Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 659 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

at _ ter there. ‘prowlin’ around any more.” Moonlight Morgan. : ‘Wn. 4 ll ** Very dramatic, isn’t it?” he observed. ‘¢ And very like business, too,” added the in- spector. “Well, such things do not kill,” remarked Cibuta, ‘‘ and there is a good deal in that. Still, I would like to know who has favored us with this communication, for it would be some satis- faction, at least.” ‘Yes, it would be satisfying, truly,” the in- spector agreed; ‘‘and it might be valuable, too,” No explanation was forthcoming, however, and they resumed their talk. CHAPTER XII. UNCLE DAN GIVES A CLEW. PRETTY but foolish Amelia Haydon had spent an almost sleepless night. She had read over and over again, a hundred times or more, the letter she had received, and each time she read it the more it impressed her as being full of the very soul expression of a superior but much-abused man, Of course her love blinded her, to say nothing about her not being very astute at the best of times, She fully believed that the man she loved was in the right, and of course she could show her devotion in no other way than by fol- lowing his directions and doing as he requested, Then, too, an elopement under the existing circumstances would be “just perfectly splen- did!” and then, after the clouds had passed, and her husband’s innocence had been established, their coming home would be an event never to be forgotten, Her father would receive them with open arms, would speak forgiveness to his wayward child, and they would live happy ever after— In about that vein she outlined it all, The obstinate stickler in the whole matter, however, was the suggestion that she should take money from her father. That was some- thing that had gradually grown repugnant, the , more she thought of it. Finally the poiut was adjusted, however. She had for a long time been receiving a liberal salary for her services in the store, and had saved it all, Jt amounted, now, to several hundred. dollars, Taking that, she would be doing no serious WEEDS and that was what she finally decided o do. The money was all in her father’s safe, in the store, but as she knew the combination it would be no trouble for her to get it. She bad heard of the excitement at the saloon, when Driftabout had made the daring break for liberty, but not for a moment would she believe that he and her lover were one. Such a thing, she reasoned, was simply impos- sible. Would she not have recognized him? Of course she would. When she made her appearance at the store on this morning, her mind was fully made up, and she had her auswer to the letter written and in her pocket. . How the letter was to be sent, now that Drift- about was gone, she did not know; but she had no doubt that her lover would find some means of sending for it. The letter she had prepared was as follows: ** My Own Darina Morcan:— ‘“ No, indeed, I do not believe the things they say of you! Ido love you, and I will help you all I can. Iam ready to fly away with you whenever you are ready, and I have a large sum of money. Iwill go this very hour, if you say the word. Only let me pens : Oh! ee do ei know how (truly I love you! await your reply eagerly. a 4 Your own little 6c ‘Mepuia,”’ It was along in the afternoon when an old wo- man entered the store, a vail over her face and a stick in her hand, and she walked slowly to a counter where Haydon’s fair daughter pre- si ed. ed Haydon was in the store at the time, but he paid no attention to her, as he was busy. The old woman asked to see some prints, and while Amelia was showing them to her she leaned forward and whispered: ‘*Don’t yer give it away, miss, but I’m Driftabout. I’m here fer that answer, If ye have git got it ready jest slip it inter my hand on ther s ee The girl was surprised, but she did not betray it, and the letter was soon in the. seeming old woman's possession. ~ Yhat’s all right, miss,” Driftabout then said, and added: “You go to ther ffice ter-night, after ther mail comes in, an’ see if you don’t git a let- It won’t be safe fer me ter come ~ “ All right, I won’t fail.” A trifling purchase was made, and then the ~~ old woman went out of the store as slowly as she had entered. ‘“Who was that?’ asked Haydon, rather sharply, being now at leisure and seeing that the old woman was a stranger to him as far as he could tell. The girl’s face flushed, and she stammeringly replied: **T--T don’t know; I—I never saw her be- fore,” ‘** What did she buy?” ‘Only two yards off of this print.” ‘‘Umph! itis ruther strange,” Haydon mut- tered; ‘it is not th’ usual thing fer a woman o’ her years ter wear boots.” No more was said aboutit, and Amelia thought it soon passed out of mind. Some time later Haydon had occasion to be out of the store a little while, and as soon as he was gone Amelia set about securing her money. No one was present, and, opening the safe, she took the money out, made it into the smallest compass possible, and hid it upon her person. That done, she locked the safe up again and re- turned to her place, When her father returned, he found her sing- ing. re Ha!” he exclaimed, ‘‘ you are cheerin’ op a little, are ye? That’s better than mopin’ after that p’izen galoot. I’m sorry [ didn’t kick him through th’ wall th’ first time that I noticed that you was lookin’ eyes at him,” The girl’s face flushed, and she responded: ‘*T can’t forget him if you keep bringing his name up, father.” ‘* Well, mebby you're right,” Haydon agreed, **s0 we'll say no more aboutit. I shall have an eye on you in th’ future, though, gal.” If he could have known that her money was not in the safe it might have opened his eyes to a considerable degree, About half an hour after the arrival of the mail that evening, when there was not much doing in the store, Amelia went out and skipped lightly down to the post-office to inquire for the expected letter, ither she or her father went to the office every night, anyhow, so nothing could be thought of it 1 ° ‘¢ ood-evening, Uncle Dan,” she greeted, as she went in; ‘‘any letters for us to-night?” ‘‘ Good-evening, "Melia; how d’e do?” the