Beadle's Dime Library No. 299 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

eee about his flirtation—if so one-sided an affair can be called a flirtation—with the Golden Serpent came out. Ofcourse he swore, by every oath with which jealousy was ever appeased, to the slanderous charecter of every count in the in- dictment. He would call this liar out, and make him eat his words, or put half a dozen slugs into his body! This he fulminated so fiercely as he paced the room like a caged lion, that, with a woman’s faith in the desperate character, when roused to anger, of the man who happens to hold the mastery over her heart, Maude became fright- ened lest be should rush forth to his death: for she had no doubt that the elegant Mr. Jack Drew, with his piercing eyes and bis dyed mus- tache and goatec—all of which made bim look very dangerous indeed—must be, beyond ques- tion, a ‘‘dead shot!” Thereupon she began to beg him to let the matter rest, assuring him that she did not be- lieve a word of what had been said, and that she knew that be had not had a thought that was not all her own. But the more earnestly she pleaded with him, the more he raged and roared, until she clung to him in tears; whereupon he struggled to break her hold, that be might rush from the room and devour his defamer! Then she suddenly desisted, clasping her hands over her beart, telling bim, gaspingly, that he bad killed her, and staggering with half-closed eyes, as if about to fallin a faint. Of course he caught her; and of course she nee over into bis arms, ‘‘ clean gone!” be usual applications of water and friction, and a great deal of tender coaxing, and assur- ances that, in compliance with her wishes, he would forego his purpose of making mince-meat of the elegant Mr. Drew, brought her round to a state in which she lay in his arms like a wilted angel, and listened and responded faint- ly to his soft avowals of undying love and re- gret that he bad ever parted from her side for un hour. But we spare the reader the billing and coo- ing which follow these domestic cyclones as arias 4 as a golden sunset closes a stormy a . P As soon as she could spare him from her side, which was only after repeated assurances that he went away on the leaden feet of duty, to return on the wings of love, Jim went out to find Iron Despard, to send word through bim to Tiger Dick explaining his unavoidable deser- on, Now Iron Despard had witnessed the meetin between Shadow Jim and the lady who clai his allegiance, and bad turned away in savage disgust, so as to avoid being presented to her, It will be readily believed, then, that Jim found him in no genial mood. **l’ve only a minute to tell you that my goose is cooked!” said Jim, with a grimace of mock despair. ‘“‘ The arbitress of my fate has dro “ped down on me like a tailor presenting his bill to a bridegroom at the church door! It is her fixed determination to bear me away from temptation by the lug! Tell Dick that nothing less urgent than a lady-love or a deputy sheriff should tear me away from him at such a time; and if ever you see the Golden Serpent, swear to ber that I sigh for ber afar!” hy Des bowed acquiescence without a smile. Jim, who was nothing abashed by this cool reception of his humor, gaid: " luck to — enterprise. May you strike a lead as easily worked, but not requiring such strict attention to business, as does that which now calls me away.” And with a sigh in the direction of the Golden Serpent, Jim cocked his hat over his eyes and walked off; On bis return trip that afternoon Sam Seaver found his late lady passenger and the captive truant awaiting him; but, strange to say, the elegant Mr. Jack Drew was not on hand to speed their departure, | On the following day Shadow Jim ran across Detective Farnsworth and a of men, and learned that they were on their way to make a of the capture of the redoubtable Tiger ick, When informed that he mast return to Coyote, Maude’s icions flamed up, and she insisted on going back with him. He explained the urgency of the case, which would require him to make his way on horseback by a short cut across the mountains; and she knew at once —so she declared—that he was deceiving her. There was no time to argue the case. Before he could win her to compliance the opportunity might be gone. §o, leaving her in violent, but ineffectual, hysterics, he dashed away to his duty to his friend. eanwhile, Iron Despard—on the day pre- vious, be 1t understood, immediately after the departure of Shadow Jim in leash of Maude’s apron-string—set out for Santa Fe to purchase the necessary outfit for himself and friends— the three champions constituting the whole party that was to go in search of the secret