Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 167 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

- ereased untilit became a torture. a rr ee ee a nn ee And now I will than!: you to open that other bottle of wine, and then tell me what sort of a Samaritan plan you will next propose.” —__ -— «~~ = - — ‘- You know my object,” said Brackett, after he had acceded to this request. ‘‘I intend to own that plantation.”’ “Tnasmuch asl am dead,” suggested Col. Thom- eu. “Of course my opportunity is derived from your death. You are dead to the world, and yet you are sufficiently alive for my present purpose. I want you, colonel, to assign to me all P heap right, tile and nterest, actual and ble, in the plantation which you have mortgaged to me.” ‘That is a cool request,” said the old gentleman, a little huskily. ‘‘ Are you afraid, then, that your forged mortgage will not be sufficient for you?” ‘“Well—I want to cover the whole ground.” ‘‘I should say that you do, like the genuine good Samaritan that youare. But, how can a document executed by me after I am dead, be of any account?” “Ob, I shall have it dated previous to your de- ** And sealed, acknowledged, and officially certified to, and all that?’’ ‘ Certainly.” * And all that business to be a series of forgeries?” “I suppose you would so style it,”’ wick Major Brackett—if you are, or ever was, & major—’ ‘**I was a major in the Confederate army, sir.” “Then, Major Brackett, as you are so skillful at forgery, you may as well om my name to your document, as you may depend upon it that I will sign nothing of the sort. 1 wonder what you take me for, anyhow?” “T take you for a fine old Arkansas gentleman one of the olden time, who is fond of his ease an anxious to avoid bother. The signature I ask for will save you a great deal of bother.” **You seem to forget that Iam an old soldier, and that I have a character for courage and for honor. I am not s0 weak as you rappise me to be, but have quite as much gritas my girls. Jam in your power, and you can kill 180 pounds of me, but you can’t scare one ounce.” Major Brackett rose and bowed with his usual po- liteness. ‘*T will give you until noon, to-morrow, to reflect upon the matter,”’ he said, ‘‘and hope that by that time you will think better of it. Lleave the rest of the wine with you.” Col. Thomassieu easily finished the remainder of the wine, and went to bed that night with his head in a whirl, and slept until morning like a log, if so disrespectful an expression may be applied te such a@ fine old Arkansas gentleman, The morning showed such a state of affairs as Ma- jor Brackett had calculated upon, and brought into view the style of coercion which he had intended to apply to his captive. early two bottles of cham e, added to the * moonshine”? whisky with which he was thorough- ly soaked, had completely upset the old gentleman’s system and produced a craving which could only be satisfied by a hair, or several hairs, of “‘ the dog that bit him.” Never in his remembrance had he 80 se- verely felt the need of some stimulus to ‘‘set him up.’* Never had he discovered such an utter desti- tution of the refreshment he required. The wine-bottles were ones and there was nota drop of Jason’s Island whisky to be found in the room. The colenel was so tremulous that he could scarcely dress lf. He tried the door, and found it locked. He looked out of the window, and saw an armed sentry standing there. Then he dis- covered that he was really a prisoner, and a percep- tion of Brackett’s “little game” began to dawn upon his confused senses. e beat upon the door, and it was opened by an armed man, who asked him what he wanted. *T want to get out of here.” % Se can’t do es ime’ ais | ‘ Bring me something to drin en.”” d Nothin’ but water, without Major Brackett’s or- ers,’ ** Ask Major Brackett to please come here.” The sentry promised to do so, and closed and fastened the door. After a brief interval, which seemed an age to the old gentleman, Brackett made his appearance, and listened with a smile to the cap- tive’s statement of his deplorable condition and the absolute necessity that he should have some stimu- lus dagen ge his gente ySapeipem en you are ready to sign the paper I spoke of,”’ said Brackett, ‘‘ you shall haveall . nota dro until ten.” you want; but e colonel indignantly repudiated this conditi and the interview terminated, and he was rein shut His condition grew worse, and a: craving in- timent of respect for the representative of a Bod old stock prevents a description of his suff He was disgusted with himself, but it does not fo)- low that the readers of this narrative need to be dis- ted with him. He was getting along in years fis cotiatitution was shaky, and his system late- ly been so saturated with Jason's Island whisky that the withdrawal of his customary stimulant seemed to be more than he could endure. In short, he was en the verge of that fearful complaint, with which a Rehag 7, eee mind can have the least sym- *the horrors.’ Plt Was only his natural obstinacy that enabled him to endure his pangs until within an hour of noon, Then he called the sentry, and sent for Ma- or Brackett, who came forward with a smiling face and two bottles of wine, the sight of which made the captive’s eyes water. The bottles were placed ——_— A who put the ideas o | language, ad Asa Scott, the Steamboat Boy. ——_ —_ -—__ _ + -— on the table, and Brackett produced a folded paper and 7 and ink, ‘*T have sympathized deeply with you, my dear colonel,’ he said, ‘‘ Your unfortunate condition has grieved me sorely, but business has compelled meé to harden my heart. Now, if you will put your signature to this paper, I will take pleasure in sup- plying your wants.’ , ‘Give me some wine first,”’ said the colonel, “I could make no signature now. Don't you see how shaky lam? Let mesettle my nerves, and then I wil Co What you wish.” “Can I depend upon that?” asked Brackett. “Of course youcan, Whatever I may have done, I have never been known to go back on my word.” It required several glasses of cham 6 to satis Col, Tnomassieu concerning the condition of his nerves, and between the doses he read the document which or Brackett had prepared. At the close of the reading he signed his name where he was di- rected to sign it. “*The deed is done,” he said; *‘ but I give you fair warn that you will get little by it, if anything, as Ihave no right to transfer more than my life inter- est in that property, and if I live I will of course im- peach this document.” " Am I to consider, then,” asked Brackett, ‘that our mortgage to me was a planto obtain money on alse pretenses?”’ ‘Not atall. I believed my Kfe interest to be suf- ficient to secure that smail loan. But I have good reason to believe that my daughters are the heirs of their brother, and that the plantation belongs to them.”’ “That may be your belief, colonel, but it is not mine. Anyhow, I am satisfied with what I have gained, and when I once get possession of that prop- erty under my mortgage, ked by this assign- ment, it will be no easy matter to oust me.”’ ‘Suppose that young fellow should buy it in?” “I don’t think he will get the chance. He will soon be as completely in my power as you are.”’ CHAPTER XX. © THE NIGHTHAWES’ LITTLE GAME—A CORNER IN ROGUES. AurHoues Major Brackett intimated to Col. Thom- assieu that he intended to get possession of the per- son of Asa Sproule for the purpose of furthering his ey upon the Thomassieu property, the arrest of the boy and his abduction from the Bucksport jail were mainly due to the influence of the Bum- steads. : The “ Honest Traders’ were interested in the il- licit distilling that was carried on at Jason’s Island, and their flatboat had been brought to that vicinity for the purpose of carrying away a portion of the products of the surreptitious still. hen the boat was moved from the point where thetwo boys found it, it was only dropped a short distance down the ri- ver, and was nearer to the island than it had been at the former location. They had not abandoned their designs upon Asa Sproule, but had become more eager in pursuit of h presumes wealth when they learned through Ma- jor Brackett that he was a guest at the Thomassieu mansion. They were indi t, also, because of the manner in which he had slipped out of their hands, and because of their failure to obtain money on the draft which they had compelled him to indorse, and they naturally felt a consuming desire to “get even,’’ both with him and with Snakeroot. It is due to Major Brackett to say that the plan for Sproule’s abduction wasinvented by ‘‘ Deacon’’ Bumstead and ‘Captain '’ Madden, and that he opposed it; but he was overruled by the Honest Traders and a number of the moonshiners who wanted a “ lark.” When enbet got Asa Sproule securely in their possession, they at once peacneded to put into ex- ecution the remainder of their plan, and sent to St. Louis a letter written by Major Brackett, its gen- eral style being suggested by ‘‘Deacon Bumstead.”’ The following copy of that epistle will serve to show that its authors were not unacquainted with the method employed by Italian brigands for extorting money from their captives: “Mr. RickArD BRASHEAR: “We have in our power a youth named Asa 5 Apo for whom you are berg oragent. Weare the same ies who got hold of him a while ago, and this time we mean to make a sure thing of the business. Wedon’t want to hurt him, as it is only money we are after, and we will take good care of him if you come to time. If you don’t you will never see him again. We want you to deposit the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25, imme- diately, with —— -——, Esq., of No. —— Chestnut street, St. Louis. He has nothing to do with us in any shape, but has been instructed howto commu- nicate with us, and for the sakeof humanitg he will undertake the job. If we do not hear from him within a week—which will give plenty of time—that you have deposited the money, Asa Sproule will lose one of his ears. Atthe end of ten days he will lose another, and at the end of two weeks his nose will be shaved off. We need not say what we will do after that time. There is nothing for you to do, and noth- ing you can do, but to pay over the money at once, as you cannot save him on any otherterms, and you would only make the case worse for him by trying to take any other measures. “* Yours for the sake of humanity, “Tux NIGHTHAWES.”’ The expression, ‘for the sake of humanity,” was the invention of Jacob Bumstead, and he prided himself uponit. The signature, ‘‘The Nighthawks,” was the brilliant suggestion of Madden. Otherwise the letter was the eee of Major Brackett, the confederates into his own — ee The reception of this letter at St. Louis threw good old Richard Brashear intoa state of consterna- tion. He was unquestionably a biave man, but tli's was @ danger which did not concern himsei!, znd at such a distance that he could not faceit. He knevw from Snakeroot’s account that the ‘‘ Honest T:. - ders "’ were a Villainous and desperate set of bch, and he did not doubt that they would put their threats in execution, if Asa Sproule was reully in their power. Of this — had given no proof, but the question was soon settled by the arrival of Asa Scott’s letter, which told of the abduction of hi: friend and the measures that were being taken to effect his rescue. Richard Brashear was not a man who wonld suffer himself to be imposed upon, if imposition could be prevented, and his indignation was strongly ex- cited against the ‘‘Honest Traders.” Insteud of drawing a check on Asa Sproule’s account, and rushing frantically in search of the man with whom he was directed to deposit the money, he hastencd to consult the Chief of Police, Captain McDonough, in whose cool head and long experience he had great confidence, Tne chief read the letters that had been written by Major Braczett and Asa Scott, and his eyes glis- tened when he saw the name of the map with wLora Mr. Brashear had been directed to depusit the sun of $25,000. - ~ a? you thought of paying that money?’ he asked. “TI had not thought of doing anything until I could get po advice,’’ replied the broker. ‘* Leave the matter with me,then. Itis out of our range, but we can connect ourselves with ii. We have that man,’’—pointin to the name in Major Brackett’s letter—‘‘just where we want bim. He bas been going crooked, lately, and we have a hold on him which we can use as a lever for moving him in this matter of yours. Wait a few moments, and it shall be attended to at once. ’ A shrewd and trusted detective officer received his instructions, and accompanied Mr. Brashear t© the number on Chestnut street named in Major Brack- ett’s letter. The person designated was a lawyer of dubious antecedents and unsavory reputation, who had on more than one occasion received the attentions of the police. He exhibited some trepidation at the visit of the officer, with whom he was well acquaint- ed, and who proceeded to make known his business with the utmost frankness and plainness. ‘** Read these letters, Mr. Boomer,” he said, ‘‘ and then tell me exactly the nature of your connection with this affair. The best thing you can do, in your own interest, is to make a clean breast of the whole business, and nothing less will satisfy me.” Mr. Boomer stoutly protested that he had no con- nection, whatever, with the parties who had cap- tured Asa Sproule; that he did not know who they were, nor could he recognize the handwriting of the letter received by Mr. Brashear. He presumed that he must have had some previous acquaintance with them, as they evidently knew him, and he had received a letter, in asimilar handwriting, instruct- ing him as te what he was expected todo. He had merely been directed to receive the sum of $25,000 from Mr. Brashear, and to take it to an obscure vil- lage in Arkansas, where he would pay it to a person whom he knew, the name of the person not being given, and he was assured that he would be well re- warded for thatservice. “That is quite satisfactory,’’ said the officer. ‘You will go as soon as possible to that place for the purpose named in the letter you received, and I and a few other men will accompany you. In the meantime I will have to take > in custody under a warrant issued in that bond forgery business, to make sure that you don’t communicate with the par- ties who call themselves Nighthawks.”’ Thelawyer was assured, however, thatif he should do what was right in Mr. Brashear’s affair, the Charen, upon which he was arrested would not be pressed, “It is very fortunate,” said the detective to Mr. Brashear afterward, “ that your affair has come up just at this time, when we can bring a heavy pres- sure to bearon Boomer. Ifit had not been for that, I doubt whether we could have touched him.”’ Mr. Brashear hastened home to inform his wife of the bad news he had received Asa Sproule, and to acquaint her with his intention of going at once to the assistance of his young friend. he was Somny afflicted by both of these items of in- formation, but did not endeavor to dissuade him, and he took the morning train southward, accom- panied by lawyer Boomer and an officer in charge of a detachment of reliable men who had the ap- pearance of commercial travelers, workmen and railroad hands. But before this relief y could reach its desti- nation, events had culm at Jason’s Island. CHAPTER XX. THOMASSIEU'S RESURRECTION—-THE PIRATES IN A COR- RAL. Asa SPROULE was versed in the literature of lynch- i and when he was taken out of the Bucksport pec at night, by a band of masked men, he fully ex- ted that he would be summarily put to death When he was mounted on a horse, and compelled to ride mile after mile in the midst of the band, this apprehension was gradually dissipated. There was no evidence of an intention to stop and string him up to a tree, and he justly concluded that if the band had such a pu in view, it would be carried into effect without delay. His doubts on this subject were fimally put at rest by the discovery of am acquaintance among his cap- tors. The riders began to remove their masks when “ *% ~comicbooks.: