Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 345 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

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I want to know what excuse he or they can give for cutting his life short. questions.” ‘*We do not dispute your right to ask them, and even were your Claims less just, I, for one, would think twice before denying a re- | uest couched so honestly and calmly,” replied arry, cordially. ‘* But first, tell us what was meant by the statement that within the past half-hour Masked Mark was here—that he de- rted with Alva Bohee, our friend, a prisoner? Surely there must be some terrible mistake in all this!” ‘If so, we are not accountable for it,” was the grave reply. ** Masked Mark—or one who claimed to be Masked Mark, a regularly ap- gin representative of the governor—came ere to meet us, according to appointment. ‘You received an invitation to be present, I be- lieve?” Both Carlsworth and Dymock bowed, grave- ly, silently. ** He kept his face hidden, by just such a mask as the one father removed from that face,” shuddering slightly as he glanced down the still, pain-distorted face of the dead man; ‘“‘ but he showed us documents that seemed authentic, giving him power to arrest any and all persons whom he might find guilty of counterfeiting or stock-stealing. He arrested Alva Bohee, de- claring him the head and front of the gang of crooks. He handcuffed him, and took him out that door. We heard the sound of his horse’s feet as he rode off with his captive. We were still discussing the matter when you came bear- ing him with you—if not the Masked Mark we met here, his exact copy in every respect!” Masked Mark, the Mo And to you, Barry Carlsworth and | Frank Dymock, as the men who brought his | lifeless body here, | turn for answers to those | i / es 7 . ‘ ws at this announcement, though they must have anticipated something of the sort, with the dead man lying on the table before them. Barr waited until silence was restored, then resumed: ‘* When we made this discovery, we forgot all about the animal or whatever it might be in the coulee, and stole on to reach the grove first, in- tending to hold Masked Mark up and carry him here to unmask him before you all. But before we or he gained the grove, a horseman dashed out of the head of the coulee, with a loud yell, commanding the other man to hold up his hands, but firing as fast as he could pull trig- rer. ‘** And in this second horseman,we saw the very counterpart of the first one! There were two Masked Marks, both mounted on dark horses, bothing wearing masks, unless the moonlight deceived us!” Barry Carlsworth ceased speaking, for his voice was fairly drowned by the excited cries and exclamations which burst from the ran- chers at this startling declaration. Of all who listened, Jehudi Fee alone seemed unmoved, and it was his hard, cold tones that called the crowd to order. ‘*Silence, men! Let the gentleman finish his story, and then you can make your comments after the fashion that pleases you best. Si- lence!” It was like a douche of ice-cold water. The wild cries and ejaculations died away, and si- lence once more reigned in the room. Barry Carlsworth quietly resumed his strange story. ‘** You can imagine something of our amaze- ment, from your own feelings, gentlemen. For myself, I was literally stricken dumb and mo- tionless. I seemed to be in a wild, reasonless nightmare, unable to move a foot or lift a hand. And, in good truth, there was little time given either of us for interfering, had we wished ever so badly to do so. ‘* The first rider drew rein as the second rider dashed out from cover and opened fire upon him. Then he threw up his arm and fireda single shot; but it was enough, for we saw the second rider drop his gun, throw up his arms, then fall from his saddle to the ground. ‘*That sight seemed to break the spell that bound us, for I cried out, and I heard my voice The two young men who found themselves | mingling with that of my friend. The victor in laced in such a strange, if not dangerous, posi- ion, interchanged grave and troubled looks. . ‘Then Barry spoke again: s escape us. } We were moving silently along to where I _ directly for the grove. ‘*There is a strange, dark mayeeey. lying be- meath all this, and 1 very much fear that the whole truth lies buried in the still brain of Dike Roberts?!” ‘* Possibly; but you have not yet answered the questions I asked you,” sharply interposed Demas Fee. ‘** Tell them all, pard,” curtly uttered Dymock. “* It will be the quickest way to get on the trail of the cunning rascal who has played such a bold game—for game it must be! Alva Bohee is as innocent of wrong or crime as the unborn this curious duel also heard us. I suspect, for he at once turned tail and