Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 219 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

a —_ ee eee ee / f built. and the door closed upon his vanishing figuro before the crowd recovered itself, Then rose yells of vengeance; and the. mob hurled itself against the door en masse. What was the surprise to find that this was as firm as a rock! Now they discovered, moreover, that oak shutters had made thei appearance at the inside of the windows. Under their very noses the Palace Saloon had been suddenly converted into a bullet proof fortress. That then was the secret of Iron Despard’s pretended leave-taking of the Queen of the Green Cloth! ‘‘ Begorra! the divil bas outwitted us!” whis- pered Foxy, to the Little Giant. ‘‘On the contrary,” was the well-satisfied re- ply, as the speaker listened to the ery of ** vam pire,” on every lip, ‘tif he had consulted me, he couldn’t have pleased me better. Now we've got him !” {t looked as if his words were not without foundation; for the furious mob was raining bullets against the house. Glass enough was shivered; but the oak shutters defied pistol as- sault. ‘‘But what air we standin’ »yar fur, doin’ nothin’?” cried Moll Pritchard’s Right Bower. ‘* What’s wantin’ is a batterin’-ram.” ‘‘A batterin’-ram! a batterin’-ram!” yelled the crowd. In that country such a requirement was not long in forthcoming. Sixty seconds after the demand was made a couple of axes were ring- ing in alternate blows; and soon there was a swish through the air, followed by the concus- sion of & tree striking the ground. Rapid blows severed the top with its few branches; and the engine of war was ready. ** Hold on, boys; we don’t want the hull raft of ye!” shouted Moll Pritchard’s Right Bower, as the mob jostled each other in their eagerness to have a hand on the battering-ram. By a great deal of profanity and some back- ing of authority by physical foree, he selected his men, ** Now, charge!” he commanded. With a yell they set out. Orack ! crack! crack! crack! crack! crack! From somewhere within the house came the ringing reports in rapid succession. ‘They must have been fired through some aperture prepared for such an emergency. No smoke appeared on the outside to indicate the position of the marksman. The execution done, however, proved him a master. Six men tumbled headlong, and dropping the ram long before it reached the door the rest fled in every direction, with yells of terror. That was a protest which spoke louder than words; The six men, among whom the first to fall was the redoubtable Mol! Pritchard’s Right Bower, lay as if dead. Hell Hole raged—out of pistol-range / ‘We'll have to wait until after dark, boys; and them we'll burn him out of his rat-hole,” cried one. But feeling the need of a new lead- er, he went on:—‘*t Whar’s the Leetle Giant?” But Joe Smedley was nowhere to be found The Queen of the Green Cloth must not see him an active ‘participant in the measures against Iron Despard’s life, however much she might suspect that they were urged forward at his in- stigation. Before night, all of the six shot from the battering-ram revived and crept away, when -it was found that they had been ‘‘ creased,” the bullets having only grazed their skulls. But this evident willingness on the part of Iron Despard to spare their lives while protecting his own, did not prevent the piling of combustibles against his house, as soon as the darkness afforded a cover. The match was then applied and the incendiary beat a hasty retreat; but not a sound was heard from those within the house, Up the walls, along the eaves and over the roof crept the serpent-tongued flames, curling in eddying clouds of black smoke against the face of the cliff before which the house was Just beyond pistol-range, the mob formed a yelling, hooting semicircle, waiting with wea- pons in readiness for the expected rush of the vampire from his burning house. But he did not come forth. ““T tell ye what it. is, boys,” declared Moll Pritchard’s Right Bower, ‘‘them vampires is all salamanders. Now I allow, lie jest smiles at fire.” But at this moment a man came rushing toward the spor, with every mark of strong excitement. Joe Smedley had just been in- formed of the fire: but he was too late to save the Queen of the Green Cloth, if she was yet in that burning buiiding. nnn ss III 000000000 ———————————————————————— cc ee se Despard, the Duelist, a — —-.+ -_—__ = - oe Ce ———— Before he could make inquiry, he heard a general ery of amazement, and beheld a spec- tacle which chained him to the spot. Behind the vail of smoke which rose from the burning building was seen the figure of a woman ascending the perpendicular face of the cliff—not by climbing, which would have been impossible, but by floating, as if borne aloft by some supernatural agency. ‘Good God! it’s the ghost of the Queen of the Green Cloth!” cried Moll Pritchara’s Right sower, in an awed voice; and this was the gen- erally accepted theory. But to the Little Giant, staring like a man turned to stone, this strange spectacle had a different significance. He recognized the siren who had twice before warned him to desist from his plot. Now her eyes were fixed upon him threateningly. Up the cliff she rose, to disappear over its verge. The mob stood gazing at the spot where she had vanished, every man dumfounded. Then Dan the Devil appeared, with excited words of instruction and exhortation, as he rushed from point to point among the crowd. Every one who heard him set up a yell of rage. Then came burried orders, restraining the crowd from rushing off ina body. Some. were directed to remain where they were, some de- tailed to follow leaders who rushed off into the night with every indication of pressing emer- gency. CHAPTER XI. THE AVENGERS AT HOME, But Iron Despard was not in the burning house, He had made a brave fight up to the point where further defiance would be mere fool- hardiness. Then, knowing—none better than he—that one man cannot fight a whole commu- nity, he had retreated through an avenue pre- pared beforehand. Until nightfall he defended his beleaguered house. Then, having secured his valuables in a grip-sack, he went into a back room and reached up into what appeared to be the chimney of an ordinary open fireplace. A moment later he slid the whole back of the fireplace upward, disclosing the black mouth of a cave. This he entered, followed by the Queen of the Green Cloth, lighting his way with a common lantern. When tho back of the fireplace had been slid back to place, they found themselves iu almost utter darkness, the faint rays of the lantern illuminating only a short radius around them. The passage was tortuous, with irregular sides and roof; now narrowing to a mere crevice, now widening to a chamber, From these chambers ramified other corridors, among which Iron Despard seemed to have no diffi- culty in makittg choice. It was at the debouchure into one of these caverns that the Queen of the Green Cloth caught her guide’s arm with a startled whisper: ‘¢ Despard!