Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 913 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

roe OOo a ne ae <i - * _ = «am a ™ > =-% “ oes =... —— -_ _ and she realized that she had been carried off ee TT Nee = a « eres *- ’ ae i . Or re + err» * = —— . . ? : a 10 Kit Keith, the Revenue Spotter. eee 2 ree et ee eet ee ae Ol re ee re ee A A A a, CL ADIL DO NE IOC Tes “Tots! If you kill him to-night, you seal the | this lonely place, that you should come here to | Sadie said, pleadingly, ‘‘ please don’t! 1 am sure fate of your daughter!” | torture me?” ‘*“How do you mean?” . “Tut! tut! It is not to torture you that I ‘* Listen, and you shall know. Do you re- | come,” Cussick replied. Indeed, that would ae tore a young man whom ess. accosted in | be the last thought to enter my mind, Miss Sef- Washington a few weeks ago, and gave some | ton. information to, concerning Matilda Darrel?” He spoke now in a mure respectful tone. ¥ ae I agi ; a a 7. came to see if thee was anything i could **Do you know who that young man o for you, “ ‘““No. Who?” ‘* Nothing!” Sadie returned, haughtily. ‘* You ‘* Kit Keith, the Revenue Detective.” | are a despicable wretch, and | loathe and despise = I'he deuce you ™, 5 And who’re you?” | roe “You caused the death of my young friend, The same chap! Listen : l um ig Sarge | Kit Keith, and that is all-sufficient to er you wg As Te ara pee ypc ah ut, in | agape ad in my sight, let alone all your reality, to cup this gang of moonsbiners, | other tadness. Tam going to the Run to-night with Big Pete to ‘** True, [ caused the death of the Government ae # supposed parchasea whisky, but, in | “PY ae I ag forced sss dyes for a Wa tec- reality, to get the lay of the ground, While | tion. e came here to break up our business, there I will find and rescue your daugnter, provid- | and thereby take the bread from our mouths, ing you promise to remain here, and keep your- | and he well deserved the fate which overtook self quiet.” him. But, despite this, Sadie, the devil is not ‘**T promise, and may God grant that you suc- | alwaysso blacx as heis painted, It was not of ceed in your undertaking!” Sefton saia, earnest- | my own accord that I prought you here, nor ly. “Iwill go to my cottage, and await you | bave I any personal aims to further, s0 far as there.” ou are concerned, I was hired to abduct you ‘ Ne ait . bs h yy OMe lovee’ eal ee ei vile a wretch as * Nary drop, ‘pon honor et over, indee eis as : Hiring a saddle horse, and looking well to his | yourself!” Sadie brayely retorted. weapons, the retriever returned to the Horn of | ‘‘ Be that as you like, it was he who was the Plenty, ready for his daring nocturnal venture, | cause of your abduction; it was he who inform- ed of Kit Keith’s presence at your cottage. He CHAPTER XI. paid me a good sum to bring you here, and I did so. But that does not signify that you must ne- cessarily remain here for any considerable length of time.” **T donot understand you, sir.” ‘* Then I will make matters plainer: Darrel means to possess you, by fair means or fou], and hired me to bring you here, in the belief that I would assist him in forcing you to become his wife, But in this he bas reckoned without his host, I can assure you, ** Por a Jong time it has been my desire to get young Darrel in my power, for, by holding him a prisoner, I can compel bim to pay a large ran- som for hisrelease, So you see, when he want- ed me to bring you here, I foresaw a way by which I could entrap him, and make his arro- gant mother pony up a round sum for his re- appearance,” ** But in what way does all this concern me?” Sadie demanded, | ‘‘This much: That when Darrel comes here, IMPRISONED, Let us return to Sadie Sefton, who, when we last saw her, was being’ spirited away by the moonsbiner chief, Captain Cnatiels At the time, Sadie, it will be recalled, was insensible, W hen consciousnéss returned, she found her- “alf lying upon a bedin a plainly but neatly-fur- nished room. At first, on awakening, she was unable to comprehend the situation, but when her adven- tures of the previous night dawned upon her, by Captain Cussick, she buried her face in a pil- low and wept piteously. By and by, however, her curiosity got the bet- ter of her grief, and drying her tears, she arose and