Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1096 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

lawyer. 2 ea -—__ —---— ----_ andy Dick's Dragnet: Seining the Invisible Six. BY ROBERT R. INMAN, AUTHOR OF THE ‘‘ DANDY DICK” NOVELS, CHAPTER I, IMPERIAL CITY MYSTIFIED. Rumors of foul play were abroad, lt was believed that Detective Dick Darrel had been secretly. killed, Farther, it was suspected that he had met bis fate at the bands of that mysterious band—the Invisible Seven, How he had been killed—or perchance captur- ed, however, was the most puzzling part of all No one could offer any theory that would hold weight, It was well known that Dandy Dick had been the sworn foe of the mysterious Invisible Seven, and it wasthought tbat they must have laid a trap for bim and bis allies and had done away with them all, But, bow, no man could say. Dick Darrel bad just brought a desperate case to a successful close, His former servant and companion, Barney O’Linn, had been cruelly poisoned at Imperial City—then called *“* Nip-’n’-Tuck,” and Dick bad bunted down his murderer, To the amazement and indignation of the peo- pie of Imperial, he proved that the marshal of the camp, one Doctor Conrad, a man bigh in local favor, was the one who had done the das- tardly deed. By a scheme in which was displayed the keen- est cunning, Dandy Dick brought proof to bear against the doctor and made the arrest, and, after a hearing at Imperial City, sent bim away in the custody of men whom the detective had called to his assistance, : These men took the prisoner away by the stage, ahd when the stage had gone, Dick and his two allies entered the hotel. ay were not seen from that hour, not one of them W bat bad become of them? As they did not reappear, inquiry began to be made, and they were searched for earnestly. They were not found, nor any trace of them. No one about the hotel had seea them, and noth- ing whatever was to be learned concerning them. Next, a visit was made to the cabin Dick had occupied, but they were not there, and every- thivg pointed in the direction of foul play, That they had secretly departed of their own accord was not believed by any one, ‘ Avod all the circumstances were against it, 00. Things at the cabin showed evidence of unin- tentional absence, When they could not be found at the hotel nor at the cabin, by the friends who sought them, then the alarm was given. A general search was made all over the camp, but nothing was to be learned of their where- abouts. No one had seen them, and their disap- pearance was utter and unaccountable, No men were more earnest in their search than the leading citizens of the place, such as George Pierre, Lawyer Corker, Baldwin Bloome, Sin- clain Fowley and others, but their careful search availed notbing, Ham Stanton expressed himself forcibly and “* Et ar’ that Invisible Seven what’s done et!” he cried. ‘‘Tbough how they could git awa with a wide-awake feller like Dick Darrel, is more’p I kin see,” ** An’ without bis makin’ a fuss about et, so’s solnebody would know et,” added ex-Marshal Simon Slow, “That’s what I mean,” averred Ham, ‘An’ et wasn’t only Dick, but his detective pard an’ ther Chinee.” Ne must have gone away of their own free will,” thought Sinclair Fowley. ““I know better’n that,” protested Ham, “Darrel wasn’t that sort, he wasn’t; he wouldn't fe off *thout speakin’ good-by to bis friends, ides, ef they bad, somebody would’a’ seen ’em, an’ some *scuse would ’a’ b’en given fer the’r go- “That last point is the clincher,” declared the ey couldn’t have got away without being seen, that’s sure.” vi A : “Then, where are they?” a3 whys Se r ¥ ¥ 7% 5! YT ’- ‘ oe, : peed A 4" 2 ye es a -; -" me ay 2) Wel LSM, , -— | ae Dandy Dick’s Dragnet. That was a question that brought them around to the starting-point again, and nothing was settled. Finally, another and more thorough search was made in and about the hotel. There was proof enough that they had en- tered there, immediately after the departure of the stage, but no man bad seen them since, It had come out that there was n@ one in the bar-room at the moment, the bartender being out on the piazza to see the prisoner off, but he bad returned a moment later. When he came in, however, no one was in tbe bar-room, and having seer Darrel, his friend and the Chinaman go in, besupposed they had passed through to the rear. He gave it no fur- ther thought at the time, and forgot all about it till the inquiry began to be made, The second search was thorough, as said. Every room was visited, and searched, too, whether occupied or not, but all without avail, Imperial City was greatly puzzled, and great was the excitement during the day or two im- mediately following. But, nothing was learned, and at the ead of a week it was as much a mystery as it had been at first. Nothing whatever had been dis- covered, During that week some important local mat- ters bad been adjusted, principal among which was the election of George Pierre, or Gold-plate George, to the officeof marshal. This was to fill the unexpired term of Doctor Conrad, and as the doctor had been in cffice only a short time, if was no small bonor, as the citizens looked upon it. And perbaps Gold- plate held the same view of it. After the election, the new marshal made a proclamation, denouncing the Invisible Seven, and offering a reward for their arrest, He spoke, too, of the mysterious disappear- ance of Dandy Dick, and offered further reward for information concerning him, all of ee good people of Imperial heartily ap- roved. r And so stood matters at the ting of our story. CHAPTER II. THE INVISIBLE SEVEN IN CONCLAVE. A DEEP, woody glade, where the darkness was utterly impenetrable—a place where intense shadows made it semi-dark even at noontide, and where gigantic bowlders abounded, There was an overhanging cliff, could it have been seen, with shelves along its face at different hights, and at its base @ pool of water, before which was the glade, It was a spot little frequented