Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 727 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

Headlight Harry’s Siren. 11 Rufe Ruffle was more fortunate, being upon the side opposite to that chosen by the iron steed for its fatal plunge; and a despsrate leap, at the very moment of the collision, carried him to safety upon the sloping bank. Nor did the disaster end with the derailment of the locomotive; for one car followed another in swift succession, until the entire train was precipitated into the ditch. Then ensued ascene of terror and confusion, quite impossible for words to adequately describe. Where once was mirth and gayety, horror now reigned. Men, women and children, suddenly found themselves pent up within the overturned coaches, in many instances pinioned by car-seats and shattered timbers, and their frantic cries for help rung in agonized accents upon the evening air. To increase the horror of the situation, the burning oil from the broken lamps in the coaches quickly kindled a blaz3 that, spreading with terrible rapidity, thraatened to speedily consume the train and its imprisoned occu- pants, As soon as they could recover sufficiently from their surprise and bewilderment, the train- men and passengers who had escaped from the wreck with little or no injury, now bastened to the assistance of their less fortunate companions. With Herculean energy the work of rescue was pushed to completion, and in an incredibly short time the injured ones were all removed beyond the reach of the devouring flames, It was then found that, while some were seriously crusbed and burned, and nearly all had suffered more or less injury, yet no one was killed outright, with the single exception of the unfortunate fireman, whose mangled form was lying beneath the ponderous locomotive, Thankful that the situation was no worse, the bruised and weary travelers, whose journey had thus been disastrously interrupted, now gathered in an eager group around the burning train, to discuss the best means of escaping from their unpleasant predicament. It was while thus en- gaged that a piercing whistle suddenly sounded 8 their sturtled ears, and, looking anxiously about, it was to become aware that other people than themselves were upon the scene, The steep banks on either side had suddenly become alive with masked men, grim and ter- rible in their garb of somber black, each with belts fairly bristling with small-arms, while two rows of gleaming rifles frowned down upon the amazed group in the cut below. And from their midst emerged a person of slender form and graceful pose, who, though fully masked, and dressed in man’s attire, all in- tuitively knew to be no other than Mad Madge, the notorious Queen of Outlaws, Boldly she descended into the very center of the astonished crowd. “ Hands-up, gentlemen!” she cried, authori- tatively. ‘‘ We have you well covered, as you may see, and the first sign of opposition op your part will resalt in immediate bloodshed,” This command was obeyed without demur, for while the victims felt quite in the mood to resist the dastardly authors of their present mis- fortune, they were quick to realiza that, all un- armed as they were, there was no chance for success with that double row of deadly Win- chesters sho gs them in the face, An amused laugh escaped Mad Madzge’s lips as she noted the ludicrous haste with which her imperative order was obeyed, * Glad to find you so docile, good people,” she remarked, sarcastically. ‘Such meekness and obedience does you credit, especially after such a rough and blood-stirring experience as you have just passed through. Really, I suppose I ought to apologize for interrupting your journey in this unceremonious fashion; the fact is, I was exceedingly anxious to scrape your acquaint- ance, and knew of no better way of forcing an introduction, With your kind permission, I will now hasten to commence My work, for I see that yon‘ler flames are creeping dangerously close to the coveted treasure.” A single wave of her gloved hand was the signal for the work of plunder to begin; and, while balf the outlaws still maintained the drop upon their victims, on the alert to frustrate any attempt at opposition, the remainder hurried to secure the valuable contents of the Mail-and-Ex- press cars, around the sides of which ravenous tongues of flame had already begun to twine. Bot a short time was required in which to secure the booty, aud, this done, the marauders mesly awaited the orders of their youthful chief, The latter had eagerly watched the operations of her men; and now she turned once more to the group of anxious passengers, many of whom, having been caught in similar predicaments be- - fore, felt their disgust iucrease with the thought that they would next be called upon to surren- der their pocketbooks and jewelry to the ava- ricious train-robbers, In this, however, they were agreeably disap- pointed; for Mad Madge, seeming to divine their thoughts, laughed good-naturedly as she exclaimed: ‘* Don’t bother to produce your valuables, gentlemen, I assure you I have no use for them, Understand, please, that I am working solely for revenge; and that my efforts are di- rected against the road—not its innocent pas- sengers. I sincerely regret that, in this partic- ular instance, it was necessary to put you all to such great personal inconvenience, in order to accomplish my purpose. And now, having completed my night’s work, I will no longer trouble— Ha! Whom have we here? The president's daughter, as I live!” While speaking, the Outlaw Queen bad glanced carelessly over the expectant throng, and as her gaze rested upon one particular face, every feature of which was lainbs revealed by the glare of the conflagration, she gave a sudden start of recognition, while the excited words above quoted fell from her lips. It was, indeed, Mabel Melrose, the fair daugh- ter of the great railway magnate—a petite, graceful blonde of perfect form and feature, who had thus unluckily attracted the attention of Mad Madge, at the moment when she seemed about to depart. Returning home from a visit to a distant relative, she bad chanced to be vpon this ill-starred train, but, fortunately escaped from the wreck withcut serious injury, Mabel’s rosy cheeks suddenly paled at finding herself the direct object of the Outlaw Queen’s attention,and, asthe Jatter advanced, she shrunk behind a friend in abject terror, ** So you are Maurice Melrose’s daughter, eh?” cried Mad Madge, eagerly. ‘'Do not attempt to conceal your identity, for I know you well. This is, indeed, a meeting as pleasant as it is unexpected, for I have long anticipated another interview with the railway nabob’s daughter. Now, young lady, I am sorry to interrupt your journey, but it is quite