Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 717 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

The air was almost unendurable, and he, too, dropped to the floor, in order to avoid being suf- -focated. And while both were so helpless, the | smoke still sifted in, and, finding no outlet, hung | over them like a funeral pall. | Mees | | CHAPTER XV. | a | JACK TAKES A HAND, | WHEN Mosquito Jack entered the old build- | : ing, he found that he was not to be a partici- pant in the secret quest nnless he made bimself more forward than he intended. He was just in time to hear the office-door locked behind Ran- dolph and Flippy Jim, and when he went out on the fire-escape, the iron shutters again baffled him. He returned to the club-room., ‘‘May as well halt an’ take things easy,” he muttered, as he sat down in the easiest chair. ‘Dunno as I keer much ’cause [ ain’t in it, fer ef Peter Woods prefers Mr. Jim Flip fer a pard, sual ° why, be kin hev him, Birds of a feather flock tergether, ve heerd. Why should the spirit 0’ mortal be proud! But Pll stay here an’, when Peter comes out, let him see that my name ain’t ° " . Pm “ ~ -~ af Dennis K. Mud so much ez he thinks fer!” et This plan comforted the Hustler Gamiv for a) it, awhile, but he soon grew ambiticus, He had bis opinion of the old building and those who occu- pied it, and realized that a better time to explore never would come, Like Randolph, he had a keen realization of the fact that he did not belong on other people’s property, but he also remembered the harsh treatment he had received at Everard Chesling- ton’s hands, and felt that he had a right to baffle a crook, if he could, eh ‘3 Anyhow, he was now started on the venture, ~~}. . and might as well make a thorough job of it, Wwe There was but one room on that floor which » { _ he never had explored, and n@ set out to see me what it was like. Entering, he found a table Me we el in the center, with an abundance of chairs - around the side, and was wise enough to sus- pect that it was a committee, or directors’ room. At the further side was another door. He opened it and saw a stairway beyond. Securing a lamp he went up boldly. He had not expected any great discovery there, but had barely paused at the head of the stairs, to look around, when a peculiar sound _ broke in on the silence, “Ebenezer!” he ejaculated. ‘* What’s that? Didn’t know UI’s in a telegraph orfice, but ef that ain’t a telegram masheen, I ain’t no ear fer music,” Advancing toward the sound he found a little . table in one corner, and to the table was affixed 0 agenuine “telegram masieen.” He had seen ia) Reape enough of them before to be sure that it pre- | sented no variation, and it was ticking and | clicking away merrily. Its presence there was ne trul ned ghia . ** What in the world hev I found in this old garret?” Mosquito Jack exclaimed in wonder. The instrument clicked on calmly. ‘Ebenezer Augustus! but dont I wish I could read them ticks! Great pity my eddifica- tion hez been so neglected, fer I need know- aN ledge now more than a cat needs two tails, A ret telegram masheen up here? Say, w’ot does it mean, anyhow?” No wonder he was pugzled. The room was the uppermost in the botse, and a very incon- | venient place for a telegraph office. But it vill . was not that, nor was any railroad office near. - Jack could see no possible use for the little in- ay ae strument, What be you sayin’ anyhow?” he wondered, and spoke the words aloud. ‘Click, click, clickety-click! All them sounds mean somethin’, but I couldn’t tell one on ’em ef I’s ter be made president fer doin’ it.” He punched the machine with his finger, and then eyed the wire which descended from the roof and then rose again, ‘6 Some o’ Cheslington’s funny biz, I'll bet!” he finally decided. ‘‘ He don’t git his livin’ like an honest man, an’ it’s in the course of events that he should hev queer contrivances. Reckon ---- Peter Woods may want ter see this joker aforo eo a ¥ File ad ‘T-" ao* ‘ . = | % % -, * eae a a a St ~ se oa goes out, Yes, by Ebenezer! I guess I will, or I May get locked in fer the night!” i ss He descended quickly to the committee room, _ and shoved the hall door ajar. He did not open it wholly, for there was that revealed to his gaze A Ah "evar made him draw it to again suddenly, rf -.. “ Cheslington!” he muttered, with a start. A MOR ae kA ‘Cc heslington an’ other men!” It was not strange that the boy was alarmed, © had ¢ inion of his own in regard to Ever- lieved that man would not hesitate my dark deed, His presence in the ‘time was ominous. ant . . ; i ra Y wm haa tea casi ’ ‘ : ‘ - ‘ ¢ C—O —— a a Fe RLY é *, ¥ >" * 36) *) ts i Y a " - x LET RS : +4 4 if a Kt >, 4 t : h. yt ™ fap + : * y - i M 7 . Vi rd > - «i We ' oP Nie “ +. : en. Yas = t, <f .