Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 544 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

— i ~ Te : (2 Ne a = a at **T kinder reckon he is!” * But what in the world do you want with a detective, Uncle Si?” “Oh, that’s a private matter of my own. Here he comes now. Jill give you an introduc- tion to him.” ‘* Don’t bother yourself,” Covington said, ris- ing. ‘*I must be going. Callover and see me during the day, Si.” ‘* Wal, p’r’aps I will,” the old man replied. After which Covington ran lightly down the vii of the piazza, just as Vidocq mounted them. ‘* Well, you’re up early, Mr. Sloat!” the de- ‘tective said, taking the seat Covington had just vacated. ‘**Oh, no; not unusually so. rood season, if I wasn’t sick. ketches the worm,’ you know,” ‘“Duano about that. I was up earlier than ‘you, and [ didn’t even get the sight of a worm!” laughed Vidocq. ‘* Birds too thick—birds too thick,” commented the old man, with a shrug. *‘ I caught as’prisin’ ‘worm, I did.” ‘* Indeed! How’s that?” ‘* You see that man who descended the steps as you came up?” es.” ‘* Who do you suppose he is?” ** How should [ know?” ‘* Well, that feller is Charlie Covington, who, twenty years ago, was Squire Perkins’s bound boy, up at Perkins’s Cross Roads in old Ver- mont. He run away from the squire’s, an’ that was the last that was ever heard from him; an’ bere he is in Sockdolager, the biggest man in tthe place, an’ can now sign his check for two anilliou dollars.” ‘Indeed! You’re sure it is the same party you knew twenty years ago?” “Sartin lam. Why, didn’t he remind me of old times, and tell me about the old harvest a} ple tree, and how he used tosneak over nights and steal my pears, after Betsy and [ was in bed? On, it’s Charlie, sure enough, and he’s a mighty good feller. We'll go over to his. house byme-by, an’ he’s goin’ to open a bottle of wins,” ‘*Excuse me,” Vidogq said, of the. party.” ‘* Jupiter! low.” ‘*A very good reason why I should not con- stitute one of the party,” Vidocq : replied, **Good fellows are able to take care of them- selves. It’s a part of my business to look out for the bad fellows,” ‘‘ Ha, ha! Cute idea, that! Well, if you won’t go, so be it. You’d be welcome.” “Oh, no doubt, By the way, Mr. Sloat, there’s something I wish to speak about. You, no doubt, have quite a sum of money about you. Now, you’re a stranger here, and tuere’s lots of dlesperadoes laying around camps—laying for suca as you. Wouldn’t it be better tor you to pe tg better part of your money in the hotel sufe ‘‘ By George, you’re right! & hadn't thought of that. Yes, it would—but, no; not in the safe. l’d trust vou a biamed sight quicker than I ‘would the hotel, Here’s my pocketbook. Take at, and take keer of it. I ain’t afeard of no one’s getting it away from you. ¢hange besides,” Aud he gave Vidocq a Jeather-strapped pocket- book, that seemed ready to burst from what it contained, “Very well. Pll see it is kept safe,” the de- ‘tective said, for he was, in truth, secretly afraid I allus was up in ‘The early bird ‘*T’ll not be one Why not? Charlie’s a good fel- I’ve got some louse that the old man might be gullible enough to be ‘taken in by sharpers, and so be fleeced out of all the money he possessed, CHAPTER y, WAS IT STELLA? ; THE proprietor of the Sandy Bar Hotel was ‘a genial dispositioned man, named Mose Hines. That at some previous period of his life he had been a sporting man was made evident by the lively interest he took in sporting matters, in general, He had seen Val Vidocq’s easy victory over Hero Hicks, and later on, had witnessed the rebuff of the so-called ‘‘ Executive Committee,” and had been one of the first to grasp the de ‘tective by the hand, and congratulate him on dis victories. So, during the forenoon, on seeing Vidocq sit- ‘ting alone on the piazza—Uncle Si having gone Off to call upon Charles; Covington, the rotund dandlord brougbt out his easy-chair, and took a seat beside the younger man, ** Well, Mr. Vidoeq, how do you find yourself, Deadwood Dick, Jr., the Wild i,s4 to-day?” he asked, ‘‘I thought you were look- | going to employ her. But, here’s a good joke