Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 684 — page 7: what you’re looking at

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

Deadwood ‘Dick, Jr.’s, Dazzle. hear the uproar in the street about midnight, when the jubilee was in progress?” ‘* Never a sound, sir. It takes a sizable noise to awaken Fingal McFaddin, when once he has dropped off into the sweet sleep of innocence and virtue, which only the good can experience,” ‘‘ You must be a paragon of goodness, then, sir,” observed Deadwood Dick, ‘if it is to be measured by your sound sleeping. There was noise enough here to raise the dead, almost, when I struck the town.” ‘‘ And you are the gentleman who helped Mr, Earle out of his fix, I believe,” the jolly Irish- man remarked, ** Well, I chipped in, it is true.” ‘‘ He saved my life,” declared Earle, warmly, “Mr. Golconda, this is Fingal McFaddin, book- keeper at the Nutmeg Mine, As good a fellow as you want to meet, too, by the way. As you were asking me somethiag about the mine, thought I’d introduce you. He can tell you anything and everything you want to know.” ** Glad to know you,” Dick exclaimed, ‘* My name is Golconda, as you have just heard. [ intend calling at the office of the mine this morn- ing.” “Tf Tecan be of any service to you, sir, you have only to command,” Fingal offered. “Thank you. What time can I catch the proprietors in? “They are never later than ten, sir; and usually around by nine,” **Good enough, I may drop in a little earlier and have a chat with you, if you don’t care.” **Come and welcome, sir. You'll find that Fingal McFaddin can keep his end up at a game of talk.” ‘* I haven’t any doubt about that, sir.” Up to this time there had been no ladies at the table. Now two entered the room. One was a woman of forty or so, the wife of One of the men present. The other was not more than twenty-two, evidently, and was handsome, She had dark hair abd eyes, and her face was pensive and sweet, She gave Esmond Earle a smile of recog- nition as she went to her gape saying good- morning, and he responded suitably. After that the talk became general, until it was in- beet dons by the sudden entrance of the land- ord, He waddled into the room, looking like a foot- ball on 18g, and the expression of:his face told that something of importance had happened. ‘‘ What is it now, landlord]” asked Fingal McFaddin, ‘*Lanky Lam has been killed,” he announced. ‘*Ts it possible bey bit him so bard?” and Earle turned quickly to Deadwood Dick as he put the question, The same thought had come to Dick. » “I gave him a pretty good thump,” he owned, ‘but it was not on a dangerous spot. If I killed him he was a tender chicken, that’s all.” ‘*No, no, et wasn’t you,” the landlord in- formed, ‘He didn’t lay wery long where you left him. Et was ther Nemmysus that done et fer him.” | “What!” The exclamation from nearly all present, “Et war ther Nemmysus,” the landlord re- peated. ‘‘He war comin’ this way, ther boys say, with his weepins in hand and blood in his eye, lookin’ fer you, Mr. Goleonder, when down he went, all in a heap.” ‘‘ Where did the shot come from?” asked Gol- conda, . ** Nobody knows,” Mine host answered. | “Was no report heard?” | 6s Nar 7 ‘ ‘““Then it was the spook, sure enough. Well, one thing is proven to the people of this town, anyhow,’ ** What is that?” asked Earle. “That neither you nor I fired the fatal shot, is certain; and hence neither of us can be the Ne- mesis, as the unfortunate man intimated,” “You are right. But, I guess that wag not Seriously considered as likely. At any rate, it don’t matter now.” ., Where is the body, landlord?” i Sut on the porch,” e will take a look at it after through,” Dick observed. Soon as they had finished the meal, Dick and Harle left the room and went out upon the piazza, where the crowd was still great, Deadwood Dick pushed his way to the front, and stooped over the body of, the unfortunate po Sabi as Such he was considered, bad as he ad been alive, ‘Plenty of room was made for the handsome _ Stranger, for his appelrance was such as to give we get : him a more than usually superior bearing, and it was recognized and tacitly admitted by all. Others had previously examined the wound, so the dead man’s breast was exposed to view. Dick’s examination was hasty but thorough. As soon asit was done, he rose and stepped away, and he and Earle walked off around the corner. ** What do you think about it?” Earle asked. ‘‘Itis a great mystery, sure enough, and one that I would enjoy straightening out,” was Dick’s reply. ‘* Well, why don’t you try it? I heard it said in the crowd that ten thousand dollars is offered by Barnthal.” ** Yes, I heard that, and it strikes me that he is interested init. Perhaps he has some par- ticular friend that he wants to protect.” ‘You may be right. But, what is your idea about it all?” ‘*T haven’t formed any fixed ided about it.” ‘* But you examined the wound.” **That is a bullet-hole, plain-enough, The | Nemesis, too, is not far away.” ‘*That follows, of course, Maybe the fellow is rightin the crowd, for all we can tell.” ‘*T think not, In the first place, if the ghost spoke the truth it isnot a man, but a woman, There is no woman in the crowd,” ‘You are right. They are not over-plenty in the town, But, the ghost may kave lied to you, with a purpose, If that is so, then we don’t know much about it after all.” ‘*True enough. We may learn more before we are much older, however.” So they talked on, as they sauntered down the street. ‘Oh, by the way,” Dick suddenly asked, after a while, ‘‘ who is that pretty girl who was at the table?” ‘* Ha! she impressed you, did she?” **T admit it,” Dick owned. ‘Well, her name is Edma Rulford, and that is about all 1 know about her, except that she is as pretty a girl as I ever saw.” ‘* Does she belong here?” ‘She bas been at the hotel about a year, I believe.” ** About the same length of time the Nemesis has been at