Beadle's Dime Library No. 237 — page 29: what you’re looking at

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

this house touches me deeply; prove that you have been sincere and I will never mention your name or that of Don Ramon in my re- rt.” a Any other proof—” began Barstow, but the lieutenant interrupted bim. ‘‘There can be but one way of proof. Shalll send for the chaplain?” There was a dead silence, but Mellough drew another package of papers from his pocket and spoke again. ‘‘ Here are the proofs which I despise as much as any of you,” he said. ‘‘ Heaven forbid that I should be obliged to ruin you all, but my sensitive nature demands some proof. It is not for me to aid you; you can save yourselves,”’ Barstow felt that his whole future was at stake aud he was worked up to a pitch of ex- citement strange for one of his usually cool manner. Eagerly he scanned the faces of the Victorias. Inez was very pale, troubled, con- fused and uncertain. Don Ramon was equally affected, but a fixed purpose gradually appeared in his face, and be advanced a step. ‘‘Lieutenant Mellough,” he peels said, ‘‘ you are presumptuous, even to impertinence. No man, sir, has a right to dictate to a Vic- toria. You say your papers are intact. Very well; I thank Heaven that it isso. There is no stain on the name I bear, and by the help of Divine Power I will see that none comes to it, You may make whatever use of the papers you choose, but you shall not dictate tous. My daughter, sir, is not to be bought, sold or bribed, One may be manly even in misfortune, and, despite my present distress, I am still a Vic- toria!” Having uttered these words with a calmness, subdued power and grandeur worthy of a Roman senator, Don Ramon drew his fine form to its ut- most hight and stood like a bulwark of his daughter’s happiness. They were the death-blow of Colonel Bar- stow's “te to Had ten thousand men appeared to swell the cry, be would not have been more convinced, and as he saw his air-castles crumb- ling away into utter ruin, a terrible rage seized upon him. Before another word could be said, however the door opened without ceremony and several persons entered, two by two, First came Alcalde Jones and Major Eaton, then Long-Haired Max and Eduardo Castro, then Tim Foley and Marcy, and behind them were men whose clothing was of blue. The previous occupants of the room looked with varied feelings, but the alcalde walked straight to Colone] Barstow’s side. ‘* By civil an’ oncivil authority, I arrest you!” said Mr. Jones with dignity. The colonel breathed heavily and his eyes wavered for a moment, but his composure speedily returned, ‘‘ Upon what charge?” he tersely asked. ‘““Wal, ther items is so durned numerous that it w’u’d require a cistern 0’ book-keepin’ on ther double-entry plan ter enumerate all, but I'll try ter give a symphony. > ‘‘Wirst: Fur murderin’ one Ernest Baldwin. “ Nextly: Fur murderin’ one Buck Eagan. “Secontly: Fur tryin’ ter kill one Max Bald- win. ‘Ninthly: Fur robbin’ ofe Ramon Victoria. “Finally: Fur high crimes an’ misendeavors o’a general an’ convex nature, all with mali- cious forethought.” CHAPTER XL. THE SWORD FALLS. COLONEL BARSTOW had listened apse de: to this formidable arraignment, but his gaze bad not been on the speaker. Instead, he bad been looking about the room, and, seeing Long- Haired Mux, Marcy, Captain Peters, Miss Lin- gard and Miss Arnold, he knew very well vhat the day of doom had come. : It was a terrible blow, but he made bis resolu- tions instantly. Moving back a pace, he lifted a chair and then sat down by the wall where no one could approach him unseen. “Tt strikes me,” he said with remarkable coolness, ‘‘ that there are a few other crimes known to the world which you might pile on my head, but you must of course suit your- selves.” ‘* Bein’ in my own jewrisprudence, I shall sar- tinly do so,” the alcalde replied. ‘ I don’t want ter swamp ther boodwah o’ jestice, so I go light, but I intend ter present this hyar case that ther American eagle will scream whole cantatas 0’ joy an’ tar its gown inter ribbons.” ‘Major Eaton advanced to Don Ramon’s side. é dear senor,” he said, kindly, ‘‘I wish to put vou at once at your ease, so let me say there is not one charge against you. Such as have been made are confessedly false, and there is not a stain on the name of Victoria.” ‘Tell that to Mellough,” said Barstow with a reckless laugh. * Lieutenant Mellough isdone with this case,” said Eaton, coldly. The lieutenant was the picture of dismay and terror. Pale, trembling and overwbelmed, be was too much unmanned to either attempt flight or to speak. “Naturally, we all wish this scene ended as id EE Long-Haired Max. soon as possible,” said Eaton, ‘‘ Captain Peters, tell us what you know of the Black League.” The