Beadle's Dime Library, Vol. III, No. 29 — page 31: what you’re looking at

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

Tiger Dick, The Faro King. torch in hand, just in time to meet Charley Brew- ster. Up went her hand—there was a blinding flash—a deafening concussion—a ee pul of smoke and fire in his face—and he staggered back against the detective! Then all was pe oa in Stygian dark- ness; and Charley Brewster felt a wild thrill of heart, as he thought that he had passedthe bound that parts the Here from the Hereafter. “Lights, men, lights!’ cried a voice that sounded far away; and immediately half a dozen dark-lan- terns flashed upon the gloom; and Charley Brew- ster saw dimly motionless at his feet, and further in the cave Tiger Dick upon his feet, staring in amazement and terror, | completely sobered by this unexpected interrup- tion. ! ‘Stand still there, sport,’”’ chuckled the triumph- ant detective. ‘‘I reckon your little game’s about played. We've bagged you this time, sure!”’ The Tiger made a motion as if to draw a pistol. ‘** Hands to the front!’ rung out the clear, metal- lic voice. ‘‘ We've got a masked battery behind here, that'll soon put an end to all your troubles if you're anxious to go from this weary world o care.’ The Tiger desisted from his purpose, blanching art as the muzzle of a — was thrust forwar until the light from one of the bull’s-eyes fell upon it, While he was in a flood of light, his assailants were wholly invisible to him. He could see nothing nat eee eyes of flame and the black muzzle of the pistol. “T guess you've heard of me before,’ pursued the detective, stepping forward into the range of light. “They call me Jim Farnsworth when I'm at home.” “Yes, I've heard enough of you,” replied the Tiger, with an oath, “But not as much as you are destined to hear,” said the detective, meaningly, drawing a pair of handcutfs from his pocket. At this Tiger Dick changed color, and made an- other motion toward resistance. “Hands above your head!" cried Farnsworth, as we now know him, bringing his pistol in a line with Tiger Dick’s forehead, With an oath of impotent rage, the outlaw com- plied. Then the detective stepped forward and dis- armed him, following it up by snapping the cuffs on his wrists, and Tiger Dick was a captive. CHAPTER XIV. THE TIGER’S LAST CARD, CHarntey Brewster and detective Farnsworth had the management of a little surprise-party (so they said) at Mr. Powell's residence. Through the influ- ence of Charley, every one was banished from the parlors and the library across the hall, until all was in readiness. There was an undercurrent of great satisfaction and joy in Charley’s bearing that particularly drew the banker out of his grief in spite of himself, and filled him with a vague auxiety not unmingled with an indetinite hope. But when he entered the front parlor, cut off from the back one by the now closed olding-doors, and saw no one there, he turned upon Charley with a look of og gee and inquiry. May, Mr. Carrington and Mr, Creswell also stood in silent expectation. ‘Be seated,” said Charley, his face all aglow with suppressed happiness; but there was a tinge of pain, too, as he glanced at May's pale face and unnatural- ly brilliant eyes—‘‘be seated. My friend here, Mr. larnsworth, has a story to tell you.” ‘“* Perhaps I ean produce a substitute, from whose lips the narrative will be more acceptable to you,” said the detective; and, rising, he crossed the hall and opened the library door, There was the sweep of a robe, and then Florence Goldthorp entered, pale, yet radiantly beautiful. Mr. Creswell sprung up and caught her in his arms. “Why, pet! he cried, “is it you?—alive and un- harmed? Thank God for His great goodness!” His tears and kisses fell upon her hair, for he loved her like a father. Next Mr. Carrington arose, and graspad her hands, and holding her at arm’s-length, gazed upon her with emotions almost too deep for expression. Then os oe her to him and touched his lips to her fore- ead, ‘“‘T cannot tell you,” he said, ‘* how I have mourned Charley's child, during these three terrible days!” Mr. Powell, too, received her with feeling, for she had loved Fred, and trusted him against hope. And May ?