Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 363 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

replied, and ther bending over, a ferocious look upon her face, she fairly hissed: “Yes—kill him!” ‘‘Take care—take care!” the gambler contin- ued. ‘* Won’t that be dangerous?” ‘*Tt is the only course open to me—there is no other way. I see you do not understand this man as well as I do. ‘*All the love that he once had for me has turned into the most bitter hatred; and I’ve no doubt that he has sworn to punish me for the wrong I did him years ago.” ‘* He doesn’t seem to me to be the kind of man that would go out of his way to avenge him- self upon a woman,” the gambler observed, thoughtfully. He had been reflecting upon this serious busi- ness upon which they had entered, and was rather apprehensive of the result. If the scheme miscarried in any way, it must result in their all landing in the State prison, and he said as much to Roxanna, ‘*Bah!” she exclaimed, in contempt, ‘* what greater danger have you to fear than the one you are already exposed to?” The question was aptly put, and the gambler was obiiged to admit that Mis present situation was about as bad a one as he could possibly get into, , ‘You are a fugitive, skulking through the streets in a disguise, and you dare not be seen in your own proper person. ** Your companion has for a time thrown the bloodhounds off the track by causing the rumor to be spread abroad in all the haunts of crime that you and he have fled from the city, intend- ing to escape from the country; and so, while the police are watching all the avenues abroad, thanks to your disguises, you are living right under their noses at home; and those detectives who are supposed to be argus-eyed haven't the least suspicion of the truth, ‘It is State prison for at least ten years if you are caught, and this man will hunt you down without mercy, and spend money as freely as though it was so much water, to cap- ture you. ‘*T tell you, you don’t understand him!” she repeated, forcibly. ‘He is noble and generous to a fault—I ad- mit that. I know him as well as any one in the world does; but for all his open-heartedness, he is one of those men who, when they are once wronged, are inflexible in their desire for jus- tice, ‘* A man formed on the model of the ancient Roman who sacrificed his own son that justice might be done to the land that gave him birth,” ‘YT shouldu’t be surprised if you were right about that,” the gambler admitted, for back to his memory came the midnight scene outside of the old mansion, when with revolvers in hand Crowningshield and his friends took Curly Kid and himself so completely by surprise, ‘**T tell you it is a life and death struggle be- tween us and this man. ‘* We must put him out of the way or he will have you and your companion in the State prison and not rest satisfied until he has ruined me. ‘‘My position isa dangerous one,” she con- airiieds her eyes glaring with baleful fires. **T do not commit the common mistake of un- derrating the peril which surrounds me. ** When the judge induced me to leave Crown- ingshield some ten years ago, he was much dif- ferently situated from what he is now. ‘*‘Then by a series of lucky strokes he had just acquired his fortune and felt rich and powerful enough to fight the whole world. ‘*T caught his fancy and he was determined that I should become his wife, no matter what it cost. _“Crowningshield then too was differently situated, He was supposed to be a poor strug- gling artist, a fellow who would never dare to attempt to contend with such a man as Judge Jones,” ** Yes, things have changed since then,” Ran- dolph observed. ‘¢ Most decidedly they have; Crowningshield, although perhaps not wealthy himself, has plenty of money at his back, while the judge by an unfortunate series of speculations has materi- ally impaired his fortune, and although there isn’t much doubt that he will pull through all right in the long run yet he is not in any condi- tion to enter upon a struggle with a man pos- sessed of Crowningshield’s means.” ‘* Yes, it would be ugly, for the scandal at- tached to the affair would be apt to do the judge a great deal of harm, ‘In the wild West these little divorce cases don’t amount to so much; but when it comes to the sober East, people are apt to look askance at the man mixed up in such an unsavory mat- ? ‘‘Tt would surely injure the judge, and he knows it,” she remarked. ‘‘ He is not so firmly seated as to be able to bear with calmness the blasts of cutting re- marks; and he told me yesterday that scandal must be avoided no matter what such a course