Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 22 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

SS eee eS 12 dog that could follow ashe can. Let me see” —he coaxed his head by putting his hand on it —‘*there’s Whitelaw. It wouldn’t be strange. That might mar all in a moment, or secomplish all. I hope not—I hope not! I must know for a certainty. I must go to the hut, I'll soon settle it. Let ’em meddle, if they like. They'll get tired of it before they’ve done!” The miner clenched his hand and shook it wrathfully. ‘“* People ’1] better let me alone ; they’d better not stir up the depths of evil that arein me. I can’t help being what I am. If I was born half-man and half-devil, whose fault is it? I'll live out what's in me, and who can do more? My hatred of him has reigned paramount for ears. Every additional year has added to its itterness. have and jealousy kindled a hell in my breast, and it has burned with a steady flame. Away, remorse! away, conscience! - Ralph Quimby will die as he has lived, in the scorching, withering fires of his hate!” He hurried into the lodge for his rifle and ammunition, then started for the hut, On the way he again encountered Stratton, who relat- ed, with many exaggerations, the particulars of his encounter with Ross. “ An awkward affair,” said Ralph. “ But ne matter; it won’t be worth while for you to trouble yourself any more about it.” “ Why not ?” demanded Stratton, gruffly. “ Because Nathalia’s gone. She hae fled like a bird that leaves no trail.” “Come! don’t try to fool me, Ralph. I know grain from chaff, I allow. Don’t stir me up agin. You've got a new scheme in your hea, I 's’pose.?”’ : Stratton glared at Quimby ominously. “‘ Cease to growl at me, Nat! I don’t care to see your teeth. If you must bite, don’t fasten on me. The girl’s gone; whether alone, of with some one, I don’t know; but goneshe is. Hunt her, if you want to. After her as quick as you please, but don’t harm her. Bring her to me as you find her—#f you find her. ‘There —that’s all! I’m going to my cabin, now, to see if she’s there. P don't know what kind of a reeeption I shall get from the people who've taken possession of it, but I'll run the risk. }Perhaps they've gone and taken the girl with them. “So she’s really missin’?”’ muttered Strat- ton. ‘I thought it was gammon, at first, but I see you're in airnest. Lead on, Ralph; Pll fol- ler. I've gone into this thing, and I won't turn back.” ‘Come along, then.” It was not a long walk to the hut. The door was ajar; Ralph pushed it open and went in. Neil Travis was sitting on the side of the bed, with his head bandaged. Whitelaw was sim- mering some kind of medicine over a slow fire. He raised his eyes when Ralph and his com- rade entered, but kept at his work. The former was silent an instant, struggling with an emo- tion that was striving to make itself visible up- on his face. : “I hope you’re comfortable here!” he said, ironically. “It’s no great crime, I s’pose, to drive a man out of his house!’ “Not quite equal to. murder,” answered Whitelaw, quietly. “T had hoped,” said Neil Travis, ‘‘ that you had left this part of the country, to save trouble. I wonder that you dare show yourself here again |” “ When you grow older, you won’t let things surprise you,” returned Ralph, with cool sar- “ But the crime ?” remons(rated Travis. “Pooh, boy! there has been no crime com- mitted. You'realive,a'n’t ye? If you involve yourself in a quarrel and get the worst on’t, I a’n’t to blame for it, am 1?” “We shall see!” answered Travis, moodily. “T’'m noidle boaster, but what I say, I mean, “The less you say and the less you mean, the better!” answered Quimby, flashing up with his old fiereeness. ‘ But I didn't come here to quarrel with any man,” he added, quelling him- self. ‘‘ I have come for my niece. Whitelaw turned from his employment and looked at Ralph. His piercing eyes made the man involuntarily step back. The gaze was long and earnest. Some old, painful memory seemed to float dimly through Whitelaw's con- sciousness ; he could not divine its origin, nor why it came then. He felt as if an enemy had found him, or a great evil was impending. Minds