Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1090 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

10 him and he resolved to have a little fun at her expense, She was no lily-handed aristocrat, and proof of the fact existed in the shape of a quantity of ironed clothing which hung at one sida. The sight of these suggested to Joe the idea of playing ghost. utiously he again opened the door, and this time he passed through and crept like a cat to the clothes. He expected ‘‘ Mother” Hickley would hear him, but she did not. He selected a sheet, and soon had himself property inside of it. Possibly he then looked ike a veritable ghost, but as he had no model, he was by no means sure. All was ready, and he coughed in what he meant for a ghostly way. The old woman turned, and then looked at him in silence. She was surprised, but did not seem alarmed. ‘* Woman,” quoth Jubilee Joe, in a tone in- tended to be sepulchral, ‘‘ behold a ginervine, first-class, full-proof spirit from t’other spear. I’m a ghost, an’ this here ismy evenin’ out. I’m ther spook o’ George Washington Hamlet, con- demned fur a while ter go a-cipherin’ round this yere arth an’ see that ther Centennial is run on strictly business principles—” So far, and no further. ‘* You look here,” said ‘*‘ Mother ” Hickley. not at all alarmed, ‘* you can’t come in here mit me all trunk and play the fool von time. I'll teach you to steal my sheet v’ot [ vash clean!” And she made a rush at him, so sudden and fierce that he had no time to dodge out of the door, and;was obliged to take refuge behind the table instead. It was only a temporary relief; the old woman was on the war-path, and she darted after him with an agility not to be expected. ‘* Pll preak your panes in your pody, you pig trunkard!” she declared. ‘*Come on an’ doit. IP’ma ghost, an’ I can’t fight, but I kin run like a goat, and we'll see who shakes their hoofs first, Come an’ see me! I ain’t at home, but ['m ez sociable ez a settin’ hen, an’ nobody kin say ’m mean. Wake up, ole lady; sling your patent-leather pumps a lit- tle sprier!” lt was a generous invitation, but ‘‘ Mother” Hickley was losing her breath and gaining noth- ing. Round and ’round the table they went, and they might have gone until now, possibly had not Joe caught his foot in the sheet and tripped. fier he went, and in a moment more the old woman tripped over him, turned like a hoop and brought up several feet away. The boy was on his feet in a second. ‘‘ Hello, Sophia Jane! Spilled yerself, didn’t ye? Ought ter j’ine ther Spitzbergarian grand- an’-lofty tumblers, b’mighty. al, so long; can’t be hangin’ round here fur even sech pret- ty gals as I now hev in my eyes. Hello /” oe had cast aside his sheet and started for the door, but as he -did so it opened and a man entered. The boy started back. The new-comer was Gibbs, and Joe foresaw trouble in the near fu- ture. Gibbs paused. He believed he recognized Joe, and a flush of dangerous enmity came to his face, There was danger, and the boy knew that he had got to act quickly. He gave one yell and rushed for Gibbs with lowered head. e had but a few feet togo, and Gibbs was there when hearrived. It somehow happened that the two collided, and then the man went over like a ten-pin, while Jubilee shot through the — door. ‘‘ So long, Gibbsy! Call at my office ter-mor- rer, an’ you kin have part o’ my chawin’-gum. Bring yer own teeth with ye!” He wasin retreat all the while he was speak- ing, and his movements were accelerated by the yursuit of both Gibbs and ‘‘ Mother” Hickley, But once on the street he had no further fear, The wretched old house and its occupants had too many secrets to hide, for the people to court scrutiny on the open streets. ‘‘ Reckon as how I'll git out o’ this while I kin. Would like to hear ther confab between them two, but it stands to reason that arter what’s happened they ain’t got enough arsenic-green in their eyes to let me git onter their secrets. Ill go where ther air’s purer an’ dry off some o’ th’ mud I took in from ther well.” He walked on, thinking what he could do to help