Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 108 — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

_—_—_ — — ~_- — —< -—— es eee ee ee ——— <—~o - 22 whistling into the felueca, and had the satisfaction ng one of his assailants drop, with a ball in But before he could do more, the captain and crew of the speronare were hanging on him all round, ng him not toendanger their lives and liberty. e sponge-fishers would have a ainst the vessel, and would pay it off after the kee- e had gone away. Clarence felt so an with the ruffians of the felucca that for a time he felt as if he would like to dge | _ tion of his head, passed Hart and went down-stairs | ee eee ee - The Duke of Diamonds. ao ~~~ ee ee - — Then Diamantina suddenly sobered down; the frown left his face, and he resumed his usual icy manner as he said: ‘“*Sir, Lleft the lady with her father. I decline to interfere with her, now that she is in his control. You will not go into the cabin? Good-day.” And the duke, with a slight and haughty inclina- | into the cabin, leaving the American alone on deck. board her, single-handed, and run a muck through | all her crew. e saw that their firearms were not to be relied on, while his own pistols would puta ball just where he wanted. But, while he was still in hesitation as to what to do, not willing to abandon Helen, and yet hardly knowing how to make the timid crew of the spero- nare follow him, the sound of a light signal gun in the offing attracted his attention, and looking out past the sponge-boat he saw the white sails of Dia- mantina’s beautiful felucca Pho trimmed flat stretching out of a crowd of other vessels, abou a mile to leeward, and running off to the south- eas Instantly his mind was made up. **You sce that felucca. Put meon board of her and I'll give you two liras in gold ($8) at once,” he said to the timid Greek captain, who delightedly obeyed, glad to get out of the scrape at any cost. The speronare shifted her helm and ran down to- ward the yacht before the wind, while Hart shook his pistol menacingly back at the felucca, where the Greek vagabonds were hastily trying to reload and prime their weapons. / In twenty minutes thereafter the American was saluting the Duke of Diamantina on his own quarter- deck, and hurriedly telling him Helen’s position, im- ploring him to rescue her. CHAPTER XXXII. THE QUARREL THe Duke of Diamantina listened to the Ameri- ean’s im oned account of what he bad seen and heard with the calm and smiling dignity which never left him. The yacht continued to run on to the south-east, and sails were crossing and recrossing the track all the time, so that it would soon be very difficult to identify any vessel in the crowd, unless of very remarkable appearance. When Clarence had finished, the duke asked: “My dear sir, what do you wish me to do?’”’ “To rescue her once more, as you did before. Think how easy it will be. There is the pirate or whatever she is, a slow sailer, and here are you, ina clipper. Let us put aboutand go after those villains. Oh, duke, can you hesitate?”’ “My dear sir,’’ answered the other, with the same bland smile, “* 1 would do much to oblige you; but are _ quite certain you know what you want?’’ “*T want you to rescue a lady from the power of pirates,"’ retorted Clarence, impatiently. “ My dear sir, there are no pirates left in these seas now,” replied his companion with the same irritat- m, ‘But I tell your grace I heard the lady call to me for help and tell me she was a prisoner in the cabin - a - angen a cried Hart, getting more and more iamantina looked at him gravely. “My dear sir, you have told me you are in love. _ Believe me, it was a dream, a fantasy of the head, the heart, the any thing. The lady is in no dan- ger.”’ te disheartened, Clarence turned away. He never before met the impassive firmness of the duke set against his own will, and he felt that a . struggle was useless. He made a last effort. “Then your grace refuses to help this unfortunate lady by ——s the yacht about?’ ‘ ~ ear sir, lam going to the island of Negro- nt to meet Dom Gil, about whom you were asking Alexandria. Do you wish to see sir?’’ Clarence halted in the uneasy walk he had been taking across the quarter-deck, and answered in a constrained tone of voice: “No, duke. [am sorry I came on board If the speronare had not ed 1 would go back in her to Athens. As it is, s e first a — I ask your grace to set me ashore upon. I resign my post.” Diamantina looked at him with steady, glowing eyes for several seconds ere he answered. ; tnt if 1 take you at your word, you will be sorry or it.’ . ** Never,”’ retorted Clarence, hotly. ‘I know who you are, and your cause for enmity against the Law- tons; but I did not think it would extend to a help- less lad , who was not born at the time that—”’ The duke interrupted him with a slight wave of e hand. “Monsieur Hart, it is enough,” he said. “I ac- eept your resignation as a secretary. Do not force me to be rude to my guest. If you will descend into the cabin you will find madame my mother there, who will endeavor to entertain you till we reach the island of Negropont.”’ But Clarence was too much in love and too frantic at the thought of Helen’s danger to listen to him. He continued to expostulate: “ Your ig was ready to save her on the coast of Arabia. hy not now?”’ he asked, ceupearinany. Then Diamantina stepped toward him, his face transformed. His black eyes glowed like burning coals, his white teeth shone as his lips parted under the jetty mus- tache, and his voice sunk to a low, angry whisper of mtense passion. “ Because I choose, sir. Ig that an answer to yeu? Who are yn that dare to question me ?”’ Then Clarence laughed and met his eyes with a look as fierce as his own. ‘*WhoamIl? An American. In my land we are all kings. Do you understand me,sir? I dare speak to any man who is cruelto a woman. In America we call one who abuses a lady a cowarély villain.” For a moment Hart fancied the duke was about to spring onhim. All the hot blood of his Aryan an- cestors glowed in his face; his lips parted in a sort of tigerish snarl, and his eyes glared wildly. Llovoluntarily the American started toward He Lor if to meet him with a blow, for the fighting ct Was roused in both men. . \ te = we Se a Then, for the first time, Clarence began to feel a great deal of shame and embarrassment at his posi- tion. He was not a rich man, and had exhausted | most of his savings, since leaving the navy, in hunt- a Bes that mythical Gilbert Carver he began to think he would never see. The sum he had received from Papadoulos, De- metri & Co, was yet untouched: but he felt that he was a pensioner on the duke’s bounty while it re- mained in his pocket. He few minutes, and then took a sudden determination to leave the yacht on the first vessel that passed, no paced to and fro for a | turesque matter where bound. Hotheaded and in love, his | | Greek all the time. resolution was quickly put in practice. The —— was continually noticed a ssing vessels, and he | large felucca, which he judged from its | rig to be Maltese, coming to meet them and beading | _ tied up their comrade’s leg and laid him in one of He asked the man at the wheel to steer that way, | for Athens. and the sailor, a slim, swarthy Lascar, obeyed, without a word showing either surprise or remon- | } : - warned them that night was coming on. strance. No sooner were they within fair hailing distance than he called out in [talian: ‘Will you take me into Athens for a lira Turco?” | (about $4). ** Si, signor, si!” was the eager answer, and the felucca came up close alongside, grazing the yacht as she passed, when Clarence with the expertness of an old man-of-war’s-man, leaped into her main rig- ging and found himself on board the Maltese. As he turned to look back, there was Diamantina, | with the princess Melapetros, standing in the cabin- | hatch, both looking at him wistfully. All the cold- ness and anger seemed to have vanished from the face of the duke, while the princess was actually in tears. Feelin iilty, why or how he did not exactly un- derstand, rence forbore to do what he had been just on the point of doing—throwing the duke’s money back on board the yacht. It seemed to him at that moment too much like a causeless insult to one who had been, up to that moment, as kind and generous as only a prince could be. Thus it was with an air of rather shamefaced re- | ropes and blocks made by lowering sail —— spect that he took off his hat and waved his last fare- | well, pointing to Athens; and the princess smiled back at him through her tears, and waved her hand- kerchief, as if in salute. Then the vessel parted, the yacht speeding on one tack, while the Maltese went on the Hart found himself once more alone in the world, hunting after a dirty sponge-boat among a hundred other craft exactly alike, to find, if he could, the ge of his love. e turned away to inspect the craft on which he had