disciplined by suffering often have suc intimations. : . “What did you say?” The New York Library. Kalph was awed ; the guilty are apt to be. Did Whitelaw see anything familiar in his fea- tures? Had not time utterly ehanged him? It should have done so. Years of vicissitude and the constant fermentation of bad passions had certainly ot literated all traces of his former self, That thought gave him cournge. “T could not have believed this of you,” he answered, in a voice artfully melancholy. “TI trusted you; I set you to guard my treasure ; but you have stolen itfrom me. Where is she ?” “ T don't know what you mean.”’ Whitelaw's vuice was steady, but his expres slon Was anxious. “ll look into this room, if I’m allowed lib- erty on my own premises,” replied Ralph, fol- lowing up the advantage that he had gained. “ Look under the bed!” added Neil, sarcas- tieally. ‘You'll find blood there! But not the last drop ; that's in here.” | Neil tapped himself lightly upon the breast. “ In here] he repeated, with a ghastly smile. * Be sure you keep it there |” muttered Strat- ton. “Tve kept it through many dangers. Ay, when a hundred throats elamored for it!” Ralph opened the little door and glanced in- to Nathalia’s room. “Don’t think I'm disappointed in not rae her here. She’s farther off, no doubt,’ he said, shrinking uneasily from the gaze of Travis. ‘“‘T see,” said Whitelaw. ‘+ Nathalia is: miss- ing, and you accuse me of being instrumental in her flight. You are wrong.” “ And yet you knew it,” retorted Ralph, sus- piéiously. . “ Not till this visit.” “You'll believe him!” sneered Stratton. “Our business,” rejoined Ralph, “is not here.” Then to Whitelaw: ‘ Where are your two friends ?” “ Hunting in the forest,” Whitelaw answered. “ Tlow long have they been gone ?” “ About two hours.” “Two hours!” repeated Ralph. “ Those are our men, Stratton. I hope, Mr. Whitelaw, that I sha’n’t have reason to regret that you saw my niece. Iam loth to think you base enough to harm that poor child.” “I wish i could think the same of you,” said Travis. ‘ . Ralph threw upon the young man a menacing look. “ Eyes can’t kill, though they may look mur- der. Knives and hammers are more dangers ous!” retorted Travis. “Be quiet,” admonished Whitelaw. * Ex- citement will harm you.” “T am calmer than he. Any leech in the meg will tell you that my pulse has a healthier at,” Ralph and Nat Stratton left the hut slowly and silently “ He’s dangerous!” muttered Ralph, when they were out of hearing. “I'm afraid of his eyes! I'd rather have o panther after me than eil Travis.” CHAPTER XII. HE COPPER-MINBE, The miners retired from the hut in much per- plexity. Ralph was uncertain upon whom to charge the abduction of Natlialia ; while Strat- ton was suspicious not only of Ross and White- law, but of Ralph, also. ‘The latter was subtle, and he knew not what new project he aie have conceived. Retiring to a convenient dis- tance, after taking counsel together, they watched the cabin through the dim and silent hours of the night. They did not sleep; their busy thotights kept them wakeful. ‘The absentees did not return ; which circumstance confirmed Ralph in the idea that they had exercised an agency in the Sey thee of Nattie. They then went to Whitelaw'’s lodge, ate a hurried breakfast, and commenced what they intended should be & thorough search for the mis+ing one. But how different were the motives of the two men! Could they have looked into each other’s hearts, they would have quarreled on the spot, or separated; perhaps, to meet no more, | They endeavored to discover some trail to uide them ; but, after hours spent in the at- mpt, abandoned it, and strack off in 4 norther- ly direction, trusting that chance might lead thein where their skill as woodsmen failed. They trod the d old forest, ‘but the sub- limity of its solitude did not touch them. The emotions that good men feel in close communion with Nature, did not visit them. The selfish passions that actuated them left no room for the , charm of nape > Late in the afternoon, they perceived a smoke curling lightly above the tree tops—a slender column almost as white as the clouds. They