Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 771 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

: 10 his companions to guard the prisoner, and went aside with the other, for consultation, W hen they returned, pen, paper and ink were placed before the Keener. ‘* Write!” order the leader, ‘* What?” “What I tell you. Begin thus: ‘Percy Berthrong, Dear friend—’” ‘* Say, who’s goin’ ter sign this?’ Fred de- manded, “You,” ‘* Singin’ ’skeeters! the*idee o’ my addressin’ Perce as ‘Dear friend!) Why, man, you’re crazy as‘a man who thinks all bis political party is square,” “Goon!” angrily cried the leader. ** Write as [ tell you, or you never will leave here alive,” “That settles it, Reel off yer rhetoric, an’ I'll write English, French, Choctaw or Hunter’s Point dialect,” The letter, when written, was certainly a re- markable composition from the Keener’s point of view, It read as follows: ‘*PercY BERTHRONG:— ** DEAR FRIEND:—I amin trubble, an’ wood like youre as’isterance without Delaigh. I fownd owt hat They wuz ou 2 owr sch em abowt Clarriss, an’ That They-wuz goin’ 2 Git Hir away unless I took roomp’ mazures 2 keep her away frum Them. so changed Hir abowd an’ bro’t Hir hear. Kum 2 this number an’ taik charge ov Hir agen. Will You! I don’t feel able ter do it. That’s w’ot My trubble is, “lt hav Diskovered a good ’eel witch We Did knot no befour. Unless you are verry kwick you are _liabell ~ Bee seezed an’ incusserateated in priz’n. * You Are a-square man, an’I like you. You no you can depend Onto Me, 2. We will Help One another. Kum at once. ‘**Yore trew friend, ** Foxy Frep.” There had been no especiil need of the Keener giving his real name, but the humor of the sit- uation had appealed to him so strongly that he could not resist the temptation. If the letter really was delivered to Berthrong, that *‘ dear friend ” would be staggered by it. The leader read the missive through, ** Where did you learn to spell?” he asked, ‘* Berthrong teached me,” was the demure reply. ‘*‘Heisa graduate of Yale College, an’ he put me onter the Yale system,” For a moment the faintest trace of a smile was visible on the man’s face, He never had seen worse spelling—nor had Fred. He did not claim to be perfect, but he bad willfully outdone himself in bad spelling, this time, ‘* Put Berthrong’s address on this envelope,” the leader added. The joke lost force, It never would do tosend the letter to the house where ** Juan Costa ” had seen the ex-sport, for this would cause the gang tu move out at'once. The only chance left was to address it to Berthroaog’s printing-office, and this he did. The leader did not seem favora- bly impressed by this, but after considerable questioning, he bad to be content. One of his men was sent with the decoy. ‘Now, I s’pose I go?” questioned the Keener, ‘* No; you await Berthrong’s coming.” ** Whew! then I'll winter with ye. 1 tell you fair that. he bates me like p’izon,” ‘I prefer my own opinion, i shall hold you until i know you can’t give him warning, to keep him away, Our business, boy, is not of trivial nature, We bavs a great‘work to do, and we shall do it, though one-half of New York opposes us. Through blood, if necessary, we go to attain our end, and woe be to those who oppose us, Death is likely to be their re- ward, Igive you fair warning; beware bow you trifle with us!” CHAPTER XV, THE MAN IN BLACK, THE Keener argued the matter no More. He had seen that this was folly, and he settled down to take matters as calmly as possible, He had considerable faith in the unknown’s assertion that they did not seek to harm him, though he was of the opinion thata gale would blow around his ears when they saw that Berthrong was not to be entrapped thus, These’ men interested Foxy Fred, Who were they? What did they want of Clarice? These and other questions floated through his mind as he sat and watched them in the silence which followed, In a certain way they were impressive of ap- pearance, Their faces were intelligent; tbeir physical proportions, muscular, Then their ap- earance of having come from some distant nd; their bronzed skins and bushy beards; / - . : by * : : ‘ : * ; ve : Pard. Foxy Fred’s Odd their grim and grave air; their serious way of taking all things—these peculiarities made them impressive. ‘* New Yorkers would order up a pitcher o’ beer an’ settle down fer a game o’ poker,” thought the Keener, *‘ but they set like Quakers in meetin’,” Tbey were more patient than he, for they kept their positions calmly, long after be bad grown nervous; but then, he knew tbat delay would be an utter failure, Nothing in his favor was to be expected; trouble was to be looked for, The monotony of theaffair was finally broken, A woman knocked at the door, and when she was admitted, she beld out acard-—which, plain- ly, was not an orthodox “visiting ” card—and announced: ‘“*A gentleman to see Eldred.” This seemed to be the name of the leader, He took the card, and presently passed it to his companion. They conterred for a moment, and then turned to the Keener, ‘* Boy,” said Eldred, ‘* both of us wish to see this man, and as we want to be sure of your presence when we return, we shal] bave to put you under a trifle of restraint.” ‘In wot way?” ‘Simply to bind your hands, and tie you to yonder sofa,” **T ain’t old enough ter vote, an’ I s’pose you'll do ez you please,” Fred replied, ungraciously. Their idea was carried out, and they then left the room. The Keener was alone; the window was near; but be was perfectly helpless, ‘* Frederick Walsingham Mather,” he remark- ek, ** you can’t drag this furnitnre through the winder with ye,so you'll hev to take things as coolly as you kin, ou may not lose anything by bein’ with the Bearded Brethren—unless its your head!” He smiled humorously, for nothing could dampen his spirits; but at that moment the door reopened, He looked, expecting to see one of the bearded men, but what he really did see gave him asurprise, [t wasa tall, semi-ministerial-looking person, and one not unbeard of by Foxy Fred. ‘*The Manin Black!” be unconsciously mut- tered, remembering Mrs. Stapnaru’s