rode away as fast as his animal could carry him, ‘*T cried out to Frank to follow and take him in, then ran to get my own mount. When I came out of the grove, I saw Frank draw rein and leap down beside the fallen man.” ** Because as I came up, he called out to me for help, and I could not pass by such an appeal. He said he was dying,” tersely supplemented Frank Dymock. ‘* Well, I dashed past, thinking that Frank could attend to him as well as both of us, while I might possibly overtake the one who had laid him out so neatly,” said Carlsworth, quietly. babe. And if he has been carried off by a ‘*I kept on the chase for a good mile, but masked man, it is for some vile and treacherous | then drew in, seeing that I was only wasting purpose, rather than to vindicate the laws.” time that might be better employed. He was **As you and I will prove with the last drop | going three feet to my two, and was already of our heart’s blood, mate!” echoed Barry, as | almost out of sight, heading for the broken their strong hands came together in a firm | ground to the north, where I knew he could grasp. easily give me the slip in the night. _ Barry Carlsworth faced the company, his ‘Convinced of this, I rode back to the grove, face calm and com , his voice clear. and | where I found Frank, doctoring the masked Steady as he began his story: man as best he could. I say masked, for his ‘Friends and neighbors: in common with | face was still covered, and when I whispered to the rest of you, we were notified of this meeting | him, asking if he had made out who he was, the and agreed to be present, though no hint of its | fellow himself answered me, his voice a curious object was given us. In good time I setout, and | mixture of pleading and menace. ‘would have been here with the earliest, but for “He begged that he might be permitted to a series of curious events. es Ma secret yet a little longer; it could do us ‘*T had agreed to meet Frank where our trails | no harm, and it would make his death a little ‘would come into one, which you all know is| easier if we would humor his whim. near the Jump-off. The one who reached there ‘While he made this plea, I tried to place him was to wait for the other, and when I saw | by his voice, but either it was cunningly dis- nothing of Frank, I stop under the little ised, changed by coming through the grove of trees at that point, and lit a fresh | mask, or altered by the near approach of death; cigar. for long and intimately as I have known Dike ‘I had hardly done this when I caught a} Roberts, I never once suspected that it could be faint glim of something moving along the | him. Nor did I know who the man really was, ‘bottom of the shallow coulee, just ahead. until you, Mr. Fee, removed the mask and let could not make it out with anything like cer- tainty, but fancied it a wolf or perhaps a moun- ‘tain lion. I remember thinking that if it did not disappear before Frank came, we would bounce it out, and if a wolf, have a little spin over the level in chase; if a lion—well, we might ‘take it into camp, if it didn’t make too pointed objections. ‘** With this idea in mind, when I first caught sight of Frank riding along the edge of the shadow cast by the Jump-off on the level, I slipped out of the saddle and ran along to warn him, afraid the animal, as I took it to be, might take alarm at the sound of his hoof-strokes and lJeft my nag, when Frank caught sight of a horseman coming from the west, heading almost And by the bright light of the moon, we distinctly saw and plainly re- cognized the man who has caused so much ex- citement on Rackabout Range of hate—Masked Mark, the Mounted Detective!” There was a low murmur among the ranchers the light fall upon his face!” ** You granted his request, then?” ‘As that of a dying man, we did,” was the grave reply. ; ‘** He was shot aT On the left breast. It was impossible that he could long survive. Indeed, it was a marvel to me that he ever drew a con- scious breath after receiving that heavy ball so Spe to his heart, let alone lasting as long as he id! ‘We told him that he was dying, and begged him to explain what it all meant—to confess why he had ambushed the other Masked Mark— to make a clean confession of the whole per- plexing mystery, in short—but he flatly refused to do so at that time, at least. ‘He said that he had passed his word to join the meeting at Stokeley’s, and he begged us to take him there, dead or alive. He said that he had a stern duty to perform before he could die; that he must speak the truth before all those gathered at Stokeley’s, who could bear witness to his confession when it was ended and the time of need came for it. |, unted Detective. ** We told him that it would be impossible for him to live long. enough—that any attempt to remove him