Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 90 — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

ee The Dread Rider. 21 of us. But when Mr. Dare came, he thought he recognized a part of them among us Rangers and Regulators. Later, we found for a fact, that not only Dick Morgan himself was among you, but that nine of his followers were here also. This was as startling to us then, as it must be to you now. Still, it was a more alarming discovery when we learned by con- tinual spying and watching, that Leonard Moore, the base betrayer, or Dick Morgan, the border cutthroat, or Curt Dash, your favorite and leader, was Black Wayne, the masked out- law! who, with his nine confederates, was linked with the desperadoes of the Red Lands!” CHAPTER XXX. LIFTING THE VAIL, As Vall Deckers paused in his recital, an awed silence possesses the anxious crowd. Curt Dash, as we must persist in calling him, has been a quiet listener. No one can realize that he is the arch-demon the other has pic- tured him. Can it all be true? “Well, gentlemen,” Vall continues, “I know you are impatient for some explanation of the singular proceedings since the duel, so I will hasten to the end of my narrative. ‘“‘ You doubtless think it strange to see before us the same person who was killed and buried in your own presence; and if I say there | really no mystery in this, you will discredit me; yet ’tis easily explained. ‘‘The report of Mr. Dare’s rifle, though i! was not noticed by you in your excitement, told that the bullet had been extracted; and | have since found it a fact. Orman Burley did it at tne instigation of his leader, while the stranger was his guest at the Prairie Home. Had it not been for thaf, Len Moore, or Curt Dash, or whatever he chooses to call himself, coward as he is, would not have dared to face his antagonist; and if he had he would not have lived to see this exposure. But as it was, Mr. Dare fell, and when Mark reached his side he really thought the unfortunate man was dead. Be it as it might, he had reasons for keeping others from him, which prompted him to use the expression he did—‘‘A man shot through the heart must be dead, of course” —without committing himself, or really refer- ring to the one of whom he was supposed to be speaking. ‘‘Had your eyes watched him as closely as Mark’s and mine did, you would have seen that he showed signs of returning consciousness, as the damp earth touched him. Lightly we let it down upon him, yet, if you had not left as you did, we should have been obliged to ac- knowledge our discovery. But, knowing it would be best to withhold it if possible, we impatiently waited for your departure, and you had barely turned before we were lifting our friend from the cold pit. ‘Mr, Dare’s wound, though it left him weak and faint from ‘the loss of blood, was not at all ‘dangerous; and after carefully dressing it, Mark and I filled up the grave, which you all supposed to contain his remains. " i an old cabin below here, Mr. Dare staid the following fortnight, in which time he had nearly recovered. Then, Mark and my- self finally consented to help him carry out his scheme of vengeance. Having no proof but our words, as I have already said, we could not hope to expose the league of nine, standing as they did, with any chance of suc- cess. Still the safety of our friends, and the prompting of our hatred, demanded that we should do something. Thus continually watch- ing and hunting our foes, we still did all in our power for the protection of you and your fam- ilies, though we found it more than was ex- pected, and we partially failed. «‘ Recovering his horse for him, our friend commenced his part of the work the night of the intended marriage at MajomConrad’s, Cap- tain Kelley, Will Manners, in fact, all that have fallen by his hands, were a part of the Red Land outlaws. — “Knowing the risk he was running, I pro- cured a breast-plate for Mr. Dare, which an- . swers for the ineffectual attempts that hav. been made to shoot him; and coming like one from the grave, with his wild appearance, and the thrilling events you have seen and heard, I do not wonder you have considered him a phantom. To a certain extent I am responsi- ble for this deception. An accomplished ven- triloquist, I have not hesitated to use that power when I deemed it could be satisfactorily done; and the warning given at the wedding, the sounds you have heard this morning, repre- senting an invisible horseman, which were made merely te gain time,—in fact, all that you have heard and not seen, together with more that has been witnessed by the dead vic- tims, were the result of that peculiar gift of mine. But, all the mystery and terror we have confined as much as possible to the doom- ed league. “The first abduction was merely a farce, that Curt Dash could have the privilege of pre- tending to rescue her from the outlaws when he thought proper, hoping thus to gain her father’s friendship, and win her hand. but Mark thwarted him there. “ Now you will ask how, if Curt Dash is the masked outlaw, both have been seen at the same time—two distinct persons. Len Moore had a bother, Ralph; he was one of Morgan’s Band, and, also second in command of the rob- ber-gang here, Thus he often wore the mask, and appeared as Black Wayne, though you have naturally supposed it always vailed one particular face, This Ralph was the abductor of Miss Conrad, and he shot her father—did it with a copper bullet, hoping, as I think, to throw it on thé Dead Duelist, as you consider- ed Mr. Dare. It was the body of that brother you found on the plain this morning, and mis- took for our prisoner here. ‘When I left my