Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 991 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

_ "s? x 4, - » ae 4 . - sop a’ ; o a Aw Pe ed f: = ¢ "Ata es 2 ee “T ian’ t know;,never measured it. It eA “may be a hundred feet or five hundred.” “Or not more than fifty? ”’ “T dom’t know, really, Nell. out.” ae You? 9 “ Yes. I wouldn’t let you go down for the world. Here, hold the torch right -against the wall—that’s it. I don’t want -to be fire-blinded, for I’ll need my eyes after to-night, perhaps.” Billy Whiskers lowered himself over the edge of the pit and wrapped the rope, i which had been secured to an iron staple aaa in the wall, about his legs ! “All right?” he called back as he f slipped slowly down. “ All right, Billy!” ee In another moment the little camp- singer vanished, and Nelly of Shake- i down stood alone in the corridor with F the torch in her hand. Seconds seemed hours to her as she ‘ listened for a sound from the little man beneath her. She could see from the movements of the rope that he was still clinging to it. She hugged the wall and waited. “He'll find it if it’s there,” she said, half aloud, to herself. ‘“ Billy is faith- ful to me, and he won’t keep the secret to himself if it’s down in the mine.’, Then the rope hung quietly, and she could not detect the least movement in it. But suddenly it began to quiver again —a little now, and then more, as if some person was coming up. Nelly leaned forward, but suddenly fell back. She saw a hand planted upon the edge of the pit and the next moment she was gazing into a face below it. And such a face! Nell of Shakedown stood spell-bound, horrified, speechless against the bare rock, for it was not Billy Whiskers who jhad come up out of the black pit! er aed ; , . , : < Po ica . A J * re . “ 2 + i . ne «2 3 7 Sh to ate, er oe Se mo." ei ae oe ri é = a re " 4 all ’ ; % it, “Te mo io! Si. » a a ' I'll find — . +o ~* 4 . ‘~ * = -. \ | CHAPTER IV. : THE ‘HERMIT OF THE MINK, ‘No, it ‘was not Billy Whiskers, the ‘Sweet singer of Shakedown, who had come out of the dark depths of the old mine to confront Nelly, the waif. The face which the girl’s torch re- wealed was the face of an older man, and one which had in it so much of the strange and horrible that the belle of ‘Shakedown shook like a leaf. ° The deeply sunken eyes set in this ‘face were wild-looking and ferocious: they glared at Nelly like the eyes of the ‘tiger, and the trembling girl could only «<onjecture what had happened to Billy ‘Whiskers in the pit. The face did not remain long at the brink of the wall, for the waif of Shake- down, with suddenly assumed courage, nto a crack in the mine wall and sprang toward the apparition with it. — , “Down! down!” she cried. “In the name of heaven, what are you—man, _ gre or devil?” _ There came from the thin lips of the -wolfish face a chuckle, and the eyes snapped. Nelly held the flambeau over her head and was ready to send it down into the grinning face. “What have you done with Billy— _ Billy. Whiskers?” she demanded. ay foe Where is he? He went down the rope - awhile ago and you—you came up in his stead. Speak! Where is my friend?” _ “Where do you think, girl? Look down if you can. Don’t be afraid. I'm Rati human in spite of what. you called me.” “Human? I can’t believe itr . es es ye REE 3 . on S ne ; ; * * ~ mile . a om a * x Pe. ae = > so ¥ . - % a a i Se a - t< ‘seized the torch which she had thrust. —$————$—— eee ip ius if. Saat = Nelly leaned over the brink of the pit and tried to penetrate its depths with the light. “ You will have to go down and look for him. How’s Shakedown?” Nelly turned pale. ‘Who are you?” she demanded once more. “ You don’t belong with us? You look like a half-starved wretch. Why are you in this old mine, which once be- longed to Bandy Nickel? Tell me that.” “I tell you nothing. It is none of your business.” “I am Bandy’ S girl; so it is some of my business.” The man came up the rope to the top of the shaft again and lwoked curiously at the girl. “You? Bandy’s girl? You must be Nelly.” *{ am—Nelly Nickel; you? Be and as fair with me.” | “T am Samson.” “T don’t understand,” “T am Samson Peters. of me, eh?” “IT never did, and now I see you for the first time.” “It’s not strange. I am a queer man. But I never heard of you till I found the papers in the mine.” Nelly uttered a cry of eagerness. “You found papers, did you?” she ex- Never heard claimed. ‘‘ You have discovered his se- cret, then?” “It was an accident, miss. I didn’t know they were down there; but I’m liable to turn up anything.” ‘““Wnere are they—the papers?” “Down there.” “Won't you bring them up to me?” “Why not go down for them?” “J will! I came here for his secret, and [ am ready