Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 262 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

— a ~—— — os into which Harvey’s blow had thrown him, showing that the Slugger’s work had not been done so effectively or neatly as that of the un- known person, whoever he was and wherever he might be. : ‘‘What’s the matter, Limber, and why in blazes didn’t ye lay out that feller?’ asked the rough as his friend groaned. ‘* Lay out Old Scratch,” muttered Limber Joe, ‘‘T feel as if I'd be’n through a rollin’-mill, all squeezed flat.” ** Didn’t ye see him?’ “See Old Nick!, I tell ye I’ve jest woked ‘* Well, I laid out the man that laid, out you, and he’s gone,” said Slugger. .‘* What was that you fell over when be slugged ou?” ‘‘T d’no,” responded Limber Joe, slowly rising. ‘‘It felt likea darned coal-scuttle, and my shins are all cut to blazes. My head’s goin’ round like a mill, Slugger.” ‘* Ketch a-bolder me and come on,” was the reply, and the two men set off for Murderer’s Row, where the buzz of voices still told of, the great excitement that reigned among its in- mates, Presently, as they went along, they heard the mysterious rip far away to the right, and Ike said to his friend: ‘*Here, hurry up and get home. I’m goin’ to find what’s the matter here to-night. Darned if TI don’t, somehow,” So saying, he stole away alone in the direc- tion from which. the sounds bad come and was soon lost to sight, while Limber Joe stumbled on his own homeward way phic “T’ve had enough, I ain’t no hog, I ain’t.” Slugger took his way onward, and just as he thought he had reached the place whence the raps had proceeded, he heard them again, this time in the opposite direction. The rough was a man of nerve, but even he began to shake a little, as much from utter bewilderment as from fear. ‘* Where in blazes is it?’ he cried aloud, and with that he thought he heard a laugh near him, that sounded unearthly and hollow, though it came from above bis head, ‘* Who are you?” cried the rouzh facing round toward the sound, and Jaying his hand on his pistol at once. There was no answer, and a dead silence reigned around him. His way had brought him to the sunken and swampy lots that lie away to the northwest of the Central Park, that are going to become rows of palaces, some day, and that in the mean time resemble pits, surrounded by em- bankments which are streets, and divided in the middle by rows of tall brick or tile cylinders that look like chimneys, and are really sewer pipes to the level of where the street will be some day. A desolate scene, and the tall sewer pipes gave a ghostly look to it, that dark night; just as the distant mutter of thunder showed that a storm was coming on, Slugger Ike shuddered slightly, and it took a good deal of resolution for him to stand sfill and listen to those ghostly raps, allalone. He “managed to do it, however, for a space of near- ly ten minutes during which he had the pleasure of bearing the mysterious raps no less than five times, each one in a different place, as if the ghostly rapper were in the habit of taking a walk to amuse himself, like an idle boy. But listen as be would, he would gain no clew to the nature of the noise, and after a fruitless watch of an hour, during which he heard the raps coming all round him, he began to realize from the silence elsewhere that the denizens of Murderer’s Row had given up the chase in despair, and gone home to their houses. Then Slugger began to bethiok himself that be was all alone, and a thrill of feeling very like superstition crept over bim. oftly he stole away toward Murderer’s Row, and bad gone about half the distance when: “Rap! rap! rap!” a te The sounds came again from the very place he had just left, and almost immediately after he saw three men coming stealthily to meet him, half crouching. ! ee “There's the snoozer! Sock it to him!” cried the voice of Buck Jarvis, and in & moment Slugger ike a4 fighting for his life and yelling as he fought; : pS ‘“‘ Hold on, ye darned galoots! Don’t ye know me? I'm Slugger Ike... Darn ye, take that,” | And 80 saying the Slugger knocked down Mr, ' Cronk, and was floored in his, turn by Buck Jarvis and Nelson, who rodent they had found Harvey for certain, the Slugger being about the same hight as the stranger. It was not till they strack a match and found the face of their old friend that they could be convinced of their mistake, and then they had to make it up as best they could by taking Ike home and ‘ setting up” unlimited whisky for the whole of Murderer’s Row, while they dis- cussed the myster , offered his own explanation of the affair, end- ing in acknowledging that only daylight could clear it i ’ Buck Jarvis and his friends departed for Brooklyn with the early dawn, and took the of the night and every man |. Fighting ‘Tom. opposite way to that by which they had come, by which means they were spared the mortifi- cation of finding that not one of the policemen had been killed outright. CHAPTER XV. THE QUEER COP. In the mean time what bad become of our friend Harvey, and how had Kate O’Donnell and himself got away from that dangerous place witbout the notice of the roughs? As for Harvey, when he felt the first stinging blow of the *“ neddy ” on the head in the dark, he knew it was all up with him as far as con- concerned his chances for that particular fight, and he dropped instinctively, the second blow missing halt its force as he fell, He pretended to be insensible, and in point of fact was very nearly so, though he heard Ike mutter as he bent over him; ‘Cooked your goose, I reckon.” Had he moved at that moment Ike would bave made things sure, but as he lay still he had the satisfaction, in his half-dazed state, of hearing the burglar go off, and he lay like one in a dream for several minutes. He was roused from this state by a_ soft, prowling step near him, and saw a dark figure approaching, at which his senses came back to itm, and he lay still again, having the slung- shot still in his hand. In that vicinity he knew every one must be a foe, and bis only chance of escaping death lay in making his way out before light. The prowling figure advanced, and to his in- expressible surprise, as it passed over him, the olitter of brass buttons showed that the man wore a police uniform. Dark, as it was, he could make out the two rows of buttons and the club in the man’s hand, so that he spoke out softly: ** Help, for God’s sake! The moment he spoke the policeman made a spring toward him with the club and aimed a vicious blow at his head, without saying a word, Harvey instinctively raised bis arm and fell back, when he lay still again, and the blow only failed to break his arm by his sme He expected another blow, but to bis surprise and joy none came, and the policeman, in a queer, chuckling way, muttered: ‘*Ho! ho! Ho! ho! Anotber gone! Another to pay for what I got!” Bayer, not knowing what to make of it all, saw him go prowling round again, and present- ly Limber Joe, who was coming to, gave a groan and stirred. ‘ Instantly the mysterious policeman sprung toward the man, clutched him by the collar, pulled him half up and dealt him another blow on tbe head, ie ete ** Will ye be still? ill ye?” Under this treatment Limber Joe lay as still as a mouse, being completely stunned once more, and the policeman chuckled again, say- ing, audibly: ; ‘Ho! bo! Ho! ho! Another to pay for what gov! Harvey, bruised and battered as he was, could see all this, and could not help an idea that this policeman must be drunk or crazy. He saw the man go prowling roun? again, and resently came to the tin box, which still lay as Limber Joe’s body, Harvey saw him pick it up, feel it all over, and then heard bim chuckle again: “Ho! ho! Ho! ho! Reward; reward! Let ’em hunt! Tet’em hunt! Good for me!” Then he took the box by the handle and stole away in the dark as noiselessly as he had come, while Harvey, convinced that his only safety lay in getting out of that place as fast as possi- ble,.crawled away toa little distance and was about to rise when he heard the beginning of the short battle between the four policemen and the gang from Murderer’s Row, ending in chas- ing the poor fellows to the rock shanties of the O’Gradys. , Harvey lay still, till they bad passed, and then instinctively ran back to the house from which he had come, with a vague idea of asking be fog shelter from one of the neigh- bors, or hiding himself away im a cellar till rete seaxwerad.pns for be pad Mia gEE got . He staggered. on, for he bad hardly yet go back reget en he was startled by bob faint groan of aman close by him, and came on one of the policemen who had teen shot down and left for dead in the first fight, and who now called out: — : , aa ‘‘ Help, for God’s sake! help! Water!” , ev went to him and found him lying close to Nina Somers’s house. “€ — He was a young man, stout and well-built, and had been shot through the breast, so that @ Was as weak as arat, while his head had been brutally battered, so that he had been left for dead. Harvey stooped down and tried to lift him, saying ashe didso: Lon If you can’ walk, I can get you into this’ house to lie down.” . “TPl—PIl try,” said the poor fellow faintly, and with that Harvey lifted him up and made with them. ~They’ve not got canes t a § Teiien 48 deat with il shift to support bim into the house, the base- ment