work, that.” Earle gave a start, ** You don’t mean to say you suspect her?” he exclaimed. ‘‘Tam ready to suspect anybody and every- body,” was Dick’s response, ‘‘ But what gives you the idea that she can have any baud in the matter, sir?” ‘Well, one thing, the length of time she has been here, That is oneitem, To that add the fact that the shot came from the direction of the hotel, and from above the street level considera- bly. Then—” ‘** How in the deuce do you know all this?” Bs- mond Earle asked, amazed, The expert detective smilec, “Itis as plain as though. the shot had been heard and seen,” he asserted, ‘* The fellow was coming toward the hotel from the direction of the post-office. The bullet hit him in the breast. Not only that, but it came from a height, as its course was downward.” ** By heavens!” Earle bad toexclaim, ‘* You must be a detective!” **Oh, any observing man could note that,” Dick passed off, _ “I don’t know about that. Not another man in the crowd thought of it, ll bet high,” _ ‘It is so plain that perhaps no one has thought it worth mentioning.” ‘Well, is there any further reason why you should connect Miss Rulford’s name with the affair?” ‘Let us see. She was not in the dining-room when the shooting took place. We do not know where she was, Then, she wears a very hand- some ring on her left hand.” “And what in the name of kingdom has that got to do with it?” ‘*T am going back to a remark of your own, When I told you that 1 had seen the right hand of the ghost, you said you wished it had been the left, for then I might possibly have seen a ring on it, Esmond Earle, you, too, suspect this pretty young woman of being the Nemesis of Nutmeg Bonanza. Upon what is your sus- picion founded?” Esmond Earle looked upon Golconda the Gor- geous as though he believed him supernaturally gifted, almost, ’ CHAPTER VIII. EXCHANGE OF CONFIDENCE. It was a Moment before Eurle responded, ‘There is no use trying to deceive you,” , a eee a ‘‘ And yet I have been fooled many a time, and expect to be fooled many times more,” was Dick’s return, ‘*T will tell you all there is about the matter. I saw this ghost once, when it appeared to warn its fifth victim, about the time I came here, and it struck me, later, that the voice was famil- iar. ‘* What could you tell about the voice, if only one word was uttered?” Deadwood Dick quickly asked, ‘*T have not said that only one word was spoken,” was the quick return, ‘*Trueenough. I was judging by the warning that was given to Blossom Bob. Only the one word ‘doomed’ was spoken to him.” ‘‘T heard more,” said Earle. ‘‘ But, I will tell you all about it. I was out at the head of the canyon one evening, smoking and _ strolling aroundidly. Presently lsatdown on a bowlder, enjoying my cigar and communing with my thoughts. I was just off the trail a little, out of the way of any ope who might come along. It was, by the way, the very first evening 1 spent here. I had not seen Miss Rulford yet. ou see the object of my impressing this, do you not?” ‘¢[ think I do,” Dick answered, ‘* You want to show that you had not heard Miss Rulford’s voice first.” ‘“‘Exactly. Ihadnothought, then, of compar- ing the voice of the ghost with any other that I had ever heard.” ‘* What did the ghost say on that occasion?” > celtic Gil was the victim, and it was just light enough to see when he came along. He was about stepping into the canyon, when the ghost appeared in front of him with raised arm and ordered him to halt. I tell you it gave me a start, for it was so unexpected, and 1 had never heard anything of the matter’ then. Well, Gil came to as sudden a stop as you ever saw, frightened almost to death, and the ghost said; ‘* * Another murderer of the innocent is called. Hearken to your sentence: You are doomed |” ‘‘Gilbert must have felt ‘hard-up’ then, truly,” laughed Dick, ‘“* He trembled like a man with a chill,” Earle went on. “ The ghost glided away as soon as it had spoken, and disappeared in tbe canyon and as soon as it was gone, Gil wheeled and stretebed his legs toward town at his best speed, and he didn’t stop once on the way, either.’ _ * And what was the result of it all?’ ‘Just what you have seen yourself, Next morning he was‘found dead in the middle of the street, with the ‘mysterious score pinned to his breast,” vt ‘** And now comes the connection of this with — suspicion against the young lady at the 10tel, ‘*That is in order, Next day I saw Miss Rul- ford, and heard her talk, and with the first words I heard her speak came the thought that her voice and that of the ghost sounded strange- ly alike,” “A good point, certainly. Have you any others to back it up?” ‘*Not another one. I do know, however, that she is absent from the hotel many hours to- gether, at times, when no one seems to know where she 1s. ‘“ Ever made inquiries about the matter?” — ‘‘Only by passing remark.” ‘* And found out nothing?” ‘‘ Nothing at all.” ‘* Are you on friendly terms with her?” ‘*Oh, yes, but there is a reserve about her that checks inquiry.” **[ have a suspicion,” Dick announced, sud~ denly and boldly. ‘* And what is that?” “That you love her,” Earl stopped short, and after a moment of silence, during which he looked the unknown detective squarely in the eye, said: ‘Golconda, let us drop in here and havea solid talk. L owe my life to you, and I will trust you with other matters. I am playing detective here, but 1 am only a boy at tne busi- ness, You seem to be an expert.” ‘* Just as you please,” answered Dick. ‘* Don’t think that I want to pry into your personal affairs, however, just from what I said in half joke,’ , mo It is no joke with me, You hit the truth square. Ilove that woman, with heart, mind and soul. But, let us go in here, as [ men- tioned.” Dick had already taken a survey of the place, and found it to be a rather decent-looking com- bination of saloon, eating-house and gaming- hall. ‘* Very well, we will go in,” he agreed,