Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 345 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

i a i i ——— LL Ga 7 “« , a) - Swiftly her tongue rattled away, and there is no saying when the end would have been reached the colonel allowed that nimble member full play. ‘““All right. We're going into the work- room.” ys He turned and repeated his whistle in a loud- 4 er tone, and Demas Fee presently rode up, lead- i ing the colonel’s horse. Ata sign he dismount- 1 Vested ed, throwing the reins over a post near by, then followed Vanderlyn into the house. Without noticing the corpulent old cripple, Vanderlyn passed behind the bar, taking a box of cigars and a couple of bottles of liquor from the shelf. With these under his arm, he nodded for Polly to move along. She understood his temper too well to ine or to ask any questions. Following her lead, - ee re ae — —_—— a Masked Mark. the Mcunted D the two men passed from the bar-room into a | to the oe + et oe .™ : 7 —— OL ---sssssssssstssssesseesssssse es turned out,” the younger man laughed, hardly. Mark is alive and at liberty to make it hot for ‘* If Pll have to bear a part of the consequences, us and the gang!” at least I’m free from the curses, They prop- erly belong to you, my gentle lad!” “It’s no laughing matter, Fee,” was the gloomy retort. ‘*T can tell better when I know more,” signifi- cantly. ** All right!” with a reckless lighting up of his gloomy features, as he leaned back and lit a cigar. ‘‘ You shall know the whole job—as far as I’m concerned. There’s a part of it that I'd give my left hand to fully comprehend! ‘First, you know why Oren Bohee was put out of the way. himself too numerous. He was trying to pry into secrets which did not concern him in the least, and he even went so far as to send word overnor that there were gentlemen ae sort of kitchen and dining-room combined, | within the limits of Rackabout Range who _~—-work. There came two or three sharp clicks as her long finger-nails drew out as many nails | from the wood, and rising, a touch of one foot -caused a portion of the flooring to turn as on a ’ pivot. : Hee, This revealed a dark, pit-like opening, and the Mee hy boards evidently formed the covering toa secret A entrance to the work-room mentioned by the Es colonel. Tee dan The contrivance was aningenious one, Instead of being regular in outline, as trap doors gener- ally are, this one had broken joints at each end, just as a floor is laid, though this portion of the ta room seemed to have been finished with the rem- . nants left over from the rest of the Per: § Fy Polly lit a lamp standing near on a shelf, and <i gave it to Demas Fee, in accordance with the nod of the colonel. The latter said to her: ** You take our horses and hide them close to _ the other opening, Put nosebags on them both, with plenty to eat. Keep your eyes open, andif any one comes to the house, don’t let on that we have returned, unless you know them to be true blue. There’s stormy weather coming, and you'll suffer with the rest if you fail to keep your weather eye open—you understand?” Without stopping for her answer, Colonel Van- derlyn dropped into the opening, stooping low to guard his head as he moved along a narrow tunnel for afew yards. Demas Fee followed after thesame fashion, and held the light while the colonel his hands over a rough door of . +. ¢ oe close-jointed puncheons set in the earth. This ane soon swung open and they emerged into a com- ye paratively spacious apartment, lined and _ceiled 4 ere with hewn timbers, but with a floor of hardly packed dirt. Mees The apartment contained but little in the way _ ~-__— of furniture; a rude table and several stools be- 3 ing about all in that line. In one corner was a rude stone forge of some sort. Near it, and coy- ered over with heavy canvas, were tools and - implements of different shapes, whose uses could cia . only be guessed at without a closer inspection. Me ‘te, ay Directly opposite the door through which they had entered, was another of similar material, saa but so cunningly fitted into the wall that it »-—- would easily escape a casual scrutiny. ae Placing cigars and bottles on the table, the / ——s eolonel kicked a stool up to one side, dropping heavily upon it, his face an ugly representation i a _ of mingled rage, fear, doubt and ferocity as he (ae tug ed at his huge mustaches with blazing eyes | fixed upon the bruised and swollen countenance |. of his companion. “A devil of a fix, isn’t it, old fellow?” he fo. « . growled. ) Pi ot Demas Fee showed his teeth half-defiantly as _ he imitated the example set him by the colonel, / -————s only improving upon it by wee off the top | sof aa _ bottle against the end of the table and : PS _ drinking heartily from the vessel thus opened. a ‘ “How can I tell?” he growied, sullenly, his eh bloodshot eyes spat . ‘“You’ve only half - trusted me. I don’t know just what you ex- ® $e : ed to bring about, but I know that the the hound that downed him, if it takes a leg!” t was it you meant, anyhow?” asked Demas Fee, his curiosity for the moment getting 1 : a a a laugh utterly devoid of any thing like mirth. een Sg d luck, and the devil is surely in it all! |. And T could have taken oath all would work so |. smoothly! I felt so sure that everything was | -- guarded—hell’s blackest curses forever follow FS ee > hand that tangled up the wires I laid so ». . earefully !” , _ He snatched up the bottle and drank greedily, met mI hurling the empty vessel from him with a vio- | —sdence that shattered it into a hundred bits / -—s against the stone forge. | : Ee ‘ - a the upper hand of even his fierce longing for re- By. ic, ‘You kept it a secret from me—” __. ** Because I feared you would let some hint _ drop in a dangerous — when you were - drunk, Ever since that night—ever since Oren _ Bohee went over the range—you’ve been losing * *, ‘ | ss your real nerve, and seeking itin drink. I was » -—-— afraid to let you in on the ground floor, until | after the work was done.” _ * Well, ’'m not sorry, the way things have —_— ———— where the living skeleton sunk upon her knees | would prove well worth a special examination in one corner, her long, bony fingers busily at | by the minions of the law—you know this, old fellow?” shade or two paler, as though the thoughts awakened were far from pleasant. ‘Let the rest of it pass, then, came Alva, and if he pulled the wocl over most eyes, he didn’t altogether over mine. I knew that he was playing the same sort of scheme as his brother, though after a still more dangerous fashion.” re by did you hold my hand, then, to-day, when I had him foul and was ready to down him for good and aJl?”’ snarled Demas. ‘Partly tosave you from a troublesome in- vestigation, and serps lynching picnic, but mainly because I believed that the Parson was certainly doomed, after a fashion that would leave our skirts entirely clear of smut or stain. ‘* Now you must know that I held Dike Rob- erts under my thumb so securely that he only drew breath with my permission. Never mind just what that hold was; enough that I had it, and he was ready to obey my slightest wink or nod so long as I kept his secret to myself. Only for that hold, my boy, he’d have openly favored the Parson when he came courting the girl, and have sent you off about your business with a flea in your ear.” ‘* I don’t believe it!” ‘* Ali the same, it’s gospel truth. Asa partial proof, I had only to tell Dike Roberts that he must solve the mysterv of this infernal Masked Mark for me, to set him to work. He lost no time, and only the day before yesterday he came to me with a very interesting report. ‘““He had discovered the place the Mounted Detective used for his dressing-room! In proof, he brought with him the same cfinning mask which you saw your father take from his dead face only a few hours ago!” ‘*T thought he couldn’t be the real Masked Mark!” muttered the younger rascal. ‘‘ You meant for him to play the part the simon-pure Masked Mark played with Alva Bohee?” ‘You've hit the center, Demas, first shot. We had a talk together night before last, and another last night, when the full details were arranged. He was to send me the message I read to the men. I prepared his papers for him so that the square portion of the company wouldn’t smell a mice. I felt sure that I would be selected as one of the committee; your father was to be another; and with Dick Morton, even if the old man should suspect something, we could overrule him.” ‘* Then father wasn’t in the game?” ‘No, You know that. He’s not an angel for meekness, nor a lump of sugar for sweet- ness; but when it comes to bull-headed honesty, the old gent is all there!” en re Vanderlyn, with a thinly-disguised sneer in his tones. ‘‘ Better for us if we were more like him!” muttered Fee. Vanderlyn frowned a little at this evidence of what he deemed weakness, but was wise enough to let it pass without making any comments. ather of the girl I mean to make my wife has | In that critical stage of the game, he could not ie.7: 2 _ been killed. And I know that I'll get even with | afford to run any risks of alienating an ally. ‘*From what happened up-stairs, you can ‘“Your neck is in greater danger than your | readily guess the programme as we laid it out. , old fellow,” laughed the colonel; but it was | From first to last—until Masked Mark took his departure with Alva Bohee in irons, a prisoner —everything went off exactly as we planned it: and I had not even the ghost of a doubt that all was well until those fellows brought Dike Rob- erts inside, a dead man!” ‘You say you discussed your plans twice over; where at?” ‘*Once in my own room, the last time—last night, that was—near your house, in the grove.” ‘* And there you made the first false step, of course! Some one must have overheard you cote a doubt the real man with the hidden ace!’ ‘Tt may be,” slowly, ern Sle . “That is the easiest way to explain the affair, I admit, and yet—I can’t bring myself to believe it! We were so careful and took so much pains to keep to ourselves, that—” ** What matter?” with a hard laugh. “It did leak out, and as a consequence Dike Roberts is dead ; Alva Bohee is out of our reach; we are at least suspected of crooked work by Barry Car's- worth and Frank Dymock; and the real Masked etective. will create but little sensation and work still | | ) i ose Aa “e 4 Y Fea a j Colonel Vanderlyn knocked the neck off the other bottle, and took a drink. He pushed the bottle across to his comrade, then spoke, his voice hard and full of meaning: ‘** He don’t want to wait too long, or his blow less harm!” ‘What do you mean by that?” ‘*That this old rookery has served its time. That it will almost certainly go up in smoke be- fore it is a day older. That coining has gone out of fashion on Rackabout Range for a time. For one thing, he was making | That not one of the gang will dare peach on an- i ; ' never rise to impart the information. Demas nodded, his bruised face turning a | those who had a hand in his removal are asses After Oren, | } | of remorse or even crime. _ sive face, would have detected the slightest sign other, when he knows that death will surely fol- ” low such talk. Is that plain enough for you to understand my meaning?” ‘* But—there’s Oren Bohee!” with a shudder. ‘He is dead, and the grave covers his body. He never lived long enough to tell how he met his death, and I’m dead sure his corpse will And if enough to let out their secret, they richly de- serve the rope.” Steadily, coldly he spoke. None who heard him then, or who could have watched his mas- If he really mur- si Oren Bohee, his nerve was truly remark- able. ‘Tf it wasn’t for Jes—if it wasn’t for the death of the old man, after such a strange and unaccountable fashion !—I’d feel tempted to take a trip oe eee for the good of my health!” wile Demas Fee, moodily staring at the amp. ~ Not until we can see further ahead of us, my man!” and Colonel Vanderlyn leaned across the table with fiery eyes fixed on the bruised face of his confederate. ‘‘ You’ve got to see this thing through before bolting. ah! that would be the very worst step you could take! They would spot you certain! ) ‘If I only knew who it was that so cunning- ly carried out the plans I laid! _ If I only knew | that, I'd ask no odds for the rest of the game. But I can’t guess—I’m all atsea. I at first sus- pected perhaps it was one of thoss two—Carls- worth or Dymock; but they were both with us when that demon showed himself there on the top of the J ey Br ” ‘Mightn’t it be Alva Bohee?” hesitated De- mas Fee. ‘* ‘Who arrested himself? Bah!” laughed Van- a ‘“T mean, mightn’t there be two or three playing the same part. They might have kill- ed Roberts, brought him near here, as the trail showed, then one stayed by him while the other played the part we saw. Then, when once out of sight, couldn’t he have sent off Bohee alone, as asked Mark, and come back to aid the third in carrying out their little game?” Intensely excited grew Demas Fee as this tru- ly intricate scheme unfolded itself bit by bit to his imagination. And improbable as it really was, Colonel Vanderlyn showed that it struc him as at least possib e. “It may be!” he exclaimed hoarsely. ‘If I only knew the one who played Masked Mark— if 1 could only know that—” Even as the words passed his lips, the door through which they had entered the ‘subterra- nean apartment was flung wide open, and a fig- ure stood revealed—the figure of Masked Mark, the detective—with bright eyes glaring at them through the cunning mask, and over the barrels of a brace of leveled and cocked revolvers! “T did! I played that role, Colonel Victor Vanderlyn!” Sharp and clear came the words, with that peculiar twang which they had noticed when they heard Masked Mark declare his intention of arresting the chief of the crooks of Racka about Range. “TI played that part, and I’ve come back to rectify the mistake I made in arresting the wrong person. Hold!” with a deadly sternness, as the two men _ partially recovered from their half-stupor. ‘Touch a weapon, and I'll riddle you like—” With a savage, choking cry, Colonel Vander- lyn swept the lamp to the floor, where it shat- tered and went out. He leaped to one side, to avoid any shot, then dashed for the other door, of which mention has been made—only to reel back in horror as it swung open and a brilliant, light filled the room! Standing in the door was another Masked Mark! And on his mask they saw blood-red stains. Over his heart was a broad, gory blotch, just as they had seen on the bosom of Dike Roberts! Demas Fee reeled and staggered back, hoarsely : - gasping ‘“Tt’s Roberts!—alive, or his ghost!” And in answer there came a low, mocking laugh! CHAPTER XVIII. HOW THE TRAIL FOR VENGEANCE ENDED. Ir some of those who followed the lead of | i Barry Carlsworth and Demas Fee from Stoke- y + Hes ley’s to prove the truth of the strange story told \ (E@) ALCS ? re hue eee ee tem OO lr 6