Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 194 — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

Laura started slightly but her face remained m. | “T am not a detective,” she answered. | ‘‘] am, and I have not lived in vain, The mystery of Don Sombrero puzzied me for some ' - time, I confess, but [ ferreted his identity out | at last, and only that my enemies got ahead of me I would before now have had him in cus- tody. Girl, Don Sombrero and Theodore Rivers ‘ are one and the same person!” Laura had expected the declaration and her fa¢e was under good control. At her heart she felt sick and unnerved, for had not her own | eyes seen evidence to show that what he said ; was true? But she only laughed. | “ Your eharge is amusing,” she answered, Sedia ** You do not believe it?” "The charge is ridiculous,” ““T have ample proof, and all I ask is a | ebanee, and then I will put Rivers’s neck in the g halter.” , ** Your ewn chances for filling such a promi- ' nent position seem greater than bis,” she an- swered, with unwavering calmness, ‘ The end is not yet, my lady. you see what the future brings forth.’ He arose abruptly and went to where Ben Braxton was watching at the entrance, The fellow lay gazing outside, bis brutal face having ) ait until cy an expression of thoughtfulness not common to ‘ his nature. ** Any signs yet?’ Roberts asked. “Nary sign,” was the curt answer, “They may vot find us here.” Braxton looked at him in surprise. ** How kin they miss it?” ‘*] don’t know, only I somehow feel that luck has not yet deserted me.” ‘You will think it has when you see ther varmints howlin’ outside. Rivers an’ Meeker hev been hyer afore, you say, and they ain’t mon ter forget so eusy. Don’t flatter yourself they won’t find us. Tivy will, an’ then thar will be a hot time on’t.” ** We have a good rifle and two revolvers.” “So hev they, ef not more,” “ But we will hold this place against all they can bring against us.” = We'll t ‘i Braxton did not speak with much confidence. In fact, he knew that though they might do con- siderable damage before the enemy could over- power them, they would in the end be beaten; and he was wondering if Roberts was really in 9 his right mind when he talked so lightly. ‘. Their consultation was interrupted by a shout . ' from outs de, and lookingin that direction they saw Dick Meeker and Mayor James among the rocks a hundred feet away. “Lay low an’ don’t answer,” said Ben, has- tilv. The caution availed nothing, for Roberts at once sent back an auswer. yy “So you are thar, you ’tarnal critter,” said ‘at, Meeker. “I reckoned as how we would find you in this cave, an’ was right. Mebbe you see ther mayor right hyer with me, an’ mebbe ou understand that all Mount Tabor is just be- ow a-clamorin’ fur your blood.” ‘Let them clamor!” retorted the desperate 1° ‘eka fugitive. “I defy them and all the pack they rs can bring to their aid!” a “Took out for Jedge Lynch!” shouted the miner, disregarding Mayor James’s motion for him to remain silent. ‘‘Let me speak: now,” said that official, step- ping forward. ‘‘Abner Roberts, I see you are b there and I want to speak with you.” “Go right in, your honor. I always listen when you speak, for your words are those of wisdom.” “‘T have come to demand your surrender.” “Then you may as well go right back, for f ou have not got any child to deal with now. Saat f you try to enter here you come to your ‘ death. Keep away!” | “This is madness, Roberts.” we. “There is method in it, as you will find to your cost.” His bravado rather perplexed the mayor, but the demand for his surrender was firmly ressed. Of course Roberts defied him, and in _ the end the messengers disappeared, giving no clew to their plans for the future. Then Roberts went back to Laura, leaving Ben Braxton alone. “Things are gettin’ too hot fur me ’round hyer,” the ruffian soliloquized. ‘‘ T reckon I had better skip. Ef I hang by ther flag I'l] get wuss than Jonathan did, an’ I don’t banker arter sech honors. One thing is sartain—ef I don’t get away from Mount Tabor on ther dead jump Ym gone up. while I can, skip back ter ther town, make a raise in some way, an’ then rames. Roberts oi will make Rome howl, but Idon’t keer. He has outlived his usefulness.” He looked back to see that the sheriff was not watching him, and then cautiously arose to his feet. Five minutes later Roberts, who had merely been to see that Laura did not attempt to flee into the interior of the cave, returned to the : entrance to find the post deserted. Braxton at bad gone from sight and hearing. A suspicion of the truth at once rushed upon ; = Don Som I'll desart this ’ere sinkin’ ship | brero, the California Road Gent. | He remembered that