Laura, Murray, and the question seemed settled when he met a policeman. To him he tried to tell his story, but the officer cut him short. ‘‘ Now, this won’t do. Oi’ve heard jist such sthories before, an’ divil a wan av thim pans out truth. Ye're loike all boys; too shmart fur | yer jacket ter hould in. Move on, or Oi’ll be afther yez wid dhis stick!” And Jubilee moved on. ‘“*Tt’s right odd what a spite them one-hoss coppers has ag’in’ me. Id jest like ter know who hires an’ pays ’em. Is it Bismarck, Glad- stone, Parnell and Schovelmynoseoff, or is it Uncle Sam’s free-born republican dimocrats? Seein’ how it’s Centennial year, seems ter me ther coppers should take their massive minds dway from foreign lands an’ give a little show ter erican talent. Hello, you !” A man staggered around a corner and nearly collided with Joe. ‘*T ain’t a lamp-post,” added the boy. ‘‘Go an’ hang up there till ther tansy-juice mixes with ther open air. Legs are weak, ain’t they? You need stiffenin’, Go an’ buy ten pounds 0’ starch an’ brace up.” ‘*Do you mean that I’m drunk?” fiercely de- manded the man. ‘*'You act jest ez I do when I’m drunk,” re- plied Joe, good-humoredly, but the man stopped further remarks by springing forward and catching the boy by the throat, ‘*Tll choke the life out of you, you young hound!” he exclaimed. CHAPTER X, [BY J. C. COWDRICK. ] GIBBS AT ‘‘ MOTHER” HICKLEY’S. ‘¢ A FINE mess you’ve made of it, you old bel- dam!” cried Gibbs, with blood in his eye as he gazed after the retreating form of Jubilee Joe. ‘‘Our fat is in the fire now, sure. I thought you agreed to ‘do’ for that young spy!” ‘* Mother ” Hickley was cringing in the most abject manner. She evidently feared this man. ‘Vy, my tear son,” she whined, ‘‘I ton’t know v’at you means.” ‘*Come back into the room and [ll tell you in mighty few words what I mean,” the irate Gibbs retorted, as he slammed the front door ree with a bang and strode back down the all. ‘* Mother” Hickley shuffled along behind him. When they entered the room and she, ha closed the door, Gibbs exclaimed: ‘*So, you ‘ton’t know v’at I means,’eh? Tl tell you, then, I mean to cut your throat for allowing that boy to escape! Do you catch on to that?” ‘* He! he! he! ho! ho!” the old’ hag laughed. “Do you tink dot vas der poy! Vell, dot vas von good choke! He! he! he! V’y, my son, dot poy vas at de pottom of de old vell, right avay is very minute!” She essayed to joke, but it was plain to be seen that she was frightened. Proof of it—she mixed her English up almost t all compre- hension. This was a never-failing sign. ‘*Do you mean to tell me I didn’t see the boy escape?” Gibbs roared, ‘‘ to say nothing about feeling him?’ ‘* Oh, my son, my son! you vas padly mistak- en. De other poy is in de vell, an’ likely to stay there, too. e poy you sawd vas von who chust come in to play ghost an’ give me a scare. Dot vas all!” " ‘‘Ghost of your grandmother! It was that oung Joe, I tell you, and if you say you threw im into the old well, you lie!” ‘* Oh! I tell you it vas true! Tom Smith struck him on his head, an’ den ve pitched him right in an’ covered him up. He’s there, my son, as sure as death; an’ v’at is surer as dot?” Gibbs began to have a doubt. ‘‘ Will you swear to that?” he demanded. e hf oses, yes!” ‘‘ Well, I can’t see— Look here, though! what is all this mud over the floor? Where did this come from?” True enough, Joe haa left his mark pretty well scattered around. ‘*Oh, my goodness!” the old woman gasped. ‘¢ Where did it come from?” Gibbs roared. ‘‘Oh, my goodness, my goodness! It must peen der poy! asad crawled through de hole into de cellar. ! ‘* Thunder and Mars! Do you mean to sa you threw him into that hole with his han free?” ‘*Tt vas Tom Smith, my tear; it vas Tom.” ‘‘ Oh, the fool! With such a game at stake I should. think he would have taken every pre- caution! And you— Tvea notion to slit your neck, and shit it deep, too!” ‘*Oh, ton’t look py me like dot, my son!” ‘‘Your son! A fine specimen of a mother you are! I tell you now as I have told you before, am Gibbs, and nothing else, Just Pe that ma- Jubilee Joe, the