Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 496 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

in Se tS — ——————— _ -——— Neen ee EEE — ——— -_—_——-_- —-—- —_---- sure, had not suffered the ravages of time, but, what was originally worth perhaps ten thou- sand dollars, was now worth scarcely a tenth of that amount. Another thing, as the minister had outlined, were the strange and varying currents of air that swept through the halls—now warm, then chilling cold. After exploring the first floor, the upper por- ‘tions of the chateau were visited, and it was near midnight ere every niche and nook had ‘been examined, to Dick's satisfaction. Only certain rooms of the upper portion of the building were furnished, but the furniture was in a much better condition than that below stairs. Altogether, Dick found that he could pick out a great plenty to furnish up in cosey shape, what apartments he and Nola should need. After finishing the exploration of the upper part of the building, he and Sykes returned to the grand parlor, ou the ground floor. “Well, so far, so good,” Dick said. ‘We've seen no Man-Dragon, as yet, and if one exists he’s taken good care to keep out of our way.” “Well, I'm glad of it,” Sykes replied, ‘I’m clean tired out trotting about this old rookery.” “Pshaw! you've no fun in you, at all. I don’t intend to give in until I’ve explored the infernal regions in under this place. However wea will rest a few minutes, before we proceed further.” “ Why not wait till morning?’ Sykes growled. ‘‘ Because, I wish to start back for Santa Fe, in the morning,” was the reply, “The will must be proved and recorded, to-morrow, by all means.” Sykes made no reply, but there was @ strange leam in his little sharp eyes that the detective did not notice. After balf an hour’s rest, Dick arose. ‘Well. come along,” hoe said. “It won’s take us long to do the down-stairs part, and then we'll have the rest of the night for sleep.” ‘‘No sleep for mein this place!” Sykes pro- tested. “Then, he leaped quickly to his feet, cry- ing: “ Took behind you, quick! The Man-Dragon i Dick wheeled like a flash, facing the door, It was a fatal action on his part, for on the instant, he was conscious of RPCRENIUG a terri- blow upon the head; then his senses left him, and he Sapte no more. When he returned to consciousness, he found himself still in the parlor, but lying flat on his back. The lantern yet on the table, gave forth light enough for him to sce that he was alone. Not only alone, but ho was securely bound hand and foot. There was no one in the room. Silence was everywhere. Tor some time, Dick was at loss how to ac- count for his position, but, finally, reason came back to bim, and he remembered the blow. But where was the person who had as:aulted him? * Svices is a traitor,” he mu ed, ‘* and his offer toaccompany me here, was but part of a scheme to entrap me. I see it all, now, and [am fairly in the power of Juan Mellique. (leaven help poor Nola.” For upward of half an hour, he lay thus, until he had clearly collected his senses; then he struzzied to a sitting posture, Hardly had he attained this attitude, when he heard footsteps approaching, and in a few geconds, Don Juan Mellique cntered the room, His face wore an expression of gloating tri- umph, as he approached tho captive, and paused just in front of him. “Fo! ho! So youare not quito so frisky as usual, I see, dog of a Yankee!” he cried, sneer- ingly. ‘‘ You begin to realize, [ trust, what it means to incur the displeasuro of a Melique! , ‘Bah! L fear you not, wero you a dozen times @ Mellique!” Dick replied, “*and if 1 ever get rid of these bonds, I'll make you wish you were never born!” The Don laughed, tauntingly. “Well, let me set your heart at rest on that score,” he replied. ‘' You will never* get rid of those bonds, until you are safe in one of the dungeons beneath this building, where you will spend the remainder of your days, in peace if not in plenty. 1 bave got everything ar- ranged for your disposal, and have to assure you that you have looked for the last time up- on the light of the outer world, “Beneath this place, far below the surface. of the earth, cre many mysterious passages, leading to underground dungeons. One of these dungeons, which is more hard to reach than any of the others, will be your future home, “You stole my affianced bride away from ' ; ey ° p. * * i ae » vw rs A ers .