Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 100 — page 19: what you’re looking at

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

| | a > - ' and armed with Helen said, addressing tho actress in rapid tones. “ And as you are sorely wounded, let me have your sword, | for I lost mine in the meee. Close the door securely. There is bloody work at hand. Yonder coming _ windows, all combined to form a scene like scoundrel is even as desperate as Victor Bramont!” | arcla’s sword, and holding | ready his revolver, he placed himself in a vosition | near the door, shouting a quick, loud command to his friends, the detectives. CHAPTER XXVI. THE CAVALRY AND THE THIEVES. THE detectives who fought for Franz Edouin and his betrothed—incited by every impulse which the cause of virtue could invoke—being in numbers far — superior to the desperadoes of Bramont, were put- tin to ne the surviving rascals at the moment the thundering horse-hoofs of the approaching cav- alry struck upon their_ears. They turned at the | command from Franz Edouin, whose words told them th.ut a new and formidable foe was at hand, but they were men accustomed to danger and were | not appalled by the prospect. Bramont, who had himself been hard pressed, see- ing that he had lost, at least for the time, the object of his visit to the abode of Pierre Plaque, called off his ruffians and gave the order for a precipitate re- treat. Eight of the thirteen answered and obeyed his order, and with these, and muttering blasphe- mies upon his ill luck, he started on a run from the | scene of his defeat. **Follow!’’ he snorted, choking with the rage of : overwhelming disappointment. ‘“‘Follow me! Sa- cre/ The end is not yet!” True enough, the end was not yet. As they ap- roached the corner, a vast body of men, man pearing torches that flared resinously, poured pell- mell across his path, with whoops and howlings that made the air fairly hideous. In front, and leading this crowd, was the Death-cart of Vierre Plaque; in the cart the erect form of Xlmo, the Voodoo, her right arm bared to the shoulder, over her shoulder and about her form a volume of light, sable gar- ments, the right hand wielding a heavy mace of spikes, and her whole mien—with glaring eye ning teeth, and now unkinked and dishevel ocks whose bushy and raven opulence was like the unkempt hair of a cannibal—the personification of some terrible demon abroad in wrath to battle and destroy. As the scene of the general encounter occurred midway in the block, with the crowd led by the Voodoo in front, and the already flercely-contend- ing forces in the rear, there appeared to be no avenue of escape for Bramont. «Ho! Diable!’’ he roared, astounded and alarmed by this pee predicament. caught again!’ stanch, he halloed: ‘‘Look! You must fight for “TI fear I am | * And to the men, who still stood | your vagabond lives! These, too, are your cnemies | and mine. We must cut our way through yonder mob! Stand firm, and hew and shoot them as they come! Now then!” he Voodoo had recognized Bramont the moment she set eyes upon his spromalpenty, frantic figure, and even as he addressed his men with that desperate h, her voice rung shrill and loud above the **L told you that I would not die, but would live to kill Ms ictor Bramont!”’ ‘Ho in the cellar of the house in England, seventeen years ago! Diab’e!’’ hissed the curnered villain, nerving himself for the terrific struggle against tre- mendous odds. Then the modes avalanche closed about the for- lorn crew, and clubs, knives, swords and pistols thudded, clashed and banged in the fearful struggle for life and death. That was what she said when I stabbed her | : Pierre Plaque sat and shivered upon his seat, fcr his was no ordinary mob such as he had at man times figured pularly in. It was a new ana treacherous episode in his career, from which he shrunk but could not avcid. As if completely para- lyzed, he sat in nis usual position, with heels to the headboard of the cart and toes projected, the reins | hanging listlessly in his trembling fingers. His large fmall one ere glared ahead, while lis stuttering thin lips were whining like a man with the ague: “Oh! Ob! By the bones of the catacombs! this ig more than I expected! A fight athand and a fight infront! When we are through here, we shall be ryixed in there! for I see the form of Philip De Vi . ho is hated as iutensely as Victor Bramont; an there is the person of Franz Edouin, the famous de- teetive, who owes me a grudge for that little ride I gave him a night or two since! Between them all, I 4in a dead man, to a certainty! » hurtling