Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 257 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

= --s 20 ~ 4 Death-Trap Diggings. Red Light and passed through the streets of Death-Trap Diggings, pausing finally near the upper end of town, before a plain, strongly- built frame structure, the front of which was fairly covered with brilliant lettering, from | which one could see that it belonged to or was occupied by the firm of Carey & Jeffreys, Brokers and General Agents, with Money to Loan, ete. With a key which he drew from his pocket, ' Colonel Carey unlocked the strong door, and entered the building with his partner, the men bearing the form of Muscovado Jack waiting without until a light was struck and they were bidden bring the fellow in. At a sign they deposited their burden in a chair near the round table, then doffed their hats as they awaited the further orders of their employer. ‘*'We can manage the poor devil now,” said Carey, taking a couple of gold coins from his ocket and handing them to the man nearest im. ‘‘Take a drink to our bealth, and his speedy recovery, my good fellows.” ‘*Ef we don’t git blind drunk over it, the devil’s a hog!” enthusiastically exclaimed the miner, bowing and scraping as he secured the donation. ‘‘Tain’t wishin’ the boys any bad luck, boss, but durned ef I woalte’ like to strike anotber sech jobevery day in the week!” ‘* That’s all right. Whenever a man works for us he gets his pay <r eo , and enough to keep him from gru'nbling. Get drunk if you like, but sober up in time for regular duty,” said Carey, following them to the door and closing it after them, turning the key and put- ting up an iron bar. ** W hat does it all mean, anybow?” demanded Jeffreys, curiously, as he gazed down on the mutilated man. ‘* What is this cock-and-bul! yarn abouta lot of road-agents, rigged up in ghost-fashion, stopping the stuge—” ‘If you heard that, you know full as much as I do,” the colonel said, shortly. ‘‘ Get some whisky. The shortest way to reach the real facts, is to restore Muscovado, and hear his repor®, Hurry!” A hasty inspection showed the colonel that Museovado Jack had received no dangerous injuries, his faintness being principally caused from loss of blood from bis severed ears and the deep gashes which marked his forehead, Strong _ liquor was poured down his throat, speedily producing the wished-for effect, and the wretched fellow recovered sufficiently to sit erect while his hurts were being dressed. Not until this was done, did Carey question him as to what had oceurred. By that time Muscovado Jack had recovered strength suffi- cient to tell a connected story, and explain how he came in such a lamentable state. There is no necessity for reproducing the tale of the ‘holding up” of thecoach. Enough that the driver told the simple truth of the affair, eoncealing nothing; that he gave a close descrip- ton of the appearance of the ghostly-lookin %and, and faithfully repeated the oath whic the Specter Chief bad taken to be avenged upon the authors of the Death-Trap Diggings mas- re. fie told how he managed, despite his almost helpless situation, to keep the frightened horses in the road, making quick time to Death-Trap Diggings, their shouts‘and cries for help attract- ing attention, leading to their being released from their bonds immediately after the coach ulled up in front of the Red Light. Then, hinking of nothing but the message which the White Chief had commanded him to deliver to Colonel Claude Carey, he bad entered the saloon, to fall fainting at the very feet of the man he sought. As he ended his recital, Carey and Jeffreys interchanged glances, their faces pale, their eyes filled with anxiety. The colonel was the first to speak, his voice harsh and unnatural: *Tt is some infernal trick to extort money; but the audacious scoundrels will gain more lead than gold, from me, if they try to carry their blackmailing scheme any further. ‘‘ Come, Jack; take one more sip of the dew, then you’d best lie down fora bit, and try to et back some of the blood you have lost There's a lounge in the other room, which you ean occupy for the night.” ‘*] do feel powerful weak and fainty-like,” muttered the mutilated fellow, with a shudder that shook his stout frame from top to toe, as he glanced apprehensively over his _ shoulder. ‘’Tain’t so much the hurt, nur yit the loss o’ blood, as it was the onearthly looks o’ them crit- ters; an’ the smell o’ my ears as they bobbed up an’ down on my breast all the way to town, epi me sicker’n a dog; ’n’ I hain’t got over it t! *“You shall have a bloody revenge on the cowards for this outrage, Jack, never you fear. They are earthly enough, be sure of that, to feel he lead or steel; and by the stars above! feel one or both they shall, before I’m a week