Beadle's Dime Library, Vol. XII, No. 145 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

_ es = = - ~~ —- == - oe ee - — > ; oe —_ ——-- —— CO = ee ——— | es - third day is over.” -and there I will goto work to make more. ‘Now go back, for it is time that Varna and ‘them alone together. ‘cheated. I had my pistols ready and shot ) my word with you—but if they come | of a partner, with whom he had mad mow Bs : ll not be well for 4 When they had gone perhaps twenty yards Victor turned to the ruffian by his side. ‘*Pedro, I know and trust you; but how about the others? Are they safe?” ‘‘There is a risk, thousand fiends! there is a risk. They are devils to fight and drink and gamble, and care for nothing; but some day they may get cut down, and then, when they are dying, they will te.l all. That is the dan- ger.” , ‘“They bave been well paid; in their pockets there is already a small fortune. Perbaps, however, you can lighten them of some of that. I wisb it could all have gone to you. Can you not try their skill af monte?” “No cards with them forme. They would work together, for they are both Americanos, and I would lose every dollar.” “Tt isa pity. Besides what they have there is another thousdnd more for them when the the wages of his guilt without so much as a thank you, and turned away, while Victor Page went back to the Angels. This wild re- gion needed him no longer, and on the morrow he and Varna must leave, to work out other plots and other plans. As the Mexican went away he chuckled to himself, ‘‘Ha, ha! Three thousand dollars have I easily earned; and the best of it is that it will not stop there. Victor Page will have mil- lions; and I, Pedro Mercado, bandit and out- Jaw, will have him for my banker. I will be his leech, to drain him of what will be dearer to him than his blood. He and bis proud sis- ter will see me again when their purse has been refilled. I know their secret; and they need not fear that I will not use it well. J know _ what it.js to. be haunted, and I will teach them the lesson that I have learned. Pedro, you _ are a made man.” And just then there came an interruption, too sudden to be even a surprise. From the bushes at the side of the path which he was following a man stepped out and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. ‘‘So yer killed ’em, did yer, pard? Yer a noble ole Roman, you be; but, pard, you must make adivy. Three thousand dollarst Why, it'd wear yer ott carryin’ ov it. Sbell out, Pedro, my buck, shell out; an’ don’t be slow about it.” Pedro turned like lightning, and in his hand flashed a knife. If he had bad a little more warning he would have drawn a revolver, which might have been better for him; but, taken unawares, the steel was his instinctive weapon. ; “The rest of the three thousand is not for , ‘ Thet’s it, is it?’ said the interloper, coolly. the work, but the secret. If anyth'ng should “ Nonoise, no nonsense; an’ ther best man wins, happen to the Americans, and Ff sbould bold | One er ther t’other will tote ther hull pile; an’ the secret alone, would it not be worth just as | 1 reckon that’ll be me.” much for me to keep it, as for three?” ‘*Curses on you, prowling coyote, you: know “Yes, yes,” hastily answered Victor. “But | toomuch, You leave not this spot alive. You what can happen to them within three days? would rob me, would you? Well, I will take We will talk no more of it. Be watchful and your life, thou worthless vagabond.”. if anything happens let me know. At the | As the Mexican growled-out these words he end of three days come singly to the gulch | sprung at the other, striking as he caine. near the Angels and receive your reward. | But if he thought with one blow to crush the vagabondish-looking mian, who had drawn a I were gone.” | knife as broad dnd as keen as his own, he was The two separated, and Victor went on to | woefully mistaken. A strong, skillful wrist join his sister, who had gone on and left | bad the man, and a vastly cooler head. There was the cling-clang of steel meeting. steel, as They were brave after a sort, these three | he parried the first thrust, and for the moment villains, for in spite of the fearful deed in | stood on the defensive. Then, like a tiger, he the cellar the ruined mission seemed to have | began an attack that was short and deadly. no terrors for them. On guard they remained | Before a minute had elapsed Pedro fell, stricken careless, reckless, only intent upon whiling | deftly through fhe heart, and the victor was away their three days’ probation. They had a_ kneeling by his side, rifling his pockets. From sufficiency of coarse fare to sustain life, and them he transferred to his own their heavy they washed it down with water from a spring, | load of.gold, and a package of papers. and copious draughts of whisky from their © ‘ Pedro, you were a rooster; but yer crowed full store. Pedro, at last, even forgot his scru- | too soon.. You've lost yer pards, you’ve lost ples about cards and joined ina game that’ yer gold, you’ve lost yer life; an’ Alabaster speedily became interesting. - Jim holds yer secret. Let’S’ see ef he can’t It was the evening of the third day that | work it fur all it’s wuth,” Vietor Page waited, according to agreement, in the little gorge a quarter of a mile from the | Angels. In the interim be had taken life | ° VICTOR PAGE MAKES A MISTAKE, coolly, and not asoul of those who looked on | Trerra Roxo was the original name of the him could have told from his face the desper- mining camp which nestled among the gulches ate game he was playing, yet the most trying | near the old, deserted missicn-house of Santa time of-all was the half-hour he waited bere, | Brigida, but as it was divided up into several alone in the shadows. — | sections, with diverse interests, and a prepon- Pedro ‘came at last, and as Victor cauglit | derauce of Americans in its population, it had sight 6f him an evil smile curved his lips, tor several other names that were easier of pro- he felt sure that the seed he bad sown had nunciation, and in the opinion of the miners a produced good truit. good deal more appropriate. Hangtown Bar ‘‘ Tam here,” whispered Pedro. was one, and it would have stuck, perhaps, had “TT see, And the others?” it not been for other Hangtowns of greater “Tt was a chance. We played ¢ards. They | age, ff not of more present importance, but the name has since