Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 671 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

a et os ~ mre oe se _—_— > on, agreeing to meet at their old quarters at ten o’clock that night, when the change of nests would begin, Webb Weldon thought of Nottisghatn’s mood a great deal during the day. He sometimes be- lieved that bis companion had softened toward the Jersey widow, that he would be willing to give up the stolen documents rather than de- stroy them, Nottingham had been to prison; he knew what prison life was, and it was nat- ural that he should have no desire to go back to it. But to lose the prize now was not to be thought of. He had risked too much, He hada wife and a fortune in his hands if he could but close on both within the next few hours. Mark Murchison should pay two hundred thousand dollars for the papers, and that before many hours had elapsed, and despite Captain Catchem and the Jersey boy. Weldon put in the time as best he could until the hour arrived for the rendezvous at the house. He was promptly on time. Going .up-stairs, he opened the door of their quarters and went in. A light was burning over the table, a chair was overturned in the center of the room, Weldon happened to look toward the bed. There upon the covering, with feet hanging down and nearly touching the floor, lay the body of a man, The overturned chair bad prepared Weldon for something, bat not for anything of this startling nature, Too startled to cry out, he sprang toward the bed and bent over the stiffened figure of Not- tingham, ‘* In Heaven’s name, whose work is this?” cried the young man, glued to the spot, as it were, by the ghastly sight before him. ~ There was no reply, for the dead do not speak; and after a minute of silence, Weldon fell back, He now saw that some one had ransacked the room, into, furniture had been removed: in short, every inch of space had been searched. ‘* There’s a deep mystery about this,” thought Weldon, ‘‘ Nick has been murdered, and the hand that did the deed searched the premises, But it found nothing. No! I have the prize in my own keeping. Now there will be no divi- sion. I will hold everything. Holdfast & Co, stands dissolved, but the living member will reap the rich rewards of the game!” CHAPTER XIV. A STARTLING ITEM, It did not occur to Webb Weldon when he went out that he might be suspected of the crime which had been committed. He was Nottingham’s friend and companion, They bad occupied the quarters together, Friends sometimes quarrel, and where there should be friendship, there’s ofttimes crime, Webb was some distance away before bis real peril occurred to him. If it should be discovered that Nottingham had been choked to deathin a struggle, why sbould they not suspect hinz? He cculd prove no alibi that would satisfy Captain Catchem, though his hands were as clear of Nottingham’s blood as the bands of a babe. What if he were arrested? Then, how much longer could he hold the papers? They would be taken with him, and turned over to Mark Murchison; and the game would be at an end! Tbese thoughts were enough to blanch his cheeks, They filled him with an indefinable fear that quickened his gait, and ere long he was like a real murderer, flving from the scene of his crime, Who had killed Nottingham? Had the detective been caught in the house by his friend? Was Captain Catchem guilty of murder, though perhaps io the heat of astruggle for life? If he was, be (Weldon) would not dare charge him with the deed, Not for the world would be do this. The city clocks were denoting the approach of midnight before the young man had cooled down en ugh to think rationally. He remembered that Polly, the spy in Lola’s home, was to meet him early the following morning, that, if not intercepted on the street, she would come to the scene of Nottingham’s death, and perhaps: fall into the hands of the police. This must not happen. Hopeful of seeing the girl despite the lateness of the hour, Weldon bent steps toward Lola’s house. All at once he stopped and stared at a figure directly before him. ; <_ wer Drawers had been opened and looked ; PAT x a> . : . ° 2) OS oe eee ‘What brings him out at this hour?’ he mentally exclaimed, as well he might, for the man ahead was Murchison, the nabob. With their last exciting meeting fresh in his thoughts, Weldon did not want to encounter the man he was trying to rob by blackmail. He would see Murchison some other time, when he had perfected his plans, perhaps to-morrow, He followed Murchison, bowever, up one street and down another to the very door of his house, beyond which he disappeared, Having done this, Weldon hastened on and soon reached the vicinity of Lola’s home. But, Polly did not reward him with so muchas a glimpse of herself, He wondered if she had tried to obtain posses- sion of the paper he had dropped in the library. He could trust Polly, for she had assisted at the opening of the game against Murchi-on and she durst not fail him now. Weldun looked up at the house for awhile and then disappointed went away. ‘‘ Tl] come around to-morrow and catch Polly before she can get to the old quarters,” he mur- mured. ‘Now, I'll go to the new ones and turn in,” The new quarters were in a different part of the city from that which contained the others, and when Weldon had entered he locked the door, pulled down the blinds and threw bimself into a chair, Once or twice during his tramp he had put his hand against bis bosom as if to make sure that something beneath his coat was safe, He sat there in the dim light of a gas-jet and laid his plans anew. Nottingham’s death should not weaken him, It should not prevent Mark Murchison from paying the two hundred thousand for the pa- pers, nor keep bim from wining Lola and her fortune, Amidst all this one query—always the same one— would come up: Who killed Nottinghum? He went to bed, but not to sleep. He lay awake, hearing with terrible distinctness the slightest sounds, and still haunted by that ever- recurring question, He was up soon after daylight and down on the street before the chilliness that came up from the bay had departed, So well disguised that his closest acquaint- ances, he had few such, however, would not ete recognized him, Weldon went to watch for olly, He had said to himself that.