Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 941 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

erick invited. : aM2A™e 1. 4) tan } es , “se f xf - < ’ ; } aed , % P —-- a He reached the stand, and the moment Kitty espied him her face flushed more 'xvosy than he had ever seen it, and she cried: “Oh! Larry, is it really you?’ “Tt is mesel’, and nobody else,” Larry assured. The conductor looked at him and smiled at his brogue. “A friend of yours, Miss Callaway?’ he asked. “Pray introduce us.” “ Why, certainly,” assented Mitty. “My friend, Mr. O’Keen, Mr. Nelson; Mr. Nel- son, Mr. O’RKeen.”’ “T am pleased to know you, Mr. O’Keen,” assured the conductor, offering his hand. “A friend of Miss Callaway’s is a friend of mine, every time.” ‘“ Begorra, Oi wish Oi could say dhat same,” retorted Larry, failing to see the proffered hand. “And ay Oi did say it, by dhe same token Oi would mane it, you can bet on thot!” “What do you mean?” demanfed the conductor, flushing. 5 “Oh, Larry, how can you?” chided Kit- ty: ‘Just phwat Oj say,” rejoined Larry. “Whin ye say ye are plazed to know me ye loie, fur ye are not plazed at all!’ ‘Have a care, sir,” eried the dudish conductor, spurring up like a bantam rooster. ‘“‘ You will find that I am not a man to brook insult, my tine fellow!” “Do phwat ye plaze wi'd it, dhen,” suggested Larry. ‘* We may as well have it out dhe while we are about it. It is you and me fur it, and dhé best man to win, Mister—Mister—Mister—” “My name is Nelson.” “ Nelson phwat?”’ : “None of your business, sir!” “ Begorra, av Oi had a name dhat Oi Was ashamed ay Oi wouldn’t wear it!’ “Fellow, what do you mean?’ now painfully flushed. ‘* Would you insinuate that l am ashamed of my name?’ “It looks loike it, begorra! Kitty, do ye know any other name fur him besides Nelson?” “No, Larry! but—” “Be Hivvins, Oi do, dhen! Miss Calla- way, let me have dhe pleasure av presint- ing me detested innimy, Mister Nelson Hogg.” é And he brought: out the last name with full volume. “Oh—oh!” sereamed Kitty. _ As for the conductor, he turnéd as pale as death, then as red as blood could make him, and his face perspired. “* Deny it av ye can,” the boy from Lim- “ Dhat is yure name, and Oi have dhe proof ay it, and av ye wasn’t ashamed av it ye would be wearing av it loike any other daycint man!” “You mistake,” cried Mr. Hogg. “ You mispronounce my name,” he declared. “*Twis pronounced Hoag, sir; Hoag—Hoag —Hoag?!”’ | “Dhat don’t correspond wi'd dhe spell- ing avy it by any mMmanes,” asseverated Larry. . “Av t ie gh spells Hoag, dhen it is to schoo dhat is all. Hogg it spells, and Hogg it is, and ye can’t squale out av it, ay- “What do you know about the spell- ‘ing of my name?” Larry thrust his fingers into his vest. pocket and drew out the pay envelope. -“ Here is dhe invillip in which ye re ‘saved yure pittance ay pay yesterday, vhe cried, “and av dhis isn’t yure name on it dhen begorra it is arrested fur st al- ing another man’s money ye can be! | “But I tell you it is not pronounced ‘ ‘that way—” ; - #O§ don’t care a copper how ye Pro- - ‘Mounce it; dhat is phwat it spells. And 4 Oi will be going again,+ - The Bowling Green Detective’s Drop. now, Kitty, choose perchune us at wanst. It is him or me, and no fooling about it, aythur!”’ “Oh! Larry! how can you—” *Asy enough, begorra! Make yure choice, Oi say! Ay ye will marry me, say but dhe wurred; av it is a Hogg ye want to be, say dhat!” At first their talk had been in low tones, but now Larry was speaking out aloud in his excitement, and passersby were stopping to take in what was be- ing said and learn what it was about. *“ But, Larry, this is no time—” “Be Hivvins, it is now or never wi'd me,” reasserted the boy. ‘“‘Make yure choice, and dhat at wanst!’’ There was no way out of it; a crowd was collecting, and with downecast eyes the pretty flower girl stepped beside Larry and slipped her left hand into his right. ‘ The eyes of the wild Trish lad danced with joy, and as Mr. Hogg beat a hasty retreat to hide himself, Larry sang after him, much to that gentleman’s discom- fiture and greatly to the amusement of all who heard it, the following impromptu lines: ‘* Sure, Mister Nelson Hogg, Ye may slink off loike a dog, Fur purty Kitty Callaway as give me her hand fur life. And av you come foolin’® ’round her, Then, be Hivvins, Oi am bound ter Give you wi'’d me roight a pounder *hwere dhe butcher sticks dhe knife!”’ CHAPTER XVIII. HAPPY ENDING. Two mornings later the ship upon which Brady and Dunn had engaged passage dropped down the bay. A tug accompanied her, yet at a dis- tance sufficient to appear as if not doing so, steaming along at a speed about equal to that of the ship, and presently it put Straight in to shore. There Detective Murphy was taken on board, having displayed a signal that had been agreed upon. “What. success?” asked Lawrence Brannagan, immediately. “The best!” was the answer. “ They are in a boat in the lower bay and will signal the ship and get on board.” “We have got it arranged with the captain, as you directed, and everything is in order for their reception. It will be a grand surprise for the knaves.”’ “ As’it should be. they have dared to take the risk, for they ought to know we would lay this trap for them.” “No; they think they lost themselves to us that night.” } ‘That must be it.” ow The tug steamed down the bay, then, and there lay in’ wait for the ship to come along. Watching, they saw the ship lie-to and take the two men on board; and when finally it came sailing along the tug steamed in the way and signaled the captain to lie-to again. This was done, and Murphy and a cou- ple of officers in disguise got on board. The eaptain led them straight to where the two rascals were, and both were made prisoners before they could think of offering any resistance, and were taken on board the tug. They stormed and raved, but it was all of no use, and their declarations of inno- cence were laughed at. . “Why,” said Murphy, “what is the use of your holding out when old Brannagan | has made a clean breast of the whole matter? You had better do the same, far as your part in it goes.” a —— 7 Se Gee SE, SE Oo Ye Eh I am surprised that: 15 —— ~ OO ———$—— -__ And so they did, before the tug reached the city. They confessed that they had been em- ployed by Brannagan to murder his nephew, and it had been arranged that Lawrence should sail at that particular time. The uncle had engaged passage for him beforehand, and therefore knew the room he would occupy. The two villains concealed themselves in that stateroom; and there pounced upon him. He was struck on the head and the body thrust out through the porthole. The uncle had arranged it all so clev- erly that his hand would not have ap- peared in it if it all had worked as planned. And only for Loony Larry it might have been a case which Detective Murphy would have found impossible to Clear up. But a kind providence had taken a hand in the game, and the plans of the old villain had been upset in the hneatest manner. He and his tools were brought to trial and were sentenced to long terms of im- prisonment, but old Brannagan was found dead in his cell before he could be taken up the river. The others went up, however, and are up there still. Instead of the unele’s coming into the riches of the nephew, ft worked all the other way, for Lawrence turned out to be Michael’s only heir, and he came in for all his property. Then any wrongs that his relative had done were made right. Among other things, it was found that he had robbed a former partner, a man named Callaway, of all his means, and this amount was aseertained and re- stored to the widow, who was living and trying hard to support a large fam- ily. This was the mother of the Kitty Calla- way of our story,and sothe flower girl disappeared from Broadway, never to be seen there again. She would have disap- peared, anyhow, all in due time, as the wife of the Limerick lad, to whom she had plighted her troth that memorable day on the street. Larry had found a situation and was doing well, but when the Brannagan es- tate Was settled Lawrence set Larry up in business for himself, and the really bright lad prospered almost from th start. Lawrence returned: to Ireland when matters were settled, and there he mar- ried the lady of his choice, and there they live to-day. The claim of Samuel Powers against the rascally old Irishman was honorably adjusted, as was also that of Margaret Hull and many others. Lawrence went away with many a blessing called down upon his head; he had redeemed the honor of the name he bore. Selim Hedgewood, of the steamship company, gave Detective Murphy much praise for the manner in which he had handled the case and. the promptness with which he had cleared up a matter which at first had looked so impossible. His confidence in the Bowling Green De- tective took firmer root than ever. “But I cannot claim all the credit,” Murphy insisted. “Now, that is your modesty, that is all,” rejoined the steamship magnate. — “No, it is the truth,” declared Murphy. “A good deal of the success in that case was brought about by that wild Irish lad Larry O’Keen.” : ; “Well, have it your own way,” ac» quiesced the magnate. ‘‘ We have our own opinions about it.” And in support of those opinions, the detective was put upon the pay roll of the company at the regular salary of a nice sum. | ( ECoOMmIcHoo ‘ S.C