Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 345 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

ee i a 5 - < . come to order, we will get down to business at ance,” he said, his yoice ringing out clear and ' inct. In their eagerness to learn the meaning of the mysterious call for a meeting, even the transfor- mation in *‘ the Parson” was lost sight of by the ranchers, and instantly all became quiet, every eye turning upon the tall, soldierly figure of the colonel, VYanderlyn glanced around the spacious room, He saw that the door was closed by Tip Stoke- ley. The heavy wooden shutters had long since been put up at each window. ‘* Before explaining just what induced me to issue this call for a meeting, gentlemen, I beg rour indulgence for a few moments while I out- ine the situation as it now stands on Racka- bout Range. You all know pretty much how it is, but perhaps I can tell you better how we are regarded by outside eyes, thanks to my re- cent trips south and east,’ ‘*T reckon Rackabout Range kin run Racka- | bout Range her own self, kunnel,” ejaculated f one half-drunken ranchero, Vanderlyn frowned slightly, but paid no fur- ther attention to the interruption. ‘¢ You all know that of late there has been more rascality afoot on the Range than of former days, You know that many of us have suffered se- -_—>- —s cle! -_— — S Da eer ar Fi Ps oe _—— —-* te -e oe ae ae: . -—- - — 2 iP PR 6G St a iy : verely from stock-thioves, who have done their Ne work so adroitly that we have failed in every ‘1 | instance to either recover our ish gM or cap- a ture the thieves. Nor is this all; though the fd. thefts have proved by far the most — to us, outside by far the most attention is pai to the vast amount of counterfeit coin now in circulation, and which many do not hesitate to say is first started in circulation, if not actually manufactured, somewhere within the limits of Rackabout Range.” | ‘* Whosays so?” vociferated the individual who . made the former interruption, his face aglow, his heavy fists doubled up and shaking in the air with drunken sanhigeie' A ‘*T kin lick the stuffin’ out o’ any dirty eee as throws mud in the face o’ Rackabout Range! I kin—” Colonel Vanderlyn waved his hand impa- tiently, and the next moment Marsh Stokeley a twisted the excited defender of his beloved a”: Range intoa chair, holding him ees with one hand, while a huge fist was held signifi- cantly under his nose, ‘You want to hold your hush, honey, or meb- be you'll git bad choked when you try to swal- ler that leg o’ mutton,” the giant uttered placid- ly, without the slightest appearance of eg ee / put stolidly in earnest, as all who heard | chew. i - “Tf there were not good grounds for the charge, we could better afford to treat the mat- ter with silent contempt,” added the colonel, < his voice grave and earnest. ‘‘I fear it is an iat ugly fact, though, that we have cunning law- | breakers in our very midst—perhaps those whom we are least likely to suspectassuch. And fear- ing this, knowing that the Governor of the Terri- tory is taking action to bring out the whole facts, I deemed it no more than just and right van to summon you all here to-night, to learn the ee, ts contents of a letter which I received this morn- ing in a rather mysterious manner, and bearing the signature of Masked Mark.” There was an excited stir and a busy hum . among the gathering at this unexpected an- pty nouncement, and the circle about the round table suddenly contracted as Colonel Vanderlyn produced a paper from his pocket, deliberately ‘unfolding it and clearing his voice. ‘tT found this paper pinned to the door of m } - chamber when I arose, this morning,” he said, . quietly. ‘‘How it came there, none of my people could explain, No stranger had been ft seen about the premises, that I could hear of. However, the point that interests us the most closely is the contents. “Tt is directed to me, and then goes on to say, in substance, that the writer, who prefers to maintain his incognito as Masked Mark, the Mounted Detective, until a full and complete understanding is arrived at, has been sent here 8 the governor to ferret out the counterfeiters Pes who have recently been flooding the country _ ~——ss- with spurious coin. He further adds that he believes that he is on the track of the chief criminals, and wishes to meet a committee of our best men, to lay before them his proofs, be- _fore making any arrests, He does this, he says, because so many wild and ridiculous stories have been put in circulation about him and gen- erally believed, that he fears he would have trouble, if not be utterly foiled, should he at- te t to perform his sworn duty without first coming to an understanding with us. _. “He said that he would come to this house ~—s- this evening, to meet the chosen *committee. After consulting with our mutual friend, Jehudi _ fee, if was decided best to summon every man who owned a ranch on the Range to attend, in- stead of selecting a few, believing that all have = equal right to be represented at such a con- bet. erence, ie He ceased ee for a few moments, his i = dark eyes roving keenly over the circle of inter- | ested faces Then he added in a cold, stern voice: (There was still another reason for calling ——— a this gathering to meet the detective sent here by the governor. If the guilty ones are among us, and Masked Mark has proofs as he affirms, what better time to make arrests than when all the honest citizens are assembled together to lend their support to the arm of the law?’ ‘*And to make sure that the plan does not miscarry, no man who has crossed the threshold of this room will be permitted to leave it before the end is reached,” said a harsh, unpleasant voice which all there recognized as that belong- ing to Jehudi Fee, the father of Demas, An ominous silence followed this harsh speech, and the ranchers interchanged quick, suspicious glances, as though each One was trying to divine which among them all was the guilty man, Al- ready the seeds of discord were sown, and men were set against their neighbors as they had never been before. Colonel Vanderlyn could not help noticing — this, and he spoke again, his voice steady and resolute: ‘‘T know it is hard to think that perhaps among those who have been most honored and respected, the guilty ones stand; but I, for one, | pledge myself to know no favor, to permit no | sentiment of friendship to stand between the criminal and the law. If Masked Mark can | make his words good—if he can show that any | man among the present company is really one of Masked Mark, the Mcunted Detective. ee against you, boy!” was the bitter retort. “If my son is cur enough to stay whipped, without _an effort to retrieve his honor J’J] take his place was foully murdered. - threshol the counterfeiters or stock-thieves—I stand ready | ceptible twang, either natural cr admirably as- to aid him in making the arrest or arrests, let who will oppose! ‘* And now, gentlemen, pending the arrival of Masked Mark, whom I firmly believe to be really the legal representative of our governor in this matter, I would like to hear some others give their opinion on this subject.” He fell back, and after a brief hesitation, De- mas Fee moved forward, leaning one hand care- lessly on the table, his bruised face lighted up by a faint smile. ‘*Gentlemen, though I am one of the youngest among you, and though I am a better private than leader, there is one thing I wish to say, to set myself right in my own estimation, even if it is not exactly what the colonel meant by his invitation. ‘* Like more than one among those I see before me, I have made an egregious ass of myself dur- ing the past few weeks, besides doing a neighbor serious Saye in my own mind. ‘*T allude to Mr. Alva Bohee,” bowing toward that personage, with an off-hand politeness that was as manly as it was unexpected to the recip- ient. ‘* Until this evening, I believed he had been playing the part of the mysterious horse- man known to us only as Masked Mark. Never mind what motives I attributed to him; enough that I made a fool of myself in that respect, also; enough that I am now fully convinced of my er- ror, and ask the gentleman’s pardon for my mis- take.” This was still another surprise to the crowd, and as Demas Fee paused to bow again to Alva Bohee, by no means the least astonished of the company, a little buzz ran around the room, Demas laughed shortly, then resumed: ‘Tf IT have no other good qualities to boast of, still I hold that { am an honest man, and assuch, when I become convinced that I have been fol- lowing a wrong trail, I am not ashamed to make the admission. My eyes have been opened tomy mistake—and they were opened by the same fists that closed them in less time and with less trouble than I could have believed lay in the power of mortal man to do.” It*was a generous speech for any man to make, and coming from one who had so bitterly opposed and ridiculed ‘the Parson” from the first day of his appearance on Rackabout Range, the surprise was complete. It was more to at least one of the gathering, and before De- mas could say more, he was rudely pushed aside by, his father, who faced the crowd, his eyes aglow. e was tall, muscular, without a pound of superfluous flesh about his person. His bony face was sternly handsome, his jet-black eyes now flaming with rage, his naturally harsh and stern voice harder than ever as he éjaculated: ‘“Men of Rackabout Range, I never thought the day would come when [ would feel obliged to rise before you to apologize for one of my own flesh. My cheeks are burning with shame for the craven words I have just listened to from the lips of my son. If he was not ashamed to stand before — and give them utterance, I am ashamed for him! * As for you,” and his bony forefinger pointed direct at Alva Bohee; ‘if you have made a whimpe cur out of my son, it is time for the father, old as he is, to uphold the honor of his name! You come of a bad tribe, if the + ye mens sent here have been fair samples of the stock. Your brother was no good before you, though at least he was no hypocrite as you have shown