account of the man, It flashed upon bim that the standing of the mysterious shadower was fixed, and that he was proven an ally of the Bearded Brethren, but the new-comer quickly made that theory doubtful. He crossed the room with long, light steps and stood by the Keener’s side, ‘* Do you want to escape?” he asked, in a low, gentle voice, ‘*Do I? Wal, trv me an’ see!” ** You will not be precipitate?” ** W’ot’s that?” ‘* Hasty, headlong. Wemust go out slyly if at all, or we never sball get out,” ‘* Mister, ’m on! Set me free, an’ you sball see | kin be assecret as a mouse afuer cheese, Let ’er go!” Deftly the Man in Black untied the cords, and red rose up aud stretched his limbs, once more free, ‘** You’re a brick!” he declared, ‘““We must waste no wordsor time. Follow me, but abate not your caution for a moment, We must pass near the enemy, and though [| may pause for a moment to see what is the drift of their remarks, all may be ruined, in any case, by indiscretion,” 4 ‘*Don’t you worry,” impatiently advised the Oy. The Man in Black said no more, and they pass- ed into the next room, The Keener quickly caught onto the situation, The two Bearded Bretbren and their caller were there, end it would bave been impossible to pass them had they not been seated behind a fancy screen. Why they were there was not Certain, unless it was in the lineof habitual practice of secrecy, but it had worked against them, now, It en- abled the Man in Black to enter, and the latter and Fred might uow have gone out at once, but the leader stopped and madea motion of cau- tion, They were close to the screen, and everything said there was plainly audible, Eldred was speaking. ‘‘As for us,” he « xplained, ‘‘ we are in New York by order of the Committee of Death.”’ ‘You are fortunate,” ‘* The Power bas spoken, and we obey.” ‘* You have come @ long ways,” ** Yes; and on an old trail, Those long lost sight of have been relocated; hence, our mis- sion, ‘* Who is the recreant brother?” **Our mission concerns a woman—a girl,” ‘* Ah! then your work is not pleasant,” **? Tis the will of the Power.” ‘Il know, and I doubt not you will do the work well, But the few women admiited to the order rarely come under the ban thus.” ‘*In this case sbe never was admitted. The case is peculiar, and more unpleasant than you suspect. Very likely the doomed one never heard of th Power. With her,” added Eldred, som- berly, ‘‘anotber must fall. He is a recreant brother.” ‘* When is the deed to be done?” ** Not until our handg are on the girl. We have been troubled by lack of knowledge of the city, and when victory has seemed in our grasp, some miscbance bas put us all at fault. Soon, however, we shall bave our prey. When our grasp is on her, look out for a sensation in which a rich man shall figure as the victim, His name is Harding Otis.” Foxy Fred looked at the Man in Black, but the latter’s face was immobile, If this conver- sation conveyed any particular meaning to bim, he gave no evidence of the fact. But the Keener began to see more clearly how the rich man stood, ‘*Slay without mercy,” advised the visi! or, ‘The order has not yet come, He is duly doomed, and has been warned, in order to ren- der his few remaining days of life more wretched, but the full decree of the Power is not yet at hand. When it comes, he dies!” The cool and relentless way in which these words were spoken made Foxy Fred shiver. It might be true, as the Bearded Brethren had said, that they had nothing against him, but he would prefer other company to theirs, The Man in Black shook bishead, Fred sus- pected it was because he was annoyefl at not hearing anything of direct value tohim, He grew more attentive to outside things, too, and after a pause, motioned toward tke door. They started, but, just as that point was reached, and they stood by the passage from the parlor to the hall, the outside door was opened, A man entered, Foxy Fred started. It was the absent Bearded Brother, and he wasin their path of escape. ae ee OC CHAPTER XVI. BEHIND THE DOOR, Ir Eldred’s messenger had been looking to- ward the parlor door he must have seen the es- caping pair, at once, but he turned a little to one side as he entered, and the Man in Black was net slow to improve the opportunity. He seized Foxy Fred and drew him behind the parlor door, and by the time the messenger had closed the outer one, be had nobody within range of his vision. He walked ivto the parlor, and at sound of his footsteps Eldred rose, ‘*Soivs you? What luck?’ ‘‘ None, I found nobody.” ** How was that?” ‘The printing-office was closed, and I saw no sign of life, There was a bell, and J rung it un- til was afraid I would pull the walls down, No one came, and I could only infer that nobody was inside.” ‘*T am not surprised, The boy is an obstinate fellow, and I feared he might make us trouble, but I think we can bend his stiff neck. We'll see him again!” Eldred started for the parlor, and, as there was no chance for Fred and bis companion to make their escape, the former glanced uneasily at the Man in Black. That person, however, was as stoical as ever, The leader of the bearded men paused. ‘¢ We will wait awhile,” he added, ‘‘ A bro- ther is here; you can meet him, We will at- tend to the boy, later, He tells his secret to- night, or—” The pause was quite as significant as words would have been, The late messenger joined the others and was duly introduced to the visitor, Conversation was then renewed, but not on matters of interest to Foxy Fred. All, it appeared, were total strangers in New York, and they spoke of the place as strangers naturally would, As this did not concern Fred and the Man in Black they would gladly have said farewell to the scene, but this they could not do. The addition of one to the party by the screen made room §&o scarce that one sat wholly beyond cover, and facing directly toward the hall. Fred and bis ally were prisoners behind the door. Naturally, the Keener was disposed to let the Man in Black act as leader, but he looked at him without getting any sign in return. The man was motionless as a statue, If he bad any