Beadle's Dime Library No. 364 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

4 **Tt looks like mischief, and as there have been some depredations along the river shores of late, I'll see what kind of a crew this craft carries.” So saying, Madge boldly entered the cabin, where a lamp was burning. Not a man was within if, but upon a table lay a map, or chart, and upon it was considerable writing. Glancing atit, Madge started with surprise, for that one look told her a secret, CHAPTER IV. THE RESCUE. THE chart upon which Madge gazed was well drawn, and the familiarity of the maiden with the Kennebec river’s mouth and adjacent coast, showed her that it was the locality of her home that had been mapped out. She saw the entrance to the river, and marked in red ink the cove where the little sloop then lay at anchor, with a dot to mark the village above, and a scarlet line to denote the highway along the river-bank. } Then written beneath were the directions which, catching her eye, had caused her to start and to more particularly examine the map: That which she read was as follows: ‘You will follow the Kennebee packet schooner out of port, and crowd on sail to keep as close in her were as possible, for all ‘depends upon arriving in me. Reaching the Kennebec you will go into the cove marked by a redline and there drop anchor, leaving sail up, and await my coming, for the highway, where we are to waylay the young officer, is but a cable’s length from your anchorage.”’ ‘* There is, as I expected, mischief brewin through this craft lying at anchor here, and will see what it means,” said the brave girl, and she stood a moment in thought. Then she went hastily on deck and began to tie the jib halyards into hard knots that could not quickly be undone, Next she lowered into the water quietly as possible another anchor with a small chain cable that could not be cut, as the rope one then holding the sloop, ** They cannot run off from here without tak- ing some time and trouble,” she muttered, as she returned to her boat, and took from a locker a pair of sac placing them on the seat w her. Then lowering her sail she seized a paddle and sent the light skiff shoreward. The point where she landed was where the crew of the sloop had gone ashore, and their boat was three, the bow pointing out into the cove, and the stern against the bank, merely fastened so as to keep it from drifting away, Noiselessly Madge took the boat in tow and going along the shore for some little distance made another landing. Here she fastened the boats, and taking a pis- tol in either hand, stepped ashore. pe gti ge the underbrush for a short dis- tance she came to the highway, and here she halted, for, feeling that the men were lying in ambush, and not knowing exactly where, she concluded to stay where she was and await developments. A few moments of silence, and then she heard a smothered laugh not far distant. ‘‘ They are there and waiting, but I can wait too; but I am fortunate not to have been heard. by them, or run upon them.” With the calm courage of an Indian lying in ambush, did Madge remain at her post as the minutes went by. Then she started, for there came to her ears the rumble of wheels upon the rocky road. Louder and louder came the sound, and low, stern orders were heard where the men lay in ambush, urging them to be ready to act, Like a phantom did Madge glide along the roadway, approaching near to the ambushed men, and then she halted in the thick shadow of the overhanging trees. Nearer and nearer came the wagon, the echo of the hoofs of the horse sending back sharp echoes from the cliffs, and the rumble of the wheels resounding like muffled thunder. Sudddenly the horse stopped, and crisp and stern rung out the words: “* Resist, and you are dead men! ** Noel Brandon, I want the gold you carry !” ‘* Ha! this is your game, is it? “Take that!’ ; The reply of the young sailor was followed by the sharp report of a pistol, a cry of pain, curses, and several shots. Then suddenly there darted upon the scene a shadowy form, a pistol-shot followed, and, as a man bounded into the thicket, a second report rung out as a bullet followed him. ‘*Oh, Mr. Brandon, you are wounded!” cried Madge, as she bent over the form of the young sailor, who lay by the side of the wagon, the horse having stocd perfectly still during the ex- citing scene. ** Ah! itis you, Madcap Madge, that come so gallantly to my rescue? ** Yes, 1 got a shot in my leg as I sprung from the wagon; but poor Silly m, I fear, is killed, for one of those fellows fired upon him at arm’s