Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 970 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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into him violently, and he tried to square away for self-defense, but calmed down when he saw it was Elise, herself, ** Hoppin’ Neptune! w’ot’s up?” he demand- He looked around the cabin for an explana- tion of her fright, but failed to see any cause. Captain Twiss’s ruddy face was the picture of vague alarm. ** Elise! Elise!” he cried, ‘* what is it?” Elise did not answer, but remained in the arms of her two friends, crying out hysterically. ‘** Land, land!” exclaimed the captain, ‘‘ what can it be, now?” ‘* She’s scared out o’ her wits,” Abe returned, ‘fan’ it follers she’s seen something out o’ the ord’nary course. Somebody must be here.” Twiss at once became more alert and began to look around sharply, but Elise extended her hand, pointed and explained: ‘*In there!” ‘*My cabin!” added Twiss, sharply. is there? Who is there?” But the girl dropped into a chair, and sat there, shivering and silent. Then the captain moved quickly forward, determined to solve the mystery. Abe followed close after him, Twiss flung open the half-closed door. The master of the Brown Bet was a man who liked comfort. His private quarters showed this. The room was larger than was to be ex- pected, and well fitted up. Against the wall, opposite his berth, was a table. Ordinarily it was used for commonplace purposes, but not now. Ahoy Abe, looking over the sailor’s shoulder, saw a strange sight—a sight so out of the usual order of events, and so uncanny, that no one would have looked for its like in modern New York, or been ready to be- lieve that such a sight was there to be seen were wei évidence anything less than that of his own vision. Three human skeletons were there! ‘* Gods!” muttered John Twiss. Ahoy Abe said nothing, but he looked quite as attentively as the captain. erg skeletons in the cabin! Strange spec- tacle! Of the dead trio one was standing, and the other two seated atthe table! Each of the lat- ter held playing-cards in his bony left hand, and other cards were on the table. It was a weird representation of a genuine game, and the blue, red and white chips showed the precise nature of the game. Mechanically Abe scanned the cards held by the relic of humanity next to him. He saw four queens and an ace of diamonds in the skele- ton hand. But, there was something more striking. Back of this player was the standing skeleton. The latter’s head was bent forward, as if he, too, was scanning those cards, while in the bony fin- gers of his right band he clutched an uplifted agger. hoy Abe read the story quickly; the man with the knife was about to stab in the back the man who held the four queens—at least, such would have been the inference had the players been living now. Had the scene some time really occurred? The do@k shadower mutely asked the ques- tion, and was eager to see more, but Captain T wiss, aro from the spell which was upon ‘him, uttered a discordant cry. ‘**Come away!” he ordered, seizing Abe by the arm. ‘‘ This is the devil’s work;. it is no place for us. Come away!” and before the bo could remonstrate he was pened aside, and were again in the main cabin, The captain’s bronzed face had grown pale, and he trembled perceptibly. ‘‘'That’s a queer show you keep,” remarked Abe, coolly. ‘‘ Beats any Bowery museum lay- out I’ve seen. Still, ain’t t an odd ornament fer yer parlor?” ‘‘ It’s no work of mine,” groaned ‘I wiss; “it’s @ part of the same ous scheme that did the other work. I'd give a pile of money to get my grip on whoever did it,” : ee mister, why was it done?” nif y? The fiends who did it only know.” ** Must ’a’ been some objick in it, I should say.” ‘It was a low joke.” ‘‘ Mighty queer kind of a joke, b’gosh! Some- body had ter rob a graveyard an’ fix things ee Say, le’s go in an’ take another look at the show. Abe’s curiosity was all aroused, and he pushed pee Twiss and reéntered the S yen of mystery. He advanced to the table and gazed in wonder ‘* What - af A we es + Ce eee Ce Ce © SO Ee Anoy Abe, the Dock Sharp. agility unusual in one of his