Beadle's Dime Library No. 305 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

———EE = ae Se ee — ———— —<— s/f = 7 ~~ ~~ a 20 get at a man who lived in a house likeja castle and seldom, or never, went outside, Pb be held to his purpose like a red In- ian. On the night of the fire he went to bed as usual, and slept soundly until some time after the fire. Toward morning, however, he awoke with a feeling that all was not well. He was under the impression that,in the neutral ground between slumber-land and real life, he had heard suspicious sounds in the cave, and when fully awake he reached over and gathered up bis rifle. : Then he listened. No sound was audible, save the gentle voice of the wind outside the cave, and several min- utes passed mane tg Be He had no matches, and his fire, which he kept barely alive all the time, was at the further side of the caveina niche among the rocks, To reach it he would bave to run the gantlet of an intruder, if ‘there was one, and he might bea grizzly bear, But as the minutes passed on and nothing fur- ther occurred, Sam grew reassured and decided that be had been foolishly disturbed. No doubt, his impression of trouble was but the lingering shadow of a dream. So he laid down again, closed his eyes and ‘was soon fast asleep. His slumber was but a brief one, however; he soon awoke again, and this time in a manner which settled all doubt about there being trou- ble. He dreamed that be was in some trcpical country, and was being strangled and crushed by a buge serpent, and when he awoke be could still feelthe pressure. There was a weigbt upon his chest, and acompression of his neck which almost deprived him of breath, and when he struggled he was unable to throw off the incu- us. All this might be a nightmare, but Sam knew he was awake, and he took a practical view of the case, The pressure on his neck was caused by the hands of a man; the weight on his chest arose from the same source, He was being systematically strangled. Luckily for him, he possessed both strength and ‘‘sand,” and as he realized his danger, he made a desperate effort to throw off the un- known. Nor wasit fruitless; Over went the strangler, though his bold did not relax, and then ensued a desperate fight in the dark, Sam had no means of knowing what his oppo- nent thought, but. on his own part he took the view that he was fighting for life, and he made the battle a lusty one. Not a word was spoken, but with hands and arms busy, they rolled about like ange. Fora while they seemed very evenly matched, but, after a few minutes, Sum felt his enemy’s strength begin to fail, and by a great effort he turned him over on his back and then assumed the same position the unknown had held at the beginning of the fight. ‘I've got ye now!” he grated, between his teeth. “I never ’ll yield tera Chinaman!” the un- known retorted, as he sq :1irmed in vain. ** You'll yield ter me, though, fur I’ve got ye fast,” Sam asserted. ‘* Ther Chinese must go!” **Durn yer rubbish! talk sense, will you? Page be you, anyhow, an’ what’re ye arter me ur ‘“Your name is Dennis!” Sam was so incensed at this, that he proceeded to bump bis prisoner's head on the hard ground of the Cave, and when he had administered this correction, there was no further motion from the unknown. ** None o’ yer shammin’; you can’t fool me,” Sam said, stubbornly. There was no answer, and all his efforts failed to extract one, and as a last resort he dragged his man back to the rear where he'had kept his fire. Ho felt the need of light on what seemed decidedly a dark subject, No resistance was offered, and he soon had ‘this man back to the desired point. Then he ‘proceeded to stir up the fire and get a torch going. This was the labor of some time, but he stranger laid still and the torch was blazing after awhile, Sam held it close to his prisoner. ‘* A nigger, by thunder! No, he ain’t; I reck- - on he’s a mulatter, or-—or— What is he?” It was little wonder Sam was perplexed. The man was white in some places and black in others, and it was not until the victor had made a further examination that he understood the cause. ‘* Ther black is smoke, or burnt cork, or suth- in’ o’ that sort. Should say ther feller bad ‘been in a fire, an’ got ther wu’st on’t. Strikes me I hev see’d him afore, an’ Ill git off ther s00t an’ try ter diskiver.” He produced. some water and washed away the disfiguring marks with the exception of some blisters, which would only yield to time. ‘* Yas, I’ve see’d him at ther village. I heerd his name, too. Lemme see; what was it? Daniels, Dudley—no, it was Mose Devlin; an’ he’s ther feller that claims ter be