Beadle's Dime Library, No. 240 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

| to reveal] himself to such a dangerous foe. soon lost their effect. Atthe very moment of de- | for she was too conscientious to tella falsehood, — : a can’t stay here ou night’? muttered See When ete Gown ats catered she removed hy though. her liberty or. Jife. ma gbk Re BS 2 Oxx, grimly resolved to ‘‘ freez3” bim out. me to this room, where I'am all alone—noone | *'8ke. : it was useless to attempt auy search, where | present except you in my thoughts. | | But Mrs, Julliard must bave acted on the the darkness was suco tbat he was obliged to “Come to me at once, dearest Brayton! Surely | principle that no female patient in a lunatic : | feel every step he advanced, this outrage cannot be legalized. If my uncle has asylum ever uttered the truth, for she made not it was manifest that the fugitive would not | the power to put me in an insane asylum Lam sure , the slightest reference to her loss, | seck to make his way out of danger by follow- | the law will not give him power to continue me | She probably concluded that the key had been . | + x Che ree path, when he would be certain Prorat Stunt tite tcntentritsl you come, | loeb; Sarde Pete else than in that particular in ey ‘ ‘ ; D4 ) , *, " ro °. y . 4 After a few minutes’ thought, Orson Oxx de- aoe 5 a . Edenton hae bythe bone pry -Aon ae | ** Did you send the letter?” asked Ethel. tormived on a venture which was purely guess- | in your arms, I would never want to leave this ‘* Yes, dear; it was justin time to catch the work. place. , southern mail and it ought to reach your friend J He stealthily picked bis way among the trees, “Fly on wings of love to me as I would to you. | this afternoon.” until be was fully fifty feet from the path, ETHEL. And all the same Ethe) Langdon was as cer- « hen he stopped and remained standing as mo- Ethel had searesly finished this warm, loving | tain the letter had been destroyed as she was tionless as the truok of the oak beside him. letter, when Mrs. Julliard softly opened the | that it had been written. lis hope was that, after a few minutes, The | do. r «nd asked whether the missive was ready. But she learned to hide her suspicions and C D. mou would begin stealing his way out of the Tbe maiden quickly sealed and banded it to | bade the matron a pleasant good-day when she . wood, the matron who passed out. passed out, | When he should do so, more than likely the As she did so, she failed to observe that she Our heroine improved the time at her com- keen ear of Orson Oxx would detect the cau- | dropped something on the floor. mand as best she could, : tious movement. Etbel saw that one of the keys of the bunch She bad learned before that she was on the \ ‘Then, like a crouching Indian he would creep | which she carried on a looped wire at her waist, | third story of a long and rather narrow building, . up, and leaping upon bis shoulders, pin him te | had fallen. which, as a matter of course, had been con- the eartb. Oar beroine sprung forward, picked it upand | structed for a lunatic asylum. ipa As be stood thus, the detective caught the } was on the very point of calling to the woman, Her front windows (being the only ones in hy faint rustle of the night wind among the | whenshe was restrained by some singular im- | faci) did not sfford her a very extended view of — a branches overbead, but nothing was heard to | pulse, the surrounding country; but she saw there was indicate the passage of a haman fovt. ‘‘T am tempted to give it to her for her kind- | agood deal of woodland, While he remained all attention, Orson Oxx’s | ness in taking charge of my letter. The road which wound around the building, thoughts also were busy. ‘‘But why should I do sof 1t may prove of | turned off into the woods in front, through FE He began to ask himself what he would do, | service to me.” which she judged it passed only a brief distance, eek. in case be should be able to seize the incendiary, In the mean time, Mrs. Julliard moved softly | when it reached the main highway. | thus far from the scene of his attempted crime, | along the ball, descended the stairs to the sec- These features were all she could fixin her 4 Would his declaration that he had pursued | ond floor, and so on to the first, where she | mind, but she did that thoroughly. | Algol Langdon, after catching bim in the act of | entered the office of ber husband. Her meals were brought to her at regular + setting fire to the building, be accepted as proof | The latter, who wasa