length. “See, pleace, fer ke lies in the wagon.” The Sea Fugitive. Teepe sprung upon the wagon and beheld m fa am. e was lying back on the seat breathing heavily, and evidently hard hit. ‘*] will aid you into the wagon, Mister Bran- don, and you must drive with all haste back to the village, for Silly Sam seems to be badly wounded.” ** And those assassins, Madge?” ‘‘One escaped, sir; but I shot the one that held the horse, and—” ‘* And I killed the other fellow, so let them re- main where they are until we send after them from the village; so aid me, please, a little, for my leg is almost useless,” and aided by the brave girl the young sailor arose upon one foot and then got into the wagon. ‘Mr. Brandon, you are able to drive, so [ will remain here until you send back for the bodies of those two men.” ‘Are you not afraid to remain alone, Miss Madge?” ‘No, I fear nothing; but you must hasten, phe on your own account and to help poor Silly am. ‘*T shall not delay, and now good-by and Heaven bless you, Madge.” Backing the horse, the young sailor turned his head toward the village and drove off ata rapid pace, for he felt that he needed aid as well as Silly Sam, as his wound pained him greatly. Standing in the road Madge never moved un- til the rumble of the wheels were no longer heard, and then she said: ** Now I will get thesloop ready to sail against the coming of the men from the village. ‘*T am sorry that one of the three escaped, but his vessel is mine, that is certain, and it’s just what father needed.” So saying she bent over the prostrate body nearest her. It was Jenks, and he was dead. Against the cliff lay Toddy Tom, and mf er hand fearlessly upon his breast, said: ‘* He is dead too.” A moment after she was.in her skiff rowing a a the sloop, the boat of the marauders being in tow. As she reached the side of ‘the little sloop and sprung on deck, she beheld the head and shoul- ders of a man appear upon the starboard quar- ter. ‘¢Tt was Darke Darrell, and he said fiercely: “Ho, girl, what do you want here?” ‘* You!” was the quick retort, and she drew a pistol from her belt. But Darke Darrell already knew what the maiden was capable of, and he quickly dropped back into the water and dove out of sight. Madge glanced about for his reappearance for some little time, but not seeing him, she set at work and soon had the sails freed of the knots she had tied in the halyards, and getting up the anchor she stood slowly in-shore, towing the sloop’s boat, and her own skiff astern. As she glided alongside of a-rock, near the scene of the attack, she sprung ashore and made the craft fast to a tree, after which she turned to bring the boats ashore, To her amazement, she saw that the sloop’s boat, towing astern of her skiff was gone. Had it simply become free by the slipping of a painter it would be in sight, she well knew; but not seeing it, she became convinced that tha man whom she had driven from the deck, back into the water, had noiselessly and skillfully freed his boat and was then making his escape. Disappointed, for she disliked to be thwarted in her undertakings, Madge sat upon the deck of the little sloop wating patiently until the rumble of wheels and fall of hoofs told her that relief was coming from the village at a rapid pace. Soon after there dashed up to within a few yards of the shore a motley party, consisting of townspeople on horseback, in wagons and chaises, and bearing lanterns, The leader was a tall, handsome young man dressed in half sailor garb, half hunter, anc Madge recognized in him, Cass Kenedy, the county constable, a daring young fellow who was a terror to river rovers, and whom her father, for some reason, known only to himself, hated most bitterly. pide) But no matter what cause Captain Vernon had to hate Constable Kenedy, that gallant young man certainly had only the warmest regard for the coast skipper’s pretty daughter Madge, and he had looked his loveon many occasions, though he had never found the courage to tell her of it, for brave as a lion in danger, he was bashful as a girl before ladies. ‘Ah! Mr. Kenedy, I am glad you have come, for I was getting tired waiting; but tell me how Silly Sam is, or if he is dead?” and Madge step- ped forward and greeted the constable, nodding coolly to the crowd, as they turned their lanterns upon her, ‘“‘ How do you do, Miss Madge, and how brave you are to have done what you did to-night, for Lieutenant Brandon has teld us all,” answered the constable. ‘ ‘*T did only my duty, sir; but how is Sam?” “He received a bullet wound on his head that stunned him, but will