Chain-Lightning Detective, ternal whine of yours, if you please. where is the girl? Has she escaped, too? ‘*Oh, no, my—Mr. Gibbs, she is safe, she is safe.” ** Are ** Yes. 4, Have you seen her since that young rat es- a RS 0, put I—” ‘‘But you’rea fool! Ili bet he played ghost on you to allow the girl time to get out of the house! Come, get a move on you, and lead me up to her room. Lively, now!” The old hag took up the lampand led the way, trembling in every limb. Well she knew that if Gibbs’s suspicion should prove true, his wrath would fall heavily upon her aged head. When they arrived at the room where the girl was imprisoned, however, they found her there, and Gibbs’s anger cooled down a little. The poor girl implored them to set her free, but the hardened wretches only laughed at her misery, and after looking carefully around for a moment they descended to the lower part of the house pent. ‘* Mighty lucky for you, old gal, that we found her there, I can tell you,” Gibbs declared, ‘*Hullo!” he hastily added, ‘‘what’s this?” And he turned toward the corner where the dwarfed negro lay, his attention being drawn by a groan which had escaped the poor darky as he began to regain consciousness. ‘Oh! dot is Conch! De poy almost killed him!” the hag explained. ‘* The deuce he did! I thought Tom was to do the job for you.” ‘‘Vell, you see he started up to do it, an’ I vent vid him to light de vay, put he packed out: Ve vent into de room under de von de poy vas in, an’ talked de thing over a leetle, an’ he vanted Conch to do it; so ve coom down an’ sent Conch up. You see how he made out.” **Then how did you get at the boy?” ‘Vell, he placked his face an’ coom down to escape, put We knowed him py his clothes, an’ Tom struck him on de head an’ laid him out, ‘*Tf he had only slipped into Conch’s coat he might have got avay; put he didn’t t’mnk of dot, or didn’t have time to do it, an’ so ve spotted him. The negro began to groan more frequently now, and was soon able to sit up. The gamin was not responsible for his life, worthless as it was. A negro’s head is hard to craek. ** Av’ look here at my shirt!” ‘‘ Mother” Hick- ley exclaimed. ‘‘I declare to goodness if dot poy didn’t vipe all de plack off his face on it, an’ some of de mud, too! See, here’s de vooly vig he wore, too; I vonder vere he got dot?” ‘*T don’t know, nor do I care;” Gibbs answer- ed, sullenly. ‘‘But I do know that this boy is lightning smart, and I’m afraid he'll give us trouble, Come, let’s Bo down into the cellar and see how he ma is escape. Again ‘‘Mother” Hickley took up the lamp and led the way They descended the old and rickety stairs, and then the beldam ambled aoross to where she knew there was a hole in the wall. ‘‘ Yes! yes!” she cried, ‘‘ here it vas! See he’s dropped right down onto my pest onions an? mashed more as a peck of ’em. Oh! if I had him here I’d make him eat ’em, every von! I vonder if he smelled ’em, an’ so got onto de right road?” Satisfied as to how Joe had effected his es- cape they returned to the room above. ‘T tell you, mother,” Gibhs said, as he drop- onto a chair, ‘‘ this game is gettin’ weak at the knees. Too many blunders are being made,” ‘‘Oh! maype ve can get der poy ag’in, my tear!” ‘‘*That’s not the only blunder that has been made, old gal, not by a good deal!” ‘Wy, v’at else is wrong?” - y Mark has gone and stuck a pig in the Now, ? you sure ?” > eye.” ‘* Stuck a pig in de eye!” ‘*'Yes, soto put it. I mean he has allowed his He’s some vay got out mit dat | part of the game t» miscarry.” ‘* How vas dot?” ‘‘ Why, you know he went to meet the man Allan, to drug and decoy him here. as we plan- si ned it. Well, he found him and got the drug into him, and then suddenly imagined that some one had seen him do it. He was so worked-up and nervous about it that he gotoff the train at a way station and waited for the next one. The consequence is, Allan has arrived in the city, and we do not know where he is.” ‘Ob! m goodness, my goodness! Vat a paby-calf de ‘ Captain’ is!” ‘‘ He’s worse! I thought he had a little sand in him, but I guess it’s all dust.” ni S comicboo