Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 453 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

a why, that will be glorious!” he soliloquized. | you to show me straight to my room. I don’t | ‘‘As for the murderer of Joseph Mora—well, Pve my eye upon him, methin <s, although it ey be difficult.for me to prove my suspicions.” e, soon reached the outer edge of the camp, where it encircled the office, tod Two tents were near the little shanty, one of which was but a step from its door. | ' As stated, no fires had been lighted in the camp, but Sam knew by the gibbering voices, not far away, that the invaders were still astir. He crouched close to the ground, and occa- sionally crept on his hands and knees, a little nearer to the nearest tent, expecting every min- ute to see or hear a, guard, but his expectations were not realized. That afternoon, after the reading of the will, he had locked the office-door and taken the key, so now would have no difficulty in gaining en- “arth providing no one had tampered with the ock, At last he was so close to the tent that he could lift the canvas and look inside, when he discovered that it was unoccupied. _ This did not surprise him, for by the Babel of voices near the mouth of the mine he knew that most of the Mongolians were congregated there. What struck him as being rather odd, how- ever, was the fact that no guard had been placed in the vicinity. of the cabin, Becoming bolder on finding no one in the vicinity, he made a thorough reconnoissance, and found no guard nor any one else within a dozen yards of the office. ** Now is my chance, if ever!” he muttered, as he hastened back toward the Mora residence, Bly was waiting for him, and they lost no time in returning to the vicinity of the office. Here Sam made another reconnoissance; then he unlocked the door, and they entered. | Sam barred the door cn the inside, and they a. were secure from unwelcome intrusion, for a | time at least. } Sam vext drew from beneath his Chinese e own a small dark-lantern, and opened the slide rely sufficient to let out a tiny ray that lit the way to the safe, where they knelt down. +a ‘** Now you take the lantern,” Sam said, ‘‘ and i hold it so the light falls upon this lock. That's , right. Now, Ill see if I can open the safe again.” 4 Ths “Oh, if we can only get the money, it will help mamma so much,” said Bly gleefully. «And we shall have so much to thank you for, Mr. Bristol.” ‘Don’t go to thankin said, working away at the lock, may not be in here after. we get the door After some ten minutes’ work, he succ swinging open the two ponderous doors. And then— It took but a moment to make the disappoint- ing discovery that the safe had been ransacked, and every cent of money was gone! Some one had been there ahead of them! And to add to their vexation, simultaneous with this discovery heavy footsteps were heard 2 near the door, and the hoarse voice of Boss Harkley was heard speaking. * ——— i Tae Be p -e . * me too much,” Sam ‘* The money open.” ed in ’ vi | CHAPTER XVI. fy THE GENUINE WILL. ho PraGy Prim, after drinking her cup of tea, in Te parlor of the Andre residence, chatted away for a while to Queenie, but succeeded in eliciting only such answers as ** yes” and ‘' no,” This did not seem to bother her much, how- ever, and she talked away until at last she gave a yawn and said: “Well, I guess ['N have to be gettin’ tew bed, Jane Ann, for I’m powerful tired and want to get a good night’s rest, cause I s’pect Ill have _. ter trot around town with ’Gustus, to-morrer, a- | __ lookin’ up stocks stu’ sech, An’ so, if you'll show me where Iam to sleep, Pll be much obliged to A you, my dear.” ; ; ‘ ‘Well, we are not very well su plied with , sleeping conveniences,” Queenie said, ‘‘ but for to-night, you can occupy my brother’s room, 2 ~and we will make other arrangements to-mor- Fe oA OMT, * 2 . me But where will ’Gustus sleep?” . **Oh! he will not be in until toward morning, ° it is Jikeily, and can lie down here on the lounge. “3A He often does it of his own accord.” § For land’s sake! You don’t tell me that § ?G@ustus stays out all. night at that wicked gam- ev e a “Ohl cert !