years. As Abe at the weird card-players. He saw that the vet down the companionway, some one ran | skeletons were held together by wires, and that the same means had been used to keep each in place, some of the wires being fastened to the ceiling. Twiss hurriedly gathered up all of the cards, including those held by the bony hands, and tossed them aside. Then he wiped! his forehead nervously. ‘This is an awful affair!” he declared. ‘*Some o’ yer crew must hev beeu 1n it, eh? No outsider could ’a’ fixed the game up, seems ter me; you’d hev seen ’em around,” *“*The schooner has been poorly guarded. We had no cargo to watch, and I sent the boys out to enjoy themselves. Thus, an outsider could—and did—come here and work the game, There is nothing strange about that, but. what certainly is marvelously strange is, who did it, and why was it done?” Abe lvoked at tke silent card-players. He thought of the difficulty an ordinary person would have to get three skeletons; of the pre- liminary study and final labor necessary to ar- range such a pantomime; and he considered the tableau before him. All this indicated more than an idle jest, The tableau had some deeper meaning than a mere joke, Meaning for whom unless for John Twias? Why should the group be in the captain’s private cabin unless its secret affected bim? A wave of suspicion passed to the boy’s mind, and he turned his eae upon his companion, John. Twiss was frightened. Thecolor had not returned to his face, and his big hands trembled. A man who saw only a poor jokein the matter might be indignant, or he might laugh, but frightened t—never ! ‘** Hullo, my bold eagle o’ thesea!” thought the water-front gamin, ‘“‘you ain’t the spotless dove you claim ter be, The feathers in yer crest look very buzzard-like, Does this scene callup old memories? Ef so, w’ot memories? That’s jist w’ot Abraham is beund to know.” Without breathing his new ideas, he looked again at the figure with the knife, ‘* 1 wonder,” headded, aloud,‘ ef ever a card- player was stabbed in the back, ez this lay-out seems ter indicate?” Twiss started, ‘* No, no; of course not,” he returned, hur- teh ** Why did you think of such an absurd in , ‘“*That’s the game the skeleton-knifer seems about ter try.” ‘* All nonsense, of course; sll nonsense,” ‘*Mebbe! Say, this man held four queens an’ an ace;a pretty fair hand.as poker-hands go. ** W’ot did the other feller hold?” **T don’t know.” ** You ought ter looked. Et kinder dawns on- ter me that ef Number One hadn’t held four of 2 a he might not ’a' been stabbed in the back. “Pshaw! pshaw!” cried John Twiss, impa- tiently. ‘* You are too imaginative. Of course this farce means nothing at all.” Elise Allen appeared in the door. CHAPTER III, A HOUSE OF SECRETS, ELIseE had grown calm, She was not of a cowardly nature, but just the reverse. Still, her nerves had been upset by her own narrow escape from death, and when she saw the un- natural group in the cabin she had yielded to actual terror. Now she gave little sign of outward pertur- bation. She looked curiously at the trio. ‘*Uncle Twiss, what does this mean?” she ed, ‘**A boys’ joke; a boys’ joke!” was his impa- tient response, ‘‘ You don’t know these strange city youth asI do. They are up toall kinds of tricks, and care not upon whom ss vent their fancy for so-called amusement. There, there; nie | us give it no more attention, Let’s go ou He made a move toward the main cabin, but Elise did not retreat. ‘* It’s hard to regard it as a mere joke,” she re- marked, gravely, ** Miss,” interrupted open 4 Abe, “‘ did you ever vias anybody as was stabbed in the back like He pointed to the third figure, but Captain Twiss broke forth angrily: ‘* Have done with your imaginative nonsense! I will not listen to an more! I command ou not to say another word. You may have n in this plot!” ‘* Ef any plotter is nigh, et ain’t me,” returned the Sharp of the Docks, severely. _ : leary, 2 ip ae lew ae Sy Be sr as a aa 1 . a —— ‘ . 7 oon n ‘ SEE. Te yg Penn Bet yee Z ar. f a) ¥ : ‘ ve eT) “oe + of > aut of pteet 0) eae : i” a * eee . 1 ‘“ NENA LS see Nog Barbe er O7 es aE SE A ae A Ra Rieke 4 » oe 1, sO) 4 M te al . Ar oF 4 * _ ” Ad oa ie ¥ se wo , - “." 