Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1019 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

<< am ° _ . . oS a ee ee ~ ap alae a —_— A LE Ae ~~ — a ees perk, and went off at a rattling pace down the ighwey, ‘Fool that I am!” bitterly mutered Burd Bayard, looking after the awkward vehicle, as it lumbered down the road and wanisbei in tue gloom of the night; “‘I have spoken to iwo per- sons since leaving Buzzard’s Roost, and both of them knew me, It would bethe sameif I ad- dressed a bundred—so what’s the use?” Ani, suatching off the luxuriant whiskers, he fav: tuem a spiteful fling that carried them «ver Loe fence and out of sight. fle continued his walk in the direction of The C.dars, pausing a few minutes | :ter in front of the old mansion, whose walls, had they tongues, could have told many strange tales of what had taken place there in the years that were gone, More than once be stopped and gazed longing- ly atthe immense structure, with its wealth of barns, out-buildings, trees, vegetation and ser- vants’ quarters, and with forests and meadow- land stretching away until the estate inclosed an area of thousands of acres, But Bayard continued past the famous resi- dence until he had walked fully a mile, when he found himself opposite a large, straggling man- sion, made of bricks imported a century before from Holland’ The gable end was entirely en- veloped in climbiug ivy, whose snaky vines clung to the walls as if seeking to strangle them. Contemplating this gloomy building the young sailor captain observed not the first sign of life within. Everything was asdark and silent as the tomb. ‘* That is the Haunted House,” he muse, as be rested Lis band on the ponderous gate, ‘‘ and it has been a horror for two generations, [ :smem- ter that it belongs to the estate of The Cedurs, The legend is that the whole family were mur- dered within its walls, and since then the spirits of the victims have baunted the place, I used to dread it.and hurry by when I was a child, but I am older to-night, have seen more of the world, and the Haunted House has no terrors now for me, W hat had brought Burd Bayard to this dismal place, of which he had no thought when landing from tke Albatross? Why had he left the regu- jar highway, and, walking up the short, grass- grown lane, paused in front of the most forbid- ding of dwellings? Who of us, on a silent moonlight night, could wish to visit a haunted house, so dreaded by those that knew its history, that, for many years, no person could be per- suaded to occupy it, nor could servants be in- duced to till the fertile land or save the out- buildings from moldering and going toruin? | Captain Bayard bad a resistless reason for bis step. He believed there was some unexplainable connection between the, mystery of The Cedars and that of the Haunted House. He could not even conjecture its precise nature, but a dim, shadowy belief came over him that the knowl- edge he sought in wain from Doctor Hazeltine awaited him within those gloomy walls, When the handsome young captain sought to analyze or understand his feeling on this point, he failed, but its presence and controlling force was there none the less, ‘‘God willing, I shall spend this nightin the Haunted House,” he said, paseing through the gate, and slowly approaching the stracture; **and if, at the coming of daylight, I shail nei- ther see nor hear nor learn anything that can tell me aught of Mariel, and of the shadow that has brooded over The Cedars so long, then tho Albatross shallcarry me out on the Atlantic to-morrow morning hound for the other side of the world, and, never again shall [ set footin my native country! Of a truth, I cannot un- derstand what strange impulse has brought me here at all to-night,” CHAPTER III, THE HAUNTED HOUSR, Tum bravest man that ever trod this footstool cannot approach a ‘* haunted house,” where he is alone and the nigbt-is calm and still, without being stirred by peculiar emotions, Captain Bayard walked deliberately forward, purposely kicking the gravel, 80 asto make all the noise possible without seeming to wish to do so. Not until he stepped upon therickety porch did he pause long enough to assure himself that his two loaded pistols were in place, ‘Shall I knock, or open the door without ceremony? he asked himself; “ however, a man don’t lose anything by politeness,” Whatever his emotions, there was no evidence of timidity when he reached up bis hand and struck a resounding , with the huge brass knocker, and then y waited for some re- Burd Bayard’s Close Call. ee ee — But the listening ear detected not the faint- est sound, after the knocking had been repeated several times, ; *Vory well,” be grimly muttered, ‘if grass won't bring him down we’llsee what virtue there isin stones,” Raising the old-fashioned latch, he pressed his shoulder against the heavy door, which yielded 75 pean than if it were the solid brick wal)! it- self, ‘‘I forgot that people as a rule fasten their doors at night,” he added, after convincing him- self it was useless to expect to enter the Haunted House jin the usual way, ‘‘ but l’m resolved to et in by some means, if I have to break this old oor from its hinges,” The sailor stepped softly from the porch and took his place under a dense, spreading oak, within a rod of the house, ‘*] believe human beings are in there,” he added, after the best survey he could make with the partial aid of the moonlight; ‘‘ Ido not see a ,broken window-pane, ‘They are blue and thin, as though they have stood the storms of a ceutury, but the house wouldn’t be in half as good condition, unless some one lived in it.” The keen eyes of thesailorcaught a suggestive fact. One gnarled branch of the huge oak, under which he was standing, extended its outer portion so close ;to an upper window that an ordinarily-expert man could easily reach the latter by such help, ** Vil try it,” he muttered, ‘* for 1’m on serious business to-night and do not mean to be thwarted,” It could not escape Captain Bayard that the act he was about to attempt involved great per- sonal risk, provided living persons were within the building, for he was assuming the part of a burglar, and every court and jury in the land would hold the occupant guiltless who should shoot such an intruder dead, while forcing an entrance into a house whose door was locked against him, ‘*T’ll take the responsibility,” he muttered; **T’ve been charged with graver crimes than this, and if 1’m detected my countrymen will wonder that [ didn’t do worse,” Leaving bis cane on the ground, and making sure his pistols