Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 114 — page 19: what you’re looking at

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

ibe — - have absolutely false! Theo men here are rough and unlettered, but many of them have instincts of mathood as true as you will find among the most cultured; and the respect which they ac- cord is an acknowledgment of my true woman- hood. ‘They know me, and not one of them would believe in your jealous suspicions.” ‘‘ Ah! indeed?’ sneered the woman. ‘“ No doubt you have your favorites among them, ready to’champion your cause, right or wrong. Women of your class generally do, I believe. | said the big ruffian with an ugly scowl. But this as it may be, J denounce you as a shameless creature who has usurped my place; and I warnyou that I mean to oust you from it, inspite of your brazen impudenco!” But it was not in Lilian Amberleigh’s gentle nature to do battle with such a womanias this. An’assault on one that she loved would have fired her to valiant retort; but this personal at- | | apprehend the situation. tack, and of such a character, wounded her so | ps Ae she could not find words for ‘reply. | a hysterical choking in her throat while she struggled to keep back the tears tha Sprung to her eyes, she said, hoarsely :— ‘*Go!l go! Perhaps some time you will know how deeply you have wronged me, and be sorry for it!’ * Out upon you, you—you—creature !” cried Mrs. Seaford, ‘‘ Dare you order me away from et own husband’s door? If it were not for bullying my hands on a wretch so vile, so aban- @ ; as you, I would eject you physically, ‘myself! As it is, I will leave you in your But do not think that I will rest under outrage.’ If there is aspark of manhood in this camp, I will have you mobbed and driven with” hoots ‘and jeers from this roof, and from » the 'place|!” The infuriate woman took her departure. The girl, completely crushed, sunk upon the * floor, sobbing'and moaning as if her heart would break.’ How ‘long she lay thus, she knew not; but at last she was aroused by a footstep, and ‘started up in wild fear. Were they coming? ‘CHAPTER XXVI. A READY TOOL, Bur it was not-an enemy’ that Lilian Amber- leigh had to meet. It was only faithful Tom *Comnor. “Oh, Tom! Tom!” she cried, seizing both his “Arrah, Miss Lillie!” cried the honest Celt much moved by her distress. ‘Is it tears, t dunno, that I’m seein’ in yer broight eyes? Bad luck till the day! phat will'be the matther wid yez at all, at all?” “Tom, huve you seen Mr, Carleton?” * Not the blessed day} Miss Lillie.” “* He’s not at the works?” _“Div— Barrin’ yer prisence! No.” “Can you find him?” * Well;'ma'am, I kin throy—no less!” “Go, at-once! And tell him to return home tmmediately. Or, wait. I will give you a note to deliver,” She wrote'a hasty line, summoning her guar- ‘dian to her side, ' ‘“* Make every effort to find him, Tom; for it is very important that he should get this note.” “* Don’t ye worry, Miss Lillie! Faith, av he’s above ground, mesilf’s the b’y that’ll seare ’um up in no time fur yez!” : And Tom O’Connor set out with all expedi- on. “ What-will he the matther, I dunno?’ mused he. ‘Faith, the colleen wouldn’t be croying fur nothing. Baé luck till the wan that brought that tear till her eye! It's a God’s blessing av ‘there don’t’ be a funeral whin Musther Carleton ‘ hears of that same!” But, ‘having sent her messenger, Lillie was disturbed by a new perplexity. How'could she explain her fears to her guardian? Such violence had been done to her feelings that it seemed as eif she could never again look him in the face. -\Now she buried her crimson face in her hands, ‘and wept again in inexpressible bitteruess and ‘‘hutniliation. As ‘she cooled off Mrs. Seaford began to see that feminine spite had carried her to a length * that might’ prove prejudicial to herscheme of revenge. ‘*T am afraid that I have done a very foolish thing,” she mused. ‘ l haveawakened her baby fears; and they will now be on their guard. Of course, he ‘will use’ every precaution to guard her against my malice!” - The woman ground her teeth in jealous rage. “Why could I not restrain my tongue, and leave them in their’ false security? Ah! but I given her a foretaste of the misery that awaits her! How she writhed! That was lotus to my revenge!” : . Bat here her vil meditations were interrupted by a voice. '“( Beggin’ yer pardon, ma’am!” Mrs. Seaford stopped with’a start. Before her stood as Villainous-looking a ruffian as she had’ever seen.’ But he stood hat in band, with the outward sign of respect; therefore she ‘hat as*yet'no cause to fear him. ““ Who are zeny she demanded, “Mose Finley,” was the reply me ‘ The Gentleman from Pike. Sennett “ And what do you want ?” ‘¢ To serve you, ma’am.” ‘To serve me?” ‘“Waal, ye seo, ma’am, I happened to be within earshot o’ the shebang run by the Gen- tleman from Pike, jest now; an’ | overheard what you was sayin’ to the Angel,” ‘Well, what if you did?’ asked Mrs. Seaford, a little aggressively, ‘‘Do you mean to take ber part agaist me?’ ‘“‘Not muchly!—ef the court knows herself!” ‘Ah!’ exclaimed Mrs. Seaford, beginning to ‘* What then?” Waal, ye see, ma'am, I hain’t no friend to the Gentleman from Pike, no way ye kin fix it! He played it mighty low down on this hyar camp when it sported the handle o’ Hard Luck, as may be unbekn»wnst to ye, ma’am, bein’s as how ye’re fresh in these parts.” ‘You mean in the matter of the Frisco Sharp?” ‘* Ma’am, you kin take my left every time? I didn’t know that you held the bower, It air fur that leetle dodge o’ the Frisco Sharp ” * Well, « hat of it?’ asked Mrs, Seaford, wait- ing for this man to ‘‘ show his hand.” ‘‘ Waal, ye see, ma’am, I thought that you mought have a grudge ag’in’ the Gentleman from Pike; an’ ef so be ye want to git squar’ with him, Mose Finley’s ver man, every time.” So the tempter brought the opportunity >to Bella Seaford’s hand. She hated the man she had loved until now. Here was a man who had none of Jules St. Auburn’s scruples, come to her in the nick of time. She feared that her indis- creet outbreak to Lilian Amberleigh might frus- trate her whole scheme of revenge. Suppose she could by the means of this ruffian remove the Gentleman from Pike before he had an op- portunity to protect the woman he loved? A wicked gleam came into her eyes.’ Her re- solve was taken instantly. ‘*Have you the courage and address to act ati once and effectively 2?” she asked. Mose Finley looked puzzled, ‘ Beggin’ yer pardon, ma’am, ef so be you’d run them keerds over ag’in, an’ run ’em slow. Ye see, I don’t ara drop to ye.” ‘*T want no bungling in this case,” explained Mrs, Seaford. ‘What is done must be done at once—this afterhoon; and it must be so well done that: there will be nothing left for to-mor- row. Do you understand?” “Hum! L[savvy! It’s drop‘on him, an’ douse his glim! Thatsuits yer humble sarvent!” ‘*Do you know where to find him? Can you do this without discovery?” ‘‘ Waal, ye see, ma’am, havin’ a little some- thin’ standin’ ag’in’ him on my own account, I’ve kept one eye on him, an’ I reckon [’m jest the man what’s got the pins sot up to bow] him out on a ten strike,” ‘*Can you do this alone?” asked Mrs. Seaford, who had to guess at the substance of Mose Fin- ley’s Rincon 4 metaphorical discourse. “T know whar I kin put my finger on the man that kin back me.” * All this will cost money, of course. How much?’ ‘*T leave that to your gererosity, ma’am.” ‘* Will a hundred dollars buy your man?” ** Waal, I should smile /” said big Mose Fin- ley, with a grin. ‘*T beg ca pardon, sir!” said Mrs. Seaford, with a sudden assumption of queenly dignity. She would tolerate no undue familiarity from the tool she purchased. ‘* , hat makes my head swim! She’s the devil an’ all!” reflected the ruffian. Then he said, respectfully: “ Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am! A hundred dollars will set the ball a-rollin’, allO. K. Ef I don’t bag the game, I won’t come back on ye fer no more,” She gave him the money; and after a few more ‘directions he took his departure. ' Bella Seaford then walked on, with her white teeth set, her eyes gleaming as cruel as the grave. ‘Death to him, and undying shame to her!” she muttered. ‘‘ But if her fall were assured, I’d let him five to enjoy it!” After that the day waned, until just in the evening gloaming Lillie heard a footstep ap- proaching. She stood with downcast eyes and ‘cheeks aflame, trembling. How could she’ face im? oe man stopped in the doorway, without a word. The girl looked up to see what was the mat; r. Before her stood, not the one she had expected with such conflicting emotions, but the I'risco Sharp! ' He was ea pale. His eyes were blood- shot'‘and ‘gleaming with a look that terrified her. ‘‘- You here?” she cried, with her heart flutter- ing in her throat. ' & Yes, I,” replied'the Friseo Sharp in a voice that augmented her fears, “You must know your danger. | Why did you come?” . .] ‘“T came,” replied the man, in ‘hollow tones, “to bring hell to you and to myself!” | ‘will he bave an’um atall ee + - - CU CHAPTER XXVIL A DESPERATE FIGHT FOR LIFE! ‘Over the cliff wid’um! Over the cliff wid ‘uw! That’s our little ga-ame!” ‘* Stow yer—chin music—curse ye!