Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1019 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

~< > 7 ~ 4 f\ 7 ‘ its , 4 ee s—i— he saw on the instant that he had invaded the privacy of a lady’s chamber! The one basty glance cast around the apart- ment showed the lofty, old-fashioned bedstead, with its towering headboard, dark and quaintly carved; the snowy linen and coverlets; the heavy stand protected by spotless linen, fringed atthe borders; a huge trunk, chairs, pictures, dresses aud all the various paraphernalia that go to make up a lady’s wardrobe, outfit and conveniences, and which left no possible doubt of the sex of the occupant, Captain Bayard saw also thesmall lamp burn- ing in the corner, at the instant he closed the door, with the feeling that nothing could justify intrusion on his part, after discovering the un- fortunate part he had played,” ‘*T didn’t see her,” was his thought, ‘‘ but, whoever she is, she is certainly no more of a dis- embodied spirit than I am,” A few steps further and the mystified ex- plorer found himself at the head of the stairs, thesame broad incline up which the mysterious lady had come, ** My gracious!” be muttered, as he began de- scending the steps, ‘‘ my boots make a hundred times more racket than she did.” At the bottom of the stairs, down which he guided himself by means of the smooth balus- trade, heagain caught the glimmer of light, this time coming from beneath a door on the right of theglower hall. Without hesitation the sailor shoved this open and passed into the large sitting-room of the Haunted House. It had high ceilings, bare walls, and uncarpeted floor, the only articles of furniture being several plain, high-backed chairs, and a cumbersome lounge that was drawn diagonally in front of the fireplace, as if for the accommodation of some late visitant. Upon theahearthstone were burning several knots of wood, with a pile at oneside for replen- ishing the blaze, which threw an uncertain flick- ering light through the room, The latter faced the rear of the house,and had two windows opening out on the desolate stretch of lawn, grown over with gnarled, untrimmed trees, smothered with vines and scrubby under- growth, all forming as dreary an outlook as can be imagined. Captain Bayard, standing in the middle of the room with folded arms, took in the strange sur- roundings, ‘‘This is an adventure,” he mused; ‘‘ and I wonder that my nerves are not more unstruaog than they are. Iam sure few would stand it as wellasI— Helloa!” This exclamation was caused by the sight of a folded piece of paper lying just beneath the lounge. Something startlingly familiar caused him to draw it forth and read: “$1 000 REWARD! Will be given by me for the capture of Burd Bayard, in addition to the same reward offered by the authorities of Maryland. He is believed to be in hiding somewhere in this county, awaiting a favorable opportunity to escape therefrom, ‘‘The said Burd Bayard is about twenty rs of age, with clean shaven face, nose slight- y aquiline, dark, curling hair, dark eyes, regu- lar teeth, of winning address, and manners, about five feet ten inches in height, very active, powerful and muscular, and when last seen was dressed in black clothing of a fashionable cut, “ All good citizens will aid the cause of jus- tice by helping to apprehend this criminal, ilty of the crime of murder of the most shock- ng nature. The above reward will be paid by me upon his oath | to the proper authorities, to whomsoever may be entitled to the same, the entire reward awaiting the capture of the crimi- nal being two thousand dollars, ‘“LiLoyp HAVEN,” This was the handbill, embellished with star- ing capitals and exclamation points which, four years before had been posted through that and the adjoining counties, and which had sent Burd Bayard skulking and dodging and running from his native State, when, but for the help of a few tried friends, he would have suffered capital punishment, The young man stared at the paper for a min- ute with curious interest, and then, crumpling it in his hands, flung it into the fire. ‘* A fugitive for the crime which God knows never 80 much as entered my thoughts!” he ex- claimed bitterly, as he watched the paper blaze and burn, ‘‘and yet I was environed in such a network that those whom I trusted told me I could not escape the gallows if caught, so I fled, believing time would make known my innocence a _ PF TT Burd Bayard’s Close Call. and bring all things right. But the years bave come and gone, and that reward still awaits bim who capturesme, I am running my neck into the halter by coming back to the neighborhood of The Cedars, but who cares?’ he suddenly de- manded in bitterness of spirit, as he looked defiantly around. ‘‘Some one bas done me an unpardonable wrong, and sooner or later the truth shall be known, I always believed Col- onel Haven knew the secret, and that it was he who lent himself to the crime, but he has gone to judgment end after all he may have been in- nocent, and some one else moved the diabolical machinery,” —— CHAPTER V. SPIRIT TONES, In the midst of his bitter thoughts Captain Bayard became aware of a sound overhead, as if made by a person walking back and forth, It was heavier than the steps which first caught his attention, but the noise suddenly ceased, and the same light, fairy footfalls came from the stairs, : ‘¢ She is coming here—I shall meet her face to face,” was his thrilling thought, as he turned to- ward the door, ‘I will try to explain and apol- ogize for my rudeness,” He waited until the stranger seemed to have reached a point just outside the entrance, when she paused, Afraid she might escape him again, the sailor stepped quickly forward and pushed opon the door. The light from the hearth lit up the hall, so that every object within it became distinctly visible, but not a living person was in sight! Bayard was dumfounded, and for the first time a creeping sensation passed over his body from head to foot. The inclination was strong to flee in a panic from the building, but he quickly rallied. ‘*T set out to stay here all ‘night, and I shall do it,” With the same desperate resolve that had brought him within the Haunted House he threw himself on the lounge, grimly determined that whatever should come should not frighten him from that room. He was