The French Spy. disciplined cavalry and well-trained detectives, the noise augmented by the voices of the people in tha | nde- monium, symboled by the ringing of swords, the cracking of pistols and fierce yells of hate and defi- ance, Apart from all this Philip De Vin—who had been roughly dragged from his horse, and who escaped, thus far, the steel and bullet of less important ad- versaries—was engaged in a fierce encounter with Franz Edouin, and it was while they thus fought that Pierre Plaque espied the two_ men who, he knew, were so deeply interested in the struggle for Osalind Ray—the first the man he had tried to as- sassinate in England, many years before; the second the man he had ridden in his Death-cart, and would have sacrificed to the fury of a drunken mob; and both men whom he had great cause to fear. ** Abominable detective!” yelled De Vin, pressing Franz Edouin at the point of his dextrous sword, * You have long escaped me! Once io-night you had meat a disadvantage! Parlleu/ Now we are on equal terms! That for your heart!” “And that to avenge Dorlan Ray!’ cried Franz, parrying the thrust of his ee | and discharging the pistol he carried in his left hand. De Vin uttered a shriek of agony and fell mortally wounded. Almostover the falien villain leaped the demoniac form of Victor Bramont, with blood-stain- ed face and tattered garments. Nearly all of the ruffians, overcome by the force of numbers, were killed or left dying by the wild horde of thieves, and Bramont, running this way and that, fieeing for his life and being pursued by a score of relentless foes, thus suddenly brought him- self face to face with the man he hated with every throb of his vile heart. “Ho! Diatle! You and I are at it again!” he howled, aiming a terrific stroke at Franz Edouin. “Ay, scoundrel Bramont! Once again! Look well to yourself!” A pope! cracked beneath the very feet of the two combatauts, and as Bramont reeled and fell with a bullet through his head, a vindictive voice exclaimed: * Parleu! Victor Bramont, you shall not live with a chance to possess Osalind kay! Nor, you, either, Franz Edouin!”’ There was another pistol-shot, delivered by the prostrate and fast dying wretch, and Franz, throw- ing up his arm, stagmered and sunk upon the steps before the abode of Pierre Plaque. Another than the Voodoo thus abruptly closed the vicious career of Victor Bramont, and she, in the galloping Death-cart, now rove upon the scene in ime to see Bramont receive his death-wound from the pistol of Philip De Vin, who so unceremoniously took from her hands her special intention of ven- geance. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE TRIUMPH OF FRANZ EDOUIN. Tue immense and wild concourse of thieves, having overcome and fairly annihilated the desperate crew led by Bramont, now pressed onward to the second scene of conflict, throwing themselves in a solid body before and around the Death-cart from which Ximo, the Voodoo, was screaming her commands and flourishing her spiked mace, **Forward!’’ she ordered, shrilly. ‘‘I see there Philip De Vin, who leads a rank of cavalry! Now then, at the cavalry—all!”’ With loudly reverberating ber the mob-like mass rushed in, fraternizing with the detectives and throw- ing themselves, like an avalanche of a thousand furies, upon the entangled cavalry. ‘There was no longer order in the ranks, but one general hand-to-hand encounter, in which the mount- ed men were beset by a legion of dancing, darting | not easily escape. devils whom they could not reach with their sabers, and who, with daggers, bludgeons and pistols, struck first = ge one side and then upon another, regard- less of the bones that were cracked between con- cussioning horses or the broken limbs given by prancing hoofs. **Oh!” exclaimed one of the luckless cavalry, who was furiously attacked by four of the thieves, while _ one of the detectives held the bridle of the horse. one eye ogled upon the fight about him, and his | © é “*May Satan get hold of Colonel Philip De Vin, for leading us into this vile scrape! I did not come here to be massacred by a devilish rabble !—nor bave I yet discovered what it is all about! Let me get out of this quickly!’ and seizing a favorable opportu- _ bity, he cut down one of his assailants, at the same Ho! my head!’’—ag | missile struck and nearly knocked him | senseless—" Before this is over, I am sure there will | he no Death-cart driver! I am never so frightened as now! And al man—the sweetheart of Franz Edouin! oing mad! I was Oh! if there all this for a wo- | wore only no women in the world! Look out, there!"’ | cking desperately at one who tried to deal a _ crack on his timid shins, Meanwhile the cavalry, headed by furious, r and confident Philip De Vin, came forward with a thunder of hoof-strokes. The detectives, by the command they had received, scattered like a line of skirmishers, so that the charging horse- men found no solid front to attack, and in a few seconds there was great confusion, as the mounted men sought here and there for the foes who shot them in their saddles or slashed and maimed their neg legs. Bridles were grasped and riders stabbed before the heavy sabers could frish the stroke of michty sweeps. A fearful and jam occurred, and the clanking of scabbards and the clashing of sharp steel, mingling with cries, and curses, smote the air with curdling echoes. Shouts and koots issued frem the windows. As the detachment of the National Guard was recog- nized, showers of stones and other missiles were aurled upon them by the hundred or more lookers- People vasy brave, anf having at sake theron e ras rave, an v a e the roofs om gf lived, were pouring forth to tne buil and striving to subdue the flames are their own dwellings caught in the destructive both sides of the street. | Tne fighting between the thieves and Bramont’s ‘etter-armed ruffians, and the combat between the | that time digging spurs into his horse, and the snorting beast leaped clear of its rider’s foes, bearing him Swiltly away. This flight of horse and rider, which occurred just as De Vin was shot down by Franz Edouin, and the others observing tbe fall of their leader, produced an immediate panic. Such as were able to extricate themselves gave their horses spur and rein, leaving their less fortunate comrades to a desperate fate. It was in the moment of the precipitate retreat of the cavalry that the Voodoo drove up and witnessed the fall of Franz Edouin. She leaped from the cart and hastened to his side. “Franz Edouin! Speak! Are you badly hurt?” Fortunately for the young man, Philip De Vin’s right hand and nerves, unsteadied by the presence of death, re: d:ved his aim a random one, and the murderous pistol-ball had merely grazed the skull of the intended victim, momentarily stunning him. Even as Xlmo spoke, Franz was rising slowly to his feet, dazed and bewildered by the concussion. “Thank Heaven! I believe | am not badly wound- ed,”’ he said, in reply to the anxious Voodoo. ‘What of Osalind? Have you found her?” ““Ay—thank Heaven for that, too! But had you not come to my assistance, I fear it would have gone hard with me against my two deadly foes. They are now dead, and we need fear them no more.” “Curse them!”’ hissed the Voodoo, glancing at the two cor on the pave. “I had hoped that mine would the hand to slay Victor Bramont! Well, let it pass. We willsee Osalind.”’ She rapped smartly on the door with her mace, and Helen Varcla, hearing the voice of Franz Kdouin, promptly answered the summons. “My darling Osalind!—my love!—it is over! And now I must tell you that this lady is your mother. aoe is a long story, but this is hardly a fitting me— “She knows all,’’ interrupted the actress. ‘* While terrible struggle progressed without, I have | | | | ' 19 convinced herthat in embracing me she is in the arms of the mother who has loved, longed and sought for her during seventeen yea a “Dear Franz,” said the maiden, pilowing her head upon the breast of her love, “I am satisfied that I found my mother and that I shall love her dearly. With her and wi_h you, my happiness should be complete. But, oh! tell me of my tather. Have you seen him? Whereis he? Can we not go to him at once?” A grave silence followed this speech, and all look- ed at Franz Edouin, over whose tace passed a shadow of pain. “Tf your mother has told you all, has she not told you that Dorlan Ray was not really your father, and that your father diedin England, many years ago?’ asked the Voodoo. ‘*Ah! true; she did. But Dorlan Ray was ever a father to me, kind and loving. How can I think of him otherwise? Tell me of him, dear Franz. My very heart is bleecing for him; I dare not imagine what may have been his fate, after he was dragged from me,” ‘*My roor, suffering love,” he answered, in a low voice choked with emotion, “‘ let the fact that Dorlan Rey was not your true father help your strength ever so little in hearing a sad piece of news which I consider it my duty to tell you even now. Can you be brave, my darl ng?” “Speak, Yranz,” ard her voice was weak and hushed as she uttercd the words. “While you listen, dear one, [ will be brief and spare you all I can. I, far more than you, have cause for deepest sorrow. Dorlan Ray, as | Lave this night learned, was indeed my own fa.her.”’ ‘Your father, Franz?’’ “Ay. But of that we will speak at some other time. Dorlan Ray wasimprisoned in the Ccncier- cerie, by Philip De Vin—that monster in human rerb?—who used every artifice and threat to per- suade his captive and victim into co-operating to make you his bride. Dorlan Ray at last, when De Vin promised to have him shot at sunrise if he per- sisted in his refusals, professed consent to the arch- villain’s plans. De Vin started for your house, to bring you and wed you in the prison cell as the price of the life of the man whom you believed to be your father.” “Oh, no! Howcan I think that?’ sobbed Osa- lind, burying her face in her hands. “For toough I would have willingly made any sacrifice to save such precious life, lcennot believe that he would have asked it of me. He was too brave, too good, too noble. Ah! I knew him well.” “Nay, you misjudge him. In his breast he car- ried a vial of poison, and when you had reached bis arms, he would have asked you if you were ready to drink the poison with him and thus forever escape the persecution of a!l enemies.” “How gladly would I have done so, in such an alternative!’ she wept. “When De Vin had gone,” continued the lover, “the guard at the dcor went into the cell. Ray knew the man. This guard once liad a Jittle deugh- ter who lay sick and dying for want of proper medi: cines. Ray found her out, filled the sick-chambe: with comforts and delicacies, cheered the despond- ent hearts of the parents end wove a happy fceling in the body and mind of the sufierer, ‘ihe child recovered. In remembrance of this, tLe guard said to the despairing prisoner: ‘Dcrlan Ray, you saved the life of my child. I will aid you to escaye, even though I forfeit my own existence, for I know that there is one very dear to you, who needs your presence and protection.’ The chains were ur iock- ed, and when they had exchanged a ;ortion of clothing the artist stole cautiously away. He did Being discovered, he was fired upon and—I must speak it, though it wrines my heart to do so!—I held bim in my arms when he died. With his last breath he told me that which 1 have told to you. I have taken steps to have him properly attexded.”’ , Osalind was weeping hysterically, and in her ex- treme grief could find no words for utterance as he finished the sad recital. At that juncture the attention of all was aitracted by an ominous murmuring without. While the foregoing scene was being enacted with- in the house, there were sudden and significant doings among the vast crowd in the street, not em- bracing the thieves or detectives, for the thieves discovering the identity of the men with slouched hats and capes, were rapidly disappearing in the direction of their various lairs and hiding-places, and dangers of the recent combat being over, : corcs of people were boldly coming forward, eager to ascer- tain the cause of the fray. Among these latter were two men who stood apart and conversed earnestly. “There is Pierre Plaque and his outlandish cart!’’ exclaimed one. “So itis, And scarce three days ago he hauled away a brother of mine, whom I have not seen since.”’ “IT have almost a similar cause to hate the Death cart driver, who has, no doubt, brought about alj these dead bodies on the pave. Ha! as 1 live, there stands that witch, Xlmo, the Voodoo, in yonder doorway! I havea grudge against her for selling poison to my wife, which was intended for my stomach! Let us stab Pierre Plaque and incite u riot against this abominatle Voodoo! Ccme!”’ Pierre Plaque had remained seated upon his cart as motionless as a carven image. Not a finger or muscle moved. Suddenly he was jerked to tho ground by the two men, and these men utiercd a cry of surprise. The Death-cart driver was Gead and stiff. In the very center of his forehcad there was a hole where a stray bullet had pierced his brain. Simultaneously with this act, there arose that ominous murmuring which attracted those im the house; for it seemed that others in the crowd bad recognized the unpopular Voodoo, and the sound was caused by numerous mutterings against her, Perceiving the absence of her late allics, the thieves, and realizing instantly the danger to her- self and those with her, she cried out, quickly: “Not a minute longer must we remain here! Come! Into the Death-cart—al! We shall be mobbed and killed directly!” e sprung through the doorway, circling her ed mace aloft, and Helen Varcla, though wea«x from loss of blood, followed bravely with swoarl CoMmilEboo! samt en i stl I EC Cy CE _ A ca eS, ET AEN EL EEL AL A A ~