Beadle's Dime Library No. 263 — page 19: what you’re looking at

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

ee a ee -e —— shoulder into play and, by a strong effort, he hurl d it open. A good deal of rubbish had been piled against it, but as be pushed all aside he saw what star.led him, A bright light illuminated the passageway, and the air was full of smoke, all of which he would have known sooner had it not been for the rubbish which clogged his door. It flashed upon him that the thieves among whom he had fallen had planned to burn him alive, but before he could make a further move ot ata pounding sounded at a door near at and, Believing it was Leora he ran to the spot, and finding it secured by a wooden bar, he cast it. off and the door few open. A human being darted through, and Rube stood amazed; it was none other than The Wild —Griff’s mad protegge. Onemcoment the doctor saw her, ber looks wilder tian ever, and then she sped past like an arrow, and disappeared before he could lay hands on her. She left behind, however, a room which was full of fire and smoke, and he comprehended two things. It was she who had made the strange sweeping sounds, and she who had start- ed the fire, Recovering his wits, he ran after her. She bad gone up still another flight of stairs, but when he followed he found himself on the roof, and The Wild was nowhere visible. He paused to make sure that this was a fact, and then re- traced bis steps. The fire bad made alarming progress. The material of the house seemed very dry and tin- der like, and the flames had seized upon almost every part of the bouse. Remembering Miss Templeton, he called her name, and a faint voice seemed toanswer. He looked in vain for a door; the smoke blinded him and he groped in vain. He shouted aguin, however, and then some one appeared in the pall of smoke, An instant before, Doctor Rube had been al- most mad with horror. Ail the old fascination Leora Templeton had held over him returned and increased tenfold. Tne flame which touched her fair form wou'ld rend his own eart, He was still raging when he saw her through the smoke. He uttered a shout of joy. She stretcbed out her arms, gasped, staggered, apd would have fallen had be not caught her, Then she lay in his arms pale and motionless, and with a wild impulse he pressed repeated kisses on her lips. “y y darling—oh, my darling!” he cried, “speak to me; i» merey’s name, speak! You are suffocating—dying—’ He aroused just in time, and with the smoke hanging thicker than ever above them, caught her iv bis arms and started for the staifs, He never really realized how he escaped from the house; beyond a vague, wild fancy of bat- tling with smoke and flames for hours, of get- ting heavy falls, and encountering countless obstacles he had no idea of the terrible »ffair; but escape he did, and at last he was under the open sky with the pure air about bim, with Leora in bis arms and neither of them severely touched by the flames, Afterward, he regarded the latter fact but little short of a miracle. But had the girl as successfully escaped suffo- cation? He was anxiously asking himself the uestion, wher he saw Jake and his men burry- g toward them. CHAPTER XXIV. THE DOCTOR AT BAY. THERE was something angry and ominous about the manner of the men which caused the doctor to pause in the midst of his investiva- tions, and make sure his weapons were in place, He arose, too, When one of the men cried: eae ther durned critter is; we've got Doctor Rube looked at the man, and recog- nized the survivor of the fight by the grave; but Jake then claimed his attention, ‘I say, you, what d’ye mean by that?” He spoke angrily, and pointed to the house, which was then all in flames. ‘“What do you mean?” Rube calmly asked. He foresaw trouble, with the odds against him; but he did not intend to makea bad matter worse by losing bis self-possession, “Why did you sot fire ter my house?” “T did not set fire to it. On the contrary, I ‘had nothing to do with it, and was nearly burned alive myself,” ‘ ‘‘ Now, don’t ye say that,” cautioned his old acquaintance, ‘'ZJsaw yedo it; I saw ye apply the match. You burnt up Jake’s house; vou did. And that ain’t ther wu’st, you killed Ben Bolter.” ; “So I did, and I’m only sorry you wasn’t in the same lot. If you had stayed I’d been happy to have seen you next,” nsiderable empty talk followed, in which Jake and his men prstended to be honest fel- lows, who had stumbled on a great rascal in the shape of Doctor Rube; and then they announced ‘j o < 4 , | Tron-Armed Ab é > | . , a - ys - os eo” - ~ cACs: Sel —-* = ot " . : — ont > , = % ) -% * i > a , / di ing fie) hs a ets Ie Ae MG Rta Fk UP eT