older!” ated the colonel, as he aided Muscovado Jack into the little chamber which was separated from the office by a light partition of ship-joint boarding. Returning from this, he closed the door of communication between the two rooms, and dropped into a chair opposite his partner, who pushed a glass and bottle toward him, saying: ‘Take a wet, old fellow; then tell me what ' this infernally mixed up affair amounts to, any- way?” Colonel Carey filled his glass to the brim, then drank the strong liquor at a gulp, brin zing his fist down on the table with a force that caused the bottle to dance a jig. ‘**It is some infernal trick—a cunning attempt to gain bush-money! But Dll see them essen- tially cursed before I bleed one red cent! Let ’em look out, if they try to crowd me !” ‘‘Of course it.is a clumsy trick,” assented Jeffreys, closely eying his partner, for the first time thinking he had been indulging a little too freely in drink. ‘‘ But who is at the bottom of it, and why did they pitch onto us?’ The colonel stared into his face for a brief oS then a hard, metallic laugh broke from is lips. CaN mistake, of course. We had nothing to do with the Death-Trap massacre; how could we, when at the time it probably occurred, we were miles and miles away?’ Jeffreys leaned across the table and stared full into the eyes of his partner, his own glitter- ing with a stern fire that told of powerful emo- tions held in check. ‘* Look here, old man; what the foul fiend has got into you to-night, anyhow? Your words are all right, but there’s enough in your tones to twist the rope around our throats, if they could be caught by an outsider. Curse it, man! you’ve been on a drunk since ve been away!” ‘‘T’ve kept sober as a deacon, ever since,” more composedly replied Carey. ‘‘ It’s not the drink that has stirred me up, but this wonder- ful tale told by Muscovado Jack.” ** As you said, of course it is all a trick—” ** Words easily spoken, my dear fellow,” with a hard, bitter sneer that rendered the face of the handsome colonel anything but pleasant to contemplate. ‘‘If they were only as readily believed, I'd be happier.” ‘* What! you don’t think—” Tt isn’t what I or you think, but what some other person knows, that troubles me,” inter- posed the colonel, taking a crumpled paper from his breast pocket, and smoothing it out before passing it across the table to bis partner. ‘¢‘ Just cast your eyes over that precious docu- ment, will you?” Kagerly enough Jeffreys took the paper, and a grating curse parted his lips as he caught the first word. ‘‘Your old name! How did they get hold of that?” ‘Read on, and we'll see if you arrive at the same conclusion that occurred to me,” quietly uttered Colonel Carey. With breathless haste, Jeffreys obeyed, watched closely by the gleaming eyes of his partner. *“OLAY BENEDICT:— ‘*‘ For three years, almost to a day, you have pros- ered in everything your brain devised, or your nds undertook to carry out. You mercilessly turned against your sworn friends and partners, and aided by tools that were only less evil than yourself, foully assassinated them, one and all, as they slept. You escaped with the blood-stained gold their energy and perseverance had wrested from the earth. You waited unti) you thought your crimson eee were securely hidden, then you returned to the scene of your soul-sickening crime, using your stolen wealth to further increase your store, “But all this time, the mills of the gods were grinding, and now the day of retribution is at hand. You are doomed. Your comrades insin are marked one and all, and on their heads also will the bolt of vengeance fall with geome force. ‘The scattered and wolf-gnawed bones of your innocent victims have been called together by the voice of vengeance, and from this hour on, you and yours are haunted men. ‘* Your dearest hopes shall turn to bitterest ashes on your lips. Your cherished plans all miscarry,. Your boasted wealth shall take to itself wings, and when your last breath is drawn, it shall be that ofa beggar, unhonored, unwept, and whose very mem- ory shall be cursed by allhonestmen. — ‘You may seek safety in flight, but it will not avail you. ‘Though you may never recognize them, until the hour for dealing the blow for vengeance arrives, your every step will be dogged. your every word recorded, your every action noted by the Avengers. The instant you attempt to flee from Death-Trap Diggings, that instant will sound your doom. © i “Tre SpecTERS oF DeatH-TrRAP DIGGINGS. As this strange missive dropped from the fingers of his partner on the table, Colonel Carey —to give him the name by which he was best known to the inhabitants of Death-Trap Dig- gings—removed the chimney from the oil-lamp and igniting one corner of the paper, held it in his hand until the devouring flame