old postmaster responded ; “Tt have a letter here for ou ‘‘ Thanks,” the girl said, as she took it, and turning away, she opened it immediately, The old postmaster had looked at the letter closely, as he took it from the box, and in doing so a sudden light of interest appeared in his eyes. He thought he recognized the writing. He watched the the girl as she took the letter from its envelope and read it, and noted that she seemed to exhibit signs of excitement and pleasure, The letter was as follows: “DrarEsT LovE:— ; ‘‘T knew that you would prove true. How happy we sball be when the clouds bave all passed away! It will not be long. Meet me to-morrow night at the fork of the South Trail, at midnight, and we will away. Be brave, and do not fail me. Remember that my arms are ready to receive you. Bring ql the money, forwe may need it; if not, thenit can be sent back. ‘* Devotedly yours, : 6 Mora. AN,”’ When she had read the letter she returned it to its envelope, thrust it into the bosom of her dress, and went out. Just ag she passed out of the office, Cibuta Jobn entered. ‘* Ah!” exclaimed the postmaster, at sight of him, ‘‘Cibuta John, this pleases me; you're just the man I want to see.” ** What is it, Unele Dan?’ Cibuta asked, ‘“*T need not ask, for without doubt you’know that girl who just went out;” the old ‘‘ poet” observed, ‘“‘'Yes, of course I know her,” Cibuta assured ; ““she is Steve Haydon’s daughter, Amelia.” ‘* Well, she just got a letter here that isn’t all correct, I fear, for the writing on it much agreed with the hand of Morgan Underweed; and he, as you most likely know, has been of late, on the sly, her beau, The letter was left here to-day, but who put it inIcannotsay. I thought I’d mention this to you, for maybe it will prove a clew,” ‘This is highly important, Uncle Dan,” the sheriff declared, ‘‘and I will not fail to make use of the information. I am greatly obliged to you. The postmaster was about to say something more, but just then a woman’s scream was heard, and Cibuta John hastened out, a << As he reached the open air the cry was re- peated, and it seemed to come from the direc- tion of his house, or at any rate up the street on that side, He started on a run in that direction, Tbe cry had come from Amelia Haydon. When she left the office and started on her re- turn to the store, she had no thought of danger, for she had been over the same ground hun- dreds of times, day and night, and no one had ever molested her, Just as she was passing the sheriff’s house, or rather the yard—for the house was set well back,, she came face to face with Jim Jones, the old- time Cupid. He had been drinking pretty freely all day, and was well along on the road to being drunk. Amelia turned out to give him plenty of room, but when he caught sight of her pretty face he stopped short and exclaimed: ‘** Ah, there, little tulip: let’s have er kiss!” The frightened girl started to run, but the giant sprung after her and caught her, and then it was that she screamed, ** No, yer don’t,” the rascal cried, handling her as easily as though she had been but a doll; ‘‘yer don’t run off in that style, Ill bave ther kiss now, or bu’st. Stop yer yawpin’, will e? The girl had screamed again, and several times, and the bully clapped his hand over her mouth to keep her still while he proceeded to steal the kiss he had demanded, The door of the sheriff’s house opened, and some one came running out tothe scene, and rapid steps were heard coming up the street at the same time. In a few seconds Cibuta John was on hand, but by that time the girl had fainted, and whem ane giant let go of her she fell to the ground ina eap. ‘*‘ What are you up to here, you drunken brute?” Cibuta demanded, and catching hold of the fighter he slammed him down, kicked him into the gutter, and then grabbing hold of his foot dragged him out into the road and deposited him in a puddle. The person who had come from the house was Nettie, and finding that the girl had fainted, she directed Cibuta to carry her into the house. This was immediately done, and when the crowd arrived upon the scene’ they found only the old Shanghai wallowing in the puddle in the middle of the road, CHAPTER XIII. HANGED IN EFFIGY, ANOTHER scene of wild excitement followed. The crowd recognized at once the work of the sheriff, and greeted the fallen chieftain with shouts of derision, ‘*Ther lightnin’ has struck twice in ther same place!” cried one. ‘** Been takin’ another fall out of ther cyclone, have yer,” taunted another. ‘*What yer doin’ there?” others called outs: **be ye Parnin’ ter swim?” ‘Why don’t yer crow?” ‘¢ Ther fallen angel!” ‘¢ A dismounted Cupid!” AJjl these cries and a hundred more were uttered, and amid them all the big braggart got out of his bath and began to bellow for Cibuta to come out and give him a fair chance at him. Of course no attention was paid to him by the sheriff, and after a little while he went off with ue crowd to one of the saloons, a good place for im, ‘ In the mean time the sheriff’s wife was trying to bring the gir] to her senses, She had commenced this as soon as the girl was brought in, assisted by the strange woman, Azora Warrick, As soon as he had laid the girl down on the lounge in the sitting-room, Cibuta hearing the noise without, turn That done, he returned to the room, was just asking. “A big brute of a fellow frightened her near- ly to death,” Nettie answered, ‘* He deserved to be shot!” ** John paid him well for his insolence,” the proud wife assured. **T am glad of it.” ‘* Hold on, Nettie,” Cibuta here broke in; ‘‘ be- fore you bring her to ter in her pocket. If she has, I want to see it. I believe she has received one from Morgan Underweed.” Neutie felt in the girl’s pocket, but there was no letter there. ““T know she has one,” Cibuta persisted; back to secure the door, , j ‘‘ What happened to the poor child!” Azora just see if she hasn’t a let- — oy : : “>? aes aN a oy 4 f ’ a. 5. AY Bee «athe 4 Med? 4 ea a “Oe P , we | . " x ‘ ‘ hr Cids ae ay w | ‘ . i ’ i a," Vy ye 1h pen ro ey. was bt! ayn aes Le aR Wit. “2 . . ‘ : Re 5. 4 — * el ae * ee | on Ke ©} Si . ‘7 Ay * . 5 f be. ‘ de ‘. - ” )¥ - “ A " Pi a , 4 4