yourself.” J My brother lies in his grave; attack me, if you choose, and I can still make allowance for your gray hairs; but not even old age shall pro- tect the slanderer of my dead!” cried Alva Bohee, his voice clear and menacing, his blue eyes aglow. “*T never have pleaded age as a protection avrainst my enemics—I never will, least of all . derlyn sprung ~». and wipe out the stain or die trying!” Stiffly erect the old man stood, glaring wicked- ly upon the pale face of the man he plainly hated so intensely. Alva Bohee moved a ste toward him, smiling coldly as the other touched a butt of a revolver, his voice cold and cut- ing: ‘*T came here a stranger, because my brother nstead of sympathy, I met nothing but dislike, hatred and ridicu’e from those who, if honest and with clean hands, should have lent me warmest aid in searching for the dastardly criminal. I have gone my own way, submitting to cruel insults until for- bearance has long ceased to be a virtue. Now, : — to fight all who bar my way—and Jight o kill! ‘** As for Masked Mark—” ‘**He is able to speak for himself, I reckon!” CHAPTER XII. A MAN OF NERVE, ‘Tue heavy door leading out into the night swung open, and as a man stepped across Fhe he uttered those words in a clear, re- sonant tone, in which there was a barely per- sumed. Instantly all eyes were turned in that direc- tion, and a sibilous sound ran through the gathering as they recognized in the new-comer the man whom they had been summoned thither to meet—the mysterious horseman who had given himself the title of Masked Mark! For the first few moments all was surprise and wonder, despite the fact that the ranchers had been informed of his intended coming, and they could do nothing but stare at the one whose do- ings, real or suspected, had occupied so many of their leisure hours of late. For many this was the first glimpse they had bad of the strange rider. A few had caught more or less vague glimpses of him at odd times, always mounted on his blood-bay steed, and generally riding at speed; but not one among all those who looked SO ogee upon him now, had ever seen him near or distinctly enough to give anything like an accurate description of bis face or figure. They beheld a man of little more than the medium hight, with a strong and active figure, clad in garments of Western cut, formed for service rather than looks. On his head was a broad-brimmed felt hat, pushed up in front to give his eyes full play, a little fringe of dark- rown hair showing beneath the sweat-band on his forehead. As for the rest of his face, all they could see were the keen, alert eyes them- selves, shining like twin balls filled with fire. The light was sufficiently clear for them to detect the mask which covered his actual iden- tity, perfect though it was after its fashion, It was faulty in only the one respect; it retained its immobility while its wearer was speaking, instead of marking each passing emotion, To this mask the greatest attention was given during those first few moments Ce the abrupt appearance of the man with the hidden face, but there were those STORE the ranchers who noticed the broad leather belt which encir- cled Masked Mark’s waist, and saw that his gloved hands rested significantly upon the butts of heavy six-chooters. It was clear to them that Masked Mark did not propose to trust him- self blindly among them; and that very fact, smacking of danger though it did, bade fair to bring on a collision. Th The low hum of curiosity which first rose among the men of Rackabout Range, grad- ually chan its purport until it became little less menacing than the Pow of a tiger disturb- ed inits lair. Ugly and threatening locks chas- ed away the expression of wondering curiosity. Parted teeth came together with a suddenness that sent a little chorus of clicks around the room, Strong hands dropped to knife-haft or pistol-butt, and eyes flashed redly as they fixed upon the man with the hidden face. There was a storm brewing in the room that might well cause the bravest spirit to fy be- fore it in terror; but though the door still stood open at his back, and a single leap would be quite sufficient to carry him not only out of range, but into comparative safety, Masked Mark boldly faced the gathering, his pistols slipping from their scabbards, their muzzles raised sufficiently to cover the nearest of the ranchers, though his hands still remained at the level of his waist. ‘ Whatever else he might be, it was clear that Masked Mark could not rightfully be accused of a eatery) i ‘ oie ** 1 come w peace in my he entlemen though determined to perform ny duty, let the consequences be what they may,” he uttered, in that peculiar tone of voice which hasalready been noticed. ‘ But if you are resolved to make it war, let the band begin to play just as soon as the leader thinks the proper time has arrived for the ball to open.” With a sharp, commanding cry, Colonel Van- before the crowd, facing them EOmMic ‘S.C *. a i o Vo wt a =< ' — ee eee ee mee P - . 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