were ready, he went up the tree nimbly and began feeling his way out on the limb toward the window on which he had fixed his hopes. Tho exuberant vegetation shunt him out from the view of any one who might be peeping out from within the house, and Bayard advanced with the care and caution of an assassin stealing upon his victim, The large limb bent sligbtly under his weight, but the deflection was an advantage, inasmuch as it brought him directly opposite the win- dow. ina few minutes he was within reach of the sash, All remained dark ani silent, and wondering whether the sash was secured in place or not he reached forward and tested it. It resisted at first, {but suddenly went up the full height, where the warped wood held it securely. ‘*Good!” be exclaimed, ‘Now we shall see what we shall see!” Grasping the sill with both hands, he rested his knees upon it, and with his head thrust with- in the builaing, looked and listened, Profound stillness and darkness were on every nand, Neither eye nor ear could detect the first evidence that a living heing was within the house. Onlythe faintrustling of the vegetation behind him as the night-wind gently stirred the leaves, told him that he was awake and not dreaming. Reaching one hand forward and downward, he felt the hard, bare floor, and the next minute he stepped within the Hauated House! Ay, for the first timein his life be was in the old mansion tast bad borne the reputation of being haunted for a hundred years, Burd Bayard stood there, having come from the uttermost parts of the earth, a full-grown man, embrowned in face, hardened in muscle, brave, and not afraid to encounter any peril tbat could confront bim, whose life was made up of peril and all manner of dangers, Captain Bayard’s first act after realizing that he wasreally within tbe Haunted House was to make sure again that both his weapons were at instant command. One double-barreled pistol was in his hip-pocket, and the other, somewhat smaller, was file bosom. Both could be snatched forth at any moment needed, Tbe next natural move was to feel his way around the room to learn something of his sur- roundings, The result was the discovery that the apartment was empty of everything except himself, Nota piece of carpet, no chair or ta are ST ~ «5 | 7 ae ee eee ee mr Eee ee eee ee eee sb. - Cis eel Zan he Re ee ‘ve eth Cth Sica ancSa GL 6 ) ie i -~t ——— 3 was on the floor and the walls were bare of pic- tures and even nails, While thus playing blind man’s buff he cars upon the only door leading outward. This readily drew back, and with the same care he had used from the first he groped his way into the broad upper hall, into which the stairs from the lower stu ry led, Tho young sailor fouvd the head of the steps without difficulty, and was in tte act of de- scending, when he was startled by the unmis- takable sound of footsteps, They were faint and soft, but his keen sense of hearing, now strained to the highest tension, told him that some one was coming up the steps at the head of which he had halted, ** {tis a woman,” was his thought, ‘* and she is walking in her slippers,” The captain’s first impulse was to withdraw into the room from which he had just come, but, like a truly brave man, he decided to stay where he was, wildly boping that the mystery that had brought him thicher might be on the eve of solution. Accordingly, he pressed back against the wall and waited and listened fur the issue of the strange adventure which seemed at hand. CHAPTER IV. A MEMENTO OF THE PAST, NEARER and nearer came that soft, fairy-like step, his :eart fluttering with strange emotions, at the belief that some beautiful girl was ap- proaching, and in a few seconds would be with- in reach of his hand, as he stood with his back against the wall. ‘*If she discovers my presence,” he thought, when he knew from the sounds that she was near the head of the stairs, ‘‘ what will take place?” He,vheld his breath, as she glided still closer, only afraid that the tumultuous beating of his own heart would betray him, A feeling like a faint, electric shock passed through him, when a rustling, silken dress, cold and smooth, brushed his hands, and be knew that he had but to raise his arm to inclose the body of the mysterious creature in the dark- ness, But the faint footfall continued. She had passed and was moving along the hall toward the room he had left a few minutes before, In that crucial moment, he became aware of a faint, delicious perfume such as had once stolen away his senses in the Orient, and, whether it was fancy or not, he saw a dim, tremulous ligbt that served to blind, rather than to add to his power of vision, With all his faculties keyed to the highest point, he awoke to the fact that the faint, pe*- tering footfalls were heard no longer, Where the unknown had gone, he could net conjecture, He had heard no doors opened or shut, and the only sounds besides the footfalls were the ‘silken, sad, uncertain rustling” of ber garments as she seemed to float past, Perhaps she had orate just beyond arm's reach, where she could bear the slightest move- ment on his part, This dread held bim motion- less for several minutes, but the continued still- ness convinced him that she had vanished from the upper hall more strangely than she had en- tered it, With this belief came back something of his old courage, which for a brief interval had de- parted, Hedetermined tocontinue his explora- tions, Accordingly, with arms outstretched, he felt bis way along the upper hall in the direction whence the unknown lady had disappeared, The floor here was likewise uncarpeted, and, despite all the care he coul! use, he knew that every step he took could be heard by any person within the house, no matter where located, In this manner he passed several paces beyond the entrance which admitted him to the hall, when he made another singular discovery. From beneath a door on the other side of the pase eway issued several pencils of light, plain- y ble to the young captain, who once more balted and listened. ‘*1’m bound to see this through,” he said te himself, as he gently struck his knuckies on the door; ‘**sbe must have entered here, and my curiosity about her cannot be baffled.” His experience was the same as when he an- nounced his presence by means of the heavy knocker on the outeide door. His ted sum- mons, each time louder than before, brought ne response, and with more miagi than in the former instance, be raised the latch and shoved the door inward, As he did so, he drew back shamefacedly, for “a. - - : «4 ». e ' « “ “a - — =~ $2 pe. i =