by day, and by night it was about the last place & sane man would think of visiting without some urgent business to call bim there; and that any man could have business there did not seem within the range of the probable. And yet, night as it was, and late the hour, men were approaching that very locality—sev- eral of them, unseen and silert, singly and in pairs, and they felt their way into the glade with cautious tread. Finally no more steps were heard, and one a ** Are all here?’ was hoarsely whispered. For answer, each of the others spoke a num- ber, the numbers two, four, five, six and seven, ‘* And I am Number Three,” spoke the first, again. ‘* Weareall bere, since we are no ljon- ger seven, but siz, You have no leader,” Another spoke, ‘* We want you for our captain,” ** Don’t you think some one else of our num- ber can give you better service?” ‘** No; we want you,” was the response, ‘‘ We have made up our minds on that point already.® ‘* Well, how many are in favor?” * All of us,” There was no dissenting voice, ‘*That being your wish, I accept the office, and take my number—Number One, Hence- forth we are the Invisible Six. Number Two will retain his number; the others must drop a unit each, making six the highest, “We understand,” _ “Very good. Now, as our former leader said in accepting the office you have riven me, I must be obeyed. No man must know of us, and our operations must be so secret that they can never be traced home. As we meet now in darkness— invisible, so must we continue,” “* Be it so,” ** Now, that settled, we havea more important matter to discuss,” * ie disappearance of that accursed Dick 8 ‘“‘Exactly. Men say that the Invisibles have *» vont. ' ~ Sr > c< ‘ , : ee og o> ‘ Ton ’ e . ¢ | “ ; ~~ . mai 4 é we br . - > ; i PA ‘-> ' iZ J . . F eat » ve . - a . ¥ * oar & \ «2s ; 4 q 7s < ; ' . : , . me, ¥ z om Sid - é rm i disposed of him, but we know better. a ‘s ar” ae ae batalla er am Pk AT PN) ‘ ~ Sa ty Jo le i%o od ra Ss i's ” A: lh It is as great a mystery to us as to any one else,” ‘* Yes; curse it! And the more we think of it the worse it becomes... What n wonders became of Dick Darrel, the Chinaman. and the other, after they entered the bar-room?” ‘* We have tried hard to answer that question, and failed. Had they vanished in air, they could not have disappeared more suddenly and completely, They did not pass through to the rear, for they would have been seen. Nor did they again come out the way they wentin, It beats all that I ever met with yet.” ‘“‘ What is going to be done about it?” ‘‘That is what we are here to settle,” spoke the leader. ‘‘ We have reason to believe, from what we know of Dandy Dick, that he is still io these parts, probably with the intention of hunting us down to the death. So we are bound to hear from him again, is my opinion.” ‘* Well; and what then?” ‘*He will come to liunperial City in disguise, when he comes, of course, and no telling what his disguise will be. A man who can be an Italian organ-grinder one day and an Indian the next, and pass such an examination as he did in both characters without detection, is capable of anything.” ‘* You are rightin that,” ‘**So, no matter how he comes, we must make sure of him, If a stranger comes to town, no matter whether in the garb of saint or devil, he must be suspected and put out of the way if the least suspicion holds, We wiil kill half a dozen, if need be, till we get the right one, That is the only way to do it, the only sure way, for we know we can’t trust our eyes to unmask him.” ‘‘ There are strangers at Imperial now,” spoke one. ‘‘ None whom we haven’t sifted,” reminded the leader. ‘* The Gobles at the hotel we know all about, and the few others are not to be sus- cted, since no amount of disguise could trans- orm Dandy Dick to such as they. The Gobles, you know, came there before Darrel disap- peared, and we saw them and Darrel and ns ards at the same time too often to suspect, sides, they were found in their room after Darrel was missed. No; Dick Darrel is not there yet ” , ‘* But when he does come—” “When he does appear on the scene, death to bim!. Death to any man upon whom suspicion wis fall!” aking oath anew, the Invisible Six moved off in the darkness as silently as they had come, CHAPTER Il. THE SECRET REVEALED, It was on that same night, and not far from the same hour, when Ham Stanton, in bis cabin at Imperial City, was awakened by a persistent tapping at bis window. e heard it long before he was wide enough awake to realize whatit was, but finally it came to him and he sprung up in his bunk with a start. All was darkness in the cabin, and there was no sound save the constant tapping. _ Getting up silently, he approached the window and took a sidewise glance out into the lesser darkness. * As he looked, he made out the figure of a hand close to the glass, the fingers beating a tattoo up- on the pane, Tbe sound was not loud, but it was clear and continuous, and was well calculated to awaken the soundest of sleepers, ‘‘ Waal, who is thar?” Ham suddenly demand- ed, The hand was removed instantly, and a face took its place. ‘* A friend, Ham Stanton,” was the response, in clear, low tone, ‘© An’ what d’ye want?” “*'To> talk with you.” ‘* Yer wants ter come in?” ‘* Yes; I want to come in,” ‘Waal, now, I don’t let folks in at this hyar hour, onless I knows who an’ what they ts, Who be you, stranger?” **T'm no stranger to you, Ham,” was the an- swer to that, in the same low, clear tono. — *“ Pm Dick Darrel.” “ What! What’s that yer say?” ** Dick Darrel, at yourservice. Will you open me?” “‘Sart’in, I'll let yer in, but mind yer don’t t no fool work on with me, If you ain’t Dick Darrel, the worse for you,” The face was removed from the pane, and a moment later a step was heard at the door. Ham got Pigs his clothes with some haste, and to wif : ; <s a7 4 - q ae eri : , r4 4 ho , = ae < ~ com i= > a) - when he had secured his belt and lookedtohis = = 14" Ve ps ae. purity oa fi yok) eign eas) pe Ng Lah icbooks.c Bir ht, om