Quintus Oakes _A Detective Story_ BY CHARLES ROSS JACKSON AUTHOR OF "THE THIRD DEGREE" [Illustration] G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY [_All rights reserved._] _Quintus Oakes_ _Issued March, 1904_ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Rescue 5 II. Quintus Oakes at Home 19 III. Oakes's Experiences 31 IV. The Departure 41 V. The Letter 50 VI. The Murder 56 VII. The Inquest 69 VIII. The Mansion 89 IX. Distrust and Suspicion 100 X. The Cellar 108 XI. The Night Walk 123 XII. The Witness 141 XIII. The Plan of Campaign 148 XIV. Clues 159 XV. The Ruse 171 XVI. The Negro's Story 191 XVII. Checkmated 209 XVIII. Misadventures 221 XIX. A Faulty Story 240 XX. A Man's Confession 253 XXI. The Attack 267 XXII. The Insane Root 278 XXIII. The Test 287 XXIV. Across the Bridge 298 XXV. The Man of the Hour 311 QUINTUS OAKES _CHAPTER I_ _The Rescue_ It was a warm summer evening; the air was stifling and still. I, Rodney Stone, attorney-at-law, left my apartment to stroll along Broadway, seeking a roof garden wherein to spend a few hours of change from the atmosphere of the pavements, and to kill the ennui that comes to all of us whom business compels to accept such circumstances.