from that spot would surely hasten his death; that he had better tell us all he had to say, and we would see that his last wishes were carried out to the very letter.” Barry paused, his keen dark eyes fixed upon the pale face of Colonel Victor Vanderlyn, who just then made a sudden move forward. And there were those in the gathering who saw that the hands of the two friends moved toward their revolvers, CHAPTER XV. HOW A CORPSE KEPT ITS APPOINTMENT. Was Colonel Victor Vanderlyn one of those who saw the movement made by those hands? And did he rightly interpret the meaning thus conveyed? It may be; and yet, if he had really intended trouble, he Rovered his change of pur- pose with a rare tact. He hesitated, paused, brushing one hand across his pale face, pushing down his collar as though he was choking. A muttered word or two fell from his lips, and turning abruptly to the coun- ter behind which Clem Stokeley kept his liquors, very limited as to variety, butin great abund- ance, such as it was, he passed behind the bar and helped himself to a full tumbler of undiluted whisky. He swallowed this ata gulp, and repeat- ed the dose without pausing to catch his breath. Then a long, free breath broke from his lungs, and he came from behind the counter, saying in a natural tone of voice: ‘*So much mystery made my throat feellikea red-hot lime-kiln! arsh, slide into office and give the gentlemen what they prefer— want something I am sure they do, judging from my own sensations!” The slow-moving giant obeyed as promptly as his nature would permit, and a number of the ranchers were prompt enough to improve the oc- casion. And each one of those who drank, as soon as his liquor was swallowed, fell back to positions near the colonel. Was it chance, merely? Neither Barry Carls- worth nor Frank Dymock believed so, and with a quick interchange of glances they drew closer together, evidently prepared to make the best of what could hardly prove otherwise than a bad situation. During the intermission thus brought about, the strange narrative was broken in upon, the two friends standing on one side of the table where the corpse of Dike Roberts lay. Almost opposite to them stood Demas Fee, his bruised face looking livid under the lamplight. In their front stood Jehudi Fee, his long arms folded over his breast, his stern, brilliant eyes riveted upon them as though doubting each word they utter- ed, and only waiting the proper time for tearing the mask from their faces, even as he had re- moved that from the face of his old friend, the squatter of Rackabout Range. This was the situation when Colonel Vander- lyn spoke: ‘* Of course confession, which you took down, witnessed, signed, sealed, swore to, and as soon as he con- venientl died, you hastened hither to deliver, Is that the programme, gentlemen?” His tone was insolent, to an even greater de- gree than his words, and some among the gath- ering, knowing that the partners were both brave and quick-tempered men, moved hastily out of line, as though anticipating an interchange of hot lead. Instead, Barry Carlsworth coldly replied to the colonel, as though a perfectly legitimate question had been asked: ‘‘He refused to make anything like a confes- sion—just then. He said he was determined to live until he could tell his story to the crowd as- sembled here, waiting for his coming. He said that he could not die without first clearing up all the mystery, so far as he was concerned tia had so excited Rackabout Range. If he should, he knew he could never lie easy in his grave.” The speaker ceased with these words, and his dark eyes rested on the face of the colonel, as though waiting for any further questions he might think fit to put; but there came none. The hard, defiant air assumed by the ex-soldier grew perceptibly softer, and the color began to come back into his face. Was this because he dreaded to hear that Dike Roberts had made a full admission, or was it simply the effects of the double dose of strong liquor which he had swallowed? ehudi Fee made an impatient gesture, .** You are drawing OF ca explanation to an unconscionable length, Mr. Carlsworth. One could almost believe you were troubled to find the exact terms you think would best suit your purpose,” The young man flushed hotly as he felt the isoned sting hidden within these cold words, ut he maintained a firm grasp on his passions, and would not suffer them to get the upper hand, even for a moment. v6 My nerves are not made of steel, Mr. Fee, and blood flows in my veins, instead of ice- water. If the events of this nizht have dis- turbed and shaken me, they have not made any difference in the plain facts, and however illy (E ou convinced him—he made a full - + Mine 0/0 )) . A bs a he a ws i ; -_—2 a TA FS = a » PS ee) ee “@e" - ~ ~ 7 Ps