entailed.” ‘“* That is, he would give you un rather than fight fcr you.” SE ET OOO wT TT OE ES ——— a ae ‘Yes, he isa coward at heart,” she replied, her lip curling in contempt. Crowningshield, the Sleuth. me where you want to go written on it, but you are not able to make the drunken driver that I re- ‘‘ And now that he is brought face to face | present understand where you want to go. with the danger that he has so often declared he would face undauntedly, he shows the white feather and wants to retreat like the craven that be is. ‘* No, no, Randolph, there is but; one way outof the difficulty; the danger is before us and must be met and boldly faced. ‘We do not get rid of it, you know, by simply closing our eyes so that we cannot see it; it is there all the same, even if we refuse to look at it.” ‘* That’s true enough.” ‘ ** Reuben, that man must die; there is no other course open to us, ** With him dead, this persecution will cease, and then we will be able to breathe again.” ** But the danger that attends sucha step,” the | other urged. ‘Is it any more than perils of a similar na- ture that we have encountered and triumphed over?” she asked, **No, I don’t suppose it is. You are right; there is no other way out, and Crownings:nield must die.” ** If Curly Kid can succeed in entrapping him leave me to attend to the rest!” Roxanna ex- claimed, a tigerish expression upon her face. ‘* He'll do the trick if mortal man can,” was the gambler’s assurance. At this point the stoppage of the coach put an end to the conversation, ‘Po not fail to notify me when the trick is worked,” she said, as she descended from the carriage. ‘**Oh, yes, I will be sure to do that.” Then she glided away and her slight form was soon lost in the darkness, Randolph looked around, ascertained that the coast was clear, and then got out of the carriage and joined his companion on the box. Curly Kid started the horses, and again the coach went on, ‘* She is hot to kill Crowningshield,” the gam- bler remarked, after the vehicle started. ‘* She’s right there; under the circumstances it is the only thing to be done. ‘In her opinion it is his life or ours,” ‘‘That’s about the size of it.” “It is a lucky thing that you happened to have this other old shanty out Medford way, or I don’t know what we would have done,” Ran- dolph observed, for he guessed that his com- panign intended to use the house of which he spoke, ‘‘ A wise fox always has more than one hole,” Curly Kid rejoined. ‘* The police have caught onto the other place; all my haunts in town are pretty well known to them, and if it wasn’t for this hiding-place the chances are about a hundred to one that we would have been nabbed,” ‘“'Yes, there isn’t much doubt about it; but how do you propose to get at Crowningshield? ‘‘T’ve been thinking the matter over and it seems to me that you kave laid out a pretty difficult job.” ‘Well, it won’t be an easy one,” Curly Kid replied, ‘T’ve been doing a little head-work on that thing, too, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the simplest way will be the best. ‘We will utilize this coupe and abduct the man by main force.” The gambler looked surprised at this state- ment, ‘‘ By Jove! thatisa bold game!” he exclaimed, CHAPTER XXXVIII. ENTRAPPED, “ Hav'n’t I always told you that it is the bold game that wins?” Curly Kid replied, in answer to the exclamation of the other. ‘* The first thing to be ascertained is in regard to Crowningshield’s habits, “T want to meet him in front of his house somewhere around eleven o’clock. The neigh- borhood of his house at that time is tolerably lonely and there are not apt to be many people in the street. » ‘“‘Tf he is in the habit of going to the club, oa and good; on his return we will attend to im. ‘If he is not given to going out at night, we must decoy him forth insome way so that we can get a crack at him on his return.” ‘But I don’t exactly see how you are going to work the trick.” “Tt is just as simple as simple can,” the other replied, ‘‘ Still I suppose it looks complex and difficult to you, for you are not in the habit of taking part in any such scheme. ‘* We time our bird and then drive up in the coach and halt right in front of his door, taking care to be sure that the street is clear of inter- lopers, that’s the only weak point about the matter; if there is anybody round we can’t work the trick, but if we are lucky enough to get a clear field we Scag abe ‘“*Pma drunken Irish driver on the box, and youre got up asan irritable French gentleman inside, ‘You have a card with the direction of © a (E(0) UU EEE SSNs EEE IT TTETE ESS ‘* The door of the coach is open, and while we are squabbling over the matter Crowningshield comes up. I hail him. ‘Will yer bonor pase to ccme and tell me phat this Frinch gintleman wants, for it is net the likes of me that kin understand him, at all, at all.’ ‘* Naturally he does come, for there isn’t any- thing about the trap to excite any one’s suspi- cions. ‘‘He bends forward in the doorway to look at the card which you hold in your hand, and I seize upon the opportunity to give him a good stiff lick with a sand-club in the back of the head which knocks him senseless into the car~ riage and into your arms. ‘You drag him into the carriage, I shut the door, mount the box and presto! we're off. ‘** No noise—no outery—a man passing by on the other side of the street would never have any suspicion that anything was wrong.” ‘* By Jove! the scheme is a colossal one and I don’t see how it can possibly fail!” the gambler exclaimed in admiration. ‘*There isn’t any danger of it not working unless luck is against us and there’s a lot of peo- ple in the street, which will not be likely at such an hour.” “'That’s true enough.” ‘Then after we have secured our bird and I am making for shelter—not hurriedly, mind, to excite any suspicions, but driving at a regular pace, you prop him up ona seat and arrange him so that if anybody should bappen to glance in he will look as if he was either asleep or ina drunken stupor.” “But it is quite a long drive; suppose he should revive on the way?” ‘*T have thought of that,” the other replied. ‘Tt is one of the peculiarities of my plots that in such a matter as this 1 generally manage to cover every point, **'You will be provided with a sponge and a bottle of chloroform and the moment he begins to show signs of recovering his senses you will proceed to drug him.” “That isa good idea; I see you have got the scheme perfect in all its details,” ‘‘That is the only way to work. And we can arrange the matter so that on the night when we try the trick the woman can be at the old house all in readiness to receive the visitor. ** You see, old fellow, I don’t propose to put my head in a halter in this matter. Iam eager for vengeance for I want to get square with him for spoiling my little game with the hoy, and I am also equally eager to finger the five thousand dollars which the woman has prom~ ised to pay me for doing the job. “ But when it comes tokilling Crowningshield, you can count me out on that, ‘The woman is thirsty for his blood, she wants to kill, and I will admit I shall feel easier when he is silenced, but I don’t care to actually shed his blood myself.” ‘*Oh, she will attend to that; all she asks is. the chance to get at the man.” : ‘Pl fix that all right for her.” ‘But [ say,” observed the gambler as an idea. suddenly occurred to him, ‘‘ how about disposing” of the body after the deed is done so &s to cover: up the traces of the crime?” ‘That point has also been guarded,” Curly Kid replied. ‘‘The house is an old one and when a matchis applied to it will burn like tinder.” *‘ Yes, that is a good idea, but when the ruins come to be examined the bones will be found.” ‘That is another point that has not been neg-- lected,” the other replied with a quiet smile, ‘Tn the cellar of the nouse is an old pit which looks as if at some time if had been a well, but it is pretty nearly filled up now so that no water is visible. ‘ After Crowningshicld is done for we can shove the body into the old pit, fillin some dirt on the top of it, and then when the fire reduces — the old house to ruins all traces of the deed will — ' be effaced. ‘ ~ ‘‘Rvep when the ruins are cleared away for _ the erection of a new house, and if may ke years — before that takes place, it is not likely that the center of the cellar will be disturbed.” “T perceive that you have got every thin down fine and I don’t see a single chance of fail-. ure.” , “ No, nor I.” Some few more words of unimportant conver-. sation detailing, so we will not weary the reader with it. They went to the old house put the horse up and then took the steam cars to the city. Curly Kid could personate an Irishman to per-- fection, and with his carroty-red wig and hb he looked exactly like a son of the Emerald He had ascertained that the cook 0 for a walk and. in his most insinuating way approached and got into conversation with her. for wor passed between the two but nothing worth — fred ny #0 7: : ths Crowningshield mansion was an Irish girland he watched for an opportunity to speak toher, = Tt was soon afforded him; the cook came a ~~ | | | ! “wd } | ~ ’ r ) ' ‘ 4 4k “7 } 4 Me pretended that he was lookin milcbooks (Eo)