so unceremoniousl be a large Maltese felucca, in ballast, going to Athens for a cargo of olive oil and currants. The skipper was a common specimen of theigno- rant but shrewd sailor of the Mediterranean, with a little smattering of education, enough to enable him to read a bill other; and | ee 5 this picturesque but unmannerly ruffian turned on Helen, brandished his knife close to her face and told her, as plain as signs could say, that if she went to that window any more, he would cut off her nose. Naturally both these timid women were scared by his thundering voice and furious manner, and shrunk away into corners of the cabin in silence, while the sounds of shots overhead announced that quite a ae battle was going on up there, on account of the aqdies, It was soon over, and the next intimation they had of what had occurred was when a man came limpin down the cabin stairs, dropping blood as he walked. and growling out all the curses in the Greek yo- cabulary on the head of the ‘“‘English devil’ who had shot him. Then the poor women felt indeed afraid. Up to that time they had been treated with so much respect that the cabin had been left to their sole occupancy; but now here were four or five pic- ans, binding up their comrade’s leg, before the scandalized Lorelia, and cursing away in it seemed as if a change was coming over their captors. t did not last long, however. As soon as they had the bunks to groan and swear at his leisure, the rest of the men went up-stairs, and all was quiet for some time, till the increasing gloom of the cabin They could hear through the windows a good deal of creaking and splashing that told of passing ships, while hails in Greek and Italian were frequent, but they did not attempt anything more on their own account in the way of calling for help. If one of them made anything like a motion to go near astern window the wounded pirate growled at them so fiercely that they were glad to retire, and so matters went on till it was pitch dark, the two women cling- ing together in terror, while the noise outside had sunk to quietness and was slowly superseded by the hollow rumbling of surf on rocks, At last the motion of the vessel became easier, showing that she was entering some sheltered inlet; and atter a while they heard the creak and rattle of and the sullen splash of the anchor as it dropped into the water. Then one of the Greek sailors looked down the hatch and called out what sounded like: ** Tkkany sjoce.”’ Helen was as etn: of Greek as most young ladies, but she had a kind of notion that this meant, **Come up, you two!” and she was right; for the flaring light of a torch was soon held at the mouth of the hatchway, and one of the sailors received them with a low bow and motioned them tothe side, where a boat was waiting for them. Helen looked timidly up and around her, and saw that they were in a small sheltered cove, surrounded with abrupt black precipices that shut out all view, and made her feel as if they were in the bottom of a / well. On these rocks, on the side toward which she | ntruded, and found her to | was gazing, she saw a group of men in Greek cos- tume, with bright flaring torches, the light shinin on their long guns and the knives and pistols with which their sashes bristled. of lading, and a large experience of | every coast on the northern shores of the sea, from | Barcelona to Stamboul, The vessel was a smart sailer, and the houses of Athens were in sight from her decks within an hour after he left Diamantina’s yacht, so that before sun- set our hero was treading the quay at the Pirseus, | over in his and looking up to the Acropolis, casti elen Law- mind all sorts of schemes for recovering ton from her captors. CHAPTER XXXIV. ON BOARD THE FELUCCA. Ir is time that we returned to the Lawtons and O’Shea, whom we left aboard that piratical-looking sponge-felucca, and find out how it was that Helen In the boat sat her father, his head bowed on his breast, his whole attire indicating dejection, while the dull gleam of handcuffs and anklets showed that he hai been harshly treated. O'Shea was nowhere to be seen. As soon as she saw her father Helen stepped into the boat and would have gone to him, when one of the Greeks shook his head and pointed to a place in the stern- sheets, where he compelled her to sit with her aunt. Not a word was spoken as they rowed to shore, till one of the Greeks clapped Sir Lumley familiarly on the shoulder, and cried: Ikkany, ikkany ! (Come, come.) Then the baronet started out of his stupor of de- jection and submitted to be led ashore, where he first seemed to notice that Helen was with them. “My child!’ he muttered with a pitiable attempt b at a smile; ‘‘ this is a sad nee ' Then one of his guards pulled roughly away, managed to call out to Hart, and where they were | all “ge e fact was that, the next day after leaving | Crete, the English cabin with a decided flavor of stale sardines about varty had been taken down to a | it, where the ladies had been locked in, while Sir | Lumley and O'Shea were taken forward and put down in the hold among the sponges. What became of them neither Helen nor Lorelia | in and out among the rocks ti knew after they*were taken es aud their only | occupation left was to look out of the little round windows in the stern of the felucca over the spark- ling sea, and long for some English ship to come | within hailing distance. be were their captors they knew no more than at first, su - empt was made to rob them of any of their valua- es, Nevertheless they were kept in strict captivity, and it was with a feeling of itive rapture that Helen Lawton, looking out of the window in the afternoon of the second day, saw the little speronare under their stern, and recognized on her deck e well-known figure of Clarence Hart, in his white Egyptian suit and puggaree hat. It was with the first rapturous instinet of hope that she screamed out, “‘ Clarence! Clarence! help!” She saw him start and look earnestly at the feluc- ca, and felt aunt Lorelia crowding up eagerly her as she repeated the cry: ‘Clarence, Mr. Hart, we are here in the cabin. Help us!”’ But it was not to be, that time. They had been offered no violence, were | plied with plenty of food, such as it was; and no | She heard a bustle on deck, and then one of the — pirates came rushing down the hatch into the cabin, swe away in Greek at a tremendous rate, flour- ishing a knife, and making himself so offensive that there was no sort of misconception of his meaning | in any language. He caught poor Lorelia by the hair at the back of her head, gave it a jerk, intending to pull her back; and ins of that, pulled the whole of it off, an flung it into the corner of the eabin, Poor Lawton, appalled at the loss of her new wi wild scream, when Miss switch, fell on her knees with a << ; : and he was hustled off by a crowd of fellows worse looking than the piratical ya rege About the latter there might be a doubt; but there was no question as to these fellows. ey were thorough- bred bandits, and Helen realized that her whole family wasin their power. rembling and in silence, the two women followed their captors up a steep voor | th, which wound hey had lost sight of the haven into which they had come, when they halted in_ a little hee nestled between two spurs of the hills, and found there three ponies, two of which were saddled for ladies, Obeying signs rather than words, the two Misses Lawton mounted these animals, which at once get off at a brisk trot, and prevented them seeing what became of Sir Lumley, who was left behind. Beside each pony ran a pair of tall mountaineers, keeping pace With the animal with apparent ease, and bebind them ei eg a good deal of shouti and laughing, which Helen did not dare to interpre to herself. She had heard horrible stories of the cruelties of the Greek brigands to their captives, and feared that they were roaning her father with indignity, but did not dare to look back to see if her suspicions were well founded. She knew she could not help him, and hoped she was mistaken. Thus they rushed on through the = always at the same pace, the horsesin a s rot, the men running on as if weariness were a unknown to them. How long they went on in this way Helen could not tell, tired and jolted to pieces as she was, sore and miserable: but the he streaks of dawn were avery A in the eastern sky when they came toa halt at last, in the midst of a wild confusion of rocks and mountains, and her conductors began to make peculiar calls into the darkness round them, imita- ting the cries of goats. tty soon the whole party was clustered to- gether in the midst of the valley, and Helen looked round her for her father. All she could see was a prostrate form, that seemed to be tied face down- ward on the back of the third pony, and full of hor. ror at the idea that he was dead, she jumped off her horse, ran to the other, and cried frantically: ‘comicboo (ECO) es a -