Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 906 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

ig was changed. At that hour a dim ght was seen burning, as usual, in the room occupied by Captain Deerforth. The next was the terrible announcement. pe No further discovery bad been made by i: the time Geacral Fielding and the rest came in, ns mentioned. a, a ‘* What!” exclaimed the general. ‘‘ Deer- > fortii murdered?” | vee ‘ Yes,” answered Dettlinger. And he ie gave the cireumstances as they were known , a to him, about as we have set them forth. A sim ‘‘And there is no clue?” the commander onan demanded, eae ‘* Not the least.” | Toe ‘i ‘‘ Deerforth was an enemy of yours, I be- 7 eve.” aoe ‘‘We had trouble, as you are aware, but i that was settled. between us only yesterday,” \s3 ‘‘ Well, no matter. This mystery must be by ey eleared up. But, I take it that it is no mys- at tery. I believe it was that fellow Benson MM who did the deed, He was the head of these pe outlaws yesterday, curse them!” Vy ** Grat Benson?” i ‘The same.” ~ ee ‘* But, how could he get in here?” = ‘* He could do it, if any man could, know- we ing the fortashe does.” Brent y ‘‘No doubt you are right, general, but I * would stake my life, almost, that no man i) Sea eould pass our sentry line of a night,”’ i i ti ‘Tf it has been done, we must learn where 8 Yaa and how, and that point will have to be Bes made stronger. But, that is only a guess. Ey If no one came in, then who did kill poor 4h Deerforth ?”’ A Tae ‘ That’s the mystery.” . “eee ‘And one that must be cleared up,” jae _ “You are right. This fort must have » Se nothing of the kind unsolved.” a “ Safety Sam, what do you think about rhe it?” oon ‘“Useless to ask me, general,” was the tte answer. ‘‘ You know I was out with you | 2 OTe al) night.” ‘‘ Yes, and I know that you are something of. a detective, too. your work on that robbery case at Silver c I have not forgotten ‘ “ Safety Sam, the Cycle Sport. ——$—$— ee 000000NNOSNa——m—anm—=m=m=m_w_ oaeaeaemss—@ Safety Sam questioned the man closely, but if he learned anything, none of the rest were able todoso from anything that wus said, Finally Sam took a different turn. ‘Captain Dettlinger,” he remarked, ‘I heard you say that you had not been on friendly relations with this man,” ‘And you also heard me say that our dif- ference was settled yesterday,” was the re- sponse, ina cool and straightforward man- ner, ‘You had no ill-will against Captain Deerforth, then?” ‘* Not the least. We had a perfect under- standing, and parted friends,” That was all the Cycle Sport asked him, and he made the announcement that he was done for the time being. | The rest of his investigation, he said, he would carry on quietly, and promised that he would report to the commander within the hour, General Fielding understood his desire to be alone, and bade the others accompany him, and ordered that the prisoners should be brought forth for their hearing in the mean time, Some of the fellows had been recognized as old offenders. One, who was nominally the leader, was eager to lighten his sentence by confessing everything. The commander ordered him to confess, but without any promise on his part that such confession would in the least save him, and the fellow told his story. They had been gotten together by Benson, he declared, and had come down into that section to do some mischief that would bring the soldiers of the fort far out after them, so that Benson could carry off Miss Field- ing. tie Such had been the original plan. When they accidentally met the party com- |ing from Silver City, however, then the ‘ringleader suddenly changed his plan and ordered the attack. | Their hearing did not occupy an hour, and ——K——— ii EE eeyunnnSnnneeensen ny am rT ea Oe SSS EE oN > ae City last winter.” they were dealt with according to the law as os re ‘*You give me credit for more than I de- | it applied to their offense—martial law, of pita serve,” : | course, and that is of) the most short and RPE “Nota bit. Iwant you to take hold of summary character, epi is this matter for me.” | | When the commander went finally to his id ' rit ‘Well, T’ll do that, gladly enough, but , house he found Safety Sam there. 4 cok you must not depend altogether on me for | “Well?” he asked, briefly, tome the solving of the riddle.” He was not the suave gentleman of the 4 nate ‘*You are the only man capable of doing | day before, but the stern old war dog, his $e a it. If it was Grat Benson, put it on him, | blood fully heated. be i ks and if not, then we'want the guilty wretch, ‘‘Would you consider Dettlinger capable s a whoever he may be,” of having killed Deerforth?” Safety Sam 5 he . ‘Very well.’ | asked, without the least’excitement and with ead It was asad day at Fort Fenton, needless | face perfectly motionless. : Sa bo say. mai! | ‘‘ Heavens! no!’ the commander cried, | ae After the horror and excitement of the | ‘“‘ What are you talking about, Sam Hoff- | ae night, and this fresh horror of the morning, | man? Have you any reason to believe that 2. hee the ladies were overcome. | Dettlinger did do the deed? Id as soon | Pe They entered the house at once, and noth- | believe you guilty of the crime yourself. wae ing more was scen of them for a considera- | Explain.” - ble time, Heehaes Piya 80 with the aha and the others, CHAPTER X. aa s soon as they had partuken of w cup of ; ay eee ‘ ae ~ . eoffee, they act at once to investigate into” are MUTLEE) OR NOW " 1 | the mystery—that is to say, the commander, **T HAVE no desire to think him guilty, j lean Safety Sam, and the officers of the fort. —, | sir,” suid the Cycle Sport. ‘* But, I have : ieee! . Yor the time being the prisoners were put | come upon .certain facts that must be ex- B ive na in the guard-house, and their hearing was } plained away.” me ep thege, postponed ill this more important matter|. ‘* What are they?” . Me ‘te could be disposed of, | ‘*In the first place, there has been some ~*~ The man who had been acting as nurse to | trouble between the two men. Next, there the murdered captain was first called to tell | was a bit of blue cloth found on the window Se his story. | : | sill, and there were tracks under the win. "-———-s He was a young man, who had been for | dow,” | some time one of the surgeon’s assistants. ‘* Yes, yes; but, explain.” —') .. . He:stated that he had lastscen the captain! ‘And the knife with which the deed was 3 Uh, alive something after m night, when called | done, too; that has been shown to have been | | andasked fora drink, = | at one time the property of Dettlinger. ‘The The nurse slept on a cot in the hall, just | piece of blue cloth was torn from his fatigne outside the door, and thought bimself a light | coat, and the tracks under the window are Sa rie sleeper, _ However, he hid heard no noise, : certainly his. There is ho guesswork about ca SRP S ae nie os as | * ) . YANG ’ Ne rcs pe ie ee yA as Meee : ST Rac MOA aan ee iam eR a aan tf eas EE, DRE RM & TN ea de Lees ES Se ES) te Ren Cliiaa ia erie te WAKE sty St Spe Ste Si) Eke. HOR : Fe ie cg soak le reat re Te *»" ’ 4 The commandcr’s face was the picture of amazement. , ‘*Can it be possible?” he mused, ‘* You are certain there can be no mistake?” ‘¢T made sure of that before I came here, Gencral Fielding. I wish you would send for Dettlinger and have him explain.” “T will do so, forthwith,” ‘© When he enters,” said Safety Sam, ‘‘ put him under arrest at once, rnd see how he will tuke it, or what he will say.” — ‘Then you really think him guilty?” ‘‘T believe him innocent, sir,” ‘‘In spite of the evidence you have dis- covered ?” ‘‘Spite of everything, sir.” They had not long to wait for the appear- ance of the captain, who, when he entered, saluted in the usual manner. ‘¢ You sent for me, general?” General Fielding’s face was stern and hard as rock, ‘‘T gent for you, Captain Dettlinger, ’ he said. ‘‘I arrest you for the murder of Cap- tain Deerforth.” ) The accused man took a step backward, his face blanching, and he looked from one man to the other, in utter bewilderment. ‘ What have you to say?” the commander asked, ‘‘T have only this to say, sir,” was the an- swer. ‘*T am innocent of the deed,as inno- cent as are you, sir.” am ‘‘ How, then, was it that a knife of yours was used? How came your tracks under the window? How came a piece of the cloth of your fatigue coat on the hook on the sill?” ‘¢ Tmpossible!” «The facts,” said the Cycle Sport, ‘* Can you explain away the evidence?” ‘Safety Sam, you do not believe me guilty of this crime, I hope. General, are you in earnest?” ‘‘T have just told General Fielding that I believe you innocent,” answered the sport detective. ‘‘ Your action under arrest has confirmed that belief. Still, you must ex- plain,”’ ; * And I was not in earnest about the ar- rest,” said General Fielding. ‘‘1t was to test you.” 5 “Thank God you believe in me, Sir, All this has come to me like a revelation. ‘‘ Why did you not recognize the knifeas yours? ‘Tf do not admit that it was Mine, sir, I did not recognize it, certainly. But, I have not examined it closely.” fi “ Please do so, then,” said Sam, taking it from his pocket and extending 1t to the cap- tain. | Dettlinger took the weapon, and after one close look, said: “Tt certainly wag mipe. It isa weapon I had in my rvom, but I have not seen it before in a long time.” " ‘So I have learned,” said Sam. ‘‘ But, the tracks?” queried the general. ‘« Another strange thing, sir,” said the cap- tain. ‘‘ Queer it did not come to me before, but it did not. The tracks are mine, made by the old boots I had on yesterday.” The commander’s face began to cloud, and ap es he looked unhappy. ; ‘¢ This begins to look serious, Dettlinger,” be said, ‘* What occasion had you to jump from that Window?” “1 was in the room with poor Deerforth yesterday afternoon, sit, when the alarm was sounded, and I leaped from the window on the year side of the building, in order to re- spond the more quickly.” } +2; ‘* Ali! that explains it, then,” . ‘And, now that I am . reminded of it, I remember that my coat caught on the shut-. ter catch as I leaped out, Were poor Deer- forth alive, he would bear witness to what 1 say. Ithought no more about it till this mo-: ment, being reminded of it. The excitement — blotted it from my mind.” 8 “ T, is strange you did not remember the aa ; ~~ ~~ = ~~ ; ‘a 1% | f ee » head x 63 wnt ~a- “ar ‘ Ore? © y ns