well-armed and not afraid to face any pussible danger that might threaten him, As nearly as he could judge in his tumultuous emotions be had lain thus a half-hour, with no sound in his ears but the lonely sighing of the night-wind without avd the flicker and rustle of the blaze onthe hearth. Unawareto himself, slumber was beginning to steal away his senses, and he was hovering on the border-land of ob- livion when he caught the sound of music, so sweet, so heavenly that, fully awakened, he still lay like one in a trance, fearful of stirring, lest he should break the spell and check the an- gelic strains. At first they were so faint and airy that he believed they were caused by the wind, which had found a tongue among the ing branches and climbing ivy, but it was too gen- uinely masical to be born of any such source as that. There was a peculiar sinkin first, that suggested a wind- suspended overhead, but as he listened he ime con- vinced that it had another source—one that he dared not conjecture. The feeling that came over the heart of the gailor as he listened to this faint, airy music was that of inexpressible sadness. As/soon as the first soft, wavering sound resolved itseif into a voice of unapproacbable pathos and subtlety of and rising at expression, he felt a yearning to lie quiescent until life itself should be wooed from his bod y- Then, when the spirit tones were dying out, far in the air above him, tremulous on the verge of utter extinction for a moment, and as the rapt soul wasin despair, the musicmades sweep downward, like the plunge of a le . from the heights of ether into the airof «again, fill- ing and overpowering the sor. wiva such sweet ness that it seemed to the sr -ll-bound sailor that he was losing himself, his consciousness, his identity, his soul in the glory that throbbed to the very center of his = Through all this marvelous dallying with the enchained senses Burd Bayard was sensible of a strange, unaccountable familiarity with the music. Somewhere, in the shadowy past, he had heard something of the same nature; some- where, something had stirred emotions akin to those which possessed him now. But when and where? Was it in the silent watches of the night, when, leaning over the gunwale of the Albatross, ° a iil i —--+--—— —— ed as she glided across the moonlit Pacific, impelled by the favoring trade-wind that bait wafte:t hor for weeks on her voyage, he gazed upon the ak rapa st glimmer of the vasty dee, ? as it amid the fruity groves of the Spice Is!l- ands where the strunge odors caused the senses to swoon, or was it on the dusky plains of India, when listening to the weird music of the native maidens, or when he watched the yerfumed lamps floating down the Ganges at eventide? Or was it the dream-like memory of themotber’s lullaby that bad soothed him to rest iv his in- fancy? Was it the spirit voice of thet sainted mother, gone from earth years bef: r:, come to cheer his weary soul with ‘the music of the an- gels? Never once was he able to detect anything bearing even a remote resemblance to words in these enrapturing strains, which seemed to be not within, though near the house, but floating, sinking, swelling, trembling, dying out far in the air above him, tantalizing the senses, as did the sirens when they lured the navigators to ruin and death. y But now the music was coming closer! It grew more and more powerful, never once los- ing its ravishing, tremulous, soul-possessing na- ture until when it seemingly h room, it stopped! As it did so, Burd Bayard sprung upright, quivering in every limb, He had solved the myseery! Memory had told him when and where that same music had enchanted him in the years gone by. Ay, he knew it! he knew it! The whole marvelous truth had burst upon him like the overwhelming avalanche, ‘© Muriel! Muriel! will you not come to me?” he ‘wailed, stretching forth his arms into the empty air. ‘I have returned to you from the other side of the world; let me infold you to my heart as [ did in the past.” In his yearning, imploring sorrow, he expect- ed bis loved and lost to rush to his embrace; but the gloom gave no token and he staggered back like a drunken man ready to sink unconscious to the floor. A new terror was at bis heart, Brave and practical as he was, he had been fearfully tried by the events of the night, and he found despite all his reasoning and self-argument, that there is none of us who has not somewhere down in his heart a chord, which if swept by the proper hand, 2 get @ responsive tone to the super- natural, ‘‘'The servant said she was not seen after the funeral of her father,” he murmured, standing with his back to the fire, and looking gloomily through the open door into the dark hull be- yond, ‘Then she must be dead—goi e fr m the earth months ago—and it was her spirit floating in the air around me that answered to the earnings of my soul. Why should I stay here onger—” He paused, for at that moment a slight noise at one of the windows caught his attention, and turning his head, he saw— What? CHAPTER VI. ‘* ONE—TWO—THREE!”’ STANDING within the oi room in the Haunted House, with his back to the blazing wood on the hearth, Captain Burd Bayard turn- ed his glance toward one of the windows where he bad heard a slight noise, As he did so he saw a tall, shadowy form, bearing some resemblance to the human figure, but of a gigantic hight and a dim, misty ap- poor suggestive of the mysterious, the ter- rible. It was not in the apartment but outside, star- ing through the window at this daring intruder of the Haunted House, No sound came from it, nor could anything more than the irregular outline of the figure be distinguished. The head appear’ to be hooded, with a cloak gathered about and shrouding the shoulders, the arms and face either hid entirely from view or too dimly lighted by the smoldering firo to be dis- cernible. The head of this Thing was near the top of the upper sash, so that, allowing for the height of the window from the ground, it must have been far taller than the tallest human be- a apparition, greeting Captain Bayard at the moment his nerves were 80 highly wine caused him to recoil with an awe-struck feeling ani instinctively to look around for some way of esca But cr the point of leaping toward the door he rallied, and he scanned the Thing with a com G entered the — a?