a pugilist. ‘Wal, I reckon he’s got inter a fight that was too much fur him, Reckon he was out 0’ his head when he was talkin’ about ther Chinese; jest ez likely, too, ther critter didn’t know what be was doin’ when he tried ter strangle me, I knocked him insensible when I pounded his head; I'll see what he does when he comes to, ag’in,” He had some time to wait. The man was, indeed, the redoubtable pugilist, who had fared badly in the fire at Shaw’s, He had lost his head, for the time, and wandered away to the mountain. He knew of the cave and had taken refuge there, but for all of his doings since he was in the burning. house, he was wholly irre- sponsible. His chances for reeovery from his injury would have been much better had he been in the hands of a doctor; he had received severe in- jury, and it was hard to tell how it would go, roperly cared for he would undoubtedly re- cover; neglected, it was a neck-and neck race between life and death. Sam improvised thongs from the hide of a slain animal and tied his wrists, for he did not care to risk his life again at his hands, and then waited patiently for him to regain conscious- ness. He was rewarded at last; Devlin moved un- easily, and then opened bis eyes and looked around, ‘‘ Wal, pard, how is it?’ Sam encouragingly asked. , ‘‘(’'m a bad man with a hole in my boot,” said Mose, feebly. ‘‘ Possible? Wal, that’s all right, but you ain’t on a t’ar now, be ye?” ‘‘ I’m goin’ out ter paint ther town red.” ‘“ Ef you ain’t painted, then I’m a fool, Come down ter solid hoss-sense, an’ be agreeable, How d’ye feel?” “Like a shamrock.” ‘‘You look like a played-out leopard, though time ’ll change yer spots. What’ve ye been doin’? Been in a fire?” ‘* Tt was a hoss-race,’’ Mose explained, “Oh! you go an’ hang yerself!” Sam advised, ‘What I want is ther bottom facts.’ ther case. Be you goin’ ter oblige me, or ain’t you?” Evidently Mose was not, for he continued to talk wholly at random, and Leach was not long in discovering that bis body and mind were no longer working in pairs, Devlin had no more idea what he was doing than he had of the num- ber of the stars, rp, this, Sam took mature thought. What was be going to do with bis uninvited vis- itor? He had not come in a way of which Sam could approve, nor did he want him, Should he drive him out, or not? Plainly, Devlin was a sick man and liable to soon wind up his earthly career, and as Sam noticed his muscular build and rugged face, he agreed that it was too bad. Consequently, he decided to take the man un- der his protection, and try to pull him through the crisis. If he could be saved, some good might come of it. Then Sam went about his duties as physician, and proceeded to make his patient as comfort- able as possible. Devlin soon fell asleep, but not peacefully. He moved restlessly, muttered, and lived over in fancy some of the late excit- ing scenes in his life. each did not fail to make use of his un¢on- scious words, and as he listened his face grew eager and his attention close and unflagging, Important secrets were being betrayed to him ae he chuckled now and then as herealized the power which was being put in his bands. “This yer is what 1 call a windfall!” be mut- tered, ‘‘ With sech secrets in my hands I reckon I sha’n’t need ter stay shet up byar like a her- mit. I kin go ter Bowlder Bar an’ blossom out ez a full-grown sport, an’ Mister Joseph Dan- forth will find it ter his interest ter protect me, I’ve got ther earth! But, which side shall I go with! Danforth will pay me ter keep quiet, but ther other side’ll pay me ter talk. I must sound ’em both, an’ see what’s in ’em.” It was with the good will of an expectant heir that Sam cared for his patient after that, All his prospects had changed, and, like the ma- jority of men, he was able to bear good luck cheerfully. But Mose Devlin, rolling on the bed of pine boughs, muttered his dangerous secrets over and over again, and hovered on the line of the trail which leads to the unknown grounds of futu- rity. He seemed likely to never again be able to ‘* paint the town red.” CHAPTER XXVIII, KIDNAPPED. Lois Orme did not suffer any ill-effects from her adventure in the fire. Sne bad received no injury, except that her lungs were slightly af- fected by smoke, and her nature was too strong for her to be nervously big Ssye Consequently, she felt nearly as well as ever on the following day. Ettala called upon her at an early hour, at her new bome, and matters assumed their old form. Lois would have been contented had it not been for that one shadow of ber life which had darkened the last two years. At times she | | | Silver-Plated