Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 705 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

ee ii —- ~ se ‘ — » se) - - ia e™...«' Geran ft 5 ’ * ’ Jy ay A ; a es ‘ r. Pie oxen ¥ », * . *, . 4 ‘ * ' 4 ‘ ve ene a a ae 7 — -* - { ‘ ~~ «Saal at Cards. 2: 7 *% OR othe ih ip m {34 ‘ iolet Vane’s Vow. derned luck I never saw. Ther hull blamed game went foul. Cole was ter knife Fenton, wile Spotty wiped out ther Dutchman. Cole didn’t git at Fenton at all, an’ thet blamed long- haired poet knocked Spotty onter his own knife.” ‘* Yes, it was a botch job,” said the chief. ‘*We shall not miss Pedro so much, but Spotty was a good man.” ‘‘ An’ both wuz done up since thet derned Dutchman struck ther town.” ** You believe the Dutchman is at the bottom of it all?” * I believe ther Dutchman’s Violet Vane his- self!” ‘* It may be; but, who is the poet?” ** A fool or a detective.” ‘* Well,” said the leader, ‘‘it is my advice that we devote our entire attention to the traitor, Frank Fenton, and to Violet Vane. When those two men are out of the way there will be clear sailing, but of the two, Vane is much the more dangerous. It is our duty to wipe out Fenton, anyway; but first, let’s dispose of Violet Vane. He must die!” And the others cried, savagely: ‘* Yes, Violet Vane must die!” CHAPTER VIII, DUKE CHANGES HIS MIND. In the morning Damascus was treated to an- other sensation, Horatio Duke, it was said, had changed his mind in regard to the cut-down, Instead of pay- ing his men the same wages as before he had de- cided to make a reduction similar to that made in the Bengal Tiger. Notices to this effect, signed in Duke’s hand- writing, were found pested on the buildings at the mouth of the mine by the men who were re- turning to work, No one was more surprised than Bayard Swift. He could scarcely believe the evidence of his eyes when he saw the notices. He thought of his talk with Mr, Duke the night before ant became convinced there was something crooked about the affair. He did not think it possible the mine-owner had changed his mind so quick- ly. Besides that, if Mr. Duke had changed his mind, why had he not notified his superintend- ent at once? Of Swift the excited miners demanded an ex- planation, ‘* You said there was to be no cut-down,” said one brawny fellow, pushing forward and con- fronting the superintendent in a threatening manner. ‘* Whatdo them notices mean?’ ** You can answer that question as well as I, Dolby,” declared Bayard, looking the man square in the eyes. ‘‘I was told yesterday by oratio Duke himself that there was to be no reduction, and [| was instructed to notify the men to that effect. I did asl was directed, and only last evening Mr. Duke assured me I had done well, There is some trickery bere somewhere,” ‘“*That is what we think,” agreed the spokes- man of the miners, ‘‘and we want to know who is responsible. When we find out, some one will be pretty sure to hear fromus, We are peaceable, hard-working men who earn every dollar we receive. Up to the present trouble we have had no reason to complain of Mr, Duke. We left the mine when we were assured he meant to make the same cut-lown as that enforced in the Beagal Tiger, by that skinflint Darke, When you assured us nothing of the kind was intended by the Duke we decided we bad been hasty and had allowed our feelings to lead us into a bad move, so we said at once we’d go back in the morning. Here we are, and here”—pointing at the notice—‘ is what we find.” ‘Ido not believe Mr Duke had anything to do with this,” declared Swift, desperately. ‘‘ It is a trick perpetrated by the same foul brain that started the false story of the reduction in the Royal Duke,” ‘* We will nope that is so,” said the big miner, calmly. ‘‘ If it is, there will be derned little harm done, If it is not—Wal, we hear Darke has sent to Ham Flat for Chinese miners. Ef thet is so and the onery heatken come here, there will be a very red time in Damascus. Our sympathies are with the Bengal Tiger men any- how, and if we are in the same box, there is migbty apt to be warm times in this hyer camp, You hear me! We are nothin’ but common workingmen, but we have our rights and we understand them, There are enough of us to run thiscamp, andif Horatio Duke is in with Skinflint Darke against us, we may take