Beadle's Half Dime Library Vol. IX, No. 230: The Yankee Rajah; or, The Fate of the Black Shereef — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

TWO STRONG MEN—THE MASK REMOVED. Makgco silently extended his hand to Tom Reid. Before he had been dismembered by or- der of the Black Shereef they had been good friends, and had fought side by side in battle with the Bhurmese. sirtige te ‘We will die together,” said Reid, as he drew his sword, of which he had not been deprived | when hurled into the den they come.” , There was a rush of many feet, the rattle of arms aud there poured into the room at least fifty Malays, carrying swords, guns and torches. By their light they saw the secret door standing open and inside the immovable forms of the two brave men who were there to defend it, | “Upon them,” cried the Black Shereef, chok- ing with passion. ‘‘Hew them down, for if they keep the door until they: get help we are And now followed one of those Homeric bat- tles for which history has no niche, and yet which deserve a place far above many deeds there set down, Twomen, one a Malay, the other a white man, stood side by side in a righteous cause, ready to do manful battle, They had this advantage, that not more than two could attack them at once; and two de- determined men, desperate, and careless of their lives, could hold others at bay for a long time, no matter what their numbers. of the panthers. ‘‘ Here ‘‘Are you there, Tom Reid?” hissed the | Shereef. ‘‘ Again I have been deceived by those whom I have trusted. Ten thousand curses on your head. I thought your bones were | cracking under the jaws of my panthers,” “ T have an account to settle with you first,” replied Reid, swaying his blade with the ease of long practice, ‘‘Why do you hesitate, why don’t you come on?” . ; Two men hurled themselves upon the bold pair, their kreeses gleaming purple under the glare of the torches. A quick cut from the kreese of Marco, a thrust in low tierce from Tom Reid, and they are down, never to see the deep sea waves again, or hear the waters splash- ing under the bows of their proas, Their places were quickly filled and two more of the Sea Rovers had looked their last upon the sky, Furious with rage, they crowded in together, only to impede each other more and more, and offer themselves an easy sacrifice to the keen blades of the defenders of the passage. ‘Rush in there,” roared the Shereef, “or make way for those who can do better work. Ha! By heaven, the enemy have opened fire in front.” ; ED As he spoke there came a thundering crash, as a six pound shot plunged into the heavy door of the palace. Then it was that the She- reef realized that he had wasted too much time in trying to force these men from their places, and was attacked in front and rear. “To the front,” he cried, ‘‘ Where are your pistols, men; shoot them down,” At that order the defenders stepped behind an angle of the passage, which too could not be reached by a pistol shot. The Malays crowded through x, soonasa head showed beyond the angle the owner fell, cloyen to the jaws, or pierced to the heart. Leaving the Malays to continue the combat, the Shereef bounded up the narrow stairway, and just at the head flung open a door, ‘There sat Nellie Darrel, her head bent in prayer, listening to the roar of the howitzer, and hoping at each moment that the strong door would go down, He rushed in and caught her in a savage grasp. ) “Come with me,” he cried. ‘These dogs shall know that Ll am not playing with them.” “ What are you going to do?’ she answered, struggling with him, ‘* You villain, loose your hold, ‘Come, [say! Ihave set my all upon this east and I will win or perish, Come on.” The walls seemed to rock as he dragged her through the hall, and the rapid reports showed ! a sharp turn | just beyond the concealed door, where they | The Yankee Rajah. ‘‘ Three cheers for our little beauty; give ‘em with a will!” ‘‘ Hold your fire,” screamed the Shereef, rais- ing bis hand. ‘* Let another shot strike the door, and I will hur) her down upon the paving of the court-yard, and you may have your beauty then.” fa “The bloody dog would do it,” muttered Ned Stacey. “Oh, just wait; [ve got something cooking for you, pirate.” 3 “Order your men to cease firing, Captain Castleton. It will be better for you and this girl if you do.” | ‘Are you ready to treat?’ demanded Harry. * Yes, but not on your terms, I must dic- tate them, or I will kill her.” ‘- Cease firing,” said Harry waving his hand to the men. | . “Only one round more, captain,” said the gallant tar working the gun nearest to them, “and down goes the door to their old shebang.” “He would keep his word, Carey, for the man is desperate. Now then, state your terms, you villain.” “Tand my men to march out and take our way out to the interior ofthe island unharm- ed,” said the Shereef. : “Tf you have not murdered any prisoners In your hands—granted.” “To take with us whatever property right- fully belongs to us.” | sc thay would not be much, but it is granted (, “We to deliver up into your hands, safe and unharmed, all the prisoners in our possession} not including this lady.” ; , ‘You know well that we will not treat on such terms. must ba her surrender,” replied Harry. | ‘So be it, then, but there is one thing I must insist upon, that you give up to me the woman who escaped frora my palace to-night, the one who has been know among us as Zarina.” "Ha; goon,” ; , Also two fugitives from our band, Tom Reid and the Malay chief, known as Marco,” Are these your terms?” : Ves, and they are the best you can get.” — “Refuse them, Harry,” cried Nellie, bravely. ‘tT would sooner die a thousand deaths than put that noble woman in his power again. Pi- rate, thief, murderer—I defy you! Fire at the door, Harry—down with it. I will make him some work before he can haul me down.” And with a quick motion she wrenched her- self free from the grasp of her captor and be- gan to run about the roof with great swiftness, laughing at his threats and curses. Suddenly she turned and bounded through the opening in the roof into the room below, -Asshe did'so the outer door, literally torn from its hinges by the crashing fe poured into it, fell into the hallway crushing two or three men asit came down, an the crew of the Tokio, with wild battle yells, came rushing on to the charge. | The Black Shereef had leaped