—that is, if he gets to bucking the tiger very hard!” Queenie replied, with a laugh. | — ‘**Buekin’ the tiger!” ech a ‘¢ Well! “Well! well/ Did you ever! Jane Ann, I want | . n j m. ; —* fj *. ‘ , { 7 ’ ; ‘ ‘ . y 9 Pe . ’ we dies cay hy o —— k * “ST om : 4? : as - as hy ‘i ~ ‘ “ a i 5 mas a vty sen! > A ane A By oe _ a"; a hore hee) Pal | ua rd “ as a) " \ Is - ’ ote oh \ 7 am 4 . 5 . y . : \ J - . my , : - en , > a . ‘i; see: . Sa “d, * my! A, on 4 Riv : F Fs 4 ae oe Ay ‘ ees “e- 4 . a Sunflower Sam, of Shasta. want to hear another word about such sinful- ness—sech,outrageous sinfulness, It’s shockin’— awful. Oh! what would Deacon Plum say if he were here?” ‘ And Peggy looked utterly shocked. Queenie lit a hand-lamp and conducted the ec- centric old maid up-stairs to the room usually occupied by Augustin Andre, where she left her, and returned to the parlor. ‘* Heigh-ho! I wish Gus would make a raise of the money and we could go back to the city!” she said, throwing herself on thesofa. ‘I don’t like it here, and I won’t marry Max Mora, nor any one else, unless he’s a millionaire. And now that that stupid old fool, Peggy Prim, has come, it will be simply unendurable. ‘Somehow, I don’t believe sheis Peggy Prim. She knows all about Connecticut, it is true, but I can’t dismiss from my mind the impression that she is an impostor, and has come here to pry around for some cause or other, I won't go to sleep, anyhow, till Gus comes in, for there is no telling what mischief she may be up to, But, as a rule, resolutions are easier uttered than kept, and so it-was in Queenie’s case. She had no intention of going to sleep, but her eyes finally closed, almost in spite of her effort to keep them open, and before she was aware of it, she was sound asleep. Up-stairs, Peay Prim had not yet retired to rest, nor were there any indications that she intended to. Augustin Andre’s room was large and com- fortably furnished, both asa bed-chamber and as an Office, . Among other things was a modern secretary desk, remarkable for its numerous drawers and pigeon-holes, To Peggy this desk seemed to have a special attraction. Not only did she give it a thorough examination, but she also proceeded to examine everything in it. One drawer was locked, but this did not seem to bother her, in the least, for, drawing a stout- bladed knife from her pocket, she soon had the drawer pried open. It contained but one thing—a roll of legal- ruled paper, tied with a pink ribbon. Peggy lost no time in possessing herself of this document, and when she had untied it, and spread it out upon the leaf of the desk, a cry of exultation escaped her, : Upon the top of the document she read: ** Last Will and Testament of ** JOSEPH Mora,” All eagerness, she perused the will, her face expressing great satisfaction. ‘ What a joy will this be to Dick,” she mut- tered, as sae stored the will away, about her per- son. ‘‘It will also be a godsend to poor Mrs, Mora.” ; She went on with her search, without finding anything more of importance. ‘‘Tve got all I want here, and now the next thing for me to do is to oer If I could make Queenie a prisoner, before I go, it might not be a bad idea. But, on the whole, I guess ll leave that job for Dick, for he hes the warrant,” She stole softly down-stairs, and without even looking into the parlor, made her exit from the house, with Joseph Mora’s genuine will, in her possession. One point had Augustin Andre lost, Sunflower Sam had marveled somewhat be- cause there was no guard stationed at the offiee of the Beauty mine. It will perhaps be well to explain why there was not, . When Sam brought the news to You Bet camp of the invasion of the Chinese, the two men were in the crowd, who had bargained to kill him. a These of course, were the two ruffians, Green and Guff. After Sam had made his speech, they held a consultation, and still lingered around the hotel, When Sam came down-stairs, in his make. up as a Chinaman, they were present, and heard him express his intention of entering the camp. When Sam held the conversation with