Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 173 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

“ oe T rr (7A. Se 7 a - “as > wun ns - -_— a ee “ = -a--- —_— the cap’n hyer te boss this job jest as he did the last ene.” The store-keeper signified that he was “‘ agree- able,” and the rest applauded the selection. ** You are all making a cussed lot of fools of ourselves,” Alcibiades growled. ‘‘I reckon I in see as far into a mill-stone as the next man, and it’s all foolishness this suspicion ag’in’ the L ») ‘* Well, Bil, a leetle examination won't do ary bit of harm, you know; and if so be as how the gal is innocent you can jest bet your bot- tom dollar thar won’t be ary man more glad than I; but the thing has got to be looked into, for I tell you a-finding of these things does look mighty queer, to say the least.” “Oh, go ahead; put. her through and then you will be satisfied!’’ Bill retorted, savagely. But I hope you ain’t going to let all this crowd rush in upon the gal and scare the wits out of her.” ‘Of course not! What do you take me for?” cried the store-keeper, with a great deal of dig- nity. ‘“‘I reckon we air a civilized community hyer, and we kin do a matter of this sort up as brown as ary town west of the Big Muddy. I take it that it is the sense of this gathering for a committee to be ’p'inted to wait upon the gal and ask her if she will be so kind as to explain ‘bout these articles of hern found hyer.” ‘* That’s the idee, exactly !” declared Hairpin. ** An’ you’re the man, capt’n, to run that air committee; an’ seeing as how I was ’p’inted sheriff I s’pose I ought to be on it, too.” ‘* And as foreman of jury, I reckin I ought to be counted in,” the burly fellow added. ‘*Seems to me as I was the first one to dis- cover the articles in the ruins J ought by rights ——_— >= -- ~ te ee ee oe ee to be on the committee,” Charley Yampas re- } marked. ‘Well, as you are all nominating yourselves, { reckon I oe pr to shove myself in and not be bashful about it, and with four of us on the committee that ought to be enough to put the thing through unless * hy want to throw it open to the bull town,” and Alcibiades cast a lower- ing glance around; he was not well pleased with the way things were going. ** Oh, yes, four of us will be quite enough, and it won’t do to alarm the gal, for though appear- ances are a leetle ag’in’ her, yet she may not have had anything to do with the matter after all; so, .gen’lemen, we'll go right up to the hotel and see what we kin diskiver, and you boys kin han around on the outside; we will come down an report as soen as possible.” he captain hurriedly mapped out this course of action, for he saw that there were many in the crowd who did not like being left out in the cold. But by his quickness all debate was cut off, and the forward movement toward the ho- tel at once commenced. When the Grand Central was reached, the captain, as the head of the committee, requested the landlord to conduct them to the lady’s room. The delegation eutered, and the crowd, who, to a man, had followed, remained without. Miss Romero was seated by the table in the center of the room when the landlord entered, aad she appeared surprised when he informed her that some gentlemen desired to have a few minutes’ conversation with her if it was per- fectly agreeable. The woman’s quick instinct took alarm at once, for she understood that it was the hand of iron beneath the velvet glove. But she concealed her fear in the most perfect manner, and, with a pleasant smile, said that she would be pleased to receive the gentlemen at any time. The Iandlord then ushered the committee into the room, and, after they had enter. d, took u @ position by the door, so that he could bot hear and see all that transpired. The captain, on his way to the hotel, had thought over his plan of action, and had ar- — it very shrewdly. “I trust that you will pardon us for intrud- ing upon you, but we are after an important clew. Mr. Wontworth had a leetle box of wax matches, 1 believe?” : was a strange light in the girl’s eyes, and she hesitated a moment before she replied. ** He had,” she said, at last, **Have you got them?” + No. ” ‘Well, I s’pose you know what became of them?” ‘*T really do not.” Just then a bright idea came into the captain’s head. The valise of the dead man stood in the corner; in it something of value might be found. He asked the girl’s permission tolookat it. She consented in the most indifferentmanner. Care- fully the old storekeeper examined the contents, sete length, suddenly, a loud cry burst from ps, CHAPTER XXIX. MORE EVIDENCE. . ALL understood that he had made some im- portant discovery. And important, indeed, it was in the judg- ment of the old store-keeper. He bad opened the valise and had carefully removed the arti- cles