Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 320 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

—— a = i . - et run back, but this is the very spot where such a oe should be done by me, and I have done ‘‘ And you are my prisoner, sir.” The stern words fell like a cannon’s discharge upon the ears of Lieutenant Elmore, and para- ife lyzed with fear he turned, while his dropped with a loud ring upon the rocks, the mig pamenere taking all power from his nerve- ss hand. CHAPTER XXII. CAIN-ACCURSED. STANDING before him, when he turned at the stern words that fell upon his ear, Lieutenant Elmore beheld three persons, One was a tall, handsome man in wniform, and he held asword with the point toward the heart of the assassin. The second one was a youth, whom the reader knows as Ned, the Boy Skipper, while the third, upon whoin the eyes of the lieutenant were fixed with horror, was Nora, looking wondrous- ly beautiful in the moonlight. “Great God! am I dreaming?’. gasped the murderer. ** If you will look down upon the body of the man you but now killed, to get his gold, or if ou attempt resistance, sir, you will discover hat you are very wide awake,” said Sir Lucien sternly, for he it was. ‘¢ And, Nora, are you then not dead?” ** No, I was spared that I might live to dis- cover what. a fool | was in ever believing that I loved such as you,” was the scathing reply. ‘“‘And you, sir, who are you?” haughtily de- manded Elmore, gaining courage, when he dis- “a teal that he did not have a ghost to deal with, ‘*T am, sir, an officer, and you are my pris- oner,” was the reply. ane words have an English ring to them and— ‘‘It matters not, Lieutenant Elorore, who, or what I am. ‘‘T heard your words, saw your act, which [ was too late to prevent, and, as an assassin and highway robber, | make you my prisoner. ‘Resist, and you die.” ‘*One moment, I pray you,” and Nora stepped my the speaker, and then continued earn- estly: ‘*This man won, as I believed, my love. ‘* Now, I know that [ was only fascinated by him, as a bird might be by a serpent. ‘*But in his veins and mine flow the same blood, and for the sake of the past, I would not see him hanged. ‘* Let him go, I beg of you, sir, and maybe from this night he will lead a different life. ‘*What be has done cannot be undone, and the world must know of his crime, and eternal disgrace come upon him, ‘*But I would not see him die at the yard- arm for his crime, and so 1 say to you now, Lieutenant Elmore, go and sin no more, and hide yourself from those who will track you down for the murder you have this night c.m- mitted. ‘‘ Ned, my brother, do you not say as I do?” and she turned to Ned, who stood calmly by, a pistol in his band. ** Yes, sis, let him go; but let him hide out of the State of Maine. ‘‘Go, Lieutenant Elmore, and do not forget that you owe your life to the one you so cruelly deserted!” ‘* But, Nora—” ‘‘Go, sir, or I will be tempted to save the hangman trouble, and hurl you over yonder cliff,” sternly said the English officer. Lieutenant Elmore loved life, and shuddered at the thought of dying upon the gallows, He had committed murder for gold. He saw disgrace staring him in the face, and death if he did not fly. But life was offered him, and the world was before him, and without a word he turned and walked qnieny away. Then Sir Lucien knelt by the body of Rodney Vail, and said sadly: ** He is dead.” * Poor man, he is the one who left Riverview only a few hcurs ago to return to Boston. ‘“*He did not say that be had come here by sea; but led us to believe that be had arrived in the stage; but the words of his slayer showed the plot against bim. ‘Ned, a fisherman came to the mansion at sunset, and reported that a pretty Jittle sloop was lying concealed in Hideaway Creek, and krowing that you were here with Sir Lucien, I monnted my horse to ride over and tell you.” ‘it was the craft that they came in, sis; but a - mh . v4 ’ Ps BA 4 ’ Tal £3 >< > Pe © RN es ig = a — . VN ee Eo) ig oe On eee % a - - . © # ite ay Ps ude | oon . 