Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 814 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

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Now don’t for amoment imagine ' this to pe simply a begging letter—on the contrary, | | | | | | ed sport, blackleg and gambler, and withal so | extremely blase that he could readily accommo- date himself to the companionship of menof any age, if they were only ‘ fast.” enough. : The ‘‘ blood” seemed under a spell, and, al- though he had not sense enough to realize it, was completely within the power of the adventurer- grandee, : At the race-track and gaming table he had seen the foreigner win thousands of dollars in the coolest, and most matter-of-fact manner, In the ball-room he had seen him the_ haughty noble, yet the lion, by all odds, of the eVening. After the regatta the Spaniard’s oar was graced with the blus ribbon; he owned the fast- est yacht on the bay; the richest turnout on the boulevard, and Once young Banderson bad acted as the grandee’s second in an “affair of honor” in which his opponent fell at ten paces—an op- onent no other man, in his right senses, on the acific Slope would have dared face in the auello, And in a dazed way young Banderson won- dered why the fates came to allow him to play Pythias to this wonderful man’s Damon, The ‘‘ blood” had several times endeavored to gather prestige by showing the foreigner around to some of the ‘‘ shady ” haunts of the great city, but the mysterious man always went him one better by giving the full history of the place, along with an account of the lives of some of its most noted criminal habitues, And thus their intimacy progressed until the grandee had become familiar with almost the entire bistory of the young ‘ blood’s” life; while, strange to relate, the titled blackleg was, if pos- sible, more of a puzzle to his young associate than ever. Thus matters stood when one evening young Banderson sat in his elegantly furnished suit of apartments, clad in full evening dress, und with a tall decanter and two glasses upon the table before bim, It was to be the night of nights for bim, Le Duc was to call in an hour, he was to visit the rooms of the grandea (a favor that had, as ' yet never been granted to one of his most inti- mate friends) and from there they were to take in the theater. If he could but take e peep into the rooms of this most mysterious individual, he reasoned, he was positive he could learn something of the his- tory of the wonderful man. He little suspected how much that visit was destined to bear upon all his after life. His cogitations were suddenly iuterrupted by a knock dpon the door, Wondering who his visitor could be, for it was much too early for the arrival of Torrento who was always punctuality itself, the ‘* blood % arose and opened the door. It was only a uniformed messenger with a letter, Dismissing the youth with a liberal fee, the young man again seated himself and glanced at the superscription, As he did so his face clouded with fear and anger combined, It bore the impress of a delicate female hand, ‘*Curse the luck! She has found me, for that is the handwriting of the little Mexican fool, Bianca Codaza?” be muttered fiercely. ‘* Of course she wants more money—or more likely it is the old story of my promise to marry her, ‘Well, I may as well read tne scrawl, but she had better go slow, for 1 am now ina position to defy even blackmail, and besides, the Tilloson millions are too big a stake to risk for any more foolishness with .the little * Greaser’!” Opening the letter he read as follows, his for- mer bored and angry expression meanwhile giving place to one of the most intense amaze- ment: *' DEAREST !— ‘*T know you will be terribly angry at my baving dared to ascertain your lodgings, ut you must re- | ——- rrr Iam tow in position to help you, to any reasonable extent, atany time you happen to encounter one of : *. : a aial 410 ' friend, Carlos of “Torrento, City of your usual financial difficuities. Rem -mbering that you have not been so prompt with your calls of late Ace High, the Frisco Detective. Let the band go to Hades | member that I might have come in person instead of | Witk feverish haste the young man began ex- - amining the papers, as formerly, 1 will assume that you have not heard | of the death of my father—th.-t it has come to light that he was something of a miser—that he left me quite a sumin gvld; that | um now filling an engage- or, that before he died my unhappy father informed me that [ was not the chiid of obscure blood he has led me to believe, but a desc ncdant cf one of the proudest houses of Castile in Spain. I will say no more now, but—won’t you come to me, dear? I love you as ever, and [want your help to estublish my claim to the Codaz. titie and estates. Thereis no flaw in my pedigree, | am assured beyond doubt; norin my life, either, but what you have made, and you surely will not be ashamed to vossess the hand you have tainted when you knowthat hand hodsa p!incess's title. Please come. ** Affectionately, ** BIANCA,” The address was one in the bon-ton portion of the city. Young Banderson pondered deeply. ** Will wonders never cease?” he mused, ‘* A week ago I was upon the verge of ruin. To-day [ am backed by a cool million; am hand- in-glove with one of the wealthiest grandee’s of Spain; and now, to cap the climax of success Iam offsred the hand of a princess of Castile! ‘‘ But can I believe her? May it not be buta deep ; lot to entangle me? ‘*Pshaw! She has not brains enough for such ascheme,and— Happy thought! Torrento will know if there is a Codaza title! ‘'Stay! She is leading lady at the Theater Parisienne, and it is to the Parisienne we are to go to-night! - ‘t By Jove! if her assumptions prove to be cor- rect, it will be slightly to my interests to Jet tie Tilloson slide and fall back upon my plaything, the Princess di Codaza! Ha! ha! ha! ‘* But there is Flash! Jove! Lcan’t lether go! She is by far the most beautiful being I ever sect eyes upon, and if Icould only manage to get more intimately acquainted with the siren, lam sure my success would be certain! And