continued their way with renewed courage. When within a few rods of the spot where the smoke went up, they advanced cautiously. Creeping to the margin ofa small opening, they ~ saw a camp that had evidently been constructed hastily, for temporary oecupaney. They cou see no one. By-and-by, Kid Kerly came out, with his rifle, and after addressing a few words — to some one within, went away. “I think,” whispered Ralph, “ we shall find Nathalia!” “ Let's settle it at once,’ answered the other, impatiently. ‘* Be patient!” replied Ralph. the camp, she is not alone. . with her, doubtless.” ‘“We’re armed! Why should we lose such a good chance for a quarrel? You will eharge ‘bi with stealin’ your niece; he'll fire up; then the pullin’ of a trigger ’ll end all.” “Pm afraid not. Would you like to have a man on your track that can follow a trail in the night better than i can in the day-time, with blood on your ands, too ””’ returned Ralph. ‘He'll have the same chance to dog us, with or without blood.” * Ay, but he’ll have no right to harm me for taking away my niece. Do you want those ter- rible sights to cover ye? idon’t! Butitea kind o’ work that suits him. If we rub out one, the other must keep him company.” “ Let it be doth, then! e can‘ shoot ’em from here ag easy as we can breathe, throw their bodies into a deserted mine, git rid of two enemies, and take the girl to some distant and unfrequented spot where she'll be safe from everybody but them that want her. ‘That's my “It’s a desperate his head, ‘‘ but will We'll wait here till dark and take our chance.” “JT hear the murmur of voices!” asserted Page ‘‘ There's no mistake about this mat- ter. “Iwas a lucky chance that brought us here.”’ “Tf she is in Ralph Quimby had some difficulty in restrain. ing the impatience of Stratton; but by arga- ments and threats, prevailed on him to be quiet till the sun went down and twilight spread its soft shadows over the ‘Ten Miles Trace. Half an hour later, Bernard Ross came ont of the little camp, listened, and seemed uneasy, Just then there was a rifle-shot in the woods at his right.) The miners heard himsay: “ It is Kerly ; he has brought down a deer, probably. I will go and help him bring it in. I won't leave you but a few minutes.” . The yeung man left the camp, with his rifle . in his hand. The rustling of his footsteps in the » leaves could be heard for some time, gradually receding; when they had died quite away, the miners arose and approached the eamp. The fire within had burned low and was sending up a black smoke. The night, too, had set in dark. Ralph was in adyance and rushed in hastily. A slight scream and the rustie of a dress, told him where to find the supposed object of his search. In a moment he had caught a eas form.in his arms and was bearing it away. The terror in- spired by this sudden entry, acting instantly upon the weak frame of Mary Danton, deprives her of the power of resistance and the use of her voice. Before she had recovered from the shock of this rude visitation, she was in the dark recesses of the forest, encireled by two arms of iron firmness. She. tried to seream, but a se and gasping sound, only, came from her Ips. | Ralph stopped, tore a small woolen searf from | her neck, and bound it tightly over her mouth. To question, to call for help, was now imposei- ble. A sickly dread was upon her. What hor- rible fate was before her? Why this violence ? WhitHer were they bearing her? She could dimly discern a face in the Ss skiadens she could not remember of having seen it before ; its features, she \magined, were frightfully sinister. She would infinitely rather have been Jost again in the great wilderness, than to be where she was, with that stern visage bending over her. She struggled faintly to free herself. He placed her upon her feet. he gold-hunter is | There’s two of us to one. — Remember Kid Kerly. | lan,” said Ralph, shaking | oif nothing better offers. “ You can walk, if you want to, but you must . walk fast,” said Ralph. He took her arm within | his, and she endeavored to keep pace with him} but her lim!s suvu iaied, Wud Sotwes ceded comicboo es 2 — ——— RN ee ant - ~ a ee ne