Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 801 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

Marian was in a hysterical state, and the women were scarcely equal to the task of sooth- ing and quieting ber. Z Seated on the floor of one of the lower rooms the withered and vindictive crone glared around on her captors, with the fierce looks of a snared bawk, ** You think you have saved her, but you have not]” she anapped, bringing her teeth together like theclick of a beak, ‘‘ Nothing can save Ler from me; for I hateher, I hate her! I hate her!” ** Ho, ho!” exclaimed one of the men, who had been eying hercuriously, ‘'I guess you are old Meg Carlow?” ‘* What is it to you who I am?” She seemed somewhat taken aback, “Pf reckon you’re old Mog!” he avowed, wap- ging his bead sagely, ‘‘i seen you once, ten or tiftesn years ago: an’ you were a good deal handsomer than you are now, You an’ Carlow . fived upon the Roaring Fork, then, an’ I went up there tosee him about somo cattle. But, I thought you were dead long ago. Carlow give it out that way,” **lveas good a right to live as my betters,” she snarled, sulkily, ‘t Mebbe Lam Meg Carlow, An’ then mebbel ain’t, It’s an bonest name, ain’t iv?” ‘*What’d you want to kill her for?” another inquired, jerking his thumb toward the ceiling. ** Because she was Jim Carlow’s pet! Bal! as if Jim Carlow could ever care for anything but his cattle and his money! I hated him and I hate her. Carlow deserted me, an’ then report- ed that [was dead, That’s the kind of a man Jim Carlow was!” This recollection brought from her such a tirade of vituperation aod general abuse of the human race that if was unbearable; and one of the officers of the town, having made his | appearance, the distracted and raving old wo- man was given into his charge for safe keeping. CHAPTER XX, CONCLUSION, SEAL SHELTON drew in his pony with a ner- vous jerk. He was riding, with Colton and Kent Kirby, at the head of the victorious party on the return journey from Rogue River Ranch, The red streakings of early dawn were be- ginning to tinge the eastern sky, but it was not this that caused him to rein in so quickly and stare 80 hard at the reddish bands,, Theve was a dash of a deeper, angrier hue. A fiery prong had been suddenly thrust upward against the low line of the brightening borizon. It was in the direction of Piebald, which was now scarcely more than a half-mile away. The entire party came to a halt. ** One of the buildings is on fire,” Colton ex- claimed, in an anxious voice, The statement brought a feeling of hope to the closely guarded prisoners. In the excite- ment incident to a fire some loophole of escape might present. owever, Colton was never a man to take needless chances. He ordered redoubled Vigi- lance on the part of the guards, and then com- manded a rapid advance, The little cavalcade flew over the prairie at an exceedingly lively pace, and in a few-minutes the town was reached, Throughout this short ride Seal Shelton had grown every Moment more and more uneasy, As he turned into the main street his worst fears were confirmed, The house in which he had | left Marian was the one which was burning! A few startled people were gathering in the streets, shouting “fire” to arouse their neigh- bors. The flames were making alarming head- way. He could not doubt they were of incendiary origin, for they were shooting up from half a \ dozen diferent points, With a chill clutching at his heart, and for- getful of the prisoners whom it was his duty to assist in guarding, he raced his bronsho madly up the street. es) Then for the first time’ he became aware that Sih) a tattered and maniacal woman was dancing Until that mo- Now she raised her voice shrilly. Evidently she recognized him, frenziedly about in the yard, ment she had been silent, ba ** You are too late! ‘Too late!” she screamed, iis ae waving her arms like ragged banners, ‘* You i ee shall never see her alive. She will burn! Burn! Five I killed Jim Carlow, and I shall complete my Tig Ra bah by killing her, Ha, ha, ha! See him by) a4 ; rave mre xf He had thrown himself from the saddle in a MERE Rf very agony of fear. ‘ NR Almost at the same moment a number of Vi heads were thrust from the upper windows of | ————K——as—asaa__ So LL the building. Her screams had aroused the frightened inmates, who, until then, had been sleeping in blissful ignorance of the insidious | advances of the fire. Meg