Beadle's Dime Library No. 263 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

| | —* — lade a owt a oe ee ayy — Se ee 6 ne eee but he was not long at fault, There was a sound of hoofs and a horseman dashed to the side of those who had come afoot. The mounted man was addressed in familiar tones, ‘** Redspur, is it you?’ demanded Diamond, quickly. “Yes, captain.” ‘*Have the Black Riders been summoned?” “They have, sir. I am here for orders.” ‘*Separate them into bands of six each and let the whole valley be searched thoroughly and at once. They must not escape from it. Do you hear?” a et RY ‘Then go!” The man had wheeled when Diamond again poke. ** Redspur!” ** Captain!” “See that no barm comes to the fugitives. Protect the man as carefully as the woman.” aden answered promptly and as promptl wheeled and dashed away. Rube had seen his dress dimly in the darkness and was in a measure prepared for the whispered words of the hunchback, ‘** Ho is the chief of the Black Riders.” Diamond and his man remained talking to- gotnery but a sudden and unpleasant interrup- ion occurred. The girl, standing behind Doctor Rube, had ere every evidence of extreme fear, He had elt her shiver, and she had shrank back as far into the corner as was possible, but this only served to cause a catastrophe. A loose board went rattling to the ground, and Diamond and his man turned toward the place. ‘* What was that?” the captain asked quickly. His subordinate lucidly answered tnat he didn’t know. ‘* Well, I intend to know,” Diamond declared. “Get out peur knife and revolver and we will look into this place.” Doctor Rube heard the words with regret which fell but little short of consternation. He and his friends could not retreat, and to remain was to meet sure discovery. Whether this meant capture was another question, but he re- assuringly pressed the girl’s hand and grasped his club the tighter. Iron-Armed Abe, crouched like a panther for a leap, did not move and his opinions and in- tentions were wholly unknown, Diamond and his man advanced with their weapons ready and another moment promised to give them a long step toward triumph, but affairs took an unexpected turn, A dark object arose from the ground, there was a dull blow and a muffled groan, and the lesser villain fell at the feet of the hunchback, who bad speedily and effectually disposed of him. Docter Rube, his fighting blood aroused by the neatness of the affair, raised his club for work, but before he could use it Abe had Dia- mond by the collar and was holding bim firmly while a deep chuckle broke from him, ** Now, then, who triumphs?” he demanded. *T tell you now, as I’ve told you before, King Diamond, I am your master. Squirm, if you will, aud much good may itdo you. I tell you Iam your master!” Diamond was struggling furiously in that strong bold, but it was a waste of strength. He was us helplegrs in his city and amid his scores of tools, as though he were a hundred miles away. Why he did not call for help is uncer- tain, but in his hot rage he may not have thought of it. ‘Let us bold him as a hostage,” suggested Doctor Rube, still supporting the girl. ‘Better say, hold him as a venomous serpent who would bite if he could.” lron-Armed Abe gnashed his teeth audibly patinated the scarf which encircled Diamond’s neck, ‘**Curse you! let go!” hissed the latter. The buncbhback took another turn, “Death!” gasped Diamond, *‘ you shall die for this!” Abe laughed, and with a single motion of his strong arms forced him on his knees, “Tf you’d bad your way ld have been dead long ago, King Diamond,” he then said, “ but I am the master, not you. Bab! Iscorn you and your city and your people. With all your tools you are weaker than I. Lam your master, I tell you. Dog, vile, infamous dog, Iam your master!” He twisted the scarf until Diamond’s breath rattled in his throat like shot in a pouch. Death Jurked near the chief of the desert-dwellers then, but be would not open bis lips to beg for mercy. He knew this man in whose grasp he bent and strangled, but not for life even would he lower himself to him. Doctor Rube looked on, wondering at such fierce hatred as the Destroyer showed, and ex- pecting to see the captain killed in his own A, but Iron-Armed Abe suddenly relaxed bis old. s ‘‘ Breathe again, villain,” he said. ‘‘ You know I won’t kill you yet; you know your hour has not come: Breathe and live on, for I would see you when the time of my triumph comes. reathe, dog—breathe!” The words were like the hiss of a serpent in retreat, but Diamond was not slow to obey. He breathed, but