small, nervous old gen- | hours and she was asked to make known any = agsinst the villain? tleman, writing at a handsome cylinder desk, | wish she might have. ~~ , ! tain. as we have Said, no one in tbe village of ‘* Well, what is it, dear?” wanted. - | Ardville had dreamed of suspecting the nabob “Our new arrival of last night seems to be of | Thus the long wearisome day passed and night - | of such an execrable crime. a literary turn.” came. 4 | Much as they hated the miscreant, would ‘* Why so?” asked the superintendent. At nine o’clock the gas (which was manu- ! they be willing to accept the word of the *‘ She has been writing a long letter.” factured on the premises), was turned cff, and _ stranger who accused bim? “To whom?” she understocd that she might expect tohear Orson Oxx began to suspect that with all his} ‘T'o whom would it be but her lover?” nothing more from the matron until the next f. ! intuition and skillin such matters, be had not *- She bas a lover, then?” dey. nS | managed the affair properly. ‘‘Did youever know such a beautiful miss to t was near midnight, when Ethel arose and Suppose Algo! Langdon should turn about | be without one or more lovers?” s‘ealthily inserted the key in the door of her | and charge him before the villagers of attempt- “Can't say that l have; how is she?” room. ‘a ing to fire the building? : ** Very quiet.” She had tried it during the day, and, witha o | Beyond question, be would be believed by the * Does there seem to be much the matter with | throbbing heart discovered that it would un- wy populace, whose fury in the present instance | her?” lock the door. os would not have the restraining presence of ‘* Bristow,” said the wife, in a low voice, and If there were no bolts on the outside, it would os i claws of the octopus and Orson Oxx drew back with flerce violence. But with inimitable and altogether unexpect- ed dexterity, the fugitive slid out of bis gar- ment azd shot ahead like an arrow from the w, Orson Oxx had slackeued his gait, feeling cer- tain of bis man, when, to bis amazement, he sav him a dozen feet ahead, dart into the shatlow of the wood, With a muttered exclamation of anger, the detective made a furious plunge for him, but it was utterly impossible to overtake bim before he reached the protecting gloom. This achievement threw all the advantage on the side of the fugitive, who was necessarily more familiar with the grove, which presented itself so opportunely as a refuge. At the great risk of breaking his neck, Orson Oxx continued the pursuit, ho'diog bis hands and the coat in front of bim, to ward off the limbs with which he was liable to come in con- tact. The grove of trees was no more than a bun- dred feet across, although considerably greater in length. The detective kept up his fierce run, until he emerged from the wood on the other side. Then be stopped. Ove glance was enough to show him that the Winkme Demon was not in front of bim. He had concealed himself among the trees. Orson Oxx st.pped back, so as to stand anong tlem, and threw the coat of the wretch to the ground. Tnen be stood motionless, listening with all hix faculties. Not a sound reached bis ear to betray the spot where the villain was in hiding. Having secured sdelter, he was too cunning So far as the detective bad been able to ascer- Brayton Russell. This view of the business imzressed itself more and more upon the detective as the min- utes slipped by. Finally he turned about and made his way { back to the village, which he had left in suc precipitate haste, spurred on by the certainty tbat it was to be bis pleasure to run a most ex- ecrable wretch to earth. And on tbe road he had the grim misery of reflecting teat the desperate escape of the Wink- ing Demon would be sure to make him more careful in committing bis crimes, thereby in- crane g in that ratio the difficulty of capturing im. CHAPTER XXVII. ETHEL LANGDON WRITES A LETTER, DESPITE the terribie trial to which Ethel ‘Langdon bad been subjected, she experienced A Cool Head. she called herself, gave consent for her to | write as many letters as she chose to her | friends. As it was the intention of our beroine to im- | part all the information she could, she made a number of inquires of the woman, allof which | were answered promptly and accurately. Then, when left alone in ber room, she put pen to paper: **My Dearest BrayTon:— ** Af-er you left me last night my uncle called me into his library, where there were two strangers, He introduced them as Doctors Bell and Thompson. I had no suspicion what al! this signified, but