Beadle's Dime Library No. 351 — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

ee ee oy ye ——m - emt a — i ae a} - , to play me false, “the idea of marrying ‘ q # (7 3 ave ie] é a =a! : ra P { . % 7 OF a 2 ¥ . ay a e € « = a, ’ > 4 4 1. ; i t, @ ‘ PY : a e — . ? . ’ But the black eyes met his gaze unflincbinzly. In their depths he could r ad naught save fidelity and devotion to him, such as few women are capable of showing. ‘“‘T have been blind as a bat for not recognizing our full merit before this, my girl,”’ he said, reach- ing across the table and ciasping her hand, much as he would have shaken that of a trusted man with whom he had just completed an alliance. ‘itis not too late yet. You shall help me play this hand out, and we will divide the stakes equally.” ‘*Say share them together, Saint—that is better,” —quietly. fo “Allright. Shareitis. But as I was saying— “Years azo, Dan Brown dealt me a blow over which he crowed loud enough, little thinking that it sealed his own doath, none the less surely because the stroke has been delayed. The full details donot matter; it would make the story too long, and I am not level-headed enough to-night to bear the repeti- tion, even if there was anything to be gained by it. ett was up in Wyoming. Dan Brown played a double-hand. He stocked the cards, and when the limit was reached he raked the pot. My father and brother were in the gama, ond through that demon they lost theirlast stake. Harry was dropped in his tracks as he went in to get even, but my father was taken prisoner, though shot all to pieces. He was strung up, after what they called a trial, but he died ame. He was old, his head was white as snow, he ad scarcely blood enough left in his veins to breathe above a whisper, but even on the gallows they could not conquer him. When they bade him pray, he laid his curse upon Dan Brown and left a legacy to me— bidding me avenge his death and the death of his son Henry. ‘It was nearly a year before the word came to me, for I was far away, working another lead, then, but | buried his legacy in my heart, and set out to find Dan Brown “T found him at last, and though [ did not forget the vow I had taken, I held my hand forthe mo- ment, for I saw that I could do double duty by wait- ing. Icould have killed him time and again, but I had brooded over the death of my kindred for so long that a simple death would not satisfy me. I wanted to find out the soft spots in his heart, and strike him where he would feel it the most acutely, before dealing the finishing stroke.”’ His voice grew hissing, the creat veins started out on his temples, his face flushed hotly, and he seemed choking. He poured out another glass of brandy, then gulped down the powerful liquor. He turned abruptly toward the woman, who was leaning far over the table, listening ea<erly, her dark eyes were: blazing and her breath suspended. He stared at her fixedly for a moment, a growing suspicion in his eyes. Though he had no excuse for doubting her perfect fidelity, the troubled life he had led from early youth rendered him distrustful even of her. | a “Never mind that,” he muttered, doggedly. “That part of the game don’t concern you at all. The girl is the point.” “T will do all that liesia my power, You should know whether you can trust me or not, by this time.” ‘*T trust nobody, further than my arm ecanreach!” doggedly, ‘I will trust you that far, but if yout even in thought, I will detect it and strike you to the heart, though you were twice what you have been to me!"" “Till take the chances, Saint,” quietly, ‘I know you will never strike me without good cause, and that Ill never give you. You are all I have left, now. Zhat should answer you,” ‘Don’t look so infernally eager, then!” he growl- ed. “Your eyes went right throurh me. Keep shen down. They mix me all up, and tangle my rain.’ She did as he bade, and he resumed, speaking ra- pidly. @ You know what happened last night? I mean about those fellows who called themselves Nor’ West Nick. One of them was a tool of mine; tue others I never met bef re. Of course one of them must be @ fraud, but the man that killed the three cowboys, I believe is pig Bho quill. If so, he means mischief and bed a plan to put him out of the way for good and all, “It happens that we are very much alike, in size, ghee an features—but you know that, for you saw m ay. ‘I made what few alterations were necessary in my make-up, and eid: d by our good friend and spy, the colonel, surprised Miss Marjean in her room. i would take too long to tell youallI¢aid and did. Enough that I mado her believe I