- ‘se > eo e weet A “ * o- es ' he et Monte Cristo, Jr. ae oe ee. ey | w ee th ay ———$—— — ee ee me, but it will be only in name, as I shall de- stroy all proofs of your marriage, and force | the Donna Nola to become mine. ‘The Turrets’ shall also be mine, and while you are rolling in the dungeon, underneath, I shall be reigning like a prince, over your head, Ha! ha! re- venge is sweet—revenge is sweet, indeed! How like you the prospectus, you dog of a Yankee, who dared to cross my track?” ‘‘You infernal whelp, I command you to re- lease me,” Dick cried, struggling to burst asun- der thethongs that bound him, ‘‘ Release me, I say, or by heaven, P’ll have no mercy on you when [ do get free!” ‘¢ Pah! There is not the slightest possibility of your ever getting free. The dungeon I have prepared for your reception is hewn out of solid rock, and guarded by an iron door, of which I am alone the possessor of the key. Once you are locked within that cell, you are forever doomed to live on a diet of bread and water, and dwell in eternal darkness. Ah! here comes m7 trusty assistant now!” Simeon Sykes it was who entered the parlor. There was a sneering smile upon his face, as he gazed down at Deadwood Dick, but he re- frained from speaking. ‘© Well, Sykes, is the dungeon all in readiness?” the Don asked. “Tt is, sir. I fixed it up as comfortably as I ‘ould, with what things I had at my command, and [reckon the place is good cnough for any prisoner to live in.” ‘“Vory well. It is no doubt good enough for the one who is going to occupy it. ‘Search the prisoner now, Sykes, and then we'll take him telow. Deprive him of everything in his pock- ets, and if you find the marriage-certificate, cive it to me.” Svkes obeyed the order, in Dick’s pockets. “No certificate,” he at length announced, rising to his feet. ‘‘\Vhere is the document?” the Don demanded, elaring down at Dick fiercely. ‘* What have you done with the document?” “T haven't got it!” Dick replied, composedly, ‘¢ Who has got it, then?” ‘That's emphatically none of your business!” ‘“ Ain't it? Well, we shall see, You tell me what has become of the certificate, or Pll puta bullet straight through your heart.” ‘Put away!” Dick replied, ‘I would prefer death to the imprisonment you have promised me!” ‘Oh! no doubt but what you would, But, as it happens, I prefer to have you live, that you may feel the full scope of my vengeance. When Donna Nola bas become my bride, I will per- haps introduce her to you, in your subterranean houdoir. Seizo hold of him, Sykes, and help to drag him down to his den!” Then the two villains grasped Dick by either arm and dragged him from the parlor, Sykes carrying the lantern in his left hand. Out into the main hall, then through various passages, thence down flights of dusty stairs, and t>rough more passages, they dragged their vic- tim, until it seerned they must have reached the very bowels of the earth, Finally they ‘came to a‘halt in frént of a rloomy opening in the solid rock, the entrance to the dungeon wherein Dick was to be im- mured. Into this dank and gloomy hole in the rock the detective was pulled: then the grated iron door clanged shut, and the key turned in the lock with an ominous click. “There you are, you Yankee dog!” eried Don Juan in triumphant tones, ‘“‘and there you will stay until you die, Once each day you will be served with a bowl of water and a crust of bread, unless you provo a refractory patient; then, all rations will be stopped. After Nola becomes my bride, I may conclude to be leni- ent, and give you your liberty, providing you swear to leave the country for good. But, until then, you remain where you are!” “If f ever get free, I will have your life, you hell-hound!” Dick cried, fiorcely. ‘“‘So, you had best tremble in fear of the day when I shall get my liberty!” ‘‘ No fear of your ever getting free, then!” the Don retorted, with asavage laugh. ‘ You will find in me a merciless jailer. So, prepare to but found but little | make the best of your situation, and resign yourself to the fate your foolhardiness and in- solence have brought upon yourself!” With a heartless laugh, the villain continued: “Tf you will thrust your hands through the opening between the grates, Sykes will remove the cords from about your wrist, 80 that vou can unbind, yourself, and have the freedom of your cell,” : ( “2 ; 2 La ’ ‘ ai) ° 1 4 / =e ‘ s . 4 he. : , “ Oe Bw. es cain. oS FR th ta Oe S OT te) <t gL a ge! Caen > Ee ene 1. 