in it, one by one; the valise was not a large ee ee a 7 4 _. ; baie t ifornia John, the Pacific Thor one, and contained only a few pieces of cloth- ing, such asa man would na carry on a journey, but, as the ecco passed his hand down close to the side of the valise, he felt that there was some small, hard substance concealed within the lining, and, upon examining into this matter, he found that the lining been torn away from the frame and then carefully sewed up again. He ripped the stitches apart, and possessed himself of a small package care- fully wrapped up in a piece of dark cloth. To untie the string which secured it, and to unroll the wrapper was but the work of a moment, and then, to his astonishment, he beheld one of the ftom little daggers, two of which had al- ready appeared in the town of Needle Bar; this, the third one, was an exact counterpart of the other two—a slender blade about six inches long, and a very little thicker than a tent needle, set ina handle of polished gold, a toy fit only, apparently, to adorn a woman’s hair, and yet the citizens of Needle Bar could amply testify that it was capable of doing fearful work. Entwined around the handle of the dagger was a piece of ribbon exactly like the one which had been discovered by Yampas’s sharp eyes amid the ruins of Alcibiades’s saloon, but, on the blade of the little dagger, and on the sur- face of the crumpled ribbon, were dark spots which to the eyes of the captain seemed like drops of human blood. It was this discovery which had caused the exclamation to burst from the old man’s lips. Slowly he rose to his feet, and turning, ex- hibited what he had found to the gaze of the rest. **Gen’lemen, I reckon that I have striick a lead hyer, for sure,” he said, solemnly. Every eye was turned upon the girl as the store-keeper exhibited the “plunder,” but, not the least trace of excitement was apparent upon’ her face;—orly a curious look, such as all the rest wore upon their features. ‘‘Another leetle knife, by thunder!” the burly jury foreman, Caleb Johnson, blurted out: ** And do ye see this hyer bit of ribbon?” the captain asked, holding up the crumpled and stained piece of finery. Quick as a flash went the hand of the girl to the neck of her dress where she was accus- tomed to wear in a dainty bow a similar piece of silk, but now the knot of ribbon was missing, and from the expression upon her face it was pa it was the first time she had discovered her oss, All within the room noticed the action and the captain saw fit to speak in regard to the movement. ‘**Pears to me, miss, you used to wear a rib- bon something like this,” ‘*7T’ll sw’ar that she did!” Johnson exclaimed. ‘*T see’d it on you yesterday, miss, if I ain’t mistaken.” | ‘‘I wore it this morning, but I have evidently lost it for it is notin its place now,” the girl re- plied, with the most innocent air possible, ‘ But, that ribbon is not mine although it seems to be almost exactly like it.” ‘*‘And you don’t know nothin’ ’bout it, nor ‘bout this hyer leetle knife, either?” the captain asked, in a judicial-like tone. **] do not, and I had no idea that it was in the valise, although I examined it and every article in it carefully after the death of my pro- tector Then it suddenly occurred to the judge that, as he had conducted his search in the valise with his back to all the rest in the room, thus con- cealing his actions, no one knew of the mysteri- ous mode in which the articles had been hidden away. He explained, then, how he had discov- ered them within the ae. “That is the reason why they escaped my search,” the girl observed. ‘* Then you don’t know nothin’ about them at all?” the captain repeated, the idea —— in his mind that the girl herself had conceale the dagger and the ribbon in the hiding-place and that she not only knew something of the origin of the fire but also was a party to the mysterious murder! ‘No, sir, I do not.” ‘* It is not your ribbon?” Charley Yampas re- marked. “It is not.” ‘Is this?’ And as he spoke Yampas exhibit- ed the ribbon which he had taken from Keno Bill’s hand for the purpose of examination af- ter it had been found amid the ruins. ‘Yes, that is mine,” the girl replied, in- stantly. ‘I s’pose you know whar this hyer thing was found?” Johnson said. ‘**No; how should I?” “It was in the ruins of this gen’leman’s she- bang,” and he pointed to Alcibiades. “It were found arter the shebang had been blowed up by somebody and a fire started that might hev burnt down the hull town.” “The fire is out then, and there isn’t any more danger?’ and from the tone and manner of the girl she evidently was thankful that such was the fact. ‘Yes; no thanks, though, to the party wot started the fire. I s’pose that you hain’t got ee Ba ie * is ie ~— ion —4 o a | a *. 