their intention of hanging him to the barn as a warning to other evil doers,” All this was a mere farce, which Doctor Rube would have cut sbort by a few sarcastic words had be been alone: but Miss Templeton lay at his feet, and he felt that delay was precious; it might bring honest men to the spot. But it ran its length at last, and Jake briskly directed his men to advance, and seize their marked victim. “Stand back!” warned Doctor Rube, death to the man who tries to take me. back!” He held a cocked revolver in each hand, and faced them without wavering. ‘*Drop ther barkers!” growled Jake, anzrily. *T repeat that I'll shoot the man who tries to touch me. Stand back!” Jake ran bis band into his pocket. “Two kin play at that game, I—” ** Hold!” commanded Doctor Rube. ‘Try to draw that revolver, and Til shoot you as I would a wolf. I say the same to all of you. My weapons need but the touch of a fluger to speed death among you; yours are in your pockets, I bold the drop; let me alone, or die!” It was a thrilling picture to see the single man facing the five stout ruffians so bravely. Each one of them was a hard fighter; but Doctor Rube would not have been cooler had they been school-boys. Yet, he knew his life bung as by a thread, and his chances of living through the troubls were few and small, He had no more time to Jook at Leora; but he kept near her side, and resolved to die there before one of the ruffians should place his un- hallowed hands upon her, There was a pause on the part of the ruffians., Five to one they were, but there was @ general impression that the man who moved first would never move afterward. No one was greedy for this bonor, It isa well-known fact thatthe bearing of one brave man can waver, or quell, a mob; and one balf the courage seemed to go out of those valiant five. Once more Jake opened his mouth and gave his opinions, but though he talked bravely he lacked the confidence before observed. Doctor Rube did not let bis attention wander for a moment, and he soon had cause to believe this talk but a blind, He saw one of the ruffians working bis hand into his pocket and out again; but though he ruspected what it meant, he did not try to stop it. He was among desperate men, and intended to deal with them accordingly. The house was entirely wrapped in the grasp of the flames, and a plain light fell over the groupin front of it—so plain that Doctor Rube cangbt a glitter when his would-be crafty neighbor pulled out a revolver. It had glittered but once when one of the doc- tor’s revolvers spoke, and then it went toppling to the ground. Its. late bolder had a shuttered arm for his reward, ‘*Take warning!” said Doctor Rube; ‘‘ when I fire next it will be to kill!” He would have saved them, but they would not have it so, Maddened by the blood they saw on the broken arm, they sprung forward like hungry wolves, and with cries in keeping: ‘Down with bim!” ‘** Kill the critter!” Doctor Rube did not waver. He had time to give them a shot from each revolver, and he fired to kill, before ay $ touched him. Then he was beaten down by their weight, and a des- perate struggle began, It was almost as confused as his fight with the flames. He found what seemed to bea mul- titude of enemies to. confront, but striking out resolutely, did bis best to bold his own. In the midst of it his enemies suddenly reced- ed. He gathered his strength, sprung to bis feet and looked eagerly around, Other men had arrived on the scene, and he saw his late assailants struggling in their hands. Honest men had arrived, and be was saved, But he thought only of Leora. He turned toward her, and was surprised, but pleased, to see another man belping her to her feet. She had recovered consciousness and did not look to be greatly injured. Their eyes met, Rube’s eager expression faded and then he turned away. He went near her no more while they remained on the place. What followed may be briefly told. The house was doomed, and no attempt was made to save it. Besides, it was the property of a man long suspected of being a villain, and they would not have risked much for him. The new-comers, who were men of Haver- straw—the village was but two miles away, after all—beld a consultation, and then gave Jake and bis men six bours to get out of the neighborhood. After that the honest_men re- turned to Haverstraw, taking Doctor Rube and Leora with them. ‘Tt is Stand way to the town. but when its houses were reached she called him to her side, @, the Hunchback Destroyer. Ee > Mba kk LSS A ASS SE RR Re. Se Le ee es EE: - e re e e pe . S ee SC 19 —E ee MT ee — i = ——_- — ED SD *“Towe you another debt of gratitude,” sho said. “I do not know what fate makes