bis ally the hunted man, had been filled with fear of late, and as no other thing could have taken him away, it was very evident that be had deserted. Roberts’s face grew convulsed with rage and he grouud out an oath from between his teeth. He could bave murdered the traitor then with ardor. For a little while his bravado deserted him, and he leaned against the side of the wall in real weakness. Ben had taken the one rifle in his flight, so only a revolver remained with which to defend the cave. What ean I do ‘*'m afraid the game is up! amet all those men single-handed? They are thirsting for my blood, and I don’t see any nage of thwarting them; but, by the Eternal, lil we of them weep before they win the orht! he color came back to his cheeks with a rush, and be called Laura in a sharp voice, She came forward with a calmness which almost maddened him, and a new and dangerous light came into his eyes. ‘You and I are alone in this cave,” he said. ‘Ben Braxton has deserted.” ‘‘Luck is deserting you, Mr, Roberts,” she answered. **T believe you, but the end will be a bloody one. Look you, my lady, I have plotted too long to let my enemies have the fruits for which I have sinned. Theodore Rivers, road- agent and blackleg, sball never cali you his. I swear that I will shoot you dead rather than see you rescued.” The glare from his eyes frightened her. Brave as she was, her heart sunk like lead. In his boastful mood he had seemed like one without power, but now he looked the very personifica- tion of ademon. He would murder her with- out a scruple, and his face showed that he be- lieved the deed inevitable. ‘* When they press me too bard,” he went on, sibilantly, ‘‘I will turn and shoot youin your tracks. Say OP hod prayers, girl, for they will svon be needed.” ‘ ‘‘T am as fit to go to the hereafter as you,” she retorted, rallying a little. “Those who expect nothing can receive no less. 1 shall die with my boots on. Sit down on my right where I can watch you while I watch them,” ‘ She dared not disobey, but took the position indicated without a word. Her heart was thumping like a drum, and she seemed suffo- cating, buf there were nosymptoms of faintness, Roberts croucbed near the entrance, revolver in hand, and looked out on the shelf of rock be- yond. If his enemies came it must be by that way, and his sure aim would drop the first man who showed himself. Laura wished that she could see a way and bad the courage to do something for herself but she could not slip away uuseen, and i would bs folly to oppose her feeble efforts aguinst those of her captor. No; she must wait and, unless some favorable chance appeared, depend on her friends to rescue her, er friends! The words seemed almost a mockery. Her father had been severely wound- ed—she was then ignorant of the fact that it was fatally—and she could scarcely acknowl- edge Rivers as a friend if he was indeed Don Sombrero. Roberts noticed the thoughtful look face and scowled darkly. ‘What mischief are you plotting?” he asked. ‘* None,” she huskily said. “1 don’t believe you, but it is all one to me, I will watch you like e cat, and, if I go down to ruin, you go with me, Ha! ha! we will make a bonnie pair to cross the dark river together,” Before she could answer he was again hailed from the outside. The call came in the voice of Mayor James, and, though the official did not uncover himself, he laid an elaborate offer be- fore the sheriff. He proposed that Roberts should surrender Laura on condition that liberty be given him in return, but the offer was re- ceived with derision. J naeece men by his own small stock of honesty, the fugitive would not have dared to trust to the mayor’s pledge; so he bluntly declered that he would neither surrender nor consider a compromise. The conversation was protracted until Rob- erts grew tired of it, and even Laura wondered at James’s persistency. ‘‘He must think their case hopeless, or he would not be so anxious to make terms,” she thought. nial Sbe made a mistake in thus thinking, as the uel proved. : hile the conversation was going on, neither the sheriff or his prisoner suspected that some- on her | thing of moment was transpiring just behind them. Neither of them had seen the figure which, appearing first in the distant shadows, was cautiously creeping toward them—so secretly that not a rustle betrayed its advance—and neither suspected that a man with a revolver held between his teeth was taking advantage of the attention both were giving to outside matters to work his way nearer yet to the des- perate sheriff. If Laura had turned and seen this man, she would have recognized him as Theodore Rivers, / * and it was just that fact which made the Cava- lier so doubly