burned bis fingers, watching the fragment until the last spark vanished from the ashes, then blowing the powder to nothing with his breath. ‘That shall never rise up against us as evl- dence,” he said, with a short, hard laugh. “I only preserved it for your inspection, What do you think of it?” ‘“That’s the note Muscovado spoke of?” Colonel Carey nodded, biting the end off of a cigar. ’ ‘The identical one. What do you think of it?” } ‘Tt looks monstrous ugly—as though some of the boys bad sold us out to parties bound to make a stake!” ‘It does bave something of that complexion, and yet—Jeff, do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe the dead can come to hfe, and re- curn to haunt those who may have had a finger _in their untimely cutting off?” ‘‘No more than you do,” was the short re- sponse. ‘*Good enough! Once dead, a corpse farever! But all the same, this has an ugly smell, though I hardly agree with you, when you lay it at the door of any of the old gang.” ‘But who else could write those words, or rather, who but one of them could give the in- formation on which they are based? Surely neither you nor I?” persisted Jeffreys. ** You forget that her body was never found,” slowly uttered the colonel, the words seeming to issue with difficulty. “Do you think it is her work?” ‘‘ Kitber hers or his!” ** Whom do you mean, now? Blast it, man, come out flatfooted and tell me just what you are trying to get at!” impatiently cried Jef- freys, bringing bis clinched fist down on the table with fel ses ‘Though my name was not mentioned in that precious document, I am about as deep in the mud as you are in the mire, and have a right to see whateverclew you have obtained,” ‘*T mean the fellow who called himself Budd Painter,” | ‘He was drowned, with the rest of the out- ‘‘Then the dead do come back to life, for I met him no longer ago than this very evening!” positively retorted the colonel. ‘‘ He was in the Red Light when you entered—is there now, for aught I can tell.” Jeffreys stared at the speaker for a brief space, as though doubting his perfect preset but he saw that bis partner in evil was speak- ing, in sober earnest, 3 : as recognized him? Yet you did not kill im **T would bave laid him out, cold enough, only for the interference of Madam Crimson, She knocked up my six, just as I pulled trigger with a dead bead between his eyes,” ‘*Who and what is she? A new arrival, ~ take it?” , “*She came here after you started East—yes, As to who she is, or what she is, if you can give the information, you can sell it for its weight in dust. The whole camp bas gone wild with curiosity over her. a—what now?’ ex- claimed Colonel Carey, as his partner gave a sudden start, ee Can it be that she— Bah! that is impossi- e! i Colonel Carey showed his white teeth in an unpleasant smile as he met the wide open eyes of the other, ~ ‘* You think so? I don’t. I’ve had my sus- picions from the very first, though unable, as yet, to confirm them or prove them false, To- morrow will] tell the tale, so far as Madam Crimson is concerned, Just now, this infernal Hard Man from ’Way Back interests me the most deeply.” ‘‘ If he is Budd Painter, he must be wi out, or we’re gone! He’sa demon on wheels, when he has a grudge to pay off!” CHAPTER V. FLOUNDERING THROUGH THE MIST, COLONEL CLAUDE CAREY poured out another glass of whisky and sat slowly sipping it, his eyes staring moodily at vacancy, while his com- rade uttered this forcible comment. Jeffreys waited for a few minutes, but as his partner still remained silent, he broke forth im- patiently: ‘* Blast it, man! unlock your jaws and say something! What are you going todo about it? What is the first move to make? Or are you going to sit there like a bump on a Jog until the cunning devils bow] us over for good and all 4 a an evident effort the colonel roused him- se ‘‘’ve been, thinking,” he said, slowly. ‘We've got time enough for acting, if we are only careful not to make any false moves in opening the game. I’m afraid I made one this very night. Listen, and then tell me frankly what you think.” With an accuracy of detail that proved how important he deemed the case, and bow deeply it had impressed itself on his memory, Colonel Carey told his: partner all that took place at the Red Light after the man who called himself Budd Painter put in an appearance. ‘* What do you think of it? What of him ?” he asked in conclusion, a curious light filling his dark eyes, ‘*That it is a nasty affair all’round, and one I wish we were well out of! As for that infer- nal rascal, what can IJ think, but I’m sorry you didn’t do for him on the jump, before that woman could interfere. It must come to that in the end, and the sooner he is put out of the way, the Jess chance he will have of spreading the news.” 900 com cS iG a A