Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 496 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

“ a ee, 9: It is a large block-stone dwelling, set down upon a spacious, well-shaded lawn, and has every surrounding and general appearance of belonging to a man of considerable means, if not of great riches, he house itself is of rather odd shape, being two full high stories in hight, and having many odd ‘* L’s,” gables and windows. It is night, and the mansion is ablaze with light, while hundreds of Chinese lanterns are strung from tree to tree, illuminating the grounds. A wide piazza, as usual in hot climes, runs around the whole house, and upon this gay- ly dressed couples are seen promenading, while rom within doors come the throbbing strains of terpsichorean music. ° ut, let us enter—not the great, elegantly fur- ni parlors, where bevies of richly dressed people are whirling hither and thither in the mazes of the giddy waltz—but to a well-fur- nished library, where two gentlemen are seated at a table, whereon are a bottle of wine and glasses. The one is a portly, pleasant-appearing gentle- man, of fifty, with side-whiskers and a ruddy face, and well d : At a glance, he is evidently of Spanish-Amer- ican birth, The other is a young man, but little over age, if that—a decidedly good-looking fellow, with a round, handsome face of manly expression, dark-brown eyes, hair and mustache, his hair flowing in graceful waves down over his shoul- ders. He is evidently a full-blooded American, is dressed in the hight of New York fashion, wears costly diamonds, and one would scarcely recog- nize our hero, Richard Bristol, otherwise Dead- weod Dick, Junior. “‘ Yes, Bristol, my boy, I can never find suffi- cient means to express the gratitude I bear for you, for assisting me to keep back the truth, un- til this momentous night!” the elder man was saying. M Within an hour, Donna Nola will have be- come Don Juan’s bride, and then one of the ob- jects of my later life will have been accomplish- ed Juan is-rich in his own right, and the loss of The Turrets will but little affect him, He has won a prize of a wife, and will be content.” ‘‘] fear not, Don Pedro,” Dick replied, sober- ly, ‘and I sometimes feel sorry I consented to your proposal. When Don Juan comes to learn that Don Jose left a will, and who the real heir is, and the trick you have played upon him, I anticipate there will be a deuce of a row!” ‘“Pshaw! no; Juan always listens to me, like an own son, and I can easily quiet him (down.” é ‘Well, perhaps; but, really, I have sincere doubts about the matter, sir; while, as for Donna Nola, it seems to me like a crime to force her to raarry & man she has no love for.” “No use to talk that way, young man. No force has been used!” 1 Tt amounts to about the same thing. She _ was given to understand before she consented to the engagement, that when she was Don Juan’s affianced wife, she would receive the history of ‘wer early life. This promise has not been kept.” “She told you this?” ‘‘ She did, and more—that, marrying Juan, she was committing a sacrilege, for she positively hated her affianced husband!” The Don’s brow darkened. ‘‘By my soul, I don’t like this, from you, a _ guest in my own house!” he sputtered. » ‘*Can*t help it whether you do or not,” Dick : bluntly replied. ‘“‘ It’s simply the truth. If the takes place, it will be a most unhappy union, for the Donna Nola cares nothing for your nephew.” ‘7 dare say you’ve an idea in your head that , she cares more for you /” snapped the Don. “e No, sir, I have never even intimated such a t 3 Oe shaw! Let us not quarrel. Nola does not eare the snap of my finger for you. use she has treated you with rather unusual cordial- ity during your stay here, you should not infer that she cares a fig for you. She simply did it to tease Juan. But, let the subjectdrop, They will be married, in an hour; and to-morrow [ will take ou to the Pines, and show t gge- your estate. drink up your wine, and we will take a look into the parlors!” | The wine was drank, and they were about to ‘arise from the table, when a young man strode . into the room. physique, and p He was of about Dick’s age and _ possessed a dark A oe face of some pretensions to good looks, with black eyes, hair, and curling yaustache, | \ , ts 1 as (ys <5 ry 4 e, : Biptan, a, ' yr ag ie onl CxgGE —— | CN Fe FE eens Monte Cristo, Jr. —— ——_———$— $$ $$ He wore a handsome full-dress suit, that ill- became the angry scowl upon his face. Striding up to the table, he slapped a note up- on it, in front of Don Pedro. “ Read that!” he cried. The note was quickly opened and perused by the Don, who immediately leaped to his feet with an imprecation, ‘‘Come with me!” he cried, seizing Juan by the arm, ‘* We shall see about this,” And they hurried from the library, The note was left behind on the table. With a faint smile, Dick picked it up. “T think [’¥Ve an idea of the contents,” he thought. It was written on a tiny sheet of scented note paper, and ran as follows: ‘* Don Juan:—I have made up my mind that I can- not marry you. So you may as well dismiss the guests, Noa,” ‘¢ As I thought,” Dick muttered. ‘* There will be trouble in camp, now. I wonder where Nola is? Since Dick had come to Santa Fe, he and the Don’s beautiful adopted daughter had been much in each other’s society and greatly to the disap- proval of Don Juan. There was a little rustic arbor in the lower end of the grounds, all covered over with vines, and when they wanted to chat together they were wont to meet there. Dick bethought himself of the tryst, now, and — y leaving the house, he stole away toward this green nest. All was silent as he drew near, but the mo- ment he entered the bower a pair of arms were thrown iovingly about his neck, and a tearful voice exclaimed: ae Oh, Dick, is it you? Have you heard about i ‘‘-Yes, Donna, I even read the note. ing to create trouble, I fear.” ‘*T cannot help it if it does. Oh, Dick, I could not marry that man whom I so despise and fear!” ‘* Well, I can’t say I blame you. I dislike the fellow myself. Come and sit down, Donna, and we will talk about