through the opening in pursuit of the flying girl, but she had darted into one of the narrow halls and passed from room to room, and in the din of the battle he could not judge by her footsteps which way she had fled. Just as the door came down he heard the detonation of firearms in the | rooms below, and soon the Malays who had been attacking Mareo and Tom Reid came pouring out, assailed by a strong force, headed ky the Ya kee Rajah and Arthur Carrington. The hall of the palace was dred feet in length. In the middle stood the desperate Malay band, half of them facing the hall and struggling to keep back the rush of the | men of the Tokio, and the rest confronting Car- that more than one cannon was at work, Still | he kept upward, ordering his men to stand their ground and defend the hall if the door went down, At last, he dragged her, panting and exhausted, through the opening to the root where he pushed her out in full view of the crew of the Tokio, who were working three six- pound cannons with determined zeal. And be- hind them, stimulating the crew to work rapid- ly, he saw Harry Castleton. A roar of recog- nition came up from below. | “There she is, lads,” shouted Ned Stacey. -eried Carrington, rington and the men of Gadong Beg. In the fore front of this last band the Shereef took his stand, with a drawn sword in his hand. | “Throw away your mask, Richard Manton,” “You need it no more,” _ “Wou are right,” replied the man whom we have known as the Black Shereef. ‘‘ Now you see me,” ath « It was the same handsome, devilish face which we have seen upon the Bund at Shanghae before the sailing of the Tokio—the face of Richard Manton! _ “Give us a little breathing space before you attack, Arthur Carrington. Of all men I had not expected you to rise from the dead. I thought you went down with the shattered hull of the Cairncross until we met below, and then I thought Owasso bad killed you.” ‘‘T live to be avenged on you, for the steel of your Malay assassin failed in its work. More than that, I have saved my darling from your hands, and thank that Providence which robbed The first article of any agreement erhaps two hun- | | time to battle, where no quarter was asked and none stood regarding /an bour, — | upon his face. er o! Fnougch! Do you surrender?” _ , ‘‘Surrender! I will die where I stand and only wish I could get Edith Carlysle into my hands again long enough to take revenge upon her. Take that!” ; He suddenly fired a pistol at point blank her of her reason and kept her pure. range, but not so suddenly but Arthur Car- who had been watchin him, bad bow his head. ‘Chen began the rington desperate given, and Arthur Carrington and Richard Manton engaged hand to hand. Both were finished swordsmen, and no man on either side interfered while they played as coolly as if they had been fencing for a prize. Heedless of the battle raging about them, they fought on, the sparks flying from their blades as they clashed together. “Devies Arthur had made a disengagement and as many times touched his enemy, but the third time he came within distance he lunged home. It was only the mail shirt he wore which saved Richard Manton’s life, for the point struck bim full in the breast, so furiously thatit hurled him to the rround, and before he could recover, the foot of his enemy was on his breast and the point at his throat. Then half a dozen Malays, seeing the danger of their chief, hurled themselves in. a body upon Arthur and forced bim from the prostrate form of Manton, who bounded again to his feet, and before they could stop him, sprung through a side door into the large ban- quet hall and from thence into the lower part of the building, locking all the doors behind him as he fled. ‘**T will fool the dogs yet,” he muttered. ‘Now for the other passage. Oh, if I could. only meet with Ellen Darrel now.” AGAIN A CAPTIVE—THE AVENGER ON THE TRACK—MARCO TAKES REVENGE. is As he spoke a door was flung open and Nellie: Darrel darted in, and before she could turn to flee he had her in his grasp, with his dagger at her breast. : ‘Utter a sound and you are dead, girl,” he hissed. “ By all the Malay gods, fortune is not. all against me, since you are in my power.” Throwing off the heavy scarf which he wore, he muffled her face quickly and darted into the room in which she had been confined when vis- ited by Marco, The secret door was quickly found and they passed through, closing the door carefully behind him and setting the spring so that it could not be opened from the other side. Then, raising her again in his arms, he bore her on for some distance in the darkness, when he: stopped, and, taking off his belt, bound her hand and foot. x ‘(So far good, my beauty. Now, then, let us have light so that] can look at you,” hesneered. « A match was lighted and a small lamp which was placed in a nichein the wall illuminated the room. It was close and damp, and had evident- ly been used as a prison, fora rusty chain was attached to the wall upon one side, He placed, her ina sitting poner against the wall, and. 2 her with a frowning brow. _“T wonder why I have spared you so long, Nellie Darrel,” he said, ina bitter tone. “ Lec se at me and see to what love for you has reduced me, Only a few short days ago I reigned here as a prince; all men bowed to my will and. | Malays paid me tribute and furnished me men and arms. I have risked all for your sweet sale, and have lost all, save you. I have you in my power at last.” = ‘“-You cannot escape and take me with you,” she answered, in a spirited tone, _ ‘‘Do you think so, my lady? In that you are deceived. For years I have been turning my wealth into jewels, until I have two millions upon my person, I shall escape and take you with me, and in another land we shall be happy together.” “Vou have me in your power and can kill me,” was the reply, ‘‘ but 1 will never be your wife.” | ‘ You say so now, but I shall find a means to bend you to my will. Thisis not the only land in which the Malay has power, and once among them, woe to you if you dare to refuse my hand, Something worse than wedding me may follow.” Nellie made no reply, and he left the room with a horried step, and was gone for nearly Then he came back, an exultant look “‘ Everything is ready,” he answered. ‘The road to the mountain is clear, and in half an. hour we shall be on the way.” “S im GOmichboo ef @ }