3 a ‘ +S et “ _ ~~ * ft =e ind fae ¥ ' \ ; ° - - fas As u* } - Py a* ’ aed a 7h. MF " « f “vs ‘des — wt) , Vs » iy eo : o@ : - f ey AY ee 7% . Ai f P k oe 44 age ed ; % 2 ‘, vw 4 3 Bs f 7, : v9 4 oa ? . - , iy" ry, r( Be ag ‘ . ~ The Sea Sorceress. now, will you return home, and send the car- riage after this poor young man, and ask father to drive, for it must not be known that he was killed here, as then some busybodies might invade the old ruin, and find Sir Lucien.” ‘* True, brother, and—” ‘‘ Light ho!” suddenly called out the British officer, as he spied a light off at sea. All turned their gaze in that direction, and placing his glass to his eye, Sir Lucien said: ‘‘ Now, my good friends, I will relieve you of your kind care of me and my troublesome presence, for yonder vessel is the sloop-of-war— yes, there she displays the signal agreed upon. ‘‘T owe you, Ned, my life, and both of you have been most kind to me, and I will not for- et it. ae Miss Evans, again I say we will meet again, and Ned, I trust never to meet you upon the seas while this unhappy war is raging between | your country and mine, “‘ Now, good-by, and I will go down to the place where you hid the skiff for me, and depart,” A few more words of farewell, and the noble Englishman departed, Scon they saw him glide away from tbe shore in his skiff, and head for the sloop-of-war, now lying to not far from the reefs, for the sea was not fretted by any wind. As the sloop-of-war glided away a blaze shot out from her side, and then another, and the eA a of two heavy guns came rolling land- ward, It was the British officer’s last good-by to the brother and sister standing in the ruined fort. Then, as they were about to turn away, they beheld a small sloop shoot out from the shadow of the land and head seaward. It was the little craft bearing Lieutenant Elmore in his flight for life. Then Ned took up the sachel of the dead man, and, with his sister, left the fort, Nora, having come on horseback, mounting and riding rapidly homeward to tell the sad tidings to her parents of the tragedy in the old ruin, and who it was that had to wander a Cain-accursed man through the world. CHAPTER XXIII. HOISTING THE BLACK FLAG, MIDWINTER has passed, and the snows are melting from the Muine hills and valleys. The thunders of war yet resound upon land and sea, and the cruisers of England are almost daily seen along the coast. Changes have come to some of the scenes and characters of our story, for a garrison has been placed in the Haunted Fort, and new guns re- place the old ones, and command the entrance to the dangerous channels that run into the river, while a small fortress has been built on the river near Riverview Mansion, so that the inmates of that pleasant home had a lively win- ter of it, wich gallant young officers so near at hand, and an occasional vessel-of-war lying at anchor in the river. The home of Captain Evans always had its latch-string hanging on the outside of .the door, and a hospitable welcome awaited all; but many a young officer’s heart got a wound there from the eyes of Nora, who, friendly to all, seemed to love no one in particular. Captain Evans had gone to Boston with Ned just after the death of Rodney Vail, and the youth had made his report of the scene which his sister and himself had witnessed, keeping back, bowever, the fact that there was an English officer as a third witness, yet stating the scene of the murder, as, Sir Lucien being gone, ee was no reason for keeping that secret any onger. The result of this report was that Lieutenant Elmore was dismissed from the service, branded ag a outlaw, and a reward placed upon his herd, In the village near Riverview changes had also occurred, for the militia had given place to a few companies of regulars, so that Major Bounce found his occupation gone, and was forced to retire to a quiet and obscure life. But the denizens of that sleepy hamlet were still troubled in mind over the affair of the ghosts waylaying the stage-coach., The fat aide, with his two soldiers and Char- | coal Sam, had returned to the relay station with their startling story, and nearly stampeded all that lived in that vicinity. With dawn a party visited the place, for no one would go by night, and found the stage with the borses bitched to it, but no sign of the ghosts or the prisoner, The closest search also failed to discover ' - - tS . 