Bly and Mrs, Mora, in front of the Mora residence, Green and Guff were within earshot, and heard what ws said, Then, they consulted, again. ‘ It’s mutton fat fer us!” declared Green. ‘An’ beef fat throwed in,” arreed Guff. “Of course. Then, let’s get!” 4 ‘‘Kerect. There’s no time to be lost.” - ‘ \ ay an be They made their way to the camp, and were challenged by a man doing picket duty, ** Who comes there?” ‘* Two friends of Max Mora, and Gus Andre!” replied Green, . ‘What do ye want?” ‘*To see Andre and Mora. portant news for ’em!” ‘* Pass along, ‘You'll find ’em at the mouth of" the mine.” Sure enough, Mora, Andre and Boss Harkley were found, ‘* What the deuce brings you here?” Andre de- manded savagely. ‘* We bring you news worth five hundred dol-- lars,” Green replied, coming to the point. ‘If you want the news, fork over the filthy,” Bab! get out! What do you take us for? We ain’t puttin’ ou money to a couple of bums like you.” * All right. Then you don’t get the news,” ‘* What is the news about?” Andre asked. ‘Ok! about how you can capture a couple of: ley Just as easy as by turning over your- and, ‘What persons!” ‘* Sunflower Sam and Bly Barron.” ‘Spit it out, then. Dll give you yer price!” growled Boss Harkley. ‘The money first!” demanded Green, ‘*No*money, no information.” The surly Chinese trader paid over the re-. quired sum, then Green said: ! ‘Sunflower Sam and Bly Barron are going to- try and gain entrance to the office and steal the money from the safe. Take everybody away from there, and give ’em a chance to get into the room. Once in it, you’ve got ’em dead to. rights!” arkley, Mora and Andre were highly pleased at this information, The guard was removed as: suggested without delay, and a spy set on the. lookout. * And, Sam and Bly had no sooner entered the: office and closed the door, than the fact was: communicated to the villains at the mouth of* the mine.. ‘* We've ly. “The girl belongs to me, and you can do what you please with the sport.” No objection was made to Andre’s claim, but there was a peculiar, deadly of Max Mora, which seid plainly enough: ‘* We'll see whom she belenes to!” | The office was at once surrounded by ther whites present, as well as by a cordon of armed Chinamen. Then, Boss Harkley advanced to the door and. cried out: ‘Come! Open up this door, and be quick. about it, too, or we'll bu’st it down. We ave now, and ye can’t get out, so got ye in our wa you might as well surrender!” We've got im- coolly. got ’em, now!” Andre cried, jubilant- gaa in the eyes, ‘Surrender? cried Sam from the inside; | Never! If you break that door down, there'll be some dead men to plant before you take me!» — Those who knew bim, would have known by his tone that he meant ‘‘ business,” but the men. now pitted against him did not know the mas-. querading Deadwood Dick, Junior, CHAPTER XVII, THE TABLES TWICE TURNED. HARKLEY was a man of fierce temper, and evidently used to being obeyed, for upon receiv- ing Sunflower Sam’s refusal to open the door. he threw himself against it with all his might and main. There could be but one result, The door was but a frail affair, while the inside bar amounted to comparatively nothing, for the force now brought to hear against it caused it to snap likea pipe-stern, and the door flew open so sudden] that Harkley lost his balance and pitched head- long into the room, At the same time, having thrust Bly out of the way of bullets behind the shelter of the safe, Sunflower Sem opened a deadly fire with his. right and Jeft hand revolvers. The first shot prevented Boss Harkley from ever rising from the floor and participating in any more assaults, while the second and svc- ceeding shots were fired into the swarm of jab- bering Chinamen who poured ‘in, Bang! bang! bang! rung out report after re- ort, and one after another the sons of Confucius opped in their tracks, until the doorway be- came literally choked up with their bodies, . As soon as his revolvers were threw them aside, and drawing his knife, into the eres and fought perately and with terrible effect. emptied, Sam — ~< ack his foes, des- | cas * ~~ «