looked around her. Her room was not a large one, but contained a door and two windows, the latter overlooking a dismal piece of wooded ravine, where there | he will be made a prisoner, then, as soonas I were no habitations in sight. have secure! the money from his mother, you The windows were guarded on the inside by | will beset at liberty.” heavy wooden bars, which were spiked to the ** Tf you propose to liberate me at all, why not ' casing. ' | 0 80 a8 s00n a3 You capture him?” The door was also securely fastened on the ** Ot! well, Tl see about that. Perhaps f outside. will arrange itthatway. Socbeerupnow. Tl ‘he floor of the room was covered with a rag | send my sister in with some food directly.” carpet, and the furniture consisted of a comfort- Anu bowing, the captain withdrew, locking able bed, a couple of chairs, a table,and a wash- | the door afver him. stand. There were also several pictures on ‘‘T wonder if he means what he said?” Sadie the walls, and a few old magazines upon the | murmured, as she seated herself once more by table. the window. ‘‘If so, my lot will not be so hard After washing berself and combing her hair, | as itat first seemed. I pray to God that I may Sadio sat down by the window, and gazing | escape!” down into the gloomy ravine, thought over her About an hour later the door opened, and a experiences of the last few hours. woman entered, bearing a tray of food, which ** Poor Mr, Keith!’ she murmured, tears fill- | shodeposited on the table, and then quickly lock- ing her eyes, ‘‘ I wonder if they really did | ed the door. drown him? Oh, it is terrible, if they have! She was several years Sadie’s senior, of short, He was so nice and good, and J thought in him | stout build, and rather prepossessing of appear- I had foun‘ a true friend, He knew something | -ance, albeit her face was dark almost to swarthi- about father, too. Oh! Ido so hope they did ness, and her eyes and hair jet-bleck. not harm bim; but, well I know that [ hope in She was neatly attired, and diamond earrings vain, for Jack Jarvis and bis gang are not the | pended from her ears, ones to show mercy! ‘And, ob! that villain, ‘‘There’s yer grub!” she said, turning to Sa- Roger Darrel. It was he who betrayed Mr. | die. ‘‘So you are the woman Cussick’s brought Keith’s presence at the cottage, and I doubt not | home, are ye?” it wus he who caused me to be carried off to this ‘*Oh! miss, it is not my fault, indeed it is lonely place. not!” Sadie replied, ready to burst into tears. ‘* Here lam, a prisoner among wretches of the | ‘‘He abducted me from my home against my worst type, and who, oh! who will ever come to | will,” my rescue? Alas! no one! If Mr. Keith has ‘‘Oh! that’s like him,” the woman replied, been drowned, I have not another friend in the | with asneer. ‘‘ He ain’t satisfied with me, but world to search for and rescue me!” I’m boss bere, and I won’t have no interlopers, The thought was certainly a heartrending one, | So ye kin make up yer mind if the captain cal- and despite her eff:rts to be brave, she was | culates to put youin my place, you'll get this!” forced to eg yew & ? And the woman drew a dagger from the folds Something like an hour later a key turned in | of her dress and flourished it in the air, while her face grew dark with passion. ————— the lock, the door opened, and Captain Cussick entered the room, ‘* But, ma’am, the captain has no such inten- After locking the door after him, he turned, | tions,” Sadie replied, ‘‘ He intends soon to set folded his arms across his breast, and surveyed | me at liberty, be says.” his captive in triumpb. “Ob! that’s a likely story! He’s no such a ‘*How is my pretty bird this morning?” he | foolasthat, He only to!d you that to get you asked. ‘‘ What! been crying? Pshaw, how fool- | in a better humor, vou see, I know him like a ish of you, my dear! You'll spoil your pretty | book. He’s stuck on that baby face of yours, eyes by crving.” and intends to put me out of the house and mar- ‘* Sir!” cried Sadie, passionately, asshe sprung | ry you. But he shall never do it, I swear it. to her feet, ‘‘ leave my presence! Is it not} Ill kill you first!” enough that you have imprisoned me here in **Oh! you must not feel hard toward me!” a retel-< 2 P+. >| Mad ‘ ana ae “ity a“ oh —_ % - oc. > gt Ey a ae —_ tacts he be . } Les 7 a 4 A ] Z 7 re - ee | em.) > a ° -~* . * > * he 7 - - . 