—she einbraced her and returned her kiss with i strange, shuddering foreboding of evil. When they were somewhat composed, Florence cl: “Before telling you about myself, I wish to give you a little previous history, which 1s the real begin- ning of the whole affair." , Then she related all of Cecil Beaumont’s plot, up to that fearful night at Dead Man’s Bluff, telling her own deductions, what had been ascertained by de- tective Farnsworth, and Cecil’s own confession to her. During this recital, May Powell writhed in agony of spirit, but did not interrupt it by word or sign. “Tn confirmation of the story thus far,"’ said the detective, ‘1 wish to produce two witnesses.” He stepped into the library and brought forth Ti- er Dick and Billy Saunderson, the former in heavy Proms and guarded by a »oliceman on either side, As for the ‘“‘decoy duck,” he had@ been thoroug ly cowed by the fall of his principal, and had confessed everything. J Tiger Dick laughingly confirmed Florence's story, adding some facts which were unknown to her. “But, dear madani,” he added, with unabashed effrontery, “believe me, that my hostility to Mr. Powell arose, more than half, from a conviction that an angel like yourself ought to be saved from such a soft-pated milk-sop. Had not he insulted me in ae resence, I might never have thought of injur- ng him. He piched the trump and I played ra hand on it; and as by this time he is foodfor the crows, I think I’ve got my share of the tricks. a _ Florence first crimsoned with indignation, an then paled at the hint of the fate that had overtaken her lover. “Goon with the business in hand, if you please, Mr. Tiger,” said the detective, with a aan! “It Fac "me that you are flying the track in.these Sratuitous remarks.” 1e form of Florence Goldthorp dying. “Oh, certainly,” replied the Tiger, pleasantly; and he then proceeded to relate the blacker plot con- | ceived at Dead Man's Bluff, after the fight. His auditors listened with horror to the fiendish details. When he came to Fred’s exposure to the murderous pursuit of McFarland and O'Toole, the father burst forth: ‘*My God! and has my wronged et fallen by the hands of these bloodthirsty assassins?" “They're old hands at the business, and usually do their work up brown,"’ chuckled the Tiger, enjoy- ing his anguish. he detective frowned angrily, and said, in a steady tone: ‘*Mr. Powell, three days ago your son was seen in the streets of St. Louis, but esca again. What probability is there that those cut-throats were more vigilant than the police force there?” This was a partial relief; and Florence now re- sumed the story, narrating her abduction and es- cape. tt would be hard to describe May’s feelings. She sat with her head bowed upon her arms, as they rested on the table, as motionless as a statue, All the others gathered about Florence, and con- gratulated her on her providential rescue. “Tf dear Fred were only here,” she said, while she mingled her tears with theirs, ‘* our happiness would be complete,” . ‘*Florence!"’ came a voice that sounded like a sigh breathing through the room, She started and looked around, with a quick color in her cheeks. ; ‘* That was surely Fred’s voice!” she said, in a whis- per. Charley Brewster flung open the folding-doorsy and there, in the back parlor, lay Fred on a sofa, pa’ and thin, yet with a great happiness beaming in ace | “red! Fred! Oh, he is safe!"’ cried Florence, | and with a bound she was at his side on her knees ' with his head clasped in her arms, raining tears and | kisses on his face, ‘Bless you, my darling!’ responded the happy lover; *“‘you always loved me! you trusted me | through all!” |. “Fred! whispered his overjoyed sweetheart, with _ her lips to his ear, “you are thin and worn; but I | will nurse you—oh, how I will nurse you!” | And she cuddled his head closer and let her happy tears fall on his emaciated cheeks, ‘Oh, Lam well already, sweet!’ he replied. ‘‘ The very sight of you has cured me.” But others elaimed their share of attention, and ' Mlorence yielded at last. . “Frederick, my son, can you ever forgive me?” said the father, overcome with remorse and love and | pe? (Seon | Tt was our very love for you, boy, that made us so _ hard on you. The enormity of it, in you, crushed us,” said the grandfather, in humiliation at his almost fatal mistake. ‘* Father —grandfather—say no more,” replied the generous Fred. “I see how hal have suffered, TI never knew the depth of your love for me until now. May, have you no welcome for me?"’ She stood gazing at him in bewilderment, but at his words aroused herself with a start, and the next moment fell upon his neck in wild hysterics. It seemed as if the floodgates of her soul were opened, so unrestrained was her weeping. And Charley Brewster—his heart was wrung with sympathy for her. When she was more calm, Fred told how that de- tective Farnswourth’s men had found him by trackin | MeFarland and O'Toole, fortunately coming up with | them at the station, and then following them to their | discovery of Fred. They were overpowered, and the wounded Fred put under medical care, and his | recovery secured, But another part of the drama was in progress. Tiger Dick had ground his teeth in impotent rage when he learned of Fred’s deliverance from his machinations. Then the detective had prepared to remove him. But a form appeared in the doorway. It was Cecil Beaumont, with haggard cheeks, and the fires of insanity in his hollow eyes. “Ha! ha! Tiger Dick,” he laughed, ‘‘you, have made a devil of me; take your reward!” The barrel of a pistol flashed in the light of the chandelier; the hammer descended; but there was no report. With an oath, Cecil Beaumont drew trigger again, with no better success. It had been discovered that he had a pistol beneath his pillow, and lest he should do harm with it, it had been re- moved; but upon discovering the absence of the weapon, he had raved about it until they had been phd Se to restore it, first however taking the pre- caution to remove the powder and ball from the car- tridge, so as to leave it the appearance of being loaded, while it was in reality harmless. Now several of the detective’s force threw themselves up- on aye ane nates Seon iS Arent. ty ell, pard,’’ laugh e Tiger, sneeringly, **we'’re like a pair of trussed turkeys, eh?” ‘*Unhand me, villains! Oh, gods! for one grip at a poi shrieked the madman, struggling to free mself, ‘** Cecil! Cecil!’ spoke a voice, and a hand was laid on his arm, ‘*Ah! May, is it you?” he asked, becoming calm in aninstant, And then in a bushed whisper, while his eyes glared at the er like living coals: “‘May, he must be allied with the devil: I have heard of such things. Did you see me? I fired at him twice. I could not have missed him at such a distance: yet the shots had no effect. And then these fiends seized me and bound me with these rings of fire. Are they creatures of his?” ‘**Hush, Cecil, hush!’’ she said, with a sob of an- uish, ie My daughter, come away. This is no place for you," said Mr, Powell, taking May sadly by the arm, and regarding Cecil with a shudder, “Tather, do not interfere with me. You do not know what you are doing.” ; Mr, Powell looked at her in dismay, but there was an unutterable eo of vee. in her face that awed him into unquestioning compliance. “Ts that you father, May?’ asked the maniac, and without waiting for an answer, addressed him: Sir, Ido not attempt to extenuate my crime, I have listened and heard it all rehearsed to you by yonder fiend. But do not trust him implicitly, Lis- ———EEE 31 ten to my defense. As ever before, he first incited me into the conspiracy ir your son. Listen! Ages and ages ago, when we were on earth, my restless spirit fell a prey to that excitement that in- duced men to leave home and everything that they most prized, and go in quest of gold Frat yellow gold that turned men's brains, But I did not go alone. Ihadacousin, Oh, how I loved him!—loved him, did I say? Ah! he was my other self! They were sisters—his mother and mine—and brought us up in the love which they felt for each other. ‘“*T have said he was ws other self. It was literal- ly true in aot of physical appearance, We were so like that our nearest friends could distinguish us only bya scar on Tom's lip. the result of an acci- dent-in boyhood. But while I was wild and way- ward, he was gentle and good. Yet this very differ- ence drew us all the nearer together in our love, “T could not go without him. I represented to him the marvelous wealth that we might amass in the new Eldorado, where men arose in the morning Spry am and went to bed at night worth millions; told him of the comforts and luxvries with which he would be able to surround his mother when he returned, a man with his fortune-made, after an ab- sence of two or three years. Then I saw his eyes sparkle and the color come into his cheek, and I knew be would go. ‘We went; and there I met yonderdemon. From the day his basilisk eyes first rested upon me, I was doomed, They called him King Monte: and in the wild orgies over which he presided, all that was good in my nature was burned out by the liquid hell that I took in at my mouse. Oh! those days