Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 496 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

Monte Cristo, JT. yparations, for I intend to have a spread-out fit for a prince, and as many guests present as care to undertake the journey hither!’ And, soon after, the elated Don took his de- parture, CHAPTER XIV. IN DURANCE VILE—AND OUT, AND, now, dear reader, let’s return to one, whom we have neglected too long—to Dead- wood Dick Junior, in his dungeon. After the departure of Don Juan and Simeon Sykes, he stood leaning against the grated door of his cell, a prey to most harassing thoughts. Here he was, a prisoner, far from human help, with no prospect of ever leaving the place alive —a situation to make the heart of the bravest man quail within him. For some time he stood, not even making an effort to release the cords that confined his feet, Finally, however, he sat down upon the floor, and slowly began’to pick away at the knot, As soon as he got his feet unbound, he arose and searched his pockets, and was in a measure elated to find two articles had not been removed from his person, namely, his watch, and his small tin box of matches. The first thing was to strike a light, and léok at the time, and he found that it was much later than he had supposed—nearly three o’clock A. M. After winding up his watch—for that now seemed like a near and dear friend to him—he struck another match, and by its light was able to get a pretty fair idea of his new quarters. he dungeon was about ten feet square by eight in hight, and had apparently been blasted out of the solid rock. The door of heavy iron bars swung on ponderous hinges, and was secured by a lock that would scarcely have yielded to the persuasion of a battering-ram. At the rear of the room through a little groove, ran astream of pure water, that found its en- france to and exit from the dungeon by crevices in the rock. The furniture was better than Dick had reason to expect. There was a long wooden settee, with a pillow and several heavy blankets: a chair, a small table, a bucket, wash-basin, towel, and a tin cup, and in one corner, a pile of resin- ous pine fagots, Dick soon had one of these converted into a torch, and thrust into a crevice; then, by count- ing the fagots and his matches, he figured it out that he would be able to keep” himself in light for a month or more, providing he did not burn it steadily. ‘Well, that’s ene point in my favor,” he mused. ‘‘If they give me bread enough, I fancy I shall be able to keep alive for a time at least.” The first twenty-four hours of his imprison- ment passed without any one coming near the dungeon, and so did the second. By this time, having had nothing to eat since leaving Santa I’c, ho was, of course, feeling famished., At noon of the third day Sykes made his first appearance, and shoved a loaf of bread through, between the bars. “Get your drink out of the rill,” he said gruffly, and then hurried away, After that, when Dick awoke each morning, he found a loaf inside his cell door, but saw nothing of the one who brought it, And thus the days dragged on. By the time the first week was up, the monot- ony of the situation bad grown almost unbear- able, and the prisoner was beginning to feel desperate. Already he bad racked his brain in vain, trying to invent some scheme of escape; but at last he was forced to give up in despair. Without outside aid there was no way of escap- ing from that underground cell in the rock. The first break to the monotony came the sec- ond Sunday of his incarceration, rather unex- pectediy. He was lying on the settee, in utter darkness, not wishing to burn any more than possible of the fagots, when he heard stealthy footsteps approaching down the hall outside, and saw the reflection of a light. A moment more, @ strange-looking being, lantern in hand, came toa balt in front of the door, and peered in through the grating. The story of the Man-Dragon instantly flashed across Dick’s mind, and he, sat up on his bed and surveyed the object without in great curi- osipy. rd beheld a short but powerfully-built dwarf, | with a huge hump on his back; a face lit up by | a large and bright pair of eyes; a man past middle age, apparently, whose face was dotted | with patches of beard, and whose shock of red- ’ ee = cm 2 - dish hair grew straight upward, giving a fierce effect. He held the lantern so that the light streamed into the furthermost part of the dungeon, and fell upon the prisoner, at whom he glared steadily. At which Dick called out: “I say there, Mr. Ogre, who are you, and what do you want?” There was no answer, except a hideous grin, followed by a guttural sort of a chuckle; then the ** ogre” turned abruptly away, and his cat- like footsteps died out, in the distance. ** Well, shoot me for a shrimp, if that ain’t an odd sort of cuss!” Dick communed. * That must be the individual they call Man-Dragon, He’s ugly enough to frighten a midnight cat into fits. I hope my abrupt address didn’t scare him off, Even an occasional peep at such a sight is preferable to this endless monotony. He spent the remainder of the day in conjec- ture as to whether the dwarf would return again, or not, and late in the evening his patience was rewarded by seeing the ugly face once more outside the bars. This time the dwarf carried, in addition to the lantern, a package done up in brown paper, which, after some squeezing, he succeeded in pushing through between the grates, into the dungeon, Then, he retreated, as silently as he had come. Hastily lighting a torch, Dick proceeded to give the package an examination, and found it to contain several other packages. Opening these, imagine his surprise to find that one contained a quantity of chipped venison, another some raw bear meat, a third a tin can- teen of whisky, and the fourth a pipe, some smoking tobacco, and a quantity of matches, To say that our Monte Cristo was. elated would be “drawing it mild.” He felt like giving a war-whoop of joy. Such a streak of luck was something entirelv unexpected, and he felt even though he might not succeed in making his escape, he at least had a friend in the dwarf, The days dragged by, and lengthened into weeks, but each day, a package similar to the first, found its way into Dick's dungeon. But, now, the morning ration of bread ceased to come. Dick understood the significance of this! Don Juan proposed to starve him to death, Dick felt perfectly well satisfied that the stuff brought him