Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 814 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

eS ” = _ 7 «~ yn 5 eae ak - . -— <5" -— “* =) a = _ re *. al 4 \ ‘- | al ww? 'y ed | “al % mF iy es > »* f { ‘ ae i py Y 7¥ a. AM i ’ : Th Ae « « \ r Ahr sy ‘~ ‘ a ' . *- . : te Pe ry ‘0 a, *" aa | 4 3s 8B Ace High, the Frisco Detective. ee we a deter ation Ee es —_ - a + ‘- = ‘Tllo! Whun hof ther draw’s his open ha lcetle—le’s take a squint inside!” His companions said not a word, but followed every sign of their leader with the utmost pre- cision. It was indeed true that the top drawer of the magnificent escritoire was Open nearly two inches, so, bending the rays of his powertul lan- tern to the crack at the top, Melbourne peeped in. The sight he saw within the drawer caused him to utter a cry of amazement, “By ther ’ornes hof ha helephant! We've struck it ther fu’st thing!” he breathed, ** Jest look in thar, me bloomin’ terantulars!” Heinrich Frekelheim, and his companion, a ONTO. eagerly complied, bat they saw was enough to fully warrant their exclamations of wonder. Strewn in glittering confusion upon the bottom of the velvet-lined drawer, was seen such heaps of gol!, jewels, and bank-notes, as ever their wildest dreams of riches had never imagined. ‘*Mein Gott in bimmel! Der must pa von “tag tollars dot draw’s in|” gasped Frekel- eim, ‘*So much ther better fer hus, then,” replied Melbourne, ‘“* And now to ’ave hit hout hof thar!” and inserting his fiogers in the opening he essayed to open the drawer, But it seamed as firm as the wall itself, ‘Wat hails ther bluddy thing?” he growled. ** Ketch a old, you terriers, and ’elp me pull§” This the two others did, but they were little prepared for the catastrophe which followed, Instead of moving outward under their com- bined efforts as they firmly believed it would, the drawer suddenly shot backward, as though moved by a powerful spring, firmly pinioning their twenty-four fingers, and making them at once prisoners, with no chance of escape! “Orns o’ ha helephant! Wat bails ther | bloomin’ thing?” howled the ex-convict, all re- gardiess o* the fact that he might alarm the house in his desperate efforts to escape from his dangerous as well as painful predicament, ** Hi might ’ave knowed hit was a trap w’en I gee’d ther draw open— * Oh, stop yer ’owling, ye bloody tarriers! Ye'll ave ther beaks hon hus hif ye don’t keep mum an’ try ter gif hout— Oh! by ther bloom- in’ Lord, !” In his suddex attempt to quiet the groans and curses Of bis two pals, Melbourne chanced to ‘lance over his shoulder, and it was sight of the orm standing*just back of him that brought forth that last ejaculation., It.was a tall form, envéloped from head to foot in », shroud-like garment of black. Naught but two gleaming eyes, through slits in the somber cowl, could bs seen. ! And yet another discovery was in store for th three imprisoned crooks, Not one form, but three were there, all envel- oped in the same Cark and funereal cloaks, Not a word did they utter or a move did they make—simply stood there silently like sentinels upon the watch, The negro was upon his knees, fairly pros- trated with superstitious fear, Frekeli.eim was mutteriog aud groaning despairingly, and Mel- bourne was cursing his luck roundly, when the three dark sentinels suddenly moved forward, released the crooks from their painful captivity, bound, gagged and blindfolded them before they cou!d offer the least resistance, even if they bad dared to, then dragged them slowly from tha room into an adjoining apartment. Then ensued what seemed ages of deathlike stillness, finally broken, however, by the sound of a hufried arrival of some person or per- sons, {t was evident a lengthy whispered conversa- tion was being carried on, after which tha three erooks were again seized, borne to a carriage, ‘transported quite a distance, and finally un- bound and thrust into a close; prison-like room, trom which they were soon satisfied there was n» way of escape. Melbourne saw at once, however, that only the negro was with him—Frekelheim had been retained outside! In fact, at this very moment the Dutchman was passing through a remarkable experi- ence, Fie, too, had