Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1015 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

12 The Reporter-Detective’s Big: Pull. The man also staggered and reeled, Young Boland, et pony? beside himself with rage, cast himself upon Swivel and the two fell to the earth together, Tom using the while the heavy bracelets upon the face of tho butler until he was dragged back and thrown down by the other men, who seemed to be tramps. ‘Kill the cursed hound!” shrieked Swivel, struggling to his feet with blood tricklirg from his face that was convulsed with fury. ‘ isiil him! Whereisa knife—pistol—anytuing?” He plucked a gun from the hands of @ tramp, while Franconi, grasping a stiletto, watched for an opportunity to sheathe the same in Boland’s bosom, Another movement and the young re- porter might have met an unwelcome fate then and there, “Stand back!” said a quick, authoritative voice bebind the would-be murderers. ‘‘ Havo you not other work on hand without quarreling among yourselves?” The men fell back obediently, leaving Tom lying bound, though sg ill unsubdued in spirit, Looking up, the youth saw De Lancy Leland approaching, while behind bim was the long- faced, ministerial-appearing man whom the young men bad noticed on the train. When Leland recognized Tom, he fell back a step and his face took on an expression of anxi- ety and even fear, * You here?” he exclaimed, were out of my way, at last.” **Not much I ain’t!” retorted Tom, boldly. ** As long as you are outside of a jail and work- ing vile schemes against the weak and innocent, you will find me camped on your trail, Makea note of that, will you?” ‘‘How came he here?” demanded Leland, of the others, ** We found him asleep at the old fort on the hil], by accident,” replied Swivel. ‘* Remem- bering where you said you had left the bloke, we was rather took back, Hut, knowing that you didn’t want him running round loose, we givo him a touch,of ether, trussed him up and fetched him here. A deuce of a time be has given ussince he woke up, Seems like ho ain't a Lit grateful for what we've done, either.” A coarse laugh went round at this feeble ‘witticism, while Leland reflected. ‘*Gog tim again and throw him in the cave,” he ordered, at length, ‘‘ Knife him if he re- sists, Wheat? Will you let one boy, and he bound, baffle the lot of you?’ But Tom, being somewhat exhausted, was more easily disposed of than before. His h.ad whirled yet with the fumes that had been in- haled when they first bound him, Presently he was dragged into a dark, subterranean place where the rocks weve damp and be could hear water slowly dripping. Probably it was some one of the small cavernstbhat were not infre- = ge among the rocky biuffs in that vicinity, utside he heard the murmur of voices for a time; then the geet) appeared to go away and all was silent but for the drip in the cave and the sigh of the breeze in the trees with- 0 **T thought you uf, ‘* What a situation!” he thought, as the pos- sible contingencies that migbt follow his con- tinued detention arose in hia mind, ‘* To-night, of all nights in the world, for me to be tied here, is maddening. Indeed, I shall go mad if {think much of Agnes in the hands of those devils, and she helpless and unaided.” Presently, however, he began to set his wits to work. Surely he might devise some method of self-liberation. His hands were small and his handcuffs large. He worked for many min- utes, tryin, to force the steel bracelets down over his palms, The edges lacerated bis skin | along detour tothe left through field, patches But | of woodland, over fences and across high-roads, and his fingers grew slippery with blood, he hardly felt any pain, Only an intense pur- pose, amounting almost to frenzy animated his soul, He felt that if his own heedlessness had brought him into this situation, his own in- genuity ought to extricate him therefrom, At last, one cuff slipped over the half-raw and bleeding hand! Onearm now being free, he tore off the gag and unbound his feet. Then he rose with the handcuffs hanging to his right wrist, Hoe was free at last! Crawling stealthily to the cavern’s mouth, he sawa single guard dozing over the embers of a small fire. Tom crept forward, not unlike a panther about to leap. Raising his right arm, the heavy bracelets of steel came down on the man’s head, He rolled over helpless, uttering a low groan, Tom