—an’ pile in—hyar—an’ help!” Colorado!|—the wonder country of the New World! In the Heart of the Sierras!—the Back-bone of the Continent! Canyons, cleft down! down! to the v foundations of the earth, whose murky depths never know the glad sunshine! Giant cliffs, soaring high’ up into cloud-land, until the beholder turns giddy, and his heart quails withan unreasoning dread of their top- pling crests! On the weLy verge of a beetling cliff two men are engaged in mortal combat, rolling over and overeach other, theirlegs and arms writhing like interlocked serpents; their thews and sinews fairly cracking with the fierce tension to which they are subjected, One isa young man, with a face purple with mighty exertion, and foul with blood and dirt. e fights with set teeth, as grim and silent.as death. The other is perhaps a few years older, though still in the prime of life and strength. He is larger of frame, and of coarser make, His features. where they are visible through his tangled beard, are bestial in the extreme. He growls and snarls in bis rage, like a wild beast, alternately cursing his antagonist. and making equally profane appeals for assistance to another, who is evidently his colleague, The third party in this life and death struggle is a son of Krin, as his speech has already be- trayed. Hovering about the contestants on the ground, yet ever with a due i he for his own safety, ie tries to get in a blow when opportunity offers, or help his pal to any other advantage. “That's roight!” he shouts. ‘‘ Now, over wid ’%um! Take that, ye dirthy blaggard!” But, in the confusion of limbs and rapid shifting of bodies, his lusty blow finds the wrong man, as a howl of pain and rage from his colleague attests. “Curse your—stupidi—ty! Who are—you backin’?” be gasped, as he could fetch breath. ‘Pile in hyar! Pile in—hyar!—you in—fernal coyote iM ‘Yis! yis! mahn, dear! Faith! [’'m wid yez! But, phat wid airrums an’ legs: flyin’ this way an’ that, bad luck to the sow! o’ me feet! but, as me name is Mickey Flannigan, I’m bothered inthoirely to tell the wan from the other o’ yez!” ‘“Take hold of him—blast ye! Will ye let him—throw me over the—cliff?” ‘ Yuh /” with a savage snarl at his foe. “ Cur-r-rse your—infer—nal—” But his breath was cut ff, as the iron grip of his silent antagonist closed like a vise on bis throat. ‘« Tha-ur, Mose, me darlint! Now I have ’um be the fut! Role ’um over, mabn, till we pitch um over the cliff to the rocks belo-ow! Och, murther! will ye be ’asy?—ye devil! Sorra leg He kicks aqual to a— Oh!—Och!—Bad—Ugh!” But the ker lay all in a heap on the ground, writhing in agony. A well-directed kick in the pit of the stomach had er knocked the wind and ‘chin music” out of him together, With his tongue protruding and his eyes dis- tended with agonized fear lest death should claim him before he could recover breath, he rolled over and over on the ground, his’ bands clasped over his stomach, and on his:face a look of piteous appeal which would have been ludi- crous but for the tragic gravity of the situation. And now, while he lay hors de combat, the fierce struggle went on between those other two. Both fought silently now—one with that iron stillness which had characterized liim from the first, and one hecanse of that grip which hooped Lis throat like triple bands of steel! | Now the awful terror of the scene rose higher and, higher. The Dull-dog rtinacity of the man whu never relaxed his hold, but struggled on, waiting pa- tiently, mutely for the coming of that suffoca- tion which: crept forward slowly, surely, with the flight of every second of time—ever nearer! nearer!—and certain in the end to sap the strength of his atlversary, was a thing, in it- self to freeze the blood with a horror unspeak- able! And to him who, tear as he might—flercely: wildly !—frantically!—at that inexorable rip, could never—never loose one jot of its crushing pressure into his aching throat—ah! tohim/ how on the wings of the wind must: have come that fatal weakness!—that swooning of the ‘muscles that had never ‘failed his till now!—that slipping of the world from his feet!—that fading out of the brightness of the blessed sunlight!— ae ‘aang - sna of the dread, chill shadow of ea _ Now he stands in the very presence of tha Grim Destroyer! atin Now be struggles {n his very embrace! Eomichbooks (EO)