Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 742 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

— EES = —l Billy Winks, the Boy Detective. 13 to the torture chair, he coolly took a seat near by and said: ‘*'You don’t mean what you’ve just told me, You want to get out so as to carry out your part of the scheme. You want to beat me at every point, and I don’t intend to trust you out of that chair,” ** You don’t, eh?” **T can’t afford to, you see. It would be giv- ing my enemy a trump card, and that I don’t in- tend to do.” Holcomb looked at Belden for a moment and then ground his teeth, ‘** Well, I hope they'll catch all of you in the end and give you your just deserts,” he answer- ed. ‘‘It willcome, I am not the only one in the game against you.” ‘*We know who the other one is, and we're able to take care of him. Your friend, Phlox, won’t trouble us very much, and when we close in on him there won’t be any one in our wa 7 Haloonb looked away once more, and even shut his eyes. ‘‘ What bad you discovered when we came down on you on your way to Pappy Pink with his letter in your pocket?’ Belden asked. ‘* Never mind what,” ‘Well, let me impart a little information. We have discovered the lost heirs,” said the villain, gloatingly. The Philadelphia shadower started. “What! found the children?” he cried. ‘I don't believe you, Blake Belden.” ** Just as you like about that,” was the re- joinder. ‘' We have the game in our own hands t last, and there will be noturning up of the little ones. Your master has failed, for without the heirs he can do nothing.” Holcomb seemed to realize this, yet he did not know whether to believe the rascal or not, ‘* Since you don’t want to tell mo anything, I will leave you alone,” continued Belden, arising and moving toward the door, He was followed by the gaze of the man in the chair, and when he reached the door he was called back, “I waut to get out of this place at any price,” Holcomb said. ‘I can’t die here in my con- dition of mind, Let me out and I will quit the game for good, I will tell you all I know—” ** You will, eh?” ‘Yes, yes—everything! I won’t keepa single secret back.” Belden looked at the prisoner a moment, and then advanced upon bim, He had taken from his pocket a knife which he had opened, and Holcomb was looking at it like a grateful pensioner. “There, you are freenow,” said Belden, when he had severed the strong line that lashed biia to the fateful chair, and the man could sit bolt upright and feel the blood course uninterrupted through his veins once more, “T am not afraid to trust you. Now, you must keep your promise with me,” ‘*T will, Goon!” ‘¢ Are you the sole tenant of this house?” **T think I am,” : ‘* Are you sure there is no other captive under this roof?’ ‘¢ havo never heard of another,” Belden looked disappointed, ‘* Chuck Holcomb, you don’t care much who you serve, do you?” he went on. ‘ Of course you haven’t a very friendly feeling for the man who tied you to that Devil’s seat, and the truth is, he is getting too arbitrary for me,” ** Sam Spanker, eh?” ‘* Yes, e is nothing more nor less than a bleeder. I want a man whom I can trust and for such a pergon I will pay liberally.” ete eyed the plotter sharply, but did not ea ** Look here, Belden: I don’t know but what we might come to an agreement,” and while he spoke he slid across the floor as deftly as his swollen feet would permit, ‘We ought to be friends when a Common interest unites us, I don’t care much about the children, and, a8 you know, I entered this game for the money there was in it for me.” “T thought so, Chuck.” The half starved man had risen from the chair and Belden saw in the depths of his eyes light he had not noticed before. Instinctively he retreated toward the door. “I will talk to you as I should!” suddenly shouted Chuck, springing at the scoundrel, and before the astounded Belden could resist, he found his hand pinioned by an iron grip and the rasan orbs of the desperate Holcomb burn- in ace, f Take my place if you please!” he command- ; : ‘ ee aie ed, ‘‘Go to the chair and see by actual experi- ence how it is yourself!” Horror settled over Blake Belden’s face, but, despite his struggles he was thrust into the chair. Then the eager hands of Holcomb were not long in lashing him in it witb the rope which still hung over its arms, The infuriated man’s task was accomplished before Belden could recover from bis astonish- ment, and when he found bimself bound in the seat he groaned in absolute fear. ** Sam, ere he went off awhile ago, told me that he would never come back,” Holcomb informed him. ‘‘ He left me to perish here and, as you must have noticed when you dropped in, I was near the end. I had no hopes when you came; but now, the tables bave turned and I have you in the toils, This is an awful place at night. The house is haunted by a headless ghost and what One sees here when all is dark makes one’s blood run cold,” Belden shuddered and gasped. ‘*Good by, Blake Belden! The next time you run across an enemy in a torture-chair be care- ful what you do, You have found the Pettibone children, did you say? Frankly, I don’t believe it. You have lied before and one can’t put any dependence on your word. I want to tell you here that I am going back to the trail like a whirlwind of vengeance, I know I’m not a saint; but I intend to hap justice this time—” Chuck Holcomb stopped suddenly and leaned toward his captive. ‘** Heavens, he has fainted!” he cried, It was true. The horror of his situation had deprived Blake Belden of consciousness, CHAPTER XVII. THE LITTLE GAME THAT FAILED, SAM SPANKER was greatly incensed over the rough treatment he had received at Mother Snipe’s hands, and he vowed with more than one hard oath that he would get even with her, Besides this, the old woman was dangerous, and the sooner he got her out of the way the better it would be for the Golden Coil. If she really knew the whereabouts of the two heirs, she would always remain a stumbling-block in the way of the plot, and the surest way to get rid of her dont be to abduct her, and see that she never came back any more, It was night, and nearly twelve, when Sam and Simon Short, his partner, crouching in the shadow of some