Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 103 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

riavvter as coolly as though he personally had no | aterest in the affair. ‘Oh, it is as simple as simple can be!” El To- | kar exclaimed, with a cunning leer, and he came quite near to the captive as he spoke. ‘‘ Simple things to one man are sometimes ter- ribly hard to another.” “Your comrade has denounced you!” : ‘So you say,” the captain retorted, and it was very plain from the way in which he spoke that he believed that the Holy Man lied. ‘Oh, but he has!” El Tokar was quick to un- derstand the eyes meaning. ‘‘I swear to you that he has!” ‘‘ You need not swear,” the prisoner observed dryly; ‘‘ I would just as soon believe your word as your oath.” 1% ser “ But I think that he has lied in order to pur- chase his freedom,” ‘‘Men will do such things sometimes.” Ji Now I believe that you will speak the ? ‘You flatter me!” The captive was ironical. ‘* Your comrade is willing to sacrifice you to save himself.” ‘‘ It is the way of the world.” ; 1 will give you a chance to get even with him. ‘* You are extremely kind!” ; ‘‘ Denounce him!” cried El. Tokar, emphatic- ally. ‘*‘ You are not the Lion Captain, but he is. ee him then, and by so doing save your- self.” ‘‘ Yes; but why should you believe my word against his?” ‘* But will you not be able to present some proof that he is the Lion-head—some prvof which cannot be denied?” asked the Holy ‘ aay. e prisoner laughed contemptuously in the very nen of El Tokar, much to his amazement. ‘“ Why do you laugh?” he asked. ‘‘ At your foolishness,” responded the captive, in his sarcastic way. ‘‘ My comrade has not con- fessed, for he has nothing to confess. I cannot denounce him, for I know nothing to denounce. You are playing us, the one st the other. You tried him first, failed, and now you come to me.” ‘‘Beware, beware!” exclaimed the Holy Man, in a rage at finding his cleverly-planned scheme sO ei detected; ‘‘do not provoke my wrath or it may cost you dear!” ‘Can you do more than kill?’ questioned the captive, n scorn, | ‘But I can kill!” retorted El Tokar. “I have but to raise my finger and these black fel- lows will soon make an end of you.” ** Why all this talk? Why not proceed to the last extremity at once?” E] Tokar hesitated; he hardly knew how to answer this plainly put question. He did not intend to put the prisoners to death; he had no authority to so dispose of them, but he had re- resented to the Dey that he felt sure he could, y the use of threats, backed by the presence of the stranglers, force the captives into a confes- sion, He had failed—most ingloriously failed, and now, what action to take he knew not. And while he stood glowering in im rage at the defiant prisoner, the arriv new-comer interrupted the scene. Into the cell strode the tall figure of the min- ister of war, El Boro. In his hand he bore a pa- .r impressed with the royal seal. This he de- heces to El Tokar who perused it with amaze- ment, “Retire and leave the prisoner to El Boro.” It was written by 1 Dey’s hand and signed by his own royal signet. The Holy Man wondered, for this scroll would seem to indicate that El Boro had been restored to favor, and, with the rise of El Boro’s for- tunes, fell his own, but he was too shrewd to complain, He bowed low, bade the stranglers follow him and departed, ‘‘Leave me alone with the prisoner,” com- manded El Boro to the jailer, and he at once followed El Tokar’s example, clanging the heavy door to after him tent of a CHAPTER XTX. EL BORO’S MISSION. Ex Boro and the captive thus left alone to- gether, looked upon each other. Upon the face of the minister of war curiosity appeared while the features of the prisoner were stern, and evidently he looked upon the other with no very friendly feeling. Boro was repens to be extremely sh eyed, and at the first glance he believed that he The had detected the truth in regard to the captive. This was the Lion Captain—the master, not the servant. The minister of war was the first to speak. ‘* You are the Lion of the Sea?” he said. ‘* Prove it,” replied the other, laconically. ‘‘Nay, I care not to do that,” kl Boro an- swered. ‘‘ [It isenough for me to know the truth. Look not upon