be drank in fresh hatred with each breath. . viet day will come some time!” he doggedly said. ‘Oh! of course; I’ve heard you say so before; I’ve heard you say so hundreds of times. You said it that night on White Pine Ridge, when first your plot took shape. J was doomed to die then, when she was doomed to be your vic- tim. Ha! ha! you said then, ‘Abe must die!’ but Abe still lives. You have said the same thing many times since, but Abe was never stronger than to-day. Well have they called me the Iron-Armed, and well have they called me the Destroyer.” “ Your day is about over.” ‘Ha! ha! bear him—hear King Diamond! Stand still, ye stars, for the ruler of this city speaks. Hear him! Great am I, King Diamond, and vast is my power. Somy day is about over? Dog, I shall live to see the day when not one stone of this city will lie upon another. I shall live to see this valley a barren waste, and you, you, but clay!” The captive stood in sullen silence, but Doctor Rube could no longer be an inactive figure in the scene. He had regretted each moment of this delay, for the flashing red lights seemed to tell that no time was to be Jost, and he abruptly touched Abe’s arm and said as much, The strange man did not answer at once, but stood looking from one to another of the trio. Once a muttered word, which sounded much like *‘ Idiot!” fell from his lips, but it was not certain to whom he applied it. He suddenly stooped over the man he had struck down, and then, evidently satisfied with the examination, arose and, pointed due north. “Lead on!” he said to the doctor, The latter did not need a second bidding There was no sign of pursuers in that direction, and with the girl’s arm within his own he start- ed. She seemed gifted with new strength and moved readily, while he, feeling that she was the only worthy person near him, resolved to aid her to the utmost, Iron-Armed Abe closely followed, retaining Diamond in captivity. CHAPTER VIL. DOCTOR RUBE’S DISAPPOINTMENT. THE composure with which Diamond sub- mitted to be retained a prisoner in his own stronghold surprised Doctor Rube a good deal, but he did not know Iron-Armed Abe as well as the captain did; he did not know what great physical strength lurked in those mis-shapen arms, nor how useless it was to resist it. Diamond knew the hunchback well. Old foes were they, with a romance and a tragedy a few years behind, and if it had been in the dark captain’s nature to fear any one he would have turned pale at sight of Abe. , His great self-control enabled him to remain calm as they went on that night, but he in- wardly cursed the chances of fate aud prayed for a change in the situation. ‘“* Where is this to end?” the girl lowly asked, shiv-ring on the doctor's arm, ‘‘Let us bope it will end well, I do not possess the gift of looking into the future, but I cannot believe the cause of right will be forgot- ten. “Tf am dreadfully afraid.” “It is not strange, but you can rely on me, and I think it is the same with our uncouth uide.” ‘*Ugh! he is the worst of all; I fear him more than Diamond, if possible. Ugh! my blood is like ice!” ‘*Be brave, my dear lady,” said Doctor Rube, with more tenderness than he suspected. ‘* We are fast leaving the city behind.” | “ But what after that? Is it a long ride toa law-abiding town. Have you horses in waiting? Do you know the way to Los Angeles?” These questions were asked with the feverish haste of one who questions as of herself, but they were more overpowering than any law- yer’s keenest inquiries. Doctor Rube could not answer any one of these satisfactorily. He did not_know the way to a law-abiding town, nor to Los Angeles; he did not even know where they were: the City of the Desert had never figured on a map of Arizona. ** We must trust to Iron-Armed Abe,” he was obliged to say, ‘‘in which course something tells me we shall make no mistake. Beyond a doubt he has a fierce, wild temper, but be bates D amond and will do bis atmost to baffle him.” The girl seemed to make an effort to think the sume, but it was hard to look upon Abe as a defender and deliverer. Under ordinary cir- cumstances one may tutor their feelings as re- gards those made repulsive by inexorable nature, but the situation of the imperiled girl was notof the ordinary kind, and Abe’s man- ner was even worse than his looks. Still the quartette went on unmolested until the town was left behind. aa the guide paused and turned to Doctor ube. ‘Well, what now?” he surlily asked. TIron-Armed Abe, the Hunchback Destroyer. ‘Let us go on.” ** Where?” ‘“*Anywhere, so that we escape the tools of our prisoner. I tell you this girl is in great peril, Weare none of.us any too safe, but she is in more danger than the rest of us.” The hunchback turned his. gaze upon ber and chuckled several times in an unmusical way. It was as impossible to tell what he meant by it as tosee any reason for such an outburst, but no one thought of finding fault, ‘It’s a pity about ber,” the stranger finally said; ‘‘a great pity. Your sympathy does you ° great and glorious bonor, my good man, but in this selfish world it’s just as well to bestow your care all on yourself. Yes, yes!” ‘Will ycu lead us away?’ Doctor Rube abruptly demanded, tormented by those pro- tracted delays. ‘I would like y one help, for which I am willing to pay well, but in any case we must goon, It is by far too dangerous to remain here,” “Come to the smoking mountain, then. There you will find a refuge, safety and a warm welcome.” The Destroyer wound up with his old chuckle and then, still retaining his bold on Diamond’s neck, he ambled on in the darkness, ‘‘Come to my home,” the doctor heard him say, mockingly, to his prisoner. ‘She is not there, now, but you are welcome, just as you were at White Pine, Then, I thought there was no danger; now, I know there is none. Come, King Diamond, come!” ‘“Do your worst,” said the captain defiantly, ‘* My worst? Not yet, great king; your time has not come. Some day you shall roast in the fire and flames of Smoky Mountain, but not yet, not yet. Death must come to you as it came to her, slowly, painfully, dreadfully, I will make you how! for mercy like a wolf,” ‘*Never, demon, never; I defy you!” * We shall see.” Conversation ceased between them and the party wenton. There was no sign of pursuit and Doctor Rube found time to wonder what dark drama lay in the past of Diamond and the hunchback, Hatred such as existed between them bad not sprung from any ordinary cir- cumstance, be felt sure, but it was one which only death could end. Again, what was tbis other drama in which he was taking part? What was Diamond’s pur- pose with the rescued girl? Why did he wish to mutilate her arm? The doctor felt bimself environed by mystery, but it occurred to bim that he could settle one pone by learning the name of the girl. She ad said her home was in, or near, Los Angeles, but more than that he did not know, He had just turned to question her when there was a sudden rush through the darkness, a flying about. of sand and horsemen loomed up on all sides, It needed but one glance to show Rube that they were of the Black Riders and he prepared for stout resistance. Diamond and Iron-Armed Abe were invisible, separated from him by the Riders, but, regard- ee of odds, he laid about him stoutly with his club, Once, twice, three times it fell, and not once without effect, and then the horsemen seemed to arouse like bees molesticd in their hive. The ressed closer to Docter Rube, he was dashed to bis knees by a heavy blow from some weapon and then knocked prostrate by a rearing horse: after which he had a vague impression that he was rolled over and. over in the sand for several hours and trampled on by a countiess army of Black Riders. A good deal of this must have been mere fancy, for be came out of it without any broken bones, but at the end of an unknown time he found himself sitting on a borse and securely Jashed in place, while sharp particles of sand rene making free with Lis cuticle from head to oot. Even then he noticed this minor trouble, but the greater part of bis attention was devoted fo trying to learn the state of affairs about im. His eyes had been bandrged, and ho was try- ing to catch some of the indistinew aords which fell_upon bis ears—an a'tempt wiih was wholly unsuccessful. What bad occurred? my He asked bimself the question again and again, but always unsatisfactorily, He believed he had fallen into the hands of the Black Riders—but what of the bunchback and the irl? Somehow, he gained the idem th-* 4be bad caugbt her up in his arms and taken to flight, but there was no groundwork except his imagi- nation for the idea. Half an hour passed in this manner. He had listened in vain for the voices of either of his former companions; all remained on the same mysterious basis before indicated. Finally there was a stir among those nearest him, and his horse started as tough yieldin; to a band on bis rein. Rube was pretty sure i wasn’t one of his, for those useful members were tied behind bim. He lad lost +11 idea as to the points of the compess, and su; posed they were returning te —- Gomicbooks-Go se ws -. . - ll