-he would have to keep an sharp looking out for Captain Catchem and Jersey Jed, not knowing, of course, that the ay had fallen into the nabob’s power, n his way up-town he bought the first morn- ing paper that came in his way and took to read- ing it while he walked, All at once his eyes fell upon the following paragraph: Founp DrAp—Last nizht, just before twelve, Mrs. Pope, who rents furnished rooms to gentlemen at No. 200 © street, found one of her lodgers dead on the bed in an apartment which he occupied with a friend. Mrs. Pope was out during the early part of the evening, and on going to her room found the lodger’s door open, an unusual occurrence; and on investigation, discovered the man dead, as men- tioned above. He had been dead some time, and the doctor who was called in pronounced the cause of the death heart failure. eceased was a large, rather fine-looking man named Nathan, and an ex- ceptional lodger.”’ It may be supposed that Weldon did not miss a word of this item which would not be so much as seen by thousands, ‘‘ Nathan ” was Nottingham’s name to those who knew him as Mrs, Pope’s lodger, “ Heart failure, eh?’ ejaculated the young man, ‘I say ‘no!’ I don’t care what the doctor says. Didn’t I see finger-marks on his throat? and does a man who dies from an attack of heart disease ransack his own room and rumple the bed on which he is found? What will Cap- tain Catchem say when he reads that” And Weldon thrust the paper into his pocket and quickened his steps, . He had to wait several hours with eyes upon Lola’s house before the door opened to let any one out, At sight of Polly his heart gave a quick throb and a few seconds later he was walkings beside his spy on the next street. ‘*T told you I'd get it,” said the girl, her dark eyes sparkling with triumph. ‘‘ Ah! did you succeed?” ** When did I fail?” ‘* Never, Polly.” ’ , Polly took from her bosom a pee of paper which she handed to Weldon, and the next mo- ment it was again hidden, 4 Jersey Jed, the Boy Hustler. ** Did it cost you any bard work?” he asked. ‘IT had to play a sleek game,” was the reply. **T found it in her boudoir, She will not think to look for it until the boy Jed makes a move- ment. ‘That will never be if I can prevent!” cried | Weldon, oe Lola met her father on the stairs last night," “Ab! Were there words, Polly?” Yes,” about me?” ‘“* She told him that you were no more entitled | to the fortune you expect to show than she was,” “That was putting it very plain,” smiled Weldon, shrugging bis shoulders. ‘*What did he say?” ‘*Don’t trouble yourself about’ Mr. Weldon, child,” be answered; ‘‘if he shows the sum_ he expects, you become his wife!” bere was a slight cry from Lola, a firmly spoken “* Never!” and they parted, ‘‘T see! She relies on the boy spy to baffle us, Polly; but in doing so she clings to a rope of sand.” a ** Where is the boy?” ‘** At home, probably.” ‘* And Nick?’ Weldon started at the last query. ‘*Do you read the papers, Polly?’ he asked, ‘* Now and then,” He took from his pocket the one he had lately placed there, and handed it to her, so folded that the item above given could not escape her a eye, fe Merciful heavens!” exclaimed the girl, losing eolor. ‘' There’s but two of us now!” ** You and I,” said Weldon, ‘Well, Polly, there won’t be so shares,” The blanched girl did not share the apparent merriment in which bis words were couched, She was looking at the paper, reading for the | second time the paragraph which told her that the house of Holdfast & Co. had now but one member, After they bad walked some distance they séparated, Polly turning back, and the young man keeping on, down-town, He passed within a square of Mark Murchison’s house, but did not think of visiting its master— not just then, at least, ‘‘ Pll throw down the last ecard to-night, and it will be a trump,” muttered Weldon. ~~ ‘**T won’t play with the victim any longer, I’ve got the damaging paper which Lola and the boy might have used against me. Now, Mark Mur- chison must come to my terms, or go to prison for his old offense,” At that very moment Captain Catchem was ringing the Murchison door-bell, When he bad been admitted be walked into the library and was welcomed by his employer. ‘‘Here, what does this mean?’ asked the hounded nabob, pushing toward the detective a paper, a paragraph in which he had marked. ‘*That’s what I came to talk abont,” was the response, for Captain Catchem had seen at a glance that an account of Nottingham’s death was before him. g ast Is ‘heart failure’ to baffle us afte* all?” : ‘‘Tt hasn’t interfered as yet, That item is misleading. Nottingham, alias Nathan, was murdered, choked to death at the end of a strug- gle for life!” ; Mark Murchison changed color until he was as white as the wall. CHAPTER XV. RENTS IN A CARPET, THE reader will readily remember that we left Jed practically a {prisoner in Murchison’s house, He did not remain shut up long. ae Fearing to run the risk of keeping him in con- finement, for he knew that Jed’s prolonged ab- sence Would alarm his mother who would natur- ally think of him as being connected withthat absence, and seeing vo prospects.of bringing the boy to terms, he released bim that same night, Jed was surprised. He expected to remain some time under the nabob’s roof, and bis pleds- ure, though not openly manifested, was un- bounded when he found himself on the street onee more, . He was among the first morning readers whose eyes happéned to alight on the paragraph concerning Nottingham’s death. Jed read it twice before he fairly caught his ‘layin: tec . ; holds ‘* Did she intimate that she knew anything many — . ze fi ) 5 : p Jae ‘ oa . ~ ‘ aad F « e ff » r | ree s a, Foe L ' . oat 4 ys a breat bewil eV alarn “és ‘ Deat! oe Tt path} | youn; than will failu ai