it.” ‘*Please don’t call me Donna, Dick. I hate that title. Call me just plain Nola, the same as I call you Dick. Oh, tell me: what am I going to do?” ‘Well, ’m afraid that will be a hard job for me to do, Nola. I suppose the Don will be incensed at you for refusing to marry Juan, will he not?” ‘‘Oh, yes, he will be fearfully angry, and I dare not go back to the house. I believe he would kill me, he has such a violent temper. Dick, you are the only friend I have now. Por Heaven’s sake, take me away from here! I will eo anywhere, only to escape from here. You know I love you—you cannot help from_see- ing that. It was for you I broke off with Juan. Perhaps, had you never come here, I should have taken the fatal step and sacrificed myself to Juan Mellique. But now—wnever! Marry me, Dick, and take me forever out of the power of Don Pedro and Juan!” She threw her arms impulsively about bis neck and burst into sobs, her head resting upon his shoulder, ‘**°Sh!” Dick said, pressing his lips to her fore- head. ‘‘ Your weeping may attract attention this way. Don’t cry, for Pll try and get you out of this trouble in one way or another. I know you do like me, Nola, but I am afraid you have not known me long enough to be sure you would like to marry me.” ‘*Oh, yes, lhave)} There is no one on earth I would rather have than you.” ‘* Well, Pll think it over. In the mean time, do you not know of some kind family who would take ss in and shelter you for a few hours, uptil I can see how the Jand lays and make some needed arrangements?” ‘*T know of but one place. There is a minis- ter and his wife, who live out on the outskirts of the town. I visit them often, out of mppern. | for they are very poor, Perhaps they wo d take me in.” ‘*Then lose no time, but go to them at once. If they are good Christian people, and you tell them your story, there is no doubt but what they will let you in and care for you. Here is money. Pay them well, and remain with them until I call for you, be it in an hour, day, month or year,” ’ "Oh, Dick, not so long as—” ‘Tut! tut! Fear not, for I will come as soon as possible, and when I do come, it will be to It is go- mS —E — J, ‘* By no means, my Nola. my wife, you are also mistress of ‘The Tur- rets.’ ” ‘What !” ‘Just as I say. When you marry me, you marry ‘The Turrets.’” ‘* Pray explain. I do not understand,” ‘* Well, you see, before he died Done Jose left a will, disinheriting Don Juan, and making me his heir. This fact I cemmunicated to Don Pedro, here, who enjoined me fo silence, until after your marriage, fearing, were my inheri- tance known to Juan, it would create a rupture, I shall keep back the truth no longer, now, but make preparations to take possession of my new home and bride. But, you had best go while you have time.” ‘“ Yes, I will go, Dick, my darling, and pray I may soon see you again. But, promise me one thing: that you will not venture near ‘ The Turrets,’ until you have first heard my story about the place.” ‘Very well, my dear. It shall be as you wish.” Then, after a loving embrace, they parted, Nola hastening away out of the grounds, by a rear gate. CHAPTER V. WRATH UNLOOSED. AFTER watching until Nola was safely out of the grounds, Dick hastened back toward the mansion. “Til wager I’m in for some trouble,” he mut- tered, ‘‘ for no doubt both of the Dons will ac- cue me of rpg” the cause of the Donna’s change of mind. But, let them accuse, and be hanged! Iask no odds of them, Nola is mine, in spite of them, and so is ‘The Turrets.’ So, what care 1? By the way, it occurs to me I had better put my pepe in a place of safe-keeping, so that, im case of trouble, I cannot lose them. The will has not yet been proved, and, should it be destroyed, my claim to ‘The Turrets’ would be worthless. To-morrow, Sykes will returm from Santa Rosa, and then the matter of the will must aud shall be settled. But, what shal? Ido with my papers, for the present?” He paused outside of the mansion, and delib- erated. ‘‘T might intrust them to Nola’s hands, were she here,” he mused, ‘‘ but_as she is not, | must. dispose of them in some other way, But, how— where? Ah! I have it, now!” That very day he noticed a tin tobacco-box lying on the lawn, It would be large enough to hold the will, the ring, and a few other private papers he possessed, including his U. &. Detec- tive warrant, So he began to search for it, and in afew minutes succeeded in finding it. Placing in it such things as he did not care to carry about his person, including the better por- tion of his money, he firmly closed down the cover, and, proceeding to an obscure part of the ounds, he cut out a square piece of sod and id it aside. Then he scooped out some of the dirt, aad wrap it up in a paper. Next he replaced the box in the hole, and returned the sod to its original position. hen, disposing of the package of dirt, the job was completed, and he returned to the mansion and mingled among the dancers, It was over an hour ere he saw anything of either of the Dons, but finally they entered the parlor together, looking anything but good-na- t ured. Dick bad just finished a waltz with Myra Mel- lique, the on’s Own daughter, when, while standing by and watching the other waltzers, he felt a touch upon his shoulder. Turning, he came face to face with Don Pe- dro. : ‘‘] would like to see you in the library, young man,” the Don said, and turned abruptly away. “ Now for it,” thought Dick, «As Old Avalanche would say, ‘ there’s a hail- storm of demolition about to burst forth. a two entered the library and became seat- as he followed. Don Juan was not present. Don Pedro's face was clouded with anger, ‘“ Bristol,” he said, ‘* where is Donna Nola?’ “Donna Nola?” echoed Dick, *‘ Why, some- where about the house, isn’t she?” “No, sir, she is not /” “Then, how do you expect me to know where she is? I saw her early in the evening, and should suppose she would now be dressing for And when you are am have the minister unite us in marriage.” the bridal ceremony.” ‘‘ Dick, do you really mean this? You are not| ‘She is not in the house, sir, nor te be found deceiving me?” anywhere about the premises,” =} 2.