former captain of the Water Witch was brought forward on the impromptu stretcher on which he had been cenveyed to the casa, His appearance was zhastly, but the excitement had given him a streng h greater than he possessed when in the den under the old mission. ‘It may be cowardly tew go back on a mess- mate,” be said, abruptly, “but I’m goin’ tew dew one good deed afore I cast off my grapp’in’- irons on the world. I’m an old sailor; [ve fol- lered the sea ever sence I was ten year old; an’ I’ve done a heap o’ mischief in my day. Durin’ the Mexican war I got acquainted with Jim Barstow, an’ we l’arnt each other’s ways, an’ when we met in San Francisco, a year ago, he made a proposition. ‘‘Said Barstow, ‘I’m livin’ neighbor tew one Don Ramon Victoria. On his ranch stands the ruins o’an old mission, long sence desarted, but I bappen tew know that the sile under the mis- sion is rich with gold. I discovered this when I chanced to discover an underground room, but the knowledge rests with me alone. Now, I have, of course, no right to this gold, since it is on Victoria’s land, but I have formed a plan by which it may go to me an’ the men I take tew my confidence.’ He laid the plan afore me, an’ I accepted. ” The skipper paused for a drink of water, and then continued: ‘‘Our plan was soon in force, and half a dozen men were introduced under the mission an’ systematic mining operations begun. At first there was dirt tew be got rid on, butit was carted tew the water by night, an’ sech skill used that nobody suspected anything, while the revival o’ the ghost business kept away the Mexicans, ‘* The secret mine paid rich, an’ Barstow made a pile o’ money off ’m Don Ramon’s property. Now comes my part in the game. Barstow bought a schooner, called the Water Witch, an’ established her as a trader along the coast. The tradin’ part was only a blind, hows’ever. Once in about so often we would stop off Nuevo Mad- rid an’ take in what gold Barstow wanted tew send off, all movements being reg’lated by sig- nals between the schooner an’ a cliff on the shore. It was Barstow’s fancy tew call our gang the Black League, in memory o’ a smug- lin’ concern he knowed suthin’ about on the tlantic coast; an’ all went on well till a while ago when ill luck begun. The schooner went on the shore in a gale an’ all hands was lost, an’ now bere lies ther last o’ the crew, wounded tew death. That air is the story o’ the Black League, an’ ©’ Barstow’s st from Don mon.” “‘ Canto one is proved,” said the alcalde, ‘‘ an’ the American eagle is floppin’ its wings like cymbals, We mean ter prove all we say an’ more, too. Call up the second brigade an’ let Marcy speak.” The man who had seen Ernest Baldwin die advanced and told the same'story related by Long-Haired Max to Barstow, at the beginning of our story, and then Tim Foley told how Buck Eagan died. “I can tell something of this conspiracy affair, myself,” said Major Eaton, “It is scarcely more than a myth. Eduardo Castro an.l a few hot-headed youth cf his age did tall treason and form bloodthirsty plots. What did they amount to? Nothing; for the most bitter of the Mexican residents would not think of following such leaders. ‘‘ Barstow, however, heard of the talk and laid a plan to make the matter result to bis good. He aspired to win Donna Inez for his wife and resolved to draw her father into a trap where he would be athis mercy. He sent news to San Francisco that a great plot was in progress. Two-score soldiers were sent here under a man not fit to command a beggar ina jacale. As soon as hearrived, Barstow pounced upon him, the weak mind yielded to the strong ove, and when Barstow said, ‘Iam an ex-colo- nel; I have great influence; I will make you a major if you obey my orders,’ Mellough yielded and me bis tool. All the papers used in the case were forged by Barstow, Eduardo Castro has made a full confession; perhaps Mellough will do the same.” é Eaton looked at the lieutenant, and the miserable little wretch fell on bis knees and begged for mercy, confessing his entire com- icity. P Up to this time Barstow had maintained his composure, but such rank treachery was too much for bis nerves and he suddenly drew a revolver. A bullet would speedily have ended Mellough’s career, but Long-H.ired Max had been watching the colonel and he promptly imself upon him. Boe a ftled villain was s00n overpowered and a Ther chariot 0’ ine rolls on,” said Alcalde Jones, placidly. ‘‘ Law an’ order are this byar proximo established in this jewrisprudence an’ ther American eagle— But you have a stery tell, Mr. Long- aired Max.” : Te It is that of the Baldwin family,” said Mex, ly: ‘ofa restless, roving, almost doomed Foailye I could take you back twe centuries to * 29 tell of strange events and yong fates, but it is