bound him AN yn bim as he himself had been gagged, and dragged the fellow inside just as he wasrecovering his senses, Then he returned to the open air and listened long and intently, , { SSS A CC I pes CHAPTER XVI, WAITING FOR TOM, THE DOOR IN THE WALL, WHEN night fell and Tom Boland could not be found there was great uneasiness at the house of his parents, The elder Boland returned after an absence of an hour or more, and called George Smalley from his agreeable occupation of enter- taining Miss Boland by teaching her the mys- teries of baccarat, Smalley followed the ex-detective into the latter’s own den. Thisapartment was filled with oddsand ends 0‘ farming and fishing implements, and sundry odd-looking suits and disguises, The old officer had not entirely forsaken the tools of his former profession, ‘‘Where is Tom?” was his first query. ‘I looked for him as I came in.” ** Don’t know, Il am sure, Haven’t seen the old boy fortwo hours, Miss Helen and I~” ‘** Bettér leave Miss Helen alone—for to-night at any rate,” said her father significantly. ‘¢ We havograver matters at hand. Tom will be along shortly, I guess, though I must say that 1 cautioned him about going off. Have you anv weapon, Mr. Smalley?” ‘Ss nalley had hisrevolver, Mr. Boland hand- ed him a suit of rustic clothing rather the worse for wear, and also aset of false whiskers and a wig, ‘* Take these in the next room and put them on,” said_Mr. Boland, ‘‘ Hereis a heavy walk- ing stick. You may need a club before you are done. When youreturn | may touch up your face a little to give you a truly bucolic ap- pearance, Wehardly know what resistance we may meet with. I have wired for aid, yet it may not arrive intime,” Smalley obeyed these instructions, though thinking more about Miss Helen than of the pos- sible periltbat mightthreaten, He soon present- ed himself before that astonished young lady so completely changed, even asto complexion, that she was about to leave the room when his al- ready familiar voice teassured her, "Why, youlook perfectly horrid,” sbe frankly told him ina laughing way, “ I see the marks now of father’s rouge pot, to improve a lady’s complexion, much as he prides himself on his skill in touching up one’s features.” ‘*eAm I such a fright?’ asked George rather ruefully. *' Well, perhaps not in reality, but as a make- up I must confess I shudder to look at you.” But thie badinag= was cut short by the en- trance of Boland senior in his Hibernian costume Ho would never do and with a cloud of unlrish anxiety upon bis brow, ** Wherein the world can Tom be?” he de- manded of the two young people, impatiently. Of course no one knew, The young man ha not been seen for several hours, Night was at hand, Mr. Boland fumed and fretted during the dinner hour and up to the time when it was necessary to act, **This comes of youthful forwardness,” he grumbled. ‘* Tom doubtlessimagines himself to be a better detective than others who were in harness before he was born. I told him to lie low. Now—the mischief only knows where he is! Come, Mr. Smalley. We aresadly crippled, and we ought to throw up his case, But the boy would never get over it now if the thing miscarried, Letusgo. Wehave nalf a dozen men’s work ahead of us, I fear,” Smalley, after a last word with Helen, tore himself away, and the two men plunged into the darkness without, leaving two quite anxious women behind, not only on their account but Tom's, Mr, Boland avoided the town, and made Smalley soon lost his bearings and followed the older man without knowing whither they were going. Mr. Boland seemed disposed to keep his lans to himself, For a long time they main- ined a grim silence, except for an occasional < npc of Boland’s over the dereliction of hisson, Sereral miles must have been thus tra- versed, when George recognized a sound as of waves lapping a pebbly beach, ‘* Have we much further to go?” he asked, as pees arrived atthe brow of a rugged swell of Mr. Boland pointed toa line or two of twink- ling lights some distance away, wherein every other di. ction the view was shrouded in deep obscurity. ‘** There is our objective point,” said he, “I don’t mind telling you now, that our. success is very problematic. Thanksto Tom’s strange ub- sence, we are buttwo. Unless aid comes quick- ly, which I fear it will not, we may not be strong enough, Should we wait we may be too a + ee - ee late to rescue the girl, if my information of what i3 contemplated to-night is correct, and I think it is. ‘* Then thereis a chance that we may have to fight our way?’ ** Not if we can make dodging answer instead, Draw your weapon only as alastresort, I don’t doubt but that this Leland has suborned the whole establishment, and has other help besides, He is not going to take any chances,” ‘* Then you regard our chance as desperate?” ** Listen and decide for yourself. You and Tom wish toset this Sutberland girl freeand se- cure the arrest of Leland and his pals at the final stage of his villainy. Well, his emissaries were down here ahead of you. Studley and his crew,asI said,are ‘ fixed.’ Leland has secured force to resist a possible rescue, Unless he wants to marry her, 1 must say I amunableto see why he confines her so closely, as be is her legai guardian, Perhens he fears interference on general principles, The wicked flee, etc., you know, ‘*T alsoimagine that he wants to thus fore- stall inconvenient inquiries that might lead up to the question of the commodore’smurder, He knows you fellows are after him, and is also never sure when the police will not have their suspicions directed his way, Hence all these ex- tra precautions against the rescue of a helpless girl already legally in his power.” n . May I ask what you and I are now about to 0?” ‘*T happen to have a friend inside these walls; one whom J havein time befriended, Heis to bring the girl toacertainfplace, His wife and himself are attendants, But the sudden arrival of Leland’s pals makes me uneasy, I knew the cross-eyed man the minute he left thetrain, from Tom’s description, Inmy Irishman’s rig I dog- ged them about, and saw them join several scala- wags as worthless as themselves,” **Did you lose sight of them?” ‘* Unfortunately, yes. At five o’clock I bad an appointmens with this friend at Studley’s place, Hehasthings fixed withthe girl, But while I was gone these rascals slipped off and 1 lost their trai]: Thev arelvinglow, lam afraid, waiting orders from Leland, who doubtless is on hand by now. ** Now if my friend only brings the girl out soon enough for us to get away ahead of them, all may yet gowell. If he does not, wo may have an up-hill time.” ‘* Why could we not go boldly to Huntingdon, get out some kind of a warrant against kidnap- ping or abduction, take a posse and beat these fellows at their own game?” $f nny becaus#it would dono good, Leland has, by hook or crook, been made her guardian, She has been declared legally to beinsane, No magistrate would authorize such proceedings in the face of such seenling facts, No; our only chance now is to free the girl, get her out of the wv, then jump on Leland with other charges. If T 1m basaccomplished what he says he has, £ think Leland will have his hands full then, in looking ont for his own safety,” Mr. Boland now led the way into an old field and from there they entered a piece of woodland that extended to the high wall bounding the grounds of thearylum. Then he turned to ths left and, cautioning silence, crept forward until they cameto a small door let into the masonry of the wall, which was about ten feet high and covered on top with broken glass set in concrete cement, Boland, after listening a moment, prodnced a key and unlocked the door, ** ‘You remain here,” he whispered to Smalley. ‘“* If any one attempts to enter from the outside, do not let them pass unless you are satisfied they are all right, Otherwise hold them off until you herr from me.” ‘** But, suppose I fail to hear from you? fSup- pose they happen to be too many for one man to handle?” ** Well, you have a good pistol, and I hope you have some nerve, What more do you want?” Boland’s accent grew slightly scornful. ‘* Oh, nothing, nothing. Ifa regiment appears I will wade in gore beforeit shall pass, Don’t be uneasy about me, sir.” But the old detective had already vanished through the door and his lame attempt at humor was lost on other ears than hisown, The place was gloomy enough. Though the stars shone there was no moon, and Smalley found no trouble in making himself invisible to any chance comer. He waited, perhaps, half an hour, when he heard low voices approaching from the inside. Slipping within, he ensconced himself behind a buttress of the doorway, and soon distinguished the dim outline of three figures, one of whom seemed fo be a woman,