was the fellow whom she called Kyrle Dando, which was not bard, after being told the whole story by Gordon, as he overheard it. I told her that I planned the death of her father; that I was Captain Slyboots; that [ was going to torture her, and all that, and was just about giving the signal which would lead my man under the window to raise an alarm, when I would tale to my heels and leave her to accuse Nor’ West Nick with the crimes which I,as Nor’ West Nick, had con- fessed, when she discovered the cheat. by a Jacking mark, or scar, or something of the sort, which the original possessed, and my cake was dough! ‘“‘ITdidsome quick thin ting, then, and the result yousce. I knew she would denounce me, if she got thechance, Suspicion would be turned on me, SO brought her here, and your suspicions first favo me her, forthe wealth which I know belonged to Arthur Ovelman, her father.”’ ‘You acted for the best, and I will do what I can to aid you. My knowledge of drugs will come into good play. That part of it don’t bother me at all. wut it willbe risky. You will have both Dan Brown and Nor’ West Nick to fight.” ‘Nor’ \Vrest Nick will be ready to lead a funcral procession when the sun comes up. Dan Brown will come back to his death; but come he will, after re- vence for the trick—” a What trick? You haven’t told me what you The hand of the garabler shot out and caught her throat, while a knife gleamed viciously in his hand as he hissed: “Whatis that to you? Take care! Don’t ask too ow such anxiety on his account, man See ag a ors § or? eve you're his ally, not mine!”’ rm -- | - aee CHAPTER XXIII, THE WRONG TRUMP TURNED. “ SrriKE!’’ cried the woman, her dark eves flashing luridly as she unflinchingly encountered the gaze o the gambler. ‘“ Strike—and kill the best and truest friend you have in the world!”’ Had she struggled ever so slightly to free herself, had she winced beneath that fierce grip, or showed the slightest trace of fear, her fate would surely have been sealed then and there. The liquor-maddened gambler would have struck, swift and sure. His overtasked brain was boiling over with insane sus- yicions. The breathless interest which the woman rder Detective. etrayed in the story he was telling in such a round- | about fashion, seemed to him an evidence of his faithlessness. He felt that she was trying to probe all his most dangerous secrets to the bottom, only to turn around and sell him to his bitter enemies. But the utter fearlessness which she exhibited, even while his knife-poiat rested upon her Losom., needing only a straightening of his nervous arm to send the polished steel home to her !eart, disarmed him far more surely and quickly than the most eloquent pleading and protestations. The rigid muscles relaxed, the weepen dropped back upon th» table, and te half-vacant 1 ed his lips. **Good girl, Belle! I was only trying your nerve, to see if it was all you boasted. Iam satisfied, now. You're pure quill! Not a man in all Rocky Bar would have stood the test without turning a hair, but you did!” auzh part- | a” ’ 23 The woman slowly shook her head. “That's because you’ve seen only a few of my cards. Wait until I give you a peep at the rest; then you'll say that I’m playing tnem for all that’s out, and must rake the pot. **As I said, Brown was kept blindfolded, and his ears were of more service to him than his eyes, for the boys twisted their tongues until they could °t recognize their own voices when they gave tongue. I can swear to that, for I was with them, from the start, to make sure there was no mistake. “I gave Turley his orders, then tcok Toplift and left, to carry out the rest of my plans. I gave him a note to Arthur Ovelman, written as nearly like Dan Brown’s fist as I could manage it, and sent him to town. You know how he played his vart. ond brought the old man back with him to the shanty, where I was all ready to play the part of Dan Brown—easy enough to do, thanks to the interior of the cabin’s being so dark, there under the shadow of the mountain. “It was a nasty jcb, that I'll admit, but the stakes were too big to be lost for a silly scruple, and I wiped him out. Nct for the money alone, though that was enough to buy a score of lives, each one more valuable than that of the old speculator. His death should be avenged—on Dan Brown ! ‘*T secured the stemps, then fixed up Tim Toplift, | so the story he was to tell would go down with the “You were foolish to doubt me, even for a mo- | ment, Saint,’’ was the quiet comment, St. ClairGuthrie poured out another drink, and insisted on the woman’s joining him as he drank | bitter confusion to all their enemies. This was a new phase in his character, to her, for never before had she seen him the worse for liquor, much less so nearly drunk as now: but Belle was shrewd and | keen-witted, and readily fell in with his humor. They drank the toast, then the gambler, forgetting ler short-lived suspicions, spoke more freely than erore, “IT never forgot the words my father spoke when the rope was closing around his throat. Iswore that I would perform the duty which he left me, and for that reason I hired a man to come here and get him into a wager that he would cepture Captain Sly boots, and break up hs gang ef Anti-Monopo- lists. I meant to set a trap for him with that bait, but the word which Gordon brought me changed my plans. Isaw how I could make a double stroke, and I set the wires to working. Everything went exactly as I wished, and [ was not sorry that I had made a failure of it last night—” ‘Then it vas you who fired that shot at Dan ee Brown? I felt pretty confident of that, though it is | not like you to miss a target of that size.” “The moonlight deceived me, and I overshct a tri- | fle; but I am glad now that [did. It would be too easy ® death for the devil; beshall stretch hemp, just es he was the prime cause of my father's doing, <u ee he chokes I will hiss into his ears the bitter truth—Pll a him who trailed him down to death, and what or— “When he can still comprehend, but too late for the lips to repeat—make sure of that, Saint! You have /:vo lives now—your own and mine! ’ Did you ever know me to bungle a job which I undertook? Be sure I won't this one—the biggest, heaviest one of my life. But hold your tongue; you _ the tableaun—Dan Brown of Denver's first and appearance in his remarkable feat of dancing a jig | throw me off the track, and I want to talk straicht. | It relieves my brain. I kept it in s> long, thought it all over so many times, that it’s swelling too big for one head to contain, how it makes a powerful lot of gas—" It’s all solid enough, but some- | He checked himself whe of glaring with drunk- : en suspicion into the darkly beautiful face befcre him. He seemed dimly conscious that he was mak- ing @ fool of himself, that he was talking wildly, in- coherently, and, with a powerful effort, he dissi- pated the mists which confused his brain. ‘*“Old Gordon gave me the clews to work on,” he | said, more deliberately, more coherently, ‘‘and I lost little time. I told Tim Toplift the eect he was to play, and he did it well—too well, I began to think, for his Sera put a stop to the row which would have removed that cursed Nor’ West Nick without giving us any more trouble. I was out of town, or that stroke engineered by old Ovelman might have panned out better. But it don’t matter. The end will be the same after all. “Got up as it was, on the spur of the moment, I am proud of that plan—prouder, still, cf the manner in which it was carried out. I don’t often boast, but I’m entitled to, now. ‘One whispered word to Turley was enough, and he started for the Jealous Girl, giving. Nor’ West Nick a taste of his knife as he passed. He saw Top- lift, and arranged for the attack. It wasmade—two fools who had begun to suspect the honest Tim, were laid out for a double funeral, and a double purpose: to make the affair seem more like the pure quill, and guard a-~ainst their talking too loud for the health of their foreman. * Toplift—bold fellow!—ran the terrible gantlet, and carried the news to Dan Brown. That gentle- man fell headlong into the trap, and when they were before the ambush laid by Turley, Tim tapped the man from Denver on the head. and tumbled of the saddle. The boys took him in charge, and lugged him up into the hills, where they trussed him to a tree, with his eyes blindfolded. pada * followed my orders to the very letter, though Turley, grim old wolf, acknowledge that it went Boe against the grain to have the blood. hound in t im out | - manner n which the rascal crowd, I didn’t use a pistol for fear of accidents. but made a neat counterfcit with my knife and a bit of wire. Itwas hard on Tim, but the fellow showed god grit, and kept thinking of the gold which would salve over his hurts. “Then it came time for Wilkins to play a card which he had been leading up to all day long, and he did it so well that the two fellows who were with him never once suspccted that the tragedy was a farce,so far as Je was concerned They brought poor, honest. abused Tim to town, and the admirable layed his part almost brought tears to my eyes—hisreluctance to inform on the man whom ke loved better than a brother, even after being sosbamefully betrayed—was better than a circus.”’ ‘** Now I begin to see the end!”’ exclaimed Pelle,the admiration in her face and tones being tingea with something like awe as she looked into the face of the master-plotter. “I nevermet aman who could have planned all that and carried it out, too, in so short a time, save yov, Saint!” “IT am not ashamed of it myself,’ he admitted frankly. ‘‘It seems terribly tangled up, at first glance, but as you study it closer, you see how neatly every item dovetoils into the cther. And when the key-pin is shoved into place, I defy any one to detect crack or flaw, though they use a microscope!” . eas ey-pin is Dan Brown, of course ?”’ ventured elle. ‘Yes; he has his little curtain will descend to red fire anu slow music,” laughed the exultant gomblr. ine ast “You can im: in mid-air!" “If he comes back,’ cautiously ventured Belle. ‘‘He may scent danger inthe air enc travel in the other direction.”’ “I thought of that, and have guarded against it. 1f he turns his face in any other direction than ee Par, he wiil be taken prisoner by those whom I left to watch him from under cover, and brcught here to answer for the murder of Ar- thur Ovelman. But there is little danger of that. He will be so wrought up by the indignities put upon him by the boys, that when he finds bis hands at liberty he will hasten here to get even with them and me. That will be about daylight, if Turley was careful in carrying out my instructions. “It is growing late—mcrning will be here socn— yet you are here drinking!” said Belle, her face peling, her eyes glistenirg more vividly than ever. ‘Are you mad, Saint? When the biggest game of rout life is almost won, will you lose it for e little randy? The stuff which 1 have often heard you say was the gambler’s curse?” “That's all right— rop it now. One thing—you brag of your skill with drugs. Can you give me something that will make me sleep like a log for two or three hours? I must have some rest, but I must be afoot when Dan Brown pulls hemp. If you can do that, give meadose. If not, douse me with cold water the moment day begins to break. You under- s 9 ‘*I can do what you ask, Saint,’’ smilingly replied the woman, rising and touching her warm lips to his brow. “Iwill prepare the medicine, and then will watch over you until it is time to awaken you.” ‘All right—hurry up,” he muttered, his head re, ing upon his arms as they lay crossed upon the able. ‘Keep awake, dear; I'll be back in a moment.” There was no answer as she turned and glided from the room, and though she speedily returned, the gambler was in a heavy stupor, rather than slumber. Placing the glass containing the compound on the table, she raised his head and shook him into semi- consciousness. draught, then hung heavily upon her arm. Fora moment she paused, at a loss what to do, then she brought a blanket and pillow, placing them _ on the floor, after ee no little trouble, she eir power and yet leave him alive, un- hurt, save for the lump on his head where Tonlift | lzecled him over. But Captain Sly boots had spoken, and they dare not cross his will!" Ilo ccased speaking, and his head began to droop. Tho powerful liquor, so freely swailowed, was be- giuning to have its revenge. Belle moved uneasily, as though anxious to hear more, but the hint was unheeded, and regardless of what had happened only a few minutes before, she said: “Surely they did not turn him loose? A mer- ciless tiver like Dan Brown! And after treating him so roughly!”’ ‘Yes, and no!” Jaughed the drunken gambler. ‘‘They kept him prisoner, yet they set him free. ere ee enigma for you, old girl! Think you can soive it ¥ dragged him from his chair and straightened him out comfortably, his hands crossed upon his chest. How long he remained thus, the err never knew, but at length he was awakened by a sense of suffocation, and opening his eyes he beheld—the bruised and battered face, the huge. twisted mus taches and the glittering pig-eyes of Norton Weston Nickerson, showing over the leveled barre] of a cocked revolver! And the fat claimant squatted on his stomach, while in a husky, unpleasaut voice he croaked: ‘*Lay still, ye cantankerous critter! Squirmin’ nur wigglin’ won’t save yenow! I’ve got ye whar the wool’s mighty short, an’ nothin’ shorter then grim death kin break my rrip!"’ CHAPTER XXIV. NOR’ WEST NICK’S SURPRISE-PARTY. Lovp and thunderously rolled and revertfrated the huge Chinese gong with which the boarders at <S JOO fA (E(0) (E part to speak, when the Like a little child he swallowed the - -' > Cc . 9 oF Pe an" ‘ ee