8 eR a | 8 : | sacar lll LO LC LLL LLL AAA AA Paes, ane ‘ ee Dick complied with this intimation, and after his hands were freed, the Don said: ‘* Now, good-by! I may not see you for some little time, but Sykes will bring you enough bread to keep the breath of lifein you. Take cars of yourself, and devote your spare time to cuessing how old you will be when you leave this place!” ‘“Gol!l you detestable wretch!” cried Dick, fiercely, ‘‘and take with you my everlasting curse!” The only reply was a mocking laugh; then both Sykes and the Don hurried away, and Dick was left alone to his fate—alone, in Stygian darkness, and in solitude profound. CHAPTER X. IN THE LIBRARY. THE next day Don Juan returned to Santa Fe, but Sykes remained behind, at ‘‘ The Tur- rets,” to keep an eye out lest some one should seek to find and rescue Deadwood Dick. The Dou had promised him large pay, and as the lawyer was, as we have seen, impecunious, he proposed to make the best of the offered op- portunity to fatten his pocket-book. It was the day set for Don Pedro’s funeral, and so Juan had plenty on band to occupy his attention. The funeral took place in the afternoon, and was largely attended, but Juan was not among the mourners. Report had it that he was con- fined to his bed, prostrated with grief, but the truth was, the Don was locked in his dead uncle’s library, from-actual fear of being con- spicuous in public, lest there be an uprising > the indignant citizens, and he be arrest- ed. Then, too, the absence of the family from. the house, at the funeral, gave him a much wished- for eppor tunity to go rammaging through the late Don’s desk and private papers, in advance of any one else. Whether or not Don Pedro had left a will, he was not certain, and it was a matter of consid- erable anxiety to him, for he had strong expecta-" tions of coming in for a large portion of the Mellique fortune, if, indeed, not all of it, for he had always been full as much a favorite with the Don, as had Myra or Nola. But if it should turn out that Pedro had not left a will, then the fortune of course would go to Myra, and he, Juan, would be “ left,” and his ~alculations sadly shattered. In this case, he was fully resolved what_he would do. Not to de baffled, he would employ his new tool, Simeon Sykes, to draw up a wiil, in his favor, and thus sweep everything before him. Hence it was that, ere the funeral cortege had left the house, Don Juan was locked in his late uncle’s private library, prepared to make a thorongh search of the place, in quest of a will. Don Pedro had been a thorough business man, and his library was furnished with all con- veniences requisite for the rapid enceasy trans- action of business, and having a strong distrust of banking institutions he kept bis money in a large time-lock safe, of Eastern manufacture. The first thing Juan tried to do, on locking himself in the library, was to open this safe, but he found, to his chagrin, that it could not be done, until the following Murning. ‘‘Curses seize the safe!” he growled, ‘If I could only get into it, now, I could appropriate part of the money, Without any one’s being the - wiser for it. I must contrive to be here when the safe unlocks. at nine, to-morrow !” As there was nothing to be hoped for, for the present, so far as the safe was concerned, he turned his attention to the desks and drawers, and began to rummage through them minutely, and scanning the various documents with which the pigeon-holes were stuffed. So much was there of this matter, that time flew faster than he had any idea of: still he searched On, impatiently in hopes of finding something of the sought-for last will and testa, ment. “JT reckon it’s no use,” be growled, at last. “There's no will among these papers. If uncle left ohe at all, he most likely put it away in his sate, along with his money. Confound it. if I could only get into the sate, I'd be all right, I presume, Ha!” This exclamation was caused by a sudden dis- covery. In rummaging about one of the desks, he had accidentally touched a secret spring, and what had hitherto appeared to be but a panel shot to one side, exposing to view a tiny pigeon-hole, in which were several papers. ‘The will, at last, I'll wager!” he cried, seiz- the papers, eagerly. “Yes, sure enough, ing | 2 . ce im" fF - * on \> / : { ff 4 1. ne co mM : _ f a Ty oe el 4 é sallied s y %| |e 7 = x ° ‘ ; _ A J —— aie * Sean Was A. = 3