the reins intoour hands. [f we do, there will be tworuined men and the initials of their names will be Duke and Darke. But wedid not come . > : 7 ” war ad : pt sed a ’ 7 4 y ke a My nba 53 Le © ks 7 a that = here to make threats. Wecame to work, and if that notice is a forgery we are ready to go in- to the shaft. We want to know the truth.” ** And you sball assoon as I can make my way to Mr. Duke’s house and return to this spot. I will not be gone long.” Bayard started atarun and in less than ten minutes stood panting at Horatio Duke’s dvor, on which he rapped vigorously. In a few mo- ments the magnate’s Irish man-servant appear- ed, ‘““Ts Mr. Duke up, Mike?” asked the superin- tendent. ‘* He is.” “Then I must see him,” ‘“‘ Tt is ag’in’ his orders, if vez plaze.” ‘But | must see him, It is on very import- ant business,” ‘‘Paith an’ I kin not hilp thit. structed me not t? distarb him.” ‘ But if he knew who it was—” ‘¢Thit would make no difference at all, atall.” ‘‘Tt ison important business,” cried Bayard, desperately. ‘* Thit’s all roight. He has in- It makes me think thit he lift this litthle bit av an invylope fer the loikes av yezif ye sh’u’d carl.” Mike handed outa sealed envelope and then promptly closed the door. With a sinking heart, Bayard opened the en- velope and drew forth a sheet of foolscap paper, upon whicb was written: ‘*To BAYARD SwIFT, Superi itendent of the Royal Duke Mine;— “This is to notify you | have changed my mind in regard to the reduction of wages in the Royal Duke. The ten per cent cut-down will immediately ro into effect. he men left the mine of their own accord when I made no mention of reducing their wages, therefore they remain out until they see fit to come in at the same scale to be enforced in the Bengal Tiger. Your pay will remain the same. Please see that every manis properly notified. ‘*HorATIO DUKE.”’ The superintendent crushed the sheet in his hand, his face turning very pale. ‘The man is mad!” he muttered, hoarsely. ‘‘T can scarcely believe it now. The change from bis talk last night is too great, It will cause a riot in the place and there will surely be bloodshed. With the entire body of laborers striking, things will be thrown intoa perfect turmoil, Gods! I am almost afraid to return to the men with such a report,” Hearing a sligbt noise above his head, he glanced up and saw Meta, Mr. Duke’s adopted daughter, leaning out of the window just over the door. She pressed a finger against her red lips in a gesture of caution, and then said, speaking softly: ‘‘ Will youcarry a message from me to Mr. Norman?” ‘‘ Of course I will,” replied Bayard, promptly. ‘‘Thank you,” smiled the fair girl. “tt is very important, and [ know I can trust you. There is something the matter in the house,” ‘*Hush! do not speak so loudly! I scarcely know what I mean, but] am frmgntened. Mr. Duke—papa—seems so unnatural, Oh, | know there is something wrong!” ‘* Have you seen bim this morning?” “Yes, I met him in the hall, me, but his voice startled me, dreadful thing had happened.” ‘‘Anda dreadful thing bas happened, Mr. Duke has ordered the cut-down in the mine, There will be trouble and plenty of it.” ‘* What can it mean?” ‘‘ That is a question [cannot answer. But what message do you wish me to carry to Royal Norman?” ‘*Give him this,” and a white envelope flut- tered down to be skillfully caught by the young man on the steps, ‘¢T will do so, Good-morning.” He lifted his bat as he turned away and she waved her hand in a farewell gesture. A mo- ment later the superintendent was walking rap- idly down the street, By good fortune the first person he met was Royal Norman, The young man was greatly amazed to learn of Duke’s decision in regard to the reduction of wages, and when he opened the message from Meta he found it was a request to meet her at a certain point immediately after midday. After conversing a moment concerning Hora- tio Duke’s change of policy, the two young men separated, Swift hurrving on bis way to carry me report to the waiting workmen at the Royal uke, If ever the superintendent dreaded a thing it He spoke to l feel as if some t DL | | | | ‘‘ Something the matter?” repeated the young | of him. man. ‘* What do you mean?” here for the world!” P 4 ‘ 4 7 We 4 - 7 7 ¢ . L® om 5 ait ~¥ £ : he ’ iy ‘ ‘ 4 1S ¥ ae: ; J