Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 346 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

12 | ‘‘T am forced to pay it, sir.”’ | | ‘“‘Then there is the money, so be good \ -enough to make out the note.”’ This the colonel did, and then he counted ; the money and found it correct. ‘‘You made quite a capture at your home , the other day, Colonel Brandt, when you dis- , covered in your guest, Merriman Enrique Erricson, none other than Barton Keys, the Sea Ghoul,” said Rudolpho, and there was a sneer in his tone. ‘‘ Yes, and the fellow deceived the entire town most cleverly; but his Jife of crime will H end now, for within the month he dies.” | ‘He deserves it, sir, if only for the man- ner in which he has deceived zoe and perse- ; cuted your daughter, and the poor tutor, Mr. Carr,” and Rudolpho seemed to take pleasure in giving the colonel hits. + ‘‘My daughter, sir, we will not discuss,” he said, haughtily, and he turned to go, when . Rudolpho continued: i ‘* You have a fine son, colonel, in Master Irving, and one who will make /jhis mark in ¥ the world.” ‘** Yes, he is a fine boy, and has been made a midshipman of late.”’ ‘* Will he give up planting?”’ ** Oh, no, for his duties will keep him on the coast, and he can be often at home; but Ce eee | Iam a little anxious about him now, as he | \ f | sailed for Mobile some time ago, and the ves- | | sel has not been seen, by any i prem, craft, and she was caught in a fearful storm, if you remember.” ht ‘‘The Sea Vulture you refer to?” “<é es.” ' ‘‘J know that there is anxiety felt regard- ing her, for I had a friend sail in her.” Indeed! and they say that she sailed with i ‘ 2 light load and small crew; but then Irving i" is a splendid sailor, and could lend his aid if aan need be, and I hope she will turn up all er bowed the planter out, while he mut- . ‘*T hope so, colonel,” and the money-lend- hy 3 tered: ‘We ‘It is strange that this vessel has not been ae heard from. P” ‘‘T hope she will turn up all right, for it a would be fearful to lose the sweet Rita at | this stage of the game. | ‘‘But now to see the captain,” and Don he Rudolpho went on his way to the city prison. Bo CHAPTER XVII. THE PIRATE’S BEQUEST. i In a cell in the city prison, a perfect vault a in strength and appearance, sat the pirate y prisoner, Barton Keys. a Only a year before he had been a young es man destined as all believed to make a name ae of honor for himself, though he was known . to be a ‘‘little wild.” The son of an aristocratic and wealthy fam- ily, he even then wore the mask of honor, and served Satan well beneath it. ‘aes A man of refinement, accomplishments and Gee distinguished appearance, he had allowed his | love of gold to drag him down to ruin, while his nature, vindictive in the extreme, had ey caused him to turn with revengeful hand Merk against all who stood in his way.. Thus he had slain one successful rival for .the hand of Maud Brandt, and had nearly hanged another lover, Bradford Carr, for the Beiriy \ eee while he had driven to ruin, despair, Re and then piracy, Chester Granger, a third admirer of the beautiful heiress. tl But, in the seeming moment of triumpk, a when he held Colonel Brandt in his power _ through gambling debts, Chester Granger had been, captured by Bradford Carr, forced to confess, and Barton Keys, the murderer, had _ been put under sentence of death. ix But not to die then, for, escaping, he had heen saved from drowning. by Rita, the $muggler King’s daughter, and through her father had become the commander of the pi- rate schooner, Sea Ghoul, in which he had ff again almost successfully sacrificed Bradford 2a arr, and dragged poor Maud down to a life of wretchedness, re, His vessel run down, and himself tracked through all his villainy, and captured, he had now the bitter thoughts of his sinful past alone to brood over, as - sat, ironed to tie floor, in that grave-like cell. ‘“A gentleman to see you, sir,” said the ‘ sae jailer, and in walked Don Rudolpho, as the Bei A eavy iron door swung open, oe Ocean Guerrillas. ‘‘T wish to see the prisoner alone, Jack- son.” ‘*Don, I cannot allow it.” ‘‘Oh, yes, for it is a little story of 1ove I wish to talk with him about. “Here, figure up what this makes by yon- der window,” and the Don handed the jailer a generous number of coins, . The jailer locked the door and retreated to the window, which was only xray paces away, to count over the sum he had re- ceived. ‘Well, captain, these are not pleasant quarters?” and the money-lender shuddered as he glanced around the dismal cell. ‘No, but they are in keeping with my thoughts,” was the moody response of the pirate. “You must not get blue, for you are not dead yet.” ‘‘True, but nothing will buy these men to let me off.” ‘Well, you have one working for you that you may depend upon.” sé fou?” ‘‘No, your little wife, whom you have slighted so, to try and win that heiress, Miss Brandt.” ‘‘By Heaven! once 1am free and I will yet do so,” said the pirate, savagely. Then he asked: ‘‘ Where is Rita?” ‘* She sailed for Mobile two weeks or more, ago, to get the little lugger and her crew in readiness to act, for it had gone there to fit out, and I am doing what I can at this end.”’ ‘*When will she return?” ‘‘She should have returned ere this, and frankly, some anxiety is felt regarding the safety of the ship in which she sailed, ‘* You see, she carried a rich cargo, and I put some men on board of her to take pos- session of her, and what the result is I do not know; but I guess she is all right, for the captain and two or three men were the only ones to overcome, though I now learn that young Brandt sailed in her as a pas- senger.” ‘‘ Indeed! And my wife there?” “Yes; but his going was not known to me until to-day.” ‘* He is a bad one to overcome, Rudolpho, and I hope you sent men enough,” ‘‘] hardly think that | did, for I did not look for his going, and expected the two or three men belonging to the vessel, to be bought over, and tlie captain to be the only one to kill.” ‘‘ And has she not been heard from?” ‘“No; but there was avery severe storm some days after her departure, and that may have blown her off into the Gulf.” ‘“‘T hope it is all right, for I believe that Rita can save me if she tries,”’ “‘T will do all I can to aid her; but, by the way, I learn that you are to be taken on board a cruiser, and will be again searched before you go, so if you have any jewels, or papers about you, that you wish kept, give them to me.” ‘*T believe I can trust you, Rudolpho.” ‘‘T thought that you knew it, captain.” Well, T will be forced to do so; but if I am rescued, it must be before I am taken on : » kan for once there I leave hope be- n Ae “That is true, and if the Lady Rita does not turn up to-day I will take the matter in hand— Ah! this is the bag of jewels you wish me to keep?” and the money-lender took from the hand of the pirate a small buckskin pouch. - OBs,, ‘ And the papers?” “* Here, oad among them is yaa receipt for the jewels 1 have already left in your hands, so you see that I trust you.” ‘‘Yes; but all shall be safe, and when you get free, you have but to ask for them.” “Tf I die, I shall not need them; but I wish you to give them to—” “Who?” asked Rudolpho, as the pirate paused, ‘* Maud Branat.” ‘‘And not the Lady Rita, your wife?” ‘‘ No, for I love Maud Brandt so well that I wish to make her my heiress s0 give all to her. ‘Tf I live, I will seek revenge against her, and all she holds dear; but dead, 1 make her my heiress, so give to her these papers, and this bag of jewels, unopened, only send them to her in such a way that she will not suspect from whom they come.” ‘*T will obey you, captain; but now I must leave, for Jackson, the jailer, is getting ner- vous. ‘*Good-by, and keep up hope.” With this the Don departed, and soon af- ter sat alone in his office, gazing at the sealed package of papers and the buckskin bag given him by the pirate chief, Touching a bell, a youth appeared in an- swer. ‘*Carlo, I wish you to sit there and open that envelope and fittle bag.” ‘“‘ Yes, senor,” and the boy did as he wag directed. ‘* Be careful with both, for I wish to pre- serve the wrapper.” ** Yes, senor,” and the boy slowly untied the strings that held the papers, and then broke the seal. Next he raised the buckskin bag, and at- tempted to untie the strings with his teeth, when suddenly his head sunk forward and he fell upon the floor. ‘‘Good God! the boy is dead, and I feel strangely, oh, so strangely—the papers were potsoned, ‘‘Fresh air! fresh air 1 must have, or die!’ and the man bounded toward the door, open- ed it and tottered out into a little garden into which it led, his hands upraised, his look that < one struck with some sudden, deathlike ness, CHAPTER XVIII. THE DEADLY INHERITANCE, THE sudden illness of the meoney-lender was to him a startling revelation, for it re- vealed the fact that the pirate chief had laid a deep plot to strike after his death, should he die on the gallows, Onee out of the room in the open air, and Don Rudolpho felt his scattered senses and nerves coming back to him, He threw the door wide open, leaving the pure outer air to rush into the room, and hastily stepping within raised the window. In the instant that he was there he felt the same deathly feeling creeping over him as before, but not to such an extent. He glanced at the youth who had opened the fatal package, and saw that he did not move. Locking the door communicating with his outer office, he stood out in the little garden gazing at the prostrate form of the boy with a look of horror. After a while he ran in and took up the package of papers and the little bag and car- ried them outside. Then he bound his kerchief tightly over ue nostrils and mouth, and began to open them, From the package arose a cloud of white dust, more like a mist than. anything else. One paper only had writing on it, and this read simply: ‘To you my inheritance is death. ‘* Barton Keys.” ‘‘ Well, it was nearly so, Sir Pirate, and but for my caution in making the boy open the packages, it would have been. ‘*But Ido not see my receipt here,” he muttered, as he hastily turned the papers over with a cane. Then he opened the little buckskin bag and threw its contents on the ground, at the same time dashing it quickly from him. Enveloped as were his nose and mouth, and out in the open air, he did not feel the effects of the dust arising from the bag, which was a neatly embroidered affair, hav- ng, 96 Vera pockets in it. ut there were no jewels therein, only a few little wave-washed stones, while upon a slip of paper was written: ‘* Pebbles from Witches’ Island—my sole inheri- tance besides my hatred. Barton Keys,” ‘‘Tia! Sir Pirate, this accursed inheritance was meant for me, as well as forthe Lady Maud Brandt. ‘‘T see how it is—you trusted me with the package and the bag, knowing that if I proved false you would hear of my death, before the gallows swung you off, and could chen concoct some other plan of revenge-for ier, ‘When I expected to get my receipt, given you for the jewels you left in my care, and those gems which Y knoe you still Eomichboo <S': v wea ,? * e , 4 7. }.? ae OM = / a Ss - —*% + cre