Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1041 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

14 Cowboy Chris to the Fore. / —— -——— EOE ooo —— fell back helplessly, glaring at her, his lips mov- ing, but no sound issuing from them. ‘I tell you Inez died less than two hours after the birth of her child,” Old Mag contin- ued, ‘* But the fact was kept a secret. Only the physician knew of it, and his tongue was silenced with a golden gag. Sbe was secretly buried under the direction of the sister who had _ Tesolved on playing a most desperate game, — + . Ss gore effect than it has on me, _ possibility of failure. _ ture, and even while she believed she loved you, - to carry it out, € © Sarr tO Then that sister assumed the mother’s place, the only thing necessary for the deceit being a slight ehange in the color of ber hair, which was skillfully bleached to resemble that of ber dead sister. Ob, it was a bold and crafty scheme, Cyrus Robinson—the scheme of a woman who was ready to pawn her very soul for the man whom she fancied she loved! ‘¢ But, Juanita could not talk English fluent- ly, like her sister had been able todo, Her first thought was of that; she must speak as perfectly as Inez, and then she would be ready to meet you when you returned from South America, She immediately began to study, and her pro- ess was something astonishing even to herself, ut, before she had mastered English sufficient- ly to write as correctly as her sister, a letter came from the one whom she was plotting to win. At first she was puzzled to know what to do, but she soon saw a way outof it. She gota friend to answer the letter, pretending to be too sick to write herself just then, but wishing to make an immediate reply to let him know of the birth of the child. The letter told bim it was a dear little girl; but the letter lied, Cyrus Robinson! ‘“ The child to which Inez gave birth was a boy!” A barsh laugh came from the ranchman’s lips, and he hoarsely cried: ‘Now I know you lie, old woman! ‘You are deranged! I did not come here to listen to the wild tales of a crazy witch, and I have no more time to spend in such a foolish manner!” “Go if you want to, then!” snarled Old Mag, shaking her clinched bands at him, ‘“ Go, g», go! but never again will you look on the face of the one whom you have believed your child all these years! ‘Old Mag swears it!” The rancher had partially started up, but he sunk back into his seat again, his face turning pale anda light of dread filling his sunken eyes, ‘Why don’t you go?” sneered the Yellow Witch. ‘‘ What is hindering you, Cyrus? The door is wide open,” ‘‘Go on with your yarn!” came hoarsely from the man’s lips. ‘I will remain and see how big a lie you can tell.” Old Mag chuckled with satisfaction. ‘‘T knew you would,” she asserted—‘‘ I knew it! But, you may get frightened and run out at the door when | tell you all the truth, so [ will close it. It shall not be fastened, Cyrus, but I will close it,” She swung the door shut, then came back and crouched beside the fire, beginning to mutter and mumble and nod in a strange fashion, This she continued several moments; then she threw another powder into the flames, and almost im- mediately a soft and delightful perfume filled the room, It was exquisite to the senses, but it was like some powerful drug that steals away one’s power of motion, but leaves his mind clear to understand, Cy Robinson felt the influence of the subtle perfume stealing over him, and be sought to be- stir himself and rush from the hut; but even ‘then he only succeeded in partially starting from his seat and falling back helplessly, Shrilly laughing, Old Mag approached, “‘TIsn’t it sweet, Cyrus; isn’t it delightful? Had it entered your nostrils as many times as it bas mine, it would have no effect upon you—no Now I have no fear that you will run away before I can tell 2 the whole truth—the astounding truth. You will remain quiet and listen. I will go on. ** Juanita, the bold, when she resolved to take her sister’s place as your wife, fully realized the She was a strange crea- she thought it possible that love would turn to hate if you should discover the deception and cast her off. Then she would wish to bave some hold on you by which she could crush you. A wild scheme entered her brain, and she resolved Children of any sort can be hased by money in a great city, and Juan- through an agent, bought a pretty baby aes “ir, taking care the heartless mother who sold it knew not whither it wont, Then the boy, her - dead sister’s child, she placed in the bands of people who would care for it for a consideration. ) Fa took its place. — ‘his seems