4 e rc. Leet ; " e : a} ¢ A. s 2 re e 3 ¥ 4 Ae ] ’ J ri . 7 sary | - .” ¥ a -~ ‘ . . 7 ¥ é y am 5 » =? BOS i . » ~ “ " ¥ o — Ne iat eae 7 ae y ee ee ee - \ by a \ y | a / ‘ f 8 O ‘ en | | ‘ P| | } Sa ee Ass ed — » ’ ; y . _* 1s, ; - “ 4 « . . F he , .* ‘ a 7 hind * ; , nese te Gy _— + dal the captuin has no such intentions as ycu inti- mate; and, even had he, it would not matter, for I would never marry h.m—no! never!” The dark woman broke into a sarcastic laugh. ** You're a foo)!” she enid. ‘*He would force you to—force you to, es he did me!” ‘*Then you are his wife?” “Yes, Whoelse do you suppose I am?” ‘* He said his sister would fetch my meals!” “AL! did be? The lying hound! He has no sister. Oh! but I'll ix him forthis! And, mind you, me lady, if hc pays you any more Visits, i shall know it, and your life will pay the for- feit! And turning, she unlocked the door, and left the room, a look of bate incarnate upon her | face, Poor Sadie! Here was another source of trouble that kept her in a state of worriment the livelong day, She saw that the wife of Cussick was of a fierce aud jealous disposition, and a woman who would not hesitate to do an act of violence, when frenzied with jealous rage, Sadie shuddered and wept when she thought of her peril and her perfect powerlessness. CHAPTER XII, ROGER RUNS AMUCK, Dark Run, where the moonshiners’ league had their headquarters, was a lonely, up-the- river ravine, surrounded by hundreds of acres of dense pine and hemlock woodland, and was so situated as not to be easily found, No roadway led to the ravine, but a deep, slow running creek wormed its way from the moonshiners’ head-quarters to the river below, which gave easy access to the ocean at Jarvis- haven, The grain from which the liquor was distilled was brought into the camp by big skiffs at night from below, ‘Lhe headquarters consisted of some half a cozen shanties, built in an open space and in a semicircle, andalarge barnlike structure where- in the stills were located and theliqucr was man- ufsctured, Of the shanties Captain Cussick occupied the most pretentious one, while the others were divided up between the gang. There were twenty of the moonshiners here, banded together if a sort of codperative league, Cussick being the ruling spiritand general man- ager, “Part of the men were regularly employed at the still; another portion worked as grain trans- ports, and stiil anotber portion did guard dut at either approach of the ravine to the head- quarters—for the latter could. only be reached by either coming up or down the ravine, owing Fe the precipi‘ous hills that arose on either side, In one side of the ravine, an immenve cellar had been dug, the entrance being guarded by ponderous doors. In this cellar the whisky was stored as fast as manufactured, and held until sold, Under Captain Cussick’ssupervision the whole business was run ina systematic manner, and the fact that the plant was located in a wilder- ness and reaclied by no wagon rcad, had been one reason why the revenue cflicers had been un- successful in locating the place, W hen Captain Cussick left his house after his brief interview with Sadie Sefton he made his way to the still-house, where half a dozen men were engaged in drawing liquor from one of the great vats and barreling it. As the captain entered the place, the familiar song of the distiller greeted bis hearing—the voices of the singers blending harmoniously : ** Down under the hill There 8 a little mill Where the grist 1s rye—old rye; You can tell right well, By the steam and the smell, That there’s whisky, boys, close by.” ‘Well, boys, have you got the last batch done?” the captain asked, cheerily, as he ad- vanced among the men. ‘That we have, Cap,” replied one of the men who appeared to be foreman, ‘‘and a good share of it barteled: When are we to start an- other?” ‘‘Not right away, till we dispose of some of Saget we have on hand, How doesit count u Ke About two hundred barrels, sir.” ‘* More than we can work off for some time, I want to see some pay for what we’ve got on band before we run any moremoney, Whereis. Ward—on duty?” * You" PY aa a ai?=> : ‘ ae . “se * j \ f + * - 7? + hee - ee LD et ila ? el . ‘§ 4, * et