1 Briere 4,3 vi Pes i oor if, a ; — : — “~ - es - “a Mi rey Dk ~ ety ohhh ee Mh a tp Che By. . oe. Ft Re 7 ; =r . A wee . “jag re ‘*T cannot see,” contiued Elise, ‘‘ why any one should arrange such a strange, elaborate scene out of any commonplace motive. Tome it looks as if if meant something, and—it wasin your cabin, uncle [”, ‘‘We will not speculate on possibilities that don’t exist,” decided Twiss, roughly. ‘‘ These bones I will bundle together and drop in the river; we have made too much of them already. Come, now, go out!” The captain enforced his order by almost forcibly ejecting Ahoy Abe and the rescued girl from the inner cabin, and he then turned the key of the door and locked the skeleton trio in. ‘*The hour grows late,” he remarked, yawn- ing. ‘ Boy, I think it time to close up shop, so to speak, and getsomesleep. You can leave us now. Weare greatly obliged to you for helping Elise out of the dock, andif you'll call around to-morrow, I will still further testify my grati- tude.” Elise put both her hands on Abe’s shoulders, ‘¢- You area brave, noble youth!” she declared, ‘and words cannot repay you for all you have done. Come to-morrow, for I wish to talk with ou.” ‘*Oh! it wa’n’t nothin’ ter pull yer out o’ the drink, miss, an’ I’d been a weak sister ef I could- n't ’a’ done it, but ez fer comin’ ter calion yer, why, great Scott! et will suit me like a quail on toast, you bet! I'll come!” Abraham nodded with emphasis. He knewa yas girl when he saw one, and Elise just about tted his idea of the species. He would have been glad to call, anyhow, while, after the events just recorded, there was the magnet of mystery to urge him to keep track of uncle and niece. Twiss escorted him to the dock, and Abe then walked away. ‘*Ez funny an experience ez I ever struck along the old North River,’”’»he muttered, as he went, ‘‘Can’t see the whys an’ wherefores, but I’m jest ez sure that skeleton wax-work biz had a meanin’ ez that fleas means dogs around some- where, Sure!” Another idea was prominent in his mind, and that was that Captain Twiss cid not please him, The mariner’s strange conduct from the time he had stood on the deck and seen Elise struggle in the water without making a move to aid her, down to the present time, all occurred to him, and he shook his head. ‘‘Cap’n Jack may be an angel in sailor’s tog, but I don’t. believe et. Dll find out w’ot that card-playing skeleton sociable means, or rip the uppers off o’ my cowhides in tryin’! t’s me!” Meditating thus be was proceeding along West street when, as he reached the foot of an incom- ing street, a voice suddenly called out: ‘Hallo, young fellow!” Abe looked and saw a tall man who had just Be out of a recess. ‘** Hullo, Parson Joe!” he quickly returned. **' You know me, do you?’ ** You bet!” ‘¢ And, I daresay, know no good of me,” added Parson Joe, with a grave smile, Abe ran his hands into his pockets and whores himseif away with his shoulders well ack, ‘‘They do say, Joseph, you are a rare speci- men,” ‘*In what way?” ***Cause you're a square ‘spo ‘To admit that [ was an oddity for that reason | would be to cast doubt on other e rt.’ 7 . They kin bear it, ’cause the cap fits. Lain’t . so old as Methuselah was afore he died, but I’ve paddled around in blessed ol’ New York a good bit sence my. legs ae muskelar enough ter manage my ys an’ I don’t know no good 0’ rts, in general. They live solely ter gamble, play the races, actresses an’ imbibe beer.” ‘* Not a manly way of living, I admit,” ‘‘Et wouldn’t beso bad ef they was square, but they ain’t, an’ that’s where you lay ’em over. Parson Joe, they call yer, That’s partly because you always dress. in sober black, an’ partly, I guess, cause you are square,” The sport made a hurried gesture, “‘ Don’t let us speak of myself, Think of me as one like other sports—a most despicable class. Don’t think well of me! Have you lately seen Old Grasshop ** The *lo reman?” ‘*T think that is his calling; anyhow I’ve seen you with him.” ‘¢‘ Grassey is a “longshoreman, an’ I know him. Fer that matter I know all the ‘longshoremen oy the North River. W’ot about Grassey?” ‘*] want to find him,” ‘? > books.com