me in the light of an enemy, for {am no foe to you, but rather the best friend you have in all this wide world.” The captive looked incredulous. ‘‘Tt is the truth,” the other continued; “ and my mission here to-day is to do you a service.” ‘A service!” demanded the captive, incredu- lously. “ Yes, as you will find before this interview is ended. Dismiss all doubt and give me in its place perfect trust. You know me, do you not?” ** Kl Boro,” ** Right! El Boro, the English rene nare’s pre it,” sell Cleora to the vile, fickle-minded e, in the old-time called Thomas Craven, Ear! of Crofton and knight of Engleboro.” The mae oa cast a sharp, quick glance at the face of the speaker, as though he was in doubt as to the meaning of the h existence of Cleora. 2g ee and bigote all Europe trembles at his nod, and t — ~~~ = - - 15 ‘* No!” cried El Boro, quickly. |. ‘‘ To this pre- sent moment the tyrant of Algiers knows not _ that such a maid as Cleora lives upon the earth. I took my own followers—my own. bull-dogs, and with the strong hand of power I tore Gul- from her grasp. dares not, for that would reveal her own treach- ery to the Dey and bring to his knowledge the Now then, if I designed to sell my girl to the tyrant, as you have boldly charged, and thus cement my own hold on pow- er, why have I acted as I have?” ‘* The riddle is too deep for me; I cannot solve Complain, she ‘*T can easily explain it. I do not intend to ey; I have a better fate in ‘‘Ok, you know me we enough, although I | ruins, will soon be he confess lam somewhat puzzled as to how you ained your knowledge,” El Boro continued. | fame and fortune.” ‘And then, too, how comes it that you were so eager after my daughter—how happened it that you knew anything of her at all, and why did you so persistently attempt to inflame her against me?’ ‘** You ares unfeigned “* Already ing in riddles, and losing your time,” the prisoner replied, carelessly. ‘* What know I, either of you or of your daughter?’ In single fight, and **Do you know where she is now?” asked El Boro, abruptly, paying no attention at all to the question of the other. ** No, how should I?” ‘** Your capture on the beach threw her again into the hands of the men from whom you res- cued her, and the leader of these abductors was Selim, the Greek renegade, the trusted servitor of G e, the Queen of the Harem.” Despite his iron-like nerves and wonderful habit of. self-control, a shade passed over the face of the captive. Cleora in the hands of the merciless Frenchwoman was bad news indeed. | ‘* And you, who appear to be so well acquaint- | ed with all the secret intrigues of the court, you | of course can guess why Gulnare should dare to pete, aay rage by thus forcibly abducting my Ce : ‘* Perhaps,” replied the other, evidently much affected by the news. ‘*The riddle is easily read!” continued El Boro, in his cold, mechanical way. ‘ Gulnare feared that Cleora would prove to be a danger- ous rival to her. The beauty of the Frenchwo- man ison the wane; she wasafraid thatthe fickle fancy of the unstable Dey would be captivated by the fresh young face of Cleora; at any risk she was determined to remove the girl from her path. This greasy impostor, who makes a trade of his religion, and who calls himself the Holy Man, is no doubt in league with her. Either through bribery of my attendants, or through some secret passage, unknown to me, by means of which access can be gained to my apart- ments, Cleora was drugged and forcibly abduct- ed. Now then, supposing that lam not strong enough to pluck her from the Frenchwoman’s cintaes to what fate is she doomed?” ‘*Death!” replied the captive, ina low, deep | voice, evidently much affected. _ how strong in ‘*You are right; unless wrested from Gul- | to put these nare’s power, there is no hope for her.” shadow of an arm | she, I fancy, al I, her father, come peared ec To The navy picious ned to the c ‘*No, no hope.” ‘‘ But the means of rescue are near at hand. Despite all the precautions that Gulnare took to keep me in ignorance of the part which she ase ed in the seizure of my jewel, thanks to the ucky chance which sent you to the rescue, her captivity became known to the soldiers of the escort troop. Not one, but three of the troop- ers