imperative that you should accompany me to my headquarters, I have a most excellent reason for claiming you for my guest; and I trust you will accept the situation gracefully.” Like a thunderbolt in their midst fell this dire announcement from the lips of the Outlaw Queen. Mabel Melrose gave a piercing scream as, in Obedience to their leader’s signal, two outlaws advanced to seize her; then, quite over- come with affright, fell fainting in the arms of her friends, A murwur of indignation ran through the crowd, and there was a movement as if to pre- vent the carrying out of this dastardly outrage; but the decisive action of Mad Madge’s re- doubtable band quickly dampened tbeir ardor. A score of rifle-locks suddenly clicked in uni- son, and as many gleaming barrels conveyed until the rebellious passengers found themselves completed surrounded by a cordon of rifles, ready to belch forth their deadly contents at an instant’s notice, In the face of such overwhelm- ing odds, resistance was sheer foolhardiness; and so the poor girl’s friends were forced to stand idly by, and see ber borne away, limp ann unconscious, in the arms of two burly rut- ans, Five minutes later the Train Wreckers had disappeared as silently as they came, bearing away to their distantqountain retreat beautiful Mabel Melrose, the belle of Rich ville; while ber friends, bitterly lamenting their inability to prevent the, heinous outrage, lingered sorrow- fully near the burning train, the lurid light from which, mounting high in the heavens, was already drawing the attention of people for miles around tothe awful scene of desolation and death, CHAPTER XI, RAYS OF HOPE, MEANWHILE, a close prisoner in Mad Madge’s subterranean retreat, Headlight Harry was bravely enduring a most miserable existence, Carrying out ber threat, the Queen bad caused a change in his quarters immediately after their stormy interview: so that be no longer occupied | | es her comfortable private apartment. The place | In which he now found himself, was asmal] and | cell-like room, hardly ten feet square, separated trom the main cavern by a natural partition of solid rock, through which a narrow passage ex- tended, providing the only means of ingress or egress. | entrance, by a heavy slab of stone, the latter being securely fastened in place from the out- side, thus rendering it impossible for the prisoner to leave his cell. As a further precaution against any attempt he might make to escape the engineer’s arms were now securely bound behind his back, being released only for the pur- pose of eating the food that a masked attendant brought in at regular intervals. Within this natural prison-cell, furnished only with a rude couch, and a dingy lamp upon the wall which shed its feeble light upon the bare and cheerless surroundings, Headlight Harry remained for what seemed to bis restless mind to be a month at Jeast, but which his trusty chronometer sbowed to be an actual period of two days and nights. During that time bis only visitor was the man who brought his meals—ea morose fellow who performed his duties in utter silence, ignoring the volleys of interrogation points fired at him by the prisoner, whose 4m- patience and anxiety was momentarily increas- ing. Meantime, where -was Mad Madge? What new schemes of deviltry was she so industriously engaged upon that she could find no opportunity for a second interview? The novelty of bis un- paralleled position as the recalcitrant lover of a dashing female bandit, who had lured bim to her mountain stronghold in order to secure bim, was at first decidedly pleasing to the young man’s adventurous nature; but when be com- prehended how fully in earnest was the grief- crazed maiden, and to what extremes she was ready to go to accomplish her ardent purpose, *t was to lose all love of the sensational, and heart- ily wish himself well out of bisa» kward predica- ment, The ominous threats of the Outlaw Quéen, in reference to Ruth Sbaron, both surprised and alarmed him. Was it possible that the ven- geance of the former could be directed upon this pure and innocent maiden? Fortunately, he had been shrewd enough to withbold the name of his betrothed; yet, to this beautiful fiend ip female guise, who seemed capable of accomplish- ing all manner of evil deeds, would it not be a simple matter to discover her identity? And then—to what deed of violence might she not be driven, in her insane jealousy? Tortured by such mad thoughts as these, Headlight ogg Pe position’ was fast becoming unendurable. Therefore, it was with feelings of relief and pleasure that, on the morning of the third day of bis imprisonment, he beard footsteps in the passage, and looked up to once more behold the Outlaw Queen. A peculiar smile appeared upon the fair face of Madge Norman—a smile at once so sinister, so expressive of malignant triumph, that the engineer intuitively divined that something of rare importance had occurred during her pro longed absence, ‘‘Ha, ha! So my precious prisoner is still safe and sound, though looking a trifle pale after hie long confinement. A fancy, would not come amiss,” was her familiar greeting, as she entered the narrow cell. “The fact that you bave left me for two whole days and nigbts to languish oelene in this confounded hole, is not very conclusive evidence of your desire for my personal comfort,” sar- casticalry retorted Headlight Harry. “I'd rather Le taken out and shot, sans ceremony, than endure this miserable existence much longer. It’s fortunate your wortby grub-dis- penser was not equally neglectful, else 1 would certainly have hecome transformed into a living skeleton by this time.” ‘* Which would have been a fate fearful, in- deed, to contemplate,” Jaughed Madge. ‘* How- ever, I trust you will pardon my apparent neglect, for I assure you it was ubavoidable, as Ihave been exceedingly busy putting a few of my cherished plans into execution, ThatI have been highly successful in these, goes without saying; for Mad Madge never fails in anything that she seriously undertakes, “T bave a great surprise jn store for you, Headlight Harry—the nature of which you can hardly guess. It is to the effect that the number of my guests—or prisoners, whichever you choese to call them—bas recently been in- creased; and the new-comers, I believe—or, at least, one of them—are particular friends of yours. Are you not delightec at the prospect of meeting them here, beneath. my hospitable root?” The engineer gave a sudden start of surprise, while his bronzed face grew pale. as it possible that—? ‘‘T gee you are interested,” continued Mad Madge, before he had time to speak; ‘‘so ] will This passage was blocked at the outer endea\ or to explain matters to the best of my A little fresb air, Is (S.com 1 2 ave } = :