of remorse and agony, and th nights of hellish excitement, when I would have staked my soul on the turn of a ecard! And Tom, he clung to me and pleaded with me, and even wept over my destruction, And this demon sat slowly turning the cards, ever with that fiendish smile on his countenance, ever with his vo burning into my soul and filling my veins with quid fire! And day by day the accursed appetite for alcohol grew upon me: and every day saw me a es confirmed in that madness which waits upon chance. p “Then, when I was wrecked in he soul, and a beggar—when I was on the verge of deli) iwm tremens, and the very clothes on my back were mine only on sufferance-—they had been won—ha! ha! won by yonder smiling flend, who generously forebore to as- sert his rights and leave me naked—in such a state Tom came to me, and with tears in his eyes, and adjuring me in the name of the dear ones we had left, begged me to cut loose fiom the influences that were dragging me to perdition, and go with’ him. He had found gold enough to make us both rich, It was ready at our band. We had but to take pos- session of it, and then return home, with our high- est anticipations more than realized. He would share it with me freely; but knowing my weakness, he first exacted a promise of total abstinence frcm ewe and a renunciation of gambling for once end a ** Who could have resisted his appeal? I promised. Ah! how light a thing is a promise—a mere breath! Then he took me to an old, abandoned shaft in the mountain, which appeared not to have been visilec for years. Therehe found a cache containing gold enough for both our fortunes, and near it lay a skeleton, doubtless the remains of the luckless miner, who had not lived to take away the treasure that he had accumulated, * Again, how light a thing is a promise !—a spider's web to bind a maniac! With the possession of gold, came again, with power intensified by the very bar- rier that stood in the way of its indulgence, as 1ush- ing waters pile up Lefore an obstruction, the insane longing to again tempt the goddess of fortune. Why multiply worcs? He found me again at the accursed board, In my madness I had awakened the suspicions of my destroyer touching our discovery of a great treasure. ‘Then Tom forced me away. For once his gentle nature, smarting under a sense of wrong and treach- ery, asserted itself. He reproached me with the toll and ingratitude that would ruin not only my- self but him, And then—oh, God!—I struck him, I have told you that 1 was on the verge of delirium tremens ; I was crazed with remorse and shame; I hated myself for my baseness; avd in my agony I knew not what I did. I struck him; he reeled and fell down, down, into that yawning shaft! Oh, what a look he gave me, as he toppled over into that abyss! It haunted me all through the years of tor- ture that followed; its reproachiul eyes looked sor- rowfully at me in moments of remorse; its terror- struck face arose amid the demon conjurations of delirium, goading me deeper and deeper into the maelstrom of dissipation in the vain struggle to elude a specter that ever followed. ‘Ha! See! "Tis he! Tom! Tom! you know I loved you! You know that I would have stricken off my right hand before it should have injured you! Forgive me! forgive me, Tom! Do not look at me like that! I tell youit was not I; it was the demon that possessed me! Oh, Heaven! he will not listen tome! Oh! those eyes of fire! how they burn and seer THY soul! Take him away! Oh, God! take him away ° The maniac shrunk, cowering an ering his hands over his eyes, Sane Snes ate Cecil!” whispered May, “be calm, He is The maniac cl to. h close to her side satis ee end, indyeehumeing May, you will not let him come again? You will not let him look at me with those eyes? I did not ney My kill him, You will tell him, May, if he ‘““Yes—yes!"’ whispered the agonized —_ ein love and pity and sorrow upon the faa efore Then he resumed his story. ‘What happened next Tao not know; only this demon was hovering about me, He haunted me day and night. His baleful eyes never for amoment re- ir eager searching in my brain for the se- cret of my hidden wealth—that gold all with the bl of him whom I loved best of the world! Waking or sleeping, his fetid breath was ever on my cheek, his ear ever at my lips—wait- ing, waiting for the secret! And all the time he | kept shuffling the cards, and clinking the gold, and. 1 me into the old snare, And be made the wig Gomicboo “Ss; GO