Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 104 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

Monte — ae : Roal Abercrombie paid, with his life, the pen- ally of the outraged law. alm, white, and with downcast eyes, he walked to the gallows; but he trembled as his foot touched the fatal step, ‘Permit me, senor?” It was the deep voice of Montezuma—the man who had crowded the prisoner’s cell with ever ; M4 y comfort ‘and delicacy, up to the last moment— the man who had promised to see him again, and now met him under the gallows. “Permit me, senor?’ and Montezuma’s strong arm aided the trembling wretch up the wooden oe, the sheriff yielding to a billionatre. @ noose was adjusted to the satisfaction of the sheriff, and the last word was waited for. Then Montezuma bade the doomed one fare- well, and the er mass beheld him whisper- ing to the man who stood upon Death’s brink. ut the words effected sal Abercrombie serenely for he writhed, reeled, and would have fallen, had not Montezum held him up, * He has a fit!” cried a dozen voices near by. ‘Spring the trap,” said Montezuma, calmly, The sheriff obeyed, and Rosal Abercrombie was jerked into Eternity from the scaffold of a gallows, while his friend, Montezuma of Mexi- co, mnt e his way through the crowd to his car- om the gallows, Montezuma drove to the humble quarters of Brainard—or Hugh Brain- ard, as he intended calling himself in ‘the future, and his mother’s Coe uaTae he certainly hada right to, if any one had. Well, Brainard, I saw your father hung; a Wiha do you leave or, I received your message, and was enly awaiting to see you.” a your mother is in her grave?’ Yes; a week ago,” and the voice of the young man trembl He had truly loved his mother—he would have been a brute, had he uot done so, Then you must leave on the packet that sails to-night; but first drive by the house of Cap- ‘ain Grenville, and pay him this money.” . we) his wife, is in the convent t hear.” ‘She has gone then, senor—to use your own tongue—hurtar para dar por Dios,” (to steal in order to give to God,) said the young man. No, she has taken the vail: but, I learned from her, that it will take a larger amount to clear Captain Grenville wholly, and give him sufficient to live on, so I wish you to hand him th ge—a quarter of a million ia all—and roll him it is conscience-money. Here is your own fortune I promised you— a oe have nei. Now live differently ve in : and farewell . © past; be honorable, eyes of Hugh Brainard were full of tears; his hand trembled as he held it forth, but he could utter no word, and Montezuma turned “he wee our after the outcast was on the ket bound for New York. He had obeyed the or- ders, given him by Montezuma, to the letter, and was lea forever the land where the iron had sunk deep into his soul. Upon his return to hig home, Montezuma found there bis slave—Mourkah, who had sailed. in the Zulah, in obedience to the orders of ‘ie mighty master, The Zulah has returned then?” She has, senor; she lies in the river,” “You put.in at Havana?” ‘Yes, senor, in distress of weather.” ‘* You carried the box to its address?” ‘I did, senor,” ‘You gave it, into his own hands?” ‘‘No, senor; I gave it into the hands of his some ee ae aha to present it to his master when he awoke in th rning.” “Which he did? nome ee ‘*' Which he did, senor.” . And the 1 t.” n answer the slave took from his sash ef paper—a printed slip. - _— ontezuma took it calmly, and read, aloud: A STARTLING CASE OF REVENGE! “AFTER EIGHTEEN YEARS! ‘A GOOD MEMORY FOR EVIL! “AN INFERNAL PRESENT! “VENGEANCE DIABOLICAL! ** Merle, the Mutineer, Again! “Many of our readers will recall eighteen ears ago, when Merle, the Mutineer was cap- red by Captain De Silva, of the Isabella, sloop-of-war, and he and his confederates, over two-seore in number, were sentenced to be shot as pirates—sentenced by the sénor, General Facon, who was Governor-General at that time, and one whe has, since his resignation, been one ef our most honored eitizens in Havana, ’ They will also recall the remarkable esca ft Merle, the Mutineer, by rushing from the e of death, and leaping from the cliff, over feet, into the sea, the act being followed by comrades, and gaining for the daring leader the name of £/ Sultador “The greater number of the pirates Psp es~ deck of a small American yach dacirer under the oliff, cut the cable, ae Ca Dees. though pursued by several cruisers then r in port. “Since that most daring escape on record, there have been many rumors regarding the career of El Saltador, or Merle, the