Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 106 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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24 A sharp hour’s drive, and the familiar sound of the ocean swell breaking upon the rock-bound shore fell upon their ears, then an abrupt turn and the sea lay before them. A mile or so off a little sloop lay rocking upon the troubled surface of the swelling bosom of the deep. The ill-assorted pair que the car and Dooney Le ee the heiress a boat which was on the strand. They got in, Dooney took the oars, and the vessel was soon reached. A rough-looking, rough-bearded foreigner, the Dutch skipper evidently, assisted Maggie on board. ‘**Der gentleman’s in de cabin,’’ he said, in gut- tural accents. ie descended the stairs, the door swung-to after her, and to her horror the sole occupant of the place was Captain Desmond Burke! The heiress had been trapped—trapped by a scheme worthy of Satan himself. CHAPTER XXXVIL THE PASSENGERS. Ma@ere did not scream or faint, although the very blood in her veins seemed chilled with horror. The surprise was so terrible, the shock s0 great, that for a moment the lady stood as motionless as a statue, her hand pressed against her heart, her eyes staring with a strange, unnatural gaze at the hand- some smiling face of the successful trickster. At first Desmond became alarmed; from the pecu- liar way in which the girl stood and the strange ex- ression upon her face, he feared that the shock had n too ede and that the old king of terrors, grim death, was about to snatch his prey from his erasp right in the moment of victory. But, great as was the shock, it was not sufficient to kill. A long breath came from the lips of the lady; she staggered back, and but for the support of the cabin wall behind her would have fallen. Burke sprung forward to assist her, but, with a feeble motion she waved him poder **Do not touch me—do not touch me. please!’ she murmured, sinking into a chair, which fortunately was near at hand. Burke bowed Sager f retreated to the table, and sat down by the side of it ‘“*As you please,”’ he remarked, es ft “your eee wish is to meas potent as the of fate teelf.”’ The first force of the shock being over the girl’s natural spirits began to return to her. “What is the meaning of this? Havel been be- trayed? Where is my husband—where is Shamus O’Brien?” she asked. Bg feos your last question first, I would say that I hav’n’t the slightest idea in regard to his whereabouts, excepting that it is hiding somewhere in the hills wait chance to escape from the country.” “Then he is uot on board of this vessel?” “Oh, no; although I have no doubt that he would be willing to give quite a large sum to secure such a piece of luck; that is, I mean without any reference either to you orl. But, to gain the deck of this ves- sel would be to secure an escape from the hands of the law officers, who are not sparing any pains to run him down, and unless he does contrive in some way to get out of the ase gt very speedily, most certainly he will be captured, for the Government is robable he is for a good resolved to catch and make an example of him if possible.” “Tt is as I suspected, then, when I saw you; the note written in Shamus’s hand and signed by his name was a forgery committed for the express pur- pose of decoying me on board of this vessel.” “No; there, in part, you are wrong. Shamus did write that line; it was found on his person when he was captured by me. He had evidently intended to send a messenger to you at some time, but did not doso. Of course after his capture he was searched; that bit of paper, among other things, was found, and I preserved it carefully, thinking that sometime it might be of use.”’ ‘But what isthe meaning of this outrage? Why have I been decoyed on board of this vessel?” the girl demanded, with greet spirit. ‘*A very few words will explain everything. My dear Miss Moore, I am a ruined man; my creditors are pressing me hotly ; [must have money to satisfy them or else I must throw up my commission and fly from the count In this terrible state of af- fairs, one hope of salvation alone appeared to me—a wealth marriage; and that is the reason that I pressed my suit with yousoardently. You did not choose to smile upon me, and go, in despair, I made up my mind to elope with you. Lam aware that it is generally the other way; the lady flies with the gentleman, and in fact in this instance that is the way it will appear to the public. To-morrow morn- ing the news will be spread far and wide in Conne- mara that the beautiful Miss Maggie Moore, the heiress ot Kilkerran, forgetful of all other ties, as fled in the night with Captain Desmond Burke!” bier it ie alse—a base, acruel lie!’’ cried Maggie, n antly. “Ah, yes, I know well enough that xe do not go willingly, but it is my game to make the world think that you do. Women are proverbially fickle, you know; you will not be the first lady who has chang- ed her mind at the eleventh hour and forsaken the successful suitor to fling herself into the arms of the unsuccessful one.”’ “But my friends will not believe the tale!” “Your friends will find it hard to dispute the facts. You left your home of your own free will; thatis ory proven; Mr. Dooney MacDarrow will testify that he was sent by me to conduct you here, and that you came willi “ing For the first time the full force of the plot flashed upon the girl. It had been planned with Satanic skill. She realized into what a trap she had fallen. There was very little doubt that all the world would believe that she had fled with Desmond Burke, of her own accord. And Shamus, what would Shamus think? Would he believe the horrid tale? Almost spellbound the girl sat, stunned by the ter- rible truth. ‘T explain everything frankly,” Burke continued after a moment’s pause. “I don’t pretend that i am madly in love with you or anything of that kind, but I want money, and money l must have, You have the money, and sofer the sake of the gold I you, a ** You shall not have one single penny; I will die first!’ was Maggie’s spirited reply. ‘*Ah, then you will force me to use harsh measures; but if, on the contrary ay are reasonable, you shall be none the worse for this little trip. I want twenty thousand pounds. You must provide me with that money. It is easily enough arranged. A line to O’Glory will do. He will procure the money; then you can return; you can relate whatever account you please of this night’s adventure, and I will back it up over my own signature. You are utterly and hopelessly in my B agtene i The captain and crew are all Dutchmen and don’t understand a dozen words of English, and as they have been told that you are a little crazy at times, mney. will not pay any heed to anything you may do. Now, take time to reflect, and I will go up on deck. As long as you are reason- able you shall be as sacred as a saint to me; but if you are obstinate, why then blame yourself for any- hing that you may force me to do.’ Then Burke quitted the cabin, carefully fastening the door after him, leaving the girl a prey to terrible apprehensions, he captain went on deck and found that the Dutchman was just preparing to get under way. **Hallo! Why have you delayed? I told you tobe off at once?”’ Burke protested. ‘* More passengers, mynheer,’’ responded the skip- per ino dly pointing to the boat of the smack just ak ng fast to the vessel, containing a sailor and two men well wrapped in top-coats. An oath came from Burke’s lips. “Curse it! I paid you your price and you have no right to take other passengers aboard!’’ ‘Refuse der gelt? Oh, no!’’ responded the Dutch- man, with a grin, Up over the side of the vessel came the two men, and as they gained the deck of the smack they threw open the great top-coats which they wore, and lo! Shamus O’Brien and the leader of the insurgents, the brawny blacksmith from Galway, stood revealed, _ The recognition was mutual and equally astonish- ing. f Captain Desmond Burke, be the powers!”’ cried the blacksmith, ‘*Oho, you know dose mans!’ cried the skipper, blundering like a true Dutchman. ‘Dat ish goot; der lady vill hafe gumpany, down mit de cabin!”’ Shamus guessed the truth immediately, and dart- ed down below. The captain had placed his hand upon his pistols, but the blacksmith was as quick as he, and had him ‘ covered ’’ in an instant. Shamus received a rapid explanation from the now joyful girl, and bidding her be of good cheer, returned to the deck. He had not hinted of his ose to the lady, but he had detrmined to call Burke to an account, in- stantly, for his bold outrage. The Dutchmen, upon the display of weapons, had retreated to secure places, and with eager eyes watched the progress of the scene. “Well, Mr. Shamus O’Brien, your luck certainly passes all expectation,’’ the captain remarked, bit- terly. ‘* There was not one chance out of a hundred of this little scheme of mine failing, but I'll be hanged if it wasn’t in the cards for you to upset it.”’ ‘*Captain Burke, you owe me Satisfaction for this affair to-night,’ Shamus said, briefly. ‘ y Jove, sir, that is about the only kind of debts that | am able to pay, now.”’ “You have a revolver, andI one, also. Suppose we get one of the men to row us to the beach, and there settie our quarrel?’’ “* Agreed, although the tide of luck is running so strong in your favor, that the chances are ten to one that you will wing me; but I’m for you, sir.”’ The nature of the service required was made known to the skipper. The two rivals got into the boat, one of the Dutch sailors took the oars, and soon the craft was skim- mering over the waters, rippling in the moonlight. The beach was gained, and the two landed. CHAPTER XXXVII. THE RESULT. , AT last the rivats stood face to face, man against man, armed for deadly strife. : Pretty evenly-matched, too, were they, although in one respect O’Brien had decidedly the advantage. The weapons were revolvers; not at all the tools that either an ancient or a modern Irish gentleman would have chosen to fight with, but in this case ne- cessity was master. The round, full moon, now high in the heavens, af- forded veo oat light for the encounter, The rivals paced off the distance, while the Dutch sailor in the boat lay on his oars, a short distance from the strand, and eagerly watched the scene Not knowing either of the men, nor the cause of the queen nor caring, yet he took as much interest in S veya as though his own brother was concerned But, it was the interest of the bull-fight—the thirst for blood, so common to low and brutal natures. The distance paced, the opponents turned and faced each other, “Are you ready?’ Burke asked. . grit’ ready,’’ O’Brien replied, “Shall I give the word or you?” ‘* Tt is immaterial—you, if you please.” ‘“* At three we fire,”’ ‘**T understand.” ‘*One, two—three /” Up came the revolvers at the word, both had car- ried the weapons below the level of the waist, but O’Brien was by far the quicker of the two in - for, acting on the old instruction of the duello code Burke was dwelling on his aim, and so it happened that the well-aimed bullet of Shamus struck Burke’s wrist just as he pulled the trig er, totally destroy- ing the careful aim that he ha en, for he y thirsted for the blood of his successful rival and had determined to kill him if possible. From the wrist the ball glanced off and entered the captain’s breast. urke staggered forward, essayed to raise the shattered hand from which the revolver had drop- ped, and then sunk down helpless, O’Brien ran at once to his aid; he tore open the coat and vest of the other, and discovered to his great relief that the wound was apparently not dangerous. He stanched the wound as well as he was able, for it is one of the inconsistencies of this life that, after men have done their best to murder each other, with —_—_—_—_—_—_—_— a St CC“SSSCétt > oo en the idea generally of healing wounded honor, the moment one is disabled the other does his best to help the hurt which his own hand has inflicted. As the sailor reached the shore and hastened to the side of the stricken man, Burke opened his eyes. ** Well, luck is with you,’ he murmured, faintly; ‘be off with you, as soon as youcan. I give up the fight, for it is no use to war against fate; the heiress is yours; and nothing is left me but to go to the devilas soon as possible. Is my wound mortal do you think?”’ “No, I think not.’’ ‘**So much the worse; situated as I am I ht as well die as live,’ Burke muttered, discontented. ‘‘Never say die, man!’’ the other responded, cheerfully; ** pluck up a good heart and look for- tune straight in the face; she is a fickle jade and loves the men bold enough to face her,”’ * By Jove, you are right, old fellow!” the wound- ed man exclaimed, in a measure touched by the en- couraging words of the other; ‘‘you’re right, and I won’t say die yet. But, be off with you for the coast-guard patrol is likely to be along this way at any moment, and it would be ugly for you to be dis- covered just as you are getting off. Shamus, old fel- low, I am sorry that there has been bad blood be- tween us, but it was fate; Iam not altogether a bad fellow, and now I say to you, be off and God speed! Don’t fear for me; the coast-guard fellows will find me. Tell Maggie that my last exploit was the des- perate act of a desperate man, and that I didn’t really intend to harm her, only to frighten her a little so as to get money to stave off these infernal creditors,” ‘““Good-by. I bear no malice for what is past, and wish you better luck in the future.”’ Then O’Brien and the sailor took to the boat and away they went to the fishing-smack. Once on board, the Dutchman spread his white wings, and the good craft sped o’er the waters, soon leaving the green hills of old Ireland far behind. As Desmond Burke had predicted, the coast-guard patro!] soon came along and with great care they as- sisted the captain to O’Neal Hall. aS the captain was obliged to tell how it happened that he had been wounded, and so he said that he had had a desperate encounter with the out- law, and that Shamus had been the victor in the fight, and had escaped to the hills. Burke was enerous enough not to reveal the manner of the , for, having staked all upon the ugitive’s esca e, he was honest enough to accept hazard of the the issue. But it was as if the wish of O’Brien, better luck! had caused the captain’s fortunes to change. Of course the story of desperate encounter with the outlaw was soon made public, and the English-Irish newspapers hailed him as the hero of the hour; as great a time was made over the affair as though the captain, single-handed, had put down a rebellion in- stead of having come out second best from an en- counter with a single man. Now it happened that in Dublin there lived a very romantic young lady, an heiress in her own right, her father, now deceased, having accumulated a large fortune in brewing a famous brand of Dublin rter. This lady was an ardent supporter of the overnment, and when she read of Burke’s brave act, nothing less would satisfy her romantic soul than a visit to O’Neal Hall and an acquaintanceship with the gallant captain. his lady was young, not bad-looking, and she had wealth galore; and so Burke, as Smithers expressed it, “‘ went in for the heiress, cut out the running and won the prize in a canter.”’ Smithers was “ best man’’ at the wedding. O’Glory received the money which he had never expected to see again, and once more the prospect was gone that the Burkes of Twelve Pins would be able to hold up their heads with any family in Connemara, old or young, Irish or Saxon. The clever device of Tom Pepper soon put him on the track of the Goose-girl’s fortune, and in a very short time he had the happiness of announcing to Kitty that the cobwebs Or the law had all been ees away, and her father’s money was hers at Of course there was only one way 50 reward such devotion, and so Miss Kitty Shee became Mrs, Tom Pepper. Dooney, the process-server, having lost Burke's rotection after the captain’s marrage with the eiress, he no longer having any use for such a dirty tool, soon found it necessary to take self out of the way—the more so as the inhabitants had become so inflamed against him that he feared his life, as well as his bones, was in danger After the unexpected demonstration that the asantry had made of their power, both Mr. and Mrs. O'Glory thought that it was only prudent to somewhat restrain their ardor in the cause of Britain, and they were, if not better children of the soil, at least more cautious in singing the praises of the owers. As for the secret organization, it seems to have fairly melted away after the night demonstration upon O’ Neal Hall; at all events the local authorities with all their zeal were not able to discover any clew to its existence; but, for all that, the organization still exists—has existed for years past, and will con- tinue to exist, until either Ireland by some lucky turn of Fortune’s wheel is enabled once more to make a bold struggle for independenceas a separate kingdom, or, failing that chance, instead of the bul- let, triumphing by the ballot, and b peaceful means forcing England to redresssomeof the wrongs which unjust laws have fastened upon the green isle. amus reached America in safety, and there in a short time 6 and her child joined him. She confided her estate matters to the hands of a couple of smart Dublin lawyers, who soon forced O’Glory to a settlement, pape. But, even in the new world, although surrounded by every comfort, still the Irish exile hopes that the day will come when he can return, when Ireland, rising in her might, will call upon her sons from every land to flock around the standard of the golden . If that day ever does come, on_ the muster roll be found the name of us O’Brien. 107 RicHARD Tatpot OF CINNABAR. Aiken.. 10c 108 THe Duxe or DiaMonDs, By Fred.Whittaker. 10e 109 Caprarn Kipp, By Col. P. Ingraham........ 100 ‘A new issue every week, Ebooks eoim (E(0)