anxious as he erept along. if she should chance to see bim, her inevitable look of surprise could not fail to be seen by her captor. Consequently, the would-be rescuer, as he wormed along, inch by inch, was tar {rom feel- eo his ease. uckily, Laura did not turn her head, and outside, Mayor James kept up his arguments persistently. He was doing the work marked out for him, and his words were still persuasive as Rivers drew so near that he could not but wooder at,his success. «He could have shot Roberts where he lay, but he wanted to capture him alive, The law had a use for him. The crisis came at last. Somethirg caused the fugitive to turn his head quickly, suspi- ciously, but in a moment more he was beater to the rocky floor by tbe Cavalier’s full weight, The Jatter bad launched himself on the villain just in time. He gave a clear sbout, as they went down together, but ina moment more be had other work on his hands, Roberts realized bis peril, and twisting about, he grappled with Rivers like a maniac. Laura had seen the Cavalier and recognized him just as the attack was made, but as she sprung to her feet she saw only a confused knot of buman bodies and limbs, as they struggled desperately for the mastery. She clasped her hands and stood for a moment like one turned to stone, but her presence ef mind came back, and she ran through the entrance and began to cry for help. Her efforts were not needed. The men out- side had heard Rivers’s own shout—they had been anxiously listening—and they came hastily along the ledge, led by Dick Meeker and the mayor. Laura mutely pointed inside, and they rushed on with their weapons drawn, ‘The first glance showed then: they were not needed, The battle was over. Rivers was kneeling on the sheriff's breast, with one band on his throat, and it was evident he was making the grasp a strong one. Dick Meeker uttered a sh_ut, but the stern- ness of Rivers’s face did not change. ‘* Bind him, gentlemen,” he coolly said, ‘‘ and : he is yours,” They obeyed with the dexterity common to bordermen, and then, as Rivers arose, Roberts looked up at them with a face which was like a demon’s. He was indeed defeated and undone. For once he had nothing tosay. There was | murder in his eyes, but he was as helpless as a child. Silent! e saw the rescuers shake Laura’s hand, silently he heard her thanks, but in every look he shewed his bitter hate. When he took refuge in the cave he forgot that when Rivers had his adventure in the place ona former occasion, he had been washed out by the subterranean way into the valley; but his rival had not forgotten it, and he ha come in this time as he went out before, greatly to Roberts’s sorrow, There was no further cause for delay, so Laura and their prisoner were escorted to the valley below, a mount was made, and all start- ed together on the return to Mount Tabor, All were Sigs triumph except Sheriff Roberts. He— as he going to another turn in the tide, to the justice of the law or to Judge Lynch? CHAPTER XLI. DON SOMBRERO IN THE SADDLE. Tue country around ‘the village was very quiet that night. Up in the mountains the cap- tors of Sheriff Roberts were wending their way homeward; in the sick chamber of Arcadia Judge Austin lay dying, and down in the vil- lage itself men talked wonderingly of the events , of theday. The fields and roads surrounding the town, however, bore no evidence of life. Stay! The assertion has been prematurely made, At one point there were signs of life, but there had been none until a single horseman rode out of a grove not far from the ranch of Theodore Rivers. His appearance was such as would at once have arrested the attention of a “resident of Mount Tabor, for in the flapping cloak and broad-brimmed hat such a person would surely have thought he saw Don Sombrero. Evidently it was the noted road-agent, for, otherwise, the resemblance was remarkable. Not only did the hat and cloak go to corfirm the idea, but the rider’s face was masked and § the horse he rode was a jet black, 4 He adjusted his outer garments as his horse 4 moved away from the grove at a walk. ; ‘Pye played a good marred games 0’ keerds,” he muttered, as he went, “ but this is ther most absorbin’ 0’ all. I must make a raise inside 0 two hours, or T am in a box. This hoss will hurry me swift an’ sure from Mount Tabor, but I ain’t got a cent in my pockets an’ it won't co ter act ther road-ageht elsewhar. Ther sooner _ I get rid o’ my old habits, ther better. Now, it * would be jest my durned luck not ter make a strike, but I'll run. ther resk an’ thank my lucky stars ef any moneyed man gives me @ , chance. Arter to-night I play ws Sombrero Eomicbooks: co Das —— —-s i a al Ee # 4 — 7. : - P = i~ at t i]