Beadle's Dime Library No. 327 — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

~ tt a ae = > ee — ‘the other quite short, apparently a boy. J greeted. Terrapin Dick. a ee ——— ro swering a part of the question. <“‘ A case of jimjams, 1 should guess. Wait here, boys, | parture of the expedition, there had been an and see me catch him and snake him out of | arrival at the tavern. there.” Sam Staley was also greatly pleased by the ‘*There’s another!” arrival; for his new guest was no less a per- pointing up at the bluff. sonage than Judge Meacham, who was al- As the others caught sight of the object | ways welcome at those hostelries in the pointed out to them a shot was fired in that | woods at which he was in the habit of stop- exclaimed Styles, . direction, and the man whom Bob Styles | ping. had discovered fell headlong down the face | With two stout men to row and pole his of the bluff. boat, he had made a quick trip up the river, ‘‘Somebody else huntin’ the skunks,” re- | and was glad to get back into the woods, marked Burnham. | though he could not expect to remain there The shot had an onelstam\emect upon the | long. man below, who ran around more wildly His first inquiry had been for Ben Lawson, than before, and uttered yet more hideous | and Sam Staley had not only informed him yells. | of that young man’s whereabouts, but had Ben Lawson motioning to his companions | given him all the news of the vicinity, which to keep back, unwound from about his waist | had of late been quite exciting. a light line, which was nothing less than the Directly on the arrival of the party that lasso with which he had previously captured | brought in Joe Jeffard, Judge Meacham Antoine Jaunot. made the acquaintance of Ben Lawson, to Stepping swiftly forward, he threw the |-whom he gave a letter from Mary Payson, lasso toward the man, who stood and faced | which the recipient hastily and eagerly him, uttering yells of rage and terror. read. As the noose settled over his head and body |_ His joy'and gratitude when he had finished Lawson quickly drew it taut, pinioning his | it were almost beyond his expression. arms to his sides, and he fell to the ground, ‘This is great news, Judge Meacham,” foaming at the mouth as if in a fit. | said he. ‘‘Mary tells me that you are her It was easy enough then to capture the | uncle, and I can imagine how lad she was prostrate man, whom Lawson had already | to discover such a relative. She also says recognized as Joe Jeffard. that you have promised to do what you can After the capture, however, it was neces- | to help her out of her troubles, and it is no sary to tie him, as he recovered from his | wonder that she was happy when she wrote, swoon, and became more frantic than ever. | as no man can do more in that way than you While the paroxysm lasted he was as strong | can.” as a mad bull, but was utterly weak and ner- ‘That is what I am here for,” responded vous when it had passed away. the judge. ‘‘ I know where Nick Sanders is, In the mean time the party of Maine men | and I believe him to be innocent of the mur- found something else to interest them. der of Mrs. Jardine. | I have decided that it Down the steep bluff two persons were | will be best to take him down the country, scrambling, one of whom was a tall man,and | and let him face his accusers and tell his story. I hope that in that way we may find When they reached the plain they came | a clew to the real murderer.” toward the captors of Jeffard at a rapid gait. ‘*Perhaps we may find The tall man was speedily recognized by | that,” eagerly replied Lawson. the boatmen, as well as by Ben Lawson, and Hemlock Hank was joyfully and noisily it sooner than ‘*] have just ot hold of the man whom | followed from ranston up here into the woods.” ‘* What man is that?” ‘* His name is Joe Jeffard, a French Cana- dian, who has lived several years in the States, avagabond and a thorough scoundrel. the jimjams,” briefly answered Lawson. | He was in Cranston at the time of the mur- ‘* Who's your friend, Hank?” der, and I got on his trail there, because I ‘‘ His name is Abner Sanders, and he is a | had reason to suspect that he knew some- cousin of Nick Sanders, the man you have | thing about that murder, if he was not actu- heard of. He has just tumbled one of the | ally concerned in it. I might have had him Kanucks over the bluff yonder.” before now; but I did not see my way clear ‘Did you see any more of ’em?” inquired | to persuade him to tell the truth.” Jerry Burnham. ‘* What sort of ahold have you got on bim ‘‘Only that one.” now?” ‘Then you have found Nick Sanders,” re-| ‘‘ The fact is that he has nearly murdered marked Lawson. himself with rum. Delirium tremens has a ‘‘Found the hull fam’ly.” strong hold on him just now, and I doubt if ‘‘ How did that happen? he can live long. Perhaps we can work on ‘Well, I kinder dropped onto ’em, as I | his conscience and squeeze the truth out of may say. What are you goin’ to do with) him. I wish you would come and look at this subject?” him.” “lam going to take him to Staley’s, if I| Joe Jeffard had been placed on a pallet on can get him there. He is the very man I | the floor of the sleeping-room of the tavern, have been wanting to get hold of. Ithink | where he was tended and guarded, at the re- he knows something about that Cranston | quest of Ben Lawson, by Hemlock Hank business, and I mean to squeeze the truth | and Jerry Burnham. out of him if I can.” The landlord, who had become very fond ‘“l'm with you there, my boy. Wonder | of Ben Lawson, was willing to do everything how he came to be left alone here. in his power for the comfort even of that “He drank rum until he put himself into | wretch, if by so doing he could please Ben. this fix, and the other skunks deserted him. | Jeffard occasionally had returns of the They have cleaned out the camp, as yousee.” , paroxysms which had seized him in -the ‘Jest so. Hello! hesgittin rambunctious, | woods, and on those occasions he was frantic It'll puzzle us to take him to Staley’s.” and violent, requiring the efforts of two Abner Sanders led Jerry Burnham to the | strong men to restrain him. spot where his victim had fallen from the | As they subsided he would become pass- bluff, and there they found the body of the | ably rational, begging piteously for liquor, Kanuck with two rifles near him, one of | which Lawson had ordered not to be fur- which Burnham recognized as his own, and | nished to him by any person but himself. both of which he seized upon. After awhile, when his appeals were un- It was found necessary to make a litter of heeded, he would sink into a stupor which ‘Who have you got here, and what's the matter with him?” demanded Hank. ‘‘ The leader of the Kanuck gang, and it’s poles and brush for the conveyance of Joe | could not be called sleep. Jeffard, who was too weak to walk except | He had passed into the second stage when when he was seized by his paroxysms, which | Lawson brought Judge Meacham in to see ave his captors considerable trouble at first, | him, and his entreaties became more vehement but became fewer and fainter as they pro- | as his wild eyes rested on Ben. gressed. é ‘“‘Give me some rum!” he feebly exclaim- At best they got on slowly,and the night was | ed. well advanced when they reached Staley’s. to know. If you don’t, | will die here like a CHAPTER XXXVI. | dog, without speaking a word.” SQUEEZING OUT THE TRUTH. awson made no answer, but stood there At Staley’s Ben Lawson and his party met | in silence while his companion examined the a surprise which to some of them was a very | prostrate man. pleasant one. Judge Meacham, who claimed to know ‘‘Give me some rum—you! If you do, I may tell you something that you’ll lad In the afternoon, not long after the de- | something of medicine, felt of Jeffard’s pulse, looked closely at his eyes, noted the condition of his skin and muscles, and asked ia few questions, which the patient was rational enough to answer. Then he beckoned to Lawson, who follow- ed him to another part of the house. ‘‘It is a very bad case of alcoholic poison- ing,” said the judge. ‘‘The man cannot recover. The best resources of medicine, if we had them here, could not pull him through. It is quite likely that he may die within a few hours.” ‘‘Shall 1 give him what he calls for?” ask- ed Ben. ‘‘ Yes—there can be no harm now in feed- ing him liquor. But we must administer it slowly and judiciously, in small doses, so as to brace him up a little and make him comfortable—in fact, to ease him off. But we must make the supply dependent on his telling the truth before witnesses, and he is rational enough to do that if he will.” This programme was carefully carried out by Ben Lawson under the direction of Judge Meacham. He brought into the room ‘ bottle of Staley’s best Medford rum, with such appli- ances as he needed, and awoke the patient, who had then fallen into a stupor. When Jeffard caught sight of the bottle, his eyes brightened, and he began to clamor for drink. ‘“You said a little while ago,” observed Ben, ‘‘that if I would give you some rum you would tell me something that I] would be glad to know. Will you tell it now, if I. will supply you with liquor?” ‘* Yes,” feebly answered the wretch, as he tried to rise. ‘‘Give me the bottle.” ‘‘Not quite so fast. I will manage the bottle and give you the drinks.” Jeffard was raised up and given such a dose as Lawson thought proper, which seemed to please him without satisfying him. But he was no longer willing to tell any. thing. it is about the murder of that old lady in Cranston,” suggested Lawson. ‘‘I am sure that you know all about it, and I want you to tell the truth, for the sake of an inno- cent man who is accused.” **Don’t you wish you may get it?” answer- ed Jeffard with a sneer. Ben knew that the wretch would soon be willing to sell his soul for more liquor, and that he could afford to wait; but he thought that he might as well hurry up matters a little. ‘‘It is my duty to tell you, Joe Jeffard.” said he, ‘‘that you have not long to live, This gentleman—pointing to Judge Mea- cham—‘‘who knows what he is talking about, has told me so.” ‘‘ Was that what he was looking me over for?” inquired Jeffard. ‘* Just for that, and he says that there is no hope for you. All we could do for you here would not keep you from dying, and you may as well make a clean breast of that Cranston business before you go off the hooks. Nothing that you say now can ever be used against you in this world.” Just then the craving* came upon the wretch again, more violently than before. ‘Give me some rum!” hecried, ‘*‘ Quick! They’re coming! Give me some rum to drive them off!” Lawson dosed him again, and he became more tranquil. c ‘‘ Ain't you playing any tricks on me?” he faintly asked. ‘‘ No tricks at all,” answered Ben, too serious a matter for that.” ‘Do you really believe that I am going to die ?”’ ‘* We are sure of it.” ‘*Shouldn’t wonder if you’re right there. I feel that way, myself. Guess I may as well tell. Will you give me plenty of rum if 1 do?” 3$ pee you that.” ‘Will that old gentleman promise, too?” Judge Meacham also promised. Jeffard called for another drink, which was given him. Hemlock Hank raised him to a sitting ture, and he breathed hard as he looked at the judge and Lawson. a All listened eagerly as he»began to speak, and Judge Meacham, who had brought in ‘It is EomMmicbooks.co