been freed of his fetters, blind- fold and gag, but ranged about him in grim and terrifying silence were five dark-robed beings, each with a cocked revolver pointed motionless at his breast, Nor was this all, Just in front of him, dimly discernible in the faint, ghostly light which pervaded the room was a bigh, black-draped, throne-like chair, an ' seated therein was the white and rigid corpse of an old man, Yet, was it a corpse? Frekelbeim continued to glare at the face before him with bulging eves and stilled pulse— his hair rising visibly, his skin contracting with horror, and his blood slowly congealing in his veins, for, gleaming phosphorescently from the hazzard face of the corpse, two live eyes were looking straight into his own! The horrified man essayed to flee, but his limbs were like blocks of ice! He tried to cry out, but bis painfully contracted throat refused to act! Suddenly a deep sepulchral voice smote his hearing. It put an atom of life into his freezing body, though he almost lost his senses from ter- ror, for the suund emanated from the frczen, motionless lips of the living corpse, The words used .were German: ‘Speak, man! and be warned to speak the truth, for see! you converse with the ‘living dead!’ ‘* Lot thy guilty soul shrink within thee, for see: about thy body is ranged the minions of the dark king—Death! ** it remains with you if ye live or die! If ye answer my questions truthfully, let thy soul take courage,for ye shall go hen*e in peace,though thy bands are red with the blood of the innocent. ** Will you speak truthfully?” ‘Yes, gladly!—only let me escape alive!” gasped the horrified man. ‘* You were once an officer in the organization known as the Order of Hounds?” asked those motionless lips. 6s Yes!” ** You are even now a member of the remnant of ee band, with beadquarters in Chinatown?” ‘' es,”? ‘**'You are also a member of that band of road- agents led by Lieutenant Redbird?’ 66 Yes,” ‘You are the secret messenger between Lieu- tenant Redbird and his superior—Captain Nug- get?” | 6s I am.” “This Captain Nugget is also the superior officer of what is left of the Order of Hounds?” “ Ho. in,” ‘This Captain Nugget ordered you, and two others to enter a certain mansion this night with burglarious intent?” , ** Ho did.” “This Captain Nugget, while head of the terrible Order of Hounds, passes himse'f as an aristocrat in the best society of this city?” és Y-yes,” ‘To save yourself from the most horrible torture and death you ever imagined, you will give the pass-word necessary to enter the secret council of the Hounds, as weil as an explanation that will lead to the secret entrance to Lieu- tenant Redbird’s rendezvous?” ** |—Oh!—y-yes, if it is worse than this!” ‘** Worse! 1 swear to you, you will pray aloud in your agony to exchange positions with the living corpse before you!” ‘*My God! Then I consent!” ** And lastly; you will swear by an oath more terrible than the one you took when you joined the Hounds, that you will, should the occasion arise, testify that you were present, and helped torture to death the man, woman and children whom Captain Nugget destroyed, to gain possession of their secret mine in the heart of the Haunted Mountains?” ‘Great Heaven! You know of that!” Only that one cry, then the wretched man, his hair turned white with terror, fell, a senseless mass upon the floor, CHAPTER XI, BONANZA BOB RECEIVES A FORTUNE, AND A S"IOCK, BANKER BANDERSON sat alone in his private office, puffing furiously at a costly cheroot, while now and again he pulled a cut-glass flask of spirits from a drawer of his desk, and drank eagerly of its contents. ** Here I sit almost trembling with a nameless dread, when I should be one of the most com- posed of men, ‘To-day I shall finger the ducats of this Bonanza Widow, yet Iam shivering with fear, “| cannot understand why Melbourne, Heio- rich and Black Jim do not return, They should have been at the rendezvous before daylight, yet they bad not returned an hour ago, and it is now past nine, ‘‘They have not been arrested, as I learned when I called upon the chief of police with that snide reward for a lost pocketbook, ‘* Then what has become of them? Could they