Sol, the Montana Rover. half-decided to leave Bowlder Bar and esenpe the peril which she knew menaced her, but she was of a nature not readily inclined to yield, and she made no real move toward going. Shortly after dark, that evening, she received a note by a Chinese messenger which she pro- ceeded to open and read. It was as follows: ‘*My pear Lots:—I waut to see you at once, on im- portant business. I have heard something new and odd, which you will be pleased to hear, and I can tell you a good deal better here than anywhere else. Please come over at once, for I am alone this even- ing. ETTaba.” There was notbing surprising about the note for ihey often wrote thus, though Ettala was o such an impulsive nature that she usually waited for nothing when she bad news to peyean and Lois at once prepared to obey the call. As none of the family were at band, and she did not expect to remain long, she said nothing about ber destination, but quickly left. the house. She found the streets dark and still. At that hour the greater part of the miners were at supper, and it was the quietest part of the whole time during which the citizens were actually astir. We have said the streets were dark. Only those who have lived, or been, in small places not artificially lighted can understand fully what that means in a cloudy night, but when she was once away from the house, only the oceasional dull lights. from windows of other houses served as guides, Still, she bad no thought of danger, and she walked briskly along toward the post-office. Her pace was not Jong continued, however. As she was passing one of, the small cabins, a man sprung out and clasped her in his arms, while at the same moment one of his hands clused over her mouth, She started violently, filled with sudden fear, but his hold was not to be broken, Against such strong arms her strength availed but little, and the odds were speedily made greater by the coming of a second man, She endeavored to call for aid, to ask for mercy, but the strong grasp over her mouth prevented any utterance, Then she was burried away, half-led, half- carried, Her abductors first pussed bebind the line of cabins, where there was little danger of meeting any one, and then they went on toward the western part of the town, The girl’s mind was filled with the darkest forebodings. Who were ber captors, and what was their object?) She knew she had enemies, but she bad not expected them to make them- selves known in such a way. What was she to expect They passed the village and reached Madrock Ledge. As they began to ascend a suspicion crossed her mind. er chief captor was par- tially behind her, but she glanced at the other, Dimly seen in the darkness, bis figure had the peculiar outline of a Chipaman’s. Her suspicion was confirmed, They ascended the ledge, but paused at the door of Hamed’s bouse. The Chinaman upn- locked the door, and then Lois made a last effort to liberate herself. It was in vain; the hold upon her seemed to be of iron; and she was forced across the threshold. Tbe door closed behind them, and she was a prisoner in the Magician’s lair. The place was dark and silent, but Sing-So soon struck «2 light, and then Lois was released, The man who had lately held her let drop the long coat he bad worn, and cast off his slouch hat, and Hamed stood revealed. For a moment there was silence, Lois looked at the Magician indignantly, but he was proof against all that, and a smile slowly curled his ips. ‘‘ Welcome home!” he said. ‘‘Coward!” the girl exclaimed, ‘Call me father,” he suggested, coolly. ‘‘Never! I deeply regret that nature has placed me so that J must believe it, but the name shall never pass my lips in form of recog- nition. ‘Still obstinate and revengeful!” ‘‘ What would you have?” ‘‘Obedience,” _ : ‘* You will wait for it along time. You lost all claim on me, years ago, when you deserted meand my unfortunate mother, and I am not inclined to renew the bond. You have clearly revealed your band, and I despise you.” ‘‘Talk on, if you will, but be sure you do not lay up food for future misery, You are not in a position to reject friends, and, say what you will, there is no friend better than a father, I had good reasons for leaving Illinois when I did; reasons which I may one day explain to you: and now am anxious for your welfare and success, More than that, lam powerful and by my aid you can escape all the plots of your enemies, Put your trust in me, and you need fear nothing.” **T decline!” Lois declared. ‘* You are ape oe om ‘‘ And what of yourself? What do you call Leall it a means of bringing you to your this abduction?” (EOI OOO KS > a,