mine, The sight of Shadow Jim’s subjection to a - Three of a Kind. —- ee eee gr ee ee ee. ee « woman’s will had wrought upon him like a red rag before an angry bull. lt had set him to reviewing his own past life, until he worked himself into a frenzy of hatred toward all wo- men, which was perhaps some extenuation, though no excuse, for an act of brutal inbu- manity, to the narration of which we are now come, As he emerged from the foot-hills upon the open prairie, where he was to join the Santa Fe trail, be suddenly found himself witness to one of those life-and-death chases which are all too common on the border. ‘ The pursued were a lady, whose _ terror- whitened face bore evidence of that delicacy and refinement which makes the American women of the bigher class unrivaled by any of her sisters the world over; a man, whose rollicking air and dress marked him as a Rocky Mountain stage-driver; and an infant, which he bore in his arms. They were mounted on a pair of coach-horses, whose dangling harness showed that they had been hurriedly cut loose from the stage to meet a most desperate emer- gency. One glance at the dusky visages and barbaric paraphernalia of the pursuers—one throb of the ear set ringing with their blood-curdling yells— left nothing for words, CHAPTER XXII, WOMAN'S LOVE. Hey! presto, pass! and we are back again on the Atlantic seaboard. Morning dawned over the sleeping metropolis, making a rosy twilight in the luxuriously- curtained apartment where the Sportive Sport had taken such painful leave of his loved ones, The woman moved in her sleep, stretching forth her arm with an inarticulate, caressing murmur. She did not know that it failed’ to find what it sought until her baby stirred and set up a piping cry. She gathered it to her bosom with instinctive mother-love, even before she roused to con- sciousness, Then her eyes opened on the nest- ling, but even as she crooned to it soothingly, ae felt the silence and chill of her deso- ation. With startling abruptness, ber eyes flashed up to the cmgty place beside her. ‘* Ned!” she cried breathlessly, putting out ber hand as if to have double assurance that she was indeed alone. Then she sprung upright, crying to herself pantingly: ‘‘ Why, he has not been home!” Shaking in every limb, she fairly scrambled out of and bugging her baby to ber bosom as if to shield it from some intangible terror, she ran to the communicating door and threw it open, crying: ‘* Ned—oh, Ned! I am so frightened!” She expected to be received into his arms, and comforted and soothed and laughed at—ob, for the glad sound of his teasing laughter!—for her cowardice, She was prepared to scold him very gently, with little bysterical sobs an clinging hands that would show him that was love and not anger that prompted her words. But the dressing-room was empty with the : aglimmer, just as she had left it the night ore. For a time she stared into the room, her eyes dilating, her face whitening, her lips apart. Then she crept back and sat on the edge of the bed, and hugging her baby close to her bosom, dropped her face over it, and so crouched in mute anguish of soul. it come to this, that he would choose to stay away from her, careless of her suspense? Reviewing their one year of wedded life, this was what she saw: It bad begun with every prowgies of happiness. Her guardian, old Jasper Haveland, whose soft heart was constantly giving the lie to his crab- bed tongue, had endowed her handsomely on her marriage with his nephew, all the while growling that the young dog would no doubt wheedle ber out of it, equeget it, and leave her to go to the poor-house in the end, miling up into his face with ber arms about his neck, she had called him a dear old bear; and then, before the tears of gratitude which she had left on his beard had ceased to glisten, she had, with a fond wife’s confidence, and per- haps as the old man had expected wished, placed her whole fortune in her husband’s hands. With it he had gone into the stock market; and from time to time whispers of his success bad reached ber, making ber heart leap—not because it was predic that he was to bea wealthy man, but because he was showing his power to with the giants of finance. Now she lifted her bead to gaze about on her desolation, Her roving eye fell upona letter lying on the pin-cusbion on her dressing-table. With a low glad cry she sprung forward and seized upon it, carrying it to her lips and kiss- ing it with bappy, cooing laughter and a rush of self-reproachful tears, “Ob! this will explain all. of course! The dear fellow has been in, and finding me asleep, refrained from waking me! As if I cared for eee sleep or anything else, when he has anything to say to