strange and improbable to you, y "A, a ‘the boy who was your child in truth, . - } "4 * . . fr Ss » , : oe f. e "on 2 t at : - , el ad z eat Ny al i? . . vs 9 %, “ : : Sp "= _ . pi aa th, 4 A Nk RY, te " ary Ft a ae P Ve . oe 4 * ‘tum . ag Cyrus Robinson, but it is the truth. You are tortured by what you hear, but you have not heard the worst, I will go on. ‘‘ Just before you returned from South Amer- ica, Juanita, who was then known as Inez, be- came acquainted with a young fellow in whose company she managed to pass many very plea- sant hours, Still she believed she loved you, She was only whiling away the time till you came, But the young man fell madly in love with the Spanish beauty, vainly trying to in- duce her to give up her supposed husband and fly with him. She refused, ‘¢ You came back from the South, and she re- ceived you as your wife, You never detected the cheat; you never dreamed of the change. You held her in your strong arms, and covered her mouth with kisses; you kissed the babe and believed it your own child, The deception was perfect and the false Inez was happy for a time. “ But years had changed you, Cyrus. After a time the new Inez began to feel as if something was lacking in you—something she could not understand, Then she turned to herself for an explanation, and found it was something lack- ing in her own heart. She did not truly love you as she bad imagined! This horrible dis- covery came to her one day and crushed her like a flower that has been trampled on. For a long time she was so sad, so strange, so unlike herself that you wondered and could not under- stand her mood, Nothing would cheer her, She had plotted and deceived only to be bitterly disappointed, ‘* All this while her other lover was waiting and watching, refusing to give up hope, Once they met by accident; after that their meetings were frequent and stealthy. But, you were keen, Cyrus; you detected something wrong about the woman you believed your wife, and you watched her closely. As a result, you caught her in her lover’s arms—in the arms of the man she did truly love! ‘You know what followed, Cyrus; you shot him down before her eyes and left him for dead, But, he did not die. Juanita nursed him back tolife, She swore to kill you if he died, but to cause you to suffer the tortures of a thousand deaths before you were relieved by death itself, She learned you had disappeared, taking with you the child you believed your own, She laughed as she thought of striking at you ete his child she now took into her own charge, giving it the name of Pablo, “Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the witch, as she rubbed her yellow hands together. ‘“‘It is a pretty story, Cyrus--a pretty story! What a fool you were—what a fool you have been all these years! You have brought up a nameless waif, while your own child has learned to call Juanita mother. But the story: ‘* Juanita nursed ber lover back to life, xr! to have him slain by the dogsof the law. He bad committed some small crime, and he tried to escape when they would have arrested him. He was shot and killed, ‘¢ Juanita brooded over his death—it nearly killed her. Somehow it seemed to her as if you were responsible for it all, Cyrus Robinson, and she resolved to strike at you. To aid in this, she made a pretense of poisoning herself, and was supposed to have been jburied in the grave be- side which you stood. She died as Inez; far away, she appeared as Juanita, and Little Pablo was with her. ‘*For years she has known where Cyrus Robinson; she has kept trac every move, If she sought revenge, why didn’t she strike? Ah, she was not ready, Cyrus! Something held her back for the time. She would strike at you through your own child when the right time came, The time has come! Listen, Cyrus Robinson: ‘* Your own son—your Pablo—is the outlaw known as the Black to [" A gasping groan came from the lips of the astonished rancher. He struggled madly to throw off the lethargy that held bim helpless. He tried to shout—to curse. All in vain! Great drops of perspiration stood on his fore- head; white foam flecked his lips, Shrilly Old Mag’s laugh sounded through the cabin, The witch suddenly straightened up and was no longer the bent old woman, gain she threw a handful of ee on the fire, and immediately a dense smoke began to roll into the room—a smoke with a perfume that was both sweet and sickening. It gathered around her in dense masses, and, as if on a buoyant wave, she seemed to float toward the rancbmap, Before bim she appeared to pause, poised in the air. He knew it must be an illusion, ‘* Now comes the final revelation, Cyrus Rob- ou were, of your : ~ ek f lee i. 7 ? on ~~ 4 , , ‘ ‘ % —_ 4 i ' ™ ewe ce Sh Ute ee ice f as y ey a." s 3 ’ é » eae? 5 - ‘ 7 ‘ inson,” cried the Witch of the Hills, look, look !” “ Look, She threw aside the ragged garment that had enveloped her, and her attire was whole and clean beneath; she tore aside the vail of mat- ted hair and cast it from her, and a hard, cruel, yet fascinatingly beautiful face was re- vealed! Not the face of a girl, but the face of a handsome woman of middleage! This seemed to break the spell which had chained the man’s tongue, for he gasped: ** Tnez—my God!” ‘““No, not Inez,” was the reply. Juanita |” Then the strange perfume of the smoke stole away the man’s senses, and he sunk unconscious before her. “T am CHAPTER XVII, INTO THE CAVERN. THROUGH a chink in the cabin wall a man had been watching all that transpired within, And that man was Rodney Welland—* Old tattlebrain,.” Strangely enough, the deranged man had gradually come back to his right mind aud was in a normal condition as be witnessed the strange things occurring within the hut of the Yellow Witch, When Cy Robinson lay unconscicus before her, a hard laugh came from the lips of the wo- man, Then she turned and threw open the cabin door, muttering something about fresh air. As the cool night air clesred away the smoke which had filled the room, Rodney Welland saw the woman pusbing the coals and fire-brands far back into the fireplace. Then she stamped three times upon a certain portion of the floor. Several moments passed, then a flat stone which formed a part of the bottom of the fire- place sunk from view, revealing a dark opening through which two hooded figures arose into the hut. The woman motioned toward the uncon- scious map. They lifted him, and he was low- ered through the opening, after which they dis- appeared and the flat stone once more rose into view, The man outside the cabin waited to see no more, Silently he stole to where the ranchman’s horse was still standing, to fling himself into the saddle and go thundering into the darkness of the night. The woman of the hills rushed to the open cabin door, but was too late to catch a glimpse of horse or rider, ‘‘T wonder what could have startled the ani- mal?” she muttered, And she did not dream a rider was mounted on its back, By rare good fortune rather than by reason, Rodney Welland struck straight toward the ranch, Still there may have been something like instinct about the choosing of the course, for he gave the black stallion free rein. For twenty miles the horse had been ridden at its highest speed that night, but Rodney Wel- land was almost merciless in urging him onward as the return trip was made, Morning was at hand and a gray light was beginning to show in tbe east when Robinson Ranch was reached, Welland lost not a moment’s time in arousing the place and telling his surprising story. Af first it was thought to be the imagining of a dis- ordered brain, but when Cy Robinson was not found in his room and the cowboy Skidds de- clared that he had started for the hut of the Yellow Witch, then there was excitement indeed. ‘Saddle up, pards, saddle up!” shouted Round-up Rube, ‘*Thar’ser hard ride an’ hot work afore us! We've got ter bump ourselves ef we want ter save ther boss, fer I reckon them critters *ll be arter snuffin’ him out putty soon, Ther gals are thar too, Stir yer stumps, lads!” ‘‘ Bress de Good Lawd!” squealed Pate, ‘“ I’s es’ gwine ’long wid dis congregatherin’, I is! f yo’ ll give dis chilea gun he'll show ye how ter make sassage-meat ob dem gal-cotchers! Oh, wow! won't it be a reglum picnic! An’ ll see lit?’ missy! Well, I ‘jes’ is gwine long wid yo’ folkses, an’ I’ll butt da win’ out ob de onery coon dat say I isn’t.” ‘You will have to rustle for a horse, if you want to go, Pete,” said Chris, ‘‘There will not be any of the boys who will stop to get one ready for you.” “Well, I’s er rustler, I is! If yo’ leabe dis chile bebin’ jes’ yo’ tell him he’s a fool-niggah.” In a few minutes all the cowboys, with a sin- gle exception, were ready for theride, One of the men was forced to remain behind and look after the place, but be swore roundly at his fate, — Away toward the bills rode the cowboys, one | of their number making a sweep to take in the Diamond Ranch and secure reinforcemeptsfrom __ Orson Colfax’s men, But the rest of the party - 1 . x “Ere y *. ? 2 & fe ¢ we te UF oe ; 3) ds mH > A Aw y- er tet oe Tees fae aK. | cor Ss * ‘ ‘a J ind ! a 5 ee ee eS ae | ; a a“ * Se ae, ae ene a * P . 1 * * b aM ' * * » ‘| , r one * 7 7 m2) Fie + : Vell yar sed.» ” ‘7 at ' ak Py ~\eF » ae = - oa eet ae he | YF . ® ‘ a My art) - ‘ ” _ * ay Abate « ba =.