door of which stood wide open as it had been left by the burglars when they first darted out after the policemen. Harvey helped in the poor man, who man- aged to say as he sunk on a sofa: ‘‘Shut—sbut. all the doors and windows. They'll come back. Give—give’em a fight for it, y Pe AB it.” His pistol had been emptied in the fight, but he had clung to it in the darkness. Harvey took the weapon and did as the wounded man advised, when as he passed the cellar door he heard the voice of Kate whisper: “Oh, for the love o’ God, whoever ye are, lét a poor girl out! arvey recognized the voice and hastily wh- did the door, when Kate O’Donnell cime out, and on discovering who was her deliverer, gave vent to sundry ejaculations of praise, A little questioning elicited from her the way in which she had been captured, and she did her best to assist him in barring up the house and disabling the ladder. Then came the problem of how to escape, for they knew it could not be long before the men of Murderer’s Row would be back; and force their way into the house, when the wounded Cer ad if no one else, was certain''to be lled by the infuriated roughs. 1 ylned It was Kate’s wit that got them out of the dilemma, and it was very simply arranged, ' Every one dwelling in that forlorn row was poor and respectable, and Kate knew the next door, who agreed to take the fugitives in and hide them. 1. 290 The wounded policeman was first disposed’ of, then Kate followed, and finally Harvey ed und barred the house inside, made his own’ es- cape through the scuttle, and was quietly en- sconced in the next house, while the roughs of Murderer’s Row were ransacking Nina’s effects next door. Lit Jo wennd The gs ey of the house were very nervous about it, but experienced great “relief when Murderer’s Row finally s: ttled down to its usual nightly spree, and about an hour before the dawn Harvey stole out, found everything quiet, and managed to make his way to the police station, where he reported what had happened to the sergeant in charge. This s rgeant happened to be a sharp and energetic man, a great contrast to his sle captain, but as soon as he heard the story of a wounded policeman he said: rl “That’s none from our precinet, We don’t risk our men there at night.” reo) ‘*One of your men was there,” declared Har- vey; ‘for we beard him rapping in all diréec- tions all night long, and I saw him.” 1 19 ‘What sort of a looking man was he?” the sergeant asked, and Harvey gavé him @ short account of the way in which the unknown policeman had clubbed him and carried off the tin-box of papers belonging to Nina Somers. | ‘* It's of the deer importance we should get those papers back,” pursued Harvey. “The man had no right to carry them off— **Hold on,” interrupted the sergeant, * Yes he had, if he was on duty. He has probably taken them to bis captain for examination. You know that oe is partly in our precinct. and partly in Captain Samuels’s jurisdiction. Samuels is a new man and ambitious. It must bave been bis men that got into that muss last night. He'll jikely call on us to make a raid there to-night. I don’t quite understand it all. You'd better go to him if you want to get back your box. © ‘Bnavey was pretty well bruised up from his experiénce of the night before, but he could think of nothing but the box of which hehad been so mysteriously deprived. nak He took a car to Captain Satuels’s station, and found a young, stern-looking man. iti au- thority there, to whom he told his story ‘again, with a different result. some es _Captain Samuels questioned bim closely and then took him to an inner room; where lay three men, oné of them battered and: bruit almost beyond recognition, the others onside ; nid 7X5 wag ft ae al So sensible, . ‘Do you recognize any of them’ as the’'man who assaulted you?” he askedyv 0 ‘Harvey looked narrowly at ‘them ‘and’ shook his head doubtfully,? © - No,” he said. © “It wasrather’a small tan, and he wore a full beard. He walled 80 softly that I Jooked at his feet'and ‘found he was . footed.” | arity Captain Samuels sneered slightly. “] thought so, He wasn’t one of ‘LOW y men. ‘Tt must have been one of their tricks, down in Murderer’s Row, to entice my men in there a) shat bank thedt But Pll be owen sa this time. They've: taken four of my best men, and they’)! pay for it hefore long, or my name’s not Symuels.” ; ZO: REP USES * And uo one brought the box ‘here?’ asked Harvey doubtfully, ‘No, You'll never see that again, nnless you advertise a reward. It’s my fic ssi0n your man, Buck Jarvis, has it. evan that ’s a Wary old coon, and the force have been looking for evidence against him any time this three years, books com (C| OCO)O)], (ECO)