to go down after it.” “Til descend first, and you can come down after me,” “Go down, then. I will follow!” Nelly saw the man lower himself into the pit, and when a faint voice came up, telling her that he had reached the bot- tom, and that she might follow him, she placed the torch again in the crack and began to descend. “T may find Billy Whiskers,” thought the little woman. ‘“ He is down there. I cannot forsake my friend, and if this man plays me false, better will it be for him if he had never been born!” The waif went down the rope with -the agility of a practised sailor. It seemed like a descent into the heart of the bottomless pit; but, her nerve did not desert her, and she soon stood on a ledge of rock. A hand clutched her arm. “This way,” said the voice she had heard before. ‘‘ You climb like a monkey, miss.. Never saw anything like it. You _beat Samson Peters. Ha! ha! ha!” Nelly permitted herself to be led away, determined not to resist her Strange guide, who had told her so much, and before long she was halted in a chamber as dark as the passage she had just traversed. The air was strange- ly, pure, and she felt on her cheeks a breath of wind which seemed to be tinctured with the odors of mountain pine, “ This is not the bottom of the mine?” questioned the girl, “Bless you, no! It’s only a half-way point. Let me show you. Now watch this match.” : He struck a match, and threw it down. Nelly saw the little spark as it descend- ed, twirling all the time, until it séemed to go out from sheer distance. “He once told me that the Heart-of- Gold Mine ‘was full of abate which S| . a j s =. } oy ; = be S Gi is re | gait is RS Bhs 5 73 . ne! * - ~- a. ae, oe ste } | Two Dudes from Doomed Camp. * EE - ~ -in one corner. underneath the wall, where it joined the “How do you know they were stolen?” a ‘“God bless you, they’re gone!” and = the hermit of Heart-of-Gold Mine — laughed. “I put them there, right un- ane der the wall, but I can’t find them now. = They've been stolen, I tell you.” Bf 2; he had never investigated,” she said. ‘He did not seem to know the extent of his property.” “Of course not. He died stiddenly, didn’t he?” “Yes, yes; terribly so!”’ 7 “What’s the news over head—in Shakedown? ’”’ “I will not answer! I want the pa- ‘e: ie v om, | s te « ~ wes pers first!” cried Nelly, ““T won’t . tell pa you a word till you’ve placed them in - my hands.” ee “You’ve got courage, girl. Not a ‘3 a word, eh, till I’ve told my story or ire. handed you his secret? ” ce “That's it. Where is Billy Whis- ay kers?”’ Me's “ He’s safe,” a “ But where?” é Me The hermit of the mine pointed toward Oe the spot where he had thrown the ie match. _ en “ Down there? TI’ll see first,” and Nel- eS ly started toward the place, but the her- mit jerked her back. = Not yet. You don’t know the way, © girl,” he said. ‘Don’t risk your life. You’re Bandy’ S heir, aren’t you?” ae I am. %” : “ And the richest heiress in Colorado. The mine’s a bonanza, a reglar Golcon- da; but, more of this by and by. You want to see the papers? I don’t blame you. They’re marvelous! ” , “You read them, did you?” vis “Who wouldn’t read such papers, sealed as they were and hidden where et my fingers happened to stumble upon \ aaa: a them? I tell you, girl, you don’t know what I was looking for when I found > them. That’s my secret, too.” The man who had partly illumined the interior of the underground chamber with an improvised torch glided away and Nelly saw him drop on his knees Ps - a 2 a ee agt os — -_— ie? ' yee \i qi? ly There he seemed to thrust his hand floor of the cavern, and she held her ‘breath until he rose again. “TI can’t find them,” she heard him say. In another ingtant she was at his side and her hand fell upon his shoulder. “You can’t, you say? Come, Samson Peters, don’t deceive me.”’ “T’m not. I’m telling the truth.” ak Ry “ Did you hide them there? ” kine “ Yes.”’ ‘ ys “ When?” | Bait “It must have been three days ago.” yo ie “And they’re not there now?” ws OE “T can’t touch them.” “Try again.” . Ei = He did so, reaching his arm into the = © place as far as his elbow; but he with- | ie drew it without the papers. “It’s the strangest thing in the ~~ world.” 3 “How far back does the hole run?” — | “ As far as I can feel, at any rate.” oe Nelly looked down into his face again © and scrutinized it closely. There was = | ~ the seal of honesty in it, and she was as forced to credit the story she had heard. ‘What, then, was -. .ustance of the — | papers?” she asked. “What did they © reveal to.you? ” “T’d rather you'd find them, miss,” was the reply. “The man who stole them from me should be made to give | them up, for *’ ‘hey have been stolen I very well know.” The girl looked astonished.