companions in the Red Lands it was to continue my search for Mark, and at last I found him in the bandits’ deserted den, where Curt Dash,—here his pretended friend and leader, there in his true character as Black Wayne the robber and murderer,— had consigned him to die of starvation. ‘*T wish to say in behalf of Mr. Dare that his attempted shooting of our friend, Gil Rey, was the result of his mistaking him for anotb- er in the darkness. for his carelessness, he wishes to apologize. . ‘There, gentlemen, I hope the mystery is satisfactorily explained, and that you are no longer in doubt. As I look back over my con- duct, I do not wonder you considered some- thing wrong about me; and finally, when you found me with that mask on, which was placed upon my face after the desperate wearer him- self had overcome me in a fight, that you should think I was the outlaw leader, Of course, I do not blame you for what you would have done had it not been for my noble, heroic friends; still it was a dreadful ordeal. ‘God only knows how much Mr. Dare and myself have suffered from that infamous scoundrel. If you wish for more proof of what 1 have said, before taking your final ac- tion, go to Rock Randel, who was shot by this flend’s own hand, because the other had acci- dentally learned his secret.” CHAPTER XXXI. THE OUTLAW’S CONFESSION AND FATE. THE assembly absorbed in this singular story had not noticed Curt Dash for the few past minutes of its narration; then suddenly, it is seen he has succeeded in freeing his hands. He draws,a pistol, which he had concealed upon his person. It flashes in the air! he presses its muzzle against his temple! but, ere he can dis- charge it, Gil Rey and half a dozen others seize him, and again he is overpowered, and the weapon wrested from him. ‘‘Curse you!” he cries, ‘‘curse you! Every- thing is against me! It is all up! I have played a bold game, and played it well, but fate has been against me! Do your worst! I confess all. You can call me what you choose now, but remember there has been a time when I led you! when you considered me your superior! Ha-ha-ha! how your eyes were blinded! But, oh God! what a fool I was to come back! Why could I not let well enough alone? When I left you this morning I never intended to return; but, with Miss Raymun, I - was going to flee to a foreign land. Then I met my enemy, and killed him, as I supposed, when, thinking I was rid of the others, Mark and Vall, my path seemed clear. So pretend- ing to rescue Miss Raymun from my friends I came back, with the resolution to be henceforth a better man—to try and live as others do. But it was alla mistake! As Waring told me in the cave, I was doomed! doomed!” With that singular contradiction of human vature to persecute adversity, the man, who, but a few moments since was respected and honored by all, whose name was a power in it- self, has now not a single friend in this tumult- uous gathering. “Tf it had not been for you, Vane Noble!” the doomed wretch continues; ‘* but I will not complain, You have earned your triumph, My life has been a curse! | see it now! My crimes have been great. One by one I have seen my men fall around me, and knew my turn would come at last; still I hoped to es- cape. Before I die, Vane Noble, know that your sister, Adrian, still lives!” “Do you mean this, Leonard Moore?” cries Vall, excitedly. ‘On the word of a man expecting death. She waS saved from drowning, but did not recover till her parents were no more, Then, in her sorrow she sought the seclusion of the St. Mary’s convent.” “Ts that all you have to say, Leonard Moore, before receiving your doom?’ “No, no! Oh, this is agony! No one to pity or care for me now! Thus does a life of crime end in eternal darkness! Can’t you pity me, forgive me for what I did to you and yours, Vane Noble, Albert Dare?” “As I expect my judgment in the great Hereafter, so may you find yours, Leonard Moore,” replies Vall. ‘‘ Look to your God for mercy,” answers the half-crazed Albert Dare; ‘it would be mock- ery for me to say the word.” Allow us to draw the vail over the scene which follows, * * * * Curt Dash, or rather Leonard Moore, with all his crimes, has gone to meet his Maker. A few explanations and the web of mystery that has so long mantled Chesterville will be lifted forever. The Phantom Rider as we already know, was the result of Vane Noble’s (Vall Deckers no more) ventriloguism; and with the aid of that same power he was enabled to rescue Rock Randel from the outlaws’ halter, Vane, also, made the last laugh, and fired the shot which came so near Curt Dash under the sycamore; on foot, he succeeded in esvaping through the Black Gulch. His sham attempt to shoot the Dead Duelist’s horse in the Red was done by loading his rifle without any bullet. Thus in every scene which has seemed supernatural Vane Noble acted his part, and being peculiar- ly fitted for the part he played, he performed it well. The blind trail which so puzzled Dandy Rock was simply a stratagem of Albert Dare’s, to throw the outlaws off his track, for the strange avenger made his abode mostly in one of the caves in the Red Lands. Of course, what Hank Webber told, or any of the other outlaw Regulators, was false. The sudden appearance of Mark to the crowd under the live-oak, was caused by his coming from back of the throng. His suffer- ings in that dismal cave can be better imagined than told. it will be remembered that Curt Dash was not mentioned—and, if the excited crowd had only noticed it, was not seen—until after the shooting of Rock. He had escaped by the window, and coming in at the door joined the others in their fruitless efforts. COMIIEDOOKS GO