comercund all right, while lac- adge Lieutenant Brandon will doubtless be laid up for some time with the wound in his leg. ‘* He sent you this package, Miss Madge, and said you were to keep it until he came for it,” and the young constable handed to Madge a ange packet, sealed and addressed to her. hat it was she could not guess, and she thrust it into her bosom, while the constable and his followers were engaged in looking at the dead bodies of the two men. ‘ They are strangers in these parts, and evi- dently seamen,” said Cass Kenedy. “They came here in that sloop, and to rob Lieutenant Vernon, as I fearre on his way home. ; ‘There were three of them, and one escaped; but [ have taken possession of their sloop, as I think Iam as much entitled to it as any one, though [am ready to give it up if the law so decides,” said Madge in a matter-of-fact kind of way. e It is certainly your prize, Miss Madge, and you are at liberty to keep the craft, after I have. searched it,at least until it is decided what to do with it; but I may find some clew of importance on board,” and the young constable entered the cabin, But Madge had already put away the chart, and nothing of importance was found on board, so, after pry) what she knew regarding the attack, and of her part in it, she went on board the sloop, Cass Kenedy cast off for her, and she stood slowly out of the cove, her skiff in tow, leaving the party from the village to look after the dead highwaymen. CHAPTER V. THE ARMED CUTTER. Ir was the afternoon following the night om which occurred the adventures related in the foregoing chapter, and Madge Vernon was seat- ed in the rustic arbor on the cliff, which her father called the ‘‘foretop,” looking out over the waters at a distant sail. ‘ ‘*It is not the Blue Bell,” she said aloud, as: the little vessel changed her course, and headed in-shore, _ ‘It is an armed craft, and one of the cutters: of the coast, she looks like,” she added, as her well-trained eye recognized that the little vessel was not a peaceful coaster. Nearer and nearer the schooner drew to the coast, running very slowly, as though afraid of the dangerovs locality, and approaching within a league, suddenly luffed up and lay to. Then a puff of smoke came from her shore bow, and the deep boom of a gun was heard rolling sullenly along landward. “That gun is the signal for a pilot, so I sup- pose I must go out to her,” muttered Madge, and going up to the cottage, she made some changes in her dress, and descending to the shore, was soon skimming over the waters in her light skiff. The signal-gun from the cutter had fired several times in the meanwhile, but seeing he skiff shoot out from the cove and head toward it, the firing ceased, anda group of officers on the quarter-deck, and the men in the waist and forecastle watched the coming pilot with in- terest. ‘It is a girl as I live, Maynard,” suddenly cried a young cfficer, wearing the uniform of a lieutenant, and evidently the cutter’s com- mander, ** You are right, Lieutenant Raymond, it is a. woman,” answered the young officer addressed. “Not a woman, Lieutenant Maynard, but a. very pretty girl, or my glass fcols me,” remarked a handsome young middy, with a face full of mischief and daring. P'll be bound that you will discover her beauty before she is near enough to hardly tell whether she is a fisher girl or Indian squaw, oe Lieutenant Maynard remarked with a 1h, ‘Yes, Midshipman Leo Lauderdale has an uncommon eye for beauty for one so young,” the junior lieutenant, Ray Raymond it The three officers were young, dashing lookin fellows, wearing the uniform of the Unite States navy, and their vessel showed thorough discipline on board, which proved that they did not neglect in any respect the duties devolving upon them, While they conversed together the skiff came flying toward the cutter, held on her course over the waters by the small, shapely but nut- brown hand of Madge Vernon, As she drew near ee to be distinctly seen, Lieutenant Maynard sai ‘Leo, egad, you were right, for the girl is a beauty; but it is a pilot we want now, for I hoped to have reached Brandon Hall to-night.” “She may go after a pilot for us, sir,” respond- ed Ray Raymond, “Tt is what I will ask her to do; but what brings her out to us, I wonder, and does she not ‘handle that skiff well?” ‘* Ho, the cutter!” came in a clear, musical voice across the waters. ‘* Ahoy the skiff!” answered Maynard, ‘You signaled for a pilot, I believe?” Vos, can you send us one?” “I will act as your pilot.” F. 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