4 “ 7 a . - e ao os e ween we + eee Ct—i=“ . —— = ~ ee -_ the least idee who it was that blowed up the hanty?”’ 3 s : ‘“*How should I know?” the gir} answered, immediately, an expression of amazement upon her face. As the lady apparently had no idea of own- ing 3 if she was guilty, the old captain re- solved to let her understand how strongly the finger of suspicion pointed toward her. e drew from his pocket the little box of wax matches, which, oe with the ribbon, had been found amid ruins, “Thar has been some mighty big foul play in this town to-day,” he began. ‘‘The house of this hyer gen’leman has been blowed into smithereens; and whoever did it took advan- tage of the fact that "bout all the town was out on the prairiegattendin’ the hanging, so that ne one saw how the thing was worked, as the tewn was almost deserted, but smart as was the trick the party as did it left two articles behind that I reckon will serve as a clew for us to diskiver who did the job.” Despite her éfforts to retain her ‘composure a shade passed over the girl’s face, which not one in the room failed to notice. ‘‘Mebbe you kin guess what those two things were?” the captain added. “*T should be dull-witted indeed if I did mot comprehend what you mean,” Miss Romero an- swered, with calm resolution. ‘‘ The two arti- cles to which you refer are my ribbon and that box of wax matches,” ‘“‘ Both found in the ruins of this gentleman’s place, remember!” ‘“‘And from that fact, together with this cross-examination, I presume you suspect me.” ‘Not only that, gal,” cried Johnson, ** but more’n one in this hyer town thinks you are the one who killed the man t’other night in the street, and the finding of that leetle knife right oe in your room won’t be apt to make ‘em change their minds, either.” An expression of anguish appeared upon the girl’s face as she I'stened to this brutal avowal. “Qh, no, it cannot be possible that any one can t me of so foul a crime!” she eried, rising to her feet in ee yet ‘I regret to say, miss, that you are suspect- ed, and we shall be obliged to hold you a pris- oner until you can be tried. Not suspected so much of the murder, for we have already hung one man for that, so the account ought to be squared, but of blowing up the saloon, and I am sorry to say that the evidence seems to be dead ag’in’ you.” ‘*T am content to ae my fate in your hands,” the girl] repli tion. in a tone of resigna- —_—_—_—_—_—_——_— CHAPTER XXX. YAMPAS IS CURIOUS. THE committee had retired to one of the lowe rooms of the hotel to deliberate. Even Alci- biades had to admit that circumstances were against the accused, but held out stubbernly that she was not guilty. ‘Such a trick isn’t in a woman’s way,” he argued. ‘*‘ What reason had the gal to blow up my saloon? What had I ever done to her? Nothing at all; on the contrary, I was as big a friend as she had in the town, and I reckon, es the gal isn’t any fool, that she must have seen right from the jump that I was ready to back ber with every dollar I had, and if she wanted money she wouldn’t have wanted any while I was in the burg. No, sir, thar’s no sense in it!” **But do you suspect anybody, Bill?” the cap- tain asked. **No, I don’t,” he answered. *‘ [ have trod on some folks’ toes and have had mine trodden on, too, but I can’t think now of any man who vould have a ag’in’ me strong e h to excite him to put up such a job as this hyer one, ‘*There was a motive for 7 of course,” Charley Yampas observed. ‘‘Did you keep money on the premises?” : ‘*Do you keep valuable plunder lying areund loose in your saloon?” Keno Bill asked, bluntly. ‘*No, [do not; I’m no fool.” ‘* Nerther am I; thar wasn’t any color of dust ‘bout the place, and then, too, the explosien took place in the rear shanty and not in the main part at all, but if anybody had broke in, thinking to e a raise, is it likely they weuld to raise a row so as to call the attention ef e hull town to the job?” ‘“*T tell you what it is, —— and I am open to bet any man in the town a thousand dollars even up that I tet !” cried John- son, “ this hyer is alla d lot and thar’s a big gang at the back of it, the feller that we hung to-day and the up-stairs are all in it. The gal run foul of the man that was killed and jes’ led him on hyerso that he could be sali- vated. I reck n that both of ’em had a hand im it. The man held him, mebbe, while the gal stuck. Wa-el, when we got the man dead te rights and strung him up, the gal, to git hunk with us, tried to destroy the town, for if wa. hadn’t come piling back and put out the fire the town would have gone, sure as shooting. Tha thing, gen’lemen—and I tell 5 I know w’ot I'm a-talking ’bout—is jes’ as p 17 i i TT ee -_ ain to me as the micbo e+ Sie ee On elle . - - P din —_—— rs hs “4 é . . 7 o* ‘7 x b : aus > ef. st, we). - ’ . J - § \e [. / | Z| | ties ‘ . 2 ae i, * - * ae