she must have money—willions, to judge by the jawels she wears, ‘¢ Yet there is that devil, Ace High! Oh! if I could get Torrento at him once, 1 would be top of the heap, sure! “ Well, I’Jl think it over, and then ‘feel’ Le Duc abit! The v.ay things are shaping them- selves for me, lam a blockhead if I don’t make a ten-strike out of the pile somewhere! ‘‘ Hello! There are Le Duc’s clay-banks now, Jove! ain’t they steppers! But unless I am greatly mistaken I will yet blossom cut with an outfit that will discount the grandee’s two to one}” And so we may naturally assume that the Spaniard found his young friend in the best of spirits, that the ride to the former’s lodgings was one long to be remembered, and that it was almost like experiencing a cold bath in mia- summer to learn, upon their arrival, that the grandee’s favorite saddle-horse, Erigand, had been taken suddenly ili during the master’s ab- sence, and demanded his immediate attention, Showing his guest to the coorof an outer apartment, the Spaniard invited him to enter and make himself perfectly at home, then hur- riedly excusing himself, he left for an indefinite period, much to the gratification of the exuber- ant young ‘‘ blood,” Young Banderson’s first action upon entering the door was to start back with awe at the sight of the almost Oriental magnificence of the suit of apartments before him, He had never imagined anything to equel the splendid bangings, pictures, furniture and bric- a-brac that row fell under his vision through open double folding-doors that connected the entire suit from smoking-room to bedroom, But he finally recollected that he was there for another purpose than to indulge in a dream of admiration of the grand¢e’s lodgings, and he passed into the second apartment, where stood a magnificent rosewood writing-table, littered with a pile of what appeared to be a draft of some old foreign manuscript. As the ** blood ” bent over to examine the huge ellow sheets, his eyes rested upon a name that rought a startled cry to his lips, The manuscript was of parchment—which ac- counted for its ancient appearance—and was closely written in Spanish, a language with which young Banderson was unusually famil- iar, The name which caught his eye, as before men- tioned was Coduza | | | | | | | They bore the date of: “* Madrid, February 4, 186-,” and were addressed to: ‘‘My dear exico, Mexico,” And furtber could he believe what he read? the man he had known as Le Duc, was given the power of attorney by the court of Spain and wos charged with tie task of finding, an producing one, Miguel Codaza, or bis heirs; said Miguel Codaza being ‘‘next of kin,” and last inheritor of the estates and title of Marquis del Codeza!l ‘*So, she is a marquise, eh?” mattered the blood in a daze, ‘* Tt reads like a talefrom the Arabian Nights! Jove! Was there ever such luck as mine? All that is left me todois to marry the little fool before Le Duc finds her, and there | am, one of the wealthiest-— | ‘* By Jupiter! It almost escaped my memory, but it will never do to go to the Parisienne to- dight—I will leave my regrets for the prince telling him I am called suddenly away, and will at once proceed to put in my oar for the Codaza estates!” CHAPTER XVII. AMONG THE CROOKS, It was Cotty, the crook, who had, upon the evening succeeding that which witnessed Ace High’s narrow escape from the death-chair, discovered that, instead of lying stark and cold beneath the crib, the last mentioned individual was still in his place before the table presided over by the Girl Sport, While pushing bis way through the crowd that thronged the Gulconda, be had+come face to face with the invincible detective, and the inexpected meeting bad almost paralyzed him with fright. But the Gambler Detective had only said, with a smile that was worse than a menace: ‘*Ah! Cotty, my son, we meet once again! sut don’t get scart and run, chappy, for 1 am not ready to run you In yet, ‘*T am looking for that gentlemanly partner ours; good-night!” ‘hen Cotty remembered bis ‘‘ partner” had, upon entering the crib that night, assumed a fair disguise; but nevertheless, he was much troubled in spirit, and wished that either he, or Ace High were a thousand miles from ’frisco, But the Gambler Detective did not seem dis- posed to leave the city just yet. Indeed, at almost the very moment that Barry Banderson was looking over the Duque de Tor- rento’s private papers, and less than a block from the grandee’s lodgings, Ace High was waiking briskly along the pavement, with an expression of .th8 deepest exultation upon his usually mask-like face, ‘*Everytting is working to a charm!” he mused, glancing sharply though most adroitly into the face of every passer-by, as was his wont, ‘*The ‘blood’ is fixed for keeps, the Codaza irl can be depended upon for every dollar a man is worth, for the stakes she has in view; Bonanza Bob is making good headway toward the widow’s beart and fortune, for Iam sure he will declare himself before tbe ball is over at most, and my next move must be toward corral- ing the Redbird— _** By Jove! speak of the devil and he will ap- pear! ‘* Now for a little fox-and-hound work!” It was a wonderful disguise that the Gambler Detective could not penetrate with a single glance. He cared nothing for the rest of the face, so that he could note his man’s eye, It .was sight of the man called by Banker of Banderson “‘ Byrde Raynold,” which brought ine above ejaculation from the man-bunter’s ips. The bandit was most cleverly disguised, but he could not change the expression of his eyes, und these betrayed him to the watchful ferret just ahead, The detective did not attempt to avoid his man, On the contrary, be pretended to be intently studying the upper stories of the buildings on the hither side of the street while the outlaw was passing, He bad an object in thus exposing his undis- guised features to the gaze of his bitterest foe, Undoubtedly the outlaw would recognize him anyway,and by thus appearing to be uncon- scious of the other’s presence, he would throw his quarry off his guard. 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