Mutineer, some saying that he is mone other than Rafael, the Rover, others that he is Ricardo, who has been buccaneering in the Caribbean, and still more that he is the famous pirate, Belmont, of the northern seas. ‘* Whichever of this unworthy trio he may be we know not; but we.do know that he has no forentten the ex-Governor-Generai, as the sequel will show. “Last night a servant, supposed to be a for- eigner, as he spoke broken Spanish, called at the elegant mansion of the Governor-General ata very late hour, and left with the head-servant an elegant rosewood box, to be given to the General when he arose in the morning. ‘* With considerable admiration the Governo gazed upom the beautiful box, which was inlaid with silver and gold, and then opened it, ‘“‘A beautiful horn of gold was revealed, and a card upon which was written: *** To discover the treasure within,-place the righ/ hand as far in horn as possible, and touch a spring with the fore-finger. **Tet onl the Senor Facon, ex-Governor-Gen- eral, search for the secret, otherwise the charm is broken.’ ”’ ‘“*Thinking some of his friends and admirers, and their name is legion, had sent him the beau- tiful gift, the Governor obeyed, thrusting his hand as far as possible into the horn of gold, and touching a spring he felt there. “Instantly a whirring sound followed, and the Governor pee Sap to withdraw his hand, but it was impossible, for it was in a grasp that a giant could not resist. ‘Then louder and louder grew the noises. within the horn, followed by snapping and breaking sounds, and those around saw the Gov- ernor’s face grow deathly pale, and then, with a cry of agony—such a cry as only the most ex- cruciating agony can wring from the lips of a strong m eneral Facon sunk to the floor in . Ath, the horn of horror still clinging to his an ‘* At once the Governor’s surgeon was sent for, and upon his arrival the infernal machine, after great diffieulty, was taken from the hand of the unfortunate senor; but, alas! the whole band was crushed into a bleeding mass, the bones of the wrist being also broken, so that immediate amputation was found to be necessary—the Governor standing the severe operation like the old hero he is. “The diabolical instrument was then. exam- ined, and , slide was ogre ama revealed some words engraven in the go “They reads . “* Thus perish the hand which signed the death- sentence of Merle the Mutineer.’ ‘This was all that was said, and God knows it is enough, ‘The horn was found to be of pure gold out- side, and inside was a steel infernal machine, with knives, crushers and tiny saws, a thin plate of gold dividing them m the han which, when the spring was touched, was sei in the ruthless grasp and mangled, cut and pull- ed out of all shape, “The detectives are searching for the one who left the diabolical gift, and the Governor ones a large reward for his discovery and arrest, “ There is no. mark upon the box, the horn of horror, to discover who was the maker, but we trust that Merle the Mutineer will yet be caught and receive the penalty of his heinous act of revenge.” ‘““Mourkah, you have done well; return to the, SOR was the calm remark of Montezuma, when he had finished reading the printed scrap, cut froma Hayana paper; but upon his face was that smile which none could fathom. CHAPTER XXXI. MONTEZUMA PLAYS A GAME OF DON FELIPE COSALA, THE reader will easily imagine what a sur- prime it was to Andrea Angelos to return from voyage to Vera Cruz and discover the changes that had taken place. First, the failure of the house of Abercrombie, Sebastian and Company, and the death of Rosal Abercrombie upon the gallows for murder; then the death of poor Helen d of a broken heart, and ght, of her son for parts unknown; the death, or suicide, as it was Calley of Wilber Sebastian, and the remarkable act of Estelle Grenville in oming a recluse from the world, while her husband, who, had been said to have lost every- thing by the failure of Abercrombie and Com- ny, had sudden y paid the notes held against Andrea is pro , and. deposited in Angelos ie CARDS WITH king-house the sum of one hun- dred thousand dollars, Mildred e comparative poverty, and ad- vertising for muéie-scholars, was another great change; in fact, Andrea Angelos would hardly have recognimed his old set of intimates in the time he had been away, and which was some weeks, longer. pen he Di enttabcowet owing to damage to the Launcelot by a severe gale. zuma, the Merciless. 