lemon-steerers and slough-beaters f

ties known as The Café of Failures. For it was in this new-world Cabaret du Neant that I had first heard of that

back to its last trace of aniseed. I grew inured to its bad air, unobservant of its scorbutic waiters, u

ifting and ever-mystifying dramas. And this not unnatural secretiveness on their part, combined with a not unnatu

es invariably took place in one of that tier of wood-partitioned drinking-rooms which lined the café's east side, I perceived that if I could not invade those rooms in body I might at

sely into the cavities placed along the side of the two supports. The result was, this carbon being what electricians call "a high resistance" and the loose contact-points where the laterals rested making resistance still higher, that all vibration, however minute, jarred the points against their

e lightest tap of a pencil-end into something which reached the ear with the force of a hammer-blow. And the whole thing, battery, coil,

ttle chambre particuliere which stood next to the room where most of those star-chamber c

t the top-most edge of the square of dust where this picture had stood, I carefully screwed two L-hooks and on these hooks hung my microphone-base. Then I rehung the picture, leaving it there to screen my apparatus. My cloth-c

occurred to rob my espionage of its impersonal and half-hearted excitement. I had ordered a bottle of Chianti and gone into that

e receiver at my ear, while a garrulous quartette of strike-breakers enlarge

ain lifted the phone to my ear. What I heard this time was another

a pipe! I got it worked out like a game o' checkers. But Redney 'nd m

ss voice. In that voice I could feel caution and st

e whole outfit," wa

ols?" insisted the u

second or tw

the whole song,"

ernous answer. "You'll recall that three weeks ago I staked you bo

tested the first speaker. "Som

ering voice, as though it came from an alkaline thro

let Chuck in on

e we g

t speaker. "You know that. We can't take chances-an

e was a br

ed youth who had first spoken. "You'd think it was me

about, anyway?" interpos

're we goin' to split when you are in? Who follied this thing up from the first? Who did the dirty

hy called Redney. "Why didn't you go ahead and hog

help," was the treble-noted retort. "You

fit," suggested the bass-voiced man. "And I'll bet

two or three tools, and then you've got th

to me, and I told you I was ready to talk business. You said you wanted help. W

he high-voiced youth, with a quietness

n known as Redney. "This ain't a case o' milkin' coffee-b

ur haul?" demande

a silence of s

man was slowly and reluctantly arriving at a change of front. There was a sound of a ch

hat was strangely in contrast to his earlier speech, "Chuck, we're up against

ut of the silence. "But I've been sittin' here half an h

ble voice, "you read

knowledged the dif

nce was rammed by the White Star Georgic? Where she went do

ure

dollars in gold-in gold taken from the Sub-Treasury here and done up

ure

divers from the wreckin' comp'ny were workin' on that steamer,

ur

hat gold is now?" was the oratoric

d that other man in his heavy

p!" was the co

big man calmly announced. "There's

nse retort. "I know what I'm t

" proclaimed the bass voice. "I happen to know they re-s

t out?" demanded the

this season, I had to fall ba

re foolin' you and ev'ry other guy not in the know. I'll tell you where

el

wooden boxes, on that Panama Comp'ny's pie

ave gold lyin' round loose that way. No, sir; that

oom. And what d'you get? They lightered them boxes up the North River at one o'clock Saturday afternoon. They swung in next to the Advance and put a half-a-dozen cas

'pose th

it? And they won't get into that Sub-Treasury until to-morrow morning. And as sure as I know

itting in silent tableau. Then I could hear the man with the b

I'll be

oke again, in a lowered but

! Talk about treasure-huntin'! Talk about Spanish Mains and pirate ships! My Gawd, Chuck, we don't nee

struck

ck. It was as apparent that he already counted himself one of the party

es. And here's the first door. And here's the second. We don't need to count on the doors. They've got a watchman somewhere about here. And they've put two of their special guards here at the land end of the pier. The store-room itself is empty.