by tse dwarf, was brought un- known to the demon Don! Notwithstanding that he was still a prisoner, Dick coald but feel grateful toward the dwarf, and several times sought to express, his grati- tude in words, but the attempt proved literally fntile, for the grotesque creature never spoke, nor by any action acknowledged that he compre- hended the prisoner’s meaning. As silently as be came, thus silently did he depart, The days wore away, until six weeks had pass- ed sinee Dick had entered upon his imprison- ment, The same night that witnessed the meeting of | Nola Norris and her father, the dwarf once more appeared at the door of Dick’s dungeon. He brought only the lantern now, for he had | been to the cell once before that day, with pro- | visions, and his second visit was a matter of | some surprise to Dick. | As he approached the cell, Dick saw that he staggered, perceptibly, and then perceived that there was a bloody wound in his left breast. Without so much as a word, the dwarf pro- duced a ‘key, unlocked the door, and entering | the dungeon, reached out through the grating and relocked the door from the outside, | Dick watched this proceeding with no little wonderment, bnt refrained from speaking, The dwarf next placed the lantern on the table, and then seated himself upon the single chair, and for a moment gazed steadfastly at the prisoner, with his great wild eyes. ‘You are Deadwood Dick?” he finally said, interrogatively. ** Correct.” ** And a prisoner of Juan * Right again.” “Tam Jareck Wolfraven, sometimes called by the superstitious the Man-Dragon. For years ‘The Turrets” has been my home. I have hid- den myself away from the world because of my hideousness. I am now mortally wounded, and fast nearing my end, and to you I want to make my ante-mortem statement,” “Very well. Go ahead. But are. ‘you sure your wound is 9s dangereus as vou state?” ‘Yes, Iam satisfied on that score. I stole some papers from Don Juan to-night, and he Mellique?” caught me at it and gave me my death wound, ! escaped from the house, however, eluded pur- | suit, and returned here by a secret route known | only to myself. When I have told you all I have to say you shall have your liberty, provid- ing you will avenge my death!” | “No need to ask me that, for if I ever get free, Don Juan shal] surely die—the infamous villain that he is!” was Dick’s fierce reply. “ Then it is well. fave you any of the whis- ky left which I brought you?” ‘* Plenty of it.” ‘Then give me a swallow, for it will help to keep up my strength until I have done,” Dick procured the canteen, and he took a copious drink, after which he seemed to brace up, wonderfully. ‘*'Well,” he said, finally, ‘‘ for the past ten years I have been in the employ of Don Pedro Mellique, now deceased, I have acted as jailer over a man who has been imprisoned in a dun- geon not far from this, and the Don paid me well and instead of hoarding up my money, I have Spent the most of it toward providing for the comfort of my prisoner, as he will tell you when you see him.” **Do I know him?” ‘He is the father of Donna Nola, Don Pedro’s adopted daughter. His name is Nathan Norris, and he has been a prisoner here these ten years, because he held the secret of Don Pedro having committed an atrocious murder, and fearful of being betrayed, the Don kept him locked up.” ** Where is he now?” ‘‘In the mansion above, where both he and Nola are held as prisoners, The Donna has been very ill for weeks, and is only now conva- lescing. To-morrow night, at eight o’clock, she will become Don Juan’s wife!” ‘* What! she marry that devil? Never!” and Dick sprung to his feet, excitedly. “As I say, she will marry him, unless you in- terfere, which you must do!” ‘** But, rey nro I do not understand. Surely Nola would never consent to marry the Don, knowing herself to be my wife.” ‘* It is to save her father’s life. The Don has promised to set Nathan Norris free, providing Nola marries him. On the contrary, if Nola were to refuse, the Don has sworn to kill her father before her very eyes. So you see the fix she is in. Having been assured that you are dead, she prefers to marry the Don rather than see her parent slaughtered in cold blood. Noone can really blame her, either. But, you must be on hand, to prevent the marriage!” ‘* Ay! I will be there, if you will get me out of this accursed den. I will yet baffle that hell- hound, Juan Mellique—a fit companion only for wolves,” ‘‘T will show you how to leave here. But, first, here are important papers that I wish to consign to your care, Here is the deed to ‘The Turrets,’ in Jose Mellique’s name, and the will making you heir. These were stolen ‘from the surrogate’s office, by Sykes, and given to Juan who neglected to destroy them. ere is the wi of Pedro Mellique, making his daughter bis sole legatee. I stole these away from Juan’s room, because I hate him, but it was at the cost of my life. I will show you, now, how to leave these vaults, and then I will return todie, You had best hasten at once te Santa Fe, disguise your- ' self, and Jay some ae to be present at the wed- ding. I will add that Don Juan has five desper- ate men guarding ‘The Turrets,’ and you will therefore act accordingly. Now, take my arm and I will show you the way out. You will find horses in the gulch, which you will enter, when you leave here, and you had best get out of the neighborhood as secn as possible.” Most willingly Dick tock the key and unlocked the door, then, equ!pped with the lantern, and supporting Wolfraven ‘on his arm, he stepped from the dungeon, once more a free man! For some minutes they walked along through winding subterranean passages: then came to where a stone staircase wound upward. ‘‘ This leads to the mansion above!” Wolfraven explained, “so, mark it well, for you may have to use if on your return. The exit is a little fur. ther on.” In a couple of minutes more they came to what was evidently the end of the passage, for the were confronted by a mass ot bowlders, bot larce and small. Push this one side,” Wolfraven explained, in- dicating one of the lot. ; Dick obeyed, and found to his surprise that it swung easily inward, asifona pivot. e* An opening was revealed only large enough for a person to creep through lying flat upon the ground, “That opens into a clump of bushes, in the pg ps £ ; - - - : P Ad +4 ‘ > » Z ~ a, fe ey ¥ \ Si aay a — 4 — — : 4 ~~ a Ne ing 7. eI, bs ere ‘a - ———— te OA eel AS — ~*~ = Bm . | (, | a = as a ae y ws oo m