bave been so dazzled by the rich loot they found ~ as to light out wiih it? ‘* No! Melbourne is too old a ‘ Hcund’ to for- get ng oath, and the consequences of break- ng it! "e. — Ab! Here comes Barry!” The young ‘' blood” was pale and haggard, as he threw himself into a chair and reached for the half-emptied flask which the banker had inadvertently left upon the desk, __ ‘What is the matter, Barry? You look as though you bad had an interview with a ghost!” ‘‘No ghost in mine,” was the reply. “I simply made a hundred thousand last night, and then lost it all at ona plunge!” This was, of course true, but as we know, it was not the true cause of his present woe-begone aspect. The strange, not to say miraculous (to bim) escape of the beautiful siren from the Chinese “dive,” filled him with a nameless fear. ‘The same old story, Barry? I should suppose you would know, by this time, that you will never make a-successful gambler!” “On, but ’twas a plot between Ace High and the Girl Svort of the Golconda to rob me—” ‘¢ What! Ace High in San Francisco?” ‘“Yes; he is bucking the tiger for all he it worth, and has won a fortune from the siren, it is said; but I believe, in fact, I am well satisfied, they are gving ‘snacks,’ for some deep pur- pose!” The banker leaned back in his chair, pale asa corpse, ' SRO: ‘What sort of a looking person is this Girl Sport?” he at last managed to gasp. ‘‘ She is ashe-dovil, with the form and feat- ures of a Circe!” was the savage reply. . ‘¢ Bat describe her!” ‘* Well; ste isa trifle above the medium height; her form the perfecticn of symmetry; a tawny, oval face lighted by black eyes that are daggers of scintillating light, or walls of liquid softness, as her mood changes, and hair of tie hue of midnight, ; ‘*T can only add that, when decked out with the hundreds of j3wels, she wears at the Casino, she is rightly narned—Flash! : ‘But what is the matter, gov’nor? It is you who now look asif you bad seen a ghost!” “Tt is nothing—nothing! But tell me, when did this girl first appear in ’Frisco?” “Why, don’t you remember the furor she created at her first appearance at the Golconda, sorne three weeks ago?” * } think | do—now! ‘Heavens! It might be—three weeks—just about the time that has elasped since Redbird— ‘‘ And you say this Ace High seems quite in- timate with the Girl Sport?” ‘‘Tntimate! He hangs around her table from the moment she appears in the ball until she vanisbes through the curtains at the back of her pavilion; and I have it on good authority that he escorts her home—though no one seems to know just where she resides—and even lives with her as her mcst devoted slave!” The banker appeared for some moments lost in painful thought, while the son was busily en- gaged with the half-filled flask. ‘“*T must attend to this at once! I have not the least doubt that this Girl Sport is none other than Aureola Raye, the only survivor of— ‘“Why, even the name points to this fact— Aureola: flashes of light, and Raye— ‘‘1¢ is she—and with the invincible Gambler Detecrive to back her—of course, he saved her from Redbird’s hands! The Hounds must be unleashed !” It was in this strain that the banker’s thoughts, were flowing when there suddenly came a sharp knock upon the office door. ‘‘Come in,” called both Banderson and his son, in a breath, The door opened, and a boy dressed in gor- geous livery entered and handed tne banker a card, Banderson read it with amazement, The card bore the following address: ‘‘ CARLOS, Duc pI TORENTO, | . ** Madrid.” 3 And beneath this was written with pencil: ‘Upon important business for Ja Madame Cardi- ganne,’ Banderson recognized the name. He hail heard of, but never met, the Spanish noble who had taken the upper society of ’Frisco by storm in the ten days since bis arrival from Mexico. ‘* Where is your master, my lad?” asked Ban- derson. ‘*He is waiting your Honor’s pleasure in the A] i ) : . “ ' { : : ——- haa ae oe . OR Sat et Ll te i A le, te —_ 4 p-— a F . o - <.- f/ — ~ . he , ty ; : i . > ca. ” ' . P “ a y ’ 4 Lota Fog if. eee“ COMICDOOKS. 5th . ph : o~ ine > \ ’ = f a} ‘ ay “ : f ¥ a> < Sw = = |! = | A —= ~es a | ~ < . . taht be 2 ee < igs es iF a a . ’ ~~ as of ¥ >. “1 . - , = mi;