—some one is coming.” ‘‘One of our men coming to meet us. They’ve got anxious.” ““ Heavens!—look He did look as greatly astonished, almost as much startled, as she. From a black opening, almost opposite them, issued a creature of unearthly guise. The strangeness of her aspect lay in the fact that she seemed self-luminous with a pale, ghostly radi- ance, This of itself lighted her path, since she car- ried no torch or Jantern. She seemed to floatrather than walk, her flow- ing draperies giving forth no rustle. She was very beautiful, with flowing blonde hair and great, sad eyes that took no notice of Iron Despard and the Queen of tne Green Cloth. It was the being who had twice appalled Joe Smedley, and was once more to appear to him, rising out of the smoke of Iron Despard’s burn- ing saloon. At sight of this strange apparition even the iron nerves of the gambler prince felt a shiver run through them. For the first time in his experience of her, the Queen of the Green Cloth betrayed fear. Entering from one corridor, the specter crossed the cavern and disappeared in another. ‘“ What was it?’ asked the Queen of the Green Cloth, with a shiver. But, before Iron Despard could draw breath to answer, a slight crash of glass was followed by the extinction of bis light. Instantly he dropped tae now useless lantern and drew a revolver. The Queen of the Green Cloth seemed com- 1” pletely unnerved. She, who never betrayed fear, now uttered a ery of alarm, and clung to her protector’s arm, The: next instant an intense dazzling light sprung up directly in front of Iron Despard, Altbougl it blinded him so that he could see no object, he fired, aiming directly below it on a line wich a man’s breast. The light disappeared, not by reason of its own extinction, but because his head was envel- oped in the folds of some cloth thrown over it. The next instant, with the cries of the Queen of the Green Cloth sounding muffled to his ears, | he was borne to the ground, struggling like a | madman. Despite his efforts, however, he was_ overcome, bound and disarmed; but, though half suffocated by the enveloping blanket, he realized that no further violence had been of- fered bim, The muffler was removed, and he lay in deep darkness and silence. What was the meaning of this capture? Where was the Queen of the Green Cloth? Iron Despard was a man who never lost pres- ence of mind, nor wasted his energies. /hen he could not help himself, he was content to wait. He was not kept long in suspense. As if by magic, out of the black darkness suddenly sprung a band of luminous skeletons—the same who bad ridden through Hell Hole with Jim Kane in their midst. Like most if not all professional gamblers, Iron Despard was in a certain sense a fatalist; but his superior intelligence raised him above vulgar superstitions. He believed that these were masked men, At the same time, he believed that he was to be their next victim. ‘‘Tron Despard,” said a hollow voice, “ arise and stand before the Skeleton Avengers of Crime!” Two shadowy figures, dressed in deep black, so that he had not discovered them before, though they stood on either side of him, now bent and lifted him to his feet. “Well, gentlemen,” said the undaunted gam- bler prince, ‘‘ if you will allow me a suggestion, it will be that the sooner you drop all mummery and come to the point, the sooner you will gain your object, whatever itis. You will find me avery accommodating man to deal with. But my time is valuable, and I presume yours is.” ‘Who or what we are—whether gentlemen or otherwise—it matters not,” replied the same solemn voice. But considering our relative positions, it will be at least becoming in you to attend our pleasure, both as to time and methods.” ‘Yes; Pll admit that—you’ve got me fast enough. But now, what do vou want with me? ‘‘Unbind the prisoner,” commanded the chief of the Skeleton Avengers, ignoring his ques- ‘ion. ‘‘Thank you for so much,” said Iron Despard, standing now athis ease. ‘Of course I’m not fool enough to attempt to escape, surrounded as I am—unless, indeed, you are fools enough to show me the ghest of a chance!” ‘‘Tron Despard, the Skeleton Avengers have no charge to prefer against you personally—” ‘“That’s one comfort!” * But you hold a secret—” “Which you may bet high I will stick to, if it is of any importance. What secret?” ‘‘ After his capture, the man known as Patent-leather Joe, afterwards as Captain Arizona, still later as Captain Mask, managed to convey to you the secret of a hidden cache of his ill-gotten gains.” ‘* How do you know he did?’ “Listen! This was to remain undisturbed until you were assured of his death, either by process of law, which then bung over him, or otherwise. In that event, you were to unearth the treasure, and divide it into two equal parts; one part to go to his sister, Hortense, your wife, thus rewarding you indirectly for your dis charge of the trust: and the other to be given to a person named by the testator.” ‘Well, now,” said Iron Despard, in a banter- ing tone, ‘‘ where did you gain so much informa- tion?” ‘‘Tt matters not,” replied the chief of the Skeleton Avengers. ‘‘ Enough that it is true.’ ‘‘But what are you going to do f&bout it?” . ‘‘In the interests of justice it is necessary that that treasure should be found—” ‘“Then why don’t you go ahead and find it?’ ‘One-half of it will suffice to right a wrang that lies at Patent leather Joe’s door. We therefore offer you the half which was to go te your wife, in consideration—” ‘Hold on, you infernal coward! You have | OOO) Gom SJ Cc ss r _ * » . Hp PF IO i Goin