ing lonely, and a chat would liven you up.” “Quite right. Glad to have some one to talk with,” Vidocq repiied, ‘* You have quite a town, I see?” ‘“Yes, and sbe’s booming every day. The man I bought out is sorry he sold, now.” ‘You have not been here long, then?” ‘** About three weeks.” Beak you pretty well posted about the peo- e? ‘Well, fairly. I trot around a good deal, and manage to get pretty well acquainted,” ‘* What sort of a man is Charles Covington?” ‘* Covington? Oh! yes. He’s our local nabob, I don’t know much about him or his antecedents, for he was here, before [ came. He seems like a pretty fair sort of fellow, however, and I’m told he’s well heeled!” ‘*Do you know any one in this camp by the name of De Brown?” ‘*De Brown? No, Iam not aware that I ever heard the name before.” ‘*Do you know of a lady by the name of Miss Sloat, living here?” ‘‘No, 1 know pretty near all the female pop- ulation by sight and name, but no one named Miss Sloat.” ‘If it is not taxing your patience too much, who and what is Mademoiselle Leonora?” Hines laughed outright. ‘* Well, you’ve got me, now!” he declared, ‘* She’s an enigma none of us can solve.” ‘* A fraud, eh?” ‘* Not much! She does what she advertises.” ‘‘ Nonsense! Do you mean to tell me she can locate,a mine in her sleep?” ‘* Yes! You see that shaft-house over yon- der? That mine belongs to a tenderfvot we call ‘Handsome.’ She located that., They hadn’t gone fifteen feet before they struck pay rock !” ‘‘ Incredible! Why, itissimply preposterous!” ‘‘ Tt may seem so, but it’s a fact!” ‘‘ But; bow. does she do it?” ‘Well, I tell you what I know, from the way Handsome gives it. When Handsome struck the town he had some beodle, and wanted to speculate. Mind you, what I tell you must yo no further, as she bound Handsome to take but one trusty person into his confidence!” ‘*Ob! you needn’t fear about me!” ‘*T know it. I merely wanted t> caution in time, for there’s lots, who won’t pay a cent to find out anything, are eager to find out her way of conducting business. ‘* Well, as I said before, when Handsome came here he had some money to invest. He stopped with me, and we soon became friends, and- some rather believed in spiritualism, mind-read- ing, and such things, and he says to me, one day: ‘*¢I’m going to try the Mam/’selle.’ So he gave her a call, and paid her ten dullars as con- sultation fee. The first thing she then asked him, if be believed in spiritualism, He took the cue and said yes, Shethen told him she was pretty certain she could locate him a mine in- side of twenty-four hours, He was to pay her five hundred dollars down, spot cash, and was to call the next morning, when she would give him a map, showing him where to sink a shaft. Then, he could quietly buy up the claim, nomim- ally as a venture, and set to work, ** Well, Handsome paid over the money, and then came and told me what he had done, I told him to his face he was a fool; but, to make a long story short, we arranged to secretly watch the movements, that nigbt, and deter- mine if possible where the claim was to be located. ‘“ Well, we watched, and a circus we had of it, too. It was not until after three o’clock in the morning, when we saw her leave the tent and wander out into the gulch. She was'clad in black, and her hair fell down to her waist. Once we got near enough to ker to see that her eyes were Closed, ‘* Well, she led us a chase all over the gulch, never stopping once, or making any sign of selecting any particular spot. Her left band was pressed against her bosom, her right hung loosely by her side, and clutched a forked twis"' After waltzing around the gulch for upwa™ of an hour, she retired to her tent, and we ¢ %.' to bed. ud ‘The next day Handsome got his map, secured his claim, and set men to work. ‘Within five days they struck a paying vein of gold that promises to develop into a daisy!” ‘‘ Well, this beats my time!” Vidocq ejacu- lated, ‘Is this the only mine she has located?” ‘*No, She’s located one for Sim Johnson and one for Nick Carrol, and I hear there’s others West Vidocq. 