uired the

to this one, and a second to this one, to hold us steady against the tide and the ferry wash. Then we find our right plank. We can do that by pokin' a flashlight up against 'em where it'll never be seen. Then we take a brace and bit and run a row of holes across

you get yo

you the gold. We cut loose and slip off with the tide. When we're out o' hearin' we throw on the kicker and go kitin' down to that Bath Beach joint o' y

autioned the conspirator called Red

microphone, I heard the sound of steps as

hispered one of the

y neighbors, the knob of my door turned. T

ad enmeshed me in a movement that was too gigantic to be overlooke

e and the case dropped down behind the worn leather-couch back. Then I sank into the chair beside the table, knowing there was nothing to betray me. Yet as I lounged there over my bottle of Chianti I could feel the excitement of the moment accelerate my pulse. I

he next moment I heard the crunch of wood subjected to pressure, and before I could move or realiz

d foresight to translate into a hiccough. That hiccough, in turn, reminded me t

as they sauntered nonchalantly into the room. Yet as I winked up at them, with all the sleepy unconcern at my command, I cou

ly suavity not at all to my liking, "I ki

asily across the floor to where the champagne picture hung. What he saw, or did not see ther

he spoke, that he was the man called Redney, just as I knew the first speaker was the youth they had addressed as Tony. About the third man, who towered above the other two in his gia

e. The man named Tony, who had continued to study the wooden partition against which my microphone had hung, turned back to the table and calmly se

h an airiness which I felt to be as unreal as my own inebri

he youth called Tony. The latter laughed, for no reason that I could

e wall-eyed waiter. And this waiter it

"We introoded on this gen'lmun. And we got t

ted, with a repugna

eel what was coming. He was looking for some reason, however tenuous, to start trouble. Without fail he would find it in tim

blinking about at my tormentor

urn, looked at them. Then he studied my face. There was so

tand? This gen'lmun wa

aid "Sure!" Then he turned on hi

rous little room. But I was determined to side-step it, to avoid it, to the last extremity

id the youth, and we a

kind. I also clearly saw that it would be unwise to decline

he table. Then I proceeded to wipe my mouth with the back

or as the truth of the whole thing came home to me, as sharp and quick as an elec

detected, the acrid, unmistakable, over-familiar taste, was too much for my startled nerves. I hid my sudden body-movement onl

me-the foolish hope that a homeopathic little pill of chloral would put me under the table, like any shopgirl lured from a d

e forcibly wrested from my clutch by those who stood appalled at the quantities that

in. I knew it would be unwise to let those sweet worthies know just how the land lay. I

somnolent indifference. I lost the power to coordinate; my speech grew inarticulate; my shoulders drooped forwar

man called Chuck. He rose

could hear him take a deep breath as he stood there. "And the next long nose w

he shoe laces. Then he promptly pulled the shoes from my feet. These shoes, appar

impatient at the delay. "If there's nothin' but five in

them as they moved across the room. I listened as they passed out and swung the door shut behind them. I wait

I heard the broken-latched door once more pushed slowl

at my head, rolling it a little to one side. Then the figure bending above me shifted its pos

as a patch of extremely soiled linen. But that glimpse was sufficient. It was my friend, th

heeled about so as to face him. That quick bo

awbone. He struck the worn leather couch as he fell, and

loor. Then I dropped on one knee beside him, unlaced his well-worn and

another, and still another, making doubly sure I was leaving no chance to be trailed. Then I swung aboard a

ly called up police headquarters. I felt, as I asked for Lieutenant Belton, a

in the Hotel York, on Seventh Avenue. So I rang up the Hote

t of Doyle, and then of Creegan, my old detective friend. Then with a jaw-grip of determination I caught that receiver up ag

in Forty-third Street. Then I punched the bell-button above the mail-bo

solicited. I stepped into the dimly lighted hall and made my way determinedly up the narrow carpeted stairs, k

nted me as I swung about the banister

," he solemnly informed

e to inveigle and coax him into a crusade which meant infin

he diffident

hours' time,"

" he commanded, looking

vague premonition of a sudden withdrawal and a bolted doo

the singing gas-jet, with his hurriedly lit and skeptically tilted stogie in one co

a ship's cabin. "And speak low," he said, with a nod toward the rear end of the hall. Then as he sat on the edge of the bed pulling on his s

ond time, as he slipped away into a remoter cubby-hole of a

time we had reached the street and stepped into the waiting taxi, that smile had disappeared

fore known. It was a district of bald brick walls, of rough flag and cobble-stone underfoot, of lonely street lamps, of shipping platforms and unbroken warehouse sides, of storage yards and milk depots, with railway tracks bisecting street

aining through the night. The air, I noticed, took on a fresher and cleaner smell. Creegan, without spea

