Beadle's Half Dime Library Vol. IX, No. 230: The Yankee Rajah; or, The Fate of the Black Shereef — page 10: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

his palace, just to search it. Whatever prison-— ers he has will be taken away and any property which looks as if it was stolen will be ours.” “There is in the palace of the Shereef a maiden fair as the sun, whom heloves. For her sake he has made the Rajah of Gadong Beg his enemy, and he cannot give her up. There is, besides her, Zarina, a woman more fair than she, upon whom the finger of the Great Spirit has been laid, You shall have Zarina, if you will.” _ “No; we must have the palace and all which it contains, prisoners and all.” SS ‘The Shereef will laugh you to scorn. He would sooner die upon the threshold of his pal- ace than give it up to you. Have youno better answer than this?” “No,” was the abrupt reply. “Remember that when the Shereef runs a muck he does evil deeds. Look at Marco; in au evil hour be braved our leader, and his tongue was torn out by the roots. Take the gold 2 and jewels which I offer you, take Aarina, and go; then we shall befriends.” “1 give you half an hour to open the doors of the palace. At the end of that time I shall open fire, if Ido not hear from you.” | The Malay who had acted as spokesman bowed gracefully and stepped into his boat, fol- lowed by his companions. They proceeded to - The Yankee Rajah. “ Hist!” he whispered, raising his hand. ‘In the face of desperate danger I come to save you | from the hands of these Malay dogs.” ‘“ Richard Manton!” she gasped. ‘‘ Ay, Richard Manton, the man you rejected for that young sailor, who has dene nothing to save you,” “Tt is false,” she cried, in an indignant tone. “Even now he is in the harbor, ready to do battle for my sake. You have no right to villi- fy him, Captain Manton.” ““Teare nothing for him,” was the haughty response, ‘‘ but what he has failed to do 1 am ready to perform this night.” * How did you come here” “By betraying my trust. has been my friend, and it was for me that you were taken. But your fatal charms, which have driven me mad, proved too much for him, the palace and were met in the doorway by the | Shoreef. ae '’ What do they offer?” he demanded. “You must giveup the palace and your pris- | oner and trust to their mercy.” “‘ And what say you, sons of the Malay?” “That we will fight while one of us can lifta kreese, and die as warriors should; but we will not surrender.” “Do you speak for-all the warriors?” ‘‘ Yes,” was the firm reply. “Then all is well. They are strong, but we shall prove to them that they cannot win us easily, Reid?” “They say as I do—death to all traitors: he | has found a fitting tomb in the maw of the black beast of Java.” The Shereef drew a long breath, for he had feared that the death of Reid might have made him enemies, and be could not afford to have any | Yo | 3 | *T distrust a man who can make such terms , ok 3 | beaten, and all on your account.” one turn against him now. : "Go back again, oh, captain,” he said, ‘and speak to the Yankee Rajah. Tell him I ask but one day to decide whether I will surrender or not, hen the sun rises again, if my flag still waves upon the eastern tower, bid him do his worst,” 3 The captain made the usual salutation, turned upon his heel, went back to the schooner and de- livered his message. : **T s’pose the skunk wants time for some devil- try,” averred Saul Belton, ‘but never mind. He shall have the time he asks.” The Malay spray _again into his boat and hurried back. Ths Sbereef smiled grimly as he heard the answer. . ‘“Heis a ereater fool than I thought him. Of one thing he may be assured—sooner than give Be that girl I will kill her with my own hand. T have dared too much for her sake to lose her now. Who has seen Zarina?” “She was here but a moment since,” answered one of the Malays. ‘‘Something strange has bappened to her. Oh, Shereef. At times it seems as if the finger of the Great Ruler had been lifted, and that she remembers what she **Let her dare to come in my path, and I would not hesitate to give her the fate which has fallen upon Heid. & 2 as for me, | have work to do, and must not be ‘disturbed unless they break the truce.” He went up to his rooms and entered, locking ‘the doors behind him, and was seen no more for some hours. What he was doing no man knew, but they thought he was making plans for de- ense, In the meantime Nellie had beeu returned to her prison. Sbe had seen the downfall of Tom Reid, but did not know the horrible fate to which he had been given. She sat in thenarrow cell, her head resting on her hands, when she heard a slight gliding sound in the wall behind her and started to her feet, What could it mean! The clicking sound, similar to that of clock- work, continued for a moment, and then a part of the wall seemed to give way and slid aside, and the form of a man stepped into the opening. A single glance was enough, It was Hichard Manton, whom she had notseen since that night in Shanghae, when, by the aid of Baul Belton, | you will be saved. she had been rescued from the hands of her ab- | cluctors, eep good watch, Tonan; | looked in. It was a dark face,but notuncomely, , | and he refused to give you up to me. I have wet my knowledge of bis palace to reach you, and— ** Liar!” cried a ringing voice. Manton started, and with a cry of rage drew a revolver and looked this way and that for the speaker. But no one was in sight. "Who spoke?’ he cried. upon me, even in this palace? Wait; I w come to you again.” He darted through the secret door and closed it, and for half an hour Nellie stood there alone, alternating between hopeand fear. At last the door opened again, and Manton appeared, bis eyes flashing fire. cae } ‘*T could not have been deceived, and Iam sure I heard the voice of a man who hates me, but with all my search about the palace I can- not find him. It is well for him that I could | not get him within reach of my pistol, or bis interference would have ended quickly. Now listen to my plans. I can enter this palace | when I will. and to-night, when all is quiet, I What say the men to the death of | will come and set you free.” ‘t Where will you take me?” asked Nellie. “No matter for that. I save you only on the | condition that you promise upon your sacred | honor, to be my wife the moment we set foot in a civilized port. Will you give me this pro- | mise?” ‘You ask too much,” she replied, coldly. with a woman in deadly peril,as Lam. No; I will not promise to be your wife; I never could be happy with one who takes advantage of my | danger to wring such a promise from me,” * an are mad, girl,’ he said, in a hoarse voice. ‘ Do not forget that I have loved you long, and in love and war all things are fair. You must yield: itis the only hope you have. Do you prefer the love of the Black Shereef to mine?” ee , ; ‘He is a tiger, | know,” she answered, ‘' but from such a man only evil deeds are looked for. You have it in your power to earn my undying gratitude. My father and my lover are in the harbor, and you can use your power to place me in safety with them. My love, Captain Manton, you can never have.”’ 7 He stood glaring at her like a tiger about to spring, but said not a word for some moments. At last be spoke, and his voice was so hoarse and strained that she would not have recog- ‘Have your way, then, since it must be so. If you prefer the love of this savage chief to mine, I am not the one to balk you in your chaste designs. ButI give you this last chance. At twelve to-night I will come to you for your answer; if you give me the same then, 1 will abandon you to your fate,” : ‘Tt is useless for you to come; you have my answer now.” “ Perhaps you may change your mind when | your fate stares youinthe face. You may think that your lover can save you, but I tell you that the Shereef will kill you before he will give you up to Harry Castleton. For the present, I bid you good-by.” He passed through the secret door, closed it | with a sharp click and was gone. Ten minutes later the door again opened and another face the face cf Marco the Mute. He looked at her attentively for a moment and made rapid ges- | tures by which she understoed that he could not speak, He thrust his band into the breast of his sarong and preduced a note, which he handed her, She toreit open rapidly and read these words: ‘Trust Marco; he cannot speak, but his heart is true as steel, Do as he bids you, my darling, and Harry.” Nellie pressed her lips to the missive and turned to Marco. Before she had time to speak The Black Shereef | “Ts there a spy | the wicket in the door was pushed open and tha Black Shereef looked in, His wild ery . rage rung through the corridor, as, flinging the door open, he came rushing in, his eyes blazing through his mask. _ , ‘Black dog,” he cried, ‘'do you dare the ven- geance of the Black Shereef? Help—ho! Seize this villain, and to the panthers with him. Let his bones lie with those of the traitor, Tom A dozen Malays rushed together upon Marco, but his giant form seemed to grow larger as he faced them, and seizing the foremost by the shoulder and waist he whirled him in the air and hurled him like a ball into the midst of the ad- vancing pirates. Before they could recover from this strange attack he burst through the ranks and gained the corridor, closing and bar- ring the door, His hollow laugh sounded through the hall as the feat was accomplished, and then the sound of monrying feet could be heard ashe hastened away. The Shereef ac- tually bellowed with rage as he dashed open the secret door and gained another passage; but all search was vain, for Marco had made his es- OWASSO’S DEADLY DEED—ZARINA IN BONDS. Tue Malay Chieftain came back panting for breath, and breathing maledictions upon all his enemies—and he had many—and among them all he feared Mareo most, next to Arthur Car- rington; and now both these vindictive men were on his track. sy ae ‘“- You are no longer safe here, girl,”’ he cried, catching her by the wrist. ‘‘Come with me.” He led her through the halls to hisown rooms and made her seat herself. He too sat down near her, with the airof a man whose mind was “My enemies are gathering about me fast,’’ he said, “but I shall balk them yet.” ? "You would do well to give me up, and they will trouble you no more,” she averred., He uttered asnarl like that ef a wild beast, and rose suddenly and shook a threatening fin- ger in her face. ; : ‘ Before | saw you, girl, I was a happy man, I was master of all around me and victorious in all lundertook, But now you see me, baffled, “*7 am glad to hear it,” EF “Beware what you say. J have read m the book of your worship that the strong man of Israel, Samson, pulled down upon his enemies the walls of their temple, and died with them there, Sooner than see you torn from me, I will die as he died.” “Why not yield like a man, when you are beaten?” she demanded, “Never. I have periled all on the chance of winning you, and J will have you or perish. And if I cannot get yous love, no one else shall, Yes, your lover is there, and he shall sea you die if he persists in his attempt to force his way into the palace.” “‘ He would sooner witness my death than see me your prey, wretch. Do your worst, for I defy you,” cried the brave girl. The Shereef clutched at his throat asif chok- ing, and his eyes rolled fearfully, The next moment he caught her in his arms, dragged her to a strong room, into which he thrust ber hastily, locked the door upon her, and placed a guard at the door. < “There you are safe, my lady,” he said, “It is well I did my work quickly, or I should have been bem pven to kill her where shestocd. Why do 1 think of Zarina and the ship Cairncross to- day? Is it because that was my first great crime, and my fate is near at hand! Now then, Malay, what do you want?” The captain who had been sent to give the an- swer of the Shereef to the Rajah had suddenly appeared before him, __ | “T have seen the Rajah again, and with him a Barsakaw whose face is terrible to look upon, and who gave me a message for you,” the Malay said. ‘Did he give a name?” “No,” was the reply. | “What is the message?” whe ‘‘Hesaid: Seven years ago the ship Cairn- cross was treacherously destroyed upon this coast and the captain and crew walked the | plank.” The Shereef nodded slowly. | ‘‘T was one of the victims. Since then I have followed you like a Nemesis. I might have killed you a hundred times, but your hour had not yet come, That you may know who 1 am, and what you have to fear, 1 send you this,” | (EONNIE KOOKS .(COM