* { ? . - ye 4 y, ‘ i - ‘ 7 > ’ . - . *« , - * Mosquito Jack, the Hustler Gamin. After a short while the Hustler Gamin’s cool- ness returned in a measure, and he cautiously opened the door a little. Once more he had plain view of the men. They were standing within a few feet of the office door, and Ches- lington was talking rapidly to his companions. His voice was so much lowered that Jack could hear nothing, and great secrecy was being ob- served; but the spy did not fail to notice the gestures toward the office door, ‘* Ebenezer Augustus! but ain’t Peter in a fix, now! Ches is on ter the racket, an’ he’s got Peter caged. When my rash young frien’ comes out Ches will sort o’ eat him up asa cat does a mouse. Peter, you’d better took John Jay Marsh along with yer, an’ set him at the outside door as a guard!” Jack’s keenest sympathies were aroused. He did not believe bis own proximity was suspected, but ‘* Peter” and Flippy Jim were in a fix. For the time being they were caged; when they came out, Cheslington would have them at his mercy. ‘The Hustler Gamin tried to think of a way by which he could warn his friend, but in vain. ‘Best thing I kin dois ter get out, myself,” he decided, ‘* but I don’t see how I am ter doit, Unless I kin reach the roof, I’m erbout as fast penned up as Peter is. I'll see w’ot kin be done,” He returned to the attic. There was one wion- dow, and it was closed up with the same kind of iron shutters he bad seen below. When he tried to open them he found them equally hard to move, Cheslington had shut his guilty secrets in well, There was a skylight in the roof, but at such a point that he felt little hope of reaching it. He decided to have another look at the enemy be- fore trying, and again descended to the com- mitte room. Cheslington and his allies were still there, and their manner was one of dogged resolution. ‘They can’t stand the smoke a great while,” Everard was saying. ‘* Suppose the scheme don’t work?” inquired a second man, whom Jack recognized as Johnson, of tke borse-racing combination, ‘* The pipe was made to convey heat, notsmoke—” ‘*T have it fixed so smoke will come. fear!” ‘It’s a bit rough on them.” ‘* Why did they meddle with our business?” ‘Of course they’ve brought it on themselves,” ‘‘That is it exactly. We must either take prompt steps or throw up the snap we have had so long. Bertram Dalton is weakening and lia- ble to peach at any moment; we want one or two more good financial deals before our ship goes down, Just let an important message go over the wire and I'l] sock it to old man Fenton for every dollar I can get out of him.” ‘*But how am I to wind up in a blaze of glory?” lugubriously asked Jobnson. ‘* You have played the races immensely to your profit, and ought to be well fixed. As you intimate, it’s the off season with you nowfbut you can’t expect theearth. Auybow, you won't getit. Affairs are drawing to a crisis; Colonel Fenton has driven out an innocent son, only to find that losses continue, and the train can’t run much beyond the end of the track.”, ‘Is what little we are benceforth to get worth the deed we are now doing? ‘* Those men,” Cheslington replied, pointing to the office, ‘* came here as spies, and of all things on earth a spy is the most despicable—” ‘* We, and ali other knaves, think so,” laughed Johnson. ‘‘ Tbe man who howls agaicst spies is never living on the square.” ‘‘That’s about so, but never mind; I don’t allow any one to treac on my toes with im- punity. Those men tried it, and you see the re- sult. l’ve turned on the smoke; their room is full of it by this time; and they will smother like animals in their dens,” Mosquito Jack’s hair seemed rising when he heard this } lain statement of the case. | ‘In a few minutes all will be over,” Everard The Hustler Gamin turned and rau up the stoirs, . ** Ali will be over, will it?” he muttered, ‘* Not ef Lkin help it! Got a p’izon scheme ter make Peter an’ Jim inter smoked pork, hev they? Ebenezer Augustus! but there must be some hustlin’ done here! Move-on Mike an’ his club Don’t is wanted, an’ wanted bad, UptheroofI gol? ° He glanced at the skylight, and then lay hold | door, of the timbers of the unfinished attic, moments he managed but, finally, his hand s ily back to the floor, = to gress favorably, é r ‘ ‘ A \ ~ A {4 x ‘ yy A. ‘ . . a : : . ty é : ve > i,é » P : a | ? ; a \ ’ oa! » i i : ; »s a. wits ay “ ry * - . oe ae a “ a , M ‘? ; ,. " Oye 2%, Slat \ Wat ah anes AEM Sy aN 3 Males gel and es- | street was bein Sayed to climb up to the window. For several or wr seve pro pile. ipped, and he fell heav- | aloft, burled it A a _,} was located, The door flew open. Trim } Tv, ~ CHAPTER XVI. LEADING THE ATTACK, Mosguiro JACK was considerably shaken chal bodily by his fall, but his courage remained unimpaired. He leaped up at once, ‘*That’s one fer you,” he acknowledged, ‘* but it takes three falls ter win a match. Here's at yer, ag’in!” Once more he climbed, and with less speed and more care than on the former occasion. He was strong and agile, and perseverance took him to the at hes ni at last. e broke the sash and glass with his foot, secured a hold above, and, after a struggle, drew himself up to the %\ roof, He felt the effects of his efforts, but did ‘ not dare to pause. Gaining bis feet be started on, but almost instantly tripped and fell. ‘* Ebenezer Augustus!” he exclaimec,. “ I’m gettin’so I tumble around like a baby. Lost erbout all faith in myself, by gum! what’s this? A wire, an’ that’s what tripped me. Part o’ Everard’s telegraph system, an’— say, what’s this?” Say A telegraph wire crossed the roof of tbe house, but was broken in a wa Hustler Gamin as peculiar, An elbow of the wire descended through the roof, and then rose again to resume its old course, Wten he saw the instrument in the attic a vague suspicion bad finally dawned upon him, aa and it now received fresh force. _** Wire.tappers /” he uttered. Eiverard’s secret biz is. pened ter cross this roof, au’ Ches made dishon- est connections with it, Yes, sirree! JJ] bet a hat I hey the key ter the racket, By bis little scheme he gets all messages aliead o’ them fer whom they’re intended. Johnson hev been makin’ money out o’ the races, an’ other things. Everard, l’m onter you, an” there will soon be a sizzlin’ o’ hurt meat on the gridiron. Wire-tappin’, is it? Ebenezer! but won’t Officer Mike’s drag-net jest about scoop — them rascals!” Jack could not pause to dwell upon this dis- ‘* That’s w'ot covery, and he hurried to the fire-escape, | San He had felt but little hope of being able to reach that means of escape, but the fact that the upper ‘window was so near made it possible to drop to the upper balcony. It was a hazardous which impressed the ¥ An honest wire bhap- i No wonder he an? ° i + Hullo! - plan, but he did not hesitate, (yo Carefully he lowered himself over the eaves, hung at arm’s-length, and then dropped. There was a moment cf anxious suspense, and then be alighted in safety. Without pausing he scram- bled down the ladder, : the office he not only smelled smoke but heard Knowing he could give no When he passed the shutter-closed window of i: younding within, e] and was soon in’the yard. Ae there he took the same course he and Randelpb ad pursued on a former cccasion, reached the alley and}bastened to the street. wa Almost the first person he saw was Officer O’Dowley. . ** Say!” be cried, seizing the patrolman hy the sleeve, “you want ter hustle! Peter is bein? © ~ cremated in thar!” “St, Patrick! phat’s that you say?’ demanded Ne the guardian of the night. ‘Everard bas got Peter an’ another feller shut in a room, an’ is smotherin’ them with = (th smoke,” ‘* Where'd he buy de cigars?” ‘Say, can’t = understand ? It ain’t cigars, ‘Se 4 oO Ns but assassination, by gum! Mebbe they’ve set fire ter ther house; [ dunno, but this much is sartain: Peter*is pris’ner, an’ Everard has let on smoke ter do him up.” ‘*Murtheration! an Oi sthanding oidle here? Begorra, here’s de chance for action, an’ if Oi don’t hev them crooks in me drag-net, me name | “ie ain’t Michael Patrick O’Dowley! Oi bave no saloon pull, an’ dou’t drink; but the Goddess ave Liberty an’ de Constitution is me pole-star ave _ loight, Come on, John, an’ if this noight don’t make a sergeant ave me, O1’'ll not have me de- serts. Come on!” While talking Move-on Mike was burrying toward the door, which he now reached. — ** Oi’ll demand admittance in the name ave the Goddess of—” **Smash itin, Mike! That's the Goddess you want ter rely on,” Jack advised. " ** Maybe you's roight, Jobn, an’ Oi’ll do it.” The patrolman looked doubtfully at the heavy _ ut suddenly saw his way,clear. The : repaired in front of the build- up-torn paving-stones lay in a One of these be secured, and, swinring it. ainst the place where te 1] .ck _ nd of tol q” 4% AG ; a jae dee ‘* . ' F 9 f . : -~ r © 7 * : ‘ ‘ Adin . : 1, wes 1 ; Z « e r x,’ . . : ; . - i “? , t ry b : : - 7 - Lie - * he did not pause, but continued his descent at ~ ¥ -'< - ye Pe % . * % - ws * - a Se wee aS iS eS pee oe = -