27 I TT i i elie pl inet ely =e, ' But the day after his return he saw the Havana papers, containing the netice of the revenge of Merle the Mutineer upon the ex- Governor-General of Cuba, and he found the good people of New Orleans considerably ex- cited over the subject, for it brought to their minds vividly the remembrance of that affair, “» — the names of some of their best citizens red. ere was one other person who read the news, and a — look came into his eyes, as he sipped his iced-champagne in the Cafe Bourse. At last he arose and walked rapidly along the Rue St. Louis, and soon was ushered into the ificent mansion of Montezuma. ‘“Ah! Don Felipe Cosala; I am glad you dropped in; am just breakfasting; join me? Don Felipe Cosala never had the—I nearly said heart, but meant —stomach to refuse one of Montezuma’s breakfasts or dinners, and he sunk the object of his visit for the present, and de- voted himself to the enjoyment of the luxuries of that unsurpassed dejewner. ‘Senor Montezuma,” said Don Felipe, after his breakfast was fully disposed of: ‘‘senor, do you know I have often desired to measure my strength against yours?” ‘Indeed! Nothing easier, Don Felipe. In what way shall it be?” and Montezuma smiled charmingly. ‘Suppose we try swords, senor?’ Montezuma bowed, and led the way to the pistol-gallery. ‘“ Here, Don ae take your choice,” and he pointed to the different weapons hung up in cases—weapons of all kinds and nationalities. The Don selected rapiers, and throwing aside their coats, the two gentlemen faced each other and their blades crossed. Instantly Don Felipe found himself disarmed ; but again and again he resumed his rapier, to meet with the same result. ‘You are a marvelous swordsman, Senor Montezuma,” said the Don, more hurt at his dis- comfiture than he cared to show. ‘IT practice each day and night, Don Felipe, with every weapon here; then I have a strong arm and quick eye,” was the quiet explanation, ‘‘Now, Senor Montezuma, suppose we try pistols? I am considered a dead-shot.” Mezrak opened the pistol-cases, and lcaded the weapons. Then a target at five paces was set up—the ‘* bull’s-eye” the size of a gold eagle. Don Felipe fired the six pistols lying before him, one after the other. The bull’s-eye was centered once, and hit three other times, while the other two shots were fired just out of it, yet not the sixteenth of an inch away. Don Felipe smiled, and Montezuma handed to Mezrak a piece of pasteboard, six inches square, and with a circle, the size of the target bull’s- eye, upon it. This Mezrak Loss ten paces distant, and Montezuma fired twelve times, as rapidly as he could pick up the pistols, first with the right hand, then with the left. The result was marvelous—the bullets had cut the ring away al] round, and did not swerve the sixteenth part of an inch from the center. ‘*Curse him! it will never do to pick a quar- rel with him! I have but one course to pursue —make known my suspicions to— but, Great God! it cannot be!” Such were the thoughts that flashed through the mind of Don Cosala; but he said pleasantly: ‘tI yield the palm, senor; you are the most wonderful swordsman and shot I ever saw.” ‘*Had I used the pistol with which I killed Monsieur Alden, I could have made the circle line less ragged ; those pistols are truer; but I keep them for affairs of the kind such as yoy aided your friends in.” “Tt is wonderful; but, by the way, Senor Montezuma, did you see that account of the re- venge of a mutineer upon Facon, the ex-Gover- nor-General of Cuba?” ‘“* Yes, I read it two days ago; it was a debt of long standing paid with interest.” Don Felipe Cosala looked straight into the face of Montezuma, but not a muscle quivered. ‘*Senor Montezuma, as I once said, the eve- ning of your ball, I knew that n.utineer well— — bame was Merle, and you look strangely like im. ‘*Indeed! I never was told before that I re- semmbled any one else; but come, Don Felipe, I will give you another treat. I remember you said, on that same occasion, that you were wont in your younger years, to play an excellent game of cards, and I beg that you a game with me, for I pride myself upon my luck with the treacherous pasteboards.” i. * Shall it ad ld, papas Don Fe- s eyes sparkled; here he was kin or abn sum you may be pleased to name.” ‘‘ Ah! your income dwarfs mine, senor, so 1 will have to leave the stake to you, begging you not to fo too high.” *“Will you play for any stake I name which it is in your power to meet?” **T will, Senor Montezuma.” ‘You pledge 7 ea to this, Don Felipe?” Don Felipe Cosala was no coward, yet his voice quivered as he answered: | GomiGcnoee cS (E()