5 hme about Charley Covington, He went to her to eet her to locate a mine for him. She asked him if he believed in spirits, and he said only in those that came out of the neck of a bug-juice bottle. That settled it for him. She told him she could” do DORE for him, and, in spite of his expostulation and large offers of money, she would do nothing for bim, To-morrow night, weather permitting, she has promised to give an exhibition of her. mind-reading powers in public.” ‘Does she wear the mask all the time?” ‘‘So far as any one knows, and she dares any one to try to remove it from her face. No one attempts it, for she goes well armed, is a dead- shot, and it would be a pretty risky job to tackle her. Another thing: she is seldom seen outside her tent,” ‘‘ Little Fern, the flower-girl, is her daughter, eh?” . ‘‘] suppose so. Leastwise, she calls her mam- ma” The landlord was called indoors at this junc- ture, and Vidoeq was left to himself, Rather queer about this Leonora,” he mused. ‘There must be a mystery connected with her life, but whether or no it would pay to run it out isa question, She is undoubtedly a woman of most extraordinary attainments, if she really does what is told of her, and that she is here for the purpose of making money, goes without a question. But for these facts, | should be in- clined to suspect—but, pshaw! that’s all non- sense, too. eigh-ho! I don’t see that I am pro- gressing very fast on Sloat’s case. I don’t know where to begin!” Nor did he. He had no foundation, so far, to begin work on, except the very uncertain clew furnished by Stella’s letter to the Perkins girl, So he lounged the day out, abcut the hotel, and made no effort to do anything. — Night came on, but no Uncle Si came with it. “Dll wager a good deal the old man and his friend Covington have got gloriously drunk,” was his quiet comment. ‘‘I rather disliked to see the old man go.over there, though, if asked, it would puzzle me to tell exactly why. Not that I know anything derogatory to this Coving- ton’s character, but—-well, I suppore it’s none of my business. This world is full of sharpers, and I'm glad Uncle Hayseed left his funds with me.” Nine o’clock came, and ten, and it was nearly eleven, when four men came upon the piazza, . bearing a human form between them, Vidocg at once perceived it was the Vermont- er’s body, and sprung from his chair excitedly. ‘‘Helloi here!” he cried, ‘‘ What’s the mat- ter with the old man?” ‘Ob! nothin’ but a faint!’ one of the men re- plied, as they deposited the body on the floor, ‘*Do you know him?” ‘‘ Yes, Where did he faint?” ‘‘ Down here to Joe Reeve’s concert hall. He went in to see the show, and seemed to like it first-strait, till one of the gals come ont and he- gan to sing a ballad; then she and the old man seemed to see each other at the same instant, an’ both uttered a simultaneous scream like a Co- manche war-whoop, and both went off in a swoon on the minnit. I tell ye it wasa Say snap. lI’d seen the old man up here, and so told the boys we might as well tote bim hum!” “Thank you. If you will carry him up to his room, I will pay you for your. trouble,” Vidocq said, now considerably excited, himself. ‘* What became of the girl?” ‘‘ Guess they cared for her, back o’ the stage,” ** Do you know her name?” ‘‘ She’s down on the billsas Edna Earl. That’s all I know about her. To-night was her first night on.” Senseless Uncle Si was lugged up to his room, and laid on the bed, and then, alter paying the men and dismissing them Vidocgq set to work up- ou the unconscivus farmer, It did not take long to restore him and the old © Vermonter sat bolt upright in bed, and glared wildly about him. ‘Stella! Stella!” he cried, ‘‘Ha! where is she? Merciful God, bas she gone! ,She was there, a minute ago—there! there!—there!” “Ob! shut up!” cried Videeq. ‘* What’s ailin’ you? 4ot a touch of the jim-jams, hain’t ou?’ ‘“No! I’ve no jim-jams! I saw her yonder only a moment ago, singing on the stage. Hal } where am I? Is that you, Vidoeq?”’ ‘Yes, it is I, and you're layin’ on your bed at the hotel!” ‘* How did I come here?” ‘You were brought in by four men, who saa you lying drunk in the street!” laughed 000kS.CcOo comt