unnecessary. My fatber, Ernest Baldwin, lived at the East, and became a parent of two children, myself, and my sister, Edna, who was six years my senior. ** When I was ten years of age, the roving na- ture of the family attacked my father and he left his home, from which time he became as one dead to his family, for not once did we hear from him. Three years parsed and my motber was deep in sorrow, fatber. Alas! my judgment was not equal to my courage; Iran away and sent back no word; and my mother soon bad to mourn for another lost one, ‘* You have heard how James Barstow rob- bed and murdered Ernest Baldwin, at Galves- ton. Well, after the crime, some strange thin impelled the assassin to seek the bome of his victim. He went. He found my mother dead, but, seeing my sister, Edna, fell desperately in love with ber. He propoped and was rejected, but he swore revenge. ‘‘ At this time, a man of the town fell from a cliff and was killed by the fall. Barstow forged papers, letters and the like—be is an adept at forgery, as you have already seen— and carried them to my sister. Said he, ‘ These letters will show tbat you bad a motive to kill Tom Wilson. Promise to marry me or I will deliver you to the law as a murderess!’ ‘The threat did not subdue her, but she was terrified and took to flight, and for years she bas lived a life: f fear under a false name, ‘* Barstow, in the meanwhile, prospered on his stolen money, and finally became the owner of the ranch beyond this: tut even then he could not walk the path of ato He organized the Black League, created the ghosts of the mission, and robbed Don Ramon methodically. ‘** Meany bile, what of myself? When | went out, a mere boy, to battle the world, 1 had many bard knocks, but though I did not find my father, I managed to keep my head above the tide, Tired of roving, | at last returned to my old home, but my mother was dead, and no one knew where my sister had gone. ‘‘ Again I became a wanderer, and it was not until a few weeks sgo that I encountered Marcy, and learned my father’s fate. Then I came to Nuevo Madrid to seek for vengeance. ‘* About the same time my sister came here, also, and, as Miss Lingard, entered the Louse of Don Ramon. When she saw me she at once recognized me, but as I bad not seen her since 1 was a boy of thirteen, I did not suspect tha' my once rosy-cheeked sister was the sume as the pale-faced governess of Casa Victoria. “T need say no more except to state that James Barstow is hunted down, To-night sees his discomfiture, and all will rejoice; the man who murdered Ernest Baldwin and stole his widow’s gold, who lied about and tortured Edna Baldwin, who was beartlessly cruel to his legal wife, the sister of Miss Arnold, bere, who has been guilty of more crimes than I can re- call—b 8 race is run!” ‘** Don’t bet too heavy on that, young fellow,” said the colonel, with a sneer. ‘1l’m a bard man to keep down, and I may rise again.” ‘You're durnation right you will,” said Al- calde Jones. ‘ You'll go up twenty feet sure, an’ ther rope will be a strong one. I reckon ther air o’ my jewrisprudence will be purer ar- ter ther proximo that sees you done witb breathin’, an’ I wonder I ever slept o’ nights with sech a malarious epidemic‘round me. It seems like a phantasmoria o’a dream when I think on it—as though I had be’n hotmobbin’ with Metamorophis, same as Faust did.” “Tt’s all over now, alcalde,” said Max, smniling. ‘* Right you be, my bovee, an’ it’s high time I declar’. “ Durnation wildeats! when I think on’t I wonder that a stream of burnin’ lava didn’t come ter destroy ther town, as it did Sedom and Herculaneous in ther old Bible times. Sech goin’s on ain’t been see’d afore sence I sot in an officious capacity in the bood- wah o’ jestice.” Major Eaton gave the worthy alcalde time to free bis mind, and then set about arranging things for the night. Some men must go to jail, others to a bospital, and stil) o'bers on more pleasant errands, but in Casa Victoria all was re Don Ramon and his daughter were saved, for which they gave due thanks to Long-Haired Max, and as the don whispered words of sym- thy to Edina Baldwin (we will no longer call er Miss Lingard), it was plain to see that he was not forgetful of the governess. Our story is told; we need but take a glance at the future of our characters. Colonel Barstow was tried, sentenced and hanged; er was dismissed from thearmy in disgrace; uardo Castro, once at liberty, promptly fled to Mexico: while Captain Peters, after a week’s illness, died, muttering of the Water Witch. Frem that time the Black League ceased to exist, as did the ghosts of the missicn, but the eupply of gold on which the League Lad fed oy of thirteen that I, was, I had courage and I resolved to find my | abruptly ceased, mic¢boo (E(0) S Cc (@)