Carlow had been placed in the jail of the town, in a cell adjoining that of Tom Conner, As soon as her eyes fell on bim—the partitions were of iron lattice-work—she threw herself against the bars in a savage effort to reach him, Connor retreated in considerable terror, as she glared at him with a gaze that seemed to burn, ‘* Take her away!” he pleaded, me, if you don’t! I know who she is, She is the woman that tried to kill me on the Rogue River Cliff. She was dressed as a man, then,” The terrible struggle on the cliff was of such recent occurrence, and the featrres of bis as- sailant bad been so firmly impressed on him, that he could not fail to recognize her how, even though the garb was altered,” Her presence startled and bewildered him, It was like the appearance of one rising from the dead, How had she escaped death in the river? The wild current had also favored ber by flinging her into a granite-locked nook, from whence she had been able to draw herself into the security of the bushes that bordered it: and there she had lain in concealment until Kirby ceased his search of the shores, Meg Carlow’s manifestations of hate were now so deadly that sbe was removed to another part of the prison; and from this point she man- aged to nake her escape a few honrs later, Long brooding over the wrongs inflicted by Jim Carlow had made of ber an irresponsible and raving maniac. She had slain Carlow, and was resolved to have the life of every one sup- posedby her to be his favorite, Hence, her attack on the foreman, whom she had reason to think Carlow’s trusted lieutenant; and ber later at- tempts to kill Marian, But to return from this digression to the fire! As Seal Shelton rushed toward the nearest doorway, she threw berself across his path and endeavored to stop him, A crowd was rapidly gathering, and ladders were being brought for the purpose of reaching the upper windows, It was already plain that any efforts to save the building were useless, Shelton hurled the infuriated woman aside, and with a heavy kick broke in the door. Then he bounded through the gathering smoke, up the stairway to Marian’s room, She had been aroused by the outcries, and had arison and dressed as soon she knew the house was on fire, and was now advancing tremblingly into the corridor, She greésted Seal with exclamations of deliri- ous delight, In return he gave her a hurried embrace and kiss; then, lifting her in his strong arms, he dashed for the stairway, up which the choking smoke was swirling in a dense spiral, He had scarcely set foot on the upper steps when a flash of red flame leaped into the room below, and the ominous hiss and roar of the fire told that is had eaten through the thin partition aud was threatening to bar their progress, He was about to turn back and seek an exit by way of one of the windows, but a glance across the corridor showed the way was blocked in that direction, : A Babel of sounds and cries reached them from the outside, and the thumping of ladders against the hot walls told of the efforts that were being put forth to rescue the imperiled people, With a fierce determination Seal turned again to the stairway and leaped down it with his half-fainting burden. The fl me; had crept over the floorand were writ! ng in fantastic shapes directly across the path hu was compelled aft ey nib t the foot of the stairs he caught up a mat from the floor, twisted it about their heads, and then rushed unflinchingly into the flames, A prolonged cheer greeted their appearance. They were safe from the fire, having escaped with only a few slight burns, Meg Carlow had been again seized and re- taken to the prison. There she was visited a few hours later by the sheriff, together with Shelton and Kirby, Tho visit was made in pur- suit of information. The old woman was as fiery-eyed and vin- dictive as ever; and now that she saw no occa- sion for further secretiveness, exbibited an in- mene delight in recounting her bloodthirsty eeds, In her successful assault on Jim Carlow she had shown all the craft and cunning of which maniacs are frequently possessed. She had gone to the ranch for the express purpose of murder- _ 7 t oe « 4 ¥ ~ ‘*She will kill | Kent Kirby, the High-Kicker from Killbuck. ee ee RR ed Bee ie hg ee eens ing him. Creeping catlike up to the door of the | quick-fiagered, and so she stole up the back | stairway to awaita favorable opportunity, 15 ranch-house, she found him