Beadle's Dime Library No. 237 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

a TT Ns ee = 10, CHAPTER XTtT THE BLACK BRETHREN. MinvTeE after minute passed without a sight of a boat other than their own, and Long- haired Max and bis friend drew nearer to the mysterious vessel. The twin lights remained as before, but all along the coast darkness reigned supreme. The light did not appear on the cliff. As they neared the vessel, Tim Foley re- doubled his caution and the water scarcely rippled beneath his oars. Silently as a phantom they drew nearer yet to the two lights, and the form of the vessel began to be visible. Tim, looking over his shoulder, detected ber points quicker than Max, She’s a top-s’! schooner,” he whispered, ‘‘ an’, bedad, I bel’ave it is dhe Water Witch, Hould aisy, a bit, an’ we'll come up to her nose an’ seg dhe lagend which shall settle dhe ques- on. “Go on.” Tim obeyed and they crept close to the schooner, on the deck of which reigned pro- found silence. Had she been entirely deserted, itcould have been no more marked, The cavalier wondered that bis companion did not grow superstitious, but Tim had so well recognized the craft that it was a mere form to look for her name. This latter fact occurred to Max so forcibly that he directed Tim to cease pulling, for a further advance would be mere fol , ‘*Tt’s the Water Witch, for sure,” pered. **' Yes, Now, let the boat rest and we will watch the result.” Five minutes passed away, but still no sound arose from the schooner. Except for the twin lights, Max would actually have thought her deserted, and as it was he was growing pain- fully anxious to board her when the sound of oars off at the east, or toward the coast, her- alded a new phase of affairs. The sound seemed to reach the schooner, too, for Max heard a stir, but in the darkness he could not distinguish any men. The boat, however, advanced without any at- tempt at concealment, and the two friends saw that it contained three men. ‘** Ba silent as death!” whispered Max. ** Boat ahoy !” The hail suddenly arose from the schooner’s deck, and the answer was equally prompt. ** Ahoy the schooner!” ‘Who are you?” “The Black Bretbren!” ** Come to the nest!” These most peculiar questions and answers were exchanged with arapidity which told that they were not extemporaneous, and as the boat did pot pause, she had touched the schooner’s side at the last word. Then the men clambered to the deck, the boat was raised, and a well-known voice began to give directions for getting under way. That voice, which was the same as had an- awered from the boat, was that of Captain Jabez Peters. ; ae tame we go fur thim?”’ the Irishman eagerly asked. ‘¢ Good Heaven! no; what could we do? Let them go, for now.” And s0 they watched until the schooner’s sails were spread, and, catching a slight breeza, she moved away down the coast, leaving our two friends alone on the water. ‘Well, begorra, dhat bates my toime en- toirely,” said Tim. ‘‘ Phat dhe divil did all dhat mummery mane? Sure, an’ dhat was ould Peters in dhe boat, an’ phy should he talk like an idyot whin boarding bisown schooner? What did he say?—dhat he was a Black Brithrio an’ dhe other spalpeen—it was Dowd, I’m thinking —towld him to ‘Come to the nist!’ Howly Pater! an’ whin did a first-class sayman git to call a sohooner a nist?” : “Pull for the shore and we will] talk as we go. The words you criticise did certainly sound very foolish, but yousee each one had a mean- ing. They were the secret words of the gang we have po wind of, though who and what compose that gang I don’t know.” ‘‘ But, sure, { niver thought ould Paters would talk so foolish, an’ be an ould sayman.” Long-Haired Max smiled at Tim’s distress. **The objectionable words were not formed by Jabez Peters. As you say, he would not think of referring to his schooner as a ‘nest,’ nor would he talk about ‘ Black Brethren.’ All this goes to show that he has anally, and a man more educated than be. This ally I believe to bea resident of Nuevo Madrid. Now,whois he?’ It was a question they discussed all the way to the shore, but one not so easily answered. In fact, though well aware that some scheme was afoot, they conld not gain any clew to its na- im whis- ture. Shrewd, money-loving Jabez Peters would not fool away his time on an enterprise that did not ay him well, but, in the name of the wonder- Fal what was there on that barren coast to pay him for his time and labor—more, to support and satisfy his whole crew, with an unknown number of allies? When they touched the shore Max threw off his wee pee ee ae ee Long-Haired Max. vain menta! labor, they concealed the boat once | more, and then took their way toward the vil- lage, They would have gone at once to the ho- tel, but when they reached the front of Alcalde | Jones’s office they saw that magnate inside, so Max coucluded to stop and see bim, while Tim went on alone, The worthy mayor seemed to be excited about something. He had thrown off bis coat and was striding about the room in his shbirt-sleeves, his pipe in full blast, while on the table sat a sus- picious-looking black bottle. He hailed Max with a beaming face, ‘‘Durnation, old man, come in!” he cried. ‘I’m right glad ter see you, fur I r’ally need somebody ter give me moral backbone, Squat right thar, drink yer fill an’ set ther old pipe a-blazin’.” ‘Has anything gone wrong, alcalde?” “Has thar? Wal, thar ain’t nothin’ gone right as [knows on. Durnation! ther timesare out 0’ jint, an’ ef it wasn’t fur ther sweet con- solation o’ ther boodwah o’ jestice, I should be ready ter toss up ther sponge.” _“* You have my sympathy, and if you’ll come right down to business I’ll try to help you.” ‘Business? Wal, I reckon business will be boomin’ byar, might soon. Before a week o’ prox- imos have passed I'll have this boodwah chock full o’ cases; I'll ram them inter ther docket like buck-shot inter a gun!” “* T take it yea are going to arrest somebody.” , ‘‘-You kin bet your butes on thet, young feller; am!” ** Who is the party?” ** Gho-ts!” ** Ghosts?” ‘© Yas, that’s what J said, an’ I'll doit. Now, you are a stranger in this hyar town, an’ prob’ly don’t know that ther ruined mission over thar is ha’ated. Sech, hows’ever, is ther fact, an’ ther speerits are gettin’ too free-and-easy ter suit.” ‘* Tell me all about it,” said Max. The alcalde obeyed, and described a scene exactly like what the cavalier had himself seen; he told of the lone woman on the broken wall, of the monk and of the assassination, and by the time he was through he had worked himself up to a fever pitch. “‘ T'll arrest them!” be shouted; “ I’) tote ev'ry durned one inter this boodwah o’ jestice, an’ give ’em ther rope’s-end o’ ther law. No sech newfarious work kin occur in ther jurispru- dence o’ this criminal court while Napoleon Jones sets on ther bench in an officious capacity.” ‘‘ But can you arrest a saga “Jest as Jegally as I kin you or any other man. Durnatioo! a ghost is no better than any other man!” ‘‘ Would you put irons on them?’ Max gravely ed asked. **)’4 load’em with chains; I’d put them on ther rack, an’ t’ar them limb from leg.” ** Still, I don’t clearly see how you can do it. A specter, if there is such a thing, is but a thing of air—or some other misty material.” His honor st pped short in his excited walk. ** Durnation! didn’t think of that air ‘int!” he said, his countenance falling percepti- ly. And, oddly enough, he had not thought of it. He was an unwavering believer in spectral visitors. Max nearly made him angry by try- ing to convince him there were no such things —and he told the whole story, so far as it was publicly known, of the specters of the old mission. At the time when tbe place was occupied, a young girl of Nuevo Madrid suddenly disap- peared, and her fate remained a mystery until a half-witted fellow of the village declared that he bad seen ber murdered by the mission wall by one of the monks; and from that time the gbosts of the two had haunted the spot exactly as Long Haired Max bad seen them. The alcalde added parevthetically, that ten years after the mysterious disappearance, @ woman came to the village who claimed to be the long-missing girl, but as she was thin, pale, and rogged, all knew she was an impostor. ‘‘ Was she the only one who had changed in ten years?” Max asked, smiling. “Ob! you needn’t argue that *twar her, fur ef she was still alive, why should her ghost haunt ther old mission?” Tbose who have tried to argue with a super- stitious person must know the folly of it, and Max wasted little time on the alcalde. He told him what he knew about the Water Witch, however, and the worthy man raved long and loud that anv one should dare to com- mit such outrages in his “ jurisprudence.” He swore to hunt them down, and it was only after a good deal of persuasion that Max won his promise to go slow and try to catch them napping. CHAPTER XIII. A SBRIOUS CHARGE, A Two days passed peacefully at Nuevo Madri . They were not days of inaction to at least three of our characters—Long-Haired Max, Tim Foley and Alcalde Jones were bu’y.. : While awaiting the exzuration of the time be had given Colonel Barstow to come to a decision in regard to the matter between them, the