it so, I ought to hate you, for you are trying to rob me of my just inheritance, but you put debt after debt of gratitude upon me. hat you have done for me tonight I will not try to enumerate, but, believe me, 1 am duly aware and grateful for all.” ‘Pardon me,” he courteously replied, ** but I do not wish you to feel that I bave placed you under any debt, You would not have had any trouble to-night bad you not chanced upon the men who were my foes, not yours. have barely done my duty and deserve no thanks. To be truthful, [had rather not b- thanked, for you make me regret what l have done to de- prive you of your fortune. Right or wrong, I am sorry Lever lifted my hand in the matter. I wish I bad never seen you!” Beginning well, his feelings overmastered him at the end and he spoke with a fretful moodiness. Leora looked at bim raph ‘*No doubt you have been sincere in the mat- ter,” she said, “‘but you have been ee a) 4 am the true Leora Templeton. You bave done injustice to both myself and Mr. St. Jerome.” Doctor Rube’s face had expressed doubt and uneasiness, but at the last words the expression fled. Jealousy took the place of doubt. ‘ “You have overdone the matter now, mad- am,” he said, brusquely. ‘* You possess the fasci- nati n to blind people to vour own defects, but vou cannot clear the record of St. Jerome. the better for the country.” ‘He is a gentleman,” she declared. ‘Then, deliver me from being one.” “There is no danger for you, sir.” _ “I bow to my fate; no doubt you are ipfulli- e. “Tam at least just.” ‘‘A matter which the court will decide when the case of Alton vs. Templeton is called.” **Doctor Leyden,” she answered, learing to- ward him and lowering her voice, “I would willingly take my chances again in all the peril I have escaped to-night if I could wipe out the debt IT owe you. For—I hate you!” She spoke the last words vehemently, and at ge man who was waiting to show her to the ho- tel, As for Doctor Rube, he went toa cabin and slept on the rudest of beds rather than go where he would be likely to meet ber again. “‘T wish to meet her just once more,” te thought, wrathfully, “‘and that at the trial. When the verdict is np in 1 donot think s) & will be so scornful, I shall live to see you quite humble, my lady--and yet, I would give every dollar I possess if I could withdraw my charge!” Inconsistent buman nature! The following day the doctor tock tre train back to San Francisco. No one had come to the Cervantes Hotel to meet him and there could be no doubt but that it was a trap set by Ben Bol- ter—and his last on earth. As for The Wild, she bad not been seen since Doctor Rube liberated her from the prison-roony and it was believed she had perished in the fire. He went back to the city in a miserable mood and went at once to J. Q, A. Smith’s office. He found Griff with the lawyer and the latter in high spirits, ‘“*T believe,” be said, “that we ore at Jast im a fair way to find your City of the Desert. Mr. Griff is an old Arizona pioneer, as 1 eecidentally learned from bim to-day ; and be believes he baw seen your blooming valley, shut in by the horseshoe hills and fronted by tke smoking mountain,” “Well, what about it?” Rube sulkily esked, “ A good deal about it. I have for some time foreseen that unless the jury in tbe case of Al- ton vs, Templeton has a pretty big throat it wilb never swallow your yarn about the mystic cit which nobody can find, Miss Templeton is ric and well known; you are a stranger here. Re- sult, old Beesinger will prance around and laugh at you until the jury will believe you » champion liar.” ; ad “Well, what of it?” “What of it? Why, sir, I would probably ps my Seite octor Rua narrowly esca saying h wished the case was in Halifow or Baie Other remote court, but he checked himself and grand- ly said be comprehended. A. Smith, “the Nog sg tone J. Q. scene changes, I’m going to send a select part to find the City of fhe Desert. and rast es ae of fact. Mr. Griff will guide it, and you shall be an honorary member.” ‘Merely to find the city?” ; “Possibly you can kidnap some of the Black Rr Net like] ot very likely. On the other hand, f doubt if Mr. Griff can find the place.” ~ My name is Griffith Strong, with no front’s- pi Pete 0 a so omen Rt astpid acon er Smo oun ; ‘ Ikin find it. 4 Stow Benne ther landscape w thar, an’ I hev my doubts ef they’ve « aces Thar wa’n’t no town thar, nur — The doctor kept away from the girl all the | nary resident, then, but — hat scoundrel will yet be hung, and the sooner - the last touched her horse and rode away beside — — | ‘ : * m4 mic wt A a S much, (cto) 0 (0X0) es aa ad a ee ee eee ao.” a (@) pa ze Le a Lt <r A vs ae, ” : a 4 a ‘ . » os