alope, There was no one else on the place, She knew Carlow to be wide awake and In the rooms above she found the dagger, and her eyes alighting on some of Marian’s apparel, she conceived the idea of wearivg thé shoes, She thought to thus strike a double blow. It would be a victory indeed to slay Carlow and have the murder charged against Marian, When she finally crept down-stairs, she found that Carlow had fallen asleep on the floor; and while in this helpless attitude she plunged the dagger to his beart. Then she retraced her way up-stairs, placed Carlow’s money under what she thought Marian’s pillow, left the building by the way she bad entered if, tossed the bloody shoes and knife into the mouth of the old well, and glided from the place as silently as she had come, The ‘ill-treatment which Carlow had been visiting on Marian, together with the resulting quarrels, and the hasty and iaconsiderate words and entries in toe diary, really seemed to make out so black a case that Kent Kirby was fully justified in his conclusions, The indications pointing to Sylvia Sterling as the murderess were equally misleading and un- trustworthy. She bad erred and been very fool- ish, and for this she was doomed to suffer in bit- ter and repentant tears: but she had never held aught against Jim Carlow. The money given by her to Tom Conner had been honestly obtain ed from the sale of a few cattle which a friend had saved to her from the wreck of her father’s fortune. It was perhaps not his fault that he had been imposed on and had taken a few coun- terfeit bills in payment, As for the bill with the ominous stain of bivod, it had been turned over in payment by a butcher, and the stain of bloody fingers evidenced nothing worse than the slaying of a steer, Sylvia has long since regained her usual elasticity of spirits, has recognized and confess- ed the errors which were the outgrowth of a half-crazed brain, and is now the bappy and contented wife of a prosperous ranchman of the Yellowstone, Meg Carlow was given pe per medical atten- tion, and her reason was finally restored. But, her heart.and her life had been blasted; and ber death, when it came, was not unwelcome to her, Seal Shelton and his handsome wife baye made the Rogue River Ranch their home, Seal feels that his faithin Marian bas been amply vindi- cated by time; and truly it has, for no worthier or happier couple reside within the boundaries of the Centennial State, Tom Conner and his associates of the Roster of Rogues, are ‘* doing time” in’the Penitentiary at Canyon City; and are having abundant op- portunity to learn the old and bitter lesson that ‘*the way of the transgressor is hard, As for Kent Kitby, the blatant, the wide- mouthed, the irrepressible High-Kicker trom Killbuck, he is still at his old tricks; and among detectives is accounted one of the shrewdest and most suecessful in the West, He has, however, learned one lesson: and that is, that circum- ) stantial evidence cannot always be relied on, He acknowledged this freely in the case of Marian Carlow; and among all their friends noneare accorded a more cordial welcome at Rogue River Ranch than Kent Kirby, the great detective, THE END, Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. BY LIEUT,. A, K. SIMA, 546 Captain Cactus, the Chaparral Cock, 568 The Dandy of Dodge. 5676 The Silver Sport. te pat Boke oa ay Wash : Shadow SY Tom-Cat anc ardg or, The Dead Set at j 601 Happy Mana, the Duteh Vidoeg. sania 611 Bildad Barnacle, the Detective Hercules. 622 Texas Tom-Cat’s Triad 681 Tom Cat’s Terrible Task. 688 Tom-Oat’s Triumph; or. Black Dan’s Great Combine. 646 Cowboy Gid, the Cartle-Ranga Detective. 657 Warbling Willlam, the Mountain Mountebank. 665 Jolly Jderemiahy the Plains Detective, 676 Signal Sams the Lookout Scout. G89 Billy, the Gypsy Spy. G99 Strap @ Sim, the Broncho Buster, 12 ‘The Meamerliat Sport; or, The Mystifled Detective. } $8 Toltee Tom, the’Mad Prospector, 45 Kansas Jim, the Cross-Cut Detective. Marmaduke, the Mustanger Detective, The Rustler of Rolling Stone. Lone Hand Joe, the Committee of One, e A New Iasue Every Tuesday. The Half. Dime Library is for sale by all nowsdealers, five gents per copy, or sont by matt A receipt o: six cents enck lishers, BEADLE AND ADAMB, pul 98 William Street, New York | eieiriric? Zit wa )’ v : b ‘ \ r % *y : { : \ > ' a i a + pall ” i : 7 y ; " r ~ " ut | i ; i ad F ’ 5 4 i ? j hy - ~ Comicbooks.com ave bie iow 5