4 ft. CF > a Men ie re 0 ie Ae oR Atay , he, Se ‘ i nt, AY te LAAs he! 4 4 wy) ~sur{F iT sti et “ ~*~ comicbooks: ~ Wlawe - * either the former or the latter, and Charcoal Sam drove the valiant guards back to the vil- lage, and resigned forthwith his situation as driver. Through the whole winter this was a weird | topic of talk, as also the other numerous rumors of how the war was progressing on sea and shore. ‘“ Well, Ned, next week we leave to take charge of our vessel,” said Captain Evans, as he opened his mail at breakfast one morning, and read a letter from his agent. s ‘‘T am glad of that, sir, for now we will have a chance to see lively service,” responded Ned joyfully, while his mother and sister looked sad at the news. ‘Ab! what is this?” cried Captain Evans, as he opened a letter, and then he read aloud: ‘¢¢ The sensation here is the cutting out of the new schooner built by Foley for a privateer, by youn Elmore, who, you remember, was once a lieutenan in the navy. ‘‘* He boarded her by night with a large crew of desperate men, threw overboard the half-dozen men in charge, and boldly sailed out to sea, ‘** Vessels coming in the next day reported that at sunrise the schooner ran the black flag up to her eak, and saluted it with minute-guns, so that now 1e is Elmore the Pirate.’ ‘‘This Foley is the man who was poor Vail’s partner, so, Ned, Elmore has stolen a vessel that I advanced the money to buy, and we will have to look him up and put a noose about bis neck, if be is kin to us, for such kindred as he is had better be hanged,” said the captain sternly. As for Nora, she said nothing; but most deeply thankful was she that she had escaped being the wife of a man who bad raised the back flag of a pirate above his decks, CHAPTER XXIV. THE FIRST PRIZE. AT last the privateer was finished, and, with every rope in place, a crew of seventy-five men on board, the Sea Sorceress, as Captain Evans called his new vessel, set sail on her cruising for English foes, Her guns were of the very best, and her crew was made up among the island fishermen, Leander being second lieutenant, while Ned was next in rank to his father, a position the cap- tain considered him fully capable of taking, for he had proven bimself competent on many ocy casions of doing the duties of a man. Once at sea, and every seaman on board turned his eyes anxiously upon the graceful hull and taper rigging of the new vesseL She was a beauty, that was certain, from keel to tauck; but would she prove herself as good as she looked? - The wind was stiff, and the sea rough; buf after regarding the vessel for half an hour, one and ail burst forth in a hearty cheer, for they saw that the Sca Sorceress was stanch, carried her sail splendidly, and flew like the very winds over the waves. Hardly had the cheer died away when the cheery.cry came from the mast-head: ** Sail ho!” ‘‘Whereaway?’ called out Captain Evans. ‘‘ Dead ahead, sir.” Soon after came the question to Ned, who had ascended to the cross-trees: ‘‘ What do you make her out, Ned?’ “‘ A schooner, sir, and armed. ‘¢‘ Perhaps I can tell you just what sheisin a little while,” answered Ned, who was examin- ing her closely through bis glass, n a little while he returned to the deck, and said quietly: ‘¢ Wather, 1 know that schooner!” ‘¢ Indeed! what is she, Ned?” ‘¢ She flies the English flag.” ** An Englishman, eb?” | ‘*No. sir, an American schooner, but at pres- ent under English colors.” Plade: Ned, you have something else to te ‘Yes, sir, it is the vessel I would give much to take, for it is Lieutenant Elmore’s schooner.” ‘* What! the Pirate?’ ‘¢ Ab, no, sir, but the one on which [ was a Cabin Boy, and which was captured by the British sloop-of-war that mother piloted in, hoping to capture Elmore on board.” ‘Ned, we must retake that vessel, and, my son, as you were accused of having been the pilot that brought the English vessel in to cap- ture her, you shall command this schooner now, so take charge at once, for the Sea Sorceress is in vour hands.” Ned’s face brightened at this, for ha was most anxious to recapture the schooner, knowing that it would delight his mother to know that