cav- / . —— EO OCC | | alier devoted a good deal of his time to an at- tempt to learn who and what were the Black Brethren of the coast. In this work he had the aid of the other two men, and every evening they looked for the beacon lights, but their watch was in vain. Nothing suspicious occurrred, and the few sails that went past during the day were pro- nounced by Tim Foley to be other than the Water Witch. Alealde Jones bad grown very much interest- ed in the matter; to use his own expression, *‘ther more ‘e thunked about it, ther madder he got ter think that sech things could occur in his jewresprudence.” et, all their efforts went for nothing; from some cause or other, the Black League was ‘‘ly- ing low.” ug-Haired Max also devoted some attention to the ghosts of the old mission, and with equal- ly poor success. He was puzzled to know the object of these epoca manifestations. Noone around Nuevo Madrid seemed inclined to act the practical joker, and no other object occurred to those interested, The old ruin was not hab- itable for a buman being, so there seemed no object in scaring off people in general. As to Colonel Barstow he sent no word what- ever to Long-Haired Max, nor did they meet oS eons so the latter was somewhat puzzled to know just what the colonel intended to do. Twice, he believed he had narrowly escaped traps set for him by Barstow, but as law-break- ers were numerous around the Pacific coast, oe traps might have been laid by some one else. At any rate, they caught nothing. One evening Long-Haired Max was out alone without any particular object in view, but, as had often before been the case, be took his way to the north of the town and sauntered along the road which bordered the ranches of Don Ra- mon and Colonel Barstow. Since the meeting with Inez in the orange-grove he had not seen her, but his thoughts had often gone to Casa Victoria. In fact, he had been more impressed than he would bave cared to acknowledge, and he re- gretted that his adventure had not been the means of giving him entrancec to the house, Deep in thought, he bad wandered on until near the ruined mission when he was aroused by new and unexpected sounds. From up the road, a sound rolled toward him which be was not slow to understand. It was that of hoof-strokes from borses’ feet, and in such numbers as to surprise him. Where every- one rides horseback, the sight of a single horse- man is acommon spectacle and several together no novelty, but in this cuse be was sure that over a score were in motion. Pausing, he was endeavoring to distinguish them through the darkness, when suddenly a single person, a man on foot, came flying down the road. His hat was gone from bis bead and he looked like one who runs for his life, but the sight surprised Max. e wondered if he was pursued by Indians, but close on the heels of the first thought came the recollection that there were no hostiles in the vicinity. What could it mean? The man had come near enough for him to erceive that he wore the dress of a Mexican; ut as though be was in turn suddenly seen, the man wheeled and rushed up the bill, moving to- ward the old mission. Long-Haired Max watched for only a mo- ment, for at that point the clatter of hoofs grew louder, mingled with the jingling of accouter- ments, and the horsemen came sweeping for- ward at a gallop. For a moment the cavalier was undecided what to do, for there might be danger for even him in that swift rush; but be disdained to flee when he had committed no crime, and he stood rm. Suddenly a series of shouts arose from the men—cries unquestionably those of white men— and some of them were of ab Ominous nature, ‘* There he is!” “ Surrender, you dog!” — ‘“‘ Cut him down, if be tries to escape!” Long-Hsired Max quickly understood that he had been mistaken for the late fugitive, and he saw, too, that these horsemen, as wild as the seemed, were neither Indians nor outlaws; if their dress went for anything, they were United States soldiers. The fact astonished him, for he had not known that any were near Nuevo Madrid, Md it also seemed to do away with all cause for ear. They had made a natural mistake, but a little explaining would make all clear. evertheless, the way of the riders was not pleasant; and as they reined in their horses, after dashing almost to his side, more than one piece of turf was flung against him. ‘Surrender, you black hound!” cried one of the blue-coats; aud Max saw that all had their sabers out. He held up his open hands with the palms toward them, and answered, in a pleasant voice: | Rede “Te J jook like fighting?” |. ‘ EORMME NCO KS (El)