been forgotten, though at that time greatly in vegue. It was a place where men attended to their own business, and looked with suspicion upon any one who attempted to interest himself in the affairs of his neighbor. The Mexican gave a shiver; and yet proba- | bly he did not know it. Spite of himself there | was something too awful about what was to | happen between now and the third day. “Yes,” continued Page. ‘Three thousand dollars is a fortune for one man. Among tbree it does not gotar. When I had it all I thought I was rich. Oh, well; I will havea hundred or two with which to reach ‘Frisco, Revenge satisfied, labor comes easy.” © Page talked as though for himself. Even keen-witted Pedro did not see that temptation was deliberately thrust Upon him. One thousand dollars had seemed to bim a large sum; but now he yearned after the three. Ia a voice that quivered a little he askes: - CHAPTER XIII. them both. Then I left the cards between them, and the stakes, and in the pocket of each afew dollars, and came away. This is what is left of them. I claim the full reward, for the secret is mine alone.” As there was always a large floating population | He ed out bis hands; and they sup- | there, that camé to-day and left to-morrow, ported no ht, for he held the three the advent of Victor Page was scarcely noted, no lig roctiey bat tla ad been the first installment | 4nd his exodus not likely to attract much at- paid on the crime. | tention. He had come ostensibly to look at _ "It seems hard, but I - it could not | the camp with an eye to investment, and as he be helped. It was or theirs. I will | really had a claim to leave behind in the bands very liberal arrangements, what could he said? The Seven Angels, notwithstanding its high sounding title,had rather primitive accommoda. tions, for which a price was asked that at first _ around.” = — | Sight seemed almost exorbitant; but as it was eave-taking bet ween these two would | the only bouse that had much sion to mockery. The Mexican received ' being really a house, as it bad a location that ” ou, | _ “When they come back it will be just ahead of the fire.’ I’m off now, but when you’ve an- other job on band call for Pedro Mercado and you have ——_- tC OS was at once commanding and convenient, and as the rush to the camp was on, every one payed without grumbling, or went where there were cheaper rates and longer credits. From his interview with Pedro, Victor Page bad come back exultant. His work at Hang- town was finished, and his arrangements to leave were completed, though of course he would not take his departure before the next morning. His first impulse was to confide his intelli- gence to Varne. She had a little room ad- joining his own, scarcely more than half a dozen feet square, To enter it one passed through a door that led from the hajl: but as the partitions were of coarse canvas, which, at one time, had received a coat or two of paint, and as he had already opened communi- cations by means of a slit in the material, made with his bowie knife, Victor entered his own room, for he had,something about bim which he wished to deposit in his saddle-bags. He approached the partition, and listened. Beyond he could faintly bear the regular breathing of the cecupant of the other room. Softly the breath came and went, as if the person was ina calm and peaceful slumber. An impatient look overspread bis face. ‘* She sleeps like a child,” he muttered. .*‘ It is hardly worth while to waken her, and yet I would have liked to have had some talk with ber.” The truth was that he was wide awake, and too restless to think of retiring. He locked at his rough bed with a scowl of disgust, and then lighting a cigar, seated himself at the window. The weed failed to quiet his nerves. He looked down upon the town and hesitated... At times, there came to his ears quite distinctly a burst of music, mingled with a roar of voices. The Star of Empire was in full blast. He knew nothing of the place but its name and nature, though he could fancy what it was like. A hundred patrons would make a lively little business for it, and of all the min- ers within supporting distance it-was only the few staid, sober ones that did not give it a call on Saturday evening. He had some speaking acquaintances in the camp, and would be likely to meet them there, so, after a momen- tary hesitation, he girt dn bis troapons again, — and went down, As he-came up to the open door of the Star he saw that there was something unusual in the air. Tbe music had suddenly ceased, the sheuts had dropped to.an undertone, that .was almost a whisper, while the men were gatbered around the room in groups, looking from one to another, half suspiciously, half defiantly. ‘‘ What’s up? what’s the go?” asked Victor, somewhat carelessly as he pushed his way into the room. “That’s what’s up— bloddy murder, . Thar’s been too much of that work hyer, an’ it’s got to be stamped out. Ar’ you man enough to help do it?’ The speaker was a rough-looking miner, who seemed to be hot with an honest indignation. As he spoke he pointed to:a stiffened corpse, that lay stretched on a table, just where it was deposited unceremoniously by three men, who had stalked in with the body .between them. ‘I’m always With the friends of law and order,” answered Victor, and he glanced at the corpse, certainly without any idea of being able to identify it. It was something of a shock. Stretched out there, with glaring eyes, hang- ing jaw, the life-blood on face and garments, as it had oozed or spurted from half a dozen wounds, was Pedro Mercado. ‘*Good heavens!” was his instant exclama- tion at the recognition, Then he as instantly added: ‘How shocking!” , ' Nevertheless, a moment later: he had not only recovered all his self-possession, but was conscious of sometbing like satisfaction: With Pedro dead the knowledge of his secret would never come to the world, since the last witness was gone. , The last?) No, not the last, since Varna still lived. Yet her he could trust, for a time at least, and then— Well, then, Victor Page bad always taken care of himself, and always would; but there were reasons, solid and con- vincing, why she should live; and so far through life the Pages bad been very true to each other. Just now, however, there was something more than thought réquired. The words of the miner had stirred up others, who COLL CHOOKS (El)