bales on one of the wharves, were in secret consultation ou this very point, The pair had stolen to the spot for this meet- ing, and were talking in low tones while the waves broke against the water-soaked piles, and receded into the dark distance of the river, Near by, and in the shadow of the same bales, lay something that did not look much like a human towne: hit which had a pair of keen eyes and sharp ears, If the two rascals had taken the care to look back oftener than they did, they might have seen the shadow by which they had n fol- lowed to the pier, and this chapter would not be written, Crime continually makes blunders, and on this occasion it made a very serious one for Sam and Simon. . After detailing his adventure with Mother Snipe, Spanker went on to unfold his scheme, ‘You can get the cab again,” he explained, ‘‘-You know how to play cabby to perfection, and I will do the stealing. Ihave never tried to capture a rattlesnake, and I can’t say that I like the job; but something’s got to be done with that woman, She knows too much, Simon, and she’s liable to tell it just where we don’t want it told—-at Police Headquarters,” ‘‘ If she takes a notion to tell it there the jig is up,” said Simon Short. ¢ Exactly. We've got to circumvent her to- night yet.’ AN Simon drew his watch and looked at it in the light of the nearest lamp. t was just twelve, *‘ She’s asleep now,” he observed, “Of course. I know how to get into the room. She sometimes stays up till nearly morning, for of late I’ve seen a light in her room till after this hour.” ‘* If she’s awake she won't let you in.” ‘Don’t let the getting in bother you. Will you do the driving? ‘6 ‘Yes,” Every word of this plot was heard by the per- son crouched in the shadow of the bale, and the eyes glowed with unwonted brilliancy. ‘* It’s the coolest plot of the whole game,” said the listener, “‘but they're liable to find their hands full of a bad job when they come to carry off Mother Snipe, She's got the pluck of a tiger and they ought to know that with her secrets she don’t intend to be carried off to prevent the success of Justice in this plot against the Petti- bone children,” We need not say that the speaker was Billy Winks, the boy ferret, nor that he bad followed the two scamps to the pier and by sneaking up on them, had overheard every word of the plot against Mother Snipe, who was to be carried off yet that night, and placed somewhere where she would be powerless to aid the cause of right. The plot stirred Saal drop of the young detective’s blood, and he had listened to the men with indignation tugging at his beart-strings. He did not quit bis place until he saw the forms of Sam and Simon fade in the distance; than he sprung up and bounded nimbly away, ‘Shall I go for help or can we outwit them?” he questioned. ‘ She is both cunning and strong, and with = i help may get away with the two vultures, guess I won’t go forhelp. I told Nelse, Josie’s beau, the other day, that I would not call any policemen into this case till I had to, I’ve worked it up so far without help, and L won’t call for any pow,” A few minutes later the bell ra ferret crept. into the house, which had been his home for years, and went to his room, As he passed Mother Snipe’s door he heard no noise which might indicate that the old woman was still up, but a light shining through the key- hole told him that the room was not dark, In the solitude of his little cbamber, Billy Winks waited for the plotters. After awhile he heard a vehicle pass up the street, and then all was still once more. Presently a footstep came up the stairs, for he had left his door open for the purpose of hearing it, Had the plotters come for Mother Snipe? The whaie house seemed to be buried in slum- ber, and not a sound calculated to disturb the slick game was to be heard, Billy Winks stole to the door and looked out, He caught sight of a dark figure in the old hall, and core heard a gentle rap on Mother Snipe’s rtals. ‘That is Sam Spanker, the man who had me iu his grip in the cab,” thought Billy, ‘tHe has come to do the work, and Simon is sitting on the box below,” : For a moment the figure of the man at the old woman’s door was seen by the boy, and then a streak of light fell into the hall as the portal was opened, The next moment the figure of the villain dis- appeared in Mother Snipe’s room, and Billy took several steps frum his door, ‘‘Not a word, if you want to live another minute!” he heard a voice say, ‘Il have come back for the truth about the boy. You said Bae know where he is—not in so many words, ut I understood it, all the same—and ‘that is . what I’m here for. You threw me out of the house and I did not resist, but now I’m here to. play a hand of trumps and you will come with ” me, “With you?’ cried Mother Snipe. ‘* You don’t know me, Sam Spanker, I am able to de- fend myself and, as for telling you where the boy is—I would rot first!” ‘Ho, not so bad as that, I hope, But come, I can’t waste time bere, e have a carriage below and you will permit me to use this band- kerchief—” There was a brief struggle and from the sounds he heard, Billy Winks knew that this time the villain had taken advantage of the woman and that she was in his power, He ran to the door, but balted there, Sam had taken care to shut it when he entered the chamber, but it was not locked, ‘“‘Help! belp!” rung from Mother Snipe’s throat, but the last cry was suddenly stifled, ‘‘T never let a fly get out of my web,” laughed the man in the room. ‘*There is too much at stake to let you escape, Mother Snipe, but if you don’t give us too much trouble, you may come back to the old nest and end your days in peace,” There was no answer to this, The truth is, Mother Snipe was too well gagged to make one, for the handkerchief had been drawn over her mouth and she was in the grip of the tool of the Golden Coil. With his hand on the latch of the room, Billy Winks hesitated. He hardly knew what to do —whether to rush in and confront the rascal or try to follow the cab in hopes of discovering something about Josie, His indecision was cut short by the opening of the door and he drop along the wall: where there was no lig tand stood aight ap against it, j a ‘ , | - oy |