soon learned that it was a pretended medical examina- tion of my mental sonndness. ‘- It lasted but a few minutes, when I was dragged into a closed carriage, the two strangers accom- anying me. I was held between them and the 10rses were lashed into a full run. “The memory of that awful ride makes me shudder. My senses were stupefied by some power- ful drug; but I know the ride was a long one. ‘*T was carried into this dreadful place, where I found the sun was shining, when my senses came | back to me. ‘* You know why my uncle sent me here; it was to separate us. e is determined I shall never be your wife, | *IT have made inquiries of the matron, Mrs. | Julliard, vho informs me that this is ei li asy- lum, of which her busband, Doctor Bristow Jul- liard, is the superintendent. It is known as Jul- liard’s Asylum for the Insane, having no other dis- | tinctive name, so far as I can learn. “This morning when I awoke I found a room- mate with me. She wasa pleasin r-mannered lady and for a time I believed that her mind was as sound as my own. * But, without any warning, she became very vio- lent, declared herself to be the Queen of the Canni- bal Islands, and, fearing I had come to dethrone her, drew a dagger and attempted to kill me, I kept her at bay a few minutes by persuasions, but they looked up. with a meaning smile, ‘‘ there’s nothing more tbe matter with ber than there is with you or me.” *That’s what 1 thought; but let’s see her letter.” The missive was harded to the superinten- dent, who proceeded very deliberately to break the seal. Spreading out the sheet, he read every word to his wife, both laughing with enjoyment over tbe sacred utterances of one loving heart to another. When all the entertainment posssible bad been extracted, Dr. Bristow Julliard burned it up. Which is not only the custom of himself, but of the majority of those who have charge of the asylums fortheinsane. | “She bas considerable ability,” remarked Dr. Julliard, with a grin. ‘I hops she wil! con- tinue to write such letters, for she must enjoy i ee ene ee ee ee E. =- 13 CHAPTER XXVIII, A REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE, Erne, LANGDON was possessed of a keen In- tellect, whieh was sharpened by the frightful trial to which she bad been subjected, Before the letter was written the nausea re- suiting from the drug had passed off, and she was herself again. Mrs, Julliard had not been gone long from her room, when the lady, having eaten something, fell to thinking seriously of her deplorable situ- ation. Until that time she had felt convinced that her stay in the asylum would be brief. She was sure that as soon as Brayton learned where she was he would hasten to her rescue, and nothing could keep them apart. ‘*Tf he doesn’t know by this time, he will as soon as he receives my letter—that its, tf it reaches him !” It seemed to her as if the latter words fell from her lips without any volition of her own. She started up as though she had heard the ‘hiss of a rattlesoake at ber elbow. “Jf the letter reachvs him,” she repeated; “why was 1 so foolish as to inagine they would send it? They will never allow it to leave this | place. ‘*But Brayton will find me all the same,” she added, ber glowing face attesting her faith in her noble lover. Suortly after the matron returned to remove the tray and dishes, Ethel having written her letter before eating anything. When the woman entered theroom she looked ' so sharply about that Ethel kuew she had al- ready missed the key from the large number at her girdle. Our heroine hoped she would ask no questions She thanked the matron and said nothing was would admit her into the hall, and possibly would take her further. As silently as a shadow, she drew the door inward and stepped into the passage way. An oil lamp was burning dimly upon a stand at the further end of the ball, but i's light did little more than make the darkness visible. With the same silence the maiden stole along, the ball and descended to the second s‘ory. “*Can it be there is no one watching?” she asked herself, astonisked that she was not inter- fered with, On the first floor, she made her way without difficulty to the massive front door. ‘If the key isin the door I bave hope,” she thought, as she advanced on tiptoe toward it, Alas! the key was missing! _ | In an institution of that character, the dan- ger of forcing the doors is from within of from without. Ethel Langdon was in despair, ‘ a relief when Mrs, Julliard, the matron, as ! doing so, and I’m sure we enjoy reading them,” : ; ’ ‘ G oye) SS