came to me with the tidings, for it is a mot- to in Algiers that El Boro pays with a princely hand the men who serve him. When the news reached my ears, all I had to do was to seek the rt fewer say a ~et Royal master, I have a —a fresh, fair youn i whom I have 4 Benn to bim unti Everything is ri Enelich fleet of very man I want; M beautiful self, but a ‘*A throne!” cried the prisoner, hardly able to believe that he had heard aright, reluc give credence to the evidence of his own ears. ‘Yes; my hand can give it to The captive gazed earnestly a upon his face a strong expression of doubt ap. derstood the meanin **’You doubt me,” truth I do, and I fear a trap, too.” **T will soon remove all doubts and fears!” ex- claimed El Boro, confidently. was high in favor with the pletely reorganized his army and placed it upon a better footing than it had ever been before. too, I had entirely remodeled and made it what it now is, far superior to that of any other African power; but when my work was done, Aboo Hassan, ever began to fear that I t, had acquired too much power, and he lis- of jealous rivals who represented to him that it was not wise to allow a stranger—a renegade—to gain so mu larity, and so, during the past year, li little, he has encroached upon my privileges un- til now, at last, 1 find myself a minister of war, with no authority over the army—the com- yet deprived of the right to command the sailing of a single ship. And wer is the man who has dared nme? He has but the mander of the navy mir store for her than to become the slave of this wyrens, who, misled by his counselors, imagines that t he is absolute master over both land and sea, al- though from that dream he is likely to be awakened soon, and rudely, too, for Blake, the world-renowned English admi al, with a power- ful fleet, is already off the coast, and the thun- der of his guns, tumbling the city of Algiers to I am playing for a t stake, and I come to you to offer both ‘*Fame and fortune to me?” cried the ca tive, in vast astonishment, which was clearly “Yes, to you,” El Boro repeated, firmly. “hi have made a name upon the wa- ter second to no man the keel of whose ship has ever ever cut the waters of the Mediterranean. inst overwhelming odds, Algiers his ship ou vanquished the captain that Foe i, of the Blue Beard; took and sent him home, dripping likea drowned rat, to tell the story of your triumph. You are the ou love my girl, Cleora, and returns your passion, and you to offer not only her throne besides.” ronts u . “A year ey, for ch t to i Boro. and The En lishman, skillful at reading faces, un- ing of the look at once. e said. ago I had com- ealous and sus- d grown too ttle by at his back, and both offi- cers and men, badly paid, badly treated, would be glad at any moment to transfer their swords to a more liberal master. The fleet is the same. Two or three, perhaps, like Ali, of the Blue Beard, who have acquired riches in the Dey’s service, might be depended upon to remain true fl they discovered the strength of the revolt, and then they, too, would come over. for the movement, and the to attack the city if brought over the seas from the | visable, and most surely he will do so unless the The De land. e thinks that it is ad- . lake, now sorapidly approach- ing with the design of attacking Algiers, will be a most important mri to defy the power of En is determined Blake hasorders Frankish land expressly to serve your princely | Dey releases his prisoners and pays the money pleasure; Gulnare, esa of the maid, has stolen her away.’ hat think you would have citizens of been his answer?’ her back.” “Yes, at one single stroke I would have | are now blatant in defiance. avenged the insult put upon me, and dealt the | cious moment to seize upon. Everything will woman, who is my deadly foe, a fearful blow.” ** And did you so?” (© in demanded by England for damages. Igiers find their houses tumbling _ about their ears, most certain is it that they ‘‘ He would at once have ordered you to bring | will roundly curse Aboo H him as the author of the mischie When the assan, and denounce f, although they That is the auspi- (C 0)(0)) <S be arranged in advance for the outbreak: we'll seize upon the palace and the citadel simultane- (E©)