a4 7 > . ie’ Wh ey * iy eh hs . : OL) pe a My M! oul \l ae . : = 4 * aad “ . (ana | was his duty to do, he dreaded to tell the stura ee the truth that morning; but he did not flinch, Loud and fierce were the curses that burdened the morning air when Bayard Swift bad ac- knowledged that Horatio Duke had decided to enforce the ten per cent, reduction. ‘We'll wipe this town out of existence!” cried more than one of the furious throng. Bat Swift remained cool and collected, wait- ing till the uproar bad ceased somewhat, when he ventured to make a brief speech, He cau- tioned the outraged men against being too hasty, saying he thought they could win the day without resorting to violence. He still in- sisted he believed there was something about Horatio Duke’s change in policy that did not appear on the surface. He could not tell what it was, but. he hoped Mr. Duke would come to his senses and continue to pay the wages given his employees in the past. In conclusion he assured them his sympathy was heartily with them and he would work for their interest to his utmost, But the speech awakened little en- thusiasm., That forenoon the streets of Damascus were thronged with the unemployed miners, They gathered in knots here and there and aiscussed the situation. Duke and Darke, the rival tmnine-owners, were universally condemned and in some quarters black threats were made openly. But at midday there had heen no outbreak, Royal Norman did not forget bis appointment with Meta. Mounted on his splendid borse, he rode leisurely out of town and passed up the trail toward the point where he had met J. Mil- ton Mole and #ritz Schricker the day before. He had not seen anytbing of Meta, therefore he was astonished when she suddenly confronted him in the trail, mounted on her favorite sad- dle-horse, ‘* Why, Meta!” he cried; ‘‘ how came you here? I did not see you leave town.” “ That is because I came by an unusual way,” | she explained, permitting him to press ber hand, ‘‘T did not what to be seen coming here, If | Papa Duke—” ‘‘ Now what bas come over that man?” asked Royal, forgetting bis courtesy in his sudden de- sire to learn the truth, ‘‘ He bas done a very foolish thing in declaring for the cut-down in his mine, That lets the entire mob of laborers in town loose, and such a band of reckless fel- lows are pretty sure to work damage of some sort.” Meta looked distressed. He saw this, and hastened to add: ‘You are looking pale and disturbed, little | What is it all about?” ‘‘T do not think I can tell,” she faltered; ** but of one thing I am sure: something borrible took place at our house last night. hat it was I do not know, but it worked a great change in Mr. Duke, For some reason I do not like to call him papa to-day. Heissochanged! Why he is not a single bit like himself! Iam afraid I would not have him find us together one, Barely had the words left her lips when there came to their ears a clatter of boofs and a horseman rode into view. ‘* It is he!” they both exclaimed, in a breath, CHAPTER IX. THE MAGNATE’S ANGER—DUKE IN DANGER. THE magnate of Damascus rode directly to- ward the lovers, his face wearing a black look, “Gracious!” gasped Meta, ‘‘ He is dreadful- ly angry!” Royal said nothing, but faced Duke quietly and resolutely. The mine-owner drew rein a few feet from the young man and maiden, saying sharply: ‘What does this mean?” ‘‘ Good-morning, Mr. Duke,” saluted Royal, lifting his bat, respec ‘¢ What does this mean?’ repeated Duke, ‘‘T>o what do you refer?” asked the young man, calmly. : Duke’s face became still blacker, “] refer to this secret meeting. Why wasI not consulted in regard to such a thing?” ‘‘Secret meeting? There is nothing secret abcut our meeting bere, sir. 1] happened to ride this way and, most pleasantly for me, I came upon Miss Meta.” ‘*Bah! I am too old not to understand such things, You knew you would meet ber bere; it was secretly arranged between you. Do you tbink I will permit such things?” ‘*T assure you, Mr, Duke—” ‘You are avoiding nry question, young man? Do you tbink | will permit such thin ‘In the past you have not objected to our as- , " ) . / - j hl: he Ay 7 AAT a! ~~ a es ~~ o> 4 2 a , lt oe ‘ . in» == x a ~ 215 “= — - = irs 2 ee age Me”, ~~ bad. T2 ee] a d — i. ee as * oe ; “ 4 - Fo FA fi : r B..4 y ' (iy ' ere ‘