-over Douglas-pine woodland, stood the fa?ade of the Panama Company's pier structure. It looked substantial and solemn enough, under its sober sheeti

and caught at my arm to arrest my own steps. We stood there, listening. Out of the silence, apparently from mid-riv

ked down and went dodging in and out between the huddled clumps of barrels, threading a circuitous path toward the slip edge. I saw him drop down on al

ithin had thrown open the door. I saw Creegan and the first man dive into the chill-aired, high-vaulted building, with its exotic odors of spice and coffee and mysterious tropical bales. I heard somebody call out to turn on the l

orway again. I could see t

the outline of a wheeled gangway looked oddly like the skeleton of some great dinosaur, and

nd I dropped beside him on the bare pier planks and

to whisper a word or two in his ear. Then he opened the door and led me by the

s groping fingers. I realized that he was thrust

is," he

demanded in an a

ess here-see! And thro

ctual illumination would have come from a tallow candle. But it seemed sufficient for Creegan's purpose. I could see him peer about, step across to a pile of stout wooden

cian sounding a patient's lungs. He kept returning, I noticed, to one area in the center of the room, not more than a yard away from the pile of wooden boxes. Then he leane

f this plank, come to a stop, and then suddenly raise and wave in th

arkness. Yet through that darkness I could hear a distinct sound, a minute yet unmistakable noise of splintering woo

appeared. A rumble of guarded voices crept to my ears, and again I could detect that faint yet

nd grope against my knee. He

ss which left me a little ashamed of my own e

tale splintering of wood, indicating that the auger had completed its second hole through the planking. Then came the sound of its withdrawa

t he might be too late. Vague contingencies on which I had failed to reckon began to present themselves to me. I realized that t

without warning, without reason, sent a horripilating chill through all my body. The wonder was that I did not kick out, like a frightened colt, or start to flail about me with my flashlight. All I did,

rd it I was able to breathe again, for

ck up in front of me. I took it from him, marveling how

say," was his next whispered message to me. "Find it.

r an uncertain moment or two. "Got it?" came

whisper

s and mine. It was a sound of prodding and prying, as though t

block. I did not hear it actually fall away. But I was suddenly conscious of a breath of c

eble voice say, "

a match along the floor, that the man was already half-way up through the hole. I could see the dirt-covered, claw-like hand as it held the match, nu

ision of it, but I knew what it meant. I knew, the moment I heard the

med unnecessary. Then, as far as I could judge, Creegan took hold of

ere, pull!" And I knew that the secon

ell. But I knew the second attack was not the clean-cut job of the first, for even as

he first man, and that he would surely be armed. I ran out toward the center of the room, stumbled over the boxes of gold, and fell sprawling along the floor. Without so much as getting on my feet again I groped about

e gasped. "Tur

rd him. Only some last extremity could have wrung that call from him. It was only too pla

he lay he needed help, that the quickest servic

fool!" he cried

elf swung about through the darkness, and at one stroke knocked the breath out of my body and flattened me against the wall. Before I could recover my brea

in front of him and holding me there with such a powerful grasp that it made breathing a thing of torture. And as he held me th

n before I saw the revolver with which he was menacing the enemy in front of him. What held my blinking and bewildered eyes was the fact that Cr

night-stick in his left hand. All the strength of his right hand, I could

my predicament made me desperate. That gang had sown their d

farther and farther back, so that a hand could be thrust into my coat pocket. I reached the pocket without b

e same time I felt this red flash of rage through my body, I also felt the clutch abou

aw the sweat-stained and blood-marked face of my colleague suddenly change. His eyes stared stupidly, his jaw fell

holding fall away from him. But I remembered the revolver in my hand and the ignominies I had suffered

st the body crushing mine, when Creegan's voice, sharp a

nd the horror of hi

and terrible calm. But I

is newer note, more of anger t

hy

he man called Redney, did not answer my repeated

damned!" he f

lver-end away and dropped his own gun into his pocket. "I've been trailin'

ween an investigatory thumb and forefinger, blink

a deep breath. Then he laughed, mirthles

can

l pigeon! A

geon?" I demanded. "An

nd time as he wiped his mout

nin' with the hares-and gener'ly goes round queerin' an honest officer's work. And I guess he's queered ou