The Halfpenny Surprise, Vol. I, No. 20 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

14 THE HALFPENNY SURPRISE. Death has a secret I mean to discover; let those who oppose me look to it. It will be their life or mine! ” Thanks to the skill of the médicine-man:or witch- doctor of the tribe, Flinter was able to leave the village within a week, and eventually joined his brother at Cape Town. “ Alive, say you; hang him, he will spoil my game completely,” exclaimed the baronet, angrily, when Flinter unfolded his budget of news. ** Where is he to be found? He must be ‘removed’ or he’ll do us both some serious mischief.” “At the River of Death, enjoying the hospitality of your first wife; and probably pocketing a lot of the treasure. When will you be ready to start, Percival ? ” “For where? The River of Death, I wish it had any other name than that,” replied the baronet with a shudder. “What's in a name after all, brother mine,” said Flinter, jeeringly; “a fortune is within our grasp. “Listen tome. I thought the matter well out when I was laid by the heels in the village among the savages,” “Tm afraid Pl have to go there alone, Richard. My wife, who has assumed the lofty title of Queen of the Forest, never could tolerate you.” “ But I mean toaccompany you for all that, disguised as a native,” said Flinter. * And be detected for your pains.” “Not atall. Ithink that you may leave me to take care of myself in that direction. I.was careful not to let Charles Holmes into the secret, but I am well acquainted with the language of the natives.” After a lot of persuading, Sir Percival agreed to his brother’s crafty plan. And really, when Flinter appeared before him as a native he looked the character to the life. Arrived at the River of Death, Sir Percival wrote a letter to his wife. Flinter undertook to get the letter delivered, and with his usual good fortune met with a native who did so. The baronet Legged so hard that his “dear wife, his darling Annie,” would see him, that she sent a letter back, consenting. In the missive which he wrote, he mentioned (at Flinter’s suggestion) that he had picked up a native servant, a perfect treasure, and would like him to be included in the permission. This was granted, and the letter from her brought to the baronet by an Ethiopian named Naja, who stood over six feet in height, and was as straight as a dart. Through the agency of the Queen of the Forest, Naja had been rescued from slavery, and was now her most trusted servant and body-guard. He was their guide, and on reaching a certain spot Naja told them, in good English, if they wished to proceed further they must consent to be blindfolded, and their arms tied behind their backs. The baronet demurred at first, but on Naja re- maining as firm as a rock, he consented. Their eyes were bandaged and their hands secured; then the negro led the baronet off, after telling his supposed native servant that he would return for him presently. Flinter did not like this arrangement, but he grinned and bore it for the sake of what was to come. He started when he heard Charlie’s well-known voice say, later on: ‘‘ Here we are at last, Frank; Ill give the signal for Naja.” “‘Hulloa! wait a bit, who is this?” cried Frank, on eatching sight of the supposed native; but they were spared the trouble of enquiring by the appearance of Naja on the scene. Charlie and Frank were blind- folded, but their arms were left free. When they were led away, and Flinter was left waiting till his betters were served, he muttered: “ We'll have them all in the net now; it won’t be my fault if any sou But I do wish that nigger would attend to me; he'll be a tough fellow to tackle. I must be wary of him.” The Journal for single‘and married everywhere is “Something to Read.” ill Published every Tuesday. ustrated. One Penny. Flinter’s turn came at last, and when the bandage was removed from his eyes he found himself in an apartment built of pure marble. He was well treated, and, thanks to the excellency of the pigment which he used, and his fluent command of the native language, his artifice was not suspected, at least, so he thought. Seated on a throne was the Queen of the Forest, a lovely woman, although somewhat advanced in life. She was dressed in purple raiment, trimmed with the richest furs, and a zone of burnished gold encircled her waist. Sir Percival, astonished and awed at the sight that met his eyes, fell upon his knees before this woman, whom the natives worshipped as a goddess, but she held up her hands and his lips remained dumb. “There will be time enough for you to speak presently,” she said. Then turning to Naja, who had mounted guard with an enormous sword in his hand, she said, “ Bring the princess hither.” Sir Percival and Flinter started violently as—Naja drawing aside acurtain at the back of the throne—Rose Coglan, attired in a magnificent Eastern costume, appeared. “Listen,” said the Queen of the Forest, speaking in English, fixing her eyes on the pair of astonished villains, “this girl—princess as she is held to be by the natives, and daughter by me—was rescued with Charles Holmes by my ever faithful attendant, Naja. She and he are my heirs. The wealth, hoarded by a people long extinct, is their’s. I give them all—everything, for I have been warned that my life is drawing to a close. “Not all,” Sir Percival pleaded. “ Return with me to England, and I will make you happy. For years I. have lived a life of repentance, and I am a changed man. Do notsend me away from you after travelling so many miles to do homage at your feet.” Charles Holmes was about to speak, when the Queen of the Forest silenced him with a glance of her magnifi- cent eyes. “ What vile masquerading is this? ” she cried, gazing scornfully at the arch-plotter cringing at her feet. ‘Do you think that I am not fully awake to your reason in coming here? Do you think that I have forgotten the wretched life I led with you, or how you entombed me when ina trance? Pitiless fiend! how can you expect mercy of me?” Sir Percival held up his hand in supplication, but the Queen of the Forest paid no heed to him. “And do you think,” she cried—her voice ringing through the vast chamber—as she pointed to Flinter, “that I cannot see through such a flimsy disguise as that. Seize them.” Almost before the pair of villains knew what had happened they were surrounded by a number of warriors, who brandished gleaming blades before their terrified eyes. “Away with them to the dungeons beneath the palace,” exclaimed the Queen of the Forest, clapping her hands. “ Little did I dream that the men I have reason to hate most in all the world would fall into a trap of their own setting.” . She laughed wildly and almost hysterically, as Sir Percival, in his agony and horror at the situation in which he found himself, tried to break from the strong arms that held him. Dick Flinter stood silent, baffled, dumbfounded, and eating his heart out with impotent rage. : He had indeed fallen into a trap of his own setting; and there seemed little chance of escaping from it. But one hope was left, and he clung to it as a drowning man clings to straws. Enraged as the Queen of the Forest might feel against her unnatural husband, she would never find itin her heart to have them slaughtered like wild beasts. Twenty-four pages, profusely comiclooks.com