Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 103 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

daring for some thirty to assault and capture two. ‘‘ This is the prisoner of whom I told Ta. the renegade said, pointing to the lady. ‘‘ Myself and comrade were canveqing her through the wood, when we were assailed by this Lion-head and forced to fly for our lives.” ‘‘By the beard of the Prophet, my brother a and your fellow are not e of the stuff hat warriors are composed of, or else, being two to two, you would not have allowed your- rose to be overcome,” cried the captain, val- iantly. Pr Ah, but he had a boat’s crew, ten men or more, at his back,” Selim explained. ‘‘Oh, that alters the case, then.” ‘‘ Well, your fortune is made by this capture, captain; and lenvy you!” the renegade exclaim- ed, and as he spoke, the soldier, impressed by his words, swelled out like a turkey-cock. ‘‘ And now, with your permission, I and my comrade will take our prisoner, this slave, and eparts while you go to Algiers and claim the rich re- ward that awaits you.” ‘Certainly; and if I thrive, friend Selim, rest assured I shall not bases that I owed the lucky chance to you,” the soldier replied; already, in his mind’s eye, the captain beheld himself pro- moted to one of the bigh offices of the state, and ruling in almost kingly grandeur over a host of meaner creatures. “Thanks; I shall remember to remind the promise,” the renegade remarked, an he advanced toward the lady. She, perceiving the movement, and determin- ed at aie hazards to escape from ar, OARtOES, step suddenly forward and ad the captain of the troop. ‘ Do not believe this man!” she cried. ou of then | one of your men take the girl u ‘Tam | before him, and after we get in motion and The Lion of the Sea. been excited by the whispered conference be- tween the two. ‘Oh, yes; this soldier is an honest man,” the captain replied. ‘‘ He has explained to me that he is mistaken in regard to you, and that you are not the person he supposed you to be.” In this lame and impotent way the horseman en- deavored to lull the suspicions of the girl to sleep. OF will not go with him but to you I will trust myself,” she exclaimed, firmly. ‘‘If youreturn me to my father’s care your re will bea rich one, but if you betray me, rest assured my sa will find a way to make you pay dearly or it!” ‘Have no fear, trust to me and you shall be placed in safety.” Despite the fair words there was something in the tone of the a ere which excited the dis- trust of the girl. But she was helpless in the wer of these rude soldiers; what could she do ut submit to go with them, in the hope that their actions might not belie their words? Just at this juncture the hoof-strokes of horses sounded on the still air of the night. _ The soldiers their weapons, but Selim instantly allayed the alarm by explaining that in all probability the horsemen were the mem- bers of his own who had come forth from the city in search of him. The guess of the renegade was correct, as was at once proved when the new-comers rode round the corner of the wood. They had twos horses with them, so as to accommodate Selim and his companion. “We had better depart at once,” the rene- gade su in the ear of the soldier. ‘Let n the saddle not a slave, but the daughter of the Minister of | my fellows turn off, Jet him follow—you can War, the great and mighty pasha, El Boro! I am the victim of a foul and most horrid plot. This man in my sleep abducted me from the apartments of my father in the Kasbah—the palace - the Dey. For some dee gad awful urpose he is carrying me away, an upon ron as a soldier and a man to lend no aid to his hed design! Carry me with you to the city—re- turn me to the arms of my great and powerful father, and claim your own reward.” The soldiers listened in amazement, and as for the captain, his eyes fairly stuck out with wonder. The Lion of the Sea so suddenly unmasked was a great surprise, indeed, but in the same haul of the net, as it were, to bring up a lady claiming to be the daughter of the stern El Boro, was truly wonderful! Selim, the renegade, was a crafty fellow; few men in or around the more cunning than he, a fact well proven by the trust that the Frenchwoman confided to him, for she was a shrewd judge of human nature and rarely made a mistake in to her tools; and he me once set to work to parry this unexpected Cw. He shrugged his shoulders, smiled and then winked significantly to the captain: and the sol- Jic., thoroughly perplexed, blinked like an owl in wonder, not being able to make head or tail of the renegade’s actions. Then Selim addressed the lady: “‘Oh, yes, most noble lady, we will return you to your great father—whom may the angels of Aliah forever preserve!—at once. We will set out without delay. And pardon, most noble lady, that, unlucky wretch that I am! I should so far forget your august station, and the re- spect due to your rank, as to speak of you as a prisoner and aslave. Lam buta rude soldier and not used to deal with ladies of rank.” Then he turned and spoke rapidly in the ear of the astonished and bewildered captain: “The slave is mad. She fancies that she is the pte, Sse of the great El Boro—forced her way to his pres- ence in the paiace this evening, and use he denied her she drew a d r and would have slain him on the spot but that the guards seized aud disarmed her, and I am now charged with tha duty of conveying her to the peror’s Fort where she is to be kept.” _All the Oriental races have a sort of supersti- ticus reverence for the afflicted ones bereft of reason, and pax! regard them in the light of wards of the Prophet; therefore the soldier, never doubting for an instant the tale of the ss at once fell into the snare. “ear not, most noble lady; you shall not be harmed, — renga restored your great father, the great El Boro ’ oer captain on either land or sie” he said. ‘You will save me from this man?’ ¢ cried, pointing to Selim vhving to the arms of | picked up by the vessel yonder—” » her suspicions having : guile.” lend me one of them until to-morrow?” “*Oh, yes, of course.” “‘T shall be a thousand times obliged.” “‘Don’t mention it!” the other rejoined, in- stantly. ‘‘ You have put fortune in my p to-night. But, I say, which one of these fellows is the Lion?’ ‘‘ That is more than I know; make them re- move their cloaks, the dress will probably reveal the master.” << A idea. ” And in obedience to the captain’s command the dark cloaks were removed. To the aston- ishment of all, the men were dressed like Moors —looked like Moors—in fact, could have walked the streets of Algiers ae mg) ae so closely they resembled the native-born ine. ‘* Now if the hand of great A ! but this is i eh * ee — ecraet wast pad grunt from the lips 0. ) rs Vv t a! agreed with their leader. oes he two prisoners were much alike in the face; both wore dark hair; both were deeply bronzed by the sun, and neither in dress or bearing betrayed a superiority to the other. “Ww well,” murmured the captain, per- lexed, ‘‘which one of you two is the famous reek pirate, the Lion of the Seas?” The men laughed; they looked upon the mat- ter as a joke apparently. Then rose the wrath of the doughty Moor. ‘* Now by the beard of great omet!” he swore, “laugh not or I'll slice off your heads like so many turni It is no laughing matter, as you will both find before you are an hour older, or else may I never draw a sword again. Answer my questi ou cutthroat dogs! mic of =. two e Shieh. peat és ‘Neither, so please your high an excellency, fanak | Mastelots of captains,” one of the two answered. ‘‘ We are pags 3 r ermen from Tunis who have been blown off the coast. CHAPTER XIV. BEFORE THE DEY. ‘It is a lie!” cried the renegade, quickly. ‘‘ With my own eyes [ beheld them disembark from the ship of the pirate. See! yonder she still hovers in the offing!” and the Greek point- ed seaward, where sure enough the spars of the unknown, mysterious craft could “True, every wore, sisted the one who be detected. illustrious master,” first spoken, and he bow- ed lowly, carry out the character of the Moorish fisherman the life. ‘‘It is just as I have told you. We were blown off the coast, ‘‘The Greek pirate!” cried Selim, eagerly. ‘‘ Mayhap it may be that she is the vessel of the pirate for all t I do know,” he replied. ‘‘ We are of Tunis, honest men and innocent of : a j | 11 _—— “Whereis your boat?” cried the captain of the troop, suddenly, thinking that he the speaker in a trap. “Run dowmin the night by yonder vessel and sunk, and that is how we came to be on board of her. In the darkness she smashed us all to pieces. Myself and comrade saved our lives and esca a watery grave by seizing hold of the bow-chains and by their aid clambering on “This tale is all a lie!” declared the renegade, abruptly, ‘and we are losing time in listenin to it. Bring them before the Dey at once an let his wisdom decide which of these two is the Lion of the Sea.” ‘Well spoken, friend Selim!” the captain re- marked, with a acious shake of the head. “That one of these two is the Lion-head is quite lain to me, but which one it is, is far too much or me to attempt to decide, therefore we'll ona on the city at once.” “ And the quicker we are off the better,” the renegade observed, “forI fancy that yonder ship is heading toward the land again.” e keen eyes of the Greek had served him truly, for the ship had really changed her course and instead of beating out to sea was standing straight in toward the shore. *‘ And, hark ye! attempt not to resist us or it will be the worse for you!” warned the captain, addressing the sinee and bristling up furi- ously, in order to terrify them. wes ist?” cried the other prisoner, who had not taken in the conversation before; “‘why, most noble and illustrious general, we had no idea of resisting, now that we know who and what you are. Of course at first we ed our arms, for we took you and your men for some of those wild demons of the desert, those thieves of Arabs, who delight in robbing and stripping innocent and upright men.” As consummate an actor as the other this one for he too ag is the part of a simple-minded fisherman to the life, but the moment he spoke the lady, who had hung as it were upon his ac- cents, knew that he was the bold man who had risked so much for her. The troop at once whi pet to d . The two prisoners were P aced on horses, each one singly before a stalwart trooper and tightly bound to him with a long scarf, so that escape seemed almost ry Sage A third soldier took the mye up before him, and then the captain gave the word and the aie rode rapidly around the skirts of the wood. If the men on board of the ship had ived the attack and capture and were ning to the rescue, this move on the part of the Alge- rines rendered such a pe ar. oe egecas Five minutes’ sharp trot brought the party to the highway leading from the western gate of the city to the Emperor’s Fort, the palace of the Frenchwoman, and the upper towns along the coast. And when the highway was reached, at a sig- nal from Selim, men and the soldier who bore the mony ecg him on the saddle detached themselves from the rest, and turning redyawil to the right showed Algiers their back, and rode directly up the coast. A i scream came from the lips of the hap- less girl when this movement was executed, for she fully realized that she had been betrayed into the hands of her enemies. ** Help, help! in the name of Heaven save me!” she cried. But what avail were a woman’s feeble cries? Ruthless, and as stern in their purpose as grim death itself, the troopers é on, not even turning their heads at the sound of the melplens l’s voice, ven the prisoners seemed stolid, except that the lines on their faces deepened, and the mus- cles of their mouths were compressed. Soon the cries of the captive maid died awar, for in obedience to the command of the rene- gade the soldier with whom she rode wound a scarf around her head, thus in a measure stifling her cries. | ‘Tell me,” said one of the soldier to whom he was bound, speaking cau- tiously so as not to be overheard by the rest of the troop, “‘ who is the man in command of the other _s “*Seli voll hose aye the trooper, who was a -na sort of a fellow and who saw no arm in answering the question. ‘Selim?’ repeated the prisoner. ‘‘ Yes, Selim, the Greek renegade; he is the right-hand man of the wonderful, gazelle-eyed Gulnare, the i Beautiful, the sunlight of our great Dey’s harem.” A long-drawn breath came from between the ECOMMIC OOO) Ss risoners to the’