me! But what can have called him away tostay all night? It cannot be bad news, or he would haye trusted to nothing but his own dear lips to breakit to me gently! Ab! my darling!” But, though these thoughts flashed through her ninible brain like lightning, her eager eyes were by this time speeding along the lines and drinking in the bitter meaning that was to poison her peace, causing the roseate glow of hap- py tenderness—the reaction after her misery— to slowly fade from her face and cheeks and lips, until they were as wan as lilies! How breathlessly she swept through that fiery record! But she had not reached the end when she leaped to ber feet with a shriek of terror. ‘‘He has gone away!” she cried ina hoarse whisper, pressing the crumpled letter to her bosom, and staring straight before her. “Oh?! that cannot be!—it is too cruel!” She began to pace the room like a caged ani- mal. The baby set up a wailing cry from the bed where she had laid it, _ She ran to it and hugged it to her bosom, rock- ing her body to and fro, and moaning as if her heart were breaking. Then, as fast as she could read through her blinding tears, sbe addressed herself to the Jet- ter every word of which was a separate stab. Page after page he had poured out bis heart in an incoherent medley of remorse and tender- ness. How bitterly had he fulfilled bis uncle's prophecy! It was gone—all gone! He had beg- gared ber! He could not face the old man’s just wrath; but most of all, he could not meet her forgiveness. He had gone back to the life where he knew that he could retrieve his lost place among men, leaving her to the care of his uncle, her late Guesdien, whose place he had so ill supplied. ben he felt that he had the right to cast bim- self at her feet and ask her to try him again, he would return, She must teach their child— And there the writing ended, and the sheet was blistered with tears. She pressed it to her lips and eyes and borom, and snatched up the baby and rained tears and kisses all over it, because it was all that she had left of him, ? ; Reet ‘Struggle all alone out in that desolate wil- derness! Never! never! Does he fancy that I could stay here in comfort while he was pining in exile? How little he knows our love, my baby! my baby! But we will go to him with- out an hour’s delay, and show bim that he has paid us a very poor compliment by running away from us and breaking our hearts; won’t we, my pet? Oh! I should have staid out there with in the life that be was used to, and never brought him here, where everything is so artificial and heartless,” She called her maid, was sed, and, driving toold Jasper Haveland’s hotel, found him in bed suffering with gout, and therefore in his most bearish mood, ae | ‘‘ Hoity-toity! and what’s the row now?” he exclaimed, at sight of her. ‘‘Has that young vagabond been breaking your heart? It’s ust what I’ve been expecting any time these wetve mopths!” In the precoraipalion of her grief she did not stop to consider bis condition, but poured forth her pitiful story, putting the fact of her hus- band's desertion first, At that old Jasper Haveland gave his tongue the rein; and the Joyal wife was fairly stunned with the torrent of vituperation he heaped upon her husband, Shrinking beck with her baby hugged to her bosom, she cried: “Do you forget that you are talking about your nepbew and the father of my child?” ‘*Forget?” bellowed the old fellow. ‘I would to God I had never remembered the infamous scoundrel! Why did I not leave him to his vag abond life, and be hanged to him? If I had only known that I was hunting upsome one to break your beart, I would have seen him in Topbet—” “He Las not broken my heart!” cried the wife, with loyal indignation. “All the happiest moments in my life Lowe to him! But there is no use in talking Soh inl in this way, I have come to tell you that Lam about to follow him the next train.” ‘‘Follow him? Follow that graceless knave?” shouted the old soldier. Yes,” replied the wife rata’ S 6 **T have sent a telegram which will intercept him at Chicago, so that he will rape me, I came to ask you to accompany me; but after your cruel abuse I would never consent to his wife receiving any favors from you!” | “ We'll see about that!” cried Mr. Haveland, stoutly. ‘Pil do you a favor that will be to to some purpose. I’Jl follow tbe rascal and shoot him—bang me if I don’t!” And suiting the action to the word, he pro- ceeded to get out of bed without more ado. But he had no sooner put his foot to the floor phan, the excruciating pain made him howl ustily. “ Fo’ de Lo'd high golly!” cried his faithful henchman, Julius Pp Rolgnios Griggs, springing forward, “all ashake,” as he would GOmMmiGvoe cS J > bs ia A ™ " ,