Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 854 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

He did not have to wait long to know what he was to do, for a hand took him by the arm and led him along in. the darkness, to where he had no idea, He thought of the many stories he had heard about Chicago, and how country peo- ple were disposed of without any one being the wiser. But he was not particularly nervous, because he knew he had nothing on his person worth stealing except the ten- dollar bills given him by Smasher Jim, and it was not likely Jim would give him the money in Sangville, and then take him to i for the express purpose of robbing im. ‘*Stand still a minute,” commanded Jim, as he let go of Hiram’s arm. But Hawkins had too much curiosity to stand still a second, under the circumstances. He stretched out his arm, to feel where he was, if possible, and his hand came in con- tact with a rather slimy brick wall. ‘*‘ Must be up ter one side of the room,” he muttered. ‘ ll jist walk acrost it, an’ find out how big it is.” He took three short, cautious steps away from the wall, and banged his face into an- other wall, also of slimy bricks, with a force that made him utter a loud grunt, Then he walked in the direction that he and Smasher Jim had been following,and was considerably astonished to find that he was stopped by a wooden door. ‘‘ What kind of place hev I got inter, any- how?” he grumbled, softly. j An’ where in thunder is Jim Walker?” ‘As he uttered these words, e retraced his steps, in the hope of finding his companion, and discover- ed something that surprised him more than anything that had gone before. The passage had been converted into a mere cell! A solid wooden barrier, fitted snugly into the wall on either side, extended right across the hall, about three feet behind him, and he was alone. Hiram Hawkins was no coward, but it cannot be denied that the perspiration gathered in great drops on his forehead now, and he was thoroughly frightened. ‘This is a gol-darned dirty trick of Mr. Walker,” he muttered, ‘‘an’ if I hed him downin Sangville, I b’lieve 'd give him a pieee of my mind. He’s a dang nice fellow, but he has some of the quecrest ways I ever see. An’ as fer that old woman—whew!” ‘* What's that, Hiram?’ growled Smasher Jim’s voice in his ear. ; And then the wooden door before him opened, and Hiram found himself in a small room, in which were a table, two chairs, and a bed on the floor, a feeble coal-oil lamp on the table enabiing him to sea all these things as he stepped over the threshold and wonder- ed where Smasher Jim could be No sooner had Hiram entered the room than the wooden door closed with a snap, and he found, on pushing it, that it was securely fastened, although he couldn’t see in what way. } ‘Well, Hiram. What do you think of this?” sounded in his ear so closely that he could have sworn he felt the breath of Smasher Jim on his cheek, He turned quickly, but he was absolutely alone, A cold perspiration that ran all down his back nake him shiver. This was awful! He would have given the whole of the fifty- dollars, in new ten-dollar bills, in his pocket, to have been safe in his Sangville store at that moment. ‘* This is the result of coming to Chicago to make money. I wish I was back in old— Injianny,” muttered the now thoroughly frightened postmaster, as he leaned upon _ the table to support his trembling limbs. _ But, he was not to be allowed rest, for | ain’t they? Uncle Sam’s Detective in Chicago. | RS of Hiram Hawkins, as he fixed a stony gaze upon the awful bed, { The bed continued to rise until the whole of it was off the floor. Then it moved aside, and Hiram saw that it was not being dis- turbed by a ghost, but by Smasher Jim, who | grinned at him, as he pushed the bed off his head, and revealed the fact that he was standing in a square hole’ in the floor, with only his head and shoulders above the sur- face. A flood of light came up the hole, and Hiram Hawkins understood that in the secret apartment below something was going on that would not stand the public gaze. ‘Come here, Hiram. Follow me,”’ com- manded the Smasher. Hiram had repented of his bargain with Smasher Jim before this, but he was in for it now, and he saw no way of gettirg out. So he obeyed the order of his gruff com- panion, and went over to the hole, as Smasher Jim came out and stood on the floor beside him, Smasher pointed to the hole, and said: ‘‘ You will have to go first, Hiram, because I want to shut the trap and put the bed in place,” Hiram hesitated momentarily, but a sav- age ‘“‘Hurry up!” from Smasher made him quicken his movements and descend through the hole’ on a ladder placed conveniently be- low. He had hardly placed his feet on the ladder, when it was pulled away by some one underneath, while a roar of laughter, in which he could distinguish the shrill tones of & woman’s voice, proclaimed that his somer- ‘set into the apartment was heartily en- joyed.- PRES: He dropped on the floor in a sitting pos- ture, and as he looked around him in a dazed way, saw that several of the men whom he had left inthe back parlor a few minutes ago, were down in this lower room, as comfortably as if they had been there all the evening. After this, he was not aston- ished to see the benevolent old lady, Mother Halket in the group, for he credited her with supernatural attributes, anyhow. Smasher Jim was now yelling fiercely for the ladder, and the man with sandy mus- tache, Rufe Rourke, hastened to put it in position for the descent of Mr. Walker. “Do a thing like that again, and there'll be trouble in this establishment,” growled Smasher, as he pulled the bed over the hole, and closed the trap by means of a sliding door, that fitted so snugly as to be hardly discernible above, even if the bed were out of the way. ‘‘What are you all doing?” he demanded, as he reached the floor of the lower room, and moved the ladder away to a, corner. ‘* Busy,” answered Mother Halket. “ The boys have just got off a batch of those tens, and Rufe is getting up something in the way of cae gold-pieces that will work off splendidly, I believe.” The postmaster was listening intently, and now the truth dawned upon him, as it might have done much sooner if he had not been so wise that he could never learn anything in a hurry. He was in a counterfeiters’ den, and the-work that Smasher Jim wanted him to do was to passimitation bills at the World's Fair. mee Hiram drew forth his batch of ten-dollar bills and looked at them slyly, with his back to the others in the room. Everybody else seemed to be occupied in looking at some of the new bills that had just been worked off on the eon ae press in the corner, and he thought himself unobserved. ‘*Looking at your money, eh? Pretty, the next moment the bed on the floor began | could you? You'll have an easy job, and to rise up in the middle, ina ghostly fashion, | make mo as if the uneasy spirit of some one who had | to buy up the whole of Sangville.” -- been murdered on.it long ago were about to” It was the gentle, but mocking voice of take it on his back and walk off with it. At | Mother Halket, and as Hiram turned quick- * ¥ Ven mone ts pane ay 8 Wal ps + a is Os af # . " t 4 o Ape = — : at, al Bir oe. ew SPEER: Food He oust OER TY |b <s) 2 oe li Oe Se aS Jeast, that was the notion that took possession | ly he saw that she was looking over his re : " 4 aye “im ane "a er Couldn’t tell the difference, enough before the fair is over ening! : as a aye. eee oy soft - : iy $ir9 Ss - ’ : ¥ ‘ . f * ' a ' Tr. > « YP \ oe : > ¥ » Fy : : . - it 4 ® ie i4 "ie re : ’ ‘ ef iN ‘ We ; ? Ary Sy faye ad te & , any" a tae SI Segue Lor Po ui ch MIAN a Se aR At 5 pip aly AY rh Meg ys A | Jey?’ ; Wh ibibe | ata be ‘ ae didnt tet 4 . Lvu © oe « vt { . ee pale fe eed 3 4gy de he = org r Site Tel 7 io ee Pavpaty st Tatas, y ‘.. » ~ Seg ants > wae ' Sr; ‘ 4 we ro ay ae ae TY, so tan ue AAMT» Laity =) = mes bi adhe ee 7% — shoulder, and enjoying his doubt over the money. | Hiram did not answer, but a resolution passed through his mind that the quick eye of Mother Halket saw written in his face in a minute, for there was an unwonted fierce- ness in her usually mild face, as she whisper- ed, hoarsely: “Don't you_do it!” What?” ‘Oh, you can’t fool Mother Halket. You are thinking that, as soon as you get out of this house, you will give it away to the po- lice, Before you could say a word you would find that there was some one right on your heels, and— . Did you ever get a crack on the head \ith a sand-bag?” she asked, breaking off suddenly, and changing the subject. am) No. 7? ‘‘ Well, it is the nicest thing in the world. Leaves no mark, and drops you like a steer at the stockyards.. Take my advice, and do not try to talk to the poliee while you are in Chicago.” With a significant smile that was anything but mirthful, and that even Hiram Hawkins, with his thick head, understood meant death, Mother Halket turned to Smasher Jim, who was critically examining one of the new $10 bills in front of the lamp with a very power- ful reflector, and said, quietly: ‘‘Better give Mr. Hawkins some gold as well. He has $50 in notes. Then he can go out to-night, and work off some of the stuff on the fakirs around the gates of the Fair. The people are coming out now, and he ought to do at least a hundred dollars, if he is as smart as I think he is.” ‘*All right. Let him take vhe oath first.’ ‘‘Gol-darn yer! I won’t take no oath! Yew can’t make me, nuther!” yelled Hiram: at this juncture, as he dashed out of the: circle of men that had formed around him,. and kicked over the big Jamp with its power- ful reflector. ‘‘Wix him!” hissed the Smasher, as he brought one of the other two lamps om brackets at the side of the press, and placed it on the table. Mother Halket seized the powerful Indi- anian by the arm, and swung him around as easily as if he were a child, and Rufe Rourke drew a red-hot iron from the brazier over which a crucible full of metal for the manu- facture of the gold pieces was suspended, and flourished it in front of Hiram’s eyes. ‘*Great snakes! What air you going tew dew?” cried the postmaster, in an agony of fear, ‘Go ahead with the branding!” ordered Smasher, savagely. ‘‘ Give him one on the arm, and if that don’t fix him, let him have it on the cheek,”’ | ‘* Hold on! Hold on!” shrieked Hiram. ‘“ His arm, I tell you!” yelled Smasher. Hiram Hawkins was powerless in the hands of Mother Halket, who was now as- sisted by a big ill-favored fellow, evidently in deep awe of Smasher Jim, _ Rufe Rourke had brought the hot irom | into uncomfortable proximity to Hiram’s: face, and it really seemed as if he were about to place it against his cheek, when it was suddenly snatched from his hands, and thrown to the other side of the room, while a fist shot out and landed squarely on Rufe’s chin, | “under an’ houn’s! Phwat’s thot?” — cried Rourke, staggered by the _ blow. ‘‘Phwere is the mon phwat would dare to do thot toa Rourke?” _ ‘Right here!” replied the owner of the fist, a rather short, but stoutly-built man in sailor’s garb, with’ a luxuriant crop of whiskers worn in true sailor fashion all over the lower part of his face. / ‘“Who is this fellow?” demanded the: Smasher, advancing upon the sailor threat.- t, Mother Halket interfered, and stand . | r Wal ver { + * 5 atts ‘ j it : : bd « ba Py ty 4 . j dé Ngee ; ae a » = pi » . v 5 4 Oo r¢cy ° u wre - ~ ; =e ia % Lite. i »" 4 m a 7 A ¢at 2m ks.co