Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 332 — page 29: what you’re looking at

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

mh ota —— 2 ~ Spe ome ~ es Spring-Heel Jack. 29 It had the indescribable sound that tells that there is no one near to answer the knock. And indeed no one came, though George knocked again and again, for nearly five minutes. Then at last a man put his head out of a window, up near the roof, and shouted out: ‘‘’?Oo’s ’ere, at this time of morning? Get hout of that, ye impident raxals!” ‘* You come down ’ere, if you don’t want to get in trouble,” shouted back the orderly, for George made him a sign and kept out of sight himself in the recesses of the great doorway. ‘‘Don’t ye know enough to come down, or dy’e want to keep his majesty’s officers awaitin’?” The stern voice, and the sight of the scar- let uniform below, had its effect on the head at the window, for there was a frightened ‘‘Oh Lord!” and the head disappeared. Not long after, they heard a step on the stairs; and Jarvis himself, the gorgeous flunky, made his appearance, looking flur- ried, as he recognized the duke. ‘‘Where’s Mr. Howard?” asked Howard sternly. ‘‘ Indeed, your grace,” said Jarvis, tremb- ling as if frightened ‘‘ master’s been hout all nig it, and only jest got in, sir, and went to bed, and it’s as much as my life’s worth to disturb ‘im. Please don’t say you want to see ’im.”’ ‘‘Was any one with him when he came home?” Howard asked, in the same stern, quick way. ‘*Please your grace, there warn’t no one but Mr. Spring, as brought ’im ’ome and took care of ’im.” George studied the face of the flunky, and saw that he was dreadfully frightened at something or other, so he said sternly: ‘* Show me the way to your master’s room at once, and if you try to alarm the house, or prevent my going there, I'll kill you with as little remorse as I would a mad dog. Lead on.” As he spoke, he drew a pistol and cocked it, with a sound that sent the cold tremors down the back of the luckless Jarvis, who said at once: ‘‘ Certainly, your grace, with pleasure; I'll do it, at once, but, please, don’t p’int that thing this way, ‘cause it might go hoff, sir.” George waved the pistol in a way that terrified him still more, saying: ‘*Go on, and don’t look back, or I'll shoot.” Jarvis shook all over, but obeyed with alacrity, and led the way through the broad hall, and up the great stone staircase, which George had last descended at the funeral of his kinsman, till he pointed to a door, and said in a whisper of great terror: ‘‘“That's the place, your grace; but I daresn’t do no more, not if you kill me. It’s jest as good to die one way as another.” George nodded absently. ‘*Get out of the way, then,” he said, and then to his orderly he added: ‘‘Draw your sword and follow me.” The man obeyed, with the stiff manner of the old soldier, and George put his hand on the door, turned the handle, and opened. He saw before him a large room, magnifi- cently furnished, with a great state-bed in the middle, and by the bedside, fast asleep in a chair, sat his own orderly, John Spring. But in the bed, with his head swathed in bloody bandages, lay the man he had come after, and, as George entered the room, Oliver Howard opened his eyes and saw him. George stepped in and pointed to the unconscious Gypsy, who, from his heavy breathing, was evidently drunk and stupid. ‘‘ Jackson,” he said to the soldier by his side, ‘‘if that fellow gives any trouble, remember that he is absent without leave, and cut him down if he offers to make trouble. You know who he is?” Jackson, saluted, with a grim smile. ' ‘*Ay, ay, your grace, 1 know the man. That’s the sy that ‘ad to be hironed t’other — hat a impident raxal to come in ’ere!”’ ‘“Take care of him, then,” said George, and then he turned to the man in bed, who had made no movement all this time, but lay a i eee oOo there, staring at him, as if he had not quite recovered his senses. ‘Now, sir,” he said sternly, ‘‘it is a ques- tion if you or I own this house. Are you prepared to argue it with me, or are you only stuck to what I had, and not been rash, I might have had fun enough for the next three years to make me ready to die con- tent.” ‘‘And do you mean to say that you have better prepared to go before his majesty’s | done all these things for nothing in the courts, to answer for your pranks as Spring- | world but amusement?” asked George in Heel Jack? last,” Still Oliver made no reply. He tried to | You have been found out at | amazement. i ‘‘ Ay, ay,” the other almost whispered, for he was growing very weak now. ‘‘ That £ A) raise his hand to his head, and opened his was all, that was all, till I saw you and Rose mouth, but the lips seemed dry, and at last he managed to whisper hoarsely: “Drink drink! I’m chokin’, man!” Reid were getting thick together. Then I was bound that you should never marry her, and never have an heir. I wanted to be George cast his eyes round the room, and | duke; and after I got the fortune, it was saw, on a little table, not far off, the array of bottles and glasses, that smacked of a late debauch. He went there, took a bottle, filled a glass with wine and water, and brought it back to the invalid, who drank it eagerly. Then Oliver said, in a louder voice than before, but still very weak: ‘‘Send the men out of theroom. It’s all over. You have the luck, after all, George.” He seemed so weak that George was puz- zled, but he did as requested by roughly shaking the sleeping Gypsy, and shouting in his ear: a e Spring, get out of this; do you hear me ” Spring started awake in a fright, and as he saw the face of the officer who had been his chief but lately, and then turned his eyes round the room, on all the magnificence, he seemed to be bewildered, but finally got up and shambled out of the room, followed by Jackson, who seemed as if he only wanted a chance to get at him, out of sight of the gentlemen in the room. No sooner had the door closed than they heard sounds of blows outside, and then came a fall, as the irate Jackson, who had suffered from the Gypsy’s fighting abilities when he had come home drunk, on a former occasion, anxious to get even with him, made a sudden and furious attack on him with the flat of his sword, and knocked the Gypsy senseless, so as to save further trouble, before he could defend himself, in his almost help- less condition. But George had no time to attend to any- thing that took place outside of the room, for he was too busy inside. Oliver, as soon as the door had closed, be- gan in a low, faint voice: ‘‘T know what you come for, and it’s all right; you won't have to wait long. I know what you’ve found out. Mathias Spring was here last night to tel] me, and if it hadn't been for that pistol of yours, /’d have been Duke of Norfolk to-day. But you’ve had the best of it all through. I give in at last.” He was evidently weak and prostrate, and George, filled with pity, when he saw his foe helpless and remembered that he had thought this man his brother, asked wist- fully: “Oliver, why have you played all these wicked tricks, and why have you, especially, played them on Rose Reid?” Oliver smiled faintly but sarcastically, as if he delighted in thwarting the curiosity of the man who had got the better of him. ‘‘That’s nothing to you,” he said. ‘‘ You are no brother of mine, as you have often said, and I have known it all the time. If you had died, I should have been the Duke of Norfolk, in spite of all; but as you live, and I am too weak to sign my name to a will that gives away my property, et will succeed to it, and people will say that your brother did the best he could for you, after all. You hit me hard last night, and I am not one that believes in doctors; but brother John there (my real brother) told me that the shot was sure death, and since that, we two only thought of how to live a short life and amerry one. We got home and drank three bottles, and now you will be the Duke of Norfolk, with all the fortune, in a few hours.” George saw that he was speaking the truth as soon as he examined the wound. The big bullet of his dueling pistol had enetrated the breast of the young man on he left side, not far from the heart, and the only wonder was how he had managed to get off, when he made his leap into the boat. “ Ay, ay,” said Oliver, with a faint, proud smile, as he said this, ‘‘ there ain’t many men could have played: Spring-Heel Jack; and there will never be another, George. If I'd _—--—- --.o.o.o.e.'-'--— ---— —-—-_— + aes ——— worse than before. What is the use of being a rich man, if another man can goin to din- ner before you and be called duke. I was determined that I would be duke, before | died, and that was the reason I went after Rose, this last time. If I had succeeded, and those confounded soldiers had not come when they did, I should have killed her, and you would never have fon over it. But now ‘t is all over, and | have made no will, and you will soon be the richest duke in England. I say, George—” ere he paused, and the reckless look faded out of his face. ‘“Well?” asked George coldly, for he could not feel much pity for one who had wronged him ¢o foully. ‘‘Let me be buried as a Howard, at least. Remember that I might have killed you, the other night, and I didn’t.” ‘And why didn’t you?” ‘“Because—well, you won't believe it, but it is a fact that, when I was just going to strike you down, Aaa | tola me that you were the only brother I had ever known, and that I ought to be ashamed of myself for do- ing it. Besides, remember that, if you don’t bury me as your brother, the property won't go to you. The Romany have seen that it’s all hard and fast, that way.” ‘‘ You may be sure of that,” said George, in a bitter tone. ‘‘ The will of my old kins- man has settled that. Yes, you shall have your wish, if that will do you any good.” The face of the dying man—for he was dy- ing fast—lit up at the promise, aid he whispered: ‘‘] was not fit to be taken into the family. The Romany blood won’t make a rye, and the more I tried, the worse it was. But 1 can die like the best rye of them all, and the world won’t never know but what 1 was @ gentleman.” And it never did. A stately marble monu- ment marks the resting-place of the Rom- any heir, and long years after, when Rose was Duchess of Norfolk, and George the richest, as well as the premier peer of En- cere he was often known to say to his wife: ‘Poor Oliver was not so bad, after all, and he might have done a great deal worse than he did, when he had everything his own way.” THE END. DIME DIALOGUES AND SPEAKERS FOR SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS AND HOME ENTERTAINMENTS. Dialogues, Nos. 1 to 31 inclusive, 15 to % popu lar dialogues and dramas in each book. Each vol- ume 100 pages 12mo., Speakers, Nos, 1 to %4 inclusive. Each speaker 100 pages 12mo, containing from 50 to 75 pieces, YOUNG PEOPLE'S SERIES. Dime Book of Winter Sports. Dime Book of Summer Athletic Sports. Dime Gents’ Letter Writer. Dime Book of Etiquette. Dime Book of Verces. Dime Book of Dreams. Dime Ladies’ Letter Writer. Dime Lovers’ Casket, Dime Ball-Room Companion, Dime Book of 100 Games. Dime Chess Instructor. Dime Book of Beauty. t" The above books are — newsdealers everywhere, or